Patience

Why can't I learn jiu-jitsu faster? Why can't I absorb more information? Why can't I remember more techniques? Why do I think of a move after the opportunity has passed? Why doesn't this injury heal faster? Grrrrrrrr.... Sometimes jiu-jitsu can be really discouraging and frustrating. Sometimes you look for things to make you better faster. It's like anything else...the more you practice, the better you will get. There are no big secrets or quick fix answers. Sometimes people will tell you things but you're not ready to hear them. Then one day you're ready, someone tells you and you hear it. Was this person a genius who finally shared the most secret of secrets with you? Or is it something you may have been told before and just never got? (Or maybe there IS a big secret!!!) Everyone has their own speed of learning. Every person is different. Some people won't understand things for a while and then one day something clicks. This is not only in jiu-jitsu. This is life. Why can't a baby be an adult? A baby has to grow and learn and experience...and it's the sum of those experiences that forms the adult. Jiu-jitsu is no different. Someone can tell you a hundred times not to leave one arm in, but until you get triangled a bunch of times, you won't understand it. You have to experience it. Experience takes time. It's not a bad thing to try to find ways to get better, but remember that you sometimes you have to have patience. Patience with yourself. Patience for your body to catch up to your mind. Patience for your mind to catch up to your desire (to improve). Patience for your experience to catch up to your desired ability.
Then take time to see your progress...look back and see how far you've come. Maybe it's that you just kept going to class and didn't quit. Maybe you're defense is getting better and you're fighting off attacks more than you were able to in the past. Maybe you're rolling more fluidly. If you keep going, you will get better.