Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has an enormous number of techniques you can learn.
Remembering them is an art in itself.
Let alone implementing them during sparring.
Applying a technique with the right timing determines the outcome of the match.
With this list, your retention and competence will remain HIGH!
Tip 1: Take notes:
To the students of BJJ Amersfoort, I always say:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a lifelong study.
You learn something new almost every day and work towards an examination.
You are never done learning.
Your retention of techniques is important for your development.
The more you ultimately know, the less you will use.
But then it is important that you simply take notes and visualize the techniques.
It sounds so simple, but almost NO ONE does it.
Here are some tips on how to best take notes:
Take notes after class instead of during class.
Take notes once during class and you will soon realize that I speak faster than you can write or type!
In the beginning, even when taking notes after class, you'll realize you might have missed a few details and you often ask yourself: where should the right hand go, where was I supposed to shift my weight to again, how can I avoid this obvious submission?
The next time you come to class, you are constantly looking for these details, and that's how you develop a technical eye for detail!
Use digital tools
Personally, I love writing by hand.
Although that is a method that works for me, I am always afraid of losing it sometime.
It's also annoying when you are looking for notes from years or months ago and can no longer find them.
Nowadays, you have handy apps on your phone that you can use.
You can search for words, edit the notes to add more details later, and even create a backup.
Arrange chronologically with dates and labels.
The whole point of notes is to ensure you can use them in the future.
So make it easy for yourself to find them, make sure to include dates and use labels.
Write down all techniques, even if some don't seem useful to you today.
Sometimes you learn complicated techniques that are not yet applicable to your level but may be in the future.
Your style can change over the years.
Jiu-Jitsu also evolves over the years.
Often you learn the most under resistance (sparring).
You then come up short, but you can't remember all the details!
This is when the notes come in handy.
It's sometimes an annoying chore.
After a training session, you're tired and want to flop onto the couch and watch Netflix.
DO IT ANYWAY!
Tip 2: Filming:
For more complex techniques, it might be better to record them.
It would be great if you could film your instructor during every session, but this is disruptive to the class.
I ask the Amersfoort BJJ practitioners to do this after class during open mat. Do it immediately after class while the details are still fresh in your mind!
Tip 3:
Drill your techniques with a training partner who has a similar mindset.
Why do I say this?
Nobody likes drilling.
It always starts with 5 minutes of drilling, after which it quickly turns into "let's roll."
Drilling or position training under resistance is one of the best tools you have.
SO DO IT.
Everything you have learned and still remembered will then surface (or not).
What drilling basically does is make you comfortable performing certain movements, and pulling the trigger at the right moment.
When you are in a similar situation later.
For example, on the street or in a competition, you apply the movement without thinking.
If you can do it slow, you can do it fast.
Always start slowly with the mechanics of the technique, as time passes, gradually go a bit faster. (developing movement patterns)
Find a partner who genuinely wants to train this way, make each other's time on the mat useful.
The bigger picture is more important than you just sparring intensely and walking off the mat breathless.
For you, it's a good session in the short term, but in the long term, you achieve nothing with it.
Also, make sure you are critical of each other while practicing.
There is nothing worse than performing a technique incorrectly.
It's easier to learn something correctly than to break old habits.
If you can't figure it out, ask me!
4: Do visualization training:
BJJ is a mental and physical game.
Not everyone has access to a partner who wants to drill after class.
Then visualization is a fantastic hack.
Visualization is when you go through the movements/techniques step-by-step in your brain.
There are enough scientific experiments/studies to substantiate this.
The most famous ones are in basketball about free throws.
The research went as follows:
Group 1: Physically practicing free throws.
Group 2: Visualization only.
Group 3: Nothing.
The group that only visualized made as much progress as the group that practiced physically.
Realize what an impact this can have on your Jiu-Jitsu.
You can double your training time!
5: Practice the technique on lower belts
Mastering a BJJ technique sometimes takes a while.
One way to remember techniques is positive reinforcement;
in other words, your subconscious needs to know that it works.
Have you ever wondered how a certain submission became your favorite?
It was reinforced by successful submissions over time.
Making your memory turn it into muscle memory.
To the point where your confidence in the submission became great enough that your body would lead you to positions that led to it.
One of the best pieces of advice I received in Jiu-Jitsu was from Harold Harder.
Roll rounds with people who are less skilled than you, that's how you sharpen your technique!
The advice went in one ear and out the other.
I had to and would find the toughest sparring partners and that's how I would get better!
Until I lost badly in a competition once and concluded that I couldn't pull the trigger and was thinking too long.
This was because I was only defending against people who were a lot better than me.
So you have to test, test, and test again.
Then there are also the people who follow this advice very obediently and want to apply the techniques immediately after every class.
Nice try, but everyone is super alert to it now, of course!
So pay attention to the technique, drill them with a partner, visualize it before you go to the next class, and then practice it in the next sessions during sparring with lower belts.
6: Seek or ask for ways to integrate the technique into your game.
As I wrote earlier, not every technique will (yet) fit your style.
This is often why many jiujitsukas ignore or forget techniques.
One way to remember it is by making a link to your current game.
You are not really a guard player.
Then ask your instructor how you can still use guard to get to your best position.
For example, back mount.
This way you keep it fun for yourself and you can remember it more easily.
When you attend a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class, try your best to get the most out of the lesson.
100% effort in every session pays off!
This article was originally published in Dutch. Read the Dutch original.
