BJJ New Year’s Resolutions Ideas

Welcome to 2023! What better way to ring in the new year than spending a few minutes thinking about your goals?

If you’re like me, you manage several resolutions for the different areas of your life… including jiu-jitsu! But what are some good BJJ New Year’s Resolutions? Here are a few ideas to help you decide, including some tips on getting them done:   

Master a Cool New Technique

We all can learn a cool new technique. That happens weekly, or even daily, whether on the mat or at home studying our new BJJ Fanatics instructional or favorite YouTube channel. But can you “master” it? To truly master a cool new technique is an excellent jiu-jitsu resolution for 2023.

What does it mean to master a BJJ technique? In my opinion, mastering a technique would entail at least one, if not all, of the below:

• The ability to execute that technique – efficiently and quickly – on any number of your fellow training partners (bonus points if you can do it to someone of a higher rank);
• The ability to pull it off at least once during competition;
• The ability to easily teach it to others, articulating all of the details and nuances that arise during live application.

So how can you work your way toward mastering a cool BJJ technique? Once you identify a technique, find as many videos or instructionals that you can speaking to that technique. Take notes, identifying what you feel to be the key details. Find some time to work with a friend on dissecting and drilling that technique. Then every week, work on attempting to successfully execute that technique during live rolls. You’ll find it comes easier and easier. Even as your training partners “get wise” to what you’re doing, their responses will help you troubleshoot and refine that technique further. Before long, you’ll have justifiably mastered that technique enough to teach a class on it.

Make it to Class 3x Per Week, No Excuses

Consistency always makes it to the top of any resolution list. Why? Because consistency is hard. Unless jiu-jitsu is your livelihood – in which case, this resolution doesn’t apply to you – life often gets in the way of regularly attending class.

However, consistency is the only true “magic bullet” for progress. For jiu-jitsu, I believe the very minimum in regard to consistent attendance is at least three times per week. Any less that that, your growth and progress will be excruciatingly slow, and the benefits achieved through training minimal. 

So, what are some things that you can do to maintain consistency?

• Make training a regular part of your schedule – Carve out time every week in which you plan to do nothing else besides train. Stick to it. Don’t schedule anything on top of it. Set reminders for yourself.
• Have an “accountability buddy” – Find someone with whom you regularly communicate about going to class. Maybe it’s your favorite training partner, or someone in a similar situation as you who also needs help staying consistent.
• Keep your gi and/or no-gi gear readily available – Even though it takes mere seconds to gather your stuff, the actual gathering of your gear bag might be that extra bit of deterrence keeping you from walking out the door to train. Keep your weekly training kit all prepped, ready to go, and waiting for you at the door or in your vehicle.

Compete in at Least Three Tournaments

As a long-time competitor, I’ve always believed that everyone should compete at least once in their career, if not once at each belt level. However, everybody’s jiu-jitsu journey is different, so choosing not to compete is a personal choice that should be respected. But… the sheer number and magnitude of benefits received from competing are too hard to ignore. And if you are really invested in your growth as a practitioner, you should compete.

With that being said, a good BJJ resolution is not just to compete once, but at least three times. Why three? If you set your goal to just one competition, you might put it off until the very end of 2023, then end up not completing it at all. Three is a nice doable number for just about anyone, without being once-a-month overwhelming, and requires you to plan ahead… because you do have to do three of them.

What are some tips for getting this done? Firstly, as I mentioned already, you should plan ahead. Think about some tournaments that you would like to do and find out their 2023 schedule. Register early. As soon you’ve spent the money on the registration fee and travel details, you have added incentive to follow through. Combine your competition with non-jiu-jitsu related vacation or travel. That adds a little bit of sparkle and excitement to the event, because you’ll have other things to look forward to, which will also help take your mind off your pre-competition anxiety. 

Whatever your 2023 BJJ New Yea’s Resolutions end up being, maintain a positive outlook on them. Tell yourself that 2023 will be the best year yet – definitely the best since COVID started – and you will, without a doubt, successfully achieve your goals.