BJJ can be scary. Most people do not experience being choked, sat on, or flipped over unwillingly on a regular basis. Initially these things can be hard to deal with. One of the nice things about doing Jiu Jitsu is that everything else seems sort of less extreme. At least for me, if I get into what most would consider a high stress situation, I feel more comfortable than other people around me. By facing the difficult situations presented by Jiu Jitsu, I am able to handle situations in life with a better outlook. I recommend putting yourself in challenging situations in the gym. Even if you don’t see the benefit now, I believe it will have a greater impact in the outside world.

Jiu Jitsu is transformational. No matter where you start your journey, you will see improvement in your life. It’s a gateway to good habits, improving your mental and physical health. There’s no secrets or quick fixes, but over time you want to perform optimally and through that a healthier life begins. Smoking, excessive drinking, and eating poorly become harder to justify. It’s the best kind of healthy change you can make for your life, because the decision to change comes from you. If you want to improve your life for the long term, try BJJ. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

BJJ is cyclical. There are times when you don’t feel like you’re doing anything right. That you’re not improving and that everything is harder than it should be. That’s a valley. Valleys in Jiu-Jitsu are common and important. It’s part of how you build perseverance, and as I’ve said before perseverance is key to grappling success. Usually the end of a Jiu Jitsu valley or plateau seems like an incredible ascent, but just like launching a rocket into space, there’s years of minute details and work for the sixty seconds shown on television. That valley lays the groundwork for better technical understanding. I had a somewhat long weird journey to BJJ black belt with a bunch of plateaus. If you want to join that deceptively small group, it will eventually come down to how stubborn you are and whether you can walk out the door day in and day out and head to the gym until you’re out of that funk. That’s what separates the people who make it to black belt from the people who stop at blue, and it is also something that you can take into the real world.

As an athlete and competitor I like freedom of technique. I enjoy being able to use all of the submissions at my disposal to win a match. As an instructor and coach freedom of techniques becomes messier. If I’m preparing someone for IBJJF competition then I want them to focus on those rules. Depending on belt level and age, their focus should be on what they can use. As a coach it is my responsibility to be as informed about the intricacies of the rule sets for the success of my athletes. The other side of that coin is the safety aspect. I’ve trained at places where you could heel hook in the gi above blue belt. That I think is a good cutoff point for beginning to train with a less stringent rule set. You should have the control and knowledge at that point to be able to take care of yourself and your training partners and as long as both parties agree I advocate looser restrictions on submissions. Keep in mind what you’re training for, if it’s not to be IBJJF world champion, open the game u. Why not?

How you eat is important in BJJ. When I was younger I could eat right before training, and be somewhat fine. I thought I was performing decently, but as I grew older I realized that if I gave myself three hours between a big meal and training, I did better. The other thing I do which may be totally a placebo thing, is try not to have processed carbs and meat in the same meal. I’ve read some things on it slowing down digestion and it works for me. I’m not advocating for a diet or specific kind of eating, but I think all people who train should experiment with how their body reacts to the food they eat to optimize performance. If you’re lucky, maybe you can eat like Caio Terra.

Part of success in BJJ is dividing everything up. Most people call this games or systems. John Danaher famously has six systems. I would say Keenan Cornelius has at least six systems just within his worm guard. Every Jiu Jitsu guy has a developing game categorized by situation and effectiveness. If I already know where I want to be in any situation that arises on the mat, it takes away any anxiety and allows me to focus on the task at hand. Develop your personal strategies and game plans so that you know at least three systems in what your possibilities are. Train a game that you feel is a weak point sometimes for a day when that situation arises. Make lists of how confident you are in situations you find yourself in, and tweak them as your game evolves. Your success in BJJ isn’t just about the time training, and if you put work in outside of class it will improve your skills.

What you learn in Jiu Jitsu transfers to the world off the mat. Not that you’ll be hitting berimbolos in Walmart, but the things you learn as a result of training make parts of life easier. I’ve seen a quote attributed to Rickson Gracie that talks about how after being mounted in Jiu Jitsu, the rest of the world doesn’t seem so hard. I still think there are harder things in life, but the perseverance, confidence, and mental fortitude gained from training carries over to the other aspects of life.

BJJ is an individual journey. What works for you may not work for your teammates and vice versa. So although you will be guided in your journey, at a certain point, you’ll have to take on the responsibility of captaining your ship towards your most effective Jiu Jitsu. Trial and error, workshopping with teammates, video study, and private lessons are all ways you can achieve greater efficiency in your techniques. In a sport where small adjustments make a big difference, being able to modify techniques to your strengths is critically important. Work on learning how to make Jiu Jitsu work for you.