Jiu Jitsu Beginner Tip #4: Learn Endurance by Relaxation and Kinetic Perception

Kinetic perception is a concept discussed in Bruce Lee's book "Tao of Jeet Kune Do." Lee describes it as an awareness of muscle contraction and relaxation. The application is simple- contracted muscles use energy and fatigue. The goal is to remain as relaxed as possible for as long as possible. Muscle contraction should only occur when absolutely necessary.

For my runner friends, this should be a familiar concept. The key to great running gait is efficiency- there is no wasted motion. There are no unnecessary muscle contractions. We want to eliminate all extraneous movements. Furthermore, we want to make the necessary movements as efficient as possible. When running a marathon, fifty miler, or hundred miler, efficiency is a key ingredient for success.

Jiu jitsu plays by the same rules. Unfortunately, staying relaxed when grappling is far more difficult than running. 

First, most movements are unfamiliar. When we're doing unfamiliar movements, we're not quite sure which muscles need to contract. Our brains err on the side of excess and contract more muscles than are necessary. This is why practice is necessary. By repeating movements in training, we develop the muscle memory to repeat movements as efficiently as possible.

Second, the very nature of combat stimulates our sympathetic nervous system (prepares us for fight or flight.) This causes our heart rate to increase and breating becomes faster and shallower. This physiological process is fatiguing.

Third, jiu jitsu tends to cause panic. Getting choked or caught in an arm bar, Kimora, or any other pain-inducing joint lock is scary as shit... at first. This problem usually goes away quickly once you learn you can escape by tapping. However, that "newbie panic" is especially fatiguing.

Fourth, learning the pace of jiu jitsu takes time. In my experience, all of us white belts tend to be fidgety and hyper. We're overly aggressive. The more experienced belts tend to be progressively more relaxed. The two brown belts I've sparred with were damn near comatose. For newbies,this aggressiveness pays off because it allows us to gain advantageous positions without using good technique.

Or so it seems.

The first few times I did a guard-passing drill, I was able to pass the guard of those that were more experienced with little trouble. I was somewhat surprised. I knew my technique was terrible, but the aggressiveness seemed to take them by surprise. I was seemingly rewarded for the aggressiveness.

Never mind the fact that they, without exception, submitted me about a minute later.

It is now clear they were simply letting me wear myself out with my aggressiveness by simply prolonging the time it took me to pass their guard. Since I was tired, it was easy to sweep me or replace guard, then submit me. I was being suckered, and it worked beautifully.

So How Do We Learn to Relax?

After about two months of training, I still struggle with relaxation. However, since I'm aware of the importance of relaxation as a means of improving my game, it's something I can continually practice. These are my preferred methods:

1. Practice the physical movements. The more you practice, the more refined movements become. The more refined they become, the more specific muscles will be contracted and relaxed. Every time we perform a physical movement, we get a little bit more efficient. This is the advantage of drilling or repeating movements again and again in succession. Note- drilling when fatigued is a bad idea because we compensate for already-fatigued muscles by contracting surrounding muscles... exactly what we're trying to avoid.
2. Control breathing. The easiest way to deactivate the sympathetic nervous system response is to reduce your oxygen supply by taking slow, deep breaths. Start practicing breathing during drills, sparring, conditioning... whatever. Breathe in while counting to three, hold it for three seconds, then breathe out while counting to three.
3. Learn "rest" positions. There are quite a few positions that require little or no muscle contractions to maintain. Learn them. Know how to get to them from any other position. Practice them. If you're sparring and get fatigued, practice recovering from these positions. I'm not experienced enough to know many of these positions, but I've found a few of my own.
4. Learn to use the relaxation/explosion/relaxation pattern. I'm not sure if this is a common strategy in jiu jitsu, but I sense a lot of my experienced sparring partners using it. They'll be completely relaxed, suddenly explode with something (escape, reversal, submission... whatever), then immediately relax again. The explosion is always done with surgical precision. The experienced dudes will sometimes fake an explosion in one direction to elicit a response, then explode in the opposite direction. Classic misdirection. The REALLY experienced dudes will also use a relaxation -> slow build -> relaxation pattern... especially with chokes and joint locks. The goal is to induce a "Damn, this sucks right now, but he's slowly increasing the pressure/pain... how far will this go?" It really destroys the ability to withstand the submission attempt. Learning to control pace not only saves energy, it's a strong element of strategy.

When teaching people to run barefoot or run ultras, a major component was teaching relaxation. The same concept is even more important in jiu jitsu. It's not a difficult concept to grasp and practice as long as we have an awareness of the underlying ideas.  Practice relaxation and kinetic perception. It'll help your game immensely.

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