Back when I started BJJ, the sport was all about technique. Most of the
BJJ practitioners that I knew almost exclusively trained BJJ. There were
a few guys who did some strength work, but these guys tended to improve
more slowly as they missed the whole point of BJJ. Whilst the concepts of BJJ haven't changed (like using leverage, your opponents weight and timing), the practitioners who participate in the sport
even at a social level have. Becoming more mainstream means that a
greater array of participants now practice BJJ including those who have
athletic backgrounds. Now, more than ever is technical perfection (or as
close to perfection as possible) essential, but what happens when your
opponent is technically as proficient as you.
This is the new
breed of Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Have a look at the Mundials or Pan Ams.
Rarely do you see an athlete who doesn't have a strength and
conditioning coach or program. Check their Facebook fan pages or tweets
and you'll see heaps of posts and videos of battling ropes, conditioning
circuits, kettlebells, tyre flipping and much more. About the only
athlete who doesn't advocate some form of cross training is Kron Gracie,
and with his linage it's understandable why, and even without this his
accomplishments are impressive. However I can't help but wonder what
he'd accomplish if he did...
This shift to including supplementary work to compliment sporting performance was bound to happen. In Olympic Sports, coaches have used non-specific drills to improve athleticism for decades. Here comes the next problem - How do you actually improve sporting performance from BJJ? Understanding the demands of your sport before you begin training is critical. The goal of your S&C program is to maximize your sporting performance, and this can only take place when you identify the dominant fitness parameters and then program accordingly. In RT's next article, they will break down which fitness parameters you need to develop for BJJ success.
Here is a nice video of Cobrinha training for the ADCC in 2009.
Great exercises, but be careful about blindly following another person's training regimen just because they are a professional athlete. After all, I could have posted this video...
