Can You Learn Jiu Jitsu at Home? | Easily Explained
As everything is transitioning from "It can only be done at the office/school" to suddently it can be done from home.. Can Jiu Jitsu?
In this page we'll answer the age-old question of whether you can learn Jiu Jitsu at home, and if so, how to do so.
Table of Contents
Can You Learn Jiu Jitsu at Home?
Yes you can, but you are very limited in what you can do. In a gym, you're able to drill and practice different techniques on your opponent, but at home you'll have to do a bit of improvising.
At home you'll be able to work individual escape drills such as the hip escape, hip switch, rolling techniques, as well as stretching.
Studying Jiu Jitsu
The most important thing that you can do at home however, is study Jiu Jitsu.
Every great athlete at the top of their field, has studied those who were the best at their craft. Then they've taken techniques that worked for them, learned it, and implemented it into their own game.
The great basketball star Kobe Bryant explains that he studied Michael Jordan so much, that he was able to replicate a variety of his moves successfully into his own game as he would go on to have a hall of fame career.
Even at the high school level nowadays, they offer HUDL, which is a tool where players can watch their own film, and film of their opponents throughout the season.
Jiu Jitsu On YouTube
There are many free matches that can simply be found on YouTube, and even instructional videos.
Channels such as BJJ fanatics will feature guests including Gordon Ryan and John Danaher.
These guests will explain exactly how to do their famous techniques, why it works, what challenges they may encounter using this technique, and how to respond to them.
BJJ Library is another great resource that breaks down technique, along with high profile matches at the world championships.
However, you should know that their videos are a bit dated, as the latest one was uploaded over 3 years ago. Regardless, it's a great resource to go through at least once.
Reading Jiu Jitsu Books
There's nothing like an old fashioned learning session via reading a book.
Jiu Jitsu is just as much mental (if not more) than physical, due to the ever changing positions, having to think several steps ahead, while keeping yourself out of danger.
You can develop a high Jiu Jitsu IQ by expanding your knowledge, and books can be a big help.
A book such as Jiu Jitsu University (directly from Amazon) is a fantastic resource, as it is written by a six time BJJ world champion, renowned for his flawless technique, Saulo Ribeiro.
He'll cover more than 200 techniques, the book includes pictures of "do's and do not's", and each chapter is broken down by belt rank in order to progress in difficulty.
Understanding Yourself as a BJJ Student
The more that you understand Jiu Jitsu itself, and the more film that you watch on other successful grapplers, the quicker that you'll be able to dissect your own game.
It's important to self-evaluate and understand what you're good at, and what you're not so good at yet.
You can break down your strengths and weaknesses through several components.
- Takedown & Takedown Defense
- Which guard are you most comfortable with? Open, closed, half?
- Passing the guard. Do you have more than 5 ways to pass each one?
- Are you comfortable sweeping your opponent?
- Which submissions are your go-to submissions?
- Is your top game strong enough where opponents don't easily escape?
- Do you have answers to escaping mount?
- Is your squeeze strong enough to get a fast tap or does it take a while?
- Are you flexible enough where you can perform most submissions?
Buy a Grappling Dummy
Practicing alone can get real boring quickly, especially if you have nothing to physically practice your moves and techniques on.
A BJJ grappling dummy can come in especially handy, as it'll provide you with a human-like shape, and limbs that you can grab on to.
You can even put a Gi on the dummy, to practice as realistically as possible.
Dummies won't provide you any resistance, however they can help you gain confidence, as you can practice your placement, body positioning, and speed of your submission.
By the time that you're able to do it live, you'll have a better understanding on how exactly your path to that submission will be.