There's a Better Way.

As we all know, there is no shortcut to getting better at jiu jitsu.

Or is there?

The short answer is, yes, there is - but it’s probably not what you think.

It still takes time. It still takes reps. It still takes showing up.

But there is a way to make that time more effective. It’s the exact reason I started the March Challenge at 608JJ.

Instead of trying to get better at everything all at once, pick one thing.

One position. One submission. One sweep.

Just one thing.

The hard part is there will always be distractions pulling at your attention.

Your coach is almost definitely showing something different than what you want to work on. Your opponent probably has their own plans during sparring, too. There’s always something else you could be doing.

But if you can stay focused on your one thing - not ten unrelated things, not everything from earlier in the week - just the one thing you choose to focus on, everything starts to change.

Once you’ve made your choice, commit to it for a period of time. Start looking for it. Put yourself in positions where it might show up. Make it a goal to attempt it, even if you’re not sure it’s going to work yet.

What this does is give your training intention.

Instead of every round feeling random, you now have something you’re working toward.

You start to recognize where that technique fits. You begin to see how often it’s actually there. And when it’s not, you start figuring out how to get there.

Over time, that one area starts to feel more familiar.

Eventually, it becomes something you can rely on. Your intentional training becomes your A-game that you can always fall back to when you eventually try new things.

I can tell you from experience, once you’ve gone through that process with one technique, it becomes much easier to do it again with the next one and the one after that too.

This is probably the closest thing to a shortcut there is.

See you all on the mat!