The Most Important Attribute In Jiu Jitsu (It Will Shock You)

Speaker 1: The most important physical quality for BJJ, and it's probably not what you think. A lot of people assume a lot, because obviously there's a lot of steroids in BJJ. So people are like, ah, even though they say don't use strength, strength must be important, right? And, you know, we see, you know, you see Roman Jiu-Jitsu, you're like, Jesus Christ, that guy's so jacked. Speaker 2: Which Jiu-Jitsu? Speaker 1: Roman Jiu-Jitsu is like the new Gordon Ryan, like in the Speaker 2: Is this some guy on Instagram? Speaker 1: Yeah, just just search Roman Jiu-Jitsu, you know what I'm talking about. If you already, if you know, you know, but if you don't know, you're about to find out. Uh, but you know, you you see those pictures of um, Gordon Ryan just stacked. Juiced to the nines, looking like a bodybuilder. And, you know, so many people in in Jiu-Jitsu history just looking ultra tank and taking steroids. So people often think strength is like even though they say, it's it's it's this funny irony in Jiu-Jitsu of like, use technique, not strength. But then you've got these huge strong motherfuckers just bashing dudes. And um, I I saw something the other day, which was a guy was saying something about like um, under 200 pounds is victim weight. I was like, oh, ouch. Speaker 2: I've heard that for, yeah. Speaker 1: Yeah. That that under 90, yeah. Yeah. That's painful, right? But I look, strength is so important in BJJ. Like we are always talking about that. Speaker 2: You built a business on that, I reckon. Speaker 1: We have. We have. And I think, Speaker 2: Shit. Speaker 1: Shit. You can't get away from the fact that being strong in and doing Jiu-Jitsu is an advantage. So, it's not saying you don't need to be strong, because I feel like um, it's the speech from uh, enter the dragon, where Han is walking through his museum of weapons and things he's talking to um, what's the white guy's name? With the hair. Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. James someone or other. Speaker 1: Yeah, and and he's saying, oh, what what societies have failed for lack of strength. You know, and he's really trying to talk him into this idea of joining his criminal Speaker 2: James Coburn? Speaker 1: Could be. Joining his criminal organization, you know? Um, and I I think for a lot of people in Jiu-Jitsu, you feel like more strength's going to help, right? And I I I am somebody who loves to lift weights. Speaker 2: Where are you fucking going with this? Speaker 1: Bro, what I'm saying like, do you concur? Like, Speaker 2: Absolutely. Speaker 1: Right. So, so strength. Yes, strength is important for BJJ, but I'm going to say that strength is not the most important. Okay. The reason why I say this is it is something that you can have not too much of, but if you go down the strength path, there's a point of diminishing return. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 1: Right? Because we know that just being the strongest human doesn't equate to being the best at Jiu-Jitsu. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 1: Right? We we've seen that, right? So, to simply say, all right, we'll just pour more strength on and Jiu-Jitsu gets better, not necessarily the case. And then there's people, you know, there's other people have the argument of like, oh, they're all about um, cardio and fitness, like gas tank. Because the the phrase, and this is true, you know, it there is truth in this phrase, I should say, fatigue makes cowards of us all. You know, that's why boxing, wrestling, like a lot of combat sports, there's such a huge emphasis on conditioning. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: You know, it's just like, yeah, you got to get your roadwork in, you know, you got to, you know, like Muay Thai fighters do 10k warm-up runs. You're like, that's not a fucking warm-up. That's enough to make me quit Muay Thai. I came for the elbows to the face, not the running away. Fuck. And I mean, I think this comes around like misconceptions about what is it that is actually, we all want one answer, right? We want one answer, like, just tell me the one thing I need so I can be better at BJJ, right? Just just make it fucking simple for me. And it's not always that simple. Right? Speaker 2: Right. Yeah. Speaker 1: So, you you you probably would have seen this, Joe, where someone comes to you, maybe with some kind of a problem, not even Jiu-Jitsu context, but they're like, I just want to get more jacked. And then you look at them and you're like, how are your shoulders? And they're like, yeah, they're really sore. And they're really tight. And you're like, maybe what you need is like some mobility. Something like that. And then they're like, oh, that's I don't stretch. Stretching makes you weak. You know, there's misconceptions. You probably would have seen it many times in your training career where somebody comes to you with an idea of what they need to do, and it's it's off piece. Speaker 2: Yeah. My assessment is different to theirs. Speaker 1: Yes, but you're the expert. So you've you've seen it countless times of someone comes to you with an idea, but it is totally not totally, but it's maybe it's misdirected because they're misinformed. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 1: And then also there's folks out there who would say, no, mobility. Stretching, mobility, flexibility, that's what you need. If you are just absolutely flexible, then, you know, like I actually I used to train with somebody who who was double jointed. So they would kind of let you kind of armbar them to like pop their elbow and then you're like, that's that's not a strategy. Speaker 2: Can't be good. Speaker 1: That can't be good for your body. And, you know, I the reason why I bring this up is it's like you look at that and you go, okay, you're the most flexible person ever, but you're still losing rounds. Like your Jiu-Jitsu isn't improving because suddenly you're the most flexible person in the world. So, in saying that, getting to my, Joe's like, make your fucking point, bro. I'm going to make the argument right here, folks, that the most important physical quality for BJJ is resilience. Now, that sounds like a a pretty broad term, but let me get to what that is. It is your ability physically to be consistent and show up and have the compounding of being at the gym every week. Because so many times I have seen folks run down different avenues of developing their athleticism, whether whether it's getting fitter, or getting stronger, or whatever, and just doubling down on one thing, and then they end up either injured or railroaded in a way that stops them from doing BJJ consistently. And actually, this is all about finding the sweet spot. And what I want to talk about is what builds the sweet spot for BJJ, and what does it take to be resilient and sharp week in, week out. Speaker 2: Fucking hell of an intro. Speaker 1: What is this a Netflix series? You're 20 minutes in, you're like, Speaker 2: Shooting next week, guys, for the next fucking intro. Speaker 1: I was like, I was like, I hope you guys still alive. Hey, it only took me five minutes. But um, so speaking of resiliency here, Joe, for you, Speaker 2: Resilience. Speaker 1: resilience. For you, because obviously you've had your various escapades within the Jiu-Jitsu journey. Fucking CrossFit, fucking Speaker 2: Muay Thai. Speaker 1: Muay Thai, handstands, shit, calisthenics, Olympic lifting. Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Speaker 1: What does that look like for you? Like, because it is a little bit different between the two of us. Speaker 2: So, yeah, so what I what I take from that, from, you know, your piece there is that um, I think I I agree that resilience is absolutely like almost the like Jiu-Jitsu is a wonderful vehicle for developing it. And in a roundabout way, it's also the thing you need to succeed in Jiu-Jitsu. Whether you have it starting out or not, or it's something that, you know, grows in you. Um, because I think, yeah, it is ultimately like this, you know, as we all know, like it's really fucking hard, and it's really challenging on a bunch of different levels, and it takes resilience to be able to show up and put yourself in that fire again and again. Um, I think that the physical stuff is like stuff that you would layer on top of that in a way, right? Um, that that would kind of be that that would kind of be my take. And, you know, you could you could make the argument that, well, I will make the argument that for a given individual, they could develop what what one person needs to develop physical resilience might be different to the other to another person. Speaker 1: Exactly, yeah. Speaker 2: Right? So you got the big, you got the big powerlifter guy who's strong as fuck if he can get his hands on you. But, you know, if you're on his back, he's a mess because he's tight and fucking, you know, stiff. So, you put that guy into some yoga classes, you you know, you start making him a bit bendy, well, now he's becoming a real problem. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Flip that for the cat that's like, whatever, got all the movement in the world, but they're weak. You know, and and I think that that's where a lot of the time we probably fall into the default of just talking about like, we're talking to people who are kind of not at the baseline we we think they should be at. So it's like, yo, get strong. Hey, get flexible, you know. Speaker 3: I haven't been excited about wearing a gi for some time. However, recently partnering with our chemical fightwear and I can tell you, their gis feel great. The beauty of wearing a hemp gi is that they are strong, they're going to last the test of time, they're high quality, but they're light. And I would go to say that you couldn't get that kind of lightness in a cotton gi. So the beauty of that is, especially here in Australia where it's really hot during the summer, having a lightweight gi that's strong is an absolute godsend. I'm a big fan of our chemical, and also the beautiful part of it is is that it's a very environmental friendly fabric to be using, rather than cotton, which is energy intensive. So, if you want to get your hands on some our chemical fightwear gear, you should go check it out at ourchemical.com.au. And if you use the code bulletproof 15, you'll get 15% off your purchase. Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I totally agree. It it does look different for different people. And sometimes it's as simple as you don't need to be able to do the front splits necessarily. You just need to be able to comfortably put your hands on the ground when you, you know, in a forward fold position. Or, yeah, you realize that you sit down all fucking day, and then you go to Jiu-Jitsu. Well, you should probably spend some time opening up your hips. Like it's it it's it's difficult within the business of life to realize that what you spend eight hours a day doing is maybe going to cook you for Jiu-Jitsu. You know, part of the reason why you got a sore back isn't Jiu-Jitsu. It's the fact you sat down for eight hours, and now you're trying to fucking Tom and Aggie fucking Big Harris, you know, like it's it's that's a problem. Speaker 2: Shout out Big Harris. Speaker 1: Shout out Big Harris. And so that's the thing, like, man, I think, because I was having this conversation with someone the other day, he's like, fuck, my lower back's so cooked. And I was like, oh, yeah. And he's been telling me how busy he is. He's doing a ton of overtime. And I said, are you sitting down for all this? He's like, oh, mate, I'm I'm I'm in front of a computer. It's 10 hours. And I'm like, even though people, for people out there who've got physical jobs, that doesn't sound like work, but just to sit like that, you get stiff. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: You get sore. And then you're getting on the mats and doing Jiu-Jitsu, you're not going to be physically resilient. You're actually, you've made yourself vulnerable by stiffening yourself up in this way, right? Your body's just trying to look for efficiency to to put up with being in a chair. But the reason why I wanted to get to the resiliency piece is really we know Jiu-Jitsu takes ages to get good at. It like any skill, you've got to kind of chip away, chip away, chip away. And you you need to find the thing or the um, cadence that allows you to maintain that relationship with Jiu-Jitsu. And so for some people, it's going to look like mobility. Some people, it's going to look like doing a bit of lifting. For some people, it's going to be like, man, you maybe you got to watch your diet a bit. You know, like maybe it's Jiu-Jitsu is super hard because, you know, being, you know, maybe 10, 10, 20 pounds lighter is going to you're going to Jiu-Jitsu will feel more fun. And and that's the thing I think it's it's it's hard too because we get really hardwired in being good and I I get this too. I don't often optimize for fun. Like that's like trying to make something fun is not what I'm good at. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: I'm like, performance, fucking KPIs, bitch. Um, I don't know why I don't know, it's just like a default mode, something in me to be like, Speaker 2: That's our fucking British heritage. Speaker 1: Maybe, maybe. Speaker 2: Life's not there to be enjoyed. Speaker 1: No. Speaker 2: Stiff upper lip, get on with it. Speaker 1: Stiff upper lip, get on with it. Clean the chimney. Fight the wars. You know, something like that. Die with that fucking pressed insecurity. Speaker 2: Enjoyment is a weakness. Speaker 1: It is. Why would you even bother with it? So I think the reason why I wanted to have this conversation is people are often asking me, and you might have experienced it, Joe, where people are like, what do I need to do? What's the answer? Like, how can I get better at Jiu-Jitsu? And they haven't asked questions around maybe there's one or two different levers they could pull that is going to allow them to enjoy it more, do it more. Do you have a particular, not I wouldn't say prescription, but is there a way that you think about people being able to build resiliency for Jiu-Jitsu? Speaker 2: Oh, I like that. Yeah, so, so I've I've caught wind of this when I've had people in the past, Speaker 1: Your advice to what what Joe? Speaker 2: who have come to train, who have like, you know, friends of mine or I remember a coach that worked with us some years ago, but been like, hey, I want to like, I want to kind of like, I want to train like you're training. And I'm like, what do you mean? You know? And they're like, Speaker 1: Yeah, right. Speaker 2: Well, I kind of want I kind of want what I think you have. Speaker 1: Yeah, right. Speaker 2: You know? And this is and this is largely what I think. Speaker 1: How do I get my hair like yours, Joe? Speaker 2: Yeah. Like, well, I but I think this is largely like personal training in a way, right? It's often people are coming to you because they something about you that they admire and they think that they can get a bit of that, you know? Um, I think that I think that like you Well, I mean, fuck, there's so much in it. But yes, I think yeah, you have like, you have to do hard things physically. So you have to lift weights. You have to fucking train yourself with discipline. You have to train and you have to train in a way that like, you have to train in a way that is like, like at Jiu-Jitsu, like I don't know, it's it's really I feel like such a wanker saying this because it's so it's easy for me to go there. It always has been and to go hard because I had physical gifts and natural athleticism and whatever. So I could go in and throw myself into the fire and get my ass kicked. Speaker 1: And you were so inclined. Speaker 2: That's right. It was yeah, totally my it was super fun, you know? If I'm saying this to someone where that's not fun for them, oh shit, well, I don't actually know. But I do think that in our in our lives, we lack resilience generally because we live very soft existences. Speaker 1: True. Speaker 2: You know, or a very soft existence. So it's like, well, you got to fucking do hard things. You got to put your body on the line. That brings about spiritual rewards. You know, you have to do it on a consistent basis. You have to do it when you don't feel like it. Uh, it brings about spiritual rewards because you're going to be proud of yourself, you know, as well as get the physical attributes that you're chasing, you're going to get spiritual attributes. That's really the thing. Um, so I do think in a very general sense, like you got to do fucking hard stuff. And I think about that for my kids. Like I don't really care what it is that you do. It just has it has to be hard. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: So I don't care if you want to lift weights. That's fine. But I want you to take up, you know, fucking wrestling, or I want you to do play some rugby, or, you know, whatever, a tough ball sport, you know, like Speaker 1: Challenge yourself. Speaker 2: Yeah, go fucking, I don't know, go rock climbing, do, you know. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Something that pushes you to a limit. Speaker 1: Yeah. And I mean, I think on on that idea of doing something that makes you uncomfortable, for some people, that is a yoga class. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: They're like, fuck, I can barely, you know, I can barely bend forward. My calves are screaming, my back aches, like to think of spending an hour stretching is fuck that. You know, like that's scary. Same thing, like I'm not I'm not someone who loves doing cardiovascular activity. Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. That's why that's why I'm running. Running stuff, right? That's why I'm running at the not running next my knees fucked. But no, it's it's mental because it's Speaker 1: I don't my body doesn't want to. Speaker 2: Your body's saying stop, stop, stop. Speaker 1: And your brain's like, you have to find ways to convince yourself to just keep going, which is incredibly challenging, especially when all you want to do is just fucking, hey, that cafe looks nice. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: I've I've, you know, Speaker 2: There's weights in that garage over there. Speaker 1: 2.4Ks. We could just pull up over there, you know? And and this is the hardest thing. I think for me when I think about the BJJ resiliency thing, BJJ will do a lot to um, will do a lot for you. It's talking about the spiritual element, self-belief, you know, the the good things you get from overcoming, like when you didn't feel like going to training and you went, you can be proud of yourself. But I think also it's finding ways outside of Jiu-Jitsu to sustain it. Whether that's stretching, whether that's strength training, whatever it is, that's the thing you're not told about Jiu-Jitsu. That you will have to change things in your life in order to be able to keep up the fight. You know, and I think that's that's where the most important quality you need is for you to examine your life and and understand what will enable you to stay in it and keep improving and keep pushing yourself because that's where the kind of cumulative gains come from. Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I think um, a question that I kind of I don't actually articulate this to myself, but it's more of a sentiment of like, what does the person that I desire to be like do? You know, how would they go to training tonight? Ah, shit. Once you think that, you're like, oh, motherfucker, I got to train. Yeah. You know? Not always actually. Sometimes you're like, no, no, it's a smarter move to not because I fucking know what I'm like, you know? Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Speaker 2: But but yeah, I think that that thing, I think that is a I I see that as a way to kind of foster resilience. Speaker 1: Nice. There it is, folks. Be resilient.