#91: Being a Student of the Game

We live at a time when there’s seemingly endless amount of content and it’s essentially fed to us through an algorithm. Passively learning this way is not conducive to learning. If you want to learn, you need to be an active learner and search for what you need to work on off the mat and then make a goal to work on that in practice.
I am trying to create a library of content for you so that you can study what I teach. More moves isn’t going to make you better. So at some point I won’t continue to show you more moves, but will leave you with a library of information for you to study and become a better wrestler in your grappling journey

[@kaizhu6382]

I've learn a lot from your videos and instructional. The inside thigh position was a game changer for me.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

That was a game changer for me when I learned it too. Never strayed away from it and coaches couldn’t understand what my kids were doing because most are taught to chase the back. So when they moved either way they were screwed. It’s how Khabib used to take people down off the cage. Straight up Greco - Seras Bodylock

[@dannyml2105]

May I ask which video is Joe talking about the inside thigh position? I'm going through Joe's videos but haven't seen it so far. Thanks! And wanted to say thanks so much to Joe for sharing your knowledge with us on KZbin.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

@dannyml2105 you must have not made it past video 5…hint hint…and it continues throughout several onwards It’s much more clear on the instructional, because the instructional is heavy on concepts

[@dannyml2105]

@@josephbreza-grappling9459 I somehow knew you were gonna say that! I jump around and watch relevant topics rather than watching them sequentially. I did recently buy your instructional with Jordan and will watch it soon!

[@torrinmaag5331]

I respect your commitment to not doing this forever, but still I hope you keep it up for a good while

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

I have a lot more to show, that’s for sure

[@MadshGrappling]

I 100% agree on your points in this video. Another important note on fancy vs. fundamental: I've found that If you understand and master the fundamentals, you can learn and teach every fancy move that actually matters, easily.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Yes you absolutely have to have fundamentals first, because everything is built upon the basics. People wondering why their superduck doesn’t work when they don’t even have the level change right to a single or HC. It’s essentially combining those two techniques so if you don’t have a level change you’re far away from pulling that off, lol

[@citystone1324]

Much respect! Thanks for what's you do, coach!

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Thank you brother

[@corrugatedcavalier5266]

Great topic! I'm a teacher by profession as well and even in my area of expertise I try to keep the mindset of a learner, or even at times the mindset of a beginner. I love all of your fundamental stuff and I credit a lot of your videos to giving people some basic skills for the medieval wrestling that we do.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Thanks man! Yeah being a teacher is being a life long learner

[@elmundir]

Hi I have found you thanks to Jordan , I have the opposite journey of you since I begun with bjj and then going towards wresling I think your channel is hidden gem on youtube you deserve a lot more popularity . you begin to study your vidéo and you already made me improve a lot I know a lot of takedown and I can stand my ground against some wresler since I never pull guard after 10 years of bjj I always tried to takedown but I dont know the basic : hands feet positionning grip fighting I begin to learn from the start as a white belt . like you said on the danaher feettoground vidéo review if you want to learn wresling just ask the wresler directly . the only thing missing in your channel is watching you rolls and showing technique live , I am sure you are a great grappler. I wish you were more popular and at the same time watching you roll and wresling with some bjj black belt or lower belt to show you tremendous skill I am sure you know some of them even lower belt with tittle like " this bluebelt want to wresle with a div1 wresler in a bjj match" or " bjj doesnt exist " so yeah quick tips as a youtuber : - sparring video - shiny thumbnails ( you can use canvas no need to install anything it s easy to make attractive thumbnails ) - featuring vidéo like you did with jordan why not doing other vidéo and asking him to help you Still big thanks for your work and sharing the passion of wresling standing and on the ground . wish you all the best !

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Thanks for your reply. I didn’t expect to have over 7,300 subscribers after only 2 years. So the channel is doing better than I ever expected/anticipated. I don’t consider myself a “KZbinr or Influencer.” I am a wrestling coach. I have no interest in shiny thumbnails, clickbait titles, or any of that bullshit. I am teaching people who want to get better. The other thing attracts trolls. When I started BJJ at 39 years old, I tried to get people to wrestle with me at my old gym, but my coach forbid filming of any kind. It’s also difficult to get people to wrestle with you when it’s not your gym and you don’t have a ton of people to ask. My competitive career ended 23 years ago. That’s as long ago as many of my training partner’s age. I don’t need to prove myself when I had a very successful wrestling career and am posting videos of my wrestling footage from that time. I blew out my knee last August and had to get a major knee operation 7 months ago. It was very extensive and has severely compromised my ability to wrestle like I used to. I am nearly 45 years old and don’t have to risk my joints to prove/entertain people on KZbin. I had a great career. Nobody is requiring John Danaher to provide live footage. Dude doesn’t have any because he has played the broken coach card since he was in his early 30s and has no competition footage, because he never competed. Sorry to disappoint but there are plenty of influencers and young guys who are doing that. I am too old and broken to feel the need to prove myself to people I don’t know and who pay me nothing.

[@elmundir]

@@josephbreza-grappling9459 It s fine I didn't know you were so injured but you still share your passion with your videos

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

@elmundir I haven’t done an update in awhile on my surgery. I stopped somewhere around 4 months post surgery. But I figured I would record at least some of it, since it’s a common injury in grappling. Yeah getting uke’s to wrestle on camera isn’t easy. Not everyone wants to be on camera. And if they have no wrestling background then they definitely don’t want to get wrecked for everyone to see. Also turning on a camera makes people go like 100% and more likely for injuries to occur. I don’t know if I can wrestle again to be honest. It’s not looking that way with the recovery to be honest

[@sunshinemedia6235]

Banger of a video

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Thank you

[@elicohen8156]

do you have any advice for not getting injured? I mean this in the nicest and most respectful way possible , but I don't want to end up like you. I saw a comment somewhere here that scared the shit outta me by saying that you aren't sure that you'll ever be able to wrestle again, which is a shame because you look real young...

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

lol!! Bro I NOT young-I am nearly 45 years old and have been training hard since I was 11. There’s no way to completely avoid injuries if you are training hard. In 33 years I have sustained multiple injuries. It’s just part of it. Shit happens. I can probably wrestle against BJJ guys because I frankly don’t have to do much. Things are getting better-I am just not expecting that I can train with world champions anymore man. I am pretty sure that I said I was nearly 45 several times. My competitive wrestling career is long gone. I don’t know about judo yet…I have already been drilling. My point is that I am not dojo storming people to competitive wrestle like fans want to see. They don’t have my best interest in mind. They are just voyeurs who want to be entertained. My job is to coach wrestling to BJJ guys-not to break more shit at my old age for people’s viewing pleasure

[@elicohen8156]

@@josephbreza-grappling9459 holy hell, you’re 45? I thought you were mid 30s or so. Must’ve misheard. Glad to hear things are better better. and yeah, dojo storming is kinda cringey. i much prefer the educational stuff. picked up your instructional with jordan not long ago and plan on going through it with a friend. thanks!

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

@elicohen8156 yeah I look young but my joints don’t feel you, lol! We are gonna add to that instructional this summer and I plan on doing another one with a different focus. Stay tuned brother

[@elicohen8156]

@@josephbreza-grappling9459 oh hell yeah!!

[@r.k.werner2688]

Did you have this mindset from a young age, Joe? I feel like it’s way easier to think this way in your 40’s (where I am as well) for a number of reasons.

[@TheKlane94]

Check out his interviews from when he was on the news as a kid. Joe defs always had the mindset it seems 😂

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Yeah pretty much but I built on it with a lot of training. And I have been humbled a lot by training with the best wrestlers and scientists. I wasn’t always a good student. I was lucky to go to college on a wrestling scholarship and then made a career from it from putting my head down and doing the work.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

I was definitely tough but needed direction. I was a restless mean kid and wrestling humbled me and allowed me to put my energy into something useful. Then in college I found neuroscience and went full force. Starting wrestling at a young age was good for teaching mental training but it’s definitely easy for any of us to slip into being lazy. So I hold myself accountable with weight training and practice so I can keep fighting age

[@tededo]

With youtube, lot of white and blue belt students go on BJJ binge and have that grappling knowledge shoved right down their throats. Ton of techniques collectors like as if it was MLB cards. But once they roll they cant do shit. Worst, they never pay attention to the technique they view, if its a move with 1 million views, chances are lot of us know it, broke it and defend it or smash it, but the noobs wonder why it doesn't work. And, most moves are done by grappling instructors who have drilled em hundred of times, but the lower belts think they'll get it by a dozen reps. Also, those same moves done on a non resisting demo partner, which is like a beautiful telegraphes choreographed move, as opposed to the organic chaotic real move in comp. I am among those who are un-doing the bad techniques that was taught to me. Took me about a decade to undo. This year, finally, I can now connect the hundred dots together and make the right associations when I roll. Twas about time. One of the best way to learn, cause there are so many ways to learn, I do as if I had to teach the game to a noob. Believe me, each class, when paired with a white belt, I'm forced to view the move, and re-teach it cause most white belts forget everything the moment we count 123 boom. Hand clap is like bad voodoo enabling lower belts to vanish that move just being shown its awful. Took me a decade to enjoy BJJ. The recipe for me was to learn is by zooming in on, dive deep into one move at a time, takes longer, but once I get it, drill it, use it, you're rolling with a seasoned grappling student right here. Last, former freestyle and greco guy here: I was authorized by my instructor to use wrestling to implement my BJJ game. Lord O mercy, I can finally pass anyone's guard, ANYONE. Long story short, I view your video with lot of avidity and love how you break down stuffs for us. Makes a world of difference when you give us chunks of moves, and analyse em.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Thanks for your knowledge man. I definitely learned in wrestling to come in and work on one thing. Often weeks and weeks at a time. If they all know what you’re doing and you can still do it, then you’ve mastered it and can move on to something else in the chain. The guys I train with now tell me to use wrestling. They are super well rounded. Judokas, jiujiteiros, wrestlers, sambo masters, and catch wrestlers. They go over things for a long time but that gets you better than learning 10 techniques a week

[@elicohen8156]

@@josephbreza-grappling9459 how do you go about maintaining other skills while working on the same specific skill for weeks at a time? asking because i have trouble with this myself, but am still a firm believer in the idea that you should get a specific skill up to a high level before moving on to other skills, and that the skills you move on to should ideally be related to the one you just mastered.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

@elicohen8156 training doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You have to use multiple skills while focusing on your goals

[@Jiu-Jitsu_for_Jesus]

first view and comment

[@tededo]

But you forgot to hit that like button man.

[@Jiu-Jitsu_for_Jesus]

@@tededo dang your right. My bad

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Lol

[@user-fd3yz1ip3o]

thanks for the insperation sir, yesterday my trainging partner popper my arm twice in an arm bar but i know this is just a learning experience. The injurys I get grow me the most, and too be honest the elbow is nothing compared to the knee injurys i got in the past. Im 23 and everyday fighting.

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

I hear you man. I’ve had numerous terrible injuries throughout the years. I ought to make a post on that. I dislocated both elbows and have ulnar nerve issues that annoys me. Both hands get vibrating sensations when my elbows are bent for even a short amount of time

[@user-fd3yz1ip3o]

@@josephbreza-grappling9459 Damn man thats hardcore