I recently had the great pleasure of doing some great Gracie Jiu Jitsu Training with three exceptional grapplers. It was a great session where we simply drilled some techniques and then sparred. Sounds simple sounds like most classes or training sessions but what was really great about this session was the little tips I got during the training session. I want to share some of the tips, ideas and strategies that were shared with me during the training and I want to give you some of the tips that popped into my head while I was training as well.
Jiu Jitsu Technique Details
So the first tip that was drilled into me was to focus on the details of the technique you are practicing. Again sounds familiar. We first learn the big steps of the technique and can kind of walk through it and make it work. After that we start to try to smooth it out and then perfect the details. During this session what stuck out as being a little different is that we basically started with the details. Now this was okay because we were all very experienced grapplers but the other thing that stood out was when we were focusing on the details it was all about the why in the details. Why do you move your knee a few inches up? Why do you turn your elbow out? Why do you pull with your right arm? We constantly focused on why the details matter and what we were trying to accomplish, prevent or defend against.
What I noticed is the more I focused on the why the easier the details were to perform. By constantly focusing on why we were doing certain things it really made the whole technique come together for me.
Force and Momentum During Training
When you are training the techniques make sure you or your partner are using the right amount of attacking force or momentum. Try to avoid being a dead fish or a lame or weak partner. Make sure you are doing the attack properly so your partner can practice the defense or counter attack properly. This is extremely important and it will make your practice and all of your reps way more beneficial. When the right force is used you will get a much better feel for the technique and you will get much better feedback. You will know if you are really executing the technique properly and all your mistakes will be made clear as day.
BJJ Is All About The Basics
When the training session started we with one of the first guard passes that most Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu students learn. It is also one of the passes that I have had very little success with in sparring. So much so that I never use it in competition. Now even after this last session I am not expecting the pass to just start magically working but what I did get from practicing this basic pass was a bunch of other lessons that will help all of my other guard passes out. That is one of the best things about practicing basic techniques over and over. While you are practicing one basic technique you are actually improving upon many other techniques at the same time. While I was training this one pass that I do not really preform well I was give MANY tips on that specific technique. What was really great though was I realized each tip would help me out in a bunch of other situations that I find myself in when trying to pass the guard!
I’m hoping to have more and more training sessions like this and I am sure I will keep getting great tips that will help my Jiu Jitsu and I will be sure to share them with you here. I hope some of these tips help you out as much as they help me out.