Alright Blue Belt, by now you have learned that Jiu Jitsu is overwhelming. In fact, that's why you love it. It never ends. Every corner you turn there is a whole world of things to learn and improve. As an indication of this problem, there are black belts who say there are entire subjects of things they never even trained! With all that is available, what do you do? How do you know what to focus on? How do you stay focused on that thing?
First, some perspective. You will never learn everything about Jiu Jitsu. As you learn new things, you will begin to forget old things. As one skill sharpens, another will dull. This is the nature of the game. With all the potential in front of you, it's simply impossible to take it all on. This is a fact you must learn to accept.
With that limitation also comes something that will completely free you. You don’t have to learn everything. The only thing you have to learn is what will improve your game the most right now. That's it. That's your focus.
What will impact your game the most right now? The easiest gauge for this is to assess where you keep finding yourself. In a roll, what is the repetitive pattern that keeps getting you stuck? This simple question will lead you where you need to go. Still struggling? That's what coach is for! If you don’t know, then ask.
Now, let's create focus. Focus requires structure, check ins, and review. The means in which those items are created will be different for everyone. Do you like to write things down? Make notes on your phone? Do you live on to-do lists? Whatever system you use in your everyday life to organize yourself is the system you need to use in Jiu Jitsu.
Create Structure
Define a focus. Write it down. Determine what resources you are interested in using to help guide your focus. Has a coach given you a game plan? Did you buy the latest instructional from BJJ Fanatics? Where are your solutions coming from? This is important. There are likely multiple solutions to guide your focus, so working from a single source will provide you consistency. I caution you not to watch random youtube videos to establish a game. Not that the videos are bad, it's that they typically don’t present a system of concepts. The best way to make sense of a solution is to hear it from one voice.
Establish a training plan. How are you going to work on your focus? Are you going to do situational rounds? Are you going to open mat? If this training plan is not established, you will not execute your plan.
Create Check Ins
Ask yourself - did you execute your plan today? This week? What were you focused on again? Were you supposed to pass guard, and kept falling to your hip? It helps to tell your coach and training partners what you are working on. They will help remind you, and funnel you where you need to be.
Review
When do you move on from your focus? What is “mission accomplished”? You will never truly master something, especially in a short amount of time. You have to be able to define when enough is enough on a focus, and plan to make the self assessment. Going back to our initial question, where do you keep finding yourself? When you have made considerable progress on a goal, you will find that your rolls change. Your patterns will break and you will now be finding yourself somewhere else. That's the time.
Sample
Focus: Increase my passing percentage. Will focus on the knee cut pass.
Resources: Lucas Lepri knee cut instructional, and coach.
Training plan: Start standing in front of various open guards, and pass with the knee cut.
Check in: Did I execute the plan today? I started passing in 3 of 5 rounds. I am still having trouble dealing with the reverse DLR. Susie Sue gives me a really hard time, so I am going to keep working on passing her guard.
Review: Am I still getting stuck in peoples guard? I am getting to the hip, but have a hard time securing the pass. I am going to keep working on the finish. Alternate ending: I am spending a lot of time in top position. I think my passing problem is fixed for now. Now, I need to figure out how to finish this cross choke from mount!
That's it. That's the focus game. Create a plan. Write it down. Determine your resources. Communicate it to the team. Self check in. Progress your game.