Training BJJ Isn't the Same as Practicing BJJ

You can train BJJ for years without getting significantly better at BJJ.

That probably sounds strange. After all, if you spend years on the mat, drilling techniques and rolling with your teammates, shouldn't you automatically improve?

Not necessarily.

There's a difference between training BJJ and practicing BJJ.

Most people start the same way. You learn some basic techniques, practice them with a partner, and eventually start using them during live rolling. Over time, things that once required a lot of thought become automatic.

That's progress.

You don't want to have to consciously think about every detail of a technique while someone is trying to pass your guard. Eventually, your body needs to recognize the situation and respond without having to stop and think through every step.

But this is where people can get stuck.

Once your BJJ becomes comfortable and automatic, simply continuing to do the same thing doesn't guarantee that you're still improving.

In fact, this is how people can train for years and still have the same weaknesses.

You have a particular guard that you like. You have a few passes that work. You have a couple of submissions you're good at. When you roll, you naturally gravitate toward the things you're comfortable doing.

And why wouldn't you?

They work.

The problem is that you're mostly practicing the things you already know how to do.

Imagine a student who has struggled with the same guard pass for three years. Every time they roll, they try the pass, get stopped, move on to something else, and then try it again the next time.

They have three years of experience attempting that pass.

They don't necessarily have three years of experience improving that pass.

That's an important distinction.

Live rolling is incredibly valuable. It's where you find out whether your techniques actually work against someone who is actively trying to stop you. It's where you develop timing, reactions, decision-making and the ability to apply your skills under pressure.

But rolling isn't the only way to improve.

Sometimes you need to isolate the problem.

Slow things down. Work on a specific detail. Change the resistance. Start from a particular position. Limit your options. Get feedback. Try something you're bad at instead of something you're already good at.

In other words, you have to deliberately practice.

And deliberate practice isn't always the most fun thing to do.

It's much more satisfying to hit your favorite sweep five times than to spend twenty minutes working on the position you keep getting stuck in. It's more fun to use your best techniques during rolling than to deliberately put yourself into situations where you know you're going to struggle.

But that's where improvement happens.

If you only practice what you're already good at, you're mostly practicing being good at what you're already good at.

This is one of the reasons we put so much emphasis on structured learning at BLAST.

A good curriculum shouldn't just introduce you to more and more techniques. It should give you opportunities to develop important skills, revisit them, apply them, and eventually make them automatic.

But automatic doesn't mean finished.

Once a skill becomes automatic, you have created a foundation for the next level of development. You can now pay attention to more subtle details, better timing, different reactions and more complex situations.

The goal isn't to stop practicing when something becomes comfortable.

The goal is to find the next thing that isn't.

That's how you keep improving.

You don't need to make every training session harder. You don't need to roll harder every week. You don't need to constantly learn another technique.

Sometimes you just need to stop playing the game you're already good at and deliberately practice the parts of BJJ you're not.

Training gets you on the mat.

Practice is what makes you better.