Fundamentals First. Basics Second. Everything else third.

No, You don't need to know every move in Jiu Jitsu

Its 2017 and with the click of a mouse, you can access You Tube and have millions of Jiu Jitsu videos at your finger tips. All you need to do is  enter your question in the search bar and you'll get a solution. Simple Right? Maybe not-in fact, maybe its information overload.

Every year I see new moves coming from Jiu Jitsu. Or I see old moves making a resurgence and taking our community by storm. People frantically want to learn counters to these moves as soon as they go viral and everyone is talking about them on facebook or reddit.

"You see that move so-and-so did? It was sick. Gotta learn how to defend against that now!"

Well, here is a thought-instead of learning every move out there, how about getting comfortable in your game and the basics. If you are an older guy like me, your passion for learning hasn't stopped but you realize that there is a finite amount of time available to learn 'everything'. So, we focus on developing a game-our game.

Let me explain: Let's say you are a basic guard player and passer. Let's say your x guard game is poor or doesn't exist. You never had the opportunity to learn it or it didn't fit your style for some reason. You are battling against an opponent that knows the x guard and he has you in it. Time slows down and look down to see your legs entangled by his and your sleeve and ankle grabbed.

A quick index through YOUR knowledge base reveals you don't know any specific escapes from this position. What you do know is the concept of base, movement and and leverage. These are the fundamentals in Jiu Jitsu that all must master. You can feel and see that your opponent is trying to upset your balance and kinetically you can feel the legs extending and your base being compromised. You aren't even sure what the follow up will be if you are swept but you know, like chess, a counter move must be devised. You actually can defend well if you know how the body works.

At higher levels its about the CONCEPTS of Jiu Jitsu and not the MOVES in Jiu Jitsu that are important.

When I find myself in a position or submission  that I am either 1)uncomfortable with or 2) unfamiliar with, I always work my way back to position that I do know. Do I have to know all the escapes from x guard for example? No. While it is advantageous to have a solution for every move in Jiu Jitsu, the reality is, you simply will not. That is why you eventually make your way back to a position you do know and then move forward from there.

It doesn't mean that you can't learn a counter to the x guard. It just means that you WILL get caught in something you've never seen before. You can't panic by thinking "I have no answer to this." Your mindset must be "how do I get to a position I do know and impose my game on my opponent?"

Our greatest teacher is when we lose-lose by getting swept or being submitted in practice or competition. We can add counters after we've been exposed to things but we aren't doomed to lose every time we do. Sun Tzu in the art of war states that you must make your enemy fight on your terms-not theirs. So, if you find yourself in deep waters, move back to the shallow end where you are comfortable and then swim out in your own lane.