Going to Class Isn't What Makes You Strong

Do you get strong at jiu-jitsu just by showing up to class?

I don't think so.

A lot of people who've trained for a while will probably nod along to that.

01 What you get in class is the digest

Going to class matters, of course.

Your instructor teaches you a technique.
You actually move.
You touch techniques you didn't know.

But what you learn in class is, in the end, just the "digest" of that technique.

Say the instructor spends 10 or 15 minutes explaining one move. You drill it a few times.

Does that mean you really understand it and can use it freely in sparring? Usually, no.

If anything, you're just being shown the way in: "So this move exists." "So this is how you think about it."

To me, that's step one of learning jiu-jitsu.

02 From a move you know to a move you can use

To go further, you ask your instructor about the same technique again, ask the higher belts, watch videos.

When someone else explains it, they sometimes use completely different words for the same move.

When you watch it from a different angle, sometimes you notice for the first time: "Oh, so that's what was happening there."

That's how you look at one technique from lots of directions.

Then you actually try it in sparring.

Of course, it doesn't work at first.

So you think, "Why didn't that land just now?"

You ask someone again.
You watch the video again.
You try again.

Repeat that, and little by little a move you know turns into a move you can use.

For me, that's step two.

03 Building the parts you've collected

And there's more beyond that.

Once you've built up a fair amount of technique, you start combining it yourself.

This move connects to that move.

For me, it's easier to go from this position to there.

If my opponent reacts like this, I'm better off doing that.

That's how you start building the "parts" you've collected, your techniques, into something of your own.

From here on, it's less about learning moves and more like building your own jiu-jitsu.

Among people who go deep into jiu-jitsu, I think there are some who, in a way, philosophize about technique.

"Why does this work?"
"Is this really the right way to do it?"
"Wouldn't this way make more sense?"

They keep thinking.
They try.
They fail.
They think again.

People like that get strong, I think. Because they keep thinking, and they keep trying.

04 A bit like learning a language

It's a little like learning a language.

Going to class and being taught words and grammar doesn't mean you can speak the language freely.

You use it, make mistakes, listen, read, and use it again.

Eventually, you can put sentences together on your own.

I think jiu-jitsu is close to that.

So it's better not to overrate what class does.

Class matters. But it isn't where you're meant to master everything.

In class, you first take in the digest.

From there, you ask the higher belts and your instructor.
You teach each other.
You watch videos.
You watch instructionals.
You review on your own.
You try it in sparring.
You think about why it failed.
You go back and study again.

You run that cycle over and over.

I think that's what getting better at jiu-jitsu is.

05 Getting to know how strong people think

And if you want to go even higher, coming into contact with how other people think matters too.

"This is how I got strong."
"This is how I think about this position."
"This is the order I build my techniques in."

You listen to talk like that.

Not just the techniques themselves, but what strong people are looking at and how they think.

That widens the range of how you think.

So I think a good instructional doesn't have to show only the steps of a technique. Sometimes it's fine for it to carry the person's way of thinking, even their philosophy.

06 You get strong inside the cycle

You need a lot around you to learn jiu-jitsu.

• There are classes.
• There's an instructor.
• There are higher belts to learn from.
• There's a culture of teaching each other.
• There's a way to review.
• There's video.
• There are instructionals.
• And there's time to think and try things yourself.

You use all of it, and little by little you build your own jiu-jitsu.

That's why you don't get strong just because you went to class.

You go to class.
You learn.
You look things up.
You try.
You fail.
You think.
You learn again.

Inside that cycle, you get strong.

That's what I think jiu-jitsu is.

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