7 mindset tips to improve your Jiu-Jitsu from white belt to black belt

Xande Ribeiro in 2016. Photo: Gustavo Aragão

Anyone who subscribes to or buys GRACIEMAG at the newsstand every month always has an arsenal of tips, pieces of advice and teachings on hand to help them out in training when they need it most.

You have your doubts? Today, GRACIEMAG.com serves up seven lessons for practitioners of any age or level. Stick to the seven and your Jiu-Jitsu will start improving right away.

1. Consistency means not making haste

Use your mind, not your body’s strength. After all, it’s better to practice Jiu-Jitsu three times a week for an entire lifetime than seven days a week for three years and then quit. Balance is an important ally in your evolution as a practitioner. Don’t overuse your muscles and ligaments and you’ll go far!

2. The most important muscle

The most important muscle for anyone who does Jiu-Jitsu is the heart, the endless desire to tap out but be back the next day to learn some more. Another vital part of our body is the ear. Keep your ears well trained to listen for and respect the pointers from all your companions at the academy, especially those older and higher ranked than you but also rookies and white belts.

3. There’s always a way out

If your game has reached a plateau at the academy, that doesn’t mean it’s time to make a stink about it or think the gentle art’s not for you. All black belts have been through that and persevered until they reached a solution.

Gabriel Moraes choked Gustavo Carpio for the light-featherweight title.

4. The path to fighting on automatic pilot: repetitions

It’s the greatest Jiu-Jitsu lesson, cultivated as much by your instructor as by the superstar Rodrigo Minotauro: you only get the finish on automatic pilot if you repeat the position ten, 50 times. Invest time in creating a solid foundation by repeating basic moves during warm-up. With the basics firmly entrenched, you’ll be able to build solid Jiu-Jitsu with no openings.

5. Believe in yourself until it transforms you

To improve, you need to be the first person who believes you can do it. Trust in the art, believe in your efforts, turn Jiu-Jitsu into your conviction, and the changes will occur quicker than you’d ever thought possible. Don’t think before going to training, just stick your gi in your backpack and head to the academy.

6. Flood your body with health

You can never have too much fruit, fresh water and pure air. Cut the stuff you KNOW is bad for you. Take good care of the instrument that is your body. Only thus will you be able to age and still do the same activities you enjoyed in your youth.

7. Nourish your hobby with good reading!

Want to find out more about the gentle art and have fun with some intelligent, interesting and at the same time laid-back reading? GRACIEMAG’s the magazine for you, the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Subscribe to GRACIEMAG for a special price by clicking here.