Jits Happens

Getting Punched Will Make You a Better Grappler

2011-02-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

Do your training buddy a favor and smack the shit out of him next time you spar. Will he forgive you? Hell, he should thank you. Flow is great and technique drilling is absolutely important, but...

if you aren't regularly putting yourself into the mindset of a real fight, you aren't preparing yourself for a real fight.

...The easiest way to do that is to get your grapplers to hit each other.

Ground Rules

Partner up with someone you trust in your gym. You need to safely take each other just past the limit of your individual skills, but not too far.
Start from a disadvantaged position: a grab or tackle from behind, on the ground under the mount, or wadded up against the wall under a ground and pound assault.
Work this drill from the attacker and defender positions. Attackers will improve their top game and will learn how to control people from scrambling out of an attack. Defenders will improve their confidence and fight success.
Use a timer. Start at 1:30 and build every couple of weeks to work your way up to 5 minutes. Then add another round. I’ve found when you have a clock, there are fewer tap-outs from exhaustion or beat-down. When you train against the clock, you will typically try to “survive the round” rather than give up.
Keep the “tap out” escape hatch but understand that a tap-out in a real street fight is equivalent to a hospital or morgue trip: it means you gave up against a bad guy.

Drill Responses
The goal is to win in a encounter like this, or at least survive and escape. We drill these every week in our MMA class at Austin Jiu-Jitsu. Here are tactics in order of a prioritized “survival timeline,” where those you do first are most important to know and more likely to be successful. If you are going to drill one thing on the mat tonight, drill #1!

Scrambling out from under an attack. As much as we love BJJ and submission grappling, it’s not smart to stay stuck on the bottom. Drilling scrambling out of ground and pound attacks (from mount, side, half guard, and guard) will help you prepare for this. Scrambling out is different from sweeping in one important respect. In a scramble, you are explosively evading and pushing your opponent off before control position is established.
Tying up or slowing an attack. If you can’t scramble out, you’ll need to slow down or stop your opponent’s strikes. Do this to buy yourself time to sweep or scramble out.
Escaping control or sweeping your attacker. Once he gets control position, your ability to scramble is reduced. You will need to work hard to defend and tie up your opponent to buy yourself time to technically escape or sweep. This is a much more technical game than an explosive scramble, and as such presents more risk. You need more skill and often more time.
Submitting the attacker from the bottom. Statistically, this isn’t a great bet, so I’m putting it at the bottom of the list. Sure, a submission specialist and elite-level MMA fighter like Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira has found submissions in 2/3 of his fights, but you shouldn’t spend a lot of time getting hammered from the top unless you are truly great at tying up your attacker and nailing submissions. Submitting from the top is a great plan, so don’t mistake my point here; maintaining bottom position with a plan of submitting your attacker from the bottom is less likely to be successful than the other approaches described above.

As you drill each of these, make a note of which ones get you beat up the least. You’ll notice that as you go from 1 to 4, you get hit more and take longer to win or escape. Of course, in a real fight, you’ll employ many of these simultaneously. Chain the drills together and switch attackers based on who is on top. This will improve your ability to survive a real fight. Most MMA guys know this, but a lot of pure BJJ folks lack this experience and may make the mistake of focusing on submissions only. This is the same type of myopia that strikers without grappling experience suffer from. Don’t make their mistake in reverse. Prepare for getting hit by grappling with strikes allowed.

Parallax Error: Dangerous Assumptions We Make About Our Fighting Skills

2011-01-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 7/11/2010

I remember being a 1^st kyu brown belt in Japanese karate back in the late 1980s. I was to be evaluated for my first black belt very soon. I was steeped in the detail of techniques, training intensity, and constant pressure of a student rising to his first dan promotion. I vividly recall my pride in ability. I felt I could fight off any attack, win any fight, and deliver ikken hissatsu: to kill with a single punch. I would talk to my buddies at the dojo and we’d discuss what we’d do in a real fight.

One of us would say,"I’d drive his eyeball into his brain with an ippon nukite uchi!"

The other would respond,"Yeah? I’d explode his kidney with a yoko geri then smash his nose into his brain with a bear claw strike!!"

Thinking of this years later, it’s almost as funny and unlikely as Brick Tamland stabbing a guy in the heart with a trident in Anchorman. Was I skilled in fighting or just good at karate? Was I too deep in one system of fighting to understand my general fighting abilities? Of course I couldn’t fend off any attack, win any fight, or deliver a killing blow. The irony is that deep skill in one fighting art and the lack of perspective about what you don’t know can lead to a dangerous general assumption that you are a good fighter. This is called parallax error, or an inability to see the real picture due to the participant’s point of view.

As we fast forward to the 2010s, it seems nostalgic and quaint that karate once dominated the self-defense landscape. Today, we are so much more advanced, aren’t we? We know the ground is where all fights end up, or at least that’s what the brochure said. Wake up: the problem with karate students in the 1980s is likely to be present with students of grappling sports today. Are we good fighters, or just good grapplers?

Today, I have a successful gym with a bunch of students who love to grapple, obsess over their matches, and count down the hours to their next training session. They are competitive and intense grapplers who are generally moving up the ranks as they make their way toward mastery. The problem is that, like karateka from the ‘80s, most grapplers today really don’t know how to fight. The good ones own the ground, but many aren’t consistently working on rounding out their fighting skills. I’ve wondered why 4 out of 5 grapplers never really learn the full set of skills to call them a fighter. Sure, these grapplers can thrive and enjoy all the beauty there is to find in BJJ, but don’t make the mistake of considering them fighters.

Making a Grappler into a Fighter

Grapplers that want to know how to fight should find time to work on these skills with their training partners. The list is ordered as a progression from most fundamental (simple) to most advanced (challenging).

Foot work, evasion, feinting, guarding, and blocking skills to avoid strikes
Working strikes! Punching, kicking, elbows, and knees
Take-downs against a resisting opponent
Take-downs against an opponent throwing punches and kicks
Defending strikes from the clinch (blocks, underhooks, takedowns)
Completing takedowns against a wall or corner
Controlling and positioning to throw strikes from a variety of ground positions
Standup boxing "flow" work – low intensity at first – to get accustomed to getting hit and get a different type of cardio workout
Fighting against a wall or in a corner
Fighting near obstacles: walls, furniture, people
Fighting to get out from under a ground and pound attack
Fighting 2 attackers from standing: positioning and exit
Fighting to get up from the ground with multiple attackers are standing above you
Weapons defense (sticks, knives, guns)

Notice that "fighting" doesn’t show up until the bottom half of the list. In my MMA program at Austin Jiu-Jitsu, we spent over a year working on the top half of the list, just to build the basic skills needed to get to the real fighting drills. Yes, the above drills are a part of many established and successful martial arts systems: Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, krav maga, kali, escrima, and boxing. But keep in mind the passion grapplers have for grappling. They want to be a part of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling program. As a by-product of all their hard work, time, and money spent, they also expect to know how to fight. A fight isn’t just a ground battle, and to be a fighter doesn’t just mean you know how to triangle choke someone. You must drill fighting scenarios that put you into a fight mentality and you have to do it often enough and with enough intensity that the training creates correct responses in a real fight situation. Without opportunity to train for real fighting, we aren’t creating real fighters.

I’m happy that many BJJ schools are creating MMA programs to help blend other fighting skills into their students and to finally correct this parallax error. Grappling students: take advantage of these opportunities. Learn how to fight!

Read other fighting drill ideas at BJJTech.com.

Flow on the Path to Mastery: Fun, Pain, and the Ironic Asymptote

2011-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 4/10/2010

What drives us to train in this sport with such never-ending passion, spending a small fortune on training toward your black belt, burning thousands of precious hours away from work and family, at substantial risk to life and limb?

Do the math. A black belt could easily cost you $12,000 (10 years at $100 per month), not including travel and equipment costs. Getting there will take over 3300 hours on the mats, travelling to seminars, and competing. The math will invariably include a dozen injuries and bills from more doctors than you will care to recall. Of course, a black belt is by no means a master, really just a glorified beginner in the grand scheme of things. If you believe Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers: The Story of Success, this is a little over 30% of the way toward mastery. At nearly 15 years in the sport I’m about halfway "there." Wherever "there" is…

What motivates us to drive, drive, drive?

To summarize, we spend a ton of money and time to get ourselves beaten to a pulp for a level of mastery which may never happen. What motivates us to drive, drive, drive?

The payoff is mastery, which as I hint at above, is ironically something that is only asymptotically attainable. We can get close, but really never get there. But we keep driving anyway, getting our butts kicked by guys and gals who we can only dream of powning.

Where does motivation come from? How can we get past the plateaus and walls that invariably block our path over and over again?

I have previously discussed the importance of flow as a means of unleashing creativity, advancing new ideas, and physically preparing your body for full-out battle. Flow continues to be at the center of some of the most important growth moments for me in the sport. A recent book called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by an author with a downright Reservoir Dogs-esque name, Daniel Pink, illuminates this subject further with the help of solid research and engaging style. Pink, intrigued by the intrinsic and extrinsic roots of motivation, thoroughly covers the topic and ends up distilling the essential drivers for motivation along three lines: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Mastery is a huge motivator for those of us in this sport.

The slow march towards mastery includes moments where your growth, energy, and motivation are at their greatest. Coincidentally with my discussions on this topic, Pink calls this "flow." He equates flow with play, in that the labors and efforts of the work you are engaged in become effervescent and lost in the moment of unconscious progress you enjoy in flow. How can you find your flow and how can you make this a means to accelerate growth and enjoyment? How do we work to get lost in the moment? Translated as a Zen kōan, we should concentrate maximum effort to release effortless play. The more you flow, the more you grow, and the more fun you have on the path. Having fun is a great counter balance to the pain of training hard.

Read my article on flow. Think about how you experience flow on the mats. Relax, be patient, have fun, and flow.

Ready for Battle

2011-01-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 11/30/2008

The team is getting ready to head to NAGA next weekend. Here are some thoughts to help everyone get ready for battle.

Stay hydrated. Keep taking small drinks all day. You’ll need to use the restroom continually, but it will keep your body ready to go. Avoid soda and caffeine.
Food. Eat a good meal the night before. Carb load, but don’t eat a huge breakfast. Starting with breakfast on the day of the competition you should be having very small snack-sized meals. Once I get to the competition, I won’t put more than a bite of a protein bar or half a banana in my belly every 2 hours. Before breakfast starts wearing off, start eating small, healthy snacks. I like dried fruit, yogurt, trail mix, and nibbles of protein bars. Power Gel is one of the best ways of getting quick replacement without putting “pukables” in your belly. If you eat or drink too much, you will puke.
Prepare to wait. The waiting puts a huge strain on your brain and your body during a competition. Bring a good chair and entertainment. The bleachers are the pits. Not every venue will have space for you to set up a cozy folding chair, but bring them just in case. iPods, games, books, cards, …
Watch your competition. This is a crucial intelligence gathering opportunity. Where are they strongest? Weakest? What is their coach telling them?
Warm up. Don’t fight with cold muscles. You will tire much faster, be much weaker, less flexible, and less in the “fighting mindset” if you don’t warm up. Warm up and get psyched for your match. The first match is always the hardest. Trust me on this. You’ll be very tired after your first match and you’ll think “I can’t do that again.” But you can. As your body gets into “battle mode” it becomes easier to fight later matches. Flow rolling is great for warming up.
Know the rules. We’ve discussed them in class. If you have any questions, ask. There will be a rules review before the competition. You can ask questions of the head referee then.
Kids: stay close. It may seem like fun running around a big venue space on a weekend, but don’t roam far, and don’t get in the way of the other competitors or officials. Always tell a parent where you are going if you leave the mat area.
Fight intelligently:
Tips to managing your match intelligently
- Take the time to get your points on your way through the match.
- Remember the 3 second rule: stay in position for 3 seconds to get your points.
- If you are down on points, you must work hard to overcome this. If your opponent is winning, you may notice he starts to stall (he stops working and holds his position). It is crucial that you do your best to turn up the heat on a staller. Even though it is officially against the rules, most refs don’t take action against stalling (unfortunately).
- Remember the knee on belly position. It is the easiest 2 points to get that most people never take advantage of.
- Always defend yourself aggressively when you are in a bad spot. Kids: If your opponent puts a submission move on you (like starts an armbar), you must show the referee that you are working to escape it or he will stop the match even before you tap. This is especially the case for chokes. I’m glad refs do this, since it is the best way to be safe with kids on the mat.
- Be technical, not sloppy. Set up a submission as technically as you know how to. Pass the guard the way your coach taught you. People tend to go a little too fast in competition; often this speed outstrips their technical ability.
The mind game. It is absolutely true that 80% of your fight is mental. It doesn't matter how tough your opponent looks. They all tap if you put the right moves on them. Trust your training and believe in yourself. Never let your opponent know you are nervous or tired. If the ref stops the match to restart you, jump up and show the opponent and his coach that you have enough juice left for 1000 fights (especially if you are just about out of gas!). It is especially fun if you stand up first and offer your opponent a hand standing up. It sends 2 great messages: you are a great sport, and you have more juice left than your opponent. Never groan or yell during the match. It may end the match immediately (a yell is a tap to most referees).
Bring cameras. There is nothing more valuable than getting your matches on video.
Cheer on your team. If you aren't on deck for a match, you should be at mat side when a team mate is competing. Give them words of encouragement, but don’t disrupt my coaching. If your coach is saying something, keep your cheers in check for a moment. We are a team in a sport of individual competitors. One of the only ways you have to show team unity is being there for your teammate's matches.
Keep your coach in the loop. If you are going to compete in the next 10 minutes or so, get word to your coach. If your coach is busy with another match when yours is called, tell the table officials (each mat has a separate table) that your coach is busy elsewhere. They will almost always delay a match (they'll bring the next match on) to allow for the coach to get there. Don't stress out about it.
Be a good sport. Shake your opponent's hand before and after the match. Also shake the hand of your opponent's coach after the match. Even if you’re upset about a loss or exhausted, crawl over and shake their hand and tell them “good match.”
Show up clean. Make sure your nails are cut and your gi is clean. A good ref won't let you compete otherwise.
Be on time, but don't be surprised if they don't start on time. They never start on time, but you should be ready anyway.
Don't worry about winning. Of course you want to win, but if this is your first competition, you will learn valuable lessons regardless if you win or lose. Enjoy yourself and try your best. You will make mistakes but you'll get them corrected over time. Tap if it hurts. No biggie.
Pre-register. Don't ever register the day of the competition. The reason these things never start on time is that too many people procrastinate getting themselves registered. This creates impossible problems for bracketing.
Train hard and get ready. Cross train for better cardio and strength.

Let the Bodies Hit the Flow

2011-01-30T14:06:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 11/20/2008

Flow rolling is to a grappler what improvisation is to a jazz musician. It's a fun, creative experience that develops your skills and helps you connect with your partner.

Every grappling gym has its own way to get grapplers warmed up and ready for maximum athletic performance and the rigors of the full intensity of ground fighting. I prefer what I call "flow rolling": a series of grappling rounds at low intensity with no submissions allowed and an emphasis on constant motion, cooperation, and resilience over static resistance and competitiveness. Since most grappling matches demand explosiveness, strength, and competiveness, flow rolling puts many students off their game, but the benefits can be substantial.

Here's my pitch for why you should flow roll every time you warm up:

Maximize athletic performance. New studies of athletic performance have demonstrated that athletes who warmed up for 20 minutes just before intense athletic activity are actually stronger and have improved muscle flexibility.
Expanded creativity due to lack of competitive pressure. When you aren't fighting off submission attempts or stuck inside a tight guard, your mind has more time to work though new moves, alternate routes, and unconventional ideas. You can improve your mindset and patience about working through disadvantaged positions. Creativity is limited when you are under pressure. Relax your mind and let the ideas flow.
Improved mat dexterity and coordination. Watching 2 experienced flow rollers is really impressive. You can develop improved mat dexterity with consistent flow rolling.
It's fun and develops teamwork. It's a nice change to roll around with your mat partners when you aren't trying to submit them. Put a smile on your face and enjoy the interactive dance. I tell the youngsters in my kids class "play like monkeys!"

So go ahead, improv like a jazz musician. Play like a monkey. Flow roll.

The Fungus Amungus!

2011-01-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 11/20/2008

All you need is one case of ringworm to get permanently creeped out and paranoid about rashes. That happened to me about 5 years ago when visiting a grappling gym in the LA area. Ever since then, I’ve been proud to claim my Austin-based gym has never had an outbreak of any kind.

Don’t step on the mats if you have a rash that is undiagnosed or diagnosed as contagious. Be smart:

Get a diagnosis from a doctor and email your coach to tell him you are taking time off.
Make sure you get instructions from your doctor on how to know when the rash is no longer contagious and follow their directions on medication and treatment.
Do not return to the mats without your doctor's clearance.

There are numerous highly contagious skin rashes that can cause nasty symptoms that persist for months. Don’t be the source. It could get you banned from the mats, depending on the damage you cause.

If you have a non-contagious skin condition that looks like a rash on any skin surface that is visible, please inform your coach. People will get creeped out and suspicious if they see it, so get it out there and make sure people are comfortable before just jumping on the mats. You don't want folks getting the wrong impression and avoiding you for no reason.

Geezer Jitsu: Training for the 40+ Crowd

2011-01-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 11/4/2008

I received this email and wanted to share it and my response with you.

Dear Mr. Thomas:

I regularly watch your BJJ videos on YouTube, and I notice that you are probably in your mid-40s. I’m 36 and started jiu-jitsu about 18 months ago. It’s tremendous fun and I hope to continue with it. Recently, however, I injured my knee (meniscus tear, not too serious) and my doctor recommends I consider pursuing something else. I understand the limitations when one is older, but I know I would miss jiu-jitsu terribly. Any advice for someone who hopes to continue training in middle age?

Best,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
That is surprising to hear your doctor suggested that. I’ve enjoyed this sport since 1995 with lots of small injuries; a half dozen doctors have never suggested such a radical change. Sure, if you had a life-threatening injury, consider retiring to your easy chair. But you are just getting to the good stuff! There is so much to learn. Make sure you have safe training partners that aren’t unnecessarily throwing risky moves on you. Rest, recuperate, cross train to strengthen your core, and push yourself just hard enough to get nice and sore, but not overly so.

I haven't discovered any age-based training limitations, but who knows, maybe in 10 years... My aerobic capacity is lower, so I can’ train at top intensity for as long, but I'm no more likely to get injured. In fact, I’d say I’m less likely to get injured. I don't have the same level of aggression as the younger guys and am far less likely to try something stupid/dangerous on the mats. I’ve got nothing to prove, I’m just here to learn and have fun. Maybe it’s all in the attitude...

You are lucky to have found this sport and smart to have committed yourself to it. Dive in, enjoy, and please keep in touch with your progress.

Read more about BJJ-related injuries and how to prevent them here.

Forget the Magic: It's All About Mat Time

2011-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 6/20/2007

"It's all about mat time." When I was a white belt, I was always working on passing the guard, my side control, defending the guard pass, and in general how to hold down bigger guys. I have always focused on control first: position before submission. Get in here and train as often as you can, and you will get results.

Here’s a quote from an interview with Marcelo Garcia:

Q: "Give us some recommendations on how to improve in Jiu-Jitsu."

Marcelo: "I can tell you the things that I did when I was a blue belt, or a white belt. I spend the most time that I had in the school. I would think twenty-four hours a day about Jiu-Jitsu. Since I was a white belt I felt like I wanted to do this with my life. And I hope I do this forever. But don’t try to find different stuff. Don’t try too much to find secrets.

"The only thing people have to do to be good in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is train in Jiu-Jitsu. Spend all of your time doing Jiu-Jitsu." - Marcelo Garcia

Close Your Eyes

2011-01-30T13:50:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 8/9/2009

"Wow, how'd we get here?" Wonders one of my students aloud as he pulls off his blindfold following fighting a match that took the grapplers, via a circuitous route, clear across the gym floor. "I thought we were still over there. That was disorienting! Cool!"

Disorienting, yes, but only visually so. Blindfolded grappling is a liberating experience. It's unusual to think of your visual reference as a crutch, but as a primary sense, it necessarily dulls the others from contributing to your responses during a match.

We keep a stack of tee shirts in my gym for these special occasions. When paired with a pair of ear guards, they make great blindfolds. I have yet to discover a blindfolding process that survives more than a half round of grappling, but the tee shirt and ear guards matchup is tight, light-proof, and cheap. At some point in the match, the honor system is invariably brought to bear, since the arrangement invariably loosens a bit. The match starts differently, of course. We have to pair up and kneel close to each other before putting on our blindfolds, or else hilarity will ensue as you seek out your opponent. Imagine the results shooting a single leg only to eat the wall behind them instead.

Despite these limits, blindfolded grappling allows you to tap into your senses for a more creative roll than you've enjoyed in a long time. When we roll blindfolded, you hear the usual grunts and umphs that accompany typical matches, but you also hear a lot of laughing and awe-inspired comments about the techniques which spring forth, unleashed by the creative release that seems to come with darkness. A complete lack of vision on the mats reveals more useful information about your surroundings, balance, and partner than you might find with the full use of your eyes. I have personally discovered, utterly surprised, brand new techniques that I wonder where they have been hiding.

Hiding in plain sight, you might say.

Open Your Eyes

2011-01-30T13:48:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 7/5/2009

We are sitting in a circle, with 2 of my students grappling in the center. "Watch closely. We'll talk about what happened when they're done." As the two grapple, the students watch intently. After about a minute of hard work, there is a furious scramble through a twisting maze of positions, and one student suddenly taps. "Good match! Ok, what happened? What did you see?" I ask the group.

After a brief pause, one of the more eager students proclaims, "armbar."

"Ok, start at the beginning. Take us through the match."

Blank stares.

"Umm. They started standing. Then there was a takedown. Then he passed the guard, I think."

"Slow down. What about the details? What did they do when they were standing? How did the takedown get set up?"

This line of questioning continues until there is a clear timeline. With students around the edge of the mats, we have a good set of "camera angles" to replay the events, but their recollections are only as helpful as their perception. We work thorough the details and each transition is covered. We figure out where mistakes were made, how advantage was won and lost, and picked apart the match to my satisfaction. We dissect each moment of the match where an advantage is won or lost.

After several more matches, the students are getting the hang of it. They are doing much more than watching. They are seeing. "Great work! Now, everyone find a partner." People pair up, eager to use their newfound optics and awareness. In every match, there are turning points: moments where a subtle mistake is made, an opportunity taken, and the tide turns in favor of the victor.

Your memory is a good coach, but only if you have a good memory. Win or lose, remember the successes and failures that caused the outcome. The details of these memories can provide you with clues to success next time. Watch and feel the details of your matches. Talk about them with your partners and coaches afterwards. Get a camcorder on a tripod and record your matches. If someone gets a great move on you, ask them to take you through it again so you can burn it into your memory. I record every class at my gym. If there is a particularly interesting match, I'll load it up and watch it.

Seeing the big moves is easy. An understanding of subtleties, details and nuances separates the good from the great. Open your eyes.

Our System Does Not Coddle the Weak Technique

2011-01-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 4/27/2009

"Never use the closed guard," I tell my students, "unless you are stalling or waiting to die." As I state this, I wonder about how this position became so fundamental only to be eventually thrown away so unceremoniously. Then I consider the never-ending stream of new techniques, positions, attacks, counter-attacks, and defenses generated in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling over time. I think about some amazing technique I learned years ago as a blue belt and how it has been rendered ineffective and obsolete by the withering juggernaut of a thousand athletes pounding from all angles like velociraptors probing the electrical containment fences in Jurassic Park. I recall some fundamental progenitor move, originally defined in utterly simple steps, that have evolved into a broad category of richly varied options (e.g. the Rubber Guard). I reflect on certain positions, once considered inescapable by all but the most advanced, which are now easily thrown off by less experienced fighters. What's happening here? Is this natural acceleration or the result of a slow evolutionary process? And where are all these great new moves coming from?

Weak techniques will not survive. We know intuitively that techniques are successful only when they help win fights. Winning techniques are constantly studied by students of the sport. We adopt them, tweak them, make them work for their bodies, and transmit them to others. That's how we spend the bulk of our time on the mats.

A fighting sport evolves by the influences of social interaction and information theory. In his 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gödel. Escher. Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, author Douglas R. Hofstadter put a human spin on the mathematical concept of recursive enumeration. People come up with new ideas by watching the results of previous work and adapting. Repeat for a few generations, and some cool things start to happen. All of human civilization has developed using this process, gaining new insights from existing concepts. Over time, systems slowly evolve into more complexity and subtlety. Complexity is increased because past information and existing rules are applied to new situations.

I think about some amazing technique I learned years ago as a blue belt and how it has been rendered ineffective and obsolete by the withering juggernaut of a thousand athletes pounding from all angles like velociraptors probing the electrical containment fences in Jurassic Park.

On the mats, we take old ideas and challenge them repeatedly. The weak techniques die off or morph into variations that are more successful in different situations. The media, usually blamed for dumbing down the masses, expands our information horizon and accelerates the speed of ideas flowing through what I call the Jiu-Jitsu diaspora. As it flows through, it is interpreted, tuned, adapted, mutated, then reflected slightly improved, back out the global information channel. New ideas are literally created from old information. Like an infinite tapestry, we weave the fabric of Jiu-Jitsu every time we step on the mats.

Being the Smartest Guy in the Room Could Make You Stupid

2011-01-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 3/16/2009

A long time ago, I was a white belt who had just joined a new BJJ school that had moved to the area. Sitting in a circle after a technique was shared with the class, a student raised his hand and asked "how do you escape that move?" The instructor's answer: "That'll cost you $90 and take an hour of my time." The joke, which wasn't a joke at all, it turns out, was that the student could only learn that information by paying for a private lesson, and the student group wasn't worthy of the treasured secrets of this genius. The first time I heard that response, I laughed. But my chuckle was cut short when I realized he was serious. Over time, I saw the same pattern that the other students had already seen. The student would feel like an idiot for asking the question, the private lesson would never happen, and the answer to the question never spoken.

What would you do if you asked the question? Would you be likely to raise your hand next time? Over time, the intended effect unfolded at the gym: people rarely asked questions of the head instructor. Since questions often shape curriculum, an absence of inquiry left the instructor to teach only what he wanted to teach. Students with questions would seek each other out for information. The questions didn't go away, they were redirected to less qualified, but more helpful people. This was in the age before YouTube and storefulls of DVDs and textbooks on BJJ. This instructor had a stranglehold on information. Hearing him respond to a question with such an absurd evasion reminded me of working with an IT helpdesk guy who acts like his knowing how to install Microsoft Office was a birthright.

In a more recent example, a friend training at another gym had been keeping a nifty online technique notebook. Not a lot of detail, but very helpful perspective intended to feed the hungry Jiu-Jitsu diaspora. Their instructor caught wind of the website and was uncomfortable. The concern was that it might help competitors. The web site no longer discusses Jiu-Jitsu technique. Let's say the web page was discussing what this student learned about executing a take-down. Can you imagine some morsel of information being divulged that would somehow alter the competitive landscape? Google "double leg take-down." Tell me there could have been something truly original in the web site's description of this technique that will harm this coach's business. No, and that wasn't the point of the website. Learning and communicating is a personal process that takes the student beyond the boundaries of the mats. This student was stuck in a stranglehold of censorship.

These two situtions, separated by a decade of time and completely different instructor lineage, illustrates what is commonplace in this sport. Some instructors treat information like a valuable commodity in a world where it is already free.

Information isn't power. In the information-connected economy, the kinds of businesses that can get away with treating information as a valuable commodity are rapidly becoming as old as your Dad's Wall Street Journal curbside dropoff. And don't get me into an ad revenue argument since it's so far off the point.

Over the years on the mats, I've come up with some really sweet moves. I can find dozens of videos on the Internet of guys who have come up with the same moves on their own. They've given them their own silly names like "De-goitering the Goat" or "Feed the baby" but the moves are the same. This is a healthy sign of a exploding system with a spirit of innovation, expansion, and sharing.

Coaches: hide your secrets at your own peril. Students are passionate about this sport and hungry for information. They'll go get the answers with or without you. Be the leader and coach you are supposed to be and teach them what you know. By keeping secret techniques, you won't be forced to learn anything new. Holding back your techniques makes you stale and dumb, not smarter than the rest of the crowd. Teach your students everything you know so they can challenge you to come up with new ideas. You were the smarty pants who figured those old secrets out to begin with, right? So, go make up some new ones.

I love witnessing the process in action. Every few months, I drop some new technique on my students that usually starts with all of them tapping and freaking out about "what the hell was that?" We cover it in class, repeatedly. A month later, some of them are starting to figure it out and execute it on their own. After 6 months, the technique is old hat: we've figured out 6 variations, mastered a few of them, and know 10 ways to shut it down.

Being the only person who knows how to execute the Biggie Slicer is as boring as playing Quake III in God mode. The splatter and spray of guts are fun for a while, but you are left wanting someone who can scare you into getting better.

Every time I get a visiting instructor on my mats, I make it a point to teach something I don't expect him to know. By "liberating this technique into the wild," I'm sure to have to get much better at executing it, discovering defenses, and variations. That's how this sport keeps moving, and that's how the best athletes in the sport keep growing.

The smartest guy in the room is only as smart as the information he's capable of teaching the group. Prove you're smart: give it away, now.

The Father of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Texas

2011-01-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 1/4/2009

When I started in Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 1995, the nearest ranked instructor in BJJ was Carlos Machado, who was over 200 miles away in Dallas, Texas. Carlos was busy traveling around the state helping build interest in the sport by running seminars. I remember seeing a flyer for a seminar he held in Austin in 1996. There was a quote on the flyer that left an impression on me as a newbie in the sport.

"I am a shark. The ground is my ocean and most people don't even know how to swim."

While this quote has been attributed variously to Rickson Gracie or Carlos’ brother Jean-Jacques, its impact on marketing the sport can't be questioned. Carlos opened the door to an inconceivable level of skill for Texans willing to commit to training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

I took a pilgrimage up to his gym for the first time around 1997. It was a small room on the set of the TV show Walker, Texas Ranger. It was a surreal walk through a darkened set (bar, living room, police station), meandering down a side hall, finally finding a small room full of guys sweating through one of Carlos’ legendary training sessions. To provide some context, I had recently gotten my second black belt in Karate after a 9 years in a sport characterized by overly formal (to the Westernized audience) or drill sergeant-like Karate instructors. Like a breath of fresh air, Carlos walked up to me, introduced himself, shook my hand, and was very welcoming and helpful.

Today, 13 years later, the Austin metropolitan area has at least 5 BJJ black belts about 1000 students of various rank. Many of us owe a debt of gratitude to Carlos for his continued commitment, good nature, and talent. We can all continue to learn from his example.

A Small Milestone on a Long Path

2011-01-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

Originally posted 12/24/2008.

Like most long-term endeavors, there are few significant milestones. In a sport like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where the journey from white to black belt only has 3 intermediate steps, the milestones are literally "few and far between." In my case, with 13 years in the making of 2008 black belt promotion, simple math will tell you just how far those milestones were set apart.

Much of our time working though intense athletic effort is filled with small challenges, victories, incremental growth, and setbacks. Even if you train 4 times per week, go to every seminar and open mat available, and compete regularly, you will find long periods of time where getting over the smallest obstacle will challenge your resolve to continue the journey ahead. The harder you train, the more likely you will get injured. The more you cross-train with others, the more likely you will find someone who will kick your butt so regularly and with such domination, that you will likely wonder if you can ever get past them. I remember being a white belt, completely sore and beaten up from my previous training day, afraid to face the mats again, wondering if I should return for another brutal work-out. Of course, I returned, but was faced with this constant question for months. The sport is insanely challenging. Everyone you meet on the mats sees you as fresh meat. The target is on your back every single day. As your rank progresses, this target gets bigger.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rewards people who can get past these big obstacles. The rewards are not just rank, but a knowledge base of skills that are broad and deep.

I remember a karate sensei of mine 20 years ago, in a moment of self-absorption, was boasting about how at his skill level, he could simply toy with his opponents "like a cat playing with a mouse." I was simultaneously disappointed that he shared this with his students and intrigued that a level of skill that advanced was attainable.

Rather than boast that I'm the biggest cat in the jungle, this promotion is a time to remember how many phenomenally talented athletes are in this amazing sport; many of them commanding a skill level that I can only hope to attain in my lifetime. I also hope that I have the ability to translate this wonderful sport into words capable of inspiring my students to stay on the long road. Don't focus on the milestones. Focus on the gifts that come from the hard work, every day you are on the mats: friendship, fitness, and the skills of a cat just a little bit bigger than it was yesterday.