To maximize your potential as a jiu-jitsoka, it’s not enough to just head to class every day and go through the motions. You need to approach your training from several angles.

One of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tips that has worked for my students and is a system which I call the A.C.T. Model’. This stands for Attribute Maximization, Conceptual Understanding, Technical Knowledge. This article will provide a general overview of this model.

Attribute Maximization

Attributes include, strength, power, flexibility, pressure sensitivity, balance, coordination and endurance.

Jiu-jitsu is a highly athletic endeavour. It is one of the most physical of all martial arts and sports, and demands a lot from those who practice it. You need to maximize your attributes if you want to maximize your jiu-jitsu.

After Royce Gracie’s early wins in the UFC over much bigger and stronger opponents, there began a popular misconception in the grappling arts that size and strength were not important, and that technique was all that mattered.

A lot of jiu-jitsu guys make statements like “strength is not important, all you need is technique.” This is simply not true. Stronger, fitter individuals have a huge advantage over others. This is why the 250 lbs, rugby-playing white belt is usually much harder to spar with than the 140 lbs, super-skilled purple belt. This is also why the absolute division at the world champs is never won by lightweights.

It is true that the leverage afforded by grappling techniques often allows those with lesser attributes to defeat larger, stronger opponents. However there is no denying that being more powerful, faster or fitter than someone gives you an advantage over him, regardless of his level of technique. It is when you combine great attributes with technical and conceptual knowledge you have the makings of an exceptional grappler.

The good news is that most attributes can be improved through intelligent, specific training. This will be the topic of future posts.

Conceptual Understanding

Conceptual Understanding refers to the awareness of the principles and theories that form the foundation of the art. These include things like leverage, biomechanics and breath control.

There are an infinite number of technical situations in jiu-jitsu, and new ones are being developed all the time. You will never be able to learn every single attack, defense, counter and combination. There will always be holes in your game. Conceptual understanding fills in the gaps in your technical knowledge. It allows you to create your own movements and adapt quickly when you do not have a technical response to a particular circumstance.

For example, let’s say during a sparring session that your opponent has a great guard and you feel him set up a sweep which you are not familiar with. Although you might not know the ideal technical defense to his attack, if your understanding of the concept of “base” is good it will still be difficult for him to complete his move.

See the concepts section of this site for examples of Conceptual Understanding. Also, look for the work of Matt Thornton, an excellent concept-based instructor.

Technical Knowledge

Technical Knowledge is a framework of response patterns to specific situations, usually following the simple formula of If ‘x’, then ‘y’. An example, “If I am in guard and my opponent puts his hand on my chest, then I trap his arm, step on his hip…” etc.

Most BJJ academies focus heavily on this aspect of training. The beauty of a technique is that it usually represents the most efficient way of accomplishing an objective. I say usually, because even great techniques are often replaced by more effective variations.

Long-time black belt and instructor Roy Harris speaks of “Technique Collectors”. This is the guy who watches every single YouTube video of the most advanced, inverted x-guard sweeps and owns every single jiu-jitsu instructional DVD on the planet, but ask him to mount and choke anyone in sparring and he’s completely lost.

Technical knowledge can be broadly categorized into depth and breadth. Technique collectors usually have great breadth of knowledge, or the ‘know a little about a lot’. Good fighters usually have great depth of knowledge, i.e. they specialize in only a few positions or techniques, but they know these really well. The great jiu-jitsu practitioners have both breadth and depth of technical knowledge.

The best ways I have found to improve technique are physical repetition and visualization.

Becoming Complete

To become a complete jiu-jitsoka you need to be strong, have a familiarity of the concepts underpinning the art, and also have great technique. Try to identify any aspects where you are deficient, focus on improving them, and ultimately make them your strengths.

They say that good fighters work on their strengths, but great fighters work on their weaknesses.

Here’s a hypothetical scenario. Imagine you were in a jiu-jitsu competition tomorrow. Let’s say you had an evil twin who knew everything about you and your jiu-jitsu. And let’s say this evil twin was meeting with your opponents tonight in order to tell them how to beat you. What would he tell them?

If you are honest with yourself, this will be a difficult exercise. But it will be very beneficial because it will quickly reveal the areas you need to work most on. No matter how sobering this is take heart. There is no perfect grappler, and we have holes in our games.

You could do the exercise in a general way:

“His balance while standing is not good – take him down.”
“His guard is weak, you can pass it easily.”
“He struggles in the side mount”

Or a specific way:

“Throw him using an osoto-gari/ouchi-gari combination.”
“Pass his guard using the stack pass.”
“Hold him in the side mount and block his hip with your hand”

You needn’t restrict it to technical aspects either. Have the evil twin tell your opponents about any physical and mental anspects of your game that are deficient too. e.g. “His cardio isn’t great, push the pace and he’ll gas after a couple of minutes.”

If you want to take it a step further, next time you are about to spar, tell your opponent how to beat you. For example, if you are vulnerable to armbars from the guard, mention it before you are about to roll. If you do this a few times per week, in a short space of time you will have eliminated that weakness and have improved as a fighter.

Let me know your thoughts.

Using the flow drill has greatly improved my scrambling ability and many other aspects of my BJJ techniques. In this video I give a break down of the flow drill – what it’s used for and how to do it properly.