I wrote this text in 2015, I think it’s still something for people training BJJ to consider.
When is it beneficial to go outside of our chosen practice to improve our specific practice?
I have been thinking about this a lot lately and have applied my thoughts to BJJ, an art that I am fairly familiar with.
Wether or not our BJJ game would benefit from going outside of BJJ depends on the state of our current 'toolbox'. Let me explain..
Imagine your movement attributes I.e strength, coordination, mobility, flexibility, grip strength, aerial awareness, balance, explosiveness as 'tools' that can be used to perform your 'job' in this case surviving and submitting your opponent.
BJJ is an art where a wide range of attributes are called upon, depending on what type of 'game' we play.
One of the great things about BJJ is that we can have very little of these 'tools' and by adapting the game to suit us we can still have success.
Great, everybody can enjoy BJJ and find something that works for them.
BUT.. There will come a point where we should be asking ourselves, how is the state of my toolbox? Am I missing basic tools? Do I want to stick with just the tools I have?
Very often yes, we are missing basic tools, especially at the amateur level.
I have seen many times people unable or afraid to use certain guards, perform passes, escapes and takedowns because of it.
If just one of these basic tools is lacking you may be missing out on hundreds of potential techniques.
So to answer the question when would it be beneficial for our BJJ to supplement our training with some additional work outside of BJJ?
When basic 'tools' are obviously missing.
I would start by,
Fixing broken tools- rehabilitate and strengthen injuries.
Replacing lost tools-regain mobility and strength we once possessed.
Collect missing tools- increase/improve strength, explosiveness, coordination, acrobatics, balance, flexibility etc.
While theses things can improve within our BJJ practice the most efficient way is to devout some time outside of BJJ to work directly on our own specific missing 'tools'.
I have been doing this the last years and I’m happy I did. On it goes..
