Can the Internet Make You Better at Jiu-Jitsu?

I got a confidence boost in August.

After class last week, a few classmates told me how much I’ve improved. Unprompted!

I’ve been doing martial arts since 2018. It’s my happy place.

However, I am nowhere near a competitor. I’m a hobbyist. My exposure to jiu-jitsu was 10 minutes at the end of my cardio-based striking classes. This was until about last year when I started attending an additional, competitive MMA gym.

The additional exposure was helping, but I was getting crushed in my rolls (which honestly is expected as a white belt at a new gym). I was, and still am, experiencing technique overload. It was hard for me to figure out what to do when I went live while learning 8-10 techniques every class.

I have a lot of work to do to improve my physicality and diet. So, these compliments last week were surprising. One person said they saw significant differences from the previous time we rolled together (which was most likely a month or two ago).

Truthfully, I’m not doing anything different outside of how I approach things off the mat. I’ve just gotten, at best, passionate and, at worst, obsessive about learning jiu-jitsu conceptually online.

I’m not claiming here that someone's jiu-jitsu skill can be improved entirely without more mat time or improved health. There is a ceiling, and the internet can only take you so far. However, my hypothesis, and the purpose of this blog, is that I can improve faster using the internet as my secret weapon.

So, I will share my learning log, concepts I pick up from the internet, and how I’ve implemented them.

Hopefully, it will help you, too.