How can I become good in Bjj?

Question

I want to become really good, I train 9 classes (1 hour each class ) a week. I want to do some solo work, will solo drills help me? I found some on youtube that I wanted to practice:

• sit outs- back and forth
• sit outs- around
• leg circles
• hip ups
• hip up triangles
• hip drive throughs
• bridges- side to side
• bridge turns
• compass drill
• flat roll
• shrimp backward to back roll
• elbow drags
• back roll to flat roll forward
• seal crawls
• leg high sit outs w/ push up
• forward and backward crawls
• side to side crawls
• half circle monkey hops
• from knees jump-ups
• wrestler's shots
• up downs from base
• sideways shoulder rolls
• s-turns
• s-turn hip-ups
• alligator push-ups
• scorpions
• backward scoots
• imaginary rope pulls
• backward shrimps
• forward shrimps
• shrimps in place
• explosive hip/chest pops
• plank hops
• low leg through push-ups

BTW is it possible to up my level in BJJ so that even if I am still a white belt (started 4 months ago) my skills are that of a blue belt?? I see blue belts being able to escape and choke you very easily. The Purple belts just let you play because they might breka you in two if they were serious. But I don't have anything specific that I would like to learn I just want to be able to choke and submit my opponents.

Right now in class I am white belt with 1 stripe (4 motnhs training), the coach showed us some chokes, how to open and the different guards, so my level is quite low. Thats why I wanted additional training. To speed things up.

Answer 1

Git gud

There is no short cut to hard training. Sure, the right teacher, the right personal classes, and the right dedication does help but not as much as enjoying the journey not the end goal.

When a student of mine asks how long it takes to get to black belt, I say four year. They then ask what if they worked twice as hard. I say, eight years. Surprised the student asks why: with one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the road.¹

You need to stop worrying about ranks, belts, and whatnot. You just need to train and lose as much as you can. Because losing means that you are learning something new. It pushes your skills up and up.

On a side note, you should not be a white belt with the skill of the blue belt: If you have the skill, you should have the rank.

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^{_{1: Yeah, I took this from a Zen master but cannot find the original source…}}

Answer 2

Here is a basic answer that gives concrete things you can do, but does not address particular drills because that is not so useful over the internet.

1. Practice regularly You have to both show up and practice, and this includes not frittering your all time away socializing instead of practicing.

2. Avoid injury If you get injured, you can't practice. Don't take silly risks.

3. Practice with everyone (without getting injured) If someone asks to practice with you, your default answer is yes. It does not matter whether they are a world-class competitor, a woman, a child, or disabled. There is always an element of timing or coordination you can work on to improve.

   Take the initiative and seek out training partners yourself. Do not be intimidated by rank or size. If they are good partners, you will be fine.

4. Be a good partner No one likes a partner who endangers you, or is resisting unnecessarily when you are simply trying to learn a technique. Practice at a speed and intensity appropriate to your partner so you both learn something.

5. Evaluate all ideas You will get lots of advice from many different people. Some advice will be good and some not, but this advice will definitely conflict sometimes. Understand that you have to evaluate what works and why.

6. Specialize for competition It's better to have reflex speed in a few basic moves than to know 100 different ways to choke someone from behind. But make sure your game is complete; you can't train only moves from the guard position and expect to win in other situations.

7. Add strength last If you learn to fight using strength first, you risk using strength to cover deficiencies in your technique. Learn to apply the principles of your techniques without strength first, then add strength. Some people call this concept "investing in loss".

8. Ask questions If there is something you don't understand, ask about it. Many people avoid asking questions because they fear how they will appear, which is silly.