This is a review of a colleague’s workbook for peak mental performance in Jiu Jitsu and Judo. I have no affiliation with his business or the project, but I have found it very helpful and wanted to share why.
The Author is named Derek Mueller and he is a Doctor of Psychology as well as a Judo Black Belt and Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt. We shared a mat here and there training in Portland, OR.
One of the opening questions posed in the workbook asks what percentage of Jiu Jitsu is physical? How much is mental? I thought it was about 25-30% mental. The next question asks how many hours I spent per week working on my physical conditioning and training vs. mental training. At the time the answer was zero time spent on the mental side. That is a big gap. I was hooked after that. A lot of coaching resources touch on positive self-talk, focus, and mental fortitude. None that I have found give a road map on how to build these things.
A good competitive mindset can be a byproduct of years of competing in and outside of the gym, I think that this resource allows it to be built intentionally and I would argue better and faster. Here are a few of the topics covered.
Goal Setting:
The book guides the user through setting different types of goals. We often focus on outcome goals, like winning a tournament, rather than process or performance goals which can be measured and evaluated daily. The small behaviors and habits build to create the larger outcome goal.
Managing Competitive Energy:
The workbook covers increasing or decreasing mental energy before performance. Some athletes are too nervous and aggressive and start too fast. Others may be relaxed to the point that they get behind and can’t catch up in the span of a match. It is important to know which one you are and how to adjust. Developing Positive Self-Talk and Creating good visualizations are explained as well.
Lastly, there is a review of competition performance. This can also be applied to an open mat if you are not a competitor. I do not advocate considering your teammates as competition, they are training partners, but more monitoring your own small process and performance goals.
Jiu Jitsu is an art as well as a science. It is possible to review performance daily and make small adjustments, it requires reflection and systemic goal setting.
You can find “The Mental Game: Science-Backed Mental Performance for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” by Derek Mueller here:
https://www.headgames.shop/shop
or on Instagram @head.games
Personal Performance Reflection:
I competed in master’s worlds a couple of weekends ago. The result was not what I wanted, especially given that I had won my weight class twice in the past. I lost my first match due to a ref’s decision. I know never to leave it up to the ref! It was my best effort given where my Jiu Jitsu was that day. I felt pretty good. No big injuries. I did not cut weight at all.
Watching the match back, I have already made some improvements and see some opportunities missed. I didn’t make any mistakes, but I also did not take enough risks. That is a hard line to tread in a five-minute match.
In my mind I had “retired” from competition. That is if you can retire from a sport that does not typically pay its competitive athletes! This mind set was reflected in my approach to training and diet.
I came in at my heaviest, I would also say my strongest, but that is a balance. I had also been coaching a lot. I was not working on my own offense, but just kind of maintaining. Just coasting. It was comfortable. The Pandemic made it less possible to compete and even more reasonable to be a little stagnant. Instead of trying to win, I was working not to lose.
I went through a weekend of mental and leadership training that was helpful in breaking out of this complacency. I also started using this workbook. I had made the shift in training mindset about six months before and began to work offense almost exclusively about eight weeks out. Using The Mental Game work book I set some smaller daily process and performance goals for practice. I used some of the breathing, visualization, and competitive energy exercises to put myself into the right frame of mind for the first time in over two years.
I do think that if I had been training this way for the past two years, I would have had a different result this last tournament. I could already see the improvement and being willing to push myself and take more risks in my professional and personal life has also paid off. I want to live and roll in a way that I leave it all on the mat. This takes intention, purpose, and a willingness to be vulnerable by risking failure. It has to happen each day.
Rolling Under The Big Sky 