Sensitivity Explained

“It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.” - Einstein

I don't think there is a better explanation of that invisible sensitivity that BJJ requires.

Dynamic Climbing

I've been indoor bouldering a bit these days. I love it. There are two ways to climb, dynamically or dyno as they call it or statically. Dynamic is where you sometimes lunge or leap for a hold. Static is where every grip and hold you take, it's purposeful and stable. I was asking a trainer about this, he said inside you can climb dyno, it's a lot of fun. But outside he said he only climbs static, because it's life or death out there.

He also told me he himself doesn't even climb dyno inside the rock gym, because he doesn't want to teach himself unrealistic habits.

It made me think of BJJ. Would you change your style if your life depended on it? How about choices in life?

At the same time though with all that said, there are certain goals you want to attain. A certain precipice you want to reach, and sometimes the only way you can get there is through dynamic movements. You risked your life for a goal. There is that whole side too. But the amount of dyno moves they used I guarantee was very conservative.

Joe Rogan Explains Why You Should Train

Steve Jobs Explains Success

Yelling At The Screen

In the classic, possibly top 5 greatest MMA fights of all time with Shogun and Hendo, did anyone else yell armbar at Shogun during round number 5?

Occupy BJJ

Here's a common situation. You are a blue belt. You just graduated college last year. You are unemployed. You train three times a day. You live off of an entitlement program. Not Welfare because you wouldn't qualify, otherwise you would probably try. You live off of the biggest entitlement program of all, your parents. So what do you want more, a job or your purple belt?

I've known people who have lived off of cheating unemployment for over a year just to train more. To "live the life."

It's funny, because its about a martial art but in its essence, all the young guys training BJJ now in their early twenties are the Occupy Generation as they are called. Baby Boomers to Gen X to Gen Y to Occupy.

Cardio BJJ

There is cardio boxing or cardio kickboxing, where technique is thrown out of the window and you only focus on constant moving, and cardio, and getting tired.

Is there also a version of this for BJJ, where you come in and just train hard, throw technique out the window and keep moving? Maybe we call it conditioning though.

Speaking The Language

If you try to learn a language fast, and say the words too fast, you will learn slowly and no one will understand what you are saying. BJJ has often been called a language, so in the same sense if you try to learn it fast, and do everything fast, no one will be able to do what you are doing is BJJ and it won't make a lot of sense.

Trick Or Treat

I often hear "experienced" or "world class grapplers" explain grappling in such simple terms. This happens more than not in non-BJJ circles, hence why their is such a rivalry. One side can't see how simple it is, the other side can't see how complicated it is.

I hate listening to an instructor who explains things like this, "So you go for this submission here, he's going to do this, that's when you get him with this move."

He does it on the student who is a compliant partner, student is amazed and teacher gloats and is like, "See? those BJJ guys don't know about this stuff."

Typically it's something like, go for the arm, if he escapes, attack his legs! Go for the choke, if he sees it coming, do a neck crank!

They also show the submissions very haphazardly, with very little details. So that's probably why that initial submission won't work in the first place. Then you dive for your next move. So even if your master of the move is low, you will get them by "surprise."

Most of the submissions of non-BJJ arts are based on the element of surprise. Sadly the other element is the assumption that the opponent will be compliant, and is very dim, weak, and inexperienced.

This system of grappling looks great in demos, on youtube videos of why you should go to so and so's seminar. But it is never that easy. It's not like your opponent can't defend more than 1 thing at a time, and also he may not react the way you expect him to because he actually escapes properly.

A lot of these guys were initially thrilled because the BJJ guys didn't know leglocks yet. That was about 10 years ago, now they are pretty well versed...

All of the other grappling martial arts that tries to differentiate from BJJ, always rely on this concept. Those guys don't know this stuff. Don't know leg locks, rubber guard, neck cranks, catch wrestling etc. There is an inherent weakness if the base of the philosophy is the assumption that you always are more trained and more knowledgeable than your opponent. Or you know some secret set of moves that he does not.

Instead of trying to trick your opponent, or doing it very poorly but expecting to capitalize on speed and element of surprise, try doing it right and see what happens.

A lot of these schools have a reputation of people getting hurt, of people spazzing, or going hard and fast. But think about it, the only way this sloppy move can work is if its done fast and hard, otherwise it's so loose, it's that much easier to escape if done slowly. So the sloppy style depends on speed and ferocity to even give it a chance of working. Forget conserving your energy.

Companies have failed plenty of times on this false idea. Be the first. It's not always be the first, more often than not it's be the best(though sometimes the first is the best). Otherwise we would all still be using Friendster.

Things I Learn From Prison

I was speaking to a good friend of mine JP. He is a bit older than me, a successful businessman who has been around the world and has friends from various walks of life. In living and working in LA he's also met people who have spent time in prison.

We were discussing the merits of BJJ and MMA and self defense. There is a common belief that in self defense, you don't need to know submissions. You can take someone down and punch them until they submit because you are trained and they are not.

JP mentioned that people in prison, when they get into fights don't use traditional ground and pound if it hits the ground. Imagine a Fedor like jumping punch to a downed opponent, and half the time Fedor misses. If you miss in prison, you shatter your hand and forearm on the concrete. You were on top but you will end up losing he fight or possibly your life. Breaking your hand and arm when there might be other people around, and you may need to pick up a weapon to defend yourself, is a big disadvantage.

So instead they use hammerfists on the ground, short rabbit punches, elbows and forearms. If you can somehow choke the opponent or break his arm, this also lowers your own risk of injury and success in victory. So maybe the submissions aspect of BJJ is actually better for the street than MMA where people don't have to worry about hitting their hands on the canvas while wearing gloves with their hands wrapped.

A form of self defense that arose out of the penal system is called Prison Boxing. Where you mainly throw elbows, and block in a manner where your opponent might break their hands punching you because you try to block with your elbows.

In MMA you try to corner your opponent against the cage and throw punches. If you miss and hit the cage, it's not so bad. Even being tackled into the cage isn't so bad. Punching or running into a concrete wall? Not as good. So elbows and open palm strikes and clinching become important.

In self defense I think the best form of fighting is in the clinch. Unless your opponent has a weapon, in which case you run. Clinch, drag the fight to the ground, then try to submit. Or hold them with their arms tied up like Rickson does so you can't miss. If you've ever seen Rickson fight, he never throws hard crazy punches on the ground. Short controlled shots, that way he never misses.

What Is Our Ultimate Goal With BJJ?

A BJJ colleague asked me a typical question you hear a lot in the BJJ circle. We have a mutual friend who started after us who is training a lot, like a mad man. My colleague knows I am not training often these days so he asked me that question everyone always thinks and asks themselves, "Do you think he will surpass you bro?"

I replied, "Hopefully in BJJ but he will never surpass me in life."

The Temporary Source of Power

Everything is temporary. So is power. You might have a really good degree and it will give you about 5 years of power. If you don't improve in that time you will plateau and eventually sink. If you are smart and get good advice, in that 5 years you will get another degree, learn a new language, learn a new skill, or somehow improve your power source and buy yourself the next 5 years. In which time you need to create another new value for yourself.

If you used to be really good looking, that automatically got you some power, but it will only last so long. Same with being the scary guy in high school. It bought you 4 years, which was high school. Once it's over, now what? Did you assume it was going to last forever? You only had a temporary source of power.

You're only as good as your last job, last degree, last skill, last book, last belt. Even oil is temporary. If you are the head of the world's biggest fuel company, to keep your job, you better be diligently working on the next fuel source when oil runs out.

Successful people always have foresight and are always working on their next source of power. If you've ever wondered why someone who went to a good school is stuck in a mid-tier job, or the high school prom queen is a poor mom with three kids, it's because of this reason. No foresight. Not realizing they only had a temporary source of power.

My favorite example is the rise of cougars. Girls into their 30s or 40s who are still single, and have never been married. What happened? They had this source of power. Their looks. So they were super picky, assuming they would always have their buying power. Then time passes and they have priced themselves out of the market, no more suitors. But now their power source is gone. They wanted a guy who was rich, well read, spoke several languages, in great shape, etc. During that time they didn't increase their value by getting richer, reading more, learning a new language, getting in great shape, or whatever else they were seeking from the other. It's like betting everything on real estate and thinking it will rise forever. It's a gamble on a finite commodity. People will always need homes, yes. But there is only so much land, and too many owners and not enough renters. Some people who saw that coming walked away with billions. I left my job in real estate with a nice savings right before the collapse because I too saw it coming.

Hence why the 1% is the 1%. 99% of us think our last source of power should give us a high paying salary.

I learned this through BJJ. BJJ is analogous to life. I am only as good as my last grip, last position, only as good as the new position I am reaching for, always looking to improve my standing, not stalling, not resting, moving forward.

BJJ is the reason why I stopped training BJJ as much. I know that doesn't make sense but if all I have going for me and invested all my time in is my last belt...well I may be a winner in BJJ, but I am a loser in the game of life. If 5 years have passed and I am in the same job, making the same wage, moved nowhere in my personal life, didn't get any new degrees, didn't learn a new language, learn to program, learn accounting, learn to rock climb, learn to swim. If all I did in that time is get some new belts, I've got other problems.

It's a weird sickness I see in martial arts. Thinking that your art will give you some infinite new power. It's not only temporary, but it's also false power. Because the only people who will care about it are others who do it. It's similar to the effects of the online game World of Warcraft. Both activities reward you on hours played, both have a unique community and culture that is immersive, and both are misunderstood by the rest of society. I would go so far as to say, BJJ in a way to some people is like real life role playing. I have a friend who's lost their job from playing too much World of Warcraft. I also know people who have lost their job training too much BJJ. That's when they may try to work somehow for the school and be all the envy of all the members of their guild. I mean school.

Now the exceptions are the people who do it for a living. If that's your goal...wait thats the key. Goal. That's their goal so they improve. A lot of people train without a goal, a lot of people don't want to do it for a living. They want to use BJJ as something that distracts them for life. If you do BJJ as a hobby and still progress in all other areas of your life, then that is the actual goal of the art. I just happen to know too many people who don't. Too many people who are flat broke but are stoked they got to tap someone tough. I know one guy who is in their late 20s, always in school but never managing to get a degree because he trains so much. Lives off the money from his parents, has to ride his bike everywhere or get a ride. Never had a girlfriend or a job. His life is about BJJ and has been for the past 5 years. He is also terrible at BJJ but it's all he cares about. He could meet the CEO of Facebook and will ask him if he trains BJJ because to him that's all he thinks people value. There's websites and magazines dedicated to the jiu jitsu life, glamorizing being poor and almost homeless but "doing what you love all the time." I see no glamour in this. That's like how Hollywood used to glamorize the lives of hobos. Free, independent wisemen who went anywhere the trains took them. I could see the point of it all if they said, this will be my life. I will make a living off of this, or I want to be world champion. Or something. But most people I know have no goal. Some may say, getting their black belt is their goal. I guess that's something. But a lot of people will say they don't even care about belts. They have no goal. In life, in BJJ, at work, personally, romantically. Why invest so much time with something that has no goal. That has no end game? You don't just lack an inner game, you no longer require it at that point.

I still train, but BJJ isn't my life. It enhances my life. It helps me realize why I need to constantly improve my position, learn new skills, gain new power before the last one runs out. I no longer need to roll to practice Jiu Jitsu. I just need to live my life and I am practicing it. Whenever I realize something is temporary and I act to improve upon it, I am practicing my art. That's jiu jitsu.

You get a grip, that buys you 2 seconds to get your next grip. You hip escape, that buys you a moment to swim for an underhook. You get the underhook, that buys you 5 seconds to escape out the back door. You get over/under control. That buys you a few more seconds to get the hook. The hook gives you a temporary source of power to get your grips on the neck. The grips on the neck gives you the chance to finish.

Before you say, what about this guy, what about that guy, what about someone like Renzo! I will say those people, like Renzo not only became a black belt, they became a champion, a professional fighter, a husband, a father, a business man, an entrepreneur with a huge affiliation and franchises, learned English, became a coach, learned politics, learned boxing, learned wrestling, learned judo, learned how to teach, learned to be a leader, etc. Someone like him may tell someone, hey stop obsessing about this art and go find a job.

After I left my academy, several of the people have been asking me and each other, why would anyone quit BJJ? Why did you quit? That's stupid. Why would you not train. That makes no sense.Then in the next sentence they will go on to say, man I don't even know why I train BJJ so much. It makes no sense. Screw BJJ.

It's a balancing act. It's a beautiful complex art that deserves time to be mastered. But you need to train enough for it to enhance your life, and if you do it will give you many benefits. The trick is not to train so much it distracts your life.

Back To Front

Whenever we discuss the basics, we always bring up the mount and talk about position being first. How we pass, get the mount. Stabilize it. Get our grips. Then choke.

With the back it's sometimes different. We skip our hooks or securing the position and go for the choke. We skip the grips and go for the choke. The back I believe works in the same principle. We get that position first. Stabilize it. Get our grips. Then choke.

In the same way, we wouldn't go for a choke while on top, and then try to jump to mount would we? Some may say yes.