.
.

The Secret For Getting Better In BJJ: Training Is For Learning, Not “Winning”

The Secret For Getting Better In BJJ: Training Is For Learning, Not “Winning”

Everyone who trains BJJ wants to get better faster, looking for a “secret recipe” to quicker improvement. Well, here’s one secret that actually works, as shared by Nick “Chewy” Albin:

A lot of people ask me, like, what’s one of the secrets of getting better at Jiu-Jitsu? And even, what’s one of the secrets to escaping (bad positions)? It’s to become very comfortable with getting submitted, getting beaten – losing, if you want to put it that way – on the mat, in training.
And identifying what training’s real purpose is…

So, what’s the real purpose behind training? Well, for one, training isn’t about “who is better” between you and your training partner:

Training in your gym is the exact same thing as a writer who has their journal as soon as they wake up in the morning and they’re just writing stuff down… Because they just want to see what comes to them.
Nobody’s ever going to see it (the writings), but they just want to see what they can get.

Therefore, the secret to getting better in Jiu-Jitsu is, actually, trying stuff out and experimenting. It’s not about trying to win the roll, but learning:

On your training sessions, it’s the same way; this is not the work that is meant for the people to view. It’s not meant for people to judge other than your coach to maybe give you some encouragement or help. Or, maybe for you to sort of make adjustments.
It’s where you’re training – you’re trying stuff out. And one of the biggest things that hindered me early on was not being able to experiment.