BJJ Tip- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Is Simple If You Keep It Simple

Every student who trains at a Maryland jujitsu school knows who Roger Gracie is. If you are serious about BJJ you have to know who he is. Roger Gracie once said in an interview that jiu-jitsu is simple. Brazilian jiu-jitsu won’t come easy to everybody, but in time their mind and body will understand the movements. Roger Gracie a multiple time Brazilian Jiu-jitsu champion who trains with the best athletes. Roger Gracie is able to physically and mentally dominate his opponents. The reason why jiu-jitsu seems so easy to him is because he has a solid foundation.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools wants their students to understand that in order to make jiu-jitsu simple for themselves they have to have that solid foundation. Mastering the fundamentals will give you a solid foundation to build true skill on. Whenever some people think about the word ‘basic’ they assume it is going to be easy. The fundamentals aren’t difficult to do there is a lot for people to remember though. The few basic positions you should familiarize yourself with are the closed guard, side control, mount, back mount, turtle, and open guard. You should know what to do when you get to a certain position. You have to know what you shouldn’t do from each position.

From the various positions you should know submissions that can be done from there. Some of the basic submission can be done from various positions. For example you can Armbar from Mount, Closed Guard, and Side Mount. The basic submissions that you have to learn are the Cross-Choke, Guillotine, Umaplata, Ezekielle, Kimura, Wrist Lock, Rear Naked Choke, Armbar, Straight Footlock, Triangle, and the Baseball Bat Choke. Once you learn all the basic submissions you can learn all the escapes and defenses to each submission. Your opponent won’t be laying there letting you choke them out they will be attack you also. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is trial-and-error and troubleshooting to find a solution to win. Maryland jujitsu schools also teach their students that if they have a problem getting a submission they have to figure out what is in their way and remove it.

What Roger Gracie said is true, jiu-jitsu is simple. It becomes easier when you have a solid foundation on the basics. The more advanced technical moves become easier to perform with a solid fundamental background.  Instructors of childrens martial arts classes use this philosophy with their students.