Train Jiu jitsu with Intention

Training jiu jitsu with intent means you’re training with a purpose.

And training with a purpose is important in jiu jitsu or anything really. If you’re learning something completely new you have to do it with intention. You have to pursue it with a plan or some sort of structure.

That's why you have schools and universities with learning programs and even jiu jitsu gyms have a curriculum. It is a plan to reach a goal.

You can just show up to class and learn whatever your coach is teaching that day and just go with it.

The good thing about it is you don’t have to think about anything and you get spoon fed a technique and you drill it. You will learn and still make progress.

The problem with it is, if you try to hit the technique that was just taught 10 mins ago in sparring. It’s going to be fresh in everyone’s mind. Everyone will see it coming and you won’t be able to hit them at all.

Now if you come to training with something you want to work on in mind. You can hyper focus on it and when you start doing that, you’re going to keep an eye out for it. You’re going to look for opportunities to enter the position.

You might be able to enter the position but not be able to execute the move. That’s okay, it’s a start. You need to be able to enter before executing anyways.

You might even start to see opportunities in positions you didn’t even think about.

I’m not saying don’t come to class, and just do your stuff. Don’t be drilling long step passes when your coach is teaching armbars. Have some respect for what the coach is teaching you.

So drill and learn and participate in class. I’m sure there’s plenty of things to get out of class from your coach. There are so many details that will come out from just doing the class.

But once you’re in sparring or on an open mat or after class. That when you will have time to drill and do your own thing.

So at the moment I’m working on my triangles. It’s always been my submission and i love it. So I am focusing on catching triangles and how to make them tighter and how to get them from anywhere.

For the last 2 months, I am only looking at subbing with triangles. If i’m on the back or on mount. I will find a way to get a triangle. I might not finish it. But I will attempt it.

Just by chasing triangles, I am seeing opportunities to catch triangles from weird places, I am setting traps to get triangles. I would throw a crappy armbar attempt. Make them pull an arm out and then shoot for the triangle.

I would shoot for triangles from de la riva.

It's great because you’re limiting what you want to catch, so you focus on just one thing.

It’s a great way to get good at something really fast. And once you’ve been on a particular technique for a few months. You can move on to something completely different.

All I'm saying here is you have to take control of your own jiu jitsu journey. A coach can guide you and teach you anything.

At the end of the day your coach needs to accommodate for the whole class. Just because you know how to do an armbar it doesn’t mean you know everything about the armbar, and just because you know it. It doesn’t mean everyone else knows it.

There's going to be new students or people who don't know it as well in class. The coach's job is to coach everyone else and not just you. So if you want to work on something. You really have to drive your learning on the mats.