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True Fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu

True Fundamentals

 

It ain’t what you do, it is the way that you do it.

 

Everybody in Jiu Jitsu agrees we should focus first and foremost on the fundamentals.

If you ask most practicioners what those fundamentals are, they will name you some basic “techniques”; kimura, americana, double leg, armbar, scissor sweep.

This answer will greatly be dependend on the way this person was taught and on his favorite set of techniques.

However, these are not the fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu. And this misunderstanding leads to a lot of injuries, frustration and slow improvement.

True fundamentals of jiu jitsu Wim Deputter BJJ Fundamentals

 

What are the Fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu?

The Fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu are the same Fundamentals as in any sport or human activity:

-Breathing

-structure

-muscle engagement

-integration of structure and engagement = posture

-angle

-weight distribution

-basic human core motions: hollow spine / curved spine, hip hinge / extension, lateroflexion, shoulder / hip rotation

-basic limb motions: flexion, extension, rotation

-basic grips

-integration of limb and core motion

The integration of all these basics form the “illusive” concept that is CONNECTION. At a first level connection with oneself, at a second level connection of oneself with the enivironement and a third level connection with the body, motion and breathing of your opponent.

Once you are understand that, you will realise that “techniques” are merely pathways to get from a certain point to another in the complex landscape that is Jiu Jitsu.

Always try to see “techniques” as examples or situations where you have to apply and learn your fundamentals. Every next step in Jiu Jitsu is determined first and foremost by the motion of your opponent and secondly by the situation.

If there is no time pressure, you can always just focus on the moment, on yourself and react when the opportunity arises because of the action of your opponent. This is Jiu Jitsu in ideal circumstances without time pressure. This is the setting in which “techniques” should be trained.

If the situation becomes stressed (self defense, last seconds of a lost match, submission getting tighter), there is not always time to wait for the ideal. In this setting you cannot wait for opportunities that present themselves. You have to act fast. Your basic fundamental training will kick in.

If you do not train and focus the proper on fundamentals, your “techniques” will be less effective, you will not see why they failed or succeeded, Jiu Jitsu will stay a a maze of infinite complexity and you will never be truly a safe training partner.

Don’t focus on basic techniques. Focus on the true FUNDAMENTALS.

I wish someone would have told me this when I was 6 and started with gymnastics, repeated it to me when I was 9 and started martial arts, mention it again when I was 18 and my mind a bit more mature, kept hammering it in till today and give me a slap every time I drifted from this path and lost focus on what is important.

 

 

 

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Invisibilest Jiu Jitsu

Invisibilest Jiu Jitsu

Rolling with your eyes closed

 

I often get asked why I close my eyes when rolling / competing.

 

Invisible jiu jitsu wim deputter vs wesley modde brazilian jiu jitsu rolling with your eyes closed blind bjj blind jiu jitsu

 

The answer is very simple. There are four reasons:

1). You feel better. Once you are close, it is all about connection, angle, posture, weight distribution, breathing and pacing.

2). Your eyes deceive you. By closing your eyes you become immune to feints.

3). It calms your nervous system and it prevents it from overloading. Every time you react, your nervous system ininvigets more tired and your reaction time diminishes.

4). Last but not least… it prevents accidental eyepokes

Invisible Jiu Jitsu, taken very literally 😄

 

Do you roll or compete with your eyes closed?

 

 

 

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Dealing With Younger Explosive Opponents

“Give the opponent what he wants until he does not want it anymore”

 

Younger explosive players tend to favor an open guard and distance. Distance is crucial if they want to use their physical attributes to the maximum.

Spider guard is very often the initial open guard that gets used as an initial step towards a more favorable attachment.

The most common way to deal with spiderguard, is to to move away, bring the opponent’s feet to the floor, keep them pinned, make an angle and pass.

This is definately a good valid strategy.

However, spider guard is most often preferred by younger and faster players who tend to be more explosive than the older generation of grapplers.

The last thing I want to give a younger explosive opponent, is the space to move as that is when his physical attributes will shine the most.

My strategy is the opposite.

“Give the opponent what he wants, until he does not want it anymore”, is the pathway of minimal effort and maximum efficiency.

Whenever a foot is placed on my body as a frame, I want to give “a reason” to that foot.
I start to add more pressure to that foot.

This achieves a number of things:
1). The opponent will have to carry my weight, thus making him tired
2). Space is denied, the opponent can’t work
3). There are less options, thus less complexity. The game becomes slower and more predictable.

In order for the opponent to be able to work his game, he needs to create space.
He can achieve this by pushing, framing + walking away or bring you out of balance and move away as you recover the center.

When passing, you have to keep your weight forward (for pressure) and centered for balance.
Once the opponent gets tired, he will react by making an angle. The angle makes the frame of his feet and legs weak. Your constant forward pressure against the now weaker frames, allow you to progress your pass to the next line of defense (knees and arms), where you can repeat the same process again until you pass the opponent’s guard.

You can find an example of this process in action on the video below.

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The Art of Teaching BJJ – Finding balance between Order and Chaos

The Art of Teaching BJJ – Finding balance between Order and Chaos by Wim Deputter

The day I started truly learning Jiu Jitsu, was the day I gave my first private…


“If you want to master something, teach it.

The more you teach, the better you learn.

Teaching is a poweful tool to learning – Richard Feynman”


Teaching BJJ Art of Teaching Jiu Jitsu Wim Deputter Balance Order and Chaos creativity

Once gym’s reopen, I’m going to implement this concept more in my own classes.

I was always allergic to overstructured classes.
Too much order destroys creativity. (wim deputter)
You need creativity for progress and to make an activity fun to begin with.

Too much chaos however will also halt progress as it lacks direction.

If you keep walking circles in the forest, you will never reach an edge.
You need to reach an edge to be able to appreciate the forest as a whole.

Understanding the bigger picture gives you more appreciation for the smaller parts of the system.

Beginners need more order, advanced practicioners in any field need more chaos. Classes should always reflect that.

It’s my (untested) believe that this will also follow the pareto principle; more or less, beginners need 80% of your class structured and guided, 20% free exploring and experts vice versa with gradations in between.

Order needs chaos and chaos needs order. (wim deputter)

But, if I had to choose between one of the other, I would always choose chaos.

Out of chaos you still have good things randomly happen and some degree of order emerges naturally.

Structured chaos as an ideal. (wim deputter)

Just a few months ago I did a podcast with Sonny Brown of The Sonny Brown Breakdown
where we talked about the topic of “Order and Chaos“, among other things. Feel free to check this podcast over here: The Mirroring Principle and Controlled Chaos for Learning

Sonny Brown Breakdown - The Mirroring Principle and Controlled Chaos for Learning With Wim Deputter BJJ Podcast

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Counter for the knee cut pass (Wim Deputter / Brazilian Jiu Jitsu)

Enter ‘The Rocking Chair’ – Counter for one of the most common passes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 

 

Are you a half guard player? Does your guard often get passed with the knee cut?
Do this adjustment and turn the situation to your advantage!

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Knee cut slide slice guard pass Wim Deputter knee cut pass half guard mirroring principle

An analysis of one of the most common guard passes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: The Knee Cut Pass

The knee cut, knee slice, knee slide, cut through pass,… however you call it, it’s a guard pass every half guard player will have to learn how to deal with. It’s one of the most common passes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at every level.
The regular way to play deep half guard, is to fight for the underhook and reach for an undergrip on the far leg.

Once the opponent starts to cut his knee through, there is a gap behind his leg. This allows you to let the far leg go and instead weave your bottom arm behind the cutting leg. Congratulations! You just entered “The Rocking chair” 🙂 Not only did you counter the knee cut guard pass, from here you can also transition to a modified Dogfight.

From Dogfight you have a lot of options, which I will explain the next few weeks in my “The Rocking Chair”-series.

Stay tuned! 🙂 

Check out part 1 Wim Deputter‘s next series: Enter “The Rocking Chair” 

 

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There are no “bad positions” in Jiu Jitsu… (Offensive Defense))

 

Wim Deputter doing specific leglock training with Steven Royakkers offensive defense the mirroring principle

Wim Deputter doing specific leglock training with Steven Royakkers

“Have as much fun defending from ‘bad’ positions as you have attacking from ‘good’ positions. Panicking, spazzing and disconnecting are the opposite of what is jiu jitsu.
You are on this mat to learn jiu jitsu.
No matter if you are in a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ position, you can still be doing jiu jitsu.”

Who is "attacking" and who is "defending" in this photo? The '"fireman" position is one of the pillars in "The Mirroring Principle" Click photo for more info.

Who is “attacking” and who is “defending” in this photo? The ‘”fireman” position is one of the pillars in Wim Deputter’s “Mirroring Principle”

That is the first piece of advice I give beginners on my mat these days. And, if I could go back in time, it is the one piece of advice I would give to my white belt self.

Offensive Defense – Defensive Offense

There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ positions in jiu jitsu.
Only positions you know what to do or don’t know what to do.

In some positions you can be less mistakes away from tapping than your opponent.
But if you don’t make mistakes and do the right thing at the right time, you can make every position work.

By truly believing that, you are more inclined to look up “weird” or “losing” positions.
This gives you a better chance to fight from those weird positions than people who hold dogmatic believes.

The photo below was taken at a seminar I taught at Kaiser Sports in Olzstyn, Poland last year. Take a close look at the exact armbar position of Przemysław (partner on bottom).

Wim Deputter teaching armbar defense at Kaiser Sports in Olzstyn, Poland

Wim Deputter teaching armbar defense at Kaiser Sports in Olzstyn, Poland

It’s hard to believe, but from everything that I “discovered” so far the last few years, it’s actually harder to finish the submission here, than it is to escape (given no mistakes are made).

Often when people think about escaping, they think about disconnecting and getting away from the “dangerous” position.
By doing this, you will get at best a reset to a neutral position.

“Offensive defense” means staying connected. Don’t try to get away from, but instead, spend time in the “dangerous” positions.
Figure the positions out and try to solve them, not escape or break them. Make defense seamlessy transition into offense and bypass the neutral reset. Find the logic in every position.

The more disconnected two grapplers are, the more possibilities of movement there are, the more chaos.
Explosive and strong people hold a significant advantage over weaker people in most grappling related circumstances. The more disconnected a position is, the exponentially bigger that advantage is. The more connection, the least possibilities and chaos. More connection means more predictable. The more predictable the situation, the more the methodical technical grappler can shine.

Wim Deputter rolling at the BJJ Globetrotters Zen Camo in Talinn Estonia

If you have a good understanding of back defense, playing “panda” is easier than it looks. Click the photo for The Mirroring Principle “Backdefense and being offensive with someone on your back”.

Offensive Defense
Offense is starting from a ‘good’ position and slowly working your way towards a ‘better’ position. Defense is starting from a ‘bad’ position and slowly working your way towards a ‘better’ position. Both offense and defense are a battle for improvement and they meet in the neutral point were neither holds an advantage.
From this perspective, there is no difference between offense and defense.
You can’t teach offense without being aware of the defense, you can’t teach defense without being aware of the offense. Stay connected and realize they are both one and the same.

Click here to learn more about “The Mirroring Principle” and the concept of “Offensive Defense”.  (FREE)

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Did you know that sweeps don’t work? ;) (unsweepable by Wim Deputter)

Wim Deputter defending a sweep by planting his head, sweeps don't work, unsweepable, sweep defense , the mirroring principle, BJJ Globetrotters Zen Camp 2020, become unsweepable

Wim Deputter defending a sweep attempt with a headstand at the BJJ Globetrotters Zen Camp 2020, foto by Crisitiana Theodoli

Sweeps don’t work!

…or they get easier to defend at least if you have a great headstand 🙂

Check out the video’s in my “Unsweepable” series and learn how defend and counter the most common sweeps!

Become Unsweepable

In this playlist I will go over the mechanics of a proper headstand, how you can use that headstand to become much harder to sweep, a counter to the classic scissor sweep and much more…

Let me know what you think in the comment section. Sharing is caring 😉

The Mirrorring Principle 
Unsweepable by Wim Deputter

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This is how I roll – Jiu Jitsu training philosophy by Wim Deputter

This is how I roll Jiu Jitsu training philosophy by Wim Deputter the mirroring principle

Wim rolling with Liza, photo by Morgane Gielen

This is how I roll – The Mirroring Principle by 

Whenever I roll on training with someone I don’t know…

I like to start standing, let them get their grips and let them choose top or bottom.

Training is not always to see if I can beat someone with my A game.
It’s most often  to check if I can play your game, defend myself and still come out on top.

The harder people go, the calmer I go. When they go hard (and they often do ?) they get tired in the first few minutes. I keep pushing the same pace.
When it’s someone who goes slow as well, we have a nice technical roll. You build respect and trust for later, more higher paced rolls.

If I can allow someone’s A game while rolling calm and still come out on top. I know I can do the same thing playing my A game.

I train seven days a week, never refuse a roll with anyone, never sit a round out and usually take the first roll with new students. This way you meet all kinds of people. Some aggressive, some calm, some heavy and some light.

This is the safest way to train jiu jitsu and be ready for anyone facing you. Probably the only way you can train a lifetime with minimal injuries.

Along the way you might even convince some douches to take the same approach and ultimately make rolling safer for everyone. Creating an environment where you can safely take risks. Taking risks, allowing bad positions, getting out of your comfort zone are the only way to learn.

It sets an example for beginners. If we roll hard, they will copy that. If we roll slow and technical, they will copy that.

Before a hard roll, you have to build trust and respect first.

Competition is for testing yourself against people you haven’t build trust with yet.

The Mirroring Principle training philopophy
Wim Deputter

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The Rules of Pressure

Wim Deputter pressure passing

Wim applying pressure to pass a training partner’s guard , photo by Morgane Gielen

The Rules of Pressure in Jiu Jitsu

Moving the body of your opponent requires energy, especially if it’s a strong person.
Instead of moving your opponent, be tight; get a grip, bring your elbows to your hips and your hips to your elbows, turn in a hip.
Make it hard for your opponent to move because of your pressure. Make your pressure so unbearable he has to move. Make it so tight every move he makes, costs him energy.
When your opponent has moved, the situation has slightly changed, adapt to the new situation by changing your grip(s) and move yourself a bit closer, maybe turn in the other hip. Keep repeating this pattern and thus climb the ladder, inch by inch closer to your goal: submitting your opponent.

Check out Wim Deputter’s Instructional; The Mirroring Principle – The Hidden and Essential Mechanics of Pressure Passing

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