BRAULIO ESTIMA
ASK THE DOCTOR
Braulio Estima is Jiu Jitsu Style’s
resident BJJ Doctor, helping
prescribe our readers just the
right tonic of tips to improve their
grappling game.
Send your questions
for Braulio to
[email protected]
and we will publish
as many as possible
in the next issue of
Jiu Jitsu Style.Hi Braulio,
Have you ever felt like you’ve suffered from
‘jiu jitsu overload’ and wanted to take a
break from the sport to re-focus? I have been
training intensely for three years now, every
day, but I really struggle when I don’t feel like
I’m developing. Do you have any advice to
help get through these periods and would it
benefit me to take some time off?
- Unknown
I believe that one of the hardest challenges in
life is to find that perfect balance; even if you
drink too much water, it becomes bad for you.
I’ve tried, as I’ve gotten older, to listen to my
body, so as a result I have an understanding of
when I need my body to rest.
As an example: if my plan is to train twice a day
from Monday to Friday, but come Wednesday
morning my body is exhausted, I’ll skip the
second session that day in order to recover.
Many times, I’ve taken days off to make sure that
I never got to the point where I couldn’t bear to
be on the mats. It’s a very fine line, and only you
will be able to address it relative to you. Trying
to push through barriers when you feel tired is
important, as long as you understand when you
genuinely need a rest, otherwise you risk getting
jiu jitsu overload, as you say.I would also say that if I had been training
every single day for three years, then I’d be
overloaded too! You must allow for vacations
and time away to recharge mentally as much as
physically. Try to factor in time for stuff like this,but my best advice would also be to listen to
your body and have these mini-breaks in your
training when you feel you need them.Hi Braulio,
I’ve recently been promoted to black belt after
11 years of training. I wouldn’t say I’m the most
athletic guy at the academy, and I’m 35 years old.
If I’m being honest, it’s becoming increasingly
difficult to curb my ego at the gym and adjusting
to having a big target on my back. I am constantly
under pressure to ‘roll hard’ with younger, hungry
students looking to claim a scalp. Is this some-
thing you have had to deal with on a different
level as a world champion who everyone would
love to tap?- Peter
Hi Peter,
This is a very interesting question, and one that
I think pretty much everyone will deal with at
various times during their journey. When you get
a new belt there will always be students trying
hard to claim your scalp, and this is something
I had to deal with as well. On top of that, once
you become a teacher and you start to do well at
competition, you will find that there’s never a day
goes by when someone isn’t trying to get the
better of you in training.The best advice I can give you is that you MUST
remember that it is so important to focus on your
personal journey, not on the amount of times you
tap in training. Dealing with these pressures and
situations where ego can get in the way will ulti-
mately make you better, as long as you continue
to train and don’t let it stop you from sparring
with people.You don’t have to train to prove a point to
everyone, so the sooner you gain control of your
ego the better. We’re all going to tap, we’re all
going to have those rolls when you’re super tired
and the guy is really fresh, but don’t let the idea
of tapping stop you from training. When I got my
black belt, I was already a world champion, but
I still felt like you did when I started to train with
that belt around my waist. Try and view this as
another challenge that jiu jitsu will help you face
and ultimately improve you as a person.