Data Driven Jiu-Jitsu 2.5: How I Have Been Training For Competition (for the last 6 months)

A guide to stringing together strong competitive performances.

IBJJF Chicago Open 2023 — Chicago, IL

This year so far, I’ve competed 8 times.

I’ve upped my activity a lot recently in particular — competing 4 times in the last 6 weeks.

This has been done while moving my entire life to Austin, teaching 2 seminars, running (and revamping) my ghostwriting business, spending quality time with friends, family, and girlfriend, and creating my BJJ content online on the side as well (like this article!).

Life for the last few months has been extremely busy. Constant travel, constant training, injuries, bumps in the road, stress, and more. It’s been tough.

People see pictures of me holding belts and gold medals on Instagram, but this is merely a snapshot of the never-ending journey of trying to be a professional grappler.

And the truth is that despite my success the last few months (I’ve only lost one match since my tough loss at GrappleFest on April 1st), life has not been easy the last few months.

I’ve been actively competing for a lot of the last several months, but it’s not always been “convenient”. I’ve torn my hamstring. I minorly injured my ankle last weekend at the Chicago Open. I’ve squeezed competitions in-between seminars. I’ve mixed training trips with comp trips with personal trips and somehow — it’s all working.

But from an outsider’s perspective, my life probably seems very chaotic.

This article, however, aims to clear that up, both for me and for you.

This article is about how I train for competitions, help myself peak at the right times, and stay as active as I can so that I can build my career as a grappler.

I hope you enjoy it and get something out of it.