When the action's done: when most people think of a training session, they only focus upon the physical work aspect. Every bit as important as the physical work is the feedback that the successes and failures of the session offer as guidance for future workouts – what needs to be improved, which aspects are showing potential, errors to be avoided etc etc. Of course there are days where we are all tired and just want to talk about anything other than jiu jitsu after a session (usually sex and violence or jiu jitsu scandal ) but most of the time we always conclude with a brief assessment of what was good, what was bad and what needs to be changed for next time. Only in this way can training be PROGRESSIVE rather than just an endless slogging of one athlete against another. All of my best athletes are extremely adept in this post session feedback analysis. We usually gather as a small group after class and discuss the three main lessons learned and hold a brief congress on what we can do to improve next time and then switch conversations back to mocking/ridiculing each other, any absent friends, anyone else we can think of and then steer the conversation back to sex and violence Here I go over post workout reflections with one of the most astute (and obsessive ) workout debriefers I ever knew, Eddie Cummings. A big part of his rapid skill acquisition was his relentless self analysis of success and failure in training which we could trouble shoot after class to help prepare for the next session.
