The Real Progress Report: How to Actually Measure Your BJJ Journey
- passosbjj
- Dec 31, 2025
- 4 min read
Progress over perfection. Always.
If you're measuring your BJJ journey by how smoothly you executed that armbar today or whether you got tapped more or less than yesterday, you're using the wrong measuring stick. Let's take a look at what actually matters and how to track real growth on the mats.
Growth Lives in Discomfort
Perfection doesn't exist in jiu-jitsu. It doesn't exist anywhere, actually, but especially not in a sport where you're literally learning through failure every single day.
When you're learning something new, like trying that back attack for the first time or experimenting with a different guard, you'll probably roll worse. You'll get tapped more. You'll feel like you're moving backwards.
If training feels uncomfortable, frustrating, or messy, that’s not a sign you’re failing.
It’s a sign you’re growing.
Growth lives in the places where things don’t work yet.
Where timing feels off.
Where you’re learning something new instead of relying on your “safe” game.
The discomfort you feel when nothing is working? That's not a setback. It's the work. That's where development lives.
Showing Up Is Already a Win
Congratulate yourself for showing up to class.
Just being on the mat is half the work.
Some days your best will be sharp, focused, and strong. Other days your best might simply be walking through the door. Both count.
And every time you show up, you're not just investing in your own growth journey, you're committing to your teammates. You're helping your training partners progress and sharpen their game, as iron sharpens iron. Your presence and willingness to try, even on your worst days, makes everyone better.
That's what it's about.
The Wrong Way to Track Your BJJ Growth
One of the biggest challenges we see students struggle with is that progress in jiu-jitsu is hard to materialize. You can train consistently and still feel like you’re not improving, especially if you’re measuring the wrong things like how well you rolled on a particular day. Unlike lifting weights where you can track pounds, or running where you track times, grappling feels abstract.
Belts and stripes are markers, but they're not the full story. They acknowledge a journey already traveled, but they don't capture the daily victories.
How well you rolled today? Completely unreliable. In fact, it can be misleading and demotivating. Maybe you're tired. Maybe you're trying new techniques. Maybe your partner leveled up. Too many variables.
I'll say it again another way because it is important to remember: When you’re learning new things, making new connections, and stretching yourself you may feel slower, you may execute techniques worse before they get better, you may get tapped more than usual.
That doesn’t mean you’re regressing.
It often means you’re evolving.
What to Actually Measure
Input Goals, Not Outcomes.
Vague goals like "get better at BJJ" or "win more" aren't enough. Set goals where you can actually measure and control the inputs, not just end results. BJJ progress is about what you put in, not what immediately comes out.
Small improvements compound.
Try this these:
Instead of “lose weight” try “train 3x per week for 90 days
Instead of “win more rounds” try “stay calm and breathe when under pressure”
Instead of “get better at guard” try “attempt a new guard retention during the next roll”
Track your learning, not your winning.
Here are the keys to progress in your jiu jitsu learning journey:
While drilling, focus on details and practicing it with excellence
Don't try to coast during warm-ups and drilling in order to save energy for the roll.
Ask and listen to the feedback from your coaches and training partners.
Above all, try to execute what the coach is teaching you (not perfectly executed, just tried)
When you do this, you'll notice progress, like positions you're becoming comfortable in (even if you're not dominating), moments you stayed calm under pressure, times you recognized a setup before it happened.
Small goals create momentum.
Momentum creates confidence.
Confidence fuels consistency.
If you’re struggling to identify goals, reach out to our coaches. They'd love to help.
Your Real Progress Report
This journey isn’t just about where you end up.
It’s about who you’re becoming along the way.
So don’t measure how well you roll today.
Measure where the read growth is happening: your consistency, your courage, your willingness to show up, stay connected and try again, your commitment to the process over comfort.
Forget how you rolled today. Ask yourself: Did I show up? Did I try something new? Did I help someone else improve? Did I learn from my failures? Am I still here?
If you answered yes to any of these, you're progressing. Even if it doesn't feel like it. Especially if it doesn't feel like it.
Remember: you're not training to avoid failure or achieve perfection. You're training to become better than you were yesterday…for yourself and those you love. And sometimes, better means simply surviving the hard days and showing up anyway.
That's not just progress. That's the entire point.
Keep showing up. Keep learning. Keep growing.
Professor Tony Passos
