Author: David Lewis
I’ve trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about a decade now and I’ve always admired the beauty of Roger Gracie’s Jiu jitsu. I realize that there are many that came before him that are amazing, but Roger has been and remains to this day my inspiration.
When I moved to Chicago and found Misho and Chicago MMA, my life was forever changed for the better. Rolling with Misho the first time I found myself in an eerily familiar position that I noticed many of Roger’s opponents… Extremely uncomfortable hoping he’d tap me and put me out of my misery. It was not a surprise to learn that Misho’s instructor, Ralph Gracie, also had a strong influence on Roger. Both guys games are dominate, efficient, beautiful.
Although these days I love to learn techniques from Marcelo Garcia, Ryan Gordon and others, Roger is always the one I default to. As I reflect on why I admire Roger’s game so much I can boil it down to two things:
1. It’s simple
2. It’s extremely effective.
I’ve trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about a decade now and I’ve always admired the beauty of Roger Gracie’s Jiu jitsu. I realize that there are many that came before him that are amazing, but Roger has been and remains to this day my inspiration.
When I moved to Chicago and found Misho and Chicago MMA, my life was forever changed for the better. Rolling with Misho the first time I found myself in an eerily familiar position that I noticed many of Roger’s opponents… Extremely uncomfortable hoping he’d tap me and put me out of my misery. It was not a surprise to learn that Misho’s instructor, Ralph Gracie, also had a strong influence on Roger. Both guys games are dominate, efficient, beautiful.
Although these days I love to learn techniques from Marcelo Garcia, Ryan Gordon and others, Roger is always the one I default to. As I reflect on why I admire Roger’s game so much I can boil it down to two things:
1. It’s simple
2. It’s extremely effective.
Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” ‘Simple’, however, does not mean that it’s lacking in complexity. To the contrary, Roger Gracie’s Jiu jitsu has many layers of complexity. The beauty is that he can break down the complex into the simple components.
These days, many of us cannot wait to play with the new fancy toy. Everyone is trying the new “you name it” guard. White belts want to “Enter the System (Leglock)”, do flying armbars etc. Few can perform a decent shrimp. Few can escape side control. No one does a cross choke. Why??? What I love about Roger is that no matter who his opponent is or what he/she throws at him, Roger’s technique will always work.
Here’s why Roger’s game is so effective and why’s he is the best:
Roger has a profound understanding of the basics.
Roger has profound FAITH in the basics – too many people give up on a technique because they’re not successful in using it during training at times. Roger never feels this way. Because he has 100% faith that he learned from the best (his father and cousins), he never deviates and decides to change his technique / improvise, simply because it’s not working. He adjusts his application, his timing, his distance, but stays true to the basic technique.
Roger has deep understanding that techniques are secondary to principles.
Roger has those principles, in particular:
Weight distribution
Having a physical connection in the right, weight-bearing spots that allows him to “FEEL” when the opponent’s base is off. He doesn’t need to see it. This makes him imperceptibly faster in pattern recognition than others.
Center
Like having a good boxing stance or a good stance when catching a pass in basketball, he’s almost ALWAYS balanced and ready to move in the right direction, in an instant.
He never has to compensate / readjust for a bad movement, so when the opportunity is there, he can immediately capitalize. Many others can see the same opportunities, but their bodies are in slightly off-balance, or incorrect positions, so they first must (a) readjust; (b) attack. For this reason, they’re sometimes a little slow in getting the technique to work. Roger’s timing is frequently perfect, since he’s always ready.
Combine all of these with his heart, and you have an incredible JJ practitioner. The key for us to emulate that game is to make sure we are incredibly good at the basics – the moves that work on everyone, no matter the situation. Then focus on always being in the right place at the right time. Then focus on practicing our execution so it’s technical perfect (never miss something when there’s an opportunity for it). If we can do this, then our Jiu jitsu is SHARP. That’s the goal. SHARP execution – not aggressive, not passive – just always perfect, always ready.
Need more convincing? Watch this!