First Things First

Today we’re talking about one lesson that has helped me understand every submission in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. If you’re interested in principled learning and want new ways to really understand the art, this one is for you.

There is a persistent debate raging across Brazilian jiu-jitsu forums. Should we train techniques through step-by-step instruction? Or should we just study concepts and self-educate through exploration and tightly constrained games?

Step-by-step instruction is how most classes are taught. You show up, your instructor shows techniques broken into individual steps, and then you try to replicate the steps.

Learning by playing constrained games is basically the opposite. You get paired up with a partner in a specific position, you both are given specific goals, and then you do your best to complete the goals.

One method for learning is highly defined and the other is much more open. They both have their value and I think the debate between the two is as pointless as it is persistent. And if you feel strongly about one or the other, you’re missing the forest for the trees.

The answer to the debate lies somewhere in the middle.

Coaching is about who’s listening, not who’s teaching. The best instructors are adaptable. They cater their lessons and information to the students as needed.

Everyone will benefit from specific sparring and task-based games. That’s how you fill the holes in your technique and learn to flow. But, no, you probably won’t spontaneously stumble on every possible answer to the specific problems you’re working through. You’re more likely to find what works for you and double down on that.

But you can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. This question on how valuable tightly constrained games are is a good mindset shift. We should be testing ideas, challenging norms, and figuring out the best way to achieve specific goals. Sacred cows make the best hamburgers.

Today I want to talk through a specific framework that has helped me learn techniques and understand the martial art at every step of my training.

Three Components To Define Every Submission

I started training MMA with two-weight UFC title contender Gil Castillo. The Cesar Gracie fight team veteran was in his 40’s when I met him. He stood about 5’9 and weighed roughly 185 pounds. Most of his practices consisted of him throwing hungry professional MMA hopefuls on their head.

Castillo had that strength and pressure that came from an entire life of folding unwilling participants in half. That life of grappling experience gave him some highly refined ideas about fighting and how to understand it. When I asked him about a particular escape Castillo responded, “Every submission has a lock, anchor, and an angle. If you change any of them, the submission falls apart.”

That flippant exchange completely reframed my thinking. Without realizing it Castillo taught me to look for techniques’ principles. The why behind their workings. And if you can find them, you will be more creative and can self-educate. Like Musashi said, ‘If you know the way broadly, you will see it in everything.”

Lock

The lock is how your limbs close the submission. The lock is important because the tighter the lock is the more you restrict your opponent’s ability to move and change the components of the submission.

Think of the triangle choke. The lock is created from your outside leg curling over your choking leg’s ankle. If you only lock the submission by crossing your feet, your opponent can easily posture up and escape the triangle choke.

When you’re learning a new submission you can ask yourself how are your limbs closed onto what you're attacking? Can you make multiple wedges that reinforce the initial lock?

Anchor

The anchor is how you are connected to your opponent. The anchor is important because where you put it determines the positioning of your lock, how tight it will be, and if you can hide it or not.

Think of the triangle choke. Your anchor is your first leg that drapes over your opponent’s neck. The higher that knee is behind your opponent’s neck, the tighter the choke will be.

When you’re learning a new submission you should ask yourself how are you connected to the limb you're attacking? Can you do anything to make your anchor heavier? Can you put the anchor anywhere that allows you to hide your lock?

Angle

The angle is where you are in relation to your opponent. The angle is important because it determines how much force you can exert through what you are attacking.

Think of the triangle choke. If you’re straight on with your opponent you squeeze your hips together to get the submission. If you cut an angle off to the side you can use the muscles of your posterior chain to finish the submission. That makes it much tighter.

When you’re learning a new submission you can ask yourself what direction are you attacking from and exerting force through? How can you change your angle so you’re exerting more force through the limb you’re attacking?

Let’s look at a couple examples to tie this all together. Below is the triangle choke we touched on above.

And here you can see the lock, anchor, and angle of the rear naked choke.

Principles > Concepts

Spend any time in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym and you’ll hear instructors boil things down to concepts. They’ll tell you to look past techniques and learn these concepts. I think this can be helpful but often it’s just lazy.

A concept is an idea. It’s a shower thought floating without context. A concept without connection to the rest of the sport is forgotten as soon as it’s said. A concept can be helpful, but it needs to be connected broadly for maximal utility.

The lock, anchor, and angle framework works because it breaks Brazilian jiu-jitsu techniques down to their core. It’s a first principles look at submissions and I think that’s the primary thing missing from Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Principles are rules or codes of conduct. They’re fundamental basic truths that govern an entire body of information.

Objects in motion stay in motion. Control the head, control the body.

Principles are at their best when they are short, sweet, and to the point. They’re the why behind the techniques and they’re at their best when they are wide-ranging. When you understand principles you can accelerate your learning and generate your own solutions in training.

The best part is, principles are simple. You can easily remember them when you’re sparring or competing unlike the long rote instructions you might get in your classes.

All the information is already out there. Instead of devouring more you’re better off revisiting what you know and figuring out why. If you understand why you can learn any how.

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