Principles of Behavior – Expand Your Sense of the Possible
Don’t shrink your game to fit your size, age, or belt. These are not ceilings. They are coordinates on a map that indicate where you’re starting, not where you’re allowed to go.
Your physical frame, your current rank, your age— they’re context, not constraint. The most dangerous limitation is not your body, but the story you tell yourself about what that body can or cannot do.
Jiu-Jitsu is a canvas. It’s not just a system, it’s an art. A discipline, yes, but also a medium for expression. And like any art, it thrives on the balance between structure and exploration. Between technique and play. Between repetition and revelation.
You’ll discover that breakthroughs don’t only come from drilling prescribed movements. They often emerge from unexpected angles, awkward positions, scrambles, mistakes, and moments of instinct.
That’s where your true game starts to show itself, not when you repeat someone else’s technique, but when you modify it in a way that fits your timing, your intuition, your understanding.
Let go of fixed ideas about what you’re supposed to be good at. Forget the myth that strength, youth, or athleticism are prerequisites for progress. Let go of the idea that only a certain “type” can develop a dangerous guard or a suffocating top game.
Let go of the internal monologue that says:
“I’m too old.”
“Too small.”
“Not fast enough.”
“Not experienced enough.”
These aren’t truths. They’re walls you’ve built. But every wall has a door, or a way around, if you’re willing to look for it.
Stay curious. Stay open.
Your job isn’t to force yourself into a mold. Your job is to discover what’s possible when you stop resisting where you are and start working with it. Let your BJJ surprise you. Let your body surprise you. Let your mind stretch to meet new challenges and reimagine old ones.
Be willing to ask, “What else can I do from here?” Not “What should I do?”
That shift, from imitation to inquiry, is where evolution begins.
Open your mind. Open your game.