Sports Realm

As your jiu jitsu journey begins, you’ll quickly realize the amount of techniques and situations you have to deal with is overwhelming. Getting stuck in bad positions is the norm, and you will be submitted often.

Don’t get discouraged, because you can survive!

The neat thing about jiu jitsu is that it is a great equalizer. The big and strong may actually be at a disadvantage against a skilled jiu jitsu practitioner. The question is how do you last long enough in training to get your skills up?

In a word, basics. If you become a master at just the jiu jitsu basics, you can generally prevent yourself from getting in bad positions and are able to handle yourself if you happen to end up in one. Practice these at home by yourself, and keep them in mind during your classroom training to apply them there as well. After a few weeks you’ll have a basic skill level that’ll really allow you to focus on learning and applying your techniques instead of a panicked defense.

What are these basics?

Hip Escapes

The grand daddy of all jiu jitsu techniques is the hip escape. When you train, you should always have “loose hips”. Switching from side to side and using hips for generating leverage is critical. This really bears repeating. Being able to hip escape – shrimping – is always needed to create space for attacking submissions and defending to recover guard.

Breathing

A basic that many beginners don’t realize is proper breathing. If you wear out in a fight or training, you’ll lose. You have to realize this may be a marathon and you need to relax, slow down and breathe. If you treat rolling/sparring as a sprint, in 30 seconds you will be dead. A typical training round is 5-7 minutes long, so imagine how bad it would be those last 5 minutes when you are gassed! So take your time, work for position, take a deep breath, and enjoy the match.

Open Mind

Many people come to train thinking that their strength is going to enable them to beat all challengers. This type of person quickly finds out they’re wrong when some lightweight with a bit of training demolishes them. To speed up your learning curve, embrace this new way of doing things with an open mind. Practice the techniques using perfect form and with minimal strength. Know that you are going to have a learning curve and that achieving competency takes time.

Ego

Most BJJ practitioners are men and as such have nice sized egos. Leave the ego at the door. You have to enjoy the journey of learning BJJ and understanding all of the nuances. If you have to be the guy that never taps, you are going to get hurt early and often. And if you are hurt, you really can’t train then. Instead, be open to losing to others in your class. Help each other get better. Become a family. Enjoy the journey!

Of course these basics aren’t a complete list of everything you need to master while training. But they provide a fantastic start for your journey. Come to class eager to learn, help your classmates, and train with enthusiasm. This is an really special martial art and it will change your life – if you allow it.

While John normally sells for car dealer Houston, he loves to practice martial arts and lives that passion. Just remember to give him a shout if you are ever looking for used cars in Houston!