If you truly wish not just to „improve“ your Jiu Jitsu – but to make it the best that you can, then there are a LOT of things that you need to take into consideration, and take care of. The techniques, setups, their minuscule details, the transitions… The strength work, prehab and rehab exercises, flexibility and mobility, diet, rest – and so on. Long story short: there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that need to fit together, if your BJJ is going to reach its fullest potential.
However, none of these pieces will matter, unless you get one thing right. The most important thing, actually, without which other ones are as useless as they can be; your MINDSET!
„MY MINDSET? SURELY TECHNIQUE IS MORE IMPORTANT!“
Yeah, we hear what you’re thinking. You’re under the impression that mindset, while important, takes second place in comparison to the techniques you learn on the mats. After all, it’s the technique which wins the match – right?
Well, yes, that’s correct. But unless you possess the proper mindset through which you’ll approach technique acquisition and utility, you won’t learn as many techniques as you could. Nor with as much quality.
In other words, your mindset represents the building grounds on which your techniques shall be developed and used. If you’re not thinking and approaching your training-time properly, you’ll miss out on a lot of chances to improve your skillset. And not only that, but when the competition time comes, you could be the best prepared Jiujiteiro in the arena… But if you can’t control your anxiety, if you can’t override your fear – you’ll freeze up. You won’t be able to use the techniques that you know, and you’ll lose.
Plus, as you know, Jiu Jitsu is in large part a mind game. „Human chess“, as some would like to call it. So, from now on, it might be a good idea to eliminate the thought of „technique conquers all“… Because, as correct as it may be, it’s the mindset which will determine your successes (and losses) in BJJ – and life alike.
HOW DO I GET IT RIGHT?
So, how do you set your mindset in proper order? What are some of the things that you need to take care of?
Well, truth be told, nobody but you can answer this question. You, yourself, know where you’re lacking the most; everything else is just general advice that others can give you based on their own experiences – which you can then attempt to use on your own behalf.
Therefore, by far the most important thing that you could do is to become aware of your own mindset shortcomings. This means that you’ll have to begin paying attention to what you’re doing and to how you’re doing on the mats.
When do you freeze up? What happens, that makes you start overthinking? Which situations make you doubt yourself, where could you be more decisive and aggressive, when does your focus drift from the task at hand… Become analytical of your mindset and the way it fails you – in as many of situations as possible.
Then, when you identify the opportunities for yourself to improve in, work on them diligently. Every time that you notice that weakness revealing its ugly head while you roll, do what you need to do regardless.
You won’t be successful at this every time, but that’s not the point. The point is that your mind will become stronger with each attempt; and then, when some time passes, you’ll become amazed at just how strong your mind game has become in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
