You know how those new white belts have just one gear when it comes to training – fast and furious? Yeah, well, that’s because they’re inexperienced and don’t know any better. For, one of the best markers that someone is becoming an “expert” in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that they’re growing in their capacity to vary the speed and intensity of the game at will.
John Danaher expands further on this topic:
Most beginners have only one speed – maximum. They quickly find this is exhausting; and, if you don’t know what you’re doing, just gets you into bad position slightly faster than if you slowed down a little.
One of the first signs of progress is the ability to slow their pace down to a speed that enables them to make considered choices and solve problems. Over time they will learn to play at many different speeds; and to vary their speed many times over the course of the match.
Professor Danaher emphasizes that, if you want to reach BJJ mastery, you’ll need to add “gears” to your game:
This kind of mastery of variation of pace and intensity is at the core of Jiu-Jitsu mastery.
Just as modern cars benefit from having many more gears than old fashioned cars to create smoother and more efficient power, so too you will benefit from having many Jiu-Jitsu gears to suit the many situations you will find yourself in.
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