Hacking Jiu-Jitsu.
I started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) late last year. For the past couple of years, I practiced Muay Thai, also known as Thai Kickboxing. Muay Thai is arguably the most efficient form of striking. It uses fists, elbows, knees and shins, and is by far the most aggressive striking technique. I love Muay Thai, but now that I’m based in Miami, it was hard to find a legit Muay Thai gym with the level of skill I was used to up in New York.
Miami is a BJJ town. There’s a big Brazilian community down here. My close friend and former colleague, Jeremy Stovall, is a purple belt up at Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan. He recommended I compensate for my lack of Muay Thai with BJJ, and recommended Rilion Gracie Academy in Miami. Rilion is Renzo’s uncle. He’s considered to be the best guard player in the Gracie family and has never been submitted. The Gracie family developed BJJ. Rilion’s flagship academy is in Miami, so I visited the academy, met with him, and we hit it off.
BJJ is a form of grappling. Simply put, grappling is ground fighting. Different to striking, where you’re trying to hit (strike) your opponent, grappling focuses on submitting your opponent. It’s way more complex, partly because it’s more strategic and relies more heavily on technique. Most people know, or can easily assume, how to throw a punch, but a proper chokehold requires a certain level of expertise; especially when you’re up against someone who knows what they’re doing.
I am all for working smart. I am also for working hard, when needed, but I hate working hard just for the sake of it. With this said, I am also all about hacking learning and gaining new skills as quickly and efficiently as possible. I have approached BJJ with this mindset, asking expert fighters on recommendations to improve my learning, and any tricks they’ve used to speed up their learning. I’ve also done a fair amount of research. The best pieces of advice I’ve received so far have been fairly simple and effective:
- Focus on improving no more than 3–5 things at a time
- Have 3 key training partners: a mentor that guides you, a peer that you can practice with and use as a benchmark, and a mentee to guide and help improve. All 3 will be fundamental in your development as a BJJ fighter.
