Ask Question, Receive Advice, Improve Jiu-Jitsu

Here’s something I want you to do that is almost guaranteed to make your jiu-jitsu better.

The people who know you the best also probably know how you can improve the fastest. You just have to wheedle the information out of them!

Start with your coach.

Ask him or her, “What should I focus on for the next 3 months to get better at jiu-jitsu?”

Then ask your favourite training partner the same thing.

Then ask one of the school’s senior students – preferably one who has rolled with you a fair bit – the same question.

If they all say the same thing, then you have your answer.

Then actually do it.

Focus on that one thing – be it pin escapes, guard passing, posture maintenance, weight distribution, submission setups, linking attacks, whatever. – for at least a couple of months.

It’s OK if other aspects of your game stagnate; beat this one area to death for the allocated time and then move on to the next thing.

There is an art to asking questions that produce useful answers, and constraining the time frame to three months increases the odds that you’ll get actionable advice.

Let me know if you get an interesting answer and what your next steps are going to be!

Cheers,Stephan Kesting