Consistency is Key
Progress in jiu jitsu rarely arrives all at once. It shows up when consistent training gives the small pieces enough time to connect.
Jiu jitsu starts to make more sense when you come to class often enough to see the same positions and details more than once.
One of the things that will help more than just about anything else when it comes to learning jiu jitsu is consistency.
This applies to everyone - adults and kids alike.
Progress is hard to see at first
When you first start jiu jitsu, it’s really common to feel like you aren’t getting anywhere. Drilling is difficult, sparring is worse, and you're still trying to figure out how the purple belt even ended up behind you to choke you out.
I remember when I first started jiu jitsu, I’d be sparring with no real direction - just trying to survive. I’d forget the technique we worked on the week before… sometimes even that same day.
That’s normal.
Early on, you’re only seeing small pieces of the puzzle, and you don’t yet know how they fit together. So sparring turns into doing whatever you can to not get submitted by someone who has months - or years - more experience than you.
What consistency changes
This is where consistency makes a huge difference. If you stick around long enough, and make time to get to class more than once a week something starts to change. You begin to recognize positions a little earlier. You remember small details a little more often. And every once in a while, something you’ve been working on shows up...
Maybe just for a moment. It might not be clean. You might even notice it a little too late, but you notice it nonetheless.
And once you notice it, it tends to come back again.
That’s where things start to connect. Not all at once. Just a little bit at a time.
A couple of classes each week
Listen, we all make decisions in life in how we spend our time. You have responsibilities, just like everyone else - but if you can make it into class a couple times each week and stay with it, that’s usually enough for those changes to start happening.
It might not feel fast, but it all adds up.
See you on the mats.
Joshua is the owner and head coach at 608 Jiu Jitsu in Cross Plains, Wisconsin. He writes about learning, problem solving, and becoming a better training partner through jiu jitsu.