Planning for the worst-case scenarios is the best way to ensure those scenarios don’t happen.
When you’re dealing with something as complex as jiujitsu, the possibilities for what might happen in a given sparring session or competition are almost literally limitless. Preparing as best we can, physically and mentally, is the best way to be prepared. How do we prepare to succeed, though, when the material we need to know is so vast?
The answers slightly vary based on experience level and belt level — and vary greatly from person to person, because we all have individualized needs — but I’m going to give you my best general answers for how to make a three-month plan dedicated to improving your jiujitsu. These would vary based on people’s goals, of course, and particular needs. A young woman focused intently on winning competition jiujitsu matches would have different needs from an older man focused on weight loss and self defense, for example.
Having a plan doesn’t guarantee that you’ll hit your goal, but it’s the best way I know for structured improvement. Plus, if you miss your goal, you’ll know you did everything you could to get there, which is some solace.
Originally, this post was going to be how to make a training plan at every belt level. It got very long very fast, though, so I’m splitting it in two. This post will cover how to make a training plan for white and early blue belts. If you’re a mid-level blue belt and up (say, you’ve been a blue belt more than two years, or have two stripes or more), a post is coming for you soon (EDIT: that post is here).
And here’s an idea — what if, instead of just offering private lessons, gym owners offered personalized training plan packages for one, three, or six months that included tailored improvement plans for that specific student? Just a thought for you gym owners.
WHITE AND BLUE BELTS
Beginning jiujitsu can be overwhelming. There are so many potential techniques with so many different body types and variables, it’s impossible to prepare for every single situation.
So what’s the best investment of your learning time? Learning, drilling, and mastering the fundamentals.
The fundamentals create templates for what to do in every spot. You can’t prepare for every potential situation — “today, I drilled how to escape armbars from ectomorphic body types, and tomorrow, I’ll drill how to avoid Americanas from stocky, athletic wrestlers” — but you can bake the fundamentals into every drilling session, so that you develop the good habits of keeping your elbows close to your body, establishing good posture in the guard, and other basics that stop most attacks before they start.
I break down preparation plans into mental training and physical training. If you’re relatively early in your journey — a white belt up to a relatively new blue belt — here’s what I’d recommend.
Jiujitsu Training
Make sure you know the fundamentals curriculum inside and out. Learn every technique on it, and not just so you get it right most of the time — learn the techniques so well, you can’t get them wrong. If your gym does not have a fundamentals curriculum, make your own. If you don’t feel comfortable making your own, ask an upper belt to help — or I’ll be doing a curriculum post soon, and you can use mine as a base.These are the foundational moves that will never desert you. No matter what situation comes up, an ironclad knowledge of the fundamentals will serve you well. On that note …
For six months, focus on learning the fundamental techniques you’ve been taught, and not learning new techniques. Give yourself one day a week to drill new stuff. The rest of the week, you’re sharpening the sword you already have. If you see a move you don’t know in class, drill that move during class. If it’s on the fundamentals curriculum, drill it regularly. If it’s not … we’re going to wait until six months is up before we drill it again, or we’re going to drill it during our one free day a week.
One of the biggest mistakes I see newer people make is finding a fancy new move, on YouTube or from an upper belt, and falling in love with that move. The worst possible thing that can happen is for that move to work. That sends the wrong message: that finding a tricky shortcut is the best path to victory. You can certainly catch someone with a sneaky submission, like a no-arm triangle or a baseball choke from under mount, if they’ve never seen it before. But our focus here is getting steadily better over the long term, not winning the white belt division once or tapping a training partner with a camp move. We’re not looking to catch people once, we’re looking to improve our all-around skills so that it’s inevitable they will be caught.
Drill every day. Rolling is important, too, of course, but you want to make sure you’re hitting all the fine details of the fundamentals. Make a drilling routine and just get in the habit of doing those drills. Practice makes habits, habits make discipline, and before long you won’t remember what it’s like not to drill. It’ll be like brushing your teeth.If you’re struggling with hitting a technique, ask an upper belt to show all the details — then, when you drill, slowly and precisely hit all of them in order. Drill combinations of moves, like the hip bump sweep to the kimura from guard, so you can seamlessly make transitions. Here’s how to make an effective drilling list.
When rolling with people at your level or below, take advantage of positional sparring. Don’t treat every roll like a competition roll. Need work passing the guard? If you pass successfully, don’t lock the other person down in side control: ease up, let them recover technically, and pass again. You’re not trying to “win” the roll. You’re trying to get your guard passes so blinding that they’ll work when it matters.
When rolling with people above your level, make sure they know what you’re working on. An upper belt will probably be able to put you in the position they want to anyway, so there’s no need to “let” them pass your guard (and don’t patronize them by suggesting otherwise). But if you tell them you’re working on your defense under mount, or whatever it is, there’s a good chance they’ll help you.
That’s a lot, and of course I’d tweak it depending on the person’s goals. The core message should be clear: establish what the fundamentals are. Drill them until you can’t get them wrong. Don’t focus on learning new, expansive material: master the basics. And in class, focus on learning.
What about outside of class?
Outside of Jiujitsu
I’m from the school of thought that holds to this simple principle: to get better at a thing, do a lot of that thing. While other forms of training (yoga, cardio, rock climbing) can help with certain aspects of jiujitsu, if you really want to get good at jiujitsu, train a lot of jiujitsu. If you enjoy other activities as a break, absolutely participate in them. But don’t let those fall into “this is making me better at jiujitsu” bucket.
Mental training is the most underrated aspect of jiujitsu training — and life training. Even if you don’t struggle with anxiety or depression, as many of us do, we can all improve our outlook and mental performance. Best of all, using time effectively off the mats like this can have results on the mats and beyond.
Consider one of the suggestions I made above: don’t try to “win” the roll. This is easy to say, but it requires mental training. Humans are competitive, and it can be frustrating to be dominated by someone. If you know you can lock someone down in side control, that’s a tempting thing when compared to letting them recover their guard and maybe getting yourself submitted. But it’s also not making your passing better.
Mental training helps us not just refine techniques, but broaden our perspective on what rolling is for, and beyond that, what jiujitsu is for in our lives. A huge percentage of the problems I see in gyms come from an excess of insecurity and a dearth of perspective.
Visualization: Great research suggests that visualizing yourself doing tasks aids greatly in your learning those tasks. The theory is that it reminds you of the details, and when the time comes to execute, your mind believes you’ve been there before more than you actually have. Here are some techniques I like to use, as well as the science behind it.This is also great for those of us with office jobs. When you’re sitting in that boring meeting, roll through the standing self-defense techniques you know in your mind. Refresh your memory on your top three guard sweeps. If that guy next to you droning on has big lapels on his jacket, it’s OK to visualize a collar choke as long as you don’t actually do it.
Meditation: I’ll be honest: I resisted meditation for a long time, and I regret it. (I also recommend yoga, which is a great vehicle for meditation). Part of why I resisted was that I try to be evidence-based and science driven, and I perceived meditation as somehow out of that tradition. Boy, was I wrong. There are now a wealth of studies on the neurological benefits of meditation, and my experience of doing two sessions, 20 minutes a day bears out those results.
I use an app called Stop, Breathe, Think and another app called Headspace. Try it out and see what’s best for you.
If you’re a veteran blue belt, maybe the plan is different, and we’ll discuss that in a future post. The main takeaways from this, for me, are:
1. Making a firm plan is the best way to ensure accountability and success, and
2. You can never, ever, be too good at the fundamentals.
As the bards of my generation put it, “Make … plans.” Go forth and get better.