Due to the explosion of the internet and growth of social media in the last decade, thousands of instructional videos have been posted online open for all to see. This tool can be a great supplement to one’s training, however knowing how to use this tool correctly and efficiently is incredibly important.
Back in the days, learning different styles was incredibly difficult. As stated by Bjj legend Lucio “Lagarto” Rodrigues with three generations of learning “The time when I was competing every weekend in Brazil, academies would study each other’s techniques in the competition, try to remember them by memory (as it was difficult to come across hand held cameras) and try to replicate the techniques back in the academy. This was done in all academies. Then in subsequent tournaments the techniques that were studied would be known to most guys, which meant that now they had counters to the move. Now the other academies would go back to study the counters, make a counter to the counter and bring it to the next tournament and so forth. As the big tournaments such as the mundials were only run once a year, the whole process of evolution in Jiu-Jitsu was quite slow. The only other reliable source of updated techniques was through the Gracie Mag which was in its infancy at that time. Now as the information is readily available to all online, Jiu-Jitsu is forever evolving at an unprecedented pace.”
Despite all this information being readily available online for all, Lagarto believes that in order for the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner to truly benefit from this information they need to be proficient in the basics and fundamentals of Jiu-Jitsu under the watchful guidance of a credible Professor.
As Grandmaster Helio Gracie used to say “Always assume the opponent is going to be bigger, stronger and faster than you: so that you learn to rely on technique, timing and leverage rather than brute strength”.
So using this, let us assume that despite all the knowledge one may have gained from watching YouTube videos, our opponents are able to move and for every action, your opponent will make a “real” reaction which may not be portrayed in the online tutorials. In the words of the late Bruce Lee “Boards don’t hit back”.
In conclusion, we believe that YouTube can be a great tool in your Jiu-Jitsu journey providing that you have a strong academy, knowledgeable professors and structured program behind you.
- Gracie Barra Fulham Team