Jiujitsu Made Simple: Understanding Efficiency [Part 1/2]
How to Be Lazy and Still Get the Job Done
I used to joke that I loved jiu-jitsu because it was a sport that allowed me to be as lazy as possible and still overcome others who were trying hard to beat me.
This is still true, particularly against less skilled opponents.
In my second book, Jiujitsu 201, I talked about the three phases of every jiujitsu practitioner. If you haven’t read it, these were Survival, Proficiency and Efficiency.
A quick summation:
Survival: Do what you can to survive until you start developing skills.
Proficiency: You’ve developed skills and you’re effective but still raw.
Efficiency: You’re skilled enough that now you can use as little effort possible while still overcoming opponents.
In my eyes, efficiency is the end game for all jiu-jitsu practitioners. It’s the one facet of training that every jiu-jitsu should strive for because at the end of the day, one of jiu-jitsu’s greatest teachings (From Jigoro Kano himself) was the idea that energy should never be wasted.
I’m big on efficiency and I hate waste.
I’m not a fan of wasted movement, wasted energy or wasted effort. My goal when I train is to always figure out how to overcome my training partners with minimal effort. And if I’m unable to do so, I troubleshoot why that is by asking myself “How was I working too hard?”
Now, the subject of efficiency, in itself is its own book. Jigoro Kano wrote it (Mind Over Muscle) and it’s an excellent read.
In today’s post, however, I’m going to talk about what it means to be efficient through the lens of some pretty simple concepts.
But first, I want to clarify that your quest for efficiency will be extremely challenging. The less skilled you are, the more challenging it will be. You’re going to have to take a lot of losses in training in order to develop efficiency (which is why it’s the LAST stage of the journey).
This steep learning curve is precisely why beginners struggle with good, efficient jiu-jitsu, but, if you are up for the challenge, it’ll turbo-charge your learning because you’ll be able to save whatever energy you have for when you actually need it.
First up, let’s define “efficient”:
Google returns the following definition
“[of a system] achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.”
In the “jiujitsu” system, we’re talking explicitly about being able to control or subdue (submit) an opponent with as little wasted effort as possible. The “Gentle Art” was named as such because its goal was to maximize the use of control, leverage, timing and off-balancing in order to produce the most desired effect (choking your opponent out, as example) without breaking a sweat.
This, first and foremost, should be what every jiu-jitsu practitioner strives for.
BUT
There are some things, especially in the beginning, that kill efficiency.
Let’s first look at wasted effort. I alluded to this earlier in this letter by mentioning I hate wasting effort.
In jiu-jitsu, your efforts will go into controlling and submitting your opponent. And in doing so, theoretically, you will have used as little effort possible.
So what wastes this effort?
Today’s post will focus on the ONE thing that absolutely kills energy levels and makes your jiu-jitsu sloppy. That is TENSION.
Next, we’re going to revisit last week’s article on understanding leverage because, the better your ability to use leverage, the less effort you will spend getting to that desired result.
Let’s dive in.
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