What Jiu-Jitsu Season Are You In
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Jiu-Jitsu has these moments of season and transition that we all go through. Sometimes the seasons last a little longer, some shorter, and many sort of bleed into another.
Understanding the season you’re in can help you process and manage your expectations more realistically.
If I can be honest with myself and understand that I’m in the middle of building a foundation on the house, I’m not worried about the color of the paint or the pattern of the wall paper.
We sometimes get ahead of ourselves and want to start getting to the interior design when we’re nowhere near ready to even approach those elements.
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The Frustrated Grind Season
There’s a wide range of naming conventions for these seasons and I imagine some people might have different takes on all that I’m going to cover.
The first time period you’ll encounter will be filled with both newly found excitement and frustrations. You’ll love the sport with a healthy mixture of hatred and love at the same time. You’ll attend class as much as you can, while being frustrated with the fact that you suck.
What it feels like:
You’re showing up, but nothing’s clicking
You keep losing to the same techniques
You question if you’re improving at all
Hurdles:
Self-doubt, overthinking, comparing yourself to others
How to train through it:
Go narrow: pick one skill and drill it consistently
Record your rounds to see the small improvements
Reframe struggle as a signal of deeper learning
The Information Overload Season
Once some things start to click, you’ll dive head first into instructionals, reels, and YouTube videos. From my experience, this happens at around Blue Belt. Students will often feel that Jiu-Jitsu is an arms race and will move from technique to technique in hopes of finding that one weapon that will trump all the others.
Students will pick up a guard, sweep, or submission, gain some success with it then toss it aside at the first appearance of discomfort or trouble.
Blue Belt Technique Hoarders are a real thing and it will slow your program. Your goal shouldn’t be to find the technique that trumps the others. It should be to find a technique tree that you find most useful and sticking to it.
The further down that you can gain proficiency into the technique tree the more dangerous you’ll become.
What it feels like:
You’re absorbing a lot of YouTube, classes, notes.. but can’t apply it fully
Your brain’s full, but your game feels scattered or disconnected
Hurdles:
Lack of focus, chasing novelty, confusing quantity with quality
How to train through it:
Pick a single position or sequence and build around it
Re-watch older footage of yourself to track what actually worked
Ask your coach: “If you were me, what would you focus on?”
The Rebuilding Season
Having to rebuild will come to you in three forms. Immediately after being a technique hoarder, coming back from a long break in training, or as a result of a serious injury.
After you leave the hoarding stage you will actually start tossing out a bunch of unless techniques in order to focus on what really matters to the game of your choice. You’ll end up trimming quite a bit.
Rebuilding after a serious injury is the most difficult. There’s physical and emotional hurdles that need to be crossed. For some people, they feel that their injured body part is never the same and sometimes is psychological.
When I came back form a hip injury, I proceeded to injure the other hip. Perhaps over compensating for the previous injury. There was definitely a psychological aspect to it all that I had to work through.
Sometimes the injury changes the course of your game. What you once played really well due to sheer athleticism, now has to be produced more efficiently through proper technique or even a different game altogether.
What it feels like:
You’re rusty, hesitant, and possibly returning after time off/injury
Your confidence doesn’t match your past ability
Hurdles:
Pride, discouragement, fear of being “behind”
How to train through it:
Embrace simple movements and positional awareness
Train with kind partners who can help rebuild your timing
Focus on effort and intention—not outcomes
The Connection-Building Season
This is where you become a specialist. You understand what your physical attributes are, what your A-Game is, and how to connect it all the various positions you find yourself in.
I have systems in place that will lead me back to my A-Game from nearly everywhere.
Miyamoto Musashi has this beautiful yet simple quote that I’ve genuinely loved since hearing it for the first time.
"If you know the way broadly, you will see it in all things"
-Miyamoto Musashi
No matter the technique you choose, mind you some are more versatile than others, you’ll start seeing it in more places than ever. The patterns will make themselves apparent in ways you can’t always explain.
What it feels like:
You’re rolling well but something feels repetitive
You start noticing the patterns of your opponent more
You care about how you roll, not just whether you win
Hurdles:
Getting bored or complacent
Avoiding deeper reflection or challenge
How to train through it:
Roll to learn, not to win
Seek new training partners and explore different styles
The Coaching & Contribution Season
This is the season that’s the most selfless. You’ve reached a point in your Jiu-Jitsu career where your primary goal every time you get on the mats is to make someone else better. It doesn’t mean that you are done learning or even that you’re even done competing.
Many of us still compete, all of us are still learning, and trying to improve areas of our game that far weaker than we’d like to admit.
But we’re driven by giving.
What it feels like:
You’re confident in your game and others are looking to you for help
You feel the urge to mentor, share, or lead
You want to give back what Jiu-Jitsu gave you
Hurdles:
Impostor syndrome (“Who am I to teach?”)
Balancing your growth with others’ needs
How to train through it:
Be generous with your knowledge, but still prioritize yourself on occasion
Use teaching as a tool to sharpen your own understanding
Remember: mentorship is a form of mastery
Closing Thoughts
Every season comes with it’s own energy, unique approach, and puzzle. The goal isn’t to force your way through them, but instead to understand what your point of focus should be.
How I made my way through my phases, will be different than how you do, and that’s perfectly fine. The most important aspect, is to identify and understand where you are.
If you’re interested and would like to take advantage of one of a few scholarship spots that I’m giving out for free, comment and ask to be added.
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All I ask is that you participate, ask questions, and make the most of the space. The more you engage, the more you will get out of it.
Thank you for reading.
David Figueroa-Martinez
Founder, DFM Coaching
Coach | Writer | Grappler
DFM Coaching is dedicated to helping you overcome mental hurdles and achieve your full potential in BJJ. Whether through in-person instruction, seminars, private lessons, remote coaching, or video analysis, I provide personalized support tailored to your needs. Keep pushing forward, and let’s grow together!