Pro’s Guide to Studying Jiu Jitsu & Who to Study! (FOR FREE)

Summary

The speaker shares his journey and strategy for effectively studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, emphasizing the importance of structured learning over mindless drilling. He advises focusing on positional games and escapes rather than just submissions, and tailoring study to personal strengths and weaknesses. The speaker also recommends analyzing top athletes' matches to understand key sequences and adapting techniques that suit one's body type and game style. He concludes with suggestions for reliable free resources, urging learners to apply what they learn intentionally to improve their skills.

Takeaways

• 🤼‍♂️ Learning Jiu-Jitsu can feel overwhelming due to the vast amount of information available, similar to drinking from a fire hose.
• 📚 To study effectively, focus on a structured method that filters out the noise and helps assimilate information into a coherent system.
• 🆓 Utilize free resources and apply them to your learning method for long-term improvement in the sport.
• 👀 Initially, the speaker learned by watching Kit Dale's instructional videos and analyzing techniques on YouTube, but found it unstructured.
• 📈 The importance of focusing on positional game and escapes rather than just submissions was emphasized, as most time is spent getting to submissions.
• 📝 Private lessons helped the speaker identify gaps in knowledge and focus study on filling those gaps.
• 🚀 Studying what you need, rather than what you like, can lead to significant improvements and increased confidence in your game.
• 🧠 Analyzing your own game and identifying areas of deficiency can guide your study plan and maximize return on investment of study time.
• 🌐 Studying individuals with similar body types may not always be beneficial; consider their psychological factors and game style that align with your own.
• 🎥 Watching matches without commentary allows for unbiased analysis of key sequences and understanding the rationale behind techniques used.
• 🔍 Cross-referencing techniques seen in matches with instructionals and other resources can help reinforce learning and application.
• 🆓 Follow specific Instagram accounts and YouTube channels like Jason raal, Brian Glick, John Carlo, and Brandon Reed for high-quality, free content.

Q & A

What is the main challenge beginners face when learning Jiu-Jitsu according to the speaker?

Beginners often face the challenge of being overwhelmed with too much information at once, similar to 'drinking from a fire hose,' which makes it difficult to retain and effectively use the knowledge.

Why does the speaker discourage beginners from focusing solely on submissions?

Focusing only on submissions can be ineffective because submissions occur in only about 2% of a match, with the remaining 98% being spent on positioning and setting up the submission. Beginners should focus more on positional control and escapes before diving deep into submissions.

What advice did Josh Alsop give to the speaker that helped improve his learning process?

Josh Alsop advised the speaker to write down all the positions he knew and identify gaps in his knowledge. This method allowed the speaker to focus on areas where his understanding was limited, leading to more efficient and targeted learning.

What was the turning point in the speaker's training that helped him develop his guard game?

The turning point came when Luke, from the speaker's gym, advised him to spend six months working exclusively on developing his guard, which became a significant advantage in his training and competition performance.

How did the speaker’s approach to studying change after initially following the methods of athletes with similar body types?

Initially, the speaker followed athletes like Gordon Ryan and Nicky Rodriguez due to their similar body types. However, he later realized that disposition and style also matter, not just physical similarities. This led him to focus on athletes whose styles aligned with his own strategic approach, like Gordon's slow, methodical game over Nicky Rod’s fast-paced, explosive style.

What is the speaker's current methodology for breaking down matches to improve his Jiu-Jitsu?

The speaker watches matches without commentary, breaks down key sequences where the match was won or lost, and analyzes why certain moves were successful. He then cross-references these findings with other matches or instructionals and tests them during training to see if they fit his game.

Why does the speaker believe that application is more important than simply gathering information?

The speaker compares learning Jiu-Jitsu to scientific research, stating that gathering information without applying it is useless. The real value comes from experimenting with the techniques learned and testing their effectiveness in practice.

What advice does the speaker give about selecting specific Jiu-Jitsu matches to study?

The speaker advises that you should study matches and techniques that are relevant to your own game. For example, if you have a movement-based game, you should focus on athletes with a similar style. Watching techniques that don't fit your style or body type may not be as beneficial.

What are some free resources the speaker recommends for learning Jiu-Jitsu techniques?

The speaker recommends several free resources, including Jason Raal’s Instagram for detailed match breakdowns, Brian Glick’s YouTube channel for concise, high-level technique explanations, and John Carlo’s YouTube channel for instructional content. Brandon Reed is also recommended for his wrestling-based Jiu-Jitsu techniques.

Why does the speaker emphasize avoiding 'meme' accounts on social media when learning Jiu-Jitsu?

The speaker advises against following meme or joke accounts because they often provide low-quality, unverified information. Instead, he suggests focusing on reputable sources with proven methodologies, such as the experts he mentioned, to avoid distractions and get better results.

Outlines

00:00

🤼‍♂️ Learning Jiu-Jitsu Effectively

The speaker begins by comparing the overwhelming experience of learning Jiu-Jitsu to drinking from a fire hose, indicating the difficulty in processing the vast amount of information. They suggest that a structured approach is necessary for effective learning. The speaker shares their personal journey, starting with Kit Dale's instructional videos, and emphasizes the importance of not just drilling techniques mindlessly. They discuss the realization that focusing solely on submissions is not effective, as most time is spent getting to those positions. The speaker advises developing a positional game and escaping series to create opportunities for submissions. They also mention the importance of identifying and filling gaps in one's knowledge, and share how they transitioned from watching scattered YouTube videos to a more structured learning approach.

05:01

📈 Prioritizing Weaknesses in Training

The speaker discusses the strategy of focusing on weaknesses to maximize the return on investment in training time. They explain how improving in areas of deficiency can lead to significant gains in overall skill and confidence. The speaker then shares their experience of analyzing their game and identifying areas for improvement, such as guard play and escaping bottom positions. They emphasize the importance of studying what is needed rather than what is enjoyable to achieve exceptional results. The speaker also talks about how they moved from emulating athletes with similar body types to emulating those with similar dispositions and approaches to the sport.

10:02

🎥 Analyzing Matches for Skill Development

The speaker outlines their current study methodology, which involves watching matches without commentary to form unbiased analyses. They discuss breaking down key sequences in matches to understand why certain techniques were successful. The speaker also talks about cross-referencing techniques seen in matches with instructional content and testing theories in training. They stress the importance of applying learned techniques intentionally to improve one's game. The speaker recommends focusing on resources that provide valuable, actionable information rather than entertainment or filler content.

15:04

📚 Valuable Resources for Jiu-Jitsu Study

The speaker concludes by recommending specific resources for studying Jiu-Jitsu, including Instagram profiles and YouTube channels of accomplished practitioners. They highlight the value of learning from those with proven success and a deep understanding of the sport. The speaker advises ignoring social media content that does not contribute to skill development, such as memes and jokes, and instead focusing on the methodology and knowledge shared by experienced practitioners.

Keywords

💡Jiu-Jitsu

Jiu-Jitsu refers to a martial art that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. In the context of the video, Jiu-Jitsu is the central theme, with the speaker discussing how to effectively study and improve in this sport. The script mentions various techniques and strategies specific to Jiu-Jitsu, such as submissions and positional game.

💡Study Methodology

Study Methodology pertains to the systematic approach one takes to learn and understand a subject. The video emphasizes the importance of having a structured study plan when learning Jiu-Jitsu, as opposed to the ineffective 'drinking from a fire hose' approach. The speaker shares his personal study methodology, which includes analyzing matches and techniques to improve in the sport.

💡Submissions

Submissions in Jiu-Jitsu are techniques used to force an opponent to submit, typically by pain or threat of injury. The script mentions that beginners often focus on learning submissions, but the speaker advises a more balanced approach that includes positional play and escapes, as most of the time in a match is spent getting to a submission rather than applying one.

💡Positional Game

A positional game in Jiu-Jitsu refers to strategies and techniques used to achieve and maintain control over an opponent's position on the ground. The video script suggests that developing a strong positional game is crucial, as it often precedes successful submissions and can be a significant advantage in competition.

💡Drilling

Drilling in martial arts is the practice of repeating techniques or combinations to reinforce muscle memory and improve proficiency. The speaker disagrees with mindless drilling, suggesting that it should be done with purpose and as part of a structured study plan.

💡Private Lessons

Private Lessons are one-on-one training sessions with an instructor, which allow for personalized feedback and focused improvement. The script mentions that the speaker began to see progress in his Jiu-Jitsu journey by taking private lessons and being instructed to analyze and fill gaps in his knowledge.

💡Guard Play

Guard Play in Jiu-Jitsu is a set of strategies and techniques used when an opponent is in a dominant position, such as on top. The speaker discusses the importance of developing a strong guard game, as it can provide a significant advantage in competition, especially for heavier athletes.

💡Attributes

In the context of the video, attributes refer to the physical and psychological characteristics that an athlete possesses. The speaker initially studied techniques that matched his natural attributes, such as strength and explosiveness, but later realized the importance of developing a well-rounded game that doesn't rely solely on these attributes.

💡Intentional Practice

Intentional Practice involves focusing on specific aspects of a skill with the goal of improvement. The video emphasizes the importance of applying techniques with intention during training, as opposed to just gathering information. This concept is central to the speaker's study methodology, where he analyzes techniques and then tests them in training.

💡Free Resources

Free Resources are materials or content available at no cost that can be used for learning. The speaker provides a list of free resources, such as Instagram profiles and YouTube channels, that offer valuable content for studying Jiu-Jitsu. These resources are recommended for their quality and the expertise of their creators.

💡Analysis

Analysis in this context refers to the process of examining and breaking down techniques, matches, or strategies to understand their components and effectiveness. The speaker discusses his method of watching matches without commentary to form unbiased analyses, which he then uses to improve his own game.

Highlights

Learning Jiu-Jitsu can be overwhelming due to the vast amount of information, similar to drinking from a fire hose.

Effective studying involves creating a structured system to manage the influx of techniques.

Free resources are available to help learners apply effective studying methods.

The speaker's initial learning approach was through Kit Dale's instructional videos.

It's important to not just drill techniques mindlessly, but to have a purpose.

The majority of time in Jiu-Jitsu is spent getting to submissions, not applying them.

Focusing on submissions early in training might not be the most effective approach.

Developing a positional game and escapes should precede focusing on submissions.

Private lessons with Josh Alsop led to the realization of gaps in the speaker's knowledge.

Writing out all known positions helped identify areas for improvement.

Studying should focus on areas of deficiency rather than just interests for better improvement.

The speaker's game improved significantly by focusing on guard play.

Studying should be systematic and analytical to find the highest return on investment for training time.

The speaker shifted from studying individuals with similar body types to those with similar dispositions.

Studying top-level athletes should be done by analyzing their matches and key sequences.

The importance of applying studied techniques in training cannot be overstated.

Free resources like Instagram profiles of Jason raal, Brian Glick, and John Carlo provide valuable techniques.

Brandon Reed's standup game is recommended for study due to his wrestling background.

It's crucial to focus on proven methodologies and avoid fluff when learning from social media.

Transcripts

so if you're like Jake and I and you

discover the sport of Jiu-Jitsu you've

gotten to about possibly anywhere

between 2 weeks or 3 months in and

you've realized that learning the sport

the way that you're trying to learn it

is the exact way that drinking from a

fire hose is very ineffective there's a

lot of information flying at you at once

and it can be very difficult to be able

to disseminate and then put that into a

system that works for you so what we're

going to do is teach you how to study

the way that is the most effective and

give you some free resources that you

can readily take from apply within this

method and then use longterm to start to

take out the noise of learning the sport

I'll I'll illustrate what I used to do

with a story uh of how I've learned to

study the sport over a long period of

time and then hopefully that gives you

guys an idea of what the methodology

would be and what does work and what

doesn't work and then we'll give you

some helpful tips to be able to use and

then we'll give you some helpful people

to be able to take those tips and

actually apply them so the way that I

first started learning the sport funnily

enough uh was through kit Dale's

Concepts sort of video the first one

that he came out with when I got into

the sport my best mate Zach and I

started training together and he said I

found out about this guy who got his

black belt in four years it's really

cool he doesn't teach the the typical

method of like drilling or speed

drilling or stuff like that I disagree

with kit the fact that you don't have to

drill I agree with you don't have to

drill mindlessly that's a huge

distinction and so started watching

those videos on a little um course

series and then started to peel things

from YouTube but it was all scattered it

it wasn't very structured it didn't have

an end goal it was basically it was a

white belt looking up how to submit

people faster and that doesn't really

work

because in a round or in a competitive

match you're probably going to have 2%

of the time in active submissions and

about 98% of the time getting to those

submissions so if your study path from

the very beginning is just focused on

submissions which it likely will be

because you're a beginner and that's all

you want to do I would advise against

that and I would leave that further down

the path of your studying Endeavors to

start to formulate uh some sort of

positional game some sort of escaping

series and then turning those escapes

into offense so that you may get

yourself to a position to submit

somebody later on because the gross

majority of time you won't be actually

applying submission holds you'll be

getting your way there and the better

you are at getting there obviously the

more time you'll spend there as a result

but it doesn't work vice versa so that's

the first sort of thing that I realized

the second thing that I realized was

when I started doing private lessons

with uh Josh alsop who that's how Jake

and I met uh he was a quite good purple

belt at the time he's now brown belt

under AJ um he's actually won some

recent competitions which is good for

him uh but he instructed me to write out

all the positions that I knew all the

positions that I had submissions for or

plans for or some sort of blue blueprint

some sort of map and then look at all

the gaps in that information and then

try and study around those to fill in my

uh my limitations in knowledge so for me

when I was first beginning obviously

daras Kimora uh KNE cuts um anything

explosive uh anything where I could

overpower my opponent with strength body

locks um anything of that variety was

was quite deep at that time because

that's what I had a natural proclivity

towards following because of my

attributes and just the way that I was

learning the sport but things like uh

any sort of guard play Reverse Dela

Delah hea half guard anything where I

was on the bottom uh anything where I

was put in a compromised position like

bottom side control bottom mount uh I

wasn't very good at back defense I was

good at doing this it wasn't good to do

at anything else so what that allowed me

to do was actually take an analytical

look at my game and think where is the

where is the biggest return on

investment for my study time all up and

then how am I going to attack that

systematically so I stopped watching uh

Lan Gil's nogee chokes Anthology or

whatever it's called high percentage no

chokes that was my first instructional I

stopped watching that because I was good

at those things relatively to where I

was in the sport at the time and then I

started picking up like half guard

instructionals or how to escape bottom

positions and really it was only when I

started training at Sydney West the gym

that we're in currently when Luke said

to me goes if you want to win trials you

got to develop a guard cuz that'll be a

significant advantage over everybody

else in the heavyweight Vision if you're

able to do that you will be much better

off so for the next 6 months you're

going to lay on your back and you're

going to learn how Guard works and that

was great it was really formative for my

first start first part of my career and

it actually has been a significant

advantage in many of my matches and many

of my trading rounds and so the reason I

tell you guys that story is that you

don't just want to go and study what you

would like to uh if you want exceptional

results you can study what you'd like to

if you want okay results depending on

how you apply the information which will

get to a at the later part of the video

but if you study what you need to do

what you have a stark deficiency within

your rate of um your return on

investment will be significantly higher

than the midpoint that you're already

starting at because of your interest you

might go to here but if you're at a

deficiency you'll go from here to where

everything else is in your game that

relatively is a massive gain and what

that'll do for you is actually raise

your confidence it'll raise your uh

perception of your skill uh it'll raise

your willingness to do that again and

again for other portions of your game

and those things are more valuable than

the gaining skill themselves because

it'll teach you how to continually get

better and how to do [ __ ] that you're

bad at which means that over a long

enough period of time if you just keep

going down that direction you will have

a very good very even killed

well-rounded game that you won't have to

continually do that to you'll just be

tinkering and having curiosity and

having Inquisition about different

positions that you might not have seen

or might not have touched or developed

but you won't have any glaring

weaknesses or huge holes in your game

anymore which is a great thing to Aspire

to then what I what I realized that I I

took out a lot of the huge glaring holes

and weaknesses into my game and then I

was kind of lost for a little bit

because I was like well what do I study

there's nothing super obvious for me to

study at the moment and then what I

started to do is the study methodology

that I use now that I teach my students

uh in my course and what I do is I

select well actually what I used to do

before I did this I used to follow the

attributes of a specific individual that

I wanted to follow so uh obviously

Gordon and I have very similar body

shapes uh Nikki rod and I have similar

body shapes it was obvious to me that if

you focused on the best at what they

were doing for their body type you could

process that into what you should be

doing for your body type but I changed

that a little bit because just because

they look the same as you or look

similar to you or have similar limb

length or something like that doesn't

mean they have the same disposition

doesn't mean they have the same

aggressiveness or assertiveness or all

these other host of other psychological

factors and so even though Gordon has a

similar body type to me our dispositions

are more similar than say Nikki rod and

I uh in the way that we present our game

Nicki Rod's very movement based very

speed based very explosive I I take that

back a little bit where I'm a little bit

more tactful um or at least I try to be

and then Gordon is obviously the further

end of the opposite side of that

Spectrum where he's a lot slower moving

he's a lot more tactile um he's a lot

more effective at slowing the game down

where Nikki Rod is most effective when

he's speeding the game up and so you see

the difference between those very

similar body types and you go okay so

maybe it's a little bit more about uh

who do I want to emulate in terms of the

disposition that suits me better and the

way that I like thinking about the sport

the way that I like doing the sport is

much more situated to way the Gordon

does it like the mental sort of chess

match not to say that Niki Rod doesn't

do that but he's

more he's more trying to speed the match

up and use movement based games where

Gordon is trying to use a smothering wet

blanket type of a game um and you can

see that within the matches that they

have each to their own and so I started

to study a little bit more of Gordon

instead of just studying people who look

like me so if you want to study people

specifically at the the top level let's

say you're a 77 kilo athlete but you're

not very athletic studying Cade and Thai

and Andrew [ __ ] and all those guys may

not be the best for your game studying

Nikki Ryan might a lot better or vice

versa if you're athletic and you're long

and you're wiry uh and you like a

movement based game studying niky ride

might not be great for you it be great

for your Technique but it might not suit

your game better than it would Cade Ty

Andrew so that's the way that I started

to implement that now the actual uh

process of how I break that down is I

watch I watch A Match through without

commentary I don't want to listen to the

commentary to be biased towards what

they're seeing I want to try and analyze

it and see what's happening

and I break down what I believe to be

key sequences where the match was either

won or lost or progressed or regressed

based on the the things that are

happening and then I try and analyze why

that happened it's obviously very

difficult to think uh from a third

person perspective as to why that was

happening it's easy with you're in the

match because you could think about what

you were thinking at the time uh of that

intervention of that technique but

trying to think about why would I be

doing that at that current stage if I

was this person that was involved in the

match has been really really helpful for

me in trying to figure out where they're

navigating to and then I will either

continually break that down into smaller

and smaller chunks where I can find a

specific technique that they're doing

that I've never seen before or an

iteration of a technique that I haven't

seen before then I'll try and cross

reference that data with other matches

uh and if there's an instructional

coming out let's say Gordon's very

useful for this he does an armar finish

because he's got an arar instructional

coming out that's great if you want to

follow that methodology fantastic not

everybody does that not everybody has

that available to them and so the

easiest way to do it is just look up

free matches on YouTube find the the

points of the match where you

specifically think that match went this

way or that match went this way try and

break it down and analyze why and then

come up with a theory of to why and then

test that in the training room the most

important part about studying isn't

actually the gathering information it's

the application of the theory that

you've gathered from that information so

it's just like any scientific study if

you're if you're just Gathering ing data

to run no experiments with it it's

useless and so you have to be thinking

to yourself why am I learning this why

am I putting this into practice why am I

watching this am I watching this to be

entertained or am I watching this to

actually gather relevant data so that I

can use this in my own game why would I

be using this again if you're somebody

like me I wouldn't be watching a 77 kilo

match where they're having buggy

strangle exchanges because that's

something I'm never going to attribute

any time to but I would be watching a 77

kilo match for their passing style

because if you Implement some of their

they're probably the best passes maybe

the 66 division definitely not in the

heavyweights um but if you're watching

them for their guard passing yes you

could find useful things that you start

to implement so that's the way I kind of

do it now I break down matches I look at

the key points I I try and analyze them

to where that would fit my game

specifically and then some fun stuff at

the end that I haven't kind of seen I

want to experiment see if it fits me or

it suits me because you never know until

you apply it like I said before the

biggest most important factor of this is

you actually apply it with intention to

start to use use it because otherwise

it's completely useless if that sounds

like a little bit more of uh an advanced

thing you can start to break it down to

technique by technique basis so what we

said in the start of the video um

keeping promises at the end if you want

free resources that are delivering

techniques on a Day-Day basis uh I've

done this video on Instagram before but

Jason raal is one of the better

resources on Instagram we'll put his

profile up so you can find it he does

all things from leg lock passing uh

other bits and pieces but the reason why

he's specifically significant is because

he does the process of what I just

explained to you for you so if there's a

crazy moment in a match that needs to be

broken down he will actually go and do

it and then post it for free on

Instagram which is really cool so it

might not be the one that you're looking

for but you will get an understanding of

how to do that and then you can take

that in method and then cross apply or

try to cross apply it to all the other

moves that you're trying to learn as

well um Brian Glick is probably the

second best resource for Jiu-Jitsu

specific spefic stuff he does uh quite a

bit of ghee stuff as well he does mostly

nogee I believe and then also adds in

some Judo stuff as well um the way that

he teaches is very concise the way that

he teaches is very specific to um high

level techniques that you know will work

he's not going to show you any rubbish

he's not going to show you any filler or

any fluff and I value that very much so

because he's saving you time on the

front end because he's an authority you

can validate his opinion on the front

end you don't have to think oh well is

this just working or are they just

making a meme video uh he's not like

that whatsoever so you can already just

check the box and say sweet I'm getting

good information he does have a

phenomenal YouTube channel as as well I

would definitely recommend subscribing

to him um if we're talking about free

resources on YouTube We're Going John

Carlo John Carlo has one of the best

YouTube channels um two time ADCC

Champion not much more needs to be said

about Jake's best friend from venmo and

Brandon Reed on Instagram actually got

the chance to meet Brandon at ADCC um

I've met all these other guys I met

Jason at ADCC as well haven't met Brian

but when I go to New York I'm going to

go train with him um he does a lot of

great stuff on the standup portion of

the game and he comes from a pretty high

pedigree wrestling background and then

has adapted that over to Jiu-Jitsu as

well so a lot of those guys um that you

see won't have the best standup if

they're if they're producing cont you

can validate just like with the Brian

Glick example you can validate his

expertise because he comes from a pretty

decent wrestling background and so that

you don't have to think oh is this just

just a sloppy Jiu-Jitsu wrestling

technique or is it a legitimate

wrestling technique for him it's the lad

not the former which is really good and

he's a lovely guy so if you go and

support him that's that's [ __ ] great

so there is the way that I kind of

learned how to study the way that I

actually study the sport the way that I

teach my students how to study the sport

and then some free resource that you

guys can start to implement into your

own game to start to watch that are

validated because they're actually good

resources they're not fluffed they're

not F out they don't post memes and

jokes and whatever else um and that

section is really really important

because a lot of [ __ ] on Instagram is

just absolute trash if I could get my

students to learn one thing out of the

entirety of looking at social media for

Jiu-Jitsu it's that if you could just

not pay attention to all the memes and

not pay attention to all the crap

accounts you'd be so much further focus

on the The Proven methodology that

actually works and so Brian Jason

Brandon John Carlo those guys are four

individuals that are have proof have

skin in the game they've been doing it

for ages they're successful in their own

rights so you don't have to watch

anything else from anybody else you can

obviously if you want to but if you want

to get good I would recommend those

individuals not all the jokes and the

memes and whatever else all right cut