Leverage technicality

The essence of judo/jiu-jitsu lies within its paradoxical “the gentle way / art’”. The ultimate aim of judo/jiu-jitsu is achieving the level of leverage technicality that brings the win with minimum effort.

Leverage technicality as how and why

Most of the time, practitioners will want to win at any cost. This approach, which feeds the ego, is winning but actually losing in the long run.  

Leverage technicality is the core of judo/jiu jitsu training. Leverage technicality refers to one’s grips, positioning, and transitions that can annihilate any attempt of the opponent to gain positional advantage, creating the opportunity to apply submissions with minimum effort. 

One needs to maintain a clear distinction between jiu jitsu techniques as an end result (ex. arm bar, kimura, etc.) and leverage technicality. The former is an end result, and the latter as the process. The process should also inquire why during teaching or drilling. The how and why should be centered on annihilating the opponent’s ability to gain advantage. Leverage technicality is 90%, end result technique is 10 %.

Train for strength but don’t use strength paradox

If during sparring one wins by overpowering the opponent and not by effortless submission, then they have missed the essence of jiu jitsu training. In training, winning by overpowering the opponent is actually losing. One can train for strength for injury prevention and stamina, but should not lose sight of the core of jiu jitsu. Train for strength but learn how to not use it.

Details are not created equal

Jiu jitsu earns its name as “the gentle art” not from technique as end result but its leverage technicality. The usual mantra “position, transition, position before submission” is an intuition of this concept. However, this concept is rarely emphasized and often left to be discovered by error and trial by the students. When showing a technique with multiple details, it is left to the students to develop understanding and application of these details over time and experience. A common pitfall for students is overlooking positioning and transitional details (process - how, and why) while students focus too much on the end result.

Focus on the journey, on how and why, not only on the destination or end results.

Lede art by Janica Wynne