have been practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since 1991. Since that time, I have made several observations about training. Allow me to lead you through my observations.

There are ten major areas of training. Each area of training contained a lot of new information. Each area provided me with a new and more enhanced understanding of Jiu Jitsu. Here are the areas of training:

technical knowledge - large gross motor movements
coordination of different body parts
timing - knowing when to use the appropriate technique
sensitivity - feeling when to use the appropriate technique
basic strategy - knowing which techniques work for different body types
small, very precise movements - movements become smaller and more detailed over time
the combination and coordination of multiple movements and techniques
intermediate strategy - the use of counters and set ups
the development of mental attributes: patience, focus, determination
advanced strategy - planning to feel, not think
The first major area of training involved learning techniques. This is where you learn specific techniques for specific encounter situations. Technical knowledge is the starting place for many who begin their journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Unfortunately, it is an area where a lot of students plateau and become frustrated.

Learning techniques involves familiarizing one's self with the individual components of each move and then learning how to orchestrate them into a sequence called a technique. For example, the spinning arm lock from the guard involves nine individual movements:

grabbing the top of training partner's left forearm with your right hand
grabbing the inside of the training partner's right thigh with your left hand
spinning your body to your left by raising your hips up off of the ground, swinging your right leg over the training partner's face and pulling your head to their thigh with your left arm
pulling both of your heels to your buttock
squeezing your knees together
pulling the training partner's elbow into your belly button
pulling the training partner's wrist and pinky onto your chest and maintaining control of it
raising their hips even higher to hyperextend the training partner's elbow joint
releasing the pressure when their training partner taps the mat
(Do you see how that even a simple move is not so simple when broken down into separate components? Do you remember what it was like the first time you did this arm lock? Do you remember the difficulty you had? I do!)

Too many student take the technique portion of training for granted. They have the "Yeah, I got it" attitude. They are so anxious to move onto the next technique that they harm themselves. They do not realize the importance of developing a foundation of fundamental movements that will help them with more highly complex movements at a later point in time.

When the student learns a new technique, it is the instructor's responsibility to teach them not only the specific components, but also the strengths and weaknesses of the technique. The students must also be taught that no one single technique will work all of the time. They must be taught that every technique will not work for every student. Techniques have limitations. Therefore, it is important for the student to understand these limitations.

In the beginning, students are usually taught very large, gross motor movements which involve the use of large muscle groups. Fine motor movements (those that involve small muscles like the fingers and thumb) are too complex for the beginning student. Usually, the student has enough on their mind with large amount of gross motor movements. Once a student has mentally grasped the idea of a technique, he can then move onto physically coordinating his body to move in a sequential order. This is where coordination comes into play.

For most students, coordinating the movements of one's feet, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and hands in a sequential order can be somewhat difficult. If the movements are performed out of sequence or on the wrong side of the body, chaos usually occurs. For example, do you remember the first time you did the elbow/knee escape from the mount position? I do. It was rather difficult. Yes, I know, most of us muscled our way through it and made it work. However, we noticed that the brown and black belts seemed to have no problem using this technique at all. Why? Because they had put in the required time necessary to develop a skill in this one area. We, however, were just going through the first phase of learning. We were trying to coordinate each of the movements in the right sequence and not look stupid while doing it. The coordination of movements is an extremely important area to train. Although we might KNOW a technique, being able to perform it under pressure is quite another.

Once we KNOW a new technique, have a good understanding of it, and can coordinate our movements into a smooth technique, we must now begin our journey with timing. Timing involves knowing and feeling when to perform a technique. For example, when your opponent is in your guard and he begins to lean his weight onto his left knee, when is the best time to sweep him? A good understanding of timing would tell you that the best time to sweep him would be when he is beginning the process of shifting his weight onto his left knee. If you were to sweep him after he had placed all of his weight onto his left knee, you would find that his weight had settled and that the sweep was still possible, but it required more effort on your part.

Good timing only comes with diligent practice at slow speeds. Diligent practice at slow speed only comes with