If You Could Start JiuJitsu Over Again
"If you could go back to when you first started training, knowing everything you know now, what's one thing you change about your training?"That's a question I enjoy asking people when talking about JiuJitsu. I think there's a benefit to the self-reflection of it, and who knows, perhaps a newer student can learn from someone a little further ahead in the journey.
I asked ya'll what that answer would be for you, and I was thrilled with the response that I received. Those answers are below:
"I would have competed a lot more, back then I thought I had to be 100 percent prepared to go do a tournament but realistically you are never really prepared. You do what you can put in good work and go out there and compete. Win or lose take what lessons you learn back to the lab and improve. Back then I thought losing was the end of the world, that mindset greatly hinders growth." - Thomas Sibley
"I would've started earlier.... Which is about it because the journey would still be the same...... It probably would've kept me OUT of lot more fights more too." - Drew McCurdy
"I would have told myself to slow down and have no bias." - Derek Southa"Would you mind expanding on that a little more? Why would you have slowed down, and what did that tempo look like for you? For the white belts!" -Me
"I would slow down in the sense that I shouldn't have been driving so hard to be a world champion at blue and white belt I should've let it come naturally you know I believe I pushed to hard early on and was met with a lot small injuries and things that compounded honestly I wish as a early white and blue belt I knew more about health and fitness like I didn't start caring about fitness till I was getting reoccurring injuries. So like when I would roll I wish didn't care about how people tapped me or what I tapped people with because trying to be the toughest guy on the mat lead to not only a lot of mental pressure but injuries from things that shouldn't have happened. So I wish I focused more on the speed of movement and slowing down of catching subs." -
Derek
"I would tell my beginner self it is ok to tell a dangerous partner NO, regardless of rank or belt color. I would tell my beginner self you owe nothing to anyone but owe yourself everything and if that means saying No to keep yourself safe then so be it." - Travis Dasher
"I would have cross trained a lot more. I bought into the hype of the gym I was in, and never went anywhere else. 6 years later, and I cross train every chance I get. I also would have rolled for submission/position more. I started in an MMA gym and definitely thought that if I was faster and hit them harder I would get a better submission." - Brian Asheland
I would've liked to stay away from all the Jiu-Jitsu politics. The stay away from that gym because you train here and what not. I feel like I neglected myself from a lot of knowledge and even good relationships I could've created but didn't which could've resulted in more future opportunities on the mats" - Preston Charles
" I wouldn’t change a thing. I have the right coach and great team mates past and present. I’ve been cross-faced with black eye worthy punches—snap arm-bared by beginners and advanced belts who only want to get submissions to prove to themselves that they can even hang on the mat. My mates know who they are and they have hundreds of rolls with me. Sometimes they get me and sometimes they don’t, but the journey with them has been constant and consistent. Like an infant—we can never predict when we will take our first steps and actually walk. Train—don’t change a thing—and train." - Chico
"Tap more often and avoid taking health risks against other white belts because no one gives a shit who the king of the white belts is, and as a white belt if you don't know what to do doing it harder isn't the answer." - Brad Edmonson
"Take advantage of having free BJJ at your fingertips and use the resources available to you. Make BJJ your own thing and do it because you want to and you actually do love it." - Erin Locke
"But for reas tho. Lots of ups and downs. And don’t compare yourself to other. Different promotion times and tournaments are a great way to test yourself."
" I would have done more research as to what gym I started in. Just because they have the fancy sign and smiling business face does not mean it's the best place for you. For me it ended up being an old school, hard knocks training room where I learned the most. It's where I met one of my best friends Ben Westrich and we branched out on our own to build a school like that one but better with top notch staff members with similar training values." - Rico Mareira Jr.
"I wouldn't be afraid to go for submissions. When I first started I never wanted to go for submissions cause I didn't want to put myself in a bad position if I missed it." - Nicholas Moncada
"I took to many breaks, I'd tell my self to never stop training and never stop working out." - Pouria Amini
"I wouldn't avoid positions that I didn't understand yet. In fact, I'd embrace them." - Nate Parrish
" 1.) I would (& still need to) drill a lot more.2.) I'm so thankful I asked a ton of questions to everyone, not only now (& literally after every roll), but also when I first started out. I asked (& still ask) lots of mindset questions. I had told one upper belt that I was excited to start rolling & that I was only gonna roll w/the highest belts I could so I could learn from the best. He gave a great gem: I recommend you roll w/folks better than you 60%-70% of the time and the other 30%-40% of the time you should roll w/people at or below your level, so you can try out the various moves & positions you're learning. He said it can get pretty disheartening & frustrating psychologically if the only people you roll with are all better than you. That was excellent advice.
3.) And one thing I'm so thankful I've done from the beginning is that after every roll, I ask this question "Was there anything you saw or felt that I could've done better?" And even during a 30-sec break between rolls, I get at least one thing to work on & focus on for the next roll based on the suggestions / recommendations I get from my various training partners. Then, on my way home, I'll either write down all the recommendations I received or I'll shoot a quick video to remind myself all the different tips I received. Then, I'll periodically go back & review all the feedback. There are no shortage of things I need to work on. :-) 😅
4.) I asked one black belt what the #1 thing was that set apart the average jitsers from the high level jitsers & w/out hesitation he said "consistency."" - Noble Gibbens
"Going back, I'd probably drill more during instruction.
Other than that, I'd keep it the same. I did a lot of research beforehand, and Anthony Bourdain's episode of Parts Unknown with Kurt Osiander was the philosophical prep work I walked on to the mat with.
It was the brutal awakening I needed for my life, and discovered a Martial part of myself I never knew existed."
-Austin Drago 31, white belt, 2 years (off and on)
And lastly, the thing I would change personally if I could go back.
"If I could I would have tapped ten times as much as I did then. I have a competitive spirit, one that I’m thankful for because it’s what drives me to be better. It held me back a lot though in the beginning because I was more worried about winning than I was about learning during rolling."
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