So, you have been training for a couple weeks now and have been to handful of classes here at Easton.  You are starting to get the hang of the basics rules and culture in the gym, such as bowing-in when entering and exiting the mats, slippers in the bathroom, and keeping your nails trimmed.  You are hooked and wondering what’s next? 

In this article, I am going to share some tips to help keep you on the mats and kick your training up a notch in this early phase of your Jiu-Jitsu journey.

#1 Set a weekly training goal to stay consistent.

Look, I get it.  Life can get busy and some times we put things off.  By setting a weekly training goal for the minimum amount of classes you will attend each week, you will build consistency in your training.  It is important to understand your goals and why you decided to train in the first place.  For me, it was to get into better shape while increasing my confidence in the event I had to defend myself or my family.  I find that training three days a week is perfect for me.  Make a decision now to train for a set number of days every week.  Be honest with yourself and where you are physically.  Take rest days, because overtraining is real and the last thing we want is for you to miss training due to injury!

#2 Yoga helps for more reasons than you think!

When someone says “Namaste,” I may slightly roll my eyes, but Jiu-Jitsu has us moving parts of our bodies that hasn’t had a lot of activity or movement up until this part of our lives, mainly our hips and shoulders.  Yoga is a great way to start bringing mobility and movement back to the parts of our bodies that have been immobile for years.  The active and intentional stretching involved in yoga not only feels great when we are sore and stiff from training but can increase our flexibility which will improve our abilities on the mats.  There are plenty of 10-minute yoga videos online that will help get you going.  Who knows, you may learn to love doing yoga as much as I do!

#3  Tap early, tap often.

Embrace the tap.  Being a newer white belt, when you are able to roll live you are going to get submitted – a lot.  That is okay! We are here to learn and get better, and we tend to learn more from our losses than from our wins.  It’s okay (and expected) to tap.  Tap early and often to avoid getting injured so you can keep coming back and getting better.  On the flip side of this if you do happen to catch your partner in an arm lock, shoulder lock, or choke be ready for your partner to tap.  You don’t have to take their arm home with you to get the tap.  Take care of yourself and your partners so we can keep getting better together!

Training jiu-jitsu is a lifelong journey full of ups and downs. Here at Easton, we want to thank you for showing up for yourself and your partners on the mats.  You will hit roadblocks and walls along the way.  You may go weeks feeling like your game isn’t improving but just know this is all normal.  Sometimes, it takes our bodies a little while to catch up to what our minds but this is all part of the process.  You are doing it and that is all that matters.

Ready to Get Started? 

Easton Training Center’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program has classes for students of every level. Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned brown belt, you’ll find training at our academies to be fun and challenging. 

Our Fundamentals program teaches the essentials of offense and defense from the foundational positions. You’ll learn self-defense techniques for real life situations. From there, you’ll start to build your own game in live training, or Randori. In our advanced classes, you’ll learn the finer points of sport Jiu-Jitsu from the best instructors in Colorado. 

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