[schmytty]

OK - So I was a good first time poster and read the stickies and searched around for existing posts, but didn’t see a lot for me. So here's my situation:

I'm new to BJJ - been training 1 month. I have a black belt in an unrelated style which means nothing to my BJJ except - I am quite flexible, I’m in pretty good shape and I know how to learn a martial art (not always as easy as people think IMO).

My issue is that the best school in my area (and the only one that I feel is worth training with) is a 1 hour drive away, so with wife and kids I can really only train at the school 2 days a week. I want to train at home on my off days to try to get in at least 5 days a week, but I wanted to get ideas on that.

I started getting into Eddie Bravo's Rubber Guard book and have done OK with the basics in class during free roll time (I can get to Chill Dog pretty regularly). Reading around the forums though I get the impression I'm jumping the gun a bit though and should focus on the basics more. The problem is Bravo's book is great for my situation because he goes into a lot of detail in a sequential manner, so it's quite conducive to a home training situation.

What do you guys recommend for home training with no training partner. My goals are to focus mainly on BJJ training, BJJ competition and gaining rank. Are there better books/DVD's for n00bs that are good for self study on my off days are do you guys recommend focusing on cardio/strength or drilling basics. Thx!

[schmytty]

Let me add that I understand 100% that self training on my off days is no substitute for training with an instructor or even a partner, but IMO something is better than nothing.

[DeathNTaxes]

Bump escapes. Hip drills. Learn basic techniques and then in class get someone to critique them so that every week you can adjust what your doing so you don't ingrain any bad habits from "learning on your own". Armbar the hell out of your wife and kid.

[DropBows]

Your new to BJJ. If you're flexible enough to start working rubberguard and attempt submissions okay....but it's not where an instructor would start you off at. Thats usually more for blue belt, but I personally dont see anything wrong with learning how to break down the posture and submit them from there.

What you should definately be working: armbar from guard and triangle from guard.

[Graunie]

I know you don't want to hear it, but without the mat time to balance out the tutorial learning you are asking for an information overload. You will be practicing the stuff you learned in the book instead of the instructor's lessons. It is really tough to try a bunch of new things every night because it just gets to be too much.

This is only what I have encountered early on in my training so take it for what it's worth. Picking up a couple of techniques to try in between classes is one thing, but I don't think you will see anything but very small gains when compared going to class.

[finnegan]

Shrimp until you die.

[Kimuralex]

put your bravo book away, your pretty much doing yourself a disservice by working advanced stuff when your new. Work on your closed guard, and basic sweeps/submissions/control.

Bjj is effective in the reason that to get better you do live rolling/drills with another person. You can not shadow grapple really(well maybe, but i dont think its effective ). I suggest watching instructionals(basic ones) or maybe getting a grappling dummy.

[Balto]

I think drilling the basics is really useful at any point in your BJJ career. It's especially useful at the beginning.

Some basics you can practice on your own:
Breakfalls
Rolls
Shots
Throwing footwork
Bridging
Turtling
Shrimping
Standing in base
Any other basic move done in the air or on a dummy

One other thing you want work to look into is finding a training partner who can help you out on those days. See if anyone at your school lives near you. They might be in your same situation where they can't make the hour trip all the time, but would be more than happy to train with you close to where you guys live. Also, your training partner could be someone who goes to another school but just wants the extra work for some reason.

If you still can't find a training partner, try to make one yourself. Get one of your buddies from where you live interested in BJJ. That way you can carpool rides on the training days and you can practice together the rest of the week.

[Magooglie]

Buy a 50 pound bag of rice.

[Big Eck]

I'd lay off the Eddie Bravo stuff for a bit. That's kind of advanced. I have his book and I haven't started getting much into it yet.