Alright

1RT = 1 Insight about Jiujitsu

Lessgo
1/ Receiving my black belt has been the hardest thing I've ever accomplished.

It has simultaneously also been the simplest
Getting better at jiu-jitsu, much like with everything else is mostly a matter of stripping away the complexity and reducing it to its simplest form.

Hard part is doing that when someone's trying to strangle you
3/ Jiu-jitsu follows a simple framework

Get to the ground, pass the guard, immobilize/control, isolate a limb and break

IF defensive, you go in the opp direction

Consolidate limb, mobilize, retain the guard, off-balance, sweep/submit
Biggest reasons why people quit are

1. Don't know how to manage Injuries
2. Don't know how to manage emotions
3. Don't know how to manage Life
5. Hardest part about getting started in Jiu-jitsu is overcoming your ego

Gotta put aside who you think you are and what you think you're capable of.

16 year old kid comes and kicks your ass you realize you ain't shit
6. Strength and athleticism are cool

But getting better at jiu-jitsu, meaning being proficient AND efficient with the skills required >>>>>

Stronger you are, the more you fuck yourself long-term
7. One reason jiu-jitsu is so effective is that the whole premise is to get someone to the ground

The closer we are to the ground, the less power you can use, the more you have to rely on leverage
8. Jiu-jitsu gets a lot of hate because haters know it works.
9. IMO, if you're going to cross-train other disciplines, need to get good at wrestling and/or Judo.

Pick one or do both.

Getting your takedown game on point is a great way to make your jiujitsu better
10. People rarely quit because of actual "injuries".

They quit because of the emotions that come from being injured.

ie:

"I'm afraid to reinjure myself"
"I'm worried I'll get hurt again"
"I'm anxious about training with _____ again"
11. Having a black belt though a HUGE accomplishment, doesn't mean shit.

Like Master @RenzoGracieBJJ said

"The belt only covers 3 cm of your ass. You gotta cover the rest yourself"
12. Always figure out how you can move the needle most with the least amount of work. Movement for the sake of movement is wasteful.

Be direct. Do only what matters

Less is more.

S/o @ipb_media
13. This is red belt shit. Above my paygrade https://twitter.com/jarheadmarine1/status/1339338528715661314?s=20
14. Everyone's got a different opinion about strength and conditioning.

My philosophy is:

Having base strength is important

Being mobile/having strength throughout an entire range of motion is even more important.
15. I've been largely injury free most of my 10.5 years training

I attribute it to training smart but also, making sure my mobility has always been on point

Mobility is easy to work, can do it everyday randomly throughout the day
16. 80/20 is a solid way to figure out what you need to work on.

Can ask:

"What are the 20% of positions that give me 80% of problems"
"What are the 20% positions I spend the most time in"

etc
17. Learning how to control emotions is a superpower.

Sometimes in training, it's normal to get pissed.

Someone yanks a finger, puts a knee in my toe, etc.

Can find myself abt to fly off handle, then start making mistakes.

Cool/Rational heads prevail
18. If you're running into a barrier, it just means there's something you don't know.

Remember this axion throughout your training.

When you're frustrated about not getting from point A to point B, figure out what it is that you don't know and fix it.

Knowledge is power
19. "If you don't know fundamentals, you'll run into someone else's"

Advanced shit is cool, but keeping it simple is more efficient and more sustainable.

The simplest thing is the best thing
20.

BREAKING NEWS

The best way to get better is to actually show up.
21. When I first started, I did Muay thai and Jiujitsu. I trained like a madman, almost everyday, sometimes 2x a day

After abt a year or two, I quit striking bc I knew I wanted to be the best I could at bjj

Was much harder to dbl up w/ that in mind

https://twitter.com/stackOfBricks/status/1339342677091917824?s=20
22. The whole magic behind Jiujitsu is efficiency

That is your number one goal

By the end of it, if you’re using too much energy to get the job done, you’re doing it wrong
23.

White Belt = Survival
Blue Belt = Proficiency
Purple Belt = Effectiveness
Brown Belt = Dominance
Black Belt = Efficiency
24. The only barriers in jiujitsu are self-imposed

Nobody cares about your performance but yourself

You’ll always be your own worst critic —Need to get over that feeling
25. The Bench Press is the most useless exercise for Jiujitsu

May get some hate for that one
26. Competition is the best way to get better at Jiujitsu in a shorter amount of time

Think “Parkinsons law”

Work expands to fill the time alotted

So does your training with a deadline
27. Jiujitsu is all anout problem solving in a dynamic environment

Dynamic solutions for dynamic problems
28. Guard playing is cool but FFS, learn how to get on top and STAY ON TOP
29. Some of the best strength stuff I’ve done for bjj has included gymnastics style training

-Core stability
-Body Control
-Straight Arm/Bent Arm isometric strength
-Mobility

List goes on
30. Squats should be done A2G

In bjj, , particularly in guard your legs should rarely be passed parallel

Keep them tight
31. It’s truly incredible how much hate BJJ gets

Then you ask them to try it out and you get shit like

“Nah I’m more of a stand up guy”

Or

“Nah I just pull out a gun” https://twitter.com/drnickgreiner/status/1339375594019143680
32. My most common:

-Deep squats + Hamstring Stretch (lifting just my hips)

- Planche progression (cannot planche)

-down dog/up dog

-A2G split squats

-Split Good Mornings

-Thoracic mobility

-Iron Neck (counting this)

-Resistance band and Theraband work https://twitter.com/Sinkoudriver/status/1339377015661707265
33. You’ll never know everything there is to know about Jiujitsu

It’s a never ending riddle and no matter how long you’ve done it, you’ll still discover something new everyday
Much like chess:

Opening Game should be memorized

Middle Game is about developing position, double and triple attacks, presenting dilemmas and “trilemmas”

End Game is about Finishing

Fuck a draw
35. I actually wrote a whole thread on fundamentals of chess and jiujitsu

You can read that here https://twitter.com/nnuitcoeptis/status/1251668017785851905
36. If you’re successful in one area, you can apply those principles to Jiujitsu and be successful in that

“When you see the way in one thing, you see it in everything”
37. An instructors job is a two-fold paradox

1. Teach their students how to kick their ass

2. Work their ass off so that never happens
38. If you want to get better at Jiujitsu, train Jiujitsu

All cross training should be viewed as supplementary and not replacement
39. If you’re not attacking, you’re defending

Need to always attack and learn how to string together attacks

For example: Defense of an arm always gives the neck

Figure out how to transition between attacks to stay on the offensive
40. In jiujitsu there’s nowhere to hide

You will be exposed
41. Incredible situational awareness is a byproduct of training

Never directly taught

Fascinating to me how it’s developed in an almost “unspoken” environment
42. Unpopular Opinion

You actually don’t start learning Jiujitsu until you’re at least a purple belt
43. If competition is the hard part, you’re doing it wrong
44. Who you really are comes out in the mats. There’s nowhere to hide

Most people are afraid of this
45. I was a white belt the first time I tapped a purple belt

I was a blue belt the first time I beat a black belt

I thought it was a big deal at the time

You come to realize there are levels to this game and those achievements don’t ultimately mean shit
46. Fun fact

The better you get at Jiujitsu the worse you realize you are
47. Truth be told

I think Jiujitsu is the only martial art you can practice full contact well into old age
48. Jiujitsu is mostly anaerobic

But if you’re doing it right, should be aerobic
49. Not all techniques work for everyone

Too many variables

Most of the trouble in jiujitsu comes from trying to figure out what works for you

Learn everything, try everything and stick to what works
50. You should be an escape artist

There’s something very powerful about discouraging others for not being able to submit you in whatever position you allow them to put you in
51. Put simply:

If you’re not sure what to do, figure out what the other person wants and do the opposite
52. Pain is a sign something is wrong

Soreness and pain are not the same
53. An injured athlete is a worthless athlete

If you are injured your number one job is to get healthy
54. Grips are an amazing way to control someone

But they’re limiting

Figure out a way to control without using grips and now you have control AND extra mobility
55. Two intangible skills you need to develop in jiujitsu

1. Intuition
2. Metacognition
56. One of the best things abt Jiujitsu IMO is its ability to remain calm under pressure

If you can be calm while a 250lb black belt who’s also a former D1 AA running back is mauling you

You can be calm in almost any situation
57. You can get good at Jiujitsu with only 2 days per week

If you can’t find two hours, you don’t want it bad enough
58. Regardless of how recreationally you view jiu-jitsu, there comes a time when you need to step it the fuck up.

Come blue/purple belt, you're going to get these hungry white belts kicking your ass and you're not going to like it one bit

On your way to brown belt mediocrity
59. At white belt you have the opp to be the best blue belt you can be

If squandered that opp then at blue, you can be the best purple belt you can

At purple, the opp to be the best brown belt you can be

At brown, the best black belt

At this point, no more opps. You wasted it
60. If you're not playing your game, you're playing someone elses.

Never play someone else's game.
61. If you ever find your mind wandering in training, either from panic/anxiety or other, one trick I use is to feel your partners gi

Feel the texture, and assess it. It will help bring you back to the present
62. Rising tides raise all ships

Your number one goal should be to make everyone around you better

This is how YOU get better
63. Tapping is sacred

Never violate that trust with someone regardless of what your feelings are towards a person

You always let go when someone submits
64. “I’m out of shape” is a terrible excuse

You don’t need to be in shape to execute Jiujitsu

Zero energy = Maximum result

You’re not “out of shape” you just don’t know what you’re doing
65. Always look for the path of least resistance

If you’re trying too hard, you’re doing something wrong
66. The better your defense, the less risk averse you become

You can take more chances, experiment and otherwise fuck around bc you know you can always get back to safety in the worst case
67. Creating systems of attack and defense take all the guesswork out of ‘what to do next’

If you understand the fundamentals of human movement, you understand movement is limited

Planning for these limitations is much simpler than you think
68. Jiujitsu truly is for lazy people

The entire goal is to do the least work possible and still strangle your opponents

The problem is you gotta work your ass off to achieve that level
69. In Jiujitsu, true strength is what happens in the outer ranges and when you are off-balance
You can follow @nnuitcoeptis.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: