What’s the most useful thing you learned in BJJ that your coach never formally taught you?
Not a technique. More things like timing, hand fighting, patience, pace, breathing under pressure, or hiding intention. A lot of the stuff that makes someone genuinely good seems to get learned through rounds rather than taught directly.
What was the biggest one for you?
And more importantly, do you think it actually could be taught deliberately, or is it one of those things people just have to develop through experience?
11 Comments
I learnt how to control a person with pressure and not getting submitted after lot of losing i learnt how to be patient and control
I think mine would have to be concepts. I believe this is due more to teaching methods evolving rather than my coach not teaching it.
To be 100% honest, I really have not learned a lot from any of my coaches in terms of technical stuff or even conceptual things. Much of it was either self discovered, or by studying outside people.
One of the biggest impacts to my training and coaching was my biomechanics class in college. It really made me think heavily in terms of leverage based Jiu Jitsu which had a hugely positive impact.
@Jason_Scully I have to second that - my trip through grad school in Physical Education taught me some hard lessons in biomechanics in what does and doesn't work in martial arts.
I really have not learned a lot from any of my coaches in terms of technical stuff or even conceptual things.
Man, did you ever flip that coin, @Jason_Scully. Your work here in this site have taught me so much about the conceptual side of BJJ. One of the biggest eye-openers was learning how to recognize and use space, whether I’m transitioning between submissions or dealing with pressure and compression. It’s changed how I understand what’s happening leading into those positions and what options I have without having to manufacture panic. I think it was you who pointed out that the person who starts the scramble typically wins the scramble. That's a concept that I hadn't thought much about until you introduced it.
@afulldeck Very glad I've been able to help through the years!
The names of all the different positions while helpful at times I think can over complicate the sport for new and moderately new people. I think it subconsciously creates these walls of separation between positions. For example I was very interested in spiderguard for years and was constantly looking for spider guard instructionals to help my game. If an instructional didn’t have the word spider in it I wasn’t interested and didn’t think it was applicable. More recently, I see that most moves can be applied similarly with a slight modification to your guard of choice. If I was to watch a dela riva instructional now and saw a move that I liked and wanted to use in my game, I would simply apply the technique with a spider hook and try to apply the concept.
What I learned is how I learn and that I have to take what the coach shows and learn it my way, not his. I'm the kind of learner that needs lots of reps and needs to do a ton of "what if I put my foot here" experimentation before I can start really executing a move.
I came up with a coach used to high level athletes just needing to see it a couple times and he'd see my learning style as messing around. I had to learn to separate the technique from the learning, if that makes sense.
I want to do what I'm shown, I'm just gonna get there different.
I started training in a club that taught techniques kind of classic way, but changed to a club where grappling was more concept based. I think coach never said, but it was clear. Think for your self. Use your brain and experience!
I learned a lot of things thru Smashmosis lol , not formally taught just feeling the pressure or weight change. connections etc c then trying to replicates
My biggest lesson came from outside the martial arts. Working with a track coach and a weightlifting coach taught me how to break down and understand my own movement mechanics. I began to recognize how my unusual build affected what I could do: some movements simply didn’t suit my body. I had to adapt, improvise, and find ways to make the techniques work for me.
That changed how I approached learning. I started paying closer attention to balance, leverage, timing, and where I was forcing a movement. When something wasn’t working, I learned to ask whether I needed more practice or a different approach. Sometimes a small adjustment in stance or positioning made all the difference other times I threw the technique to the dust bin.
I still needed to understand the technique and the principles behind all movements. But understanding those principles gave me room to adapt the movement without losing its purpose. Over time, I became more deliberate in my practice and more willing to experiment.