The Biggest Mistake in My Jiu Jitsu Career

[@JSMinstantcoaching]

START WITH THE END POINT : 1/ start with submission 2/ positionnai control side / mount / back 3/ open guard control / retention 4/ crab ride / berimbolo 5/ have fun

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks for the breakdown buddy!

[@AitoNitram]

I would argue "having fun" should be number 1 hahaah

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

Your point about the situational grappling is spot on. In wrestling, we always drilled situations and went live from situations. Because if you can’t score (or submit) from when you have positional advantage, you likely can’t when you’re struggling to get to that positional advantage in the first place. So then we also worked from how to get there, etc etc. AND that never stopped. Even at the collegiate level and beyond we worked from situations to explore your possibilities with high level resistance.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Absolutely! I wrestled in High School as well and the majority of our training was specific! Hoping most gyms begin to implement this more!

[@josephbreza-grappling9459]

@@JonThomasBJJ it never stops. I wrestled D1 and some international Freestyle and we always trained from situations. New people underestimate the utility of specific training, but the elite never stops.

[@tomdavis8995]

Great vid. I’m a very average purple belt but only started to feel comfortable using concepts rather than specific techniques and setting up in transition. More on this please 🙏

[@jiujitsustudent604]

Incredible advice! It’s very common for people to ask, “how do I get better at jiujitsu faster?” This is the answer. All of the things you just talked about. Following this method is a sure fire way to fast track your jiujitsu and gain proficiency quickly without becoming frustrated because you don’t know what to practice.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Absolutely people want to get better fast but if you just develop all these core skill sets your game will build it self in a sense. Just focus on learning positions and staying consistent!

[@docrbt]

Great Video Jon. I’m a brown belt and I’m going through my whole curriculum for the last 10 years. It’s amazing how much you forget and it’s amazing how important it is to drill these things over and over again. I happen to be working all of the escapes currently and then going through Submissions. I’ll be doing similar to what you recommend. I agree, I wish I would’ve known this 10 years ago but hey, it’s better late than never 🤔

[@Picasotheninjaturtle]

Always great videos Jon. Love your perspective and knowledge. The fact that this is a free resource is fantastic. Krill up the great work. Hour to see you at another seminar in the future.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks a lot buddy will definitely be doing more videos like this soon!

[@yewknight]

I am just getting started in bjj, I swear my teacher must watch your content because he teaches in a very similar way and it works really well

[@scootertribeg1708]

BJJ is perhaps like an RTS (real time strategy) game. Cool video and thoughts, thanks!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Yeah I actually spent a lot of time playing RTS games growing up!

[@karlitozwei]

Great video! There's so much content out there with regards to techniques, but not a whole lot on these kinds of ideas and thoughts. This is one of the more important videos I've seen from you and would like to see you drill down deeper on your best practices and experiences in gaining competence in specific areas you are working on as examples. Thanks for the video!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks a lot for the thoughtful comment buddy! Happy to hear this type of video is so useful for people I will definitely be doing more soon. And I can definitely discuss the format or how I organize and pick out these kind of specific trainings.

[@karlitozwei]

Thank you! Looking forward to it!

[@holdren1000]

Awesome stuff man!! 4 stripe blue belt here, and the biggest thing for me is always figuring out how to train, what to train, and for how long to train it. I try to learn it all and have difficulty focusing on just one thing. There is just too much cool jiujitsu out there!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Yeah it’s really hard to decide where to invest your time, that’s why I think the biggest thing is picking base positions you know matter and branch out form there. Happy you liked the video buddy

[@fisticuffspodcast6119]

Great points, really noticed that once my triangles got competent at white belt my game started to be reverse engineered to get to them.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Yup you have mental buy in point in a sense where you believe if you can just get to that spot you can win and it makes you fight so much harder for everything else.

[@andrewmc2445]

The singlest hardest thing to learn - a year in - and 290+ hours has been retaining with no points of contact. Getting legs pummeled and squaring hips so feet knees and hips between me and opponent is the single hardest skill people talk about. Triangle or a arm bar, at a macro level there's mechanics; hips up, close legs, control arm, open and adjust, close, reach under leg for triangle. That's heuristics. Retaining guard is almost existential, a level beyond heuristics because you have time to get a choke, armbar or triangle on but you have a fraction of that to retain guard. Great video

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Yeah developing guard retention and basic defensive mechanic probably is the most complicated thing in jiu jitsu. I think the best way to isolate it is to really focus on just defending with no guards just relying on pushing and basic grips but no holding in a particular guard if that makes sense.

[@andrewmc2445]

@@JonThomasBJJ completely, once you (third person) (I) figured out that I've lost contact and they are outside my feet, the ability to keep my feet between them and me, to keep moving so I can square up is by far the hardest skill, framing on shoulders, hips to have space to move in to. My 6 year old can finish a RNC or triangle but retaining.....and the stupid thing is if you don't know anything or you watch it you've no idea how difficult it is

[@retro6652]

Wow. Never saw it from this perspective, but you're absolutely right. I have successfully maneuvered into specific positions only to lose the control or fail to finish the sub. Thanks coach!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Yup and psychologically when you dont trust your finish you wont go after the position as much

[@pandacat1033]

What do you eat? How do you measure your pulse when you roll? What is your daily routine like? It’s really good content

[@finashipley133]

Thank you so much for sharing this! You explain things really well. I especially appreciate how you share best practices but also discuss negative consequences. You go into the WHY of things which helps me connect what you are saying to what I am experiencing on the mat. Thanks again!

[@norcalmack]

Very interesting how different the schools of thought can be on this. The place where I train seems to follow your approach. However, I just saw a video on another school which gamifies positional things for beginners like maintaining open guard without teaching any techniques. I can see the value in both philosophies, but think I should have trained some positional work before diving in and getting a couple rib injuries since I didn’t know how to frame and my body wasn’t conditioned for all the crazy contortions of BJJ.

[@Circa_-ri7nm]

Hey Jon, this was absolutely killer. The ‘No Grip Guard’ is such a fantastic concept that should really be made clear to beginners from the start I feel, as it really helps to conceptualise how all the other guards emerge from essentially just the basic defensive shapes and then ‘become’ a conscious ‘named’ guard after the point of competency with guard retention. I feel like this should also come at the start of instructionals that claim to be ‘plug in to your game and play’ kind of things, because they (naturally) assume somebody has the foundation to be able to simply add in a whole module of mind/body control. Any videos developing this idea of the no grip guard would be great - I’m know you’ve already done loads on guard retention, but specific drills or basics to consider would be interesting to see how you approach (I know Cobrinha, your old master, advocates using tennis balls etc so that it’s impossible to grip - did you ever find that type of thing useful?) Thanks as always for the brilliant way you’re approaching JJ. Josh

[@FourPointsBJJ]

Love the conceptual/chatting videos

[@Paladin1776a]

Another great video clearly explaining focus for training... very few people talk about this, so, your video is much appreciated

[@swtorseneca]

Love these type of lessons!

[@thomase205]

🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌always gold. Thank you for all you give back!

[@TheDOS]

Would love to hear you and Rob Biernacki have a long form conversation. Maybe moderated by Stephan Kesting or Matt Kwan at BJJ mental models

[@75005Paris75005]

Thank you for the excellent video, Jon. As a teacher myself (not of jiu jitsu!), I find so much of the teaching of it unstructured, divorced from situational context and without the underlying core concepts being conveyed clearly. This kind of video really helps address this problem. Quick question for you (and anyone else): what would your response be to those who say the opposite to what you've said here; that is, focusing on defence and escapes first and foremost before considering attack and submissions (e.g. in Ribeiro's Jiu Jitsu University)?

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks a lot buddy happy you appreciate the structure to the teaching. I think working escapes first is totally fine too, those would be considered an end point position in my way of viewing it. Realistically you want to understand the position deeply which means both the offensive and defensive aspect of it. So working mount means both top and bottom portions of it, as does arm bar or triangle, you want to understand the bounds of the position in both aspects. So I don’t disagree with them.

[@rtexmx]

I don’t think they are mutually exclusive. Everyone needs to escape bad positions/situation and still understand or drive toward a submission. You’ll never get to the sub if you’re stuck in a pin. I think Jon and I were typing at the same time, as his reply wasn’t there when I started. But I think we have essentially the same message.

[@frankma9241]

Really insightful points and as always, great contents!

[@alevieirareis]

Excellent advices!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thank you so much!

[@doubletee9000]

This is one of your best videos and you should pin it to the landing page of your channel. Been watching you since the start of my training, but these videos are always awesome reminders on how to think about training. The chess learning analogy is very good

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks a lot buddy means a lot! I’m happy to see how successful and well received these kinds of videos are. Sometimes I don’t know if people just like me talking for 10 min lol. Apparently it is well received so I will be covering a lot more topics soon!

[@MejiaComedy]

Well said appreciate the thought share

[@JonThomasBJJ]

No problem happy you enjoyed it!

[@Moonlight.Melon.Mounter]

I think it’s prudent to focus and learn escapes when you start out

[@re4072]

I would really love to hear you talk on wrestling and the standup game. Your guard play and passing videos are the best I've ever seen, so I am curious what advice you can give on learning wrestling as a bjj player.

[@ColeLe684]

This is really insightful. Thank you!

[@AndersRosendalBJJ]

Just for people wondering: A king and two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king. Anyways thanks for the content Jon 😀 Really important ideas in this video. This approach works for other things in life as well.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Hahah yeah I actually got called out by my friend before posting the video but didn’t have the patience and go in and correct lol. You are correct. It’s possible to check mate with it but not possible to force it.

[@woolengrappler]

I believe Josh Watkins teaches BJJ by starting with the end point in mind. I think that’s especially useful for a beginner to see where they’re going.

[@Eduardo-tq5sk]

Tell them coach ,science method ,Iam here , listening...

[@101pjj]

Love your content Jon. It would be cool to train with you again sometime. I think it’s been 15 years or so.

[@jayjohnson5384]

exactly what I was looking for!!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Happy to hear it helped buddy!

[@usbsol]

Wow, this is golden! If only my instructors would teach like this 🤭

[@Tls-jn6wh]

Amazing! Almost need to draw this out in a flow chart hahaha

[@JohnnyRugged06]

Your videos are awesome and I found this one particularly helpful. Any chance you could do a video where you're doing open guard with no grips, the backbone of the open guard, as you put it in this video? Essentially an open guard, guard retention video?

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Absolutely gonna cover this soon and even release an instructional on it!

[@JohnnyRugged06]

@@JonThomasBJJ That is going to be SO helpful. Where will I be able to buy the instructional? I hope you say BJJ Fanatics but I'll buy it wherever it's available.

[@JohnnyRugged06]

@@JonThomasBJJ I just bought your double sleeve guard instructional from BJJ Fanatics. Can't wait to watch it. My guard is terrible. I am a blue belt that is better on top. I like half guard top, and mount. I really want to develop a good guard, though. I am not going to neglect it, I'm just currently really bad haha.

[@TheDexp]

I've got only one thing to add to this chess analogy - it's impossible to checkmate anybody with a king and two knights. Only if opponent purposely makes worst moves to checkmate himself. If he ever changes his mind - even before his last move, he'll get a draw. But it's possible to checkmate with a king, bishop and knight.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Yeah you are right, I realized that after the video and was going to make a correction but didn’t want to have to go through to re-edit lol.

[@marshlandsjiujitsu3625]

Good advice!🤙

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks buddy!

[@arashooo]

Amazing video!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks a lot Arash!

[@7Phoenix1]

Great vid 👌

[@twinsunsurvivor8564]

Defense, sweep and hold position Thats what ive been working on for the last 3 years , sub will come later , defend first , survive and control the roll

[@squidguard4743]

You must be kidding

[@thelastmancunianvagabond2536]

Have you read "the art of learning" by josh waitzkin? Great book, great chess player and bjj practitioner.

[@badxradxandy]

Keep it fun! YESSSSSS!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Thanks buddy!

[@joshuakeeler82]

Thanks.

[@rollinOnCode]

love that. ❤️

[@Nick-wp8qy]

what’s your chess elo? also loved the analogy

[@ohmynoche]

Any advice for a gym where we spar starting from knees? There isn't the opportunity to drill submissions over and over. As a result I've been working on open guard (I'm a white belt) because I get to practice it each time.

[@kimgaugemusic]

Gordan ryan reckons that the first thing everyone should learn is escapes.

[@ylohnitram]

Would you show me how to checkmate with a king and two knights? :D

[@SethKBaldwin]

Modern chess engines agree that Nf3 is the best first move. They've come a long ways in recent years.

[@davidrodriguez3015]

This is called backward chaining in task analysis in behavior analysis.

[@yuchen571]

My coach told me, submission is meaningless to white belt lmao. So end position for me may just be side control or mount lol

[@JonThomasBJJ]

In a way that is kind of true, if you can’t get to the submission what good does it do for you? This is why specific training is so important. As a beginner your main method of training should not be regular rolling it should be developing core skills in specific training. In chess people do a lot of pray or learning to check mate with different pieces, learning how pieces move, solving puzzles ect. These things facilitate you to become good at a regular game, but you don’t just do regular chess games to learn. So enjoy regular rolling but when you can have time on the side to specific train and develop these core skill sets.

[@Brandon-ob9rg]

Do you ever do no gi?

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Not often but I’m starting to get back into it.

[@Deadward1113]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@jayfallows5749]

Concepts are always better than technique imo

[@Brandon-ob9rg]

Is it cold where u r right now?

[@JonThomasBJJ]

I’m in Norway so it has been a bit colder last few days.

[@tomtrader6559]

I see someone played chess - king and 2 knights is no mate!

[@JonThomasBJJ]

Lol yeah I realized this after it’s not a forced mate. Didn’t want to go back through and re edit

[@rollinOnCode]

biggest mistake - giving up underhooks

[@quantumbassguitarchannel1159]

It all resolves to the root. Tell ponyboy I said hi lol

[@ycyang2698]

Dynamical programming😂😂

[@aaronwolbach9880]

The biggest mistake in a jiu jitsu career is thinking of jiu jitsu as a career. It's not a career. You'll never make enough money with jiu jitsu to support your life. If you're lucky, you'll only make enough to support your jiu jitsu habit.

[@JonThomasBJJ]

I know a lot of people making high 6 figures buddy. I think you would be surprised how well people teaching jiu jitsu are doing. It’s a highly in demand skill and there is many ways to monetize it. The idea that there is no money in jiu jitsu is just ridiculous.

[@aaronwolbach9880]

@@JonThomasBJJ Professors making 6 figures at a BJJ school are very few and far between. But maybe it depends on where you live. Having done this for 18 years, I can tell you - for most of that time, the schools I've trained at have struggled to stay open. And BJJ schools are a dime a dozen. Sure, it's possible to make a career from BJJ. But only for a few people. And honestly, we don't need any more $60 DVD's that teach the same technique with a little subtle difference. We just need to hit the mat and train.

[@michaelotherwise9656]

Lol bro the first 5 minutes were complete nonsense. Clearly don't know anything about chess.