Let’s Get Back to the Basics

In today's world of social media Rock Stars, everyone wants that instant viral hotness.

The Flying Hurricanrana Triangleplata Armbar. The moves that will get you a million likes and propel you to stardom.

But is it worth it? Unless you're making a living by coming up with fancy moves to post on the internet, it's not worth your time. The hours upon hours that you'll spend trying to master whatever craziness that recently come out, would be better spent learning and refining the basics. Why? Because that's what works.

Of the 56 Submission in the Black Belt Division of the 2017 IBJJF Mundial Championships, 31 of them (that's over 50%) came from either a Choke from the Back, an Armbar, or a Triangle. These are high percentage attacks that work at the highest levels of Jiu Jitsu. From Rooster Weight to Ultra-Heavyweight, White Belt to Black Belt, Male or Female, Youth or Adult, your core basics are what works against everyone.

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Why is this so important? Regardless of the underlying reason that you do Jiu Jitsu, you still want to be good, right? If you train for competition, obviously you need to be good. If you're training for Self Defense, again you need to be good. If you're just training for fun, let's be honest, you still want to be good because getting jacked up every day is not going to be fun. So regardless of why you do Jiu Jitsu, you're still going to want to be good at it.

So why not get good at the Flying Hurricanrana Triangleplata Armbar? Because time is a precious commodity that isn't unlimited. Mastering any technique takes time. Repetition after repetition, experimentation, tweaking, and finally application. In order to make the most efficient use of your time, it should be spent on what's going to give you the biggest return on your investment.

If we took two Blue Belts, and had them run through a single sequence for two months, what would it look like? Let's call them Steve and Bob. They've both been grappling for a couple of years and have a decent grasp of what they're supposed to be doing. Normal, average Blue Belts.

For two months they're both going to work on a single sequence. Steve will work the Flying Hurricanrana Triangleplata Armbar and Bob will work a Double Leg to Mount to Armbar. Working nothing but this sequence for two months, they should both be really good at it. Maybe not perfect, but really good. Which is great right?

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Steve gets a million hits on his Instagram, while no one so much as bats an eye at Bob. But the real question is what's happening on the mats. At first it might look like they've both found success with it. Steve starts to hit his sequence on everyone in the gym. From White to Black Belt, it's the greatest thing ever. Bob now smashes his way through all of the Purple Belts and below, but still struggles with the upper belts. So it might seem like the Flying Hurricanrana Triangleplata Armbar is the future of Jiu Jitsu.

But it's not. A few weeks down the road, things start to fall apart. The Black and Brown Belts were only caught off guard for a second because it's something new. But because it doesn't follow the basic principles of Jiu Jitsu, it's fairly easy for them to shut it down now that they've seen it. To them it's now about as effective as a new White Belt just spazzing out. A few weeks after that the Purple Belts will follow the lead of their seniors, then so will the Blue Belts. And a few months after that Steve can now only use the move against newer White Belts. 6 months into it and Steve now has perfected a move that he can only use against the "New Guy". Congratulations, that's 6 months of your life, gone.

Bob on the other hand is doing amazing 6 months after the fact. Bob has now perfected that sequence and is capable of using it against everyone in the gym. Not only that, he'll be able to use it against everyone he grapples in the future as well. Because the difference is that his sequence isn't just about the specific moves, it's about following the underlying principles of control that all of Jiu Jitsu evolves around. 

So now both Steve and Bob have spent two months drilling a sequence, and another four months applying it during live rolls. Steve has gained nothing but a trick to play on White Belts, while Bob has cemented a sequence of techniques that he will use effectively for the rest of his life. Your time is precious, so every second of it should be spent meaningfully.

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