Keeping Your BJJ Sharp During the Pandemic

By Fanatics Authors, April 18, 2020

The jiu-jitsu community has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and regardless of your stance on the situation, the ramifications for BJJ academies and practitioners all over the world have been incredibly unfortunate. With that being said, we know that the resilience of our community and its people is unrivaled and will carry us through these challenging days.

In these unprecedented times where many of us are impatiently awaiting the reopening of our jiu-jitsu academies, we must find new ways to stay active and keep jiu-jitsu a constant in our lives. Whether that means you’re leaning heavily on your instructional library for your BJJ study, you’ve created a solo drill haven in your basement, constructed or purchased your own grappling dummy, or maybe you’re lucky enough to be living with other members of your family that also train, we hope you’re finding creative ways to stay involved with your BJJ and connected to your BJJ families.

In order to take full advantage of this time, you’ll have to develop some discipline and set aside time for BJJ and fitness that you don't compromise on. It can be difficult to get motivated to go into your basement or living room and practice, but if that's what must be done, we have to make it happen. We would all rather be training at the academy with our teams. For many of us, our BJJ school is a source of stress relief, physical activity, and even a large part of our social lives. We are faced with a unique situation and we must use our time wisely. Many academies are offering zoom classes, Facebook live sessions, etc. If your academy is doing this, GET INVOLVED. This is a great way to stay connected to your instructor and continue to connect with your own BJJ community. These sessions can also be quite motivating and may give you the spark you need to do more in your town time.

As far as training in the home goes, solo drills are probably the one thing that almost anyone can do, because you only need a small space and a partner is not required. Believe it or not, solo drills can develop and maintain your BJJ skill level during this time if you implement them on a regular basis. There are some great solo and partner drilling materials available from some of the greatest names in the game, including Tom DeBlass and John Danaher. Both have released solo instructional material that you'll find highly useful during the time. DeBlass’s Solo and Partner Grappling Drills for Rapid Improvement, provides four volumes of solo and partner grappling drills that you can quickly learn and add to your home practice schedule. With Danaher’s, Self Mastery: Solo BJJ Training Drills, you'll receive a series of movements and drills that's completely solo and includes ideas on core strength and some concepts on how to get better outside of the jiu-jitsu academy. You can pick this one up for free! Check out some advice from Top-Tier Coach John Danaher!

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How about training with your kids? If you have children, this could be a great time to get them involved. If they already train, even better. Set aside some time to teach your kids what you know or simply practice together. This is a great way to get some work in and develop new bonds with your children that they'll remember forever. Joel Bouhey has released a new series completely dedicated to this concept called, Train with Your Kids. It's a complete collection of games and drills that make training fun for the little ones and build great skills in the process.

Fitness is another huge consideration during this time. Our gyms are closed and many of us may be working with fewer fitness tools and limited space. This is a great time to utilize things like dumbbells, kettlebells, and bodyweight training to keep our bodies in good physical condition for the return. Crossfit games champion and BJJ purple belt Jason Khalipa has released 10 Top Dumbbell Movements & 10 Sample Workouts to help you get a phenomenal workout with limited equipment so you can stay fit for the comeback! And guess what? This one won’t cost you a dime. It is absolutely free!

Also have a look at our course Quick Dumbbell Workouts For Busy People by Will Safford.

These are just a few ideas for you to consider! We know that our academies will open again and we will resume our normal training schedules, hopefully, sooner than later. But until that happens we must do whatever it takes to maintain our BJJ and physical conditioning while we wait for that glorious return to our favorite place on the planet!

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