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This episode of BJJ Mental Models discusses the nuanced role of tension in jiu-jitsu, moving beyond the common beginner advice to "stay loose." While initial rigidity is a frequent mistake for new practitioners due to acute stress, effective jiu-jitsu requires strategic application of tension. The hosts introduce two primary types: constant tension and variable tension, explaining when and how each should be utilized to enhance techniques and finish fights.
Constant tension involves a sustained squeeze, akin to a boa constrictor, and is primarily used for finishing submissions or pinning an opponent in a compromised position. Its benefit lies in slowly wearing down an opponent, but it also consumes significant energy and can make one's movements predictable and body rigid, making it easier for an opponent to manipulate. Therefore, constant tension is most effective when an opponent lacks base and cannot easily escape, ensuring that the practitioner tires their opponent faster than themselves.
In contrast, variable tension involves alternating between looseness and explosive bursts of tightness, similar to cracking a whip. This approach is beneficial for generating sudden force, as seen in many judo throws, and makes a practitioner harder to predict and manipulate. By remaining loose by default, one conserves energy and keeps opponents guessing, only tensing up for the precise moment of action. This prevents telegraphing moves and reduces muscle fatigue compared to constant tension.
Ultimately, neither constant nor variable tension is inherently superior; both are essential tools to be applied situationally. Experienced practitioners learn to discern when to employ each type of tension, understanding that while looseness is a good default, there are critical moments for tensing up. The ability to fluidly switch between these states is a key indicator of developing skill, particularly for those beyond the beginner stages.
Transcript
Show transcript
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Hey everybody, welcome to BJJ Mental Models. I am Steve Kwan and BJJ Mental Models is your guide to a conceptual and intelligent jiu-jitsu approach. And this mini episode is about tension. Now, we have talked in the past about the importance of staying loose in jiu-jitsu. And it's important to stay loose, but there comes a time and a place when you have to tense up. And in this episode, I want to talk about how tension is used to make your techniques more effective and ultimately to finish a fight. So, we always tell beginners to stay loose because it's such a common beginner mistake to be too tense. When that acute stress response kicks in, beginners especially tense up because they're not experienced. And when you're scared, you're going to get rigid. So, we tell beginners to loosen up because we know they're going to be too tense when they get started. But, you can't just be loose forever. If you're just loose all the time, you're a wet noodle. You can't fight like that. Looseness is good as a default setting. If you don't know what else to do, being loose is a good idea. But when you want to generate force, that's when you have to tense up. And there's two ways that you can do that. There's constant tension and there's variable tension. And we're going to talk about the difference between them. Constant tension is that slow squeeze that we think about when we think of a boa constrictor or locking in a submission for an extended period of time. Constant tension is great because it it's constant. And if you hold someone in a constant hold with tension, it's going to wear them down. The downside though is that it will also wear you down. It takes a lot of energy to be constantly tense. And again, that's why we tell beginners to loosen up because if you're tense all the time, you're going to fatigue your own muscles. That said though, there is a time and a place when constant tension is helpful. The most obvious is when you're trying to finish a submission. We don't want to finish submissions with explosiveness. We want to finish them with control. When you know you've got that submission, that's the time to apply constant tension, that slow, prolonged squeeze to get the tap. You don't have to be squeezing as hard as you possibly can, you just need a consistent amount of force over time. Think of the anaconda or the boa constrictor wrapping around someone, that visual that comes up so much when we talk about what good jiu-jitsu looks like, that's what constant tension is used for. Constant tension is especially good when your opponent doesn't have any base and they don't have a good way to attack your base. What this means in practice is that you've got them pinned on the ground in a position where they can't easily move. This is a place where you can safely apply constant tension because that will just improve your ability to keep your opponent in that place and it will fatigue them. That said, you have to always remember that constant tension is a battle of your fatigue level versus your opponent's. So, if you're going to apply constant tension, you want to be doing so in such a way that you are tiring your opponent faster than you're tiring yourself. And the main example of this is when you have them deep into a submission, that's when you can start thinking about constant tension. Although even then, I would advise against burning out your muscles by trying to squeeze too hard. Constant tension does not have to be excessive or overly forceful. It can be almost gentle in a way. The important thing is not that it's forceful, it's that it's consistent. Now, there are downsides to constant tension, other than fatiguing yourself. The other is that it's predictable. If you're really tense, it becomes obvious what you're going to do. Your opponent can read your tension and it telegraphs your motions a bit. It also turns your body into a more rigid structure, which makes it easier for your opponent to move you around. Another reason to be loose by default is because when you're loose, it's going to be harder for your opponent to move your body. If you're tense, it's going to be a lot easier for them to do so by using force. So, that's where variable tension comes into play. This is when you alternate between looseness and explosive tension. I like to think of this as cracking a whip. You're loose and then suddenly like when you crack a whip, you get tight and you explode all of that force into a microsecond and you can get a lot done by collapsing your force into a brief moment in time. That's the basis for a lot of judo throws where you alternate between looseness and tightness. The other benefit to using variable tension is that it's much harder to predict. If you are tense, it's easy for your opponent to read your actions. If you are loose, they don't necessarily know what you're going to do next. So, variable tension has benefits. It's going to be harder for your opponent to manipulate your body. Your muscles won't fatigue as quickly and you won't telegraph your moves as much. But, there is still that time and place for constant tension and mostly that comes down to when you can hold your opponent in place, it benefits you to do so and you can tire them out faster than you tire yourself out. Neither constant nor variable tension is better than the other. These are both things that you use in different places and time. And with experience, you learn to use the right type of tension in the right place. At blue belt and below, there's a good chance you're still being constantly tense when you should be variably tense. That's an important lesson to learn and that's where that advice about staying loose comes into play. But we're not always loose, there is a time to tense up and it's just about how you tense up that makes a difference. This concept is a really cool exploration of the mechanics of jiu-jitsu. We talk about this a lot on BJJ Mental Models. If you want more like this, go to BJJmentalmodels.com and check out our full length podcast, plus mini episodes, plus our newsletter, all of which are free. And please consider leveling up with us and joining BJJ Mental Models Premium, the world's largest audio library of jiu-jitsu master classes. That's at BJJmentalmodels.com. Thank you for listening and I'll talk to you soon.