What is the point of Jiu-jitsu?
I ask this sometimes and I usually get answers like “To submit an opponent” or even more generically “to defend yourself”.
The point of jiu-jitsu being submission is nice and a little more specific, but I don’t necessarily think of this as the point. The submission is typically the byproduct of what jiu-jitsu’s goal is.
In my opinion, if you don’t know what you’re doing and more importantly, why you’re doing it, you’ll never fully understand HOW to do it. The truth is, jiu-jitsu is much simpler than people realize and it’s not complicated despite its complexity.
Now, consider the main selling point of jiu-jitsu over the last however many decades: Jiujitsu is the martial art that lets a smaller opponent defeat a much bigger, stronger opponent.
How is this even possible?
How is it different from other martial arts like boxing or kickboxing that makes it much more difficult for a smaller opponent to defeat a bigger opponent?
The first thing you have to realize is that Jiu-jitsu is simply a game of power and mobility. The more free an opponent is to move in space, the stronger and more mobile an opponent is. Therefore, if an opponent is stuck, there is less power and less mobility. And, if you are freer to move, you are stronger and more mobile than your opponent (relatively speaking).
So, what is jiu-jitsu?
I like Danaher’s concise description that Jiujitsu is the art of control that leads to submission.
Jiu-jitsu is a grappling art whose sole purpose is to connect to an opponent, destabilize them and control them in order to advance a position to a point where the strongest parts of your body are engaged against the weakest parts of your opponent’s body. A submission, thus, is something that looks like this: The control of an arm where the power of my hips is directed against the power of somebody’s biceps.
Get the idea?
So with this in mind, the first step is always the takedown. When two people are engaged on the feet with no connection, this is when we are most powerful and most mobile. The goal then is to get to a relatively dominant position where we connect to our opponent, off-balance them and get them to the ground where they are physically weaker and less mobile.
As we play the game of jiu-jitsu, my goal is to continue reducing my opponent’s power and mobility by getting passed the legs into a pinning position. From here, I can use my body against a single limb.
This is WHAT we’re doing. The WHY is because the closer someone is to the ground, the weaker and less mobile they are.
In today’s email, I’m going to take you through this funnel from an offensive side and a defensive side.
There will be two videos, roughly 20 minutes between the two that will explain everything I’ve just written in a more elaborate visual format.
By the end of it, you should have an entire framework for what to do and when to do it for ALL positions in jiu-jitsu.
This, in my opinion should be understood by EVERY jiujitsu practitioner, especially for beginners.
Let’s dive in!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Constant Pressure: Jiujitsu, Training and Life to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.