The BJJ beginner’s guide to efficient learning: What actually makes you better?

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is like being dropped into the middle of the ocean. You’re drowning in techniques, terminology, and "expert" advice from every corner of the internet. Most beginners make the mistake of trying to do everything at once - lifting, cardio, solo drills, and endless YouTube tutorials, only to find their progress on the mats is stalling.

If you want to stop spinning your wheels, you need to know where to spend your energy. Here is the Training Focus Tier List for beginners.

Originally taken from @iamowain post on Instagram.

The gold standard: live sparring (S+ Tier)

If you want to learn how to swim, you have to get in the water. In BJJ, that means live sparring.

Live sparring is the ultimate teacher because it forces you to develop real-world problem-solving skills and functional endurance under pressure.

However, a word of caution: live rolling can be counterproductive if both partners are totally unskilled or uncoached. You don't want two brand-new white belts just thrashing around without a goal - that's how injuries happen.

The Skill Builder: Positional Sparring (A Tier)

If live sparring is the deep end of the pool, positional sparring is swimming laps with a kickboard. It’s where you refine your technique under resistance.

By narrowing the focus to a specific position (like escaping the mount or holding side control), you get concentrated problem-solving time. It builds endurance just like live rolling, but with more "reps" in the specific areas where you are currently struggling.

The support system: partnered drills & lifting (B Tier)

Once you have the "live" element down, you need the infrastructure to support it.

Partnered drills help you build the muscle memory for the techniques you’ll eventually use in sparring without the pressure of full resistance.

Lifting ensures your body is strong enough to handle the rigors of the sport and helps prevent injury. They are vital, but they don't replace sparring.

The "supplementary" trap: YouTube and mobility (C Tier)

Many beginners spend hours chasing "secret techniques" online or over-optimizing their stretching routines while skipping class.

Mobility is essential for building a resilient body and increasing your range of motion, but it should never be prioritized over actual mat time. It’s a supplement, not the main course.

Similarly, YouTube is great for increasing knowledge from legitimate sources (like Jon Thomas), but it’s useless if you don’t understand the context of what you’re watching or don't have the mat time to try it out.

The low-rOI zone: Solo drills and cardio (D Tier)

Finally, we have the things that feel productive but offer the lowest return on investment for your actual grappling skill.

While solo drills (like shrimping down the mat) are fine for a warm-up or if you are literally locked in a room alone, they have a very low impact on your ability to grapple a resisting opponent.

There is nothing wrong with doing some cardio. Done carefully, it can help you on the mats. But in reality, most beginners will get all the cardio they need on the mats.

The bottom line

If you have five hours a week to dedicate to BJJ, four of those should be spent with a partner in the gym (S and A Tiers). Everything else is just a bonus. Prioritize the activities that force you to solve problems in real-time, and your game will improve faster.