When I started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, like most, the first thing that struck me (other than how easily people could utterly kick my ass) was just how much there was to learn. At the time of writing this I am a Carlson Gracie brown belt, and I very much still feel like I don't even know even 1/20 of what there is to know about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I'm starting to wonder if I ever will?!
Luckily this lack of Jiu Jitsu knowledge is a little less daunting today than it once was because I now have a particular set of skills, skills that make me a nightmare for people like..... Ah shit, wrong text message.
Anyway it is less daunting today though, and that's because I have a set of moves from most positions that I'm happy with, my go to moves and with lots of time, trial and error, I see the picture of my game very clearly, so much so that I don't even really think about it anymore, it's become second nature.
However, it wasn't always so. Each time I went to class I felt like I was often learning something new, but I also felt as if I forgot most of what I was being shown. I tried taking notes, I tried making videos, but in the end I just turned up to class, some bits stuck, others didn't and I generally ended up remembering whatever bits I could pull off during sparring, which makes sense.
As time went on I tried to think about all of the Jiu Jitsu that I knew, the moves that I felt I could do well and I decided to write them down. I wanted to somehow turn that into a quick visual, which is when I stumbled across mind maps, a concept that other budding Jiu Jitsu nerds had already beat me to.
I'd suggest most people create their own mind maps, it's fun and for me it was also quite revealing, in terms of where I had huge gaping holes in my game that need addressing. I used a free website called: http://mindmapfree.com/ to create mine, give it a try it's super easy to use.
As for my beginner students, the above picture is what we will be focusing on in class. Yes I know there are lots of aspects of BJJ that are not covered in the map, but this is for you to get a solid basic game together, to attack and have an escape plan for most major positions. My class is once a week, and so I don't want to spread the content too thin, I'd rather you were bad ass at a few moves, than partially know hundreds.
As always make sure you get to as many other classes as possible, learn from as many different sources as you can in order to give yourself a well rounded set of options, and I'll hope to see you all on the mats!
Luckily this lack of Jiu Jitsu knowledge is a little less daunting today than it once was because I now have a particular set of skills, skills that make me a nightmare for people like..... Ah shit, wrong text message.
Anyway it is less daunting today though, and that's because I have a set of moves from most positions that I'm happy with, my go to moves and with lots of time, trial and error, I see the picture of my game very clearly, so much so that I don't even really think about it anymore, it's become second nature.
However, it wasn't always so. Each time I went to class I felt like I was often learning something new, but I also felt as if I forgot most of what I was being shown. I tried taking notes, I tried making videos, but in the end I just turned up to class, some bits stuck, others didn't and I generally ended up remembering whatever bits I could pull off during sparring, which makes sense.
As time went on I tried to think about all of the Jiu Jitsu that I knew, the moves that I felt I could do well and I decided to write them down. I wanted to somehow turn that into a quick visual, which is when I stumbled across mind maps, a concept that other budding Jiu Jitsu nerds had already beat me to.
I'd suggest most people create their own mind maps, it's fun and for me it was also quite revealing, in terms of where I had huge gaping holes in my game that need addressing. I used a free website called: http://mindmapfree.com/ to create mine, give it a try it's super easy to use.
As for my beginner students, the above picture is what we will be focusing on in class. Yes I know there are lots of aspects of BJJ that are not covered in the map, but this is for you to get a solid basic game together, to attack and have an escape plan for most major positions. My class is once a week, and so I don't want to spread the content too thin, I'd rather you were bad ass at a few moves, than partially know hundreds.
As always make sure you get to as many other classes as possible, learn from as many different sources as you can in order to give yourself a well rounded set of options, and I'll hope to see you all on the mats!