In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, most practitioners are constantly looking ahead – new techniques, advanced systems, and the next level of development…
But according to John Danaher, real growth often comes from looking backward.
At first glance, this might seem counterintuitive. Why go back to beginner techniques when you’ve already “moved past” them?
But Danaher explains that the key lies in how you have changed – not the move itself:
The Ancient Greeks used to say ‘you never step in the same river twice.’ So too in Jiu Jitsu.
When you come back to those early moves you learned you come back as a different person.
Now you have new skills, new insights and new outlooks.
This transformation changes lots of things.
As the same technique you once struggled with now will reveal new layers:
So you see the same move very differently and your execution, ability to interpret feedback, background knowledge and skill will be very different, resulting in a very different learning experience and a very different execution…
The move may be considered the same, but the person working on it is not, and so the move itself will reflect that change.
In this way, revisiting fundamentals isn’t repetition – it’s rediscovery:
So make a habit of coming back to moves that filled your first year of learning – it will be a new experience each time.
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