What Science and Systems Can’t Teach You In Jiu-Jitsu by Doa Karan – BJJ Fanatics

What Science and Systems Can’t Teach You in Jiu-Jitsu

There is a limit to what techniques, instructionals, systems, and structured models can provide. Beyond a certain point, progress in Jiu-Jitsu does not come from collecting more techniques. It comes from how practitioners relate to the knowledge they already have. Growth depends on moving beyond memorisation, toward understanding what each situation demands: what is available, what is being threatened, and what is being ignored. This is the shift from reacting to reading, from repeating to adapting.

The most important lessons in Jiu-Jitsu are not found in videos or step-by-step sequences. They are learned through friction, fatigue, pressure, failure, and recovery. While systems and models offer valuable frameworks, they cannot fully teach the timing, feel, and decision-making that emerge only through direct experience. Jiu-Jitsu is not only a fighting method or self-defence system. It is also a game. Like every meaningful game, it operates within rules. These rules do not simply ensure safety;they also create rhythm, structure, and possibility. They make it possible to return to the same positions repeatedly and to find new insights each time.

In this space, the shared arena between two bodies, shaped by constraint but open to creativity, knowledge becomes the sharpest tool. A practitioner can make the opponent work harder, bait reactions, and use gravity instead of strength. Control comes not from force but from understanding how to create or close space, how to wedge, frame, off-balance, and direct movement. Success often depends on the ability to move around resistance rather than through it. It is about recognising the right moment to act, not because the sequence demands it, but because the body in front reveals the opportunity.

Structure, Leverage, and ConnectionEffective Jiu-Jitsu is not just about knowing techniques. It is about understanding structure. Frames support weight and create space to move or escape. Sometimes the body moves as a connected unit, driving from the legs, steering with the arms, and adjusting through the core. Other times, unity is deliberately broken. Leverage is created by placing different parts of the body in opposition: one side anchors while the other rotates or extends. The shoulder pulls while the hip pushes. One leg drops weight while the other threads through. Efficiency is not always harmony. It is knowing when to connect and when to separate, when to align and when to create tension.

Play (Oyun) and CuriosityPlay holds a central place in learning Jiu-Jitsu. Play, or oyun, is more than amusement. It is movement, rhythm, and the freedom to explore and fail without fear (And, 2007). Without play, Jiu-Jitsu becomes rigid. With play, it remains adaptive and alive. Play invites curiosity and experimentation, making space for real learning rather than mechanical repetition.

Unlearning and SubtractionUnlearning is equally important. Letting go of patterns and habits that no longer serve opens the way for refinement. Progress often comes from subtraction, not just accumulation. White belt techniques remain effective;they simply require new timing, feel, and understanding. This process involves a shift from memorising what is supposed to happen to imagining what could happen. Counterfactual thinking—the exploration of alternative outcomes and possibilities—is essential to this approach (Marletto, 2021). Adaptability emerges from this mindset, not from fixed sequences. 

Trauma, Breath, and Reaction Patterns 

Jiu-Jitsu also exposes how individuals carry stress. It shows in breath, posture, movement, and reaction under pressure. Trauma does not reside only in thought;it manifests in the body. Grappling can bring these patterns to the surface. Discomfort, failure, and struggle are integral to the process of learning. As van der Kolk (2014) demonstrates, healing and integration often begin through the body itself.

Mystery (Bugu) and Reverse EngineeringUnderstanding technique means going beneath the surface of systems. Reverse engineering what works and why builds a deeper comprehension. This is where the idea of bugu becomes relevant—the mystery and unseen logic beneath the visible structure (And, 2007). Learning is not only about repetition but about uncovering these underlying patterns.

Effort, Attention, and DisciplineJiu-Jitsu, like many martial arts, was developed for protection: of the body, of the family, of the community. But its value extends further. It develops the capacity to stay with discomfort, to focus, and to engage fully with difficulty. Modern life, shaped by instant gratification and short dopamine loops, pulls attention away from sustained effort. As Lembke (2021) argues, true balance and satisfaction come not from seeking constant pleasure but from choosing effort, discipline, and delayed reward.

Jiu-Jitsu provides the ideal conditions for this. It offers a space where failure is safe and struggle is purposeful. Yet this environment does not emerge by accident. It must be structured, intentional, and safely held. Learning happens inside systems that are challenging but controlled. Pressure and discomfort are introduced with care, allowing students to take risks, make mistakes, and explore without fear of punishment or harm. Growth comes through a disciplined process, not through chaos.

There are no shortcuts. Mastery does not come from information alone but from time spent in these conditions. Control, adaptability, and understanding emerge through consistent attention to pressure, space, movement, and timing.

At the heart of Jiu-Jitsu learning is attention. Attention to the self, to the opponent, to what is actually happening. Not the fantasy of what should happen or what was promised by the technique. Just the reality of the moment, felt and understood through the body.

This is not something that can be given through systems alone. It is something that must be earned through experience.

⸻ReferencesAnd, M. (2007) Oyun ve Bügü: Türk Kültüründe Oyun ve Tiyatro. 3rd edn. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.

Lembke, A. (2021) Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. New York: Dutton.

Marletto, C. (2021) The Science of Can and Can’t: A Physicist’s Journey through the Land of Counterfactuals. New York: Penguin.

van der Kolk, B. (2014) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York: Viking.

This article was originally published by Blue Mountains Jiu Jitsu Academy and authored by Doa Karan.