Drewlock
@drewlock • 2,949 subscribers
Rilion Gracie black belt with 20 years Jiu Jitsu experience, academy owner & professor, I teach Jiu Jitsu through the lens of the obvious yet hidden.
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Jiu Jitsu is not about knowing. You can know ten thousand techniques and still get smashed. What matters is not what you know. What matters is who you are being when you roll. Sleight of hand works because the magician isn’t showing you a trick, he’s being a magician. He shifts your attention. You never see it coming. That’s Jiu Jitsu. It’s not the technique. It’s who you are being when you use it. Stop trying to know. Start learning to wield. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock31,546 次观看 • 8 个月前
Jiu Jitsu’s potency comes from its immediate connection to the power of being. This “power of being” refers to a state of heightened awareness and presence, where you are fully engaged with the present moment and your own existence. It’s about finding balance in both following and leading, being reactive and proactive. The ability to sync with the natural flow of events and take control of the situation according to your skill and capabilities. Jiu Jitsu is an art because it enables practitioners to connect deeply with their fundamental essence or true nature. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock51,512 次观看 • 1 年前
In Jiu Jitsu, reaching an intermediate level is one thing, but reaching fluency? That’s a whole different animal. The intermediate level teaches you techniques, the names of positions, and what to do in self-defense scenarios. But the advanced level isn’t about knowing what to do, it’s about knowing when to do it. At this level, timing is everything. You have to anticipate the clearing, not just the technique. This can’t be memorized or drilled in isolation. It has to be felt, and that only comes from rolling. Pattern recognition is more important than technique because advanced players put you in mixup situations where you're vulnerable to more than one option. Overcoming this information overload is extremely difficult. To survive multiple attacks at once you can’t just focus on defending a single technique, you have to recognize shapes and grooves that come before the techniques. With the right awareness you can overfit or underfit these grooves and take back your turn. Building advanced awareness takes mat time and deep trust in your modes of action (grip, frame, hang, technique.) To stay on the mat, you can’t just avoid injuries, you have to prevent “chip damage,” the slow, compounding wear and tear that sneaks up on you and dulls your capabilities. Jiu Jitsu isn’t about being invincible. It’s about being in the right mood, a mood of clear-sightedness, a mood that keeps you rolling, adapting, and learning. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock27,366 次观看 • 1 年前
Note to self: Jiu Jitsu isn’t about collecting techniques or chasing the illusion of constant improvement. It’s about doing something that serves you on and off the mat. It's a lived orientation, a style of Being. It's about transformation that can’t be measured. You train because of intrinsic motivation. It’s how training never gets boring. Like all true art, it is practiced for its own sake, as a response to an inner call. More than anything, it gives perspective. Paired with philosophy, it becomes extremely potent. You train to participate, not to acquire. Rolling turns into serious play, offering opportunities to face yourself honestly. At times, Jiu Jitsu discloses your vitality, your capacity to move, create, endure. At other times, it confronts you with your mortality, your exhaustion, your limits, your finitude. Jiu Jitsu lifestyle means dwelling in the space where vitality and mortality, possibility and limit, freedom and constraint interact. Yea it’s entertainment, yea it’s sport, but most importantly it’s a mode of attunement to reality. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock19,261 次观看 • 8 个月前
If you do Jiu Jitsu and rarely hit a flowstate, try on these 3 distinctions. (Modes of Action, Basic Options, Stages of Grappling) Distinctions are not definitions, they don’t explain or reduce things to fixed meanings they create a way of seeing and acting. Basic Options In any position, no matter the situation, your choices reduce to 4 options (go behind, tip over, pass the legs, or submit) The Basic Options is not a strategy. It’s simply what’s most relevant. Modes of Action These aren’t categories to memorize, they’re ways of acting in the moment (grip, frame, hang, technique) Without this distinction, rolling will feel random. With it, you see what you’re actually doing and what’s missing. Stages of Grappling This isn’t a definition of who’s winning. It’s a lens for the unfolding of the match (neutral, advantage, mixup, dominant position) Something will click once you notice what stage you're in. Distinctions are powerful because they don’t claim to be knowledge, truth, or the final answer. They are shifts in perception. Without distinctions you’re lost. With them, you’re free to act with intention. Full guide coming soon Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock16,252 次观看 • 8 个月前
How to roll like a local Before rolling, take a moment to observe your opponent’s archetype. Are they heavy and slow, or light and strong? Are they a tough brawler or a glass cannon? First impressions can be deceiving—some strong looking opponents may not feel strong on the mat. Adjust your observations as the roll progresses. Be mindful of any obvious injuries. Avoid targeting these areas. In a competition, exploiting injuries would be part of your strategy, but during training, focus on building skills without causing harm. If you’re more experienced, challenge yourself by working in areas where your partner is skilled. Don’t make it easy for your partner by giving away free guard passes or free submission attempts. If you feel the need to use excessive will power, consider conceding the position and resetting at the next position with a quick attack. As you get a read on your partner, loosen up and engage in a way that encourages interaction. Get them to notice your intentions then you can really mix them up. Be tough and skillful, but keep the roll playful so your partner will attack back. This creates more exchanges and helps both of you improve. Apply pressure but, avoid giving unnecessary chip damage. If your partner concedes an opening for a submission, avoid slamming it on hard. Respect their well-being by catching and releasing submissions. This approach not only promotes safety but also increases opportunities for transitions, providing valuable “XP” When encountering a partner who uses excessive strength and will power against your proper technique, avoid responding with willpower and strength of your own. Instead, ease into the situation. Recognize resistance as an opportunity to set traps or wear them down gradually. If you’re less experienced, avoid your opponents strengths and look for opportunities to capitalize on their weaknesses. Don’t shy away from challenging situations; step into the action and earn your partner’s respect, even if it means getting caught. Keep working out of submissions and recovering your guard. If you’re under attack, extend the engagement and work toward regaining a neutral position. Avoid being timid or overly conservative, this limits the amount of exchanges. Instead, embrace the pace and intensity of higher-level rolls. Progress happens when you immerse yourself in the action and take risks. Remember force and will power are even less reliable against more experienced opponents. Rolling like a local isn’t just about improving your own skills; it’s about contributing to a more connected community.
Drewlock24,701 次观看 • 1 年前
In Jiu Jitsu, you can’t just pass instantly. Just like you can’t instantly unite a cause with its effect. To pass instantly is to try to skip the resistance, the tension, the unfolding of the exchange. Every basic option (go-behind, tip-over, pass, submission) is a product of the stage of grappling you’re currently working through. To ignore that is to pretend effect can occur without origin. Acceleration blinds you to architecture. When you rush to control, you lose control. Speed, unchecked by timing, is noise. Power, unconnected from structure, is waste. Movement, without context, is an accident. The best skill of a passer isn’t pressure, it’s perception. It’s the ability to feel the invisible angle of intent by noticing the tension in the grips and the shape of the frames. That kind of awareness doesn’t simply come from motion, it comes from tempo. From matching energy. From feeling the structure while it’s still forming, not after it falls apart. when I say: “You can’t just pass instantly. Just like you can’t unite the cause with the effect instantly.” I’m not just making a technical point. I’m making a critique of modern urgency. I’m defending the time it takes to see, to think, to know. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock19,377 次观看 • 1 年前
As a black belt, this is how I prefer to roll, not driven by personal development or even the enjoyment of it. I roll because it is good in and of itself. I strive to give of myself generously and to take what comes my way openly, without apology. Most of my time on the mat is spent guiding others, helping them navigate Jiu Jitsu. But when it’s my turn to roll, it becomes an experience that exists purely for its own sake. Jiu Jitsu is a ritual, not an outlet for pent-up emotions, nor is it a stage for personal theatrics. It transcends the release or display of personality. If anything, it functions as an escape from emotion and personality. Within this space of calm detachment, there emerges a kind of vision or fluency. This vision is the capacity to take the unpredictable and the unforeseen and seamlessly integrate it in a way that brings new meaning and value. Instead of feeling destabilized by the unexpected, allow it to deepen your perspective. The question is not how to avoid disruptions, but how to dance with them, absorb them, and become more adaptable through the encounter.
Drewlock22,432 次观看 • 1 年前
More than anything Jiu Jitsu it’s about the power being. It’s a call to be present and engaged in the current reality. It’s about responding and adapting to the challenges and opportunities of the here and now. It’s about standing inside the immediacy of reality and drawing strength from being attuned and ready to act. It’s an acoustic, right hemisphere, simultaneous everything all at once experience. It’s a mood to cope with information overload. It works by wielding wit with sleight of hand. Jiu Jitau is a path, an orientation, a cultivation. It’s not really a method. It’s a way of being shaped through practice. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock13,338 次观看 • 8 个月前
In Jiu Jitsu, close guard is overpowered. I use “close” intentionally to avoid confusion, your legs aren’t meant to stay closed the entire time. You have to be able to unlock, regrip, and hang, to keep your guard alive. When you play close guard, you’re not just hunting submissions. You’re trying to maintain your mix-up while avoiding chip damage. If you keep your legs locked too long or try to force a submission, you’ll inevitably get stacked. Even if you sub them, you can still get punished by the stack. To stay safe, focus on feeling for the stacking pressure as much as the submission. If you can get under a leg and keep them on one knee, you can shift between sweeps and submissions like triangle, armbar, or omoplata (S-groove). Use this mixup to defend the stack then take something that isn’t being defended. Tip-over attempts off-balance your opponent, even if they don’t compete the sweep. It’s not about landing a specific technique, it’s about enjoying the situation they can’t solve. It comes from staying present. This is what high-level mix-up looks like. You know you’re doing it right when their safest move is to not move. With any luck, you’ll land something clean, clear, and unexpected. This is where Jiu Jitsu feels like play. Finding options in real time that you didn’t even know were there, then seeing if you can recreate them. That’s how you go from instinct to strategy. For me, it’s not about building a system. I'm into the flowstate. You don’t follow the myth, you embody it. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock16,557 次观看 • 1 年前
Jiu Jitsu, like all true art, isn’t something to be taken seriously because of some inherent superior quality. Jiu Jitsu helps us perceive and make sense of the world. When people lack art, they risk living on autopilot. Art “wakes” the mind, keeps it active, and prevents us from sliding into a mechanical way of living. Art helps process and understand the world. Art isn’t highbrow decoration; it’s a fundamental part of staying alive. Art is self-defense Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock18,575 次观看 • 1 年前
Note to self: Jiu Jitsu isn’t a lifestyle; it’s a mood. It’s an attitude toward life. It’s a mood of servant leadership, where you approach challenges and relationships with humility and a willingness to serve the people around you. Rather than using will power, speed, or force to dominate, you use skill and understanding to create harmony. Jiu Jitsu is the art of effortlessness, sleight of hand, reading your opponent clearly, and thriving in the unexpected. You thrive in the unexpected by mastering the fundamentals of your environment, building skills, then trusting your instincts and sense of touch. That’s what it takes to perform Jiu Jitsu. What if you did that off the mat? What would it look like? If you handled life’s “matches” with the same composure, awareness, and even pleasure that you do during a good roll. The “mood” is about your spirit and mindset not a prescribed lifestyle. This approach enables you to live more fully, freely offering what you can while also graciously taking what comes your way. Learn Jiu Jitsu
Drewlock17,340 次观看 • 1 年前