You slap hands, fist pound, and get your grips...the fight has started. Next thing you know you're being tapped in a crazy guillotine your opponent has been working on. Fluke. You slap hands again and this time you go for your famous open guard technique that sets up the triangle beautifully. Stuffed and passed. Baseball choke. You find yourself not only tapping but gasping for air. Your training partner is all smiles, because it was the first time he has ever tapped you. Standing up you realize that you've hit it, you try to lie to yourself as you walk back to the changing room, but it just isn't working because you can't lie to yourself for 2 months straight. You turn to get one more glance at the mats and see Sammy Submission getting high fives from everyone, because they were impressed with his performance and were hoping for an encore. You are devastated.
You are garbage.
As a white belt, I thought that plateaus were a myth. Of course this was me being naive, but its good to be optimistic right? Plateaus happen to everyone for a multitude of reasons, but its important not to mistake it for a "funk". Being in a funk comes from temporary issues and situations that are affecting you mentally and keeping you from performing at your best. Perhaps you are nursing a nagging injury, lost your job, your cat died, or you're just not feeling BJJ right now...in any case, funks are different (and waaaay better). You know you are on a plateau when no matter what you do, the only person you can tap is that one pale and sickly looking white belt who always has to stop to cough or scratch something while rolling...sad. Or the choke that you can get on anybody (yeah the one you got on Roger Gracie back in 2009) doesn't even work on Mallory, the 13 yr old orange belt. This my friend is a plateau, and the bad thing about them is that they can last from a few weeks to months. Hell, I heard about this one guy that plateau'd in 2003 and is still lost up there somewhere figuring out how to hip escape.
How do I get out of this rut, you say...well I actually don't know exactly. But here are 3 things that I have done, and hopefully they will work for you!
1. Take a break. Often times we try to break through our barriers in jiu-jitsu by training more. I know BJJ is all about the details, but plateaus are nothing to mess around with and sometimes you lose sight of the big picture when you only focus on the details. Sometimes it is good to just take a step back and breath in the hopes that some clarifying or potentially game-changing epiphany emerges. If not, at least you got to replenish your chakra in the process.
2. Change your approach. Maybe you are getting tapped out, passed, or controlled by everyone because you make the same mistake all the time and they just capitalize on it. Maybe that is the perfect time to disassemble your game and figure out where your flaws are and fix them. Even if you are not the type to ask questions, this is the perfect time to do so. If you're lucky maybe someone at the gym is good at doing exactly what you suck at and can open you up to a whole new world of opportunities.
3. Think outside your game. Maybe your technique is great, but your cardio sucks. You have excellent flexibility, but you are not explosive. These are things that can send you into a plateau without you even realizing it until months down the line. It's important to have great technique, but your physical attributes count just as much. Try dropping a few training days to go hit up the gym, the park, rock wall, etc. Not only will you be doing a little of #1, but you will also be improving yourself in the process.
