So why isn't this everyone's dilemma? Well it could be, but let me tell you why I personally don't think it is. At white belt, you are new to almost everything related to BJJ...concepts, techniques, positions pretty much all blow over your head. Your main goal is just to survive and live another day out on the mats. Your encyclopedia of moves remains limited because you lack the mat time needed to learn more. Now the two belts I know the least about, but this is what I observe. At brown and black belt I feel as though you have gained enough experience (mat time) to pretty much know the gist of many techniques. There are not many brown and black belts that have let me down as far as questions go for various techniques. They are a rolodex of information. They have seen it all, and have perfected their own individual filing system.
At blue and purple you can execute the basics, purple even more than blue...but the issue comes down to choosing which techniques are going to help your personal game, and which ones to use for future reference. At this stage in the belts, the blurple belts should be creating their own game to become a more complete practitioner...but what are you supposed to do with all the shiet you learn??? John Bernard Will a very famous black belt from the "Dirty Dozen", the first 12 non-brazilian black belts said that the first thing you have to do is organize the techniques in two categories, what you will use in your personal game and what you will use as a reference. This may sound obvious, but I can guarantee you that you are probably not thinking this way. To me JBW's strategy involves a little bit of analysis of one's game in order to figure out your strengths as a jitsplayer and where you want to go with your game. Once you do this, then organizing them based on position and preference should become easier.
After that, JBW says to prioritize the moves based on your strengths. If you like to submit from the guard then you should think about your favorite submissions and work from there making those moves sharper adding to them as you get better making your solid go-to into a powerful combination of attacks. I think this is a good time to add that you should be careful not to give in to the "cool factor" of new techniques, because not everything will work for you. New stuff should go in the reference file in your head, and saved for later unless it can be used in your arsenal and can be picked up rather quickly. Sticking to your "bread and butter"personal game will only make the introduction of those "cool" moves easier in the future. Carefully adding techniques over a period of time to your personal game seems to be the best way to not get flustered and frustrated. Thinking of 200 ways to sweep someone in spiderguard will only get you passed, so just stick to the few things you know and get skilled at those. Thanks for reading.
