A First Principles Approach to BJJ
Principles are fundamental truths that guide decisions and actions. A first principles approach gives you a north star to cut through noise, identify what matters most, and make your skills work for you rather than feeling perpetually insufficient. Without principles, the temptation emerges to accumulate more BJJ knowledge because you can’t qualitatively apply what you’ve learned. You feel lost.
The dilemma in BJJ: we’re given instructions for specific outcomes but constantly fail to achieve them because our approaches are limited. We have a bag of tricks without knowing how or when to use them. Students become frustrated they didn’t “do the technique right” or “forgot something.” Every high-level performer will tell you performance isn’t about everything working exactly as planned—it’s about capitalizing on the moment you create. Can you control the direction of the match?
If BJJ manifests problem-solving, our purpose is to solve (submit) the problem (our opponent). Most problems can’t be solved—they can be managed. BJJ offers management tools through techniques that ladder toward submission. Your expression should always orient toward the finish or dominating positional flow.
Fundamental principles help you organize your movements:
- Position before submission
- Control the hips
- Control the inside
- Posture and alignment beat strength
- Base before pressure
- Angles beat force
- Off-balance before action
- Eliminate posts for efficient movement
- Dynamic over static energy
- Timing and sensitivity over intensity and rigidity
For some reason, BJJ has worked backwards. We teach movements without students developing a sense of the greater system. We teach variable outcomes without fostering clarity about the end game. We overfocus on “how” without establishing “why.” This may be a flaw of teachers unquestionably adopting their teachers’ methods, but we need to pause, ask questions, sit with problems, and meaningfully address them—not scroll to another option. More doesn’t equal better.
To become better practitioners, don’t rush through what’s available. Understand the rules of the game better. This will make you 10x more effective than downloading another 100 instructionals. Nothing in BJJ or life has to be complicated—we just have to know what’s most important. Prioritizing first principles and quality will make you a much more effective grappler.