Day Two of BJJ Training

Did you survive your first day of training? How was it?

Many people walk away from their first day of training somewhat bewildered. There was so much to learn, and it felt like drinking from a fire hose. It’s made even more challenging if you’re a little out of shape.

If that sounds like you, don’t worry about it! It will get better. This article is going to help prepare you for day two of training and make sure you continue down the right path.

Day two of training should focus on two things: people and drills. Let’s explore these two a little further starting with the people focus.

People

People are incredibly important to your BJJ career. You need to get a handle on the people aspect as soon as possible.

Why is that? Isn’t training BJJ about self-improvement?

Training BJJ is certainly about self-improvement, but you won’t be able to get far without your training partners. They need to trust you, and you need to trust them. You are putting your safety in their hands and vice versa.

The best way to establish this trust and foster a healthy training environment is to be friendly to everyone. Learn names. Shake hands. Smile. Listen more than you talk.

Doing this will help to establish rapport with your team. People will be much more likely to ask you to partner up, to look out for you, and to offer you advice.

On day two, attempt to learn everyone’s name. Don’t be afraid to ask a person for their name multiple times until you have it memorized. It shows that you care. And, if you make the effort to learn their name, there’s a good chance they will remember yours.

I could go on forever about the importance of people in BJJ but I will spare you! Let's get to the second focus of day two.

Drills

The second focus of day two is learning the drills, especially the line drills. Line drills are a part of almost every BJJ class I’ve ever been to. And, that should tell you something about their importance.

The first time you see the line drills, you’ll probably be confused by the movements, their silly names, and the purpose of them in the first place. What the heck is a shrimp?

Getting past the silly names, the line drills are really important. Every drill is a repetition of an essential BJJ movement. The “shrimp” for example is a hip escape movement that is one of the most important movements in submission grappling. You must be able to do this movement without even thinking about it. It must become instinctual.

You will learn other movements like break falls. These break falls will help to keep you safe when you transition from standing to the ground. The first time someone takes you down, you’ll be glad you drill break falls.

There are many other drills you’ll perform in class and I won’t go through all of them here. Just understand that they are important! Make your best effort to understand the movements and internalize them.

Conclusion

There you have it – the two things that should be your focus for day two of BJJ training. The importance of people in BJJ can’t be overstated. So, make friends! The drills are also incredibly important. You will use those movements every time you train.

The best way to remember all this from day two of training is to jot down some notes after class. Write down the names of the people you met. What physical feature do they have that you can use to remember them?

Write down those drills. Take note of their names and what you should remember when performing them. That’s it. Enjoy your second day of BJJ training!