The Power of Repetition
One of the most surprising parts of my Jiu Jitsu journey comes from realizing how much it mirrors learning a second language. Years ago, when I started learning English in Brazil as a kid, I remember sitting in classes understanding the teacher, taking notes, nodding along and thinking, Okay, I’ve got this.
Then eventually real life hit. I took my first trip to the US, had the opportunity to talk to actual native speakers, and everything shifted. Their accents sounded different. Their speed felt faster. Their vocabulary never matched what I had memorized.
I still remember the first time I ordered pizza over the phone. I sweated through the entire thing. My heart raced. And it felt ridiculous to be that nervous over something so simple. But the experience mattered. It stretched me. It pushed me to grow.
With repetition, everything started to click. I picked up words in songs. I watched movies without subtitles. I understood jokes. The language stopped feeling like something outside of me and started becoming something I owned.
[Putting the “Oss” in Glossary]
Jiu Jitsu works the exact same way
You go to class, drill a technique, and everything makes sense in the moment. The steps feel clear. The details feel straightforward. You think, Okay, I’ve got this.
Then you roll with someone who moves differently, applies pressure faster, or reacts in ways you never expected, and you stumble through the “conversation.” Your timing falls apart. Your reactions feel clumsy. You freeze on something you believed you understood perfectly.
And sometimes this happens at the highest levels of pressure, like competition.
In my most recent tournament, I created a whole game plan. I wanted to pull guard first. I rehearsed it. I visualized it. I felt ready. But both of my opponents pulled guard before I could even move, and suddenly everything shifted. I had to adapt on the spot. And here is the beautiful part: the plan fell apart, but my repetition held me up.
I found myself taking the back, a pathway I only drill in class and never consider my go-to. Yet in the moment, my body moved with instinct. The muscle memory from countless reps kicked in. My mind didn’t panic. I just flowed. That flow led me to dominate positions I never planned for — and to win.
Repetition creates fluency
You keep showing up. You practice the same movements over and over. You start noticing cues you never saw before. Your body responds without hesitation. And then it happens: you hit a sweep in a live roll that you had never landed before. Something that once felt impossible suddenly feels natural.
Not because talent magically appeared.
Not because understanding suddenly arrived.
But because repetition reshaped your confidence and your skill.
That’s the beauty of both Jiu Jitsu and language learning: repetition unlocks everything.
You may not notice your improvement day by day. But one moment — one movement, one roll, one “conversation” — reveals how far you’ve come.
Repetition doesn’t look glamorous. But it creates confidence, competence, and eventually, mastery. Whether you’re learning to speak a new language or learning to spar, fluency comes from the same simple truth:
Keep going.
Keep trying.
Keep showing up.
And one day, the thing that once intimidated you — the roll, the move, the conversation — becomes the very thing that makes you feel powerful.
