Lachlan Giles Shares The “Hidden Component” To Fast(er) BJJ Progress

Lachlan Giles shared his insights on accelerating progress in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – stressing the importance of independent thinking and self-directed learning.

Speaking with Craig Jones on the El Segundo podcast, Giles highlighted a recurring pattern he’s observed in high-level grapplers:

People that are thinking for themselves are going to be way better than those people that just show up.

In other words, passive learning alone isn’t enough to reach the highest levels in the sport.

Drawing from his experience in the Australian BJJ scene, Giles pointed to several standout practitioners, including Kit Dale and Mini Dave – who made rapid progress by actively exploring techniques on their own.

According to Giles, this approach consistently leads to better results than simply following standard instruction:

When you’re coming in with like: “I’m going to try this”, not just “I’m going to try what someone said…”But, like: “I want to work this”, then you do get better faster.

That is to say, Lachlan Giles emphasizes the importance of being goal-oriented and focused during training as well.And not just doing things out of sheer repetition.