There’s no way around it, when you first start jiu-jitsu you have to be a bit of a generalist.

You’ve got to learn an escape from side control… an armbar from mount… a sweep from closed guard… a choke from the back… and so on.

What you’re doing with this approach is trying to develop a couple of offensive and defensive options from the top and bottom for each of the major positions on the ground, i.e. guard, side control, knee ride, mount, back, and turtle.

(This approach of filling out your positional matrix on the ground is the topic of my Roadmap for BJJ book, which has been downloaded for free over 100,000 times.)

But eventually, usually around blue or purple belt, it’s best to shift approaches and start becoming a bit more of a specialist.

That DOESN’T mean dedicating your entire life to a position or a technique.

Instead, it means taking a topic (a position, a strategy, or a technique) and going DEEP on it.  Spend about 80% of your disposable training time focused on that topic. 

For that topic, research all your offensive options, all the likely defensive options, and which of those options work best for your body type.

Take advantage of competition footage, asking your instructors for feedback, workshopping with your training partners, studying instructionals, and every other source of information you can think of.

Then you’re going to do a LOT of focused drilling, positional sparring, and targeted games to improve in just that one area.  Then, use your free sparring time to further develop your skills in that one area.

This will help you blast through your plateaus, train with people smaller and less skilled than you, and improve your training partners.

(Even a white belt will get pretty good at armbar defense if all you’re ever going for is armbars and you show him the counters.)

These training blocks can last a week, a month, or even half a year. 

When your progress levels off and your return on training investment diminishes, switch gears, pick a new topic, and repeat.

I’ve used this approach for about 80% of my training these last 30 years in the art. I’m not especially physically gifted, so most of my development can be credited to this approach. 

Some of my areas of exploration have resulted in instructionals (e.g. Omoplata, Pin Escapes, and Rolling Backtakes) and some have not, but it’s ALWAYS made me better and helped me appreciate the depths of this art.

Become a serial monogamist when it comes to training the different areas of jiu-jitsu and your overall skills will improve dramatically!

Good luck with your training,

Stephan

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