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(Published June 18, 2022)
Note: This one got a little long, and there was a natural break in the middle, so I decided to separate it into two posts.
One of my students asked me a great question the other day. I’m paraphrasing here, but he basically asked how someone in my position improves.
We’re a pretty young gym. We have a lot of white belts, and the resulting experience gap is pretty high for me.
In a more mature gym, you have lots of white and blue belts, a good smattering of purple belts, maybe two or three brown belts, and a black belt.
For the average practitioner in a gym like this, the formula for progress is pretty simple:
Roll with people better than you.
Roll with people at your level.
Roll with people of lesser skill.
Above Your Level
Rolling with people better than you just makes sense. It helps you see the realm of what’s possible. It serves as a reality check for your current level of proficiency. They pull off cool moves, and you can pick their brains on what they just did to you, and how they made it look so effortless.
Of course it goes without saying that the best guy in the gym is usually (but not always) the one teaching classes. So make sure you go to their classes and pay attention!
At Your Level
Rolling with people at your level is where you have the most excitement in my opinion. You’ll have that one guy in your academy that you go back and forth with all the time. You win some, he wins some. He’s your best friend and your arch nemesis all at the same time. You motivate each other. You learn from each other. Your rivalry spurs growth on both sides, because neither one wants to let the other get too far ahead. It’s a healthy competition where each person helps make the other one better.
Below Your Level
Rolling with people of lesser skill also has its advantages. These people are your own personal laboratory. This is where you can experiment with new techniques without having to worry about getting hammered if your execution isn’t perfect. If the technique fails and you wind up on the bottom of side control, you’re confident that you can recover guard, sweep, pass guard, and try the technique again. Several times in one round if need be.
It also tends to be your first foray into teaching. Even if you’re just a one stripe white belt, the new guys will ask you questions about what you just did to them. This forces you to think a little more about what you’re doing. And that in turn, helps make your Jiu-Jitsu better.
But what if you don’t have anyone better than you at your gym?
What if nobody’s even close?
Is it even possible to improve in that case?
In my experience, the answer is an unequivocal, resounding YES! I run a gym full of white belts and one blue belt, and I can tell you that I’m getting better every day. Next time I’ll share what I do to improve.
Talk to you then!
- Mike
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