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(Published June 14, 2023)
I really like Jiu-Jitsu that is simple.
Don’t get me wrong. I love fancy, convoluted setups to complicated techniques just as much as the next mad genius does.
But the older I get, the more I’ve come to appreciate simplicity.
Simple is easy to learn, easy to remember. and less likely to break down under pressure.
It's like the stories of the old AK-47 versus the M16 in Vietnam. No, I wasn’t there… I’m not THAT old!
The M16 apparently had a reputation for jamming a little more than one would like in the muddy, hostile environment of the Vietnam war.
But the AK-47 on the other hand had a reputation for reliability… as well as a distinctive sound when fired according to Sgt Gunny Highway, the bionic Marine played by Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge….ahh, what a great Movie! … but I digress.
Anyway, from some of the stories, you’d think you could drop one in the mud, leave it there for a few days, come back, pick it up and it would fire just fine.
Supposedly the reason for its reliability was that it had fewer moving parts and greater machining tolerances.
Now I don’t know how true all that is (again… wasn’t there… not THAT old). But I like that concept… simple being more reliable.
I feel like it translates very well to Jiu-Jitsu in my experience.
In fact the longer I study Jiu-Jitsu, the more I find myself drawn to techniques, concepts and strategies that are simple and direct.
One of my favorite Bruce Lee quotes is when he said, “Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.”
I love this idea of a progression in the understanding of a given martial art. And I find myself at the point in my Jiu Jitsu career where I really enjoy taking all that complexity of what I've learned over the past two plus decades, and finding ways to simplify it all in my head so that I can transmit that simplicity to my students.
Because again, simple is easier to learn, it’s easier to remember, and it’s less likely to break down under pressure.
And as long as I can continue to find ways to do that for my students more and more, they’re just going to continue to get better, faster, and I LOVE that!
Take care, and I hope to see you on the mats.
- Mike
P.S. If you've never watched the movie Heartbreak Ridge, feel free to go punish yourself for depriving you of such a fantastic movie watching experience. Then go watch it. You'll thank me later.
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