When did it click for you? Or maybe it never did?

[BobSacamano]

I have only been training for about 4 months. I still get schooled every class. I don't mind one bit, it is a blast and all part of the journey.

I am just curious about others experiences. I am told around 6 months it just clicks (give or take - everyone is different), or it never clicks per se you just start to see small victories, like the passing of someone's guard that you were never able to pass, or a nice escape from side control etc...

 

[Calibur]

I have only been training for about 4 months. I still get schooled every class. I don't mind one bit, it is a blast and all part of the journey.

I am just curious about others experiences. I am told around 6 months it just clicks (give or take - everyone is different), or it never clicks per se you just start to see small victories, like the passing of someone's guard that you were never able to pass, or a nice escape from side control etc...

It took about 5 years before it "clicked" with me. I am serious. I got promoted after two years because I was winning consistantly, but all of my teammates knew their was something my game was missing that I should have already had. Before it "clicked" I was just a guy who knew a bunch of Jiu Jitsu moves.

I'm a slow learner. Some of my friends who started after me are almost brown belts.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

I feel like once I knew at least one sub/sweep/escape from every position, it was easier to start building a game, and little things started clicking here and there. That was around the time where I started feeling somewhat ok with positioning and using my weight and leverage properly. So those two things coupled together helped out alot.

 

[Lightning Show]

It took me about a year. But yeah, that was out-of-school no-gi training. But when it clicks... you'll know because you start to see opportunities and openings to execute in those moves.

 

[alphamale]

once you start doing things in combinations, and you develop muscle memory so you don't have to actively think about every detail you need to be doing- thats when it "clicks". This comes from consistant training and lots of drilling.

i would say at roughly the 6 mth stage you should know basically where you do and don't want to be and not be making really obvious mistakes everywhere, and from there you can start to develop a game

 

[Mikey Triangles]

luckily i did a little bit of grappling in a tma schhol for a bit before signing up with bjj. honestly it kinda clicked for me right away, the reason i looked into bjj was because i was the best grappler in my tma chain of schools after only a few weeks. it's really hard to pinpoint and judge though.

 

[fil]

It took me a year before I stopped being schooled by everyone, even the new people with wrestling backgrounds, younger kids, and stronger people. I also waited until month 4 before I even tried a triangle or an arm bar from the bottom. I spent a lot of time in the first 4 months working on sweeps, defending the RNC, and worked on getting back to full guard when my opponent had side control, half mount, and full mount. Most of my subs were arm/neck-oriented or key locks.

BJJ and catch wrestling did not come naturally to me and I started seeing stages of improvement after the first 3 months and then 6 month, and then I felt much more at ease against new people after year one.

I beat the folks that I started with about 50% of the time after year one, so I knew that I was picking up the skills a little slower.

I'll admit that I was training more for MMA than jits/wrestling, so I was always looking for no-gi options that worked with my physical abilities--not flexible, short, and average strength--while working against an opponent that threw punches and elbows while on the ground.

 

[Yojimbo]

I've only been training for a little over a year so take what I say with a grain of salt, but in my experience there are several "clicks" and "unclicks", if you will.

My first click came after about three months and I noticed I started seeing more things that I didn't see before, I was moving more smoothly, using my weight more efficiently, etc etc. Then after a while I went through a rut where I felt like I couldn't do a damn thing against anybody. Eventually that passed and I had another click and I was much better than I was at the 3 month mark. Off and on, off and on. I had another click a couple weeks ago, and it was much more specific. It seems like overnight my half-guard game got much better. Bottom side-control too. I'm sure soon I will get back in a rut and my game will stagnate, then when I least expect it I will break through better than ever.

It's the ebb and flow.

 

[Ghost Dog]

i remember realizing what i should be doing around 3-5 months.. however i didnt know how to do it. (close my guard again, or sweep... stay based.. dont get swept, etc). however, i began assistant teaching when i received my purple, and truly... my game has gone up 100%. teaching made a huge impact on my game because i thought about bjj from a teachers perspective now, not a student.. although ill always be one.

someone said, when you learn a move, learn it as if you had to teach it. i agree 100% with this.

 

[Chinaboxer]

Well...i can only speak from my own experience. yours will most likely differ. But for me, it was when i could "feel" the moves and transitions and , i could actually "see" the chessmatch in my mind.

 

[blanko]

i think it depends on your natural style. Guys who are more "smooth and flowy" look better on the mat.. it does not mean that they may be more efficiant.

 

[AussieBJJ]

you guys do jiu jitsu? :O

 

[ShanghaiBJJ]

Someone once said that jiu jitsu goes in 3 stages

First you See - Think- Do (starts around blue)
Then you See- Do (purple and brown)
And as black you just Do.

Of course this is rather broad (and I sure hope that blackbelts still thinks on occasion...lol... ), but I like to believe that this is the road ahead.

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Over all, the clicking should come and go and you will change things you do around.
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Also, I think there a 2 different types of learners (apart from fast and slow) that approach learning BJJ differently:

The Bottom-Up approach and the Top-down approach.

Bottom-up guys pick a few moves and get good at them, immediately giving them a small game. They than add technique by technique and learn how it all fits together.

The Top-Down guys see a move and remember every little detail. The can probably even teach it in theory. However they struggle to make their knowledge count in sparring because they overthink.
They try to understand the overall game, before they can make little baby steps.
I think for those types, once they put the time in, they are more likely to have a HUGE click.
At least that is what I am hoping for. lol

 

[MEK]

6 months and I just had a tiny little one I guess. I'm finally 50/50 with that one 220 guy in my class who started a few months earlier and is wayyyyy stronger than me

 

[JRT6]

Here is how I clicked my own switch:

1. Drill

2. Drill

3. Drill

Drilling will teach your body how to move and what it should feel in muliple postions and situations. Also drills like arm bars from guard can be built on from basic to more complicated.

4. Take notes. Notes of the new techniques and notes of your days' roll including what moves you were submitted with and why, moves that worked for you and moves that you should have did but didn't think of until the drive home.

 

[daninnashville]

Here is how I clicked my own switch:

1. Drill

2. Drill

3. Drill

Drilling will teach your body how to move and what it should feel in muliple postions and situations. Also drills like arm bars from guard can be built on from basic to more complicated.

4. Take notes. Notes of the new techniques and notes of your days' roll including what moves you were submitted with and why, moves that worked for you and moves that you should have did but didn't think of until the drive home.

Love this. Very helpful for me too.

My "clicks" have come in baby steps. Some days I feel like the world's slowest learner...but I'm actually really enjoying sparring now. One thing that really helps me is to realize that I have to leave my ego off the mat. It's a balance because I can often over think or be too cautious when I'm rolling....but on the other hand you don't want your pride to get in the way when you get tapped. I rolled with a purple belt early this morning and I noticed little transitions getting better. He still totally dominated me but by the end of the session I was a lot more calm and just had fun sparring.

It seems the whole "empty mind" thing helps me. What has helped more than anything is focusing on the breathing. If I breathe correctly (and fully) I don't gas. If I don't gas I can focus on technique and reacting. If I need to use a little strength that's okay. If the guy is stronger and faster...I have to just keep working on speed and conditioning. When an instructor (or training partner) explains things I finally understand WHY they're teaching the techniques. Doesn't mean I can do it perfectly yet. But that in and of itself feels like a "click". And I figure if you keep training then ultimately these little things will start to make sense.

The best "click" I've had is that I am not afraid when I step on the mat any more. I enjoy classes now and actually feel like I'm learning...and my mental game is what held me back for the longest time.

Good topic!

 

[Saith]

You guys should get that clicking looked at.

 

[Will_N.O.]

4. ...moves that worked for you and moves that you should have did but didn't think of until the drive home.

Ooooh yeah, the moves you don't think of until the drive home. I know exactly what you mean.

I use these to come prepared with one or two very small, very specific things I want to work on / ask higher belts about for next session. I find that if I come to class with a couple of things I want to focus on and learn better, that helps me not get distracted by the 3,000,000 other things I don't know yet.

 

[sickc0d3r]

i've trained 1 year, got my blue belt 2 months ago, and even then I didn't feel like it had "clicked" for me.

once i got the belt it was worse because i felt pressure not to let my professor down. i started over thinking and worrying about looking bad against a white belt, stuff like that.

i decided to take 2 weeks off and just watch vids, read advice in forums, books, etc... when i came back i started trying new things like open guards e.g. butterfly, x, and cross... i found them much more comfortable and intuitive than closed guard. i also picked one sub, triangle, and tried to work it on everyone every time i sparred. i decided i didn't care if i failed, looked bad, tapped 10 times per session, whatever, i was going to try the moves that i thought were cool or made sense so it was fun for me regardless.

i suddenly found a whole new game... subs opening up, pulling off sweeps, getting out of bad positions, you name it. seriously i think it was just allowing myself to have fun with it not caring about the results.

so best i can say is try new things and don't worry about winning or losing, just have as much fun as you can and it will eventually click.