still have a chance to win.

Position- Jiu Jitsu emphasizes the importance of position during the match and the ability to gain and improve upon the superior positions. By superior position in a Jiu Jitsu context, what we’re really saying is a position that emphasizes our safety and sets up the submission. The position emphasis is among the most basic and important concepts in Jiu Jitsu, and really is the differentiation between Jiu Jitsu and other grappling arts.

Submission- Having ensured our own safety through the advancement of superior position, we can now concentrate on getting the submission. By submission, I am talking about the “checkmate”, and technique that will cause your opponents to surrender. This can be as elegant as a joint lock or a strange hold or it might be as brutal as a knock out (although most in Jiu Jitsu would tend to prefer the former in most situations.

Every situation or change that a Jiu Jitsu practitioner would go through, they should find themselves going through this mental check list: “Am I safe?” “Am I in an optimal position?” “Can I finish the fight from here?”


Techniques in Jiu Jitsu

Having established a mindset and context for Jiu Jitsu, we can now look over the techniques involved. Without explaining individual techniques at this time, there are some underlying principles within all of the techniques in Jiu Jitsu you should be aware of:

A. Placing my body in the best position possible.
B. Placing my opponent so his body is in the worst position possible.
C. Taking the path of least resistance.
D. Utilizing as much of my body against the weakest parts of my opponents body.

In other words, every technique utilized within Jiu Jitsu uses one of the above concepts to a certain degree, and if one wishes to improve their technique in Jiu Jitsu, or understand any technique within the context of Jiu Jitsu, those are the principles they must understand. To explain further:

Placing my body in the best position possible: When performing a technique, what is my optimal body position? Am I doing everything in my power and utilizing every part of my body to perform the technique to optimal effect? For example, if you’ve ever been underneath the side control of an exceptionally talented Jiu Jitsu athlete, you will find that they often feel much, much heavier than they actually are. This can be attributed to the fact they are controlling their body weight in such a way that every part of them is contributing to the feeling of weight on top of you. Head forward, chest down, hips low and feet planted and driving forward on you. The particulars don’t matter in this case as much of the fact as your opponent is utilizing all of his body weight and every tool at his disposal to keep you down. When executing a technique, a Jiu Jitsu practitioner must be aware and make the necessary adjustments to perform with 100% efficiency.

Placing my opponent so his body is in the worst position possible: Along with utilizing their body in the most efficient way possible, a Jiu Jitsu practitioner will seek to force their opponent to use their body in the most inefficient manner possible. Going back to the above example of an effective side control, part of the technique also resides in making the opponent on the bottom as uncomfortable as possible. Forcing the head to turn away, tying up the arms, and rendering the legs ineffective is also part of the recipe for a successful side control. Your opponent will try to defend, but you want them to start as far below 100% from using their body as possible.

Taking the path of least resistance: An important concept in Jiu Jitsu is the idea that there are usually many options that present themselves in the course of an encounter. Some of those options will have you working at a higher level of efficiency, and some of those options will have your opponent working at a higher level of efficiency. When faced with those options, the art of Jiu Jitsu is being able to select the option where your efficiency is at its highest and your opponents is at their lowest. For example, in the case of the standard double attack in Jiu Jitsu, a set up is made for either a choke or an armbar. It is very difficult to defend against both attacks, so the game is the defender has to anticipate which maneuver is coming, the choke or the armbar and the attacker has to anticipate this and go for whichever maneuver is not anticipated immediately.

Utilizing as much of my body against the weakest parts of my opponents body: Often times a Jiu Jitsu practitioner will utilize techniques that isolate target areas of their opponents body, most often in the form of a submission. In an example I often use, an armbar is a technique which is actually trying to attack (through hyper extension) the elbow joint, and is effective because it is not just one arm versus one arm, or even two arms versus one arm, rather it is effective because when done properly it is the force of one’s entire body against one’s lone joint. Unless you happen to fighting Superman, your entire body should win the tug of war against one limb.


Jiu Jitsu in the Broader Sense

Thus far we’ve only managed to take a step and take a look at Jiu Jitsu from a very high level so far. And to be fair, this article was a bit of a struggle in some ways, because Jiu Jitsu is not the easiest thing in the world to give a satisfying definition to. Rather is this was an attempt to describe in a useful way the context of what Jiu Jitsu is, and use this as a launching pad to further our discussion in both specifics and applications of Jiu Jitsu. Hopefully this will continue to be covered as the Critical Thinking in Jiu Jitsu Progresses. In the meantime:


Homework Assignment:

What is YOUR definition of Jiu Jitsu? Can you call someone up at random and explain it any better now than you could before. Can you discuss it with your teammates any better? I want you to try to put Jiu Jitsu in your own words, and share those thoughts with other. You might find it easier to discuss in class to start with. If you want to get some feedback from your peers (including myself), feel free to post in the OTM Forums http://www.onthemat.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=21 on the subject.

If you’re feeling very inspired, call up your mother or your significant other and see if you can’t convey some of the context of Jiu Jitsu in a way they can appreciate.