Make 2025 Your Best Jiu-Jitsu Year Yet

New year, new you… time to get cranking on those jiu-jitsu goals that will make you the best and most epic version of yourself!

What? It’s already February, you say? Yes, well, about that. They call the second Friday  “Quitters Day,” because most people quit their new year resolutions about two weeks into the year. After that, we all need about a month for mourning our dear, deceased aspirational goals, before rallying back.

That brings us to today, where planning for your best year yet really begins.

This year, we decided to give you a few ideas that will contribute to a more well-rounded jiu-jitsu experience: a little competition, a little focus on technique, and a little good old fashioned fun. Why? Because your best year yet should be challenging, fulfilling, and packed with the heart of the gentle art: the jiu-jitsu community.

Schedule Your Competition Calendar

First and foremost, sort out your competition calendar.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a diehard competitor who plans his/her life around IBJJF events, or just a regular mat warrior who’s content with just one local tournament a year. Put those dates – or date, as the case may be – in writing. It’s easy to lose track of time if you don’t. The next thing you know, you’ll be telling people you plan to go to such-and-such tournament in March, then realize that March is two weeks away and you haven’t put near enough training in.

Here are some handy ideas to help:

• Get yourself an old-school calendar for the refrigerator. Smart phones are great, but they can’t beat that daily reminder that comes along with a growling stomach.
• Register at the earliest possible time. Not only do you save money on the entry fee, but you “lock” yourself, mentally, into competing.
• Block out at least a six to eight-week training camp, and commit to doing that extra little bit of training, rain or shine. Every day on the mat is a day closer to the top of the podium.
• Keep in mind that competition day is just another day, like any other. Your team is going to be proud of you, regardless of the outcome. Go out there and show your jiu-jitsu.

Master One New BJJ Technique

Just one?? Yes, just one. But let me explain.

If you’re consistent and you have a good professor (or team of professors and coaches), you will be learning a ton of new jiu-jitsu techniques. However, learning is not mastering. Learning entails seeing a technique, practicing it, understanding how it works and possibly being able to execute it live. Mastery of a technique entails understanding not only the how, but the why; it is being able to modify it outside of the typical textbook situation; it is building a system of associated techniques; and it is being able to whip it out on your favorite training partner almost unconsciously.

Here are some tips to mastering a technique:

• Have an idea of what technique you’d like to master, and commit to it. It’s easy to get distracted by some cool new technique. Save that one for next year. 
• Drill, baby, drill (not in the environmental destruction kind of way). Find a drilling partner and carve out a few minutes before or after every class to work on your technique.
• Log your thoughts, successes and failures in a journal. This will help you be more conscious about your progress.

Help Organize an Open Mat in the Park

If there’s one complaint I have about jiu-jitsu – besides waking up feeling like a truck ran over me on occasion – is that it’s an inside sport.

But it doesn’t have to be! Take yourself and your favorite training partners outside by organizing an open mat in the park. There is something absolutely magical about rolling in the fresh air, under a clear blue sky. Of course, this will require a little advance planning, depending on where you’re located and the resources you might have at your disposal.

Here are a few considerations:

• Of course, you’ll need mats. Puzzle mats are perfect, and if you ask around, you’ll be surprised at how many in your academy have a few lying around in their home. Make it a BYOM (bring your own mat) event.
• Plan around the season. Right now, hosting an open mat in, say, Arizona, is doable. You, however, might be buried in five feet (or 1.5 meters) of snow at the moment. And while you can’t completely account for daily weather – especially if you plan your open mat several weeks out – you can have contingency plans.
• Invite other academies. Even this day and age, too many jiu-jitsu academies still try to isolate their students from those at other academies. It’s silly, really, especially if you live in a smaller city or town. An open mat in the park is the perfect neutral ground to make friends in your local BJJ community.
• Consider making it a fundraiser to maximize the feel-goodness! Launch a roll-a-thon and take cash donations from those who attend. Donate the proceeds to a local non-profit, whether it’s jiu-jitsu related or not.

Treat Yourself to a Traincation

Expand your jiu-jitsu horizon and plan a “traincation” around one of the many BJJ camps that have sprouted in the last decade.

You. Will. Not. Regret. This one. Not only will it solve the problem of feeling guilty about traveling and not being able to train jiu-jitsu, but it is one of the best things you can do to expand your BJJ knowledge. BJJ camps enlist amazing instructors – both well-known and hidden gems – from across the jiu-jitsu community. Many offer all-inclusive packages, including housing, food, and fun non-jiu-jitsu excursions and activities. All guarantee an incredible experience and the opportunity to make life-long friends.

Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

• A simple Google search will give you a plethora of options, but here are a few of my favorites: BJJ Globetrotters, Hero Retreats, Grappling Getaways, and  Origin’s Immersion Camp.
• If your camp offers multiple sessions each day, don’t kill yourself trying to go to every single one. If you do, you’ll quickly overwhelm yourself – mentally and physically – and you won’t make it to the end of camp.
• Leave your ego at the door and don’t make every roll a war. Camp is not the finals at the IBJJF or ADCC World Championships. You won’t make any friends that way, and you’ll end up being “that guy.”
• Most importantly, have fun.

The world is a crazy place right now, so it’s important to keep your goals in focus and surround yourself with good vibes and good intentions. If you succeed in doing all of the above, I guarantee you will have made 2025 one of your best jiu-jitsu years yet.