Contrary to what you might believe [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], the hardest thing about Jiu-Jitsu is not âdoingâJiu-Jitsu.
THE hardest part about Jiu-Jitsu is âlearningâ Jiu-Jitsu.
Any New Skill Presents Its Challenges - It doesnât matter what new skill you want to learn, there is an optimal way to learn it.
For example, some people learn with their âearsâ (âtellâ me what you want me to do), while others learn with their âeyesâ (âlet me seeâ what you want me to do), and others still learn by âtouchâ (âlet me feelâ what youâre wanting me to do).
Many learn through a âcombinationâ of one or more of these modalities.
With some activities, we have to âconnectâ our mental learning with our body learning, similar to learning a musical instrument.
Now add in physical âstresses,â and youâll see that learning Jiu-Jitsu is on a whole ânother level altogether.
The best learners in Jiu-Jitsu have been able to combine
1) their mental learning with their
2) physical learning with the ability to
3) control their emotions when feeling both physical AND mental stress.
Sound daunting? It is!
But can anyone learn Jiu-Jitsu skills? Most definitely!
The keys to learning Jiu-Jitsu in the most efficient manner must be broken down into steps.
Step 1 - Find A Suitable Curriculum.
Without a curriculum in your hands, what exactly are you learning? If youâre attending a local academy, do they even have a curriculum?
Sadly, most donât. Many instructors get their ideas for the day from someone else or worse, YouTube.
You can also find suitable curricula online (like at KamaJiuJitsu.com) or in DVD (old school) or streaming format.
Step 2 - Make Sure You Have A Methodology To Learn The Curriculum.
You found a suitable curriculum. Now, how do you go about learning it? Is there an order to learning it?
Do they recommend a âlinear,â âcircular,â or (worse) a ârandomâ order to progressing through the curriculum?
Do they have âtips and tricksâ (or hacks) to learning their curriculum in the most efficient manner?
A good methodology gives you a way to remain disciplined in running through the curriculum.
Step 3 - Is There A Way To Monitor Your Progress Regularly?
No, this step is not simply you being awarded a new color belt or stripes on your belt.
TIME training or in class is NOT an adequate measure of your success, as you might be led to believe (âthe most important gauge in your progress is your âmat time.â â).
We have met dozens of practitioners who have years âon the matâ who know less than a properly trained student with only a year under his belt.
If youâve purchased an online curriculum, make some time to visit the creator of the curriculum to test your progress before attempting to move on to more advanced concepts.
Getting a command of your recent learnings before moving on is of utmost importance.
Step 4 - Do Periodic Reviews Before Going Forward.
Make sure you have a comfort level in what you recently learned (and what you learned months ago) to where you can execute the concepts without much thinking required.
Making these concepts âinstinctiveâ takes time and repetition, but time spent in this step is well worth the time and effort.
Step 5a - Strive to be 1% better today than you were yesterday.
Donât expect large improvements on a day to day basis. Shoot for small incremental improvements instead.
A simple 1% rate of improvement on every training day will amount to a HUGE improvement over the course of a month, let alone a whole year.
Step 5b - Be patient with yourself.
We all want results âyesterday.â The fact of the matter is that it just doesnât happen that way. As we commonly say here, âYesterday you were the nail. Today you were the hammer.
Tomorrow, youâll be the nail once again.â Bad days are simply a consolidation of all the progress you made leading up to those days.
Take them as a learning opportunity and donât be down on yourself. Nothing goes up in a straight line. Bad days are where your perseverance is required.
No one needs to âdig deepâ when things are good and easy.
Granted, some of us have to dig deep more often and for longer periods than others, but remember, we ALL have our issues and where Iâm strong, my partner may be weak, and vice versa.
Good Luck!
Professor Ryan Young
P.S. Have you seen our new members only online training academy yet? Did you know that you can get in for FREE right now on a limited time offer?
It's True
Click Here to check it out. (Don't Wait until This Offer Expires)