Should you focus on what your coaches teach you, or should you go out and explore other moves and augment your knowledge with other resources?
This is the question second-degree black belt Nick “Chewy” Albin addresses in his latest video.
Chewy is all for exposing yourself to as many different types of material as possible. Jiu-jitsu is an art, not a science. Sure, there are basics that all students need to know, but black belt games differ greatly. Some black belts are guard players, some aren’t. Some always hunt for the arm bar, while others — like one of my former coaches — rarely went for arm bars and almost always went for the choke.
Your game might be totally different from your instructor’s game, and for that reason, it is necessary to expose yourself to as many BJJ styles as possible.
Even if you don’t — or can’t — use the moves you learn at first, simply seeing that they’re possible can lead you in radically new directions that might benefit you in the future.
So, go out an expand your jiu-jitsu horizons as much as you can. Just don’t always expect a positive result.
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