Do You Need a Reset?

We all take our BJJ journey very seriously. Whether you’re an avid competitor, hobbyist, or just a fan of the art, your progress is undoubtedly very important to you.  Day in and day out we give our craft the attention it commands for us to further our understanding and bring up our level of proficiency. It can be an arduous task at times, and it also taxes the body and the mind. If you have a family, fulltime job, or a lot of responsibilities the stress can be magnified that much more. We put pressure on ourselves to be better than we were yesterday, and this keeps us hungry. And if we’re not paying attention to the cues our bodies are giving us, it can also impede that progress we desire so much.

Occasionally you may need to reset.

You know your body and mind better than anyone. Have you ever felt that you’re just stuffing more information into an already bulging mind filled with material? Maybe you’ve had an injury that no matter what you seem to do just won’t go away. What about over training and that feeling of fatigue? These are signs you may need to reset your body and mind. But relax, a reset doesn’t have to mean time away from the mat. Here are a few tips on how to reset your BJJ brain and body without having to leave that beloved soft surface you call home.

Switch it up to Reset

Sometimes we get so fixated on mastering a particular part of our game that we become obsessed and overstimulated with the topic. For example, if you’re a guard player and your guard is beginning to feel stagnant, take a couple of weeks to only play bottom. This will give your brain time to digest the other material you’ve been working on so diligently and spark some new growth elsewhere in your BJJ.

Predict your movements, protect your injury to reset.

We all experience those nagging injuries, not the career ending kind, but those minor wounds that test our level of stubbornness. If we just took a week off, we could heal itup. But who wants to do that? Consider not doing anything unpredictable in your BJJ practice. Stay away from the live training and positional rolling. Instead Rick 4 partner drills that could help you bring up a deficiency in your game. Grab your favorite partner and work on your movement. I feel that many of us place such a heavy emphasis on rolling that we lose sight of everything surrounding the actual live training, and how beneficial it is to work cooperatively with a great partner. Don’t get me wrong, live training is absolutely necessary, and its benefits shouldn’t be overlooked either. But when we roll, like it or not, we perpetuate bad habits. There’s much to be said about some high level controlled drilling. And when you can predict the movements, you can protect your injury.

Rest to reset.

Exhausted? If you’re putting in more than your taking out, you are on borrowed time. This will eventually catch up to you. Think of your body as a bank. The more withdrawals you make, the more you have to deposit. You get the picture, right? This means if you want to train like a world champion, you’ll have to eat, sleep, and heal like one as well.  Be sure to eat food that helps you recover and replenish what you’ve lost during a tough session. Sleep is #1. If you’re not getting 8 hours a night, make it a priority. Entertain the idea of adding some intense stretching or yoga to your routine. Yoga is incredibly healing. Every night before bed I hold 5 different poses for 5 minutes each. At 36 years old, if I remember to always do this at night after a tough session, I’ll feel almost completely unscathed the morning after. It’s like a magic pill.

Sometimes taking a moment to step back and reset involves looking to add new wrinkles to your game.  Wrist locks have a special place and status within the jiu jitsu world.  Some people think they're dirty, but no one disagrees that they're affective.  Check out Jamico Elder's "Scientific Wrist Destruction" from BJJ Fanatics if you'd like to learn more!

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