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A deep dive into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu where coaches Adam and Tim cut through cliches to uncover practical insights on training, coaching, competing and jiu jitsu culture.
37 Episodes
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The idea of understanding and learning concepts in Jiu Jitsu - like posture, inside position, and head control - has been the gold standard of "good" technique for years. But when it comes to learning individual skills and specific movements, does that kind of big picture focus help or hurt us? Tim and Adam discuss the limitations of concepts during periods of specific focus, their view on the place concepts have within the sport, and what we replace bigger concepts with during specific work.
Tim and Adam discuss a common situation: White belts giving feedback and advice to other white belts. They discuss the role and importance of peer feedback among junior students, and the place it should take up within a class.
Tim and Adam discuss dropping in to new gyms while travelling. While this sounds like one of the easiest decisions to make while travelling, most practitioners have anxiety when it is actually time to go train at a brand new gym. Tim and Adam discuss how to stop worrying about performance, what to do before dropping in, and the mistakes to avoid when in a new gym. If you find this podcast helpful, don't forget to either comment on this episode or connect with us on Instagram at open.matpodcas...
Tim and Adam discuss how they create classes in which they don't demonstrate or drill techniques. They cover how to break technique apart into individual skills, how to create games that directly improve those skills, and how to do this for yourself.
In this episode Tim and Adam address the difficult positions of Front Headlock and Turtle, and how to build a dominant game. They discuss why it's impossible to control right away, how to focus aggression into primary attacks, opening your opponents to further attacks and dilemmas. Finally, they address how to begin building those skills up immediately, whether or not you have a chance to drill them in class.
Tim and Adam discuss the cycle and evolution of Jiu Jitsu's competitive "metagame". They discuss how competitive BJJ has evolved since Tim started in 2009, what is currently happening, and also what they expect the next focus of competitors to be. They discuss whether or not "Old School" Jiu Jitsu to be coming back, and the danger of focusing on a set of techniques in competition too much.
Tim and Adam discuss whether knowing and tracking Jiu Jitsu lineage still means anything in an art that continues to become more of a sport every year. They discuss how it may give meaning to belts that they don't have on their own, why we will probably always track lineage, and their own coaches.
Continuing from episode 29, Tim and Adam tackle questions they have been asked on the mats before. They discuss why they believe it's important to teach heel hooks to beginners, where we can find significance in belts, why Derek Moneyberg IS a legitimate black belt, and why Tim insists that pulling guard is a good thing.
Tim and Adam answer questions they've been asked about coaching or learning styles, and also address some thoughts they've heard more generally. They discuss why specifically they typically do not demonstrate techniques for students start to finish, and why Tim has insisted that self defense isn't important to teach or learn in Jiu Jitsu classes. Finally, Tim explains and defends a comment from an earlier episode claiming that offense and defense are the same in Jiu Jitsu.
Tim and Adam ring the new year in discussing how to approach returning to the mats after the holidays, how to approach setting and attaining goals in Jiu Jitsu and why most people should not set a new goal when they return to the mats.
Tim and Adam take an episode to discuss their Jiu Jitsu journeys throughout the past year - the ups, the downs, the changes and the progress. They discuss what they've focused on and what they've discovered, and also offer practical advice to beginner, intermediate, and advanced Jiu Jitsu athletes on how to reflect on Jiu Jitsu in a way that will help you make quicker and greater progress as you return to the mats.
At some point in the journey of everyone who makes it past white belt, we deal with "losing" to someone we don't think we should lose to. Whether that loss is being tapped, having our guard passed, or anything in between, this fear costs us training opportunities at open mats, other gyms, and sometimes within our own home gyms. Adam and Tim discuss how to overcome these fears, opening the doors to more enjoyable training and more opportunities to get better.
Tim and Adam discuss what is considered by some to be the most devastating position in Jiu Jitsu, but for many practitioners is a challenge both to control and attack. Tim discusses the keys to avoid being thrown or rolled off from top position, and the one objective that will shut down all other attacks. Adam describes how he flipped the switch from consistently losing the mounted position to consistently submitting from there, and the two talk about the role patience plays in success.
In this episode Tim and Adam discuss submissions - and specifically, why Tim believes that submission is the only thing that even matters in Jiu Jitsu. They briefly define Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for any listeners unfamiliar, but focus then on what it means to focus on submission before anything else and how that impacts our training. Finally, they discuss what things like passing the guard, pinning and taking the back mean if submission is the only thing that truly matters If you enjoy this podc...
Pinning is an important part of all grappling sports, but is much less important in Jiu Jitsu compared to other similar sports. Or is it? In this episode Tim and Adam discuss how pinning serves a different purpose, and why it remains an absolutely critical skill in a sport that rewards it so little. They discuss how to define pinning, how to use it strategically, and how to progress pins toward submissions while maintaining control. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to follow us on Inst...
As we get better at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we tend to develop certain areas of our game we're better at than others. But how do we take those skills and turn them into true specialties? In this episode Tim and Adam discuss how to develop specialties in Jiu Jitsu, the two ways they tend to develop, and Tim shares his thoughts on the most critical part of developing specialized skills which we often overlook. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget we have an Instagram! We are always happy to eng...
Back Control is one of the most powerful positions in Jiu Jitsu, but behind closed doors most hobbyists have to admit they struggle to control from the back long enough to submit. In this episode Tim and Adam discuss how to be consistently successful in exposing and attacking the back, and also how to build the skills needed to maintain control for extended periods of time. If you find this podcast helpful, don't forget we have an instagram at open.matpodcast! We frequently engage with listen...
At some point in our Jiu Jitsu career, we run into one or more training partners we're completely helpless against. In this episode, Tim and Adam discuss what to do when the skill gap between you and your partner is too great for rounds to be competitive, and how to still improve in those rounds. They discuss how to approach them differently, why focusing on survival is never the answer, and even what you can gain from these rounds that you can't gain from others. If you like what you hear, d...
Adam and Tim discuss how to use class time leading up to a competition to prepare to win. They discuss how to avoid getting robbed in a tournament, why and how to train differently with a competition coming up, and how to develop the foundations of skill in stand up if you're too afraid to pull guard. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget we have an Instagram page at open.matpodcast! We post clips of upcoming episodes and actively engage with listeners.
In this conversation Adam and Tim dive into the deeply frustrating topic of passing the guard, and why much of the time we spend drilling passes is not useful. Tim lays out his views on how to truly improve at passing, including details on his particular framework on the foot positions of passing. Adam details some of the challenges his students have had in learning, and Tim gives advice to his blue belt self. If you enjoy this podcast, consider following us on Instagram at open.matpodcast! W...
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