Mastering the System vs Improving my “game”

[CLefevre]

Hello all this is my first time posting a thread. I have been training for just over 5 months now. I include some caveats below but most of them can be summed up by saying I don’t know shit

I’ve heard that people have their different levels of game as they progress through Jiu Jitsu where your “A” game as a white belt or blue belt will likely be much different when you reach higher belts for a variety of reasons. The mastering the systems and especially the warmups are very daunting for me(although they look awesome and I in no way doubt the credibility of any of it. I have watched over half of the MTS so far, some more than once). I know that mastering the system and improving my game are not mutually exclusive. I am just not sure how to think about this and how to plan my training accordingly. My intuition is to just keep working on my game (I would define this as the techniques/positions that are best suited for my body type/athleticism and most successful at the moment against non white belts) and then somewhere near the 1.5-2 year mark start taking on the white belt warm ups.

An example of my struggle with this that I was discussing with an instructor yesterday was how I have a high percentage of success when I pass guards without leg pummeling and I get leg locked or swept 75%+ of the time when I do attempt to do some type of leg pummeling on a blue belt or higher. Obviously if I don’t train the leg pummeling it will continue to be a weakness. However, I feel like if I just keep working on my other passes I can make them a big strength in my game and that I can do my best to avoid leg pummeling in high intensity rolls/competing.

I feel like that one Bruce Lee quote goes to my point here “‘I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.’” I do see how this would lead to some weaknesses, but I believe that overall I would be more successful in my competing and functional jiu jitsu in the short term (If someone were to say that long term it makes more sense to work on the warm ups and having several options of techniques for the same positions I’d agree, but who knows a super volcano could erupt soon or I could get an injury that prevents me from training further)

Note that I love watching sport jiu jitsu and will be competing for the second time soon, but I am mostly in this for the self defense aspect. I know ultimately I have to just keep training and not quit. I do however want to use my time and money as efficient as possible. Your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

[Anton Krischer]

Try to go with your A game while rolling. Going with your example; keep passing without the leg pummel. It seems to work on bluebelts, so continue with it. At some point in the future the higher belts will start to recognice your go-to passes and will start working on defending your passes without leg pummel. At that point you may get a little frustrated because out of nowhere your A game starts to suck. Start to think about either a counter move to their counter or start to try out another type of pass, for example one with leg pummel. Try out new techniques on whitebelts, as the percentage will be much higher on them. Also try them on the bluebelts and higher to get an idea at which point your technique fails. To supplement your training watch MTS. It will give you new options on the one hand, on the other you will find details on techniques you're already doing/hitting in sparring and how to improve them. Stick to your A-game and start to find options if it fails.
I have watched MTS from Episode 1 through the cap for at least 3 times. I just started to watch it all over again and I allready have found new details and even new techniques (although i've seen them already 3 times). Find a way to get Information/technique videos on techniques you want to Improve. Search for those in MTS or any other source to find the details you're missing or options you're not using yet. But to really Improve your game you just have to roll, and being intelligently about that. Find the positions/transitions you suck at and get in there repeatedly. Stay calm and think of what the main concerns are in that position and how to keep it or how to be safe or escape.
Drill with purpose.
Create a chain of techniques in your head, start with a combo you're already hitting often. Prolong it by pretending one technique failed.
Per position, keep one technique in mind which you want to improve. Or just focus on one technique which you want to hit from any position possible.
If you're preparing for a tournament, drill your go-to's alot. This will give you the confidence to hit them in competition. Work your best attacks and escapes.
And don't overthink it. You're 5 months into training and yes you don't know shit and so do I. Go train, work on your best stuff and when you reach a dead end, start to think about a way around the problem you're facing. This way your A game will get sharper and also grow.
As a Ronin the 10th Planet warmups help me alot. I'm using maybe 50 to 70 percent of the included techniques and the rest of my game are other techniques, either from MTS, other technique videos or seminars. Repetition is key, whille drilling and also while rolling.

I hope I could help just a little bit. if you have specific questions feel free to ask.
Cheers and happy training!

[CLefevre]

Try to go with your A game while rolling. Going with your example; keep passing without the leg pummel. It seems to work on bluebelts, so continue with it. At some point in the future the higher belts will start to recognice your go-to passes and will start working on defending your passes without leg pummel. At that point you may get a little frustrated because out of nowhere your A game starts to suck. Start to think about either a counter move to their counter or start to try out another type of pass, for example one with leg pummel. Try out new techniques on whitebelts, as the percentage will be much higher on them. Also try them on the bluebelts and higher to get an idea at which point your technique fails. To supplement your training watch MTS. It will give you new options on the one hand, on the other you will find details on techniques you're already doing/hitting in sparring and how to improve them. Stick to your A-game and start to find options if it fails.
I have watched MTS from Episode 1 through the cap for at least 3 times. I just started to watch it all over again and I allready have found new details and even new techniques (although i've seen them already 3 times). Find a way to get Information/technique videos on techniques you want to Improve. Search for those in MTS or any other source to find the details you're missing or options you're not using yet. But to really Improve your game you just have to roll, and being intelligently about that. Find the positions/transitions you suck at and get in there repeatedly. Stay calm and think of what the main concerns are in that position and how to keep it or how to be safe or escape.
Drill with purpose.
Create a chain of techniques in your head, start with a combo you're already hitting often. Prolong it by pretending one technique failed.
Per position, keep one technique in mind which you want to improve. Or just focus on one technique which you want to hit from any position possible.
If you're preparing for a tournament, drill your go-to's alot. This will give you the confidence to hit them in competition. Work your best attacks and escapes.
And don't overthink it. You're 5 months into training and yes you don't know shit and so do I. Go train, work on your best stuff and when you reach a dead end, start to think about a way around the problem you're facing. This way your A game will get sharper and also grow.
As a Ronin the 10th Planet warmups help me alot. I'm using maybe 50 to 70 percent of the included techniques and the rest of my game are other techniques, either from MTS, other technique videos or seminars. Repetition is key, whille drilling and also while rolling.

I hope I could help just a little bit. if you have specific questions feel free to ask.
Cheers and happy training!

Hey thanks so much for your response! I will definitely be doing all of this

[sean applegate]

my advice would be to spend 80% of your time developing your best technique (tokui waza), and 20% building your foundation. mastering a technique early on will give you the blue print for mastering other techniques later...however, people who only spend time developing tokui waza are often times "one dimensional". increase your effective offense while simultaneously increasing your sound defense and movement. only you know what those things are specifically...but for example...80% on armbars and 20% on the warm ups. thats one approach you could take.

[Eddie Bravo]

Focus on rubber guard early. You gotta get that in your blood early or it may never happen. You can work on your top game after your rubber guard is lethal.

[CLefevre]

my advice would be to spend 80% of your time developing your best technique (tokui waza), and 20% building your foundation. mastering a technique early on will give you the blue print for mastering other techniques later...however, people who only spend time developing tokui waza are often times "one dimensional". increase your effective offense while simultaneously increasing your sound defense and movement. only you know what those things are specifically...but for example...80% on armbars and 20% on the warm ups. thats one approach you could take.

I love the 80 20 principle and this definitely resonated with me. Thanks!

[CLefevre]

Focus on rubber guard early. You gotta get that in your blood early or it may never happen. You can work on your top game after your rubber guard is lethal.

I love rubber guard already! I was trying to break people down into mission control on like my 4th day of live rolling even though I didn't have any idea what to do once I got it. The Rubber Guard Flow Chart blows my mind. I really enjoy the dead orchard and learned a detail on gogo clinch yesterday that makes me think it will be another go-to path for me. Thanks Eddie I will do this!