You Can’t Win Practice – Embracing the True Path to Mastery
In both Jiu-Jitsu and Taijutsu, there’s a fundamental truth that separates the practitioners who steadily improve from those who plateau: you can’t win practice. Training isn’t about proving dominance, flexing your A-game, or stacking up imaginary wins – it’s about developing the skills and strategies that will serve you in real-world situations and future challenges. This mindset shift is essential for anyone looking to become a more complete martial artist.
Prioritize Skill Development Over Performance
When you step onto the mats, the primary goal should be to expand your game, not simply to win every exchange. If you focus solely on winning, you’ll find yourself relying on your most reliable techniques – the moves you already know work well for you. While this can feel gratifying in the moment, it stalls your long-term progress. Instead, prioritize developing new systems, testing unfamiliar strategies, and working through techniques that may initially fail. It’s in these uncomfortable, experimental moments that real growth happens.
Embrace the Role of Failure in Growth
Progress in martial arts isn’t a straight line. It’s full of setbacks, missteps, and temporary defeats. This is a crucial part of the journey. When you only seek to win in practice, you avoid these valuable lessons and limit your potential. The best grapplers and fighters aren’t just the ones with the most wins in the gym – they’re the ones who have failed the most, learned the most, and evolved their game accordingly.
Testing Your Skills – When to Use Your A-Game
While the majority of your training should focus on skill development and experimentation, there are times when it’s valuable to sharpen your top techniques. Competitions are a perfect opportunity to put your refined skills to the test, but even in the gym, it’s beneficial to periodically pressure test your A-game. About one out of every five training sessions, or as you get closer to a competition, make a conscious effort to use your top techniques to ensure your timing, leverage, and control remain sharp. This balance helps keep your game realistic and ready for the intensity of a real match.
Practical Steps for Getting the Most Out of Training
To truly maximize your time on the mats, here are some practical steps to consider:
Focus on the Skills Being Developed: Each class has a focus. Lean into it. Whether it’s a new sweep, takedown, or escape, immerse yourself in the technique being taught, even if it feels uncomfortable or unnatural at first.
Apply New Techniques in Rolling and Free-Response: It’s one thing to drill a move in isolation, but the real test is making it work in live scenarios. Challenge yourself to integrate what you’ve learned, even if it means getting swept, submitted, or out-positioned at first.
Do Your Homework: Study the principles you’re learning outside of class. Watch competition footage, break down the techniques, and think about how they connect to the broader game you want to develop.
Come with Questions: The best students aren’t just absorbing information – they’re actively questioning it. Come to class ready to ask about the positions and techniques that are giving you trouble. This shows you’re thinking deeply about your training.
Measure Growth, Not Wins: Track your progress based on the expansion of your game, not just the number of submissions you hit in practice. Did you successfully pull off that new sweep today? Did you control a tough training partner with a newly integrated grip or position? That’s a win.
Conclusion – The Real Victory
Remember, the real victory in martial arts comes not from stacking up wins in practice, but from becoming a more complete and adaptable fighter over time. Embrace the messy, sometimes frustrating path of skill development, and you’ll find that the wins in competition – and in life – will follow.
Train smart. Train open. And always be willing to lose a few battles to win the bigger war.
