Everyone has their favorite training partners at the academy and unless the instructor assigns you a different training partner, these are the people that you train with every day. There is nothing wrong with having your favorite training partners, but sometimes you need to grab a new partner, and here is why.
On the mats I always see the same people training and drilling together, but training with the same people over and over can be limiting to you and the team! You are not only hurting yourself but you are also hurting the other students at the academy by not training with everyone on the mats.
Maybe you only train with the same people because those are the ones that challenge you. Or maybe you like it because you can control the match and you aren’t really challenged at all.
Try changing training partners every time you are at the academy. Be sure to roll with the advanced student that will never give you anything on the mats. Or pick a newer student that will seemingly be an easy match. This simple move will change and improve your game.
When rolling with the more advanced student you will be defending, working hard and in danger at every moment. You will learn better defense and find exactly where you need to improve. Plus most advanced students will be more than happy to help you fix the holes in your game that they found during the training.
Conversely, training with a newer student with less experience will give you the opportunity to work on your game in a way that is not possible when rolling with a more advanced opponent. You will also be able to teach and help the less experienced student with his game. This will also help you Jiu-Jitsu, for teaching will help you better understand where you need to improve.
Rolling with the same partner over and over is ok but you both will learn each other’s game pretty fast. Try switching up and getting out of your comfort zone, for your comfort zone is a beautiful thing but nothing grows there.
Train hard and I will see you on the mats!
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become one of the most popular martial arts in the world for good reason. It offers practical self-defense skills, a challenging full-body workout, and a supportive training community. One reason the sport continues to grow is that it can be practiced safely by people of many ages and experience levels when proper training habits are followed.
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Learning how to protect yourself builds confidence that carries into every part of life. At Ground Control Sykesville, women’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes practical self-defense skills taught in a supportive, respectful training environment.