Refining Novelty
New techniques will always catch your eye. Jiu-jitsu offers an endless stream of them. But lasting skill doesn’t come from novelty—it comes from efficiency.
At first, expression is clumsy. You string together long sequences—grip here, push there, shift, adjust, reset—trying to force meaning into your movements. With time, the path shortens. A section of struggle becomes a few precise motions. Eventually, even those motions reduce to a single movement, enough to dictate the entire exchange.
Take guard recovery. A beginner thrashes side to side, bench presses, bridges, and kicks frantically—yet the pass still completes. A seasoned practitioner, by contrast, sets a quiet frame at the neck and hip, creates a sharp angle with elbow and knee, shifts the hips once, and the guard is restored.
The same holds true in offense. A novice chasing the armbar makes it a spectacle—dragging the arm, swinging the leg high, falling back with momentum, then straining to finish. A skilled player isolates the arm before the opponent even notices, shifts their hips an inch, slides the leg into place, and secures the submission without fuss. One attempt is loud and desperate; the other, quiet and decisive.
This is why efficiency must be your north star. Novelty may surprise once, but refined technical execution succeeds against anyone, at any level.
Efficiency is the highest form of expression. Where the inexperienced strain, the experienced glide. Where the inexperienced announce their intentions, the experienced whisper.
The temptation will always be to chase what is new. But if you want a foundation that lasts, return to what is effective. Polish it. Make it your own.
Ask yourself: Can I do this in fewer movements? Can I strip away the noise and leave only the signal? In time, your jiu-jitsu will no longer be scattered expressions. It will be sharp, simple, undeniable.
So the real question becomes: how can you say more with less? Every grip, every frame, every angle should carry meaning. Remove the unnecessary. Refine what remains.