I hear from a lot of people about how frustrated they are with the fact that they didn’t start Brazilian Jiu Jitsu earlier. But we have always got to remember that we can never choose a new beginning, but everyone can choose a new ending. Throughout the years I have been training BJJ, the main thing I have seen stopping people from training is injury.

A few main factors will determine what happens to you during the journey of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. First will be your teacher. Having a great teacher that will look after you and guide you through a safe journey is essential. Second will be the people that train with you, having good training partners is also very important. But the most important factor will be you and your attitude towards training and everybody else around you. One very important component that will change the way you train is called “Ego” and too much ego will kill your talent.

Here are few tips to help you on your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey;

• Be patient, learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is hard and it will take awhile until you get to the top. You have to progress slowly and steadily. Imagine BJJ like a food chain: Imagine yourself as the mosquito right at the bottom of the food chain. Very soon you will become a frog and start eating the mosquitoes, then you become a snake that will eat the frog and eventually you will become the lion right at the top of the food chain.

• Be aware that Jiu Jitsu is a game just like “Chess” but with physical attributes. The more you play and the more you move your pieces, the better player you will become. So don’t try to control the game by holding and using too much strength, try to keep the flow.

• Do not always worry about tapping people out or being tapped out – don’t train everyday like it is a competition. This is one of the most common mistakes people make. This will slow down your Jiu Jitsu and get you injured, causing you to stop training. Depending on how serious your injury is, you may never get back to 100% again.

• So what should I do, not tap any one out? I am by no means saying that. Submission is the ultimate goal of BJJ, just as check mate is in chess. All I’m trying to say here is: For example, if you get caught in arm bar and your arm is already straight, do not keep trying to escape if at this point you and your training partner already know you have been caught. Don’t pull the arm out and hurt your elbow just for the sake of saying ‘I did not tap for my training partner’. This is not a very good idea for the long term. When you are competing, do everything in your power to not tap. You are fighting for something like a title and it isn’t two to five times a week. But if you choose to carry the “ego” attitude into training every day, you probably won’t be training BJJ for very long, or by the time you acquire most of the skills you need, you will not be able to use them.

• Look after your training partners as much as you look after yourself - they are your best and most important tool on your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey .

I wish everyone a safe Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey. OSS

Daniel Lima

Fight Club Australia
www.fightclubjiujitsu.com