The only time I ask for comments (last post) I don’t get one. Go figure.
A grounding philosophy is the most important thing in BJJ because it’s the filter through which you make all incoming distinctions.
Believe it or not body mechanics (positioning, posture, moves, techniques) are the least important thing in BJJ.
It’s all about how you apply body mechanics.
This is where a guiding philosophy comes in.
Without some intelligence here all you’re doing is ignoring what is happening in front of you in favor of cramming a bunch of techniques down a person’s throat.
Yeah you might have perfect body mechanics in such a context, but are you actually doing jiu-jitsu?
Still waiting on comments regarding the last post. =)
I think one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes is fitting for this topic:
| “The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” |
The Bat Blog 
January 21, 2011 at 6:40 am |
I was going to post on what BJJ is but I was back digging in my book from Renzo and John Danaher and got overwhelmed with what “BJJ” is in the context of what came before from prior arts and even the different thoughts amongst those guys. Then the question got even more complex because the title says what did the creators intend and then the question is what is BJJ (which could be internal, external, etc.). Then my head exploded.
This post today actually ties back into an older post you had about Michael Franti and the conversation between people when making a melody. When you get a bunch of people together playing music, if its going to sound good the most important thing well beyond technical expertise is the ability to listen. I think that this post is really about listening (or actually perceiving in this more tactile activity).
Its actually got some real parallels with lots of different things. Take the guitar. There are these revved up technical charger guys that can play a thousand notes a minute with a ton of wild effects, but then there are guys like stevie ray vaughn or derick trucks that can just come and kill it with one correctly placed and phrased note. Or in surfing, there are the wunderkids who are throwing down all sorts of crazy futuristic moves on a wave whether it dictates it or not vs. a guy like gerry lopez or maybe Joel Tudor (black belt in bjj and Pan-champ) that rides the wave based on what the wave dictates all with impeccable style. An old overused term but a “soul surfer.”
I think your philosophy is maybe soul-jitsu
January 21, 2011 at 9:10 am |
Huge Stevie Ray Vaughan fan here, and it’s cool you know who Derek Trucks is. That brought a smile to my face. I love the blues.
It’s great you got a brain fry because the whole point here was to simplify things. *ha, ha*
Hopefully I get a reply on the other post and people don’t read this comment reply, because what Carlos and Helio intended was actually incredibly simple:
Their guiding thought behind BJJ was creating a system that would allow a smaller, weaker opponent to survive an alteracation with a bigger, stronger adversary.
As always, what they leave out is just as, if not more important is what is there. The didn’t say ‘win,’ ‘submit,’ or ‘compete,’ but unfortunately those ends are often the only thing offered to a BJJ student at certian schools.
Yes, the are going to personal approaches to BJJ, but without agreement on a grounding philosiphy you don’t have a tangible domain to work from. And to get tangible you have to look at history. I don’t ever want a student to take my word on things.
As far as music I think BJJ is a lot less abstract than BJJ in that Roger Gracie and Marcelo Garcia DO literally kill it with one note (cross choke for Roger and rear naked choke for Marcelo).
And again it looks like one note on the surface, but it’s how they set up that note and everything that happens around it that makes it work. The silences and pauses are integral as the sounds.
I LOVE the idea of creating maximum effect with very little. It’s the highest point in any craft, yet a principle even a beginner can apply in practice by doggedly sticking to the basics.
January 21, 2011 at 10:26 am |
Einstein said,”All explanations should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.”Also, he said,” If it appears very complex, it is probably wrong!”
January 21, 2011 at 12:01 pm |
Exactly, Sydney Banks one of my favorite authors often talks about complexity always having it’s root in simplicity, never vice versa.
Like Einstien’s math & physics there are complex positions in BJJ, but one is never going to understand them at the depth they require until they put some serious time into understanding the simple basics first.
Addition first, then multiplication/division, pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry…and so on…