BJJ Mental Models
Your guide to a conceptual and intelligent Jiu-Jitsu approach. BJJ black belt Steve Kwan and a slate of expert guests explain the concepts, strategies, and tactics behind the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Episodes
538 episodes
Mini Ep. 117: Mnemonics
In this mini-episode, we discuss mnemonics: memory shortcuts that help you remember what you learned in jiu-jitsu class.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 401: Escaping Positions, feat. Rosie Miller
This week, we're joined by returning guest Rosie Miller! Rosie is a black belt out of San Diego who built a following teaching jiu-jitsu beginners the things she wishes she'd known at white belt. In this episode, Rosie explains why survival has...
Mini Ep. 116: Mental Gatekeeping
In this mini-episode, we discuss mental gatekeeping: the practice of guarding your mind against negative thinking and low-quality information.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 400: Always Timeless, feat. Rafael Lovato Jr.
This week, for our 400th episode, we're joined by Rafael Lovato Jr.! Rafael is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion, a former Bellator middleweight MMA champion, and the creator of the Timeless Jiu-Jitsu philosophy. In this episode, Rafael ...
Mini Ep. 115: Incremental Learning
In this mini-episode, we discuss incremental learning: the practice of breaking down a new concept to learn it piece by piece.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 399: Breaking Through Plateaus, feat. Giles Garcia
This week, we're joined by Giles Garcia! Giles is a black belt competitor and the head coach and owner of Ronin Grappling in Glasgow, Scotland. In this episode, Giles explains how to break through training plateaus: how to spot one, how to name...
Mini Ep. 114: Goodhart's Law
In this mini-episode, we discuss Goodhart's Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to become a good measure.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:...
Ep. 398: Old Bastard Sweeps, feat. Mike Mahaffey
This week, we're joined by Mike Mahaffey! Mike is a second-degree black belt under Chris Haueter, best known for his Old Bastard Jiu-Jitsu style: a conservative approach built for older and less athletic grapplers. In this episode, Mike explain...
Mini Ep. 113: Availability Heuristic
In this mini-episode, we discuss the availability heuristic: a mental bias toward information that is easy to recall.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:...
Ep. 397: Risk Management in BJJ, feat. Jake Luigi
This week, we're joined again by Jake Luigi! Jake is a jiu-jitsu analyst who made his name studying professional match footage, and he runs OutlierDB, an analytics database for grappling. In this episode, Jake lays out a three-part framework fo...
Mini Ep. 112: Coiling
In this mini-episode, we discuss coiling, or retracting your limbs and neck. It denies access to our body's vulnerable levers and positions us to explosively generate force.Staying coiled is a smart "default" position if you're n...
Ep. 396: Relative Strength, feat. Will Weisser
This week, we're joined by Will Weisser! Will is a jiu-jitsu black belt, co-founder of the competition-tracking site JiuJitsu.net, and author of the new book Scientific Jiu-Jitsu: A Unified Theory of Grappling. In this episode, Will lays out th...
Mini Ep. 111: Porcupine Strategy
In this mini-episode, we discuss porcupine strategy: the art of making your defense so painful that your aggressors think twice.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 395: Take the Slack Out, feat. Jesse Walker
This week, we're joined by Jesse Walker! Jesse is the head coach and co-founder of Rough Hands BJJ in Louisville, Kentucky, and a frequent BJJ Mental Models collaborator. In this episode, Jesse makes the case for loading a joint with tension be...
Mini Ep. 110: Mind the Gap
In this mini-episode, we discuss "mind the gap:" a no-gi gripping concept that prevents your opponent from pulling or circling their hand free.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 394: Position Series: No-Gi Lasso, feat. Rob Biernacki
This week we're joined again by Rob Biernacki! Rob is the head instructor of Island Top Team and the mind behind BJJ Concepts. In this episode, Rob breaks down how he built a working no-gi version of the lasso, a position long considered gi-onl...
Mini Ep. 109: Overwhelming Force
In this mini-episode, we discuss overwhelming force: the idea that we maximize our power by using the most of our body's weapons against the least of our opponent's.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:...
Ep. 393: Submission Series: The Woj Lock 2.0, feat Chris Wojcik
This week, we're joined again by Chris Wojcik! In this episode, Chris rebuilds his approach to the Woj Lock around a few guiding concepts instead of a catalog of techniques. Topics include: the three points of control, proximal vs. distal contr...
Mini Ep. 108: Inertia
In this mini-episode, we discuss inertia: a concept from physics explaining that objects are resistant to changes in velocity.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 392: The 90% That Matters, feat. Beatrice Jin
This week, we're joined by Beatrice Jin! Beatrice is a black belt competing in the IBJJF top 10 at lightweight and middleweight, and she's known across jiu-jitsu social media for her whiteboard reels. In this episode, Beatrice breaks down the 9...
Mini Ep. 107: Emotional Contagion
In this mini-episode, we discuss emotional contagion: a psychological and physiological concept that shows us how much our emotions and behavior impact others around us.Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, ...
Ep. 391: Am I Getting Better? feat. Josh McKinney
This week, we're joined by Josh McKinney! Josh is a black belt, head coach at HeadNod Jiu-Jitsu in Southern Illinois, and the host of the I Suck at Jiu-Jitsu podcast. In this episode, Josh shares a framework for self-coaching beyond getting bel...
Mini Ep. 106: Cognitive Load
In this mini-episode, we discuss cognitive load: our brain's working memory (like computer RAM), and how to manage it so we can learn jiu-jitsu more effectively. Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
Ep. 390: Making Jiu-Jitsu Accessible, feat. Ryan Rich & Max Corteggiano
This week, we're joined by returning champion Ryan Rich and first-timer Max Corteggiano! Ryan is a third-degree black belt who owns Granite Bay Jiu-Jitsu in California and was one of the early adopters of the constraints-led approach, and Max i...
