Looking back on my own start in jiu jitsu, there's a handful of things I'd give anything to have understood on day one. I was tough, I was driven, and I wanted to win more than anything — and that hunger actually held me back in ways I didn't see at the time. Here are five things I wish someone had gotten through to me sooner. If you're just starting out, they'll put you on a better path from the very beginning.
1. Position Comes Before the Submission
This is the big one. When I started, I had decent body awareness, but I did not understand position — and position is everything. Position is built on base, frame, balance, and structure. You use your frames to create structure, you use your base to stay balanced, and that balance is what keeps you aware of where you are at any moment.
I didn't get any of that early on. I just hunted the submission, because I thought the submission was the only thing that mattered. What I wish I'd known is that all the submissions live inside the positions themselves. Get the position right, and the finishes show up on their own. Chase the finish without the position, and you'll spend years spinning your wheels like I did.
2. Understand What Progress Actually Is
I genuinely did not understand progress — what it meant, or how to make it. The idea of a structure never really made sense to me, and neither did progressing through that structure. I just had this burning want to make people tap, and I'd fight for it like crazy.
Because of that, I missed out on a lot of real development early on. Progress in jiu jitsu isn't "did I tap someone today." It's whether your positions, your understanding, and your control got a little bit better. I wish I'd understood that sooner — it would've completely changed my trajectory.
Chasing Taps vs. Building Skill
Wanting to win isn't the problem — I had plenty of that. The problem is when winning the roll becomes the only goal. Real progress is built underneath that, in the positions and the details.
3. The Mental Game Is About the Small Things
I was already pretty adapted to the mental and emotional side. I never got overly emotional training — I just really, really wanted to win, and I let that drive me to get better. But here's what I wish I'd had: someone to coach me through where to point that mental energy.
Instead of fixating on the big picture of "I just want to make people tap," I wish I'd learned to focus mentally on the smaller things — the technical and positional details. If somebody had gotten through to me on that, I'd have made big gains a lot sooner. The toughness was there. The focus was aimed at the wrong target.
4. Tap Early, Tap Often, and Take Care of Your Body
This one I learned the hard way. Before I officially started training, I used to get together and train with some friends who were taking classes. And I'm very fortunate I didn't get seriously injured during that stretch — because I flat-out refused to tap. I wanted to win so badly that I wouldn't give in to anything or let myself be forced into anything.
Looking back, that was a rough way to go about it. I didn't understand how important it is to tap early and often, or how to take care of my body so I could keep training. Tapping isn't losing — it's how you stay healthy enough to come back tomorrow and actually improve. Protect yourself, and you'll progress on a much better trajectory than I did.
5. What I'd Tell My Day-One Self
If I could go back and put one thing in my own head before that first class, it'd be simple: Relax. You're going to do just fine. Be aware of the rolls you're going to have, and focus on the position as much as you possibly can.
That's really the whole thing in a sentence. Relax, and focus on the position. Do that, and you'll be just fine.
Relax and focus on the position. You're gonna do just fine.
The best part? When you start with us, you don't have to learn all this the hard way like I did — our structured curriculum builds it in from day one. Claim your free week and start the right way.
When you’re ready to get on the mat, our BJJ for beginners program in Thibodaux is built for exactly this — and your first week is free.