There is a very important lesson professor Asche learned as a blue belt student while training under Master John Machado and as a black belt professor under Roberto ‘Gordo’ that still holds strong in his teaching today. Is the fact that your training is only as good as you make it. That rule holds true to both Professor and student alike. If you teach class, no matter what the surrounding circumstances of life are holding (good or bad) and give 100% of yourself the results of successful comprehension greatly outweigh those of failure. As a student, no matter where you are or who you are training with in class, even if you are training solo it can still be an outstanding class. What does this come down to? Your attitude and willingness to succeed in Jiu-Jitsu. This same attitude you build and re-enforce with your training habits also transfers into everyday life off of the mats. Soon you will find that there are many opportunities to create good experiences out of any and every situation you find yourself in.
What exactly do we mean about training ‘only being as good as we make it’? Regardless of whether you are a purple belt competitor training with a blue belt hobbyist, brand new white belt learning the moves or a black belt training with your own students you can still walk away from any training situation better than you started. No matter if your training partners are beginner, intermediate or advanced skill levels, you can with out a doubt get great training out of every session.
In regards to a class with training partners the functionality and success of your personal training comes down to open-mindedness and willingness to make the most of each situation, every minute you are on the mat training. Commit to giving your all to everything you do. The only person you cheat by being sloppy, not doing all of your reps in drilling, stopping before you are finished, missing warm-ups or talking while others are training is yourself. And that last reference to ‘cheating yourself’ is even more applicable to those who have aspirations of becoming a champion competitor and applies to everyone who trains. Remember, from the moment class begins to the minute it ends you are in charge of making the most out of that session.
Ask yourself: If you have already committed your time to any activity, in this case Jiu-Jitsu why would you not be willing to apply yourself whole heartedly by doing your own personal best every time you do that activity? The decision to learn and become proficient at Jiu-Jitsu has already been made. Now it is time to apply yourself through effort in order to achieve what you set out to do.
Worried about not having partners who are experienced enough to give you good training? You are making excuses for yourself to fail. There are a number of Jiu-Jitsu world champions who trained themselves at their own academies, with their own students (Roger Gracie and Rafael Lovato JR. to name a couple) and took home gold medals from the most prestigious championships in the world. Instead of making yourself excuses to fail, make excuses to do the necessary work that leads you to success. Make yourself excuses to succeed in obtaining the objectives you have set forth!
How can you make those rounds count with a less experienced training partner? Put yourself in positions that are challenging to you to recover from, set and only allow yourself to work specific techniques, transitions or submission from very specific set-ups or positions.
When we are talking about training by yourself, practice each and every movement to the best of your ability. Challenge yourself to be sharper, more proficient and use better economy of motion every time you execute a movement or drill. The refinement of core movements will provide you with better transitions, faster reactions and a better overall understanding of Jiu-Jitsu. If you are serious about Jiu-Jitsu and consistently improving your ability as a martial artist, it is up to no one else except you to make yourself better.