How to Remember BJJ Moves Between Classes: A 3-Touch Revision Method
TL;DR. You don't forget BJJ moves because you're bad — you forget because you never revise them. The 3-Touch Method is a simple protocol for hobbyists training 2–3× per week: touch a technique once right after class (capture), once the next day (rebuild), once before your next session (rehearse). Do it in short blocks (5–10 minutes), keep notes structured (position → steps → key detail), and drill the same move twice before hunting a new one. Consistency beats volume.
Most hobbyist grapplers have the same story: coach shows a beautiful sweep on Monday, you drill it, you kind of get it, and by Wednesday's open mat it's gone. You default to the same three moves you always use and the new stuff quietly disappears. That's not a talent problem — it's a revision problem. Class is where you learn techniques. What you do in the 48 hours between classes decides whether they actually stick.
This guide gives you a simple, repeatable system — the 3-Touch Method — you can run in about 15 minutes a week. No fancy tools required. If you train 2–3× per week and want to stop losing techniques between sessions, this is for you.
Key takeaways
- Forgetting is normal — human memory fades quickly without deliberate review, and BJJ classes throw a lot at you at once.
- The 3-Touch Method spaces three short reviews across the gap between classes: capture, rebuild, rehearse.
- Structure every note the same way — position, objective, 3–5 steps, one key detail, one common mistake.
- Revise before class, not just after; a 5-minute pre-training review dramatically improves recall on the mat.
- Focus on one or two techniques per week instead of chasing every new move you see on YouTube.
- Drill the same technique across at least two sessions before adding a new one to your working set.
- A qualified coach and consistent mat time are still the foundation — revision only makes what you already learn stick.
Why this happens: the honest reason moves don't stick
BJJ is unusually hard to memorize because a single technique is really a chain: a grip, a hip movement, a weight shift, a step, a finish. Miss one link and the whole thing collapses in live rolling. Meanwhile, a typical class shows you a move, a variation, and maybe a counter — all in under an hour. You get a few reps, then you spar. It's a firehose.
After class, most people do nothing. They shower, they eat, they scroll. By the next session the details are fuzzy, so they fall back on whatever they already know. The technique from Monday never becomes part of their game — not because it was bad, but because it was never revisited.
There's also the YouTube trap. Watching Gordon Ryan or Lachlan Giles for an hour feels like studying, but passive viewing without notes or drilling rarely converts into recall on the mat. Studying instructionals is powerful — studying instructionals the right way is a separate skill, and step one is capturing what you watch.
Remember. Retention isn't about how smart you are or how many years you've trained. It's about whether you touch a technique again before your brain lets it go.
A simple system: the 3-Touch Revision Method
The rule is simple: every technique you want to keep gets three touches before your next class. Each touch takes 3–10 minutes. That's it.
Here's the full protocol.
1. Pick one (maybe two) techniques per class
After class, choose one technique to actually work on — the one that felt most useful, most confusing, or most relevant to a hole in your game. Two max. If you try to remember everything, you'll remember nothing. Everything else is a bonus if it sticks.
2. Touch #1 — Capture (within 2 hours of class)
While it's fresh, write the technique down. Use the same template every time so your brain knows where to file it:
- Position: where you start (e.g., closed guard, bottom of side control).
- Objective: what you're trying to achieve (sweep, submission, escape, pass).
- Steps: 3–5 short bullets, in order.
- Key detail: the one thing coach emphasized — the grip, the angle, the weight shift.
- Common mistake: what people (or you) did wrong when drilling.
Don't write a novel. Five lines is better than fifty, because you'll actually reread five lines.
3. Touch #2 — Rebuild (next day)
Within 24 hours, open your note and rebuild the technique from memory before rereading it. Try to say the steps out loud, or shadow-drill them on the couch. Then check your note. Whatever you missed is the part that hadn't stuck yet — reread that section slowly.
This retrieval step is the whole trick. Rereading feels productive; retrieving actually builds memory.
4. Touch #3 — Rehearse (right before next class)
Five minutes before you leave for the gym, or in the parking lot, pull up the note one more time. Read it. Visualize the entry, the steps, the finish. If it's a technique with a video, watch the key 20 seconds — not the whole instructional.
Now you walk onto the mat already primed. When drilling or open mat comes, you have something specific to try.
5. Drill it twice before adding a new one
A technique isn't yours until you've drilled it in at least two separate sessions and tried it in live rolling. Resist the urge to swap it out for a shiny new move from the next class. Add the new one to your library, but keep drilling the old one until you can hit it live at least sometimes.
6. Review your library weekly
Once a week — Sunday works for most people — spend 10 minutes scrolling through your last month of notes. You don't need to study; just skim titles and positions. This keeps older techniques from disappearing entirely and helps you notice patterns ("I have six sweeps from closed guard but nothing from half guard").
7. Prune ruthlessly every month
Once a month, be honest: which techniques are you actually using? Star the ones that are becoming part of your game. The rest stay in the library for reference, but stop trying to force them into every roll. A focused game of a handful of techniques beats a scattered collection of dozens you kind of remember.
The 3-Touch Method at a glance
| Touch | When | What you do | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Capture | Within 2 hours of class | Write the technique using the template | 5–10 min |
| 2. Rebuild | Next day | Recall from memory, then check your note | 3–5 min |
| 3. Rehearse | Right before next class | Reread the note, visualize the reps | 3–5 min |
| Bonus | Weekly | Skim your recent library | 10 min |
Remember. Three short touches beat one long study session. Your brain needs the technique to reappear across time, not to be crammed once and forgotten.
Common mistakes that kill retention
Even with a good system, a few habits will still sabotage you.
Trying to remember everything from class. If coach shows an armbar, a triangle, and a counter, and you take notes on all three, you'll retain none of them well. Pick one.
Writing notes you'll never reread. Long, unstructured paragraphs die in your phone. Short, templated notes get revisited.
Skipping the retrieval step. Rereading your note without first trying to recall it feels efficient but builds much weaker memory. Always try to remember first, then check.
Chasing YouTube instead of drilling class material. New instructionals feel exciting. But an hour of drilling a technique you already learned in class will do more for your game than an hour of new video. If you do watch, capture what you watch — otherwise it evaporates. See our guide to building a personal BJJ game.
Only reviewing after class, never before. The post-class note dump is helpful, but the pre-class review is where retention pays off. That's when the technique gets primed for the mat.
Ignoring context. Writing "kimura from side control" isn't enough. Note when it works — the grip, the reaction from your partner, what setup got you there. Context is what turns a step list into a technique you can find in live rolling.
Skipping the mat. No amount of note-taking replaces reps against a resisting partner. Revision makes classes stick; classes are still where the learning happens.
Remember. Notes are a scaffolding for memory, not a substitute for training. A great note plus zero mat time equals zero retention.
How BJJ Memo fits in
You can absolutely run the 3-Touch Method with a paper notebook or the notes app on your phone. The reason we built BJJ Memo is that most grapplers say they'll do this and never actually do — because writing structured notes after every class is friction, and finding an old technique in a messy note file is worse friction.
BJJ Memo is a mobile app that turns any BJJ YouTube video into a structured Technique Card — position, steps, key details, and tappable timestamps of the important visual moments. Cards are filed into your personal, searchable library, and a revision flow surfaces them for you before your next session. It's the 3-Touch Method with the friction removed: capture is one paste, rebuild is one tap, rehearse is one scroll before you leave for the gym.
If you want to try it, BJJ Memo is available on iOS and Android. Use it or don't — the method above works either way. Just pick a system and actually run it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to remember a BJJ technique?
It varies a lot by person and by move, but as a rule of thumb, a technique starts becoming reliable after you've drilled it across several sessions and successfully tried it in live rolling. Written or video review between sessions accelerates this significantly compared to relying on class reps alone.
Is spaced repetition useful for BJJ?
Yes — the principle behind spaced repetition (revisiting information at increasing intervals so it moves into long-term memory) applies well to BJJ techniques. The 3-Touch Method is a simplified, mat-friendly version: one review the day of class, one the next day, one before the next class. You don't need flashcards or software to benefit from the idea.
Should I take notes during class or after?
After. Taking notes during class means you're not fully paying attention to coach, not drilling as many reps, and not building the muscle memory that class is designed for. Watch, listen, drill hard, then capture the technique in your notes within a couple of hours of finishing class.
What if I only train once a week?
The 3-Touch Method still works — the touches just spread out. Capture within 24 hours, rebuild mid-week, rehearse the night before or morning of your next class. If you train once a week, retention is even more critical because you have fewer reps, so structured revision matters more, not less.
How do I remember techniques from YouTube instructionals?
Don't watch passively. Pick one technique per video, capture it with the same template (position, objective, steps, key detail, common mistake), and drill it in your next open mat before watching anything new. Apps like BJJ Memo can turn a YouTube video into a structured card automatically, which removes most of the friction.
Will this replace a coach?
No — and it's not meant to. A qualified coach at a legitimate academy is irreplaceable for feedback, safety, and pressure-testing your technique. The 3-Touch Method is about making the techniques your coach teaches you actually stick between sessions. Train first, revise second.
Start with the next class
Don't try to rebuild your entire training system tonight. Do this instead: at your next class, pick one technique that stood out. Capture it within two hours using the five-line template. Rebuild it from memory the next day. Rehearse it right before the following class. See what happens.
If you want the capture and revision loop handled for you — including turning YouTube instructionals into structured cards you can actually revise — download BJJ Memo for iOS or Android and build your library one class at a time.
A note from us: everything above is a learning aid. For real feedback, safety, and correct technique, train at a legit academy with a qualified coach. BJJ Memo helps you remember and revise — it doesn't replace mat time.
Last updated 2026-09-02.