The Importance of Fundamentals in BJJ
Oct 04, 2023Jiu-Jitsu is a lot like art. Each individual person has their own style and creativity. Not all art is the same style. Your Jiu-Jitsu game can differ depending on your body type, your mentality etc. So in one way Jiu-jitsu is very subjective and can be taught and learned in completely different ways.
For me the thing that remains constant is the foundation and understanding of fundamentals. From a young age my coach stressed this to me. He always told me that you could not go anywhere in your jiujitsu career without a solid understanding of the fundamentals. As a child this didn’t make much sense to me. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t do things the way I felt was better for my “style”, but now as a black belt I completely understand his viewpoint. It’s not that I wouldn’t have my own style for my own body in my own game, it’s that I needed to first learn why I was doing what I was doing. The fundamentals show you inherit truths of grappling and you must be able to use them to then build your own game.
In any style of fighting fundamentals are the most important aspect of your training. Once mastered, you can create your game in accordance with the fundamentals. What we choose to build on top of those fundamentals is what can make us great.
Below I have 2 Videos where I discuss the most fundamental movements and positions in BJJ. I really tried to break these down to show you exactly what I teach to my students. Hope you guys enjoy!
