Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Progressive Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: The Most Common Mental BJJ Mistake

By John Knievel


The sport of Jiu Jitsu is both physically and mentally challenging. In fact, many refer to jiu jitsu as physical chess! What is wonderful about this sport is that even if you are physically the best player out there, you can still be beaten by your opponent if he is stronger mentally.

If you go back to the early 90s you can see a great example of this in the UFC fights of Royce Gracie. He was always the smaller and less athletic guy, but he ended up winning UFC 1, 3, and 4. It was amazing and clear that he had skills that other fighters didn't know what to do with.

So, you might be asking how this applies to you.

The mental game is just as important as the physical. Understand what you are good at and what you need to work on. Know those of your opponent as well. Put together a jiu jitsu plan that'll let you maximize your strengths and take advantage of his weaknesses. Then, all you have to do is make it happen.

If you are a small and fast guy, don't play bottom against someone much stronger. If you are heavy, be sure to utilize your weight when playing top. If your best submissions are arm bars, stick to them and make them even better!

However, you don't want to make the error of believing that you should only concentrate on your strengths. Your jiu jitsu training needs to encompass every component and aspect of the sport that is available in order to completely comprehend your craft. You should be taking these suggestions as a way to pump yourself up regarding your approach to competition and training. By tapping into your mental skills, you will gain a huge advantage over a lot of your opponents.

I suggest you write the following down on paper: your strengths, your weaknesses, your top two specific techniques you want to work on. Now practice the two you want to work on. And after every roll, see what falls under your strengths and weaknesses. Once these are written down you are committed, so hold yourself responsible for working on them.




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