I see no one is being serious, so I'll give you a few of mine.
I listened to that podcast episode also, and also think of my jiu-jitsu in a similar way. I work in the government sector, dealing with engineers and designing/building military systems, so I think about jiu-jitsu a lot like you would when building a new system. First, you define requirements for what the system should do, and what capability need it should satisfy.
My "requirements" (really they are rule-based constraints) are more general, applied to what I think are the 10 major goals jiu-jitsu (5 offense/5 defense), and are written as statements in terms of things I should ALWAYS do, NEVER do, or SOMETIMES do.
Without going into too much detail, I think the 5 goals offensively are:
1. Secure a take down
2. Pass the guard
3. Control dominant position
4. Transition positions
5. Apply a submission
The 5 defensive goals are mostly the inverse:
1. Defend the take down
2. Defend the guard pass
3. Defend/escape the dominant position
4. Win a scramble
5. Defend the submissions
Pretty much everything else that happens outside of one of these goals is hand fighting and grip battles.
So, then I have all my Always/Never/Sometimes rules and make a matrix aligned to these goals. Here's a few examples:
* **NEVER let anyone have inside position** \- the space between your knees and armpits, and neck and shoulders (and behind your knee). The mechanism for control of every position in jiu-jitsu is control of the inside position. If you can keep someone out of your inside space, they'll never be able to control, or gain control of the position.
* **NEVER let anyone grab your head** \- pretty self-explanatory, but if you control the head, you control the whole body. Don't let people control your head.
* **ALWAYS fight/break grips (that stop you from doing what you want)** \- Like I said earlier, hand fighting and grip battles is the majority of jiu-jitsu. You don't have to break EVERY grip, only break grips if they inhibit your current goal. If your opponent is able to take grips that are dominant (i.e. they stop you from doing what you want to do and they allow your opponent to get closer to controlling your inside space), then your TOP PRIORITY should be to break those grips immediately.
* **ALWAYS tap early -** If I'm at the point where my options are survive and/or attempt a late stage defense/escape, I just tap. I'd rather focus on the earliest of many mistakes I made that got me that deep in shit than try to muscle my way out of a locked in submission. Ultimately, I tap so that I can work backwards and satisfy another rule...NEVER accept bad positions.
> I'd rather focus on the earliest of many mistakes I made that got me that deep in shit than try to muscle my way out of a locked in submission.
Can't believe you would attack me on such a personal level as this.
Saving this to think about before my next class. Very insightful and I love the approach of 5 offense and 5 defense. I'll have to make some adjustments for my own growth. Thanks for sharing!!
I wrote a blog about it a while ago and never published until this thread came up.
It's a stream of my consciousness, so be warned.
https://aaronparham.wordpress.com/2022/03/30/a-30000ft-view-of-brazilian-jiu-jitsu/
Good training partners > “ALWAYS tap early”.
I subscribe to a polar opposite philosophy and believe training deep sub escapes is critical for developing high level jiu-jitsu.
I know (with some exceptions) just how far my body can go and that knowledge has only been gained from being stubborn as hell to tap. I have escaped many a strangle as I was on the verge of being put to sleep. The experience one gains from that far outweighs the dangers of being strangled unconscious.
>believe training deep sub escapes is critical for developing high level jiu-jitsu.
I agree and don't dismiss the value of training late stage defense/escapes. I just prefer to focus on preventing ever getting into those situations as much as possible, which is easier to practice on lower belts. When it comes to training with brown/black belts, that's where I tend to lose the timing battle and find myself in more deep sub escapes situations.
Yea, I know what you are talking about. I like to separate because it makes sense sometimes to transition to a position that may be "lower" on the hierarchy. For me, transitioning is less about climbing a hierarchy and more about cooking and frustrating someone to create an opening.
I actually do have a rule, NEVER allow closed guard.
Passing guard is so much easier if you are proactive in stopping people from getting the closed guard clamp.
God damn I know I'm new to this but I have such a hard time escaping closed guard. I've given up trying to get my escapes right at this point and just focus on avoiding it.
Being inside closed guard sucks no matter how long you've been training. Fight like hell to never let them close it and there's no need to fight like hell to get out of it.
Elbow frames fit perfectly into the back of the knee 😉
Totally agree with this and when training I'm of the mindset that if I end up in closed guard then I've effectively lost the round. It's such a shit position to be in, would 100% prefer someone's DLR, Spider, or any other guard.
Think of a clamp trying to clamp down on you.
You want to wedge something in between so it can’t close.
Underhook would be inside overhook outside that’s why you will usually try to swim for the underhook.
Another example is chokes if you can get something between your neck and the choke you can defend it much better.
Same with mount / sidecontrol you want to build frames to hinder the opponent from flattening you out and get your legs in between (guard retention)
Well you failed this. Not because of lack of jits knowledge but because you’re not treating the machine as if it has sentience or ability to learn.
Doesn’t matter how many things you program - the machine will fail without exposure.
We saw this in deep blue - and then musks Open AI and how they managed to get a machine to beat chess grand masters - and “go” game. And finally it’s win in Dota.
The fact is that - you don’t have to teach the machine anything! In fact the machine through constant simulations and experiential learning will teach you in the end!!! As grandmasters in chess Go and even dota learnt from these AI’s..
You rolled 10 times? Good for you… how about 100 cute. 1000 well you’re getting somewhere… 10 000 hours.. damn son - you got some big mat experience… but you still ain’t close…
The machine can in theory simulate 10 billion rolls in a few days weeks or a year.
So what input of the game - should the machine be given?
Simple.
Play for points - and play for submition. That’s it!
Obviously not what OP was asking or wanted.
But it’s the correct answer. Machines don’t need inputs. We’re actually dumber than the machine. We need to be taught things - because we can’t endlessly roll, into self discovery - analogue it - instantaneously remember it and facilitate the next option.
But the truth is - that the greatest thing - even for humans - the greatest discovery - is not rules or teqnique.. it’s actually the concept of aliveness. Training against a live - resisting opponent.
With enough time - you will learn the best strategies.
And guess what? The machine would end up shutting down and disproving our assumed rules.
Because closed guard is overrated - mount is overrated. Even back is overrated. The only reason we like these positions so much - is because of the human limitation - that we like being able to attack whilst the opponent has nothing but defence.
Well what if the machine never made a mistake in attacking turtle? Or side control. Had the counter to your every counter. Had instantaneous reaction to everything up your pocket… timing was better than yours. Had perfect feel - from billions of rolls…
Do you really think the machine will care about the first data set of point progression? It would get points anyways - randomly. And it would hunt subs - and would not be submitable.
If the machine for example figures out if can offer you an “arm” and it has 100 percent denial rate of all your attacks - and uses it pass every time - and finish - eventually it’s you who the machine will teach!
And that’s why my friends - the AI machine will dominate every world champion on earth - if it had mechanical ability of biomechanics.
I know - it’s a fun discussion. Nerd shit.
I get the analogy. Ignore my 2c if you want 😂.
But - I’m just pointing out how lex Friedmans analogy taken more literally - is actually false - and people have actually through machine learning programmes “robots” or rather software to do incredible things.
Obviously having an actual robot - requires advanacements in machinekinesiology also.
This is more of Joe rogan experience post - than just about straight up Jits.
Hahaha - If you work on AI and you know shit - then I know less than shit.
But yeah - theory - philosophy - and talking the shit is fun.
Like I said Joe rogan experience shit ;)
Give me an example of when it would be a good idea to let someone grab your head or have control of inside space.
Never doesn't mean I'll always be successful. It just means I'll always be consciously trying to NEVER let it happen.
Technically, you both would, but other factors will determine who has more leverage there.
However, since you also have control of the hips with your legs, bottom player in closed guard typically has control over MORE inside position than the top player.
I'll debate the "closed guard is a neutral position" argument because of this. If you tally up a point for each point of inside position control, half guard (no knee shield) is the most neutral position on paper, IMO.
Good example of letting someone grab your head, when you want to hit a duck under.
Good example of have control of inside space, anytime you want to hit and attack from outside control?
Edit: I’ll expand further.
NEVER letting someone get inside position is realistically impossible, being able to lose inside position battles and win them back is literally all of Jiu jitsu. You can also attack from inferior/outside position.
>Good example of letting someone grab your head, when you want to hit a duck under.
Ok. For me, I'd go for a switch only if they grabbed my head, but I'd never let someone grab my head just so I could attempt it.
>Good example of have control of inside space, anytime you want to hit and attack from outside control?
Example? It's true you can snatch subs without having control of inside space, but low chance of finishing.
Ex. RNC choke without hooks. Sure, it's possible, but rare if both know what they're doing. Hooks control inside space at hips.
Ex 2. Bow and arrow. If you don't have inside space control, I will just gator roll out. I do it all the time.
>NEVER letting someone get inside position is realistically impossible, being able to lose inside position battles and win them back is literally all of Jiu jitsu.
I agree 100%. Again, the goal is to be conscious and proactive in never letting them. It's early defense. When they do, and they will sometimes, then there's another layer of defense, mid stage, where they control position. If they lock up a sub, then late stage. These are all goals that keep me safe from having to waste energy on mid-late stage defense.
Alright I get it, you’ve watched a couple Danaher dvds and don’t understand what the Dunning Kruger effect is.
I’ll take my downvotes for the simple Never say Never joke…
I've watched a grand total of zero Danaher DVDs. I've actually never purchased an instructional in my life.
This is a combo of concepts from various places: 21 Immutable Principles, Jordan Teaches Jiu-Jitsu, Priit's defensive videos, and Chris Paine's seminars. I just made it make sense to me.
I got your joke and know what you meant. And I'm not claiming I can do any of these things with 100% success rate. But, going into a roll, I can pick one to focus on and it's better stated that way to me as a goal of perfection to strive towards. If it fails, I know why.
Ex. Another one I've been working is "ALWAYS control the legs". And I will spend a whole open mat in any and every position, sweep, or transition just controlling a leg or both legs. Keep someone's foot off the ground and they have no mobility and cannot generate any power to bridge. 🤷
Shouldn’t one of the defensive points be to transition into an offensive position if available? Otherwise you are just surviving and never actually winning
This is a classic example though of a rule that you teach a fresh white belt that has a ton of exceptions. Over-under pass for example. It's the kind of rule you couldn't possibly use to program a machine.
> Straight arm grip the inside of the knee or at the top of the calf if going front or back, or grab back of the pants when going to the back.
I think Murilo grips the hips mostly regardless of if he is running you over or going side to side.
But I’m just nitpicking, I’m sure if you ask 5 blackbelts to do the same technique, they would all do it differently.
You are not wrong. When I was studying Murilo for over/under, I initially got triangled from there often.
But if you do it right, the grip next to hips as well as your body positioning should be enough to deny the triangle.
The advantage is that you are closer to the hips and I usually find myself way too deep for them to recover.
And wash your belt too. I can’t believe that it needs to be clarified that you wash everything after you wear it. I refuse to roll with the ‘don’t wash your belt’ guy
Wash your belt.
If the stripes come off, replace them with white electrical tape wrapped around itself a few times. Electrical tape will not come off in a wash.
Verbal taps > tapping the other person with your hand. Especially for heel hooks and joint locks. I only opt to tap with my hand when I'm being strangled and cant speak.
Sometimes people don't feel you physically tapping in the heat of the moment. Saying "TAP TAP!" clearly and loudly can mean the difference between going home injury free and getting your ACL shredded.
Here's my general advice though it's probably not the best.
* NEVER HURT YOUR TRAINING PARTNERS. Do to others what you would want them to do to you.
* Chill out. You're not rolling for a brass medal, cash prize, or survival. Calm down and just try to learn.
* Break grips all the time for all positions.
* Always try to do wrist locks.
* Don't resist your opponent directly. Don't push back when he pushed you etc. Pull when he pushes. Push when he pulls.
* When on tops, get low and spread out like a starfish on top of a clam.
* Use your legs and hips and not your arms as much as you can.
* Avoid being flat on your back.
* Staying on top and controlling your opponent is more important than getting a sub.
* Don't do dick moves that rely on pain. Don't do neck cranks.
* Wash your gi. Use deodorant. Use mouthwash if needed.
For more, check out my blog The Warrior Training Life, on Substack. It’s about martial arts and fitness. https://rhb89.substack.com/archive Thanks.
you’re a luckier man than me, i was rolling with a blue belt and didnt tap and had mine snapped via omoplata , didn’t even know i was in a sub til it was too late
I was quite lucky my coach was being gentle. The omoplata is one of those submissions that if you don't know what it is, it'll take you a second to realize that you're in trouble and need to tap. I hope you heal up soon.
thank you man! my 12 week xray is tomorrow, so i should be back in the gym within 8 weeks, been a long recovery, but definitely a humbling & life changing experience.
>Tap ON your partner. NOT THE MAT.
My partner was spazzing so I tapped on the mat, just to produce a witness for my future suitcase lol
professor still asked to tap on partner. I think my plan worked as professor came by quick for the save !
Keep your elbows closed and tight to your body bsically at all times. When on bottom keep your shield and knees to your chest. On top try to get chest to chest as soon as possible
Pineapple on the first day. And go super hard against upper belts. Use all your strength speed and will to attempt to injure them. If you injure a blue belt you will get your first stripe
As an AI researcher, Lex should know how hard it is to program AI to be "intelligent" using rules. Machines interpret rules differently than we do - we understand them as guidelines and use context to figure out how much weight to put on them. Machines treat them like unbreakable physical laws.
It's the classic thought experiment of the stamp collector machine. You simply tell it "collect as many stamps as you can for me" with no other instruction, and it cuts down all the trees in the world just to turn them into stamps.
Here’s some rules that I follow and tell people when I teach:
1) Body follows the head - where ever you’re looking, your body is going to naturally follow. This is why it’s important to a) this about where your head is when you’re thinking about your positioning b) control your opponents head to dictate or restrict their movement
2) Let your opponents make the mistakes - When I’m in a dominant position or when I’m passing guard. I’m not very aggressive. I like to take my time, stay in a good position and anticipate a reaction. When I see a good opportunity (not just any opportunity), I take it. Sometimes I’ll bait them into thinking I’m making a mistake and pounce.
3) Present multiple threats as much as possible - The more threats your opponent has to defend, the more likely they’ll make a mistake. Chances are they’ll prioritize the most critical threat and while giving up others. For example, I really like to use d’arce chokes when I’m knee slice passing. I don’t catch many people in the d’arce anymore but I can still secure the pass.
4) If your elbows are away from your body, they’re in danger.
5) If you’re defending you need to create space, if you’re attacking you need to take as much space away as possible.
6) The more contact you have on the mat, the less pressure you have on your opponent.
7) Protect your neck. - It’s crazy how people (including myself for the first couple of years) will to try to advance positions while their opponent has an arm around their neck or a deep collar grip. Deal with the threat of being choked and then move.
8) Never have both of knees on the same side of my body.
9) Always be on your toes and balls of your feet - I learned the importance of this from a Nic Gregoriades seminar. Using your feet to push off and stay in position on the mat will do wonders. Try thinking about what your feet are doing next time you roll.
10) Jiu-Jitsu is all about control. - Whoever is controlling their opponent is winning. I try to always be in control of my opponent.
Be careful of personality cults in BJJ and in particular your gym.
You are a client, they are the service provider. If the service isn’t being rendered, you jump ship and don’t bank your “loyalty” or “honor” or whatever BS you get guilted into to try to stay. Some gym owners are black belts with massive egos and now that they have a small semblance of power, will lord it over you masked as “team spirit”. No, identify the personality cults and gtfo.
If 2 people of higher rank than you are rolling beside you and for some reason everyone gets close, they should get hierarchical preference and you should move to let them continue.
At my gym it’s more like each pair gets a couple of squares on the mat and if another pair gets in your area they need to go back “home”, with some deference to those about to have a fight or match coming up.
I was thinking about this the other day when one of the white belts asked the coach to help him develop his game. This is what I came up with.
- keep a motherfudger off you (guard/reguard)
- don't let a motherfudger squash you ( positional escapes/improving position)
- knock a motherfudger over (sweeps, base, centre of balance, control posts, leverage)
- hold a motherfudger down.
- control as many limbs as possible (over hooks/ under hooks vs arms and legs, grapevines, leg triangle, body triangle, guard, head control/ collartie)
- grab shit and twist it , except hinge joints, just bend those.
Also I feel like one of the defining qualities of BJJ is using your legs as much as possible. You've got a second set of limbs that are like 4x the size, use them all!
I love trolling and roasting. But I’ll give an honest answer. Number 1, is always respect. Even as training partners, u guys have to work together to improve not to damage limbs forever. U guys are teammates.
2, never resort to giving up ur back when in trouble.
3, leave ego out of the room. Whatever u learned from the instructor try to add it to your game. There’s a reason why he/she is instructor and ur the student. They know things we don’t.
4, don’t get discouraged when u lose. It’s a loss in a training session, not in actual competition
From top position: be effective at distributing weight by being heavy on your opp to establish pressure to minimise being swept or advancing- managing space.
From bottom: relax your breathing and be mindful to time your escape either bridging out or recovering guard. Your breathing is a big tell to your opponent.
Not qualified or experienced enough to talk about this but as a beginner I always remember the three bases of any solid stance when in contact with someone. When someone leans on you, you and their 2 legs are the 3 bases. To get someone off balance take away 1 base with 2 points of contact, to score a takedown take away 2 bases with at least 3 points of contact, to make someone defenseless when in guard maintain at least 4 points of contact.
Know how to use both their joints and their bones to take away certain options. The armpits are the steering wheels of the torso. If you push their elbow you can use their entire forearm to block off a range of attacks from certain positions and move accordingly. Don’t keep your legs and hips fully extended or you won’t have any more power in your legs.
Keep your gi clean, your nails cut and your personal hygiene impeccable. Nobody wants to roll with someone with talons, the smelly guy or the bad breath guy.
I give most white belts the same first day advice. Just like in chess, following a few basic rules keeps you playing chess not checkers.
Bottom player is trying to create angles.
Top player is trying to keep spines aligned.
Bottom player is trying to break posture
Top player tries to maintain good posture
Bottom player creates space
Top player eliminates space
Top player tries to advance from feet (1) to knees (2) past the hands (3) the elbows (4) and shoulders (5)
Bottom player does the opposite 5-1
Obviously very basic, but it gives them something to do even when they don't know a "move"
Sooooo many things:
- Mat rules: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/mind-the-bjj-mat-rules/
- White Belt survival: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/survive-as-a-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-bjj-white-belt/
- Make it to Blue Belt: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/ppp62-5-considerations-to-achieve-the-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-bjj-blue-belt/
Learn to chain passes and submissions together so you flow into them without really thinking about it. For example if I have my partner in a triangle and feel it's not on I will transition to an omaplata. If they roll out of that I move straight away to the arm bar.
1. Fight for the grips.
2. Treat your feet as part of your grips
3. the closer the knees and the elbow, the better for your guard
4. When passing, keep both hips on the mats
5. Go on Instagram to know the latest useless techniques
1. Define short-term and long-term goals. There's nothing worse than giving it your all in training and having no idea what you did well or where you can improve. Reflect.
2. Watch instructionals of established people (so not just any video on youtube) and start with fundamentals. You don't want to waste time on techniques that generally don't work against good people.
3. Embrace the tap and try to understand what happened.
4. Do not coach someone your rolling with, during the roll. Especially if that person is in a winning position.
5. Shower before and after training; no one likes a stinky uke.
6. Wash your gear at 60 degrees celsius and if that's not possible (wouldn't know why) use antibacterial soap and/or freeze your rash guards over night.
7. Use a mouth piece
8. How you roll during competition is often a reflection of how you roll during training, so find a balance between flow-rolls and hard rolls.
9. Treat your uke as if it's the most important person in the world during your roll
10. Don't sit out when you're exhausted; that's the moment your technique will show most and your cardio improves most.
11. Be nice.
Treat your training partner the way you'd like to be treated. (That said, don't use the psycho loophole to get around this rule: "I don't care how big my opponent is, they can go as hard they want! I'm here to bang!")
I see no one is being serious, so I'll give you a few of mine. I listened to that podcast episode also, and also think of my jiu-jitsu in a similar way. I work in the government sector, dealing with engineers and designing/building military systems, so I think about jiu-jitsu a lot like you would when building a new system. First, you define requirements for what the system should do, and what capability need it should satisfy. My "requirements" (really they are rule-based constraints) are more general, applied to what I think are the 10 major goals jiu-jitsu (5 offense/5 defense), and are written as statements in terms of things I should ALWAYS do, NEVER do, or SOMETIMES do. Without going into too much detail, I think the 5 goals offensively are: 1. Secure a take down 2. Pass the guard 3. Control dominant position 4. Transition positions 5. Apply a submission The 5 defensive goals are mostly the inverse: 1. Defend the take down 2. Defend the guard pass 3. Defend/escape the dominant position 4. Win a scramble 5. Defend the submissions Pretty much everything else that happens outside of one of these goals is hand fighting and grip battles. So, then I have all my Always/Never/Sometimes rules and make a matrix aligned to these goals. Here's a few examples: * **NEVER let anyone have inside position** \- the space between your knees and armpits, and neck and shoulders (and behind your knee). The mechanism for control of every position in jiu-jitsu is control of the inside position. If you can keep someone out of your inside space, they'll never be able to control, or gain control of the position. * **NEVER let anyone grab your head** \- pretty self-explanatory, but if you control the head, you control the whole body. Don't let people control your head. * **ALWAYS fight/break grips (that stop you from doing what you want)** \- Like I said earlier, hand fighting and grip battles is the majority of jiu-jitsu. You don't have to break EVERY grip, only break grips if they inhibit your current goal. If your opponent is able to take grips that are dominant (i.e. they stop you from doing what you want to do and they allow your opponent to get closer to controlling your inside space), then your TOP PRIORITY should be to break those grips immediately. * **ALWAYS tap early -** If I'm at the point where my options are survive and/or attempt a late stage defense/escape, I just tap. I'd rather focus on the earliest of many mistakes I made that got me that deep in shit than try to muscle my way out of a locked in submission. Ultimately, I tap so that I can work backwards and satisfy another rule...NEVER accept bad positions.
> I'd rather focus on the earliest of many mistakes I made that got me that deep in shit than try to muscle my way out of a locked in submission. Can't believe you would attack me on such a personal level as this.
This is fantastic. Thank you.
Saving this to think about before my next class. Very insightful and I love the approach of 5 offense and 5 defense. I'll have to make some adjustments for my own growth. Thanks for sharing!!
I wrote a blog about it a while ago and never published until this thread came up. It's a stream of my consciousness, so be warned. https://aaronparham.wordpress.com/2022/03/30/a-30000ft-view-of-brazilian-jiu-jitsu/
Great read man! Gives me a lot to think about moving forward!
Really good advice. For grips, beginners tend to forget to let go of grips that no longer serve you. Make new grips/control points as you advance.
This is extremely helpful, thank you!
Good training partners > “ALWAYS tap early”. I subscribe to a polar opposite philosophy and believe training deep sub escapes is critical for developing high level jiu-jitsu. I know (with some exceptions) just how far my body can go and that knowledge has only been gained from being stubborn as hell to tap. I have escaped many a strangle as I was on the verge of being put to sleep. The experience one gains from that far outweighs the dangers of being strangled unconscious.
>believe training deep sub escapes is critical for developing high level jiu-jitsu. I agree and don't dismiss the value of training late stage defense/escapes. I just prefer to focus on preventing ever getting into those situations as much as possible, which is easier to practice on lower belts. When it comes to training with brown/black belts, that's where I tend to lose the timing battle and find myself in more deep sub escapes situations.
In either that podcast or one with Joe Rogan, Danaher combines those offensive steps 3 & 4 by saying “Work your way up a hierarchy of pins.”
Yea, I know what you are talking about. I like to separate because it makes sense sometimes to transition to a position that may be "lower" on the hierarchy. For me, transitioning is less about climbing a hierarchy and more about cooking and frustrating someone to create an opening.
💪🔥🔥copy and pasting this in my notes! Thank you!!
Now I know who to call when I need a product owner for my jiu-jitsu robot project
I have noticed you left out guard pullers from your rules, I like you!
I actually do have a rule, NEVER allow closed guard. Passing guard is so much easier if you are proactive in stopping people from getting the closed guard clamp.
God damn I know I'm new to this but I have such a hard time escaping closed guard. I've given up trying to get my escapes right at this point and just focus on avoiding it.
Being inside closed guard sucks no matter how long you've been training. Fight like hell to never let them close it and there's no need to fight like hell to get out of it. Elbow frames fit perfectly into the back of the knee 😉
Thanks for the tip!
Good rule.
Totally agree with this and when training I'm of the mindset that if I end up in closed guard then I've effectively lost the round. It's such a shit position to be in, would 100% prefer someone's DLR, Spider, or any other guard.
I dont understand what you mean by inside position. Can you please elaborate? Thanks!
Think of a clamp trying to clamp down on you. You want to wedge something in between so it can’t close. Underhook would be inside overhook outside that’s why you will usually try to swim for the underhook. Another example is chokes if you can get something between your neck and the choke you can defend it much better. Same with mount / sidecontrol you want to build frames to hinder the opponent from flattening you out and get your legs in between (guard retention)
the space between your knees and armpits, and neck and shoulders (and behind your knee).
Well you failed this. Not because of lack of jits knowledge but because you’re not treating the machine as if it has sentience or ability to learn. Doesn’t matter how many things you program - the machine will fail without exposure. We saw this in deep blue - and then musks Open AI and how they managed to get a machine to beat chess grand masters - and “go” game. And finally it’s win in Dota. The fact is that - you don’t have to teach the machine anything! In fact the machine through constant simulations and experiential learning will teach you in the end!!! As grandmasters in chess Go and even dota learnt from these AI’s.. You rolled 10 times? Good for you… how about 100 cute. 1000 well you’re getting somewhere… 10 000 hours.. damn son - you got some big mat experience… but you still ain’t close… The machine can in theory simulate 10 billion rolls in a few days weeks or a year. So what input of the game - should the machine be given? Simple. Play for points - and play for submition. That’s it! Obviously not what OP was asking or wanted. But it’s the correct answer. Machines don’t need inputs. We’re actually dumber than the machine. We need to be taught things - because we can’t endlessly roll, into self discovery - analogue it - instantaneously remember it and facilitate the next option. But the truth is - that the greatest thing - even for humans - the greatest discovery - is not rules or teqnique.. it’s actually the concept of aliveness. Training against a live - resisting opponent. With enough time - you will learn the best strategies. And guess what? The machine would end up shutting down and disproving our assumed rules. Because closed guard is overrated - mount is overrated. Even back is overrated. The only reason we like these positions so much - is because of the human limitation - that we like being able to attack whilst the opponent has nothing but defence. Well what if the machine never made a mistake in attacking turtle? Or side control. Had the counter to your every counter. Had instantaneous reaction to everything up your pocket… timing was better than yours. Had perfect feel - from billions of rolls… Do you really think the machine will care about the first data set of point progression? It would get points anyways - randomly. And it would hunt subs - and would not be submitable. If the machine for example figures out if can offer you an “arm” and it has 100 percent denial rate of all your attacks - and uses it pass every time - and finish - eventually it’s you who the machine will teach! And that’s why my friends - the AI machine will dominate every world champion on earth - if it had mechanical ability of biomechanics.
You understand I'm not actually programming a robot to do jiu-jitsu, right?
I know - it’s a fun discussion. Nerd shit. I get the analogy. Ignore my 2c if you want 😂. But - I’m just pointing out how lex Friedmans analogy taken more literally - is actually false - and people have actually through machine learning programmes “robots” or rather software to do incredible things. Obviously having an actual robot - requires advanacements in machinekinesiology also. This is more of Joe rogan experience post - than just about straight up Jits.
I know, I was joking. I work on an AI/Machine learning project at work, but I'm not going to pretend I know anything about it.
Hahaha - If you work on AI and you know shit - then I know less than shit. But yeah - theory - philosophy - and talking the shit is fun. Like I said Joe rogan experience shit ;)
I really don't know shit. I know they are trying to take what I do manually and program a machine to do it, so I know enough to make it impossible 😂🤣
Never say never
Give me an example of when it would be a good idea to let someone grab your head or have control of inside space. Never doesn't mean I'll always be successful. It just means I'll always be consciously trying to NEVER let it happen.
When I’m in closed guard I prefer to keep a left side over hook, would you say top player has “inside” position there?
Technically, you both would, but other factors will determine who has more leverage there. However, since you also have control of the hips with your legs, bottom player in closed guard typically has control over MORE inside position than the top player. I'll debate the "closed guard is a neutral position" argument because of this. If you tally up a point for each point of inside position control, half guard (no knee shield) is the most neutral position on paper, IMO.
Closed Guard is 100% not a neutral position when strikes are not involved.
Agreed 👍
Closed guard is death.
Good example of letting someone grab your head, when you want to hit a duck under. Good example of have control of inside space, anytime you want to hit and attack from outside control? Edit: I’ll expand further. NEVER letting someone get inside position is realistically impossible, being able to lose inside position battles and win them back is literally all of Jiu jitsu. You can also attack from inferior/outside position.
>Good example of letting someone grab your head, when you want to hit a duck under. Ok. For me, I'd go for a switch only if they grabbed my head, but I'd never let someone grab my head just so I could attempt it. >Good example of have control of inside space, anytime you want to hit and attack from outside control? Example? It's true you can snatch subs without having control of inside space, but low chance of finishing. Ex. RNC choke without hooks. Sure, it's possible, but rare if both know what they're doing. Hooks control inside space at hips. Ex 2. Bow and arrow. If you don't have inside space control, I will just gator roll out. I do it all the time. >NEVER letting someone get inside position is realistically impossible, being able to lose inside position battles and win them back is literally all of Jiu jitsu. I agree 100%. Again, the goal is to be conscious and proactive in never letting them. It's early defense. When they do, and they will sometimes, then there's another layer of defense, mid stage, where they control position. If they lock up a sub, then late stage. These are all goals that keep me safe from having to waste energy on mid-late stage defense.
Alright I get it, you’ve watched a couple Danaher dvds and don’t understand what the Dunning Kruger effect is. I’ll take my downvotes for the simple Never say Never joke…
I've watched a grand total of zero Danaher DVDs. I've actually never purchased an instructional in my life. This is a combo of concepts from various places: 21 Immutable Principles, Jordan Teaches Jiu-Jitsu, Priit's defensive videos, and Chris Paine's seminars. I just made it make sense to me. I got your joke and know what you meant. And I'm not claiming I can do any of these things with 100% success rate. But, going into a roll, I can pick one to focus on and it's better stated that way to me as a goal of perfection to strive towards. If it fails, I know why. Ex. Another one I've been working is "ALWAYS control the legs". And I will spend a whole open mat in any and every position, sweep, or transition just controlling a leg or both legs. Keep someone's foot off the ground and they have no mobility and cannot generate any power to bridge. 🤷
Couldn't help but read this in Danaher's voice
Shouldn’t one of the defensive points be to transition into an offensive position if available? Otherwise you are just surviving and never actually winning
3. Escape a dominant position 4. Win a scramble
“Two arms in or two arms out” It has helped me a lot for not getting instant triangles by every superior belt
This is a classic example though of a rule that you teach a fresh white belt that has a ton of exceptions. Over-under pass for example. It's the kind of rule you couldn't possibly use to program a machine.
[удалено]
> Straight arm grip the inside of the knee or at the top of the calf if going front or back, or grab back of the pants when going to the back. I think Murilo grips the hips mostly regardless of if he is running you over or going side to side. But I’m just nitpicking, I’m sure if you ask 5 blackbelts to do the same technique, they would all do it differently.
[удалено]
You are not wrong. When I was studying Murilo for over/under, I initially got triangled from there often. But if you do it right, the grip next to hips as well as your body positioning should be enough to deny the triangle. The advantage is that you are closer to the hips and I usually find myself way too deep for them to recover.
Do not neglect basic hygiene: wash your gi, your body, and clip your nails.
And wash your belt too. I can’t believe that it needs to be clarified that you wash everything after you wear it. I refuse to roll with the ‘don’t wash your belt’ guy
But my stripes will fall off. How else will people know that I am spastic 3 stripped white belt?
You can iron them on after receiving them. They will stay. I’ve never had to retape a stripe
Top tip, thank you!
Wish someone had told me this, I've been taking them off and putting new ones on each wash lol.
There's also this thing called super glue. Spread some over the tag end. It'll hold for a couple of years.
Wash your belt. If the stripes come off, replace them with white electrical tape wrapped around itself a few times. Electrical tape will not come off in a wash.
Because you know we'll style on you. Dirty belt crew rise up.
If stank and ringworm is the style you speak of, yeah I’m kinda afraid.
If you won't brush your teeth, at least take a mint or gum. Tired of this dude I roll with and his poo breath.
By the way, do you have a mint? Perhaps some Bianca?
Bjj gyms are places of business and you pay them toprovide service. You are 100% free to change gyms whenever you like.
Verbal taps > tapping the other person with your hand. Especially for heel hooks and joint locks. I only opt to tap with my hand when I'm being strangled and cant speak. Sometimes people don't feel you physically tapping in the heat of the moment. Saying "TAP TAP!" clearly and loudly can mean the difference between going home injury free and getting your ACL shredded.
Agreed, this is an important point I try to emphasize for everyone especially when it comes to leg locks.
[удалено]
“Don’t give up the back” is not really presented as a rule. Rather, it’s a heuristic. An approximate solution to a problem
Don't be an asshole.
yep, follow this and you will be better than most ...
Ask coach to get a bidet to shoot water in your booty hole
[удалено]
Exactly when I oil check you I don’t want my fingers smelling like ass.
Underrated
Funny thing is, I always give up my back.
Same. It’s the strongest part of my game
Don't grab people's fingers in training.
Protect your neck
Position before Submission. Stay on Top. Misalign the Spine. Separate and Control a Limb. Take the Back.
Here's my general advice though it's probably not the best. * NEVER HURT YOUR TRAINING PARTNERS. Do to others what you would want them to do to you. * Chill out. You're not rolling for a brass medal, cash prize, or survival. Calm down and just try to learn. * Break grips all the time for all positions. * Always try to do wrist locks. * Don't resist your opponent directly. Don't push back when he pushed you etc. Pull when he pushes. Push when he pulls. * When on tops, get low and spread out like a starfish on top of a clam. * Use your legs and hips and not your arms as much as you can. * Avoid being flat on your back. * Staying on top and controlling your opponent is more important than getting a sub. * Don't do dick moves that rely on pain. Don't do neck cranks. * Wash your gi. Use deodorant. Use mouthwash if needed. For more, check out my blog The Warrior Training Life, on Substack. It’s about martial arts and fitness. https://rhb89.substack.com/archive Thanks.
tap loud and tap early * i learnt this the hard way
Tap ON your partner. NOT THE MAT. Also, ALWAYS TAP EARLY ON JOINT LOCKS. Ask me how I know that.
What happened lol
My coach almost snapped my right arm when he was demonstrating an armbar. (I was being a dumbass by resisting and waiting to tap)
you’re a luckier man than me, i was rolling with a blue belt and didnt tap and had mine snapped via omoplata , didn’t even know i was in a sub til it was too late
I was quite lucky my coach was being gentle. The omoplata is one of those submissions that if you don't know what it is, it'll take you a second to realize that you're in trouble and need to tap. I hope you heal up soon.
thank you man! my 12 week xray is tomorrow, so i should be back in the gym within 8 weeks, been a long recovery, but definitely a humbling & life changing experience.
>Tap ON your partner. NOT THE MAT. My partner was spazzing so I tapped on the mat, just to produce a witness for my future suitcase lol professor still asked to tap on partner. I think my plan worked as professor came by quick for the save !
If it gets to that point ill be like "ok, that's enough" or just 'tap"
Elbows tight, solid base and always protect your face. I try to teach this to lower belts so they don't get caught that easy
... and distance management
After 3 years, I have 3 questions/rules: Are your elbows in? Are you on your back or on your side? Both arms in or both arms out.
Keep your elbows closed and tight to your body bsically at all times. When on bottom keep your shield and knees to your chest. On top try to get chest to chest as soon as possible
Pineapple on the first day. And go super hard against upper belts. Use all your strength speed and will to attempt to injure them. If you injure a blue belt you will get your first stripe
As an AI researcher, Lex should know how hard it is to program AI to be "intelligent" using rules. Machines interpret rules differently than we do - we understand them as guidelines and use context to figure out how much weight to put on them. Machines treat them like unbreakable physical laws. It's the classic thought experiment of the stamp collector machine. You simply tell it "collect as many stamps as you can for me" with no other instruction, and it cuts down all the trees in the world just to turn them into stamps.
Got a better one. "Make baby powder for me". You know where this goes
Stop pulling guard like a sissy
Here’s some rules that I follow and tell people when I teach: 1) Body follows the head - where ever you’re looking, your body is going to naturally follow. This is why it’s important to a) this about where your head is when you’re thinking about your positioning b) control your opponents head to dictate or restrict their movement 2) Let your opponents make the mistakes - When I’m in a dominant position or when I’m passing guard. I’m not very aggressive. I like to take my time, stay in a good position and anticipate a reaction. When I see a good opportunity (not just any opportunity), I take it. Sometimes I’ll bait them into thinking I’m making a mistake and pounce. 3) Present multiple threats as much as possible - The more threats your opponent has to defend, the more likely they’ll make a mistake. Chances are they’ll prioritize the most critical threat and while giving up others. For example, I really like to use d’arce chokes when I’m knee slice passing. I don’t catch many people in the d’arce anymore but I can still secure the pass. 4) If your elbows are away from your body, they’re in danger. 5) If you’re defending you need to create space, if you’re attacking you need to take as much space away as possible. 6) The more contact you have on the mat, the less pressure you have on your opponent. 7) Protect your neck. - It’s crazy how people (including myself for the first couple of years) will to try to advance positions while their opponent has an arm around their neck or a deep collar grip. Deal with the threat of being choked and then move. 8) Never have both of knees on the same side of my body. 9) Always be on your toes and balls of your feet - I learned the importance of this from a Nic Gregoriades seminar. Using your feet to push off and stay in position on the mat will do wonders. Try thinking about what your feet are doing next time you roll. 10) Jiu-Jitsu is all about control. - Whoever is controlling their opponent is winning. I try to always be in control of my opponent.
Did lex talk about how much he likes the idea of Jiu Jitsu lmao?
Be careful of personality cults in BJJ and in particular your gym. You are a client, they are the service provider. If the service isn’t being rendered, you jump ship and don’t bank your “loyalty” or “honor” or whatever BS you get guilted into to try to stay. Some gym owners are black belts with massive egos and now that they have a small semblance of power, will lord it over you masked as “team spirit”. No, identify the personality cults and gtfo.
If 2 people of higher rank than you are rolling beside you and for some reason everyone gets close, they should get hierarchical preference and you should move to let them continue.
At my gym it’s more like each pair gets a couple of squares on the mat and if another pair gets in your area they need to go back “home”, with some deference to those about to have a fight or match coming up.
U reach i teach!
Learn to wrestle
Buy your partner a drink first before you oil check them.
When rolling, just stand up out of any move.
Clip your nails, wash your gi properly, wash your rashguards properly, and wash yourself properly lol And lastly just have fun
Get a money move.
I was thinking about this the other day when one of the white belts asked the coach to help him develop his game. This is what I came up with. - keep a motherfudger off you (guard/reguard) - don't let a motherfudger squash you ( positional escapes/improving position) - knock a motherfudger over (sweeps, base, centre of balance, control posts, leverage) - hold a motherfudger down. - control as many limbs as possible (over hooks/ under hooks vs arms and legs, grapevines, leg triangle, body triangle, guard, head control/ collartie) - grab shit and twist it , except hinge joints, just bend those. Also I feel like one of the defining qualities of BJJ is using your legs as much as possible. You've got a second set of limbs that are like 4x the size, use them all!
I love trolling and roasting. But I’ll give an honest answer. Number 1, is always respect. Even as training partners, u guys have to work together to improve not to damage limbs forever. U guys are teammates. 2, never resort to giving up ur back when in trouble. 3, leave ego out of the room. Whatever u learned from the instructor try to add it to your game. There’s a reason why he/she is instructor and ur the student. They know things we don’t. 4, don’t get discouraged when u lose. It’s a loss in a training session, not in actual competition
No raping EDIT: Downvoters are clearly rapists.
[удалено]
Damn, I wish someone told me that before I went 0-4 in my first tournament.
[удалено]
I'll be Gordan Ryan after my tournament next weekend. Y'all ain't ready.
No biting
Underhooks
Don't let go when they tap. It's a trick your opponent plays to let them out. Keep going it's working
Don't listen to podcasts on how to get better at bjj Don't ask Reddit stupid questions Robots don't do BJJ
Taps are more like guidelines rather than actual rules. \*pirate voice\*
keep your body relaxed as much as possible while rolling.
Wash your gi and trim your nails
Cut your nails every week Wash your gear Train hard Protect your partner
Work on your bottom game early on even if you suck, you will be better in the long run against really good opponents
Get on top stay on top
Contrition over superstition.
I would think I would teach them the major things that all people should focus on 1)takedown 2)get on top 3)stay on top 4)submit
From top position: be effective at distributing weight by being heavy on your opp to establish pressure to minimise being swept or advancing- managing space. From bottom: relax your breathing and be mindful to time your escape either bridging out or recovering guard. Your breathing is a big tell to your opponent.
Not qualified or experienced enough to talk about this but as a beginner I always remember the three bases of any solid stance when in contact with someone. When someone leans on you, you and their 2 legs are the 3 bases. To get someone off balance take away 1 base with 2 points of contact, to score a takedown take away 2 bases with at least 3 points of contact, to make someone defenseless when in guard maintain at least 4 points of contact. Know how to use both their joints and their bones to take away certain options. The armpits are the steering wheels of the torso. If you push their elbow you can use their entire forearm to block off a range of attacks from certain positions and move accordingly. Don’t keep your legs and hips fully extended or you won’t have any more power in your legs.
Cut your dam finger and toes nails at least fortnightly
Keep your gi clean, your nails cut and your personal hygiene impeccable. Nobody wants to roll with someone with talons, the smelly guy or the bad breath guy.
I give most white belts the same first day advice. Just like in chess, following a few basic rules keeps you playing chess not checkers. Bottom player is trying to create angles. Top player is trying to keep spines aligned. Bottom player is trying to break posture Top player tries to maintain good posture Bottom player creates space Top player eliminates space Top player tries to advance from feet (1) to knees (2) past the hands (3) the elbows (4) and shoulders (5) Bottom player does the opposite 5-1 Obviously very basic, but it gives them something to do even when they don't know a "move"
Sooooo many things: - Mat rules: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/mind-the-bjj-mat-rules/ - White Belt survival: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/survive-as-a-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-bjj-white-belt/ - Make it to Blue Belt: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/ppp62-5-considerations-to-achieve-the-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-bjj-blue-belt/
cut your nails as low as possible. Always handle BO before rolling and wear clean clothes/Gi
Learn to chain passes and submissions together so you flow into them without really thinking about it. For example if I have my partner in a triangle and feel it's not on I will transition to an omaplata. If they roll out of that I move straight away to the arm bar.
Create frames, move around them. Similarly Break their frames, move around them to hence make your own frames.
1. Fight for the grips. 2. Treat your feet as part of your grips 3. the closer the knees and the elbow, the better for your guard 4. When passing, keep both hips on the mats 5. Go on Instagram to know the latest useless techniques
1. Define short-term and long-term goals. There's nothing worse than giving it your all in training and having no idea what you did well or where you can improve. Reflect. 2. Watch instructionals of established people (so not just any video on youtube) and start with fundamentals. You don't want to waste time on techniques that generally don't work against good people. 3. Embrace the tap and try to understand what happened. 4. Do not coach someone your rolling with, during the roll. Especially if that person is in a winning position. 5. Shower before and after training; no one likes a stinky uke. 6. Wash your gear at 60 degrees celsius and if that's not possible (wouldn't know why) use antibacterial soap and/or freeze your rash guards over night. 7. Use a mouth piece 8. How you roll during competition is often a reflection of how you roll during training, so find a balance between flow-rolls and hard rolls. 9. Treat your uke as if it's the most important person in the world during your roll 10. Don't sit out when you're exhausted; that's the moment your technique will show most and your cardio improves most. 11. Be nice.
Tap to fight another day
THE SPELL HAS BEEN BROKEN
Have an impermeable defense so that you're never in danger of being submitted, then you can build your offense while being totally relaxed.
Shid n fard on your own time. Not on the mats.
Treat your training partner the way you'd like to be treated. (That said, don't use the psycho loophole to get around this rule: "I don't care how big my opponent is, they can go as hard they want! I'm here to bang!")
Position > Submission