The familiar phrase, “The secret is there is no secret” is true. Mastering jiu-jitsu is all about time on the mat, and there’s no substitute for it.

But the next closest thing is principle-based learning. Getting to understand the principles behind the techniques allows you to learn new techniques faster. That’s just technique though. You still need to learn about timing, breathing, etc.

Scott Young writes in Ultralearning:

If the principles-first way of thinking of problems is so much more effective, why don’t students start there instead of attending to superficial characteristics? The simple answer may be that they can’t. Only by developing enough experience with problem solving can you build up a deep mental model of how other problems work. Intuition sounds magical, but the reality may be more banal—the product of a large volume of organized experience dealing with the problem.

Even when you use principle-based learning as a shortcut to mastery, you can’t get away with not putting in the reps.

And the way to put in the reps is to have the right approach to training.