Craig Jones: Advice to jiu jitsu beginners

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: • B-Team Jiu Jitsu: Crai...
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GUEST BIO:
Craig Jones, Nicky Rod and Nicky Ryan, together with Ethan Crelinsten are founders of the B-Team, a legendary jiu jitsu team based in Austin, TX.
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[@LexClips]

Full podcast episode: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nn29Z4N3eKh1r5o Lex Fridman podcast channel: kzbin.info Guest bio: Craig Jones, Nicky Rod and Nicky Ryan, together with Ethan Crelinsten are founders of the B-Team, a legendary jiu jitsu team based in Austin, TX.

[@jrmartinez1354]

Here’s something that can change your way of life or thinking. This is the most important thing you will hear/read today. If you’ve told one lie, stolen anything, or lusted (which is adultery of the heart), you’ll be found guilty on Judgment Day and end up in Hell. But there’s good news: Though we broke God’s Law, Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, perfectly kept the Law, fulfilling all righteousness. He paid the fine for sinners ( that we could never pay ) by suffering and dying on the cross-absorbing the wrath of God that we deserve. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Then Jesus rose from the dead and was seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses. Today, repent and trust Jesus; God will grant you forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. God bless God bless ❤❤😊

[@jiu-jitsu]

Thank you!

[@suplexed]

More than anything, this video demonstrates the value of follow up questions. If Lex had just stopped at 'just show up' we would have missed out on the much better and more specific advice that we got

[@Maxcnote]

Craig jones isn’t exactly the best teacher

[@l2kwavyl]

@@Maxcnotehe knows enough to take a beginner and make him world class …. He might not be as intelligently gifted with his words as someone like lex or his previous teacher john. But he’s highly skilled & has the experience which is more valuable the most information you’re going to get from anywhere. He’s not bad by any means, maybe not the best but I’d take him as my teacher any day of the week and twice on Sundays

[@cheeks7050]

He's the 2nd best so still pretty good@@Maxcnote

[@AllGrappler]

“best way to learn is by problem solving” - so true for bjj but also true in all aspects of life

[@jugo1944]

You learn how to learn better as you get older

[@thlee3]

“mexican ground karate” always makes me laugh

[@PauloBerni699]

I always thought Don Frye made it up; but yeah it cracks me up! (I’m Mexican btw)

[@robertsutton3001]

Lol my Brazilian coach would be offended lololol.

[@rafelgraciegraciee6313]

El mencho

[@aplus1080]

Also combining it with karate kid imagery 🤌

[@rafelgraciegraciee6313]

Chapo Guzman would like this

[@beaubellamy2999]

I really like that style of learning and haven’t heard it before. You understand the importance of what you’re doing before you do it.

[@nabilben3959]

Check out Greg souders

[@ProjectWander]

Isn't it just ecological training?

[@minder5066]

That’s the way my gym does it. Barely any drilling but the coach gives us a starting position, each sides win conditions, and then addresses problem people encounter within that position as we further break it down throughout the class

[@usbsol]

What Craig is talking about is ecological dynamics, constraining to afford so the student can self-organize his movements. Look up "standard jiu jitsu" and Rob Gray. Cheers 🤙

[@fran9023]

You just make me enter a rabbit hole of this topic, thank you so much

[@alfiesolomon3531]

That's what the comment section should be for : constructive input. Thanks for the info buddy

[@fran9023]

5 months later I can say this comment change the way I view BJJ forever. I watched every podcast Greg is on. Also the ecological method is growing so much in the community

[@l0pster]

Concepts First, Techniques/moves will follow. thats whats helped me learn the most...understanding the WHY things work helps you achieve the move

[@optimusmaximus9646]

Great discussion. Allowing students to experiment through games is a great way to learn as it teaches them that concepts are more important than techniques. Through a process of trial and error and proper guidance a student will invariably find the right way of doing something. This is far better than just showing a student a particular way of doing something by rote. It will help them to see the connection to the concept and therefore be better able to adapt a technique in any given situation.

[@TheFuriator]

Great teacher!! Missing this approach a lot sadly

[@jiu-jitsu]

Great interview!

[@rns7426]

Those are the best titles for instructional ever, epic! 😂

[@ferrm1992]

Getting used to problem solving by working on sample problems. That’s a great way to put it, and it’s legit advice due to how technical this sport is

[@jasonpeterson9362]

Just the fact that he has a instructional called “get off my legs gringo”…. 😂😂 is just troll on a next level.

[@coryvore]

Literally me when he said “a lot of people don’t know it’s a real product” lol soon as I heard this I went and bought two instructionals

[@flowlikewater01]

This isnt really advice for beginners as beginners are only able to do what is being tought by their instructors. Its more adice for instructors on how to teach beginners and get them to critically analyse problems. I like it as i found that it took me a long time to work out the problems before I even got to apply the techniques.

[@aplus1080]

Having them experience the problem before learning to solve it is suspiciously great teaching. (My guess is it came from danaher.)

[@sekwala4485]

I think Craig did a couple years of undergrad in psychology. Might come from there!

[@aplus1080]

@@sekwala4485 I think you're giving psychology classes too much credit 😂

[@003halmr]

I think Craig is a pretty smart guy, he breaks down matches extremely well and is obviously a great coach.

[@tristanmacgillvray]

@@sekwala4485he finished his degree

[@abrilaranda8535]

They need to work on the graphic design aspect of selling those instructionals😭😭😭

[@mephiles6432]

fr every bjj instructional I see the graphic design is horrible.

[@chychywoohoo]

That's part of the joke

[@tts1551]

It’s like they’re still living in the 90’s

[@johnnyc0811]

@@tts1551that’s the whole point of his marketing gimmick……..

[@HalConick]

BJJ Fanatics is the modern No Limit Records, as far as cover art goes.

[@joshpoi886]

Too bad Craig wouldn’t teach white belts, he understands the real way to learn. Unfortunately most white belt curriculum sucks and you have to largely figure things out on your own

[@mkmkk]

Craig has great insight into the learning process 1:58

[@paperfart3988]

A lot of what you learn as a white belt is how to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations. That's something you honestly do have to figure out on your own. But yeah as for technique and whatnot I'd imagine it's frustrating to show up to class and be learning some weird position that is not very practical for you at that stage.

[@ruutjormun2262]

​​@@paperfart3988 right as my 6th month of beginner training began, instructors bumped it up a gear, probably due to low intake and barely any turnover to higher skill classes. i realised in that class, that in my entire 6 months i had never been uncomfortable. i left that class with facial marks, bruises, and so many sore areas that people thought id gotten into a legit punch-out. bjj is crazy slow for white belts.

[@davidd854]

I'd recommend the Danaher approach for white belts. Start learning from the worst positions to the most offensive (although maybe not much fun). Also, focus on a few of the most solid beginner-friendly techniques and learn them well instead of learning a little bit of 1000 techniques. Also, just watch Danahers instructionals for beginners on youtube :p

[@alessandrocobos7298]

@@davidd854 which are those beginner friendly techniques?

[@GrounddevLF]

i stand straight up with a Greco style even from a wrestling background when playing BJJ a lot of guys myself included want the bottom position so we dont fight for it. in wrestling to defend a takedown you have your hands first then your head then your hips. so they lean and squat to use these barriers in BJJ a lot of us aren't worried about DEEP shots or low shots due to the skill or in most cases we dont care that we are being taken down. i find his games explanations remarkable it eliminates everyone's questions and what-ifs about something you want to teach because you allow them to show themselves what works and what doesn't before you even start! truly brilliant!

[@markdaniels4178]

Learn wrestling and judo by all means, because bjj is awful on any take downs

[@GrounddevLF]

@@markdaniels4178 lol okay bud

[@markdaniels4178]

@Ground Development i did them all meaning wrestling, judo and Bjj and know from experience

[@GrounddevLF]

@@markdaniels4178 so have i notice how i gave details on each....

[@jessegandy7361]

Craig is a very smart guy

[@curtmastor]

I’m impressed. I’m sensing Craig jones took some physical education courses at some point.

[@istvansza]

Waiting for that link of the Craig Jones instructional :))

[@chris98wallace]

The difference in stance is due to the threat of the guillotine. It’s more important to protect your neck than your legs in jiujitsu. The inverse is true for wrestling. The low stance, which protects you in wrestling, hurts you in jiujitsu. It expends energy and opens your neck up to attacks

[@pinksupremacy6076]

You gotta start with principal understanding. What's the purpose of bjj, whats the most preferable positions? What are we striving to accomplish? From there you gotta introduce the most basic techniques like a single leg take down, a mount sweep, amerikana lock, hip escape etc. You gotta learn how to get to a position or how to get away from a position before applying more submissions. Unfortunately there's no real system out there like in judo.

[@LECityLECLEC]

genius idea craig ud be a great game designer :).

[@ForOrAgainstUs]

I might need to pay for a private lesson or two. I'm hopping right in and it's pretty much ranging from simple to advanced moves throughout the week, practice with a partner, here's the counter, practice again with a partner. I'm brand new. I don't even know the words. Now I'm on KZbin to get caught up. Not to say my gym is bad but Lex is great. Peace!

[@widehotep9257]

I think the best thing to teach a white belt on the first day of class is a rear-naked choke with a body triangle locked in. Just let them start with the body triangle in place and their arms and hands in the proper position and show them how to squeeze until the guy taps. They will be THRILLED to see the proof of jiu-jitsu's effectiveness by tapping-out their expert instructor. This will lead them to learning all the other techniques. If you introduce a white belt to BJJ by doing a bunch of intricate and confusing guard passes, then have them get their @sses whooped rolling at the end of class, a lot of newbies will get bored and may lose interest. Always give them a little taste of victory in every class by letting them tap someone out. This keeps them inspired.

[@yurisoares1619]

This is very wrong lol guard passing isnt always intricate and confusing

[@widehotep9257]

@@yurisoares1619 Guard passing is boring as F for a newby. Teach them something exciting the first few days.

[@leevikv]

yeah but that might be bad if some child who just showed up learns a rear naked might be bad because kids are going to try it in school and get a bit of problems

[@widehotep9257]

@@leevikv I taught my child chokes, armbars and keylocks when he was in middle school. It is like teaching a kid to shoot a gun. It comes with a lot of responsibility, and is only to be used defensively.

[@KerryFairbanks]

Bro the second paragraph is my exact experience with class as a newbie and my saving grace was doing a private lesson the first week where I actually learned fundamentals because in my last class it literally was overly complicated guard passing and I was starting to get pretty frustrated during the drills. The only reason I know about shrimping, framing, bridging, cross face is because of my private lesson. Those are the things I actually use when I roll and they have not been taught in any of the regular classes I've been to. I can see people quitting from a lack of true fundamentals. It's weird to see this in the gym. I think it is too under staffed and the instructor can't cater to beginners and the intermediate students all at once. It's a sink or swim type of feeling and if people don't have the time I can see most quitting within 6 months without private lessons

[@Inspiration_Connect]

I wish i had I’d learned I. This way ….instead id aimlessly leaning techniques that can be used as u never remember them .

[@sgrock30]

Who’s the real rocket scientist here? Craig is that dude

[@amaimon9688]

Скидывай репак старичек, или на торрент ссылочку ❤

[@Oakles22]

The Rain Spot - Relaxing Sounds is a new meditation channel for your recovery needs. #whitebelt #blackbelt #martialartsjourney #trainstrongtoremainstrong #kajukenbo #judo #jujitsu

[@joeestrada9505]

I’m in week two and no homo a lot of the uncomfortable moves my feet end up touching their genitals by accident and it’s a horrible feeling. Any advice on how to stop that. I know my feet are supposed to land on hips but it’s weird learning

[@fushion999]

WTF lmao

[@baconsandwich6584]

On first day always bring a pineapple for the professor

[@RichardGarcia93]

Plan b shirt in the thumbnail hahahahah

[@MichaelJames707]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@jamesbarry1673]

Your Chum sounds like a very good teacher clearly he likes a sport and knows it very well and he likes to show other people the sport and the combination of all that is a rare talent in any field? FYI he also will make you laugh just at that moment when you want to start to cry. Too bad you kids are so far away from Brooklyn. Lol

[@markdaniels4178]

I wrestled , did bjj and judo and your best bet is to invest in a good judo school and you dont need nothing more than purple belt in bjj. Trust me! After that learn regular style boxing

[@morganweller1491]

First of all i agree completely Just a question bruh why do you think judo is better than wrestling cause I've been trying to pick one and judo there always using the gi don't know if there's no gi judo and if all the throws and takedowns are easier with it wrestling you don't have all that please tell me what you think

[@markdaniels4178]

@morganweller1491 learn judo and learn with the gi; learn judo because it covers all the wrestling moves and more. Judo is jiu-jitsu and its battle proven and has been proven many times on the battle field. Judo aka judo has a high body count on the battlefield make no mistake about it.

[@markdaniels4178]

@morganweller1491 take note that judo is the core to many martial systems of modern jiu-jitsu and sambo. Judo is what the Japanese police use and many other police and military use worldwide. Don't get caught up in this American Brazilian jiu-jitsu cult, that's a game at best unless your professor teaches standup. Also, it takes longer to learn judo because it's more moves by leaps and bounds.

[@markdaniels4178]

@morganweller1491 also, people fight with shirts and clothes, when you see military and police practice judo they practice with clothes on. 😳 however, it's recommended that you practice non gi one day out of the week. Also, the gi makes you much stronger by leaps and bounds and stay the hell away from MMA and invest in two books : kodokan judo book and mind over muscle

[@zoheir1162]

​@@markdaniels4178 Do you do grips strengthening exercises, and for how long?

[@VegaH_]

I’m only buying 2nd hand dvds

[@shootits48]

Don't worry if you don't look like the BJJ fighters on TV, they're all on gear anyways. 😂

[@MackTrainingAcademy]

The games learning is proven way to accelerate learning.

[@KerryFairbanks]

Private lessons and getting a partner willing to spar from specific positions

[@jameswilsonmusic7749]

Guy is nearly half asleep lol

[@winslowwong9719]

It’s lex’s voice

[@SpencerjonesBoxing]

Every Bjj gym I’ve been they spend the full time explaining drills and then tell you to go do it and then they do some sort of childish chant or clap at the end. Really puts me off I’d rather just get stuck in and make mistakes

[@Realbobbyhardy]

Jits stance is higher bc of gi grips

[@mannymanuel2673]

As I’m driving my 7 year old to wrestling practice and we started at 6 😅

[@ajgrant94]

Nobody ever wants to take this approach, but: Concentrate on learning how to get out of the worst positions while working the basic chokes.

[@AlstarPalmer]

The Upright stance is to avoid guillotines and headlocks

[@chrisbaltazar7164]

Please brother, send Russian link

[@alintheviking5926]

I thought Craig Jones from Slipknot 😢

[@rickyball5165]

Id love to see nicky one day beating Gordon. Just to earn his big bro respect.

[@BIGMIKESKNUTTS]

Too bad Craig had to be talked into talking about the steps that needed to be taken. Thanks Lex

[@qazmko22]

1:59 I am glad that even Craig Jones endorses games, and limited positional sparring in order to teach a white belt to defend themselves. Greg Souders is another Black Belt teacher that endorsed that approach. kzbin.info/www/bejne/imiWZXqPl657a8k

[@davemcalinden1566]

Craig is spot on here, BUT... This isn't really discovery learning or problem based learning that Craig is talking about. I think that can be confusing for would-be instructors when they go to dig deeper on how to apply his approach. Discovery and problem-based learning are really NOT good approaches for novice students. What Craig is actually talking about it using preassessment and speed-to-failure to both foster intrinsic motivation as well as identify the most salient issues in the learner that need to be addressed. He's also oriented toward simplicity and using scaffolding to help build up the learner in layers. So, the instructional model is, basically: 1. Provide a pretest (a problem to contextualize a skill; Craig talks about using situation games, which is great) slightly above the learner's level. 2. Observe where and how they fail and succeed. 3. Provide explicit instruction that aligns with their needs when it comes to the specific technique or concept being taught. 4. Have them consciously apply that learning in another round of the game. 5. Go back to step 2. This is a combination of what Bjork calls providing a Desirable Difficulty, what Bransford calls Anchored Instruction, and what Bruner calls the Spiral Curriculum. In addition it has elements of Merrill's First Principles of Instruction which is completely centered around a task to be completed in context-that is, everything is centered on a task/problem; activate prior knowledge of concept or procedure; demonstrate proper application of concept or procedure; guide students through that application; have students integrate that into real-world use of the task or concept. Craig is correct in his description of good teaching and learning for applied concepts, but I think he confuses the verbiage a bit. Discovery learning and problem based learning doesn't work very well because it is minimally guided. It works great for very advanced students because they have the necessary schemas to build new and effective solutions to more complex problem. However, novices and beginners do not have the requisite knowledge base to figure most things out on their own. They need a coach because they don't know what they don't know. Knowledge compounds so the more you know the more you can know. If a student knows very little, then they can only learn a little bit. What Craig is doing is solid Direct Instruction that is grounded in specific situations and authentic scenarios. Great coach.

[@nickjames7914]

The irony is I would never read a passage that long in KZbin comments to learn what you’re talking about, even if it may be true! Lol

[@bouchechhamdi816]

This guy have Mackashev in his dreams. I guess now you should use that money to repair your broken ego.

[@loodakris5928]

Hahaha

[@nomadnorbert]

Best advice for jiujitsu beginners is Don’t train that and train Muay Thai… you will thank me later. Just kidding jiu jiu guys… train BOTH!

[@knockoutfever4]

Why not?

[@nomadnorbert]

@@knockoutfever4 not sure if you saw the whole comment about but it says “just kidding” i was only playing with the inside joke that Jiujitsu guys have with the Muay Thai guys bullying each other.

[@zoheir1162]

​@@nomadnorbert actually starting with muay thai and judo is the best ever for basics, and from there you can master other martial arts easier and faster than anyone.

[@nomadnorbert]

@@zoheir1162 nice perspective, didn’t think about it that way. Thanks 🙏

[@zoheir1162]

@@nomadnorbert 🙏

[@_rd_kocaman]

Life is a big jiu jitsu game - Arda Kocaman, white belt

[@jordanjmdjmd74]

The best advice would be to grow up wrestling lol

[@zoheir1162]

Just like no gi bjj, wrestling on long term damages the joints, judo is better to start with.

[@dnalor8753]

@@zoheir1162how come no gi damages joints more than gi? thought it was the other way around

[@zoheir1162]

@@dnalor8753 Because when you grab the Gi, it still gives you some space and flexibility, while in the no Gi, you directly grab the muscle and the movements are more rigid, which is more damaging for the joints, specially against people with very strong grip, like former judokas.

[@prestonjarrett]

“False Reap Accusations” Oh, no …

[@LECityLECLEC]

gold😊

[@laurentbajrami3688]

False reap accusations 😂

[@IgorGutman]

fake

[@saltanataskerova8757]

İ THİNK SO FROM THİS TALKİNG İ LEARN THAT PERSON İN HANDS SUPER POVER HAS LİKE CAN UP.VATER CAN FİRES İT İS DO SPORTS HONEY YOU ALL LOST YOU SO İLL TO LOST YOUR KİLOGRAM JUST BODY NO TAKES OİL DO SPORT BUT LİTTLE LİTTLE HONEY OKEY LİTTLE LİTTLE

[@krisf4969]

Deep bro

[@kjnewell7243]

I wonder why Craig always has issues with acne…… 💉💉💉

[@o0zeroh0o]

he openly talks about using roids lol

[@zezeti2246]

I'm 30 and still get the occasional pimple here and there,for me I think it's some sort of allergy to some foods,but I can only imagine that my acne problem would get worse if I were taking steroids like them

[@krisf4969]

​@Ze Zeti Same problem here, try to cut out all seed oils and see if it helps you. I also get acne from doing drugs like opiates or others that affect your hormone balance.

[@winslowwong9719]

Apparently he has the worst diet too.

[@zezeti2246]

@@krisf4969 I seem to not get acne when I don't eat sweets and bread

[@blist14ant]

Roids

[@saltanataskerova8757]

MERCURY LAZER DİAMOND OOOOO FORGET SAYS VİLL BACK

[@6481baker]

I like Craig Jones, but this has to be the worst advice ever. He basically gave us nothing lol

[@Markuzsosa]

These guys are such a scam I’ve gotten so much better jjst harassing myself with sparring everyone and just training and continuing to learn I have no background in anything I actually even dropped out of high school but I know this is my craft and discipline

[@ScuffedLandlord]

These guys would tie you in a pretzel

[@jrmartinez1354]

Here’s something that can change your way of life or thinking. This is the most important thing you will hear/read today. If you’ve told one lie, stolen anything, or lusted (which is adultery of the heart), you’ll be found guilty on Judgment Day and end up in Hell. But there’s good news: Though we broke God’s Law, Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, perfectly kept the Law, fulfilling all righteousness. He paid the fine for sinners ( that we could never pay ) by suffering and dying on the cross-absorbing the wrath of God that we deserve. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Then Jesus rose from the dead and was seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses. Today, repent and trust Jesus; God will grant you forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. God bless God bless ❤❤

[@elpibe1924]

Amen

[@knockoutfever4]

Amen

[@user-gx3wq5kb7j]

Advice to you. Never listen to someone that never won anything big. Always go to gold Medalist for advice not losers

[@Roy__Batty]

This is actually horrible advice. It’s readily evident that many of the best coaches in the world were mediocre in terms of their own ability and achievements. One’s ability to understand and effectively communicate ideas is in no way dependent upon their own achievements.

[@TLbadger11]

Brazilian jujitsu is if wrestling and judo got super drunk and said hey guys, how could we make this easier where anyone and everyone can do it. I introduced to you Joe Rogan‘s Brazilian jujitsu. These dudes care more about what they are going to wear to the tournament, their little rash guards, and let’s be honest they are all extremely heavy steroid users.

[@zoheir1162]

Wrestling and no gi bjj on a long term is not good for the joints, training with the gi is always safer.

[@TLbadger11]

Do you have to be Gay .. feel like that has a lot to do with BJJ. 😂. I love when they just pull guard immediately, go straight to their back and call it. Fighting Brazilian jujitsu is a form. Not everything. Brazilian jujitsu is watered down judo.

[@kevinbergman6830]

I just showed up for 4 years and didn't get a blue belt.

[@bigdog2432]

Must have been shit

[@theknoblin6026]

How is that even possible 😭😭😭😭😭

[@luke-eu9oy]

khabib and Islam have Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts for breakfast . I'd rather learn from team Khabib 💯☝

[@zoheir1162]

They mainly do Pankration and Combat Sambo.