Training was going great. You finally crushed the plateau in your progress and the three or four techniques that you had been working on were finally coming together. You felt sharp and strong. You were anticipating counters and slipping out of attacks with a whole new level of style and efficiency. And then you got hurt. Jiu-jitsu injuries come in all shapes and varieties, from bumps and bruises to broken bones and torn ligaments. As far as big injuries go, knee, shoulder, and back injuries seem to be the most common. If you suffer a setback to one of those areas, you’re probably in for a good bit of time on the bench, ranging from two months to a year....

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Some of my most treasured life experiences have been a result of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu travel. Having a gi in your bag gives your adventure a certain sort quest-like aesthetic. You’re not just on a vacation. You are on an adventure that has purpose—to train, to learn, to come back with new ideas and insights that you didn’t have before you visited a strange mat in a far off land.That thinking might be a result of a childhood defined by Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy literature, and Karate Kid movies.Regardless, I believe that every jiu-jiteiro owes it to themselves to take a jiu-jitsu road trip, even if it’s just for the weekend. You might discover that it’s something of a new hobby...

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Every gym I’ve ever been to has an enforcer. This isn’t an official title. It’s a role that goes mostly unspoken and when it is talked about, it’s communicated in code between instructor and student—half-statements that seem to echo the doublespeak of 1984.“Look out for the new guy, he’s really tough!” said with a laugh.“Meet so-and-so. They have some previous experience,” said with a little extra direct eye contact.And then, other times, it’s a discreet nod done from across the room.The message: Take this guy through the paces. Show him what jiu-jitsu can do, and if he’s rolling really rough, shut that down with some noticeable authority.The challenge with the enforcer role is that it feels inherently violent. A new...

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A secret part of me gets giddy when a new student joins my class because I get to re-tell one of my favorite jokes. When we are working on a submission or some sort of positional control—usually involving a cross face or a good bit of pressure—I saunter over and explain how exactly the technique works and all of the little ways it painfully exploits the biomechanics of your opponent’s body.So I finish the explanation, and I say, “You know how they call jiu-jitsu the gentle art? Well, it’s only the gentle art for the person that’s winning.”Cue the big laugh, and my students, who have heard it before, politely humor this small bit of joy in my life.Lately though,...

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In the digital age of jiu-jitsu, there is no shortage of training aids. You can supplement your training with private lessons, seminars, YouTube videos, instructional DVDs, books, magazines, podcasts, GIFs, and internet discussions. You can even take the premium route and subscribe to one of the many technique databases headed up by the likes of Marcelo Garcia or Saulo Ribeiro. Even with this myriad of resources at your disposal, you should take time to do your own research. You should analyze competition footage because it will help you to: Inject new ideas and techniques into your regular training routine. Reverse engineer how techniques work through thought and experimentation, which will help you learn new techniques from instructors as well as...

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A few years ago, jiu-jitsu concepts became all the rage, and for good reason. When YouTube jiu-jitsu hit a critical mass, we had no shortage of individual techniques. We could find hours and hours of footage of our favorite competitors and instructors famous and obscure teaching their secrets. With the volume of knowledge going up, students naturally craved a more meaningful way to stitch them together, to zoom out and think about the art at a level higher than individual techniques. So instructors started talking more the concepts and strategies that drive everything from biomechanics to competition strategies. For a while, this elevated jiu-jitsu learning, but now we have a similar challenge with concepts as we have with individual techniques:...

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My fight journalism career began 10 years ago with Lockflow.com. From there, I wrote for Ultimate Grappling (which became Ultimate MMA), Fight! Magazine, Victory Belt Publishing, and The Escapist. At the busiest point in my career, I was writing 10 articles a week and producing a video podcast (The Lockflow Show). These days, my fight writing is limited to jiu-jitsu, and even that writing focuses almost entirely on instruction. Here’s why: the fight world does not support actual journalism. This piece is, of course, a reaction to the UFC banning Ariel Helwani from UFC press credentials for life for being a journalist. A source told Helwani about the Brock Lesnar signing, and Helwani broke the news before the UFC could...

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a strange sport. On the one hand, it’s a highly individual pursuit. We often talk about how comparing your progress to the progress of others is dangerous because so many variables can lead to one student advancing faster than other. So focus on yourself rather than the people around. At the same time, however, we talk about the importance of having a team and community. While debates around gym loyalty wage on, we seem to agree to on some level that belonging to something bigger than ourselves—a school or the jiu-jitsu culture at large—is a good thing.So there’s this odd balance between being highly individual and highly communal.Over the years, after swinging from either extreme—at one time...

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When I work with newer students, I often hear some variation of the question “How do I develop my style?” or “What should I specialize in?” This seems to be a natural progression in jiu-jitsu learning. After a few weeks on the mat, we pick up on the fact that upper belts tend to build their own unique games. We might not understand the mechanics or the strategic importance of one technique or style over another, but we recognize that this black belt always does this submission while this other black belt is always looking for this one type of guard. From there, reaching the conclusion that you should have your own style or your own game is not a...

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I’ve been writing about jiu-jitsu for ten years. Along the way, I’ve had a number of grapplers reach out to me for advice. I’m not sure why (I wouldn’t trust me), but the emails and Facebook messages have been relatively consistent with topics ranging from “How can I be a writer?” to “This really terrible thing happened to me; what should I do now?”One of these conversations sticks in my mind.A young student was reeling from a conversation with his instructor. The student had been training hard, and somehow a conversation with the instructor turned to comparing their respective development paths. The instructor said to the student, “You’ll never be better than me.”That’s the story I got anyway. I wasn’t...

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