How Visualization Can Improve Your Jiu Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, (commonly referred to as BJJ), is as complex as it is useful. There are countless techniques that each require great understanding and mechanical skill to pull off. The art gets even tougher when you add in the speed and stress that comes into most rolls (bouts of grappling combat).
Mastering BJJ takes years of practice and dedication, but there’s one skill that everyone can use to make the task easier; visualization.
Most people (myself included) are only able to train BJJ one to three times per week. That means most of us are getting twelve hours of practice per week, at most.
So in order to retain and truly understand the skills you’re learning off the mat, you need to take some time to visualize techniques off the mat.
Simply close your eyes and imagine yourself holding an opponent in closed guard. In your mind’s eye, see yourself drawing their arm across your chest, your foot coming up to the hip, pivoting to look at your opponents ear, pulling your thigh up into their armpit, locking the other leg around their head, and extending your hips upwards.
Voila, you’ve just executed an armbar from the comfort of your own mind!
You can use the simple “mind’s eye” visualization to simulate everything from specific techniques, to free form rolls, to mental preparation for competition. Even though your muscles aren’t performing the motions, you’re still reinforcing the neural conditioning that your brain builds whenever you learn a new skill. This will help you both retain skills as well as give you great comprehension of what you’re doing.
I incorporate visualization into my morning routine. After I wake up from a restful sleep, I perform a series of stretches to prime my body and stimulate blood flow. Once I am loose and awake, I lie down and meditate, where I visualize the pervious day’s techniques for a few minutes.
Although I am still fairly new to BJJ (about six months of training), I have progressed much faster than some of my fellow white belts and find that I have a much easier time adapting techniques to each situation. I’m sure that in addition to a healthy diet and sleep schedule, visualization has played a huge role in my BJJ success.
