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We’ve been looking at how you can tell if you’re getting better at jiu jitsu. Can you tell if you’re getting better by comparing yourself to your training partners? Maybe. Is it a plateau, or is it just harder to tell you’re getting better once you’ve been training for a while? Could be both. Does competition tell you how good you are? Sometimes. Does a bad day of training mean you haven’t been making progress? Probably not. So I realize it might feel like I’ve spent the last

Sometimes in jiu jitsu class, we practice the same move more than one time. Sometimes we practice it a lot. That might feel boring. It might feel like you already know it. It might make you wonder, “Why are we still doing this?” That is a fair question. The answer is because doing something once is not the same as knowing how to do it. You might be able to do a move one time when your coach is helping you. You might be able to do it when your partner is staying still. You mig

Let's face it, jiu jitsu can be hard. Not because you are doing something wrong. Not because you are not trying. Jiu jitsu is hard because another person is trying to stop you. That is one of the things that makes jiu jitsu different from a lot of other activities. If you are practicing spelling a word, the word does not try to change. If you are riding a bike, the bike does not try to stop you from getting on it. But in jiu jitsu, not only is your partner trying to stop you

Winning and losing in a tournament can feel like the easiest way to measure progress in jiu jitsu, but competition does not always tell the whole story. Sometimes a win can leave you unsure, and sometimes a loss can show you exactly how far you have come.

Base is how you use your body to stay balanced and hard to move. Have you ever stood with your feet really close together while someone gently pushed you? It is hard to stay balanced. But if you stand with your feet a little wider, bend your knees, and keep your body strong, it is much easier to stay up. That is base. In jiu jitsu, base can come from your feet, knees, hands, or how your weight is placed. Good base helps you stay strong. Bad base makes you easier to move. If y

Lately, I’ve been talking about how to know if you’re getting better at jiu jitsu. Sometimes, progress can be pretty obvious. Like moving from not knowing how to hit a move to knowing how to hit a move. That is clear progress. But after you’ve been training for a while, progress can get harder to see. Not because it stops happening, but because improving a technique can be far less obvious than learning a technique. The improvement that comes from learning something new is so

It’s a tale as old as time. You start jiu jitsu around the same time as someone else. At first, things look pretty similar. You’re both getting the same information. You’re going to the same classes. You’re both trying to figure out where your arms and legs are supposed to go. But after a while, sometimes one of you seems to pull ahead. And sometimes, it’s not you. They’re finding things more often. They’re more comfortable in certain positions. Things seem to be clicking a l

A frame is something that gives shape and support. The frame of a house helps hold the house up. It gives the house structure. Without a strong frame, the house would not have the shape it needs. A frame in jiu jitsu works in a similar way. It gives your body a strong shape. That strong shape helps you protect your space. Sometimes in jiu jitsu, your partner is too close. Maybe they are trying to hold you down. Maybe they are trying to pass your guard. Maybe they are using pr

In jiu jitsu, tapping is one of the most important things you can learn. Tapping means “stop.” It does not mean you are bad. It does not mean you are weak. It does not mean you failed. It means you are training smart. When we train jiu jitsu, we practice moves with a partner. Sometimes your partner might get to a position where your arm, leg, neck, or body is stuck. If something hurts, feels too tight, or you know you cannot safely get out, you tap. Your partner stops right a

What does one bad day tell you about your training?

If you give a move your attention who knows how far you'll go.

Whether we realize it or not, most of us are keeping score in our heads when we train. How many times did I tap someone? How many times did I get tapped? Did I “win” the round or not? Sometimes progress looks like: Getting tapped one less time than the last round. Lasting a little longer before things start to fall apart. Stopping that one training partner from putting you in that same horrible position over and over again. Those things count. That’s part of learning how to r

If you know where you want to go, can you start getting there from anywhere? When your destination is defined, what determines your path?

You're might be working too hard to get what you're looking for.

You might think certain techniques just aren't for you. It might not be that simple.

Is there a shortcut to getting better at jiu jitsu faster?

Failing at jiu jitsu is a lot like succeeding in baseball.

If you're feeing stuck in your jiu jitsu, first look at whether you're making it to class often enough.