TFS#38: Don’t Let It Stunt Your Growth

Most people focus solely on studying techniques. But this can actually be counterproductive.

Because you’re hyper focused on a technique, you’ll constantly experience analysis paralysis or you’ll force the technique when the opening is not there.

Let’s see what we can do to improve our training habits.

You need the right reaction

First, it’s important to understand that for any technique to work, they need to be done at the correct moment. This is dependent on your opponent’s reaction.

The most common situation is when you learn a technique from class or a video. You then go into sparring wanting to implement that technique and you’ll start forcing it when the opening isn't there.

Additionally, if your instructor just showed a technique, everyone in class is going to be expecting that technique.

Techniques work best when your opponent isn’t expecting it.

Study positions

Now I’m not saying learning technique is all bad. It obviously isn’t. But at a lower belt like white or early blue belt, you’ll need to study positions.

When you study or spar from a specific position, you’re limited to the amount of moves available in that position. And similarly, your opponent is limited to the amount of defensive moves. This makes learning much more digestible.

For example, if you have an Armbar on top and you're trying to finish, there’s only so many ways they can defend. You can break that down into a handful of possibilities the situation will play out and you can learn an answer for each one.

Under the microscope

You'll also need to understand the difference between regular sparring and technique development. If you’re in a normal sparring round you have to adapt to the positioning that your opponent's giving you. You have to respond to the positions, you can't just do what you want.

But if you’re working on technique development, you can have your partner give you specific responses or spar from a certain position that makes it easier to develop those exact responses you want.

The first way I would go about trying to develop a technique is to start at the end. So if I'm trying to develop an Armbar from the Closed Guard, I don't just start in Closed Guard and try to get the Armbar because my partner may never give a reaction that sets me up to attack the arm.

Instead, we would start in the Closed Guard but with a High Guard position where there’s a more limited set of options that they have that makes getting into the Armbar natural.

Zooming out

Now this leads to the second component of developing a technique which is where we develop the entry. Take a step back and start from the regular Closed Guard position, we’ll have to mix in other moves before setting up the Armbar.

You’ll also have to understand that the Armbar opportunity might not be there. On the flip side, you have many more options available to you. If they defend with one arm back, you have a Triangle opportunity, if they’re leaning back, you can try a Hip Bump Sweep.

As you get better and more confident in a position, you can back up and train from a more "general position" to widen your game and incorporate a diverse arsenal.

For Your Jiu Jitsu

→ Getting your partner excited to train with you can be a massive hurdle, but there is hope. This podcast episode is worth exploring the next time you’re in the car with them.

→ If you find yourself easily giving up, you may be making excuses to justify your reasoning. Follow these 9 steps to prevent yourself from making excuses…before excuses make you.

→ Learning the Osoto Gari will expand your take down game. It’s simple but effective—if your timing is right.

Closing Thought

If you want to see faster results in from your training, you’ll have to be a little more strategic. Tunnel visioning will stifle your progress.

But if you did enough of the kind of training we talked about earlier, the techniques will start to bleed into your normal rolls. And eventually you’ll get comfortable at all these different positions.

Again, Jiu-Jitsu is a collection of different specific trainings from multiple positions. The more positions you are better at, the more well-rounded your game will become.