Being a beginner in Brazilian JiuJitsu can sometimes be frustratingand I know how you feel!BJJ can feel very different from all the other martial arts, I mean look at the positions you end up in. You can end up in Mount, back, Guard, Cross sideor even upside down. There are countless variations on how to hold, how to escape and how to submit.
What can also bea source of frustration is that for one technique you may have three or more different variations, for example you may have 5 different instructors teach you the same arm bar in the guard in 5 different ways. That can start to send you a bit crazy.
It’s no wonder that a lot of people quit Brazilian jiu jitsu within the first six months but I don’t want that to happen to you so here’s one big tip to help you survive the early days.
– PAY AS MUCH ATTENTION AS POSSIBLE WHEN THE INSTRUCTOR IS EXPLAINING THE TECHNIQUE AND BE SURE TO ASK QUESTIONS!
The reason to pay attention is obvious, the need to ask a question is important because asking questions will help you understand a technique better as you are engaging with the problem in an enquiring way and creating a discussion with the problem at the centre.
When I was White, I used to make lot of mistakes too. Don’t worry this is completely normal and is part of the evolution in BJJ. Believe me; you will learn so much by accepting your mistakes and seeing them as lessons.
That’s why you don’t get better by not tapping,you get better by understanding why you got caught in a specific technique and using that understanding to improve for next time.
So enjoy the journey and don’t worry so much about the destination! Be patient and you will be one of the one’s that gets there!
Daniel Lima
