BJJ Mental Models

This week, we're joined again by Brennan Strimple! Brennan and his wife founded Rochester Jiu Jitsu in 2014, and almost all of their kids classes are taught by black belts. In this episode, Brennan explains why kids don't grapple like adults, and what the rest of us can learn from teaching them. Topics include: teaching goals instead of moves, coaching cues kids actually understand, how slowly kids process instruction, treating the...

In this mini-episode, we discuss labeling: the practice of attaching a name, category, or descriptor to something in order to make it easier to identify and understand.

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This week, we're joined by Charles Harriott! Charles has been doing martial arts since he was four years old, and after years of traveling the world teaching seminars for BJJ Globetrotters and BJJ Fanatics, he recently opened his own gym, Lofi Dojo, in Gainesville, Florida. In this episode, Charles walks through the dichotomies of jiu-jitsu, the apparent opposites that often turn out to be sliding scales. Topics include: climbing v...

In this mini-episode, we discuss mnemonics: memory shortcuts that help you remember what you learned in jiu-jitsu class.

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This week, we're joined by returning guest Rosie Miller! Rosie is a black belt out of San Diego who built a following teaching jiu-jitsu beginners the things she wishes she'd known at white belt. In this episode, Rosie explains why survival has to come before escape, and how to spot the tipping point where a bad position turns into real danger. She also gets into why she steers beginners away from closed guard, and how small, const...

In this mini-episode, we discuss mental gatekeeping: the practice of guarding your mind against negative thinking and low-quality information.

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The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! You...

This week, for our 400th episode, we're joined by Rafael Lovato Jr.! Rafael is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion, a former Bellator middleweight MMA champion, and the creator of the Timeless Jiu-Jitsu philosophy. In this episode, Rafael makes the case that consistency beats intensity, and shows how a game built on timeless fundamentals lets you dominate opponents no matter your age. Topics include: consistency over intensity...

In this mini-episode, we discuss incremental learning: the practice of breaking down a new concept to learn it piece by piece.

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The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is ...

This week, we're joined by Giles Garcia! Giles is a black belt competitor and the head coach and owner of Ronin Grappling in Glasgow, Scotland. In this episode, Giles explains how to break through training plateaus: how to spot one, how to name the specific problem hiding underneath it, and how to build a plan to solve it. Topics include: overtraining, the elevator theory, naming your plateau, and treating training partners as coll...

In this mini-episode, we discuss Goodhart's Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to become a good measure.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
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The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
...

This week, we're joined by Mike Mahaffey! Mike is a second-degree black belt under Chris Haueter, best known for his Old Bastard Jiu-Jitsu style: a conservative approach built for older and less athletic grapplers. In this episode, Mike explains how to sweep from the bottom by disrupting your opponent's base instead of relying on speed or strength. Topics include: maintaining your base from the bottom, making them carry your weight...

In this mini-episode, we discuss the availability heuristic: a mental bias toward information that is easy to recall.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
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The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
...

This week, we're joined again by Jake Luigi! Jake is a jiu-jitsu analyst who made his name studying professional match footage, and he runs OutlierDB, an analytics database for grappling. In this episode, Jake lays out a three-part framework for managing risk: name the worst-case scenario, watch for the key indicators that it's coming, and only attack hard once those indicators are in your favor. Topics include: risk-reward analysi...

In this mini-episode, we discuss coiling, or retracting your limbs and neck. It denies access to our body's vulnerable levers and positions us to explosively generate force.

Staying coiled is a smart "default" position if you're not sure what to do. But there are times when you need to uncoil, and that is when:

#1: there's a productive reason to do so, and
#2: you can do so safely and without giving up a lever.

This week, we're joined by Will Weisser! Will is a jiu-jitsu black belt, co-founder of the competition-tracking site JiuJitsu.net, and author of the new book Scientific Jiu-Jitsu: A Unified Theory of Grappling. In this episode, Will lays out that unified theory: the idea that every jiu-jitsu technique exists to raise your own strength or reduce your opponent's. Topics include: relative strength, frames and misdirection, body alignm...

In this mini-episode, we discuss porcupine strategy: the art of making your defense so painful that your aggressors think twice.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
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The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week i...

This week, we're joined by Jesse Walker! Jesse is the head coach and co-founder of Rough Hands BJJ in Louisville, Kentucky, and a frequent BJJ Mental Models collaborator. In this episode, Jesse makes the case for loading a joint with tension before you ever start the breaking mechanics, so the finish takes a fraction of the effort. Topics include: adding traction before the break, the order of operations of a joint lock, backing up...

In this mini-episode, we discuss "mind the gap:" a no-gi gripping concept that prevents your opponent from pulling or circling their hand free.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
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The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Yo...

This week we're joined again by Rob Biernacki! Rob is the head instructor of Island Top Team and the mind behind BJJ Concepts. In this episode, Rob breaks down how he built a working no-gi version of the lasso, a position long considered gi-only. Topics include: minding the gap in no-gi grips, the inverted grip, the omoplata as a control system, wedging, and hybrid lasso guards.

Rob on Instagram:
https://instagram.com/isl...