Ever been so tired from rolling that you had to rest for a round or two… And just sit on the sidelines, watching others roll?
This doesn’t need to be wasted time. Here’s the thing: watching other people roll can be extraordinarily beneficial for your BJJ progress. Professor John Danaher explains:
Every day you train there will be some amount of time where you will be watching other people spar. If you’re injured and can’t train you can spend the whole session observing other people spar. If you can’t even get to the gym you can watch video of great athletes in competition.
There are clearly many opportunities for you to watch Jiu-Jitsu on a regular basis. The question becomes: what will be the manner in which you watch?
To make the best out of your “BJJ watching”, you need to have a solid mindset. You can’t just watch it for the sake of passing time:
Most people watch Jiu-Jitsu with a recreational mindset; the main thing they watch is the RESULT of a sparring or competition match. They watch to see who wins. While this does have entertainment value, it does not improve your Jiu-Jitsu.
Instead, watch with a questioning mindset. Instead of focusing on the result – FOCUS ON THE FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE RESULT.
It won’t be easy at the beginning. But, with time, you’ll not only be watching – but you’ll also begin seeing the details required for progress:
Many of these factors are very subtle and not easy to observe when you start, but be persistent. Victory in Jiu-Jitsu becomes mostly from a relatively small set of moves.
There are patterns of success in this game… THE MORE YOU WATCH THE MORE YOU’LL SEE THOSE PATTERNS and the more you SEE the patterns of success, the more you’ll be able to REPLICATE the patterns of success for yourself.
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