Why Techniques Alone Won’t Improve Your BJJ
When I started Jiu Jitsu, I did what most people do. I focused on techniques instead of focussing on BJJ principles. I’d learn something in class, try to remember it, maybe hit it once or twice in sparring, and then move on to the next thing. It felt like progress at the time because I was learning more, but if I’m honest, a lot of it didn’t really stick, and even when it did, it didn’t always work the way I expected it to. After a while, I started to realise something wasn’t quite right. I knew more, but things weren’t necessarily getting easier.
Then you roll with someone who doesn’t seem to be doing anything complicated at all, and yet you can’t move them, you can’t create space, and you feel like you’re stuck the whole round. That’s when it starts to click that it’s not about how many techniques you know. The difference is in the understanding. Over time, especially as I got older, I stopped chasing techniques and started paying more attention to the things that actually make those techniques work. Things like base, posture, structure, position, pressure, and breathing. These aren’t flashy, and they’re not always taught in a way that stands out, but they’re the reason some people feel effortless and others feel like they’re constantly forcing everything.
Understanding Space in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
If you strip Jiu Jitsu right back, most of it just comes down to space. Either you’re taking space away, or you’re creating it. When you’re on top, your job is usually to remove space. You close the gaps, you stay connected, and you make it harder for the other person to move. When you’re underneath, you’re trying to do the opposite. You’re trying to create just enough space to move your hips, get your frames in, and start improving your position. Once you start looking at it this way, things become a lot clearer. Instead of thinking about what technique you should use, you start asking yourself whether there’s too much space or not enough. That alone will solve a lot of problems.
Why Inside Space Is So Important in BJJ
One of the biggest shifts for me was understanding inside space. If someone gets inside position on you, especially around your hips and upper body, everything becomes harder. Your posture starts to break, your movement becomes limited, and you’re constantly reacting instead of controlling what’s happening. On the other hand, when you win that inside space, even simple things start to work better.
You feel more connected, more stable, and more in control. You see this everywhere, whether it’s passing guard, escaping bad positions, or even just maintaining control. The person who controls the inside space is usually the one dictating what happens next. A lot of the time when someone feels overwhelming, it’s not because they’re stronger or more technical. It’s because they’ve taken that space and you didn’t recognise it early enough.
Using Frames to Create and Maintain Space
Frames are one of those things that don’t get enough attention, especially early on. Most people think of frames as pushing, but that’s not really what they are. A frame is a structure. It’s something that holds space and supports your body without you having to rely on strength. When your frames are in the right place and your structure is solid, you can deal with a lot more pressure than you think. You don’t feel like you’re fighting just to survive. You can actually pause, breathe, and start to work your way out of positions. But when your frames collapse, everything else goes with them. Your posture breaks, the space disappears, and now you’re carrying someone’s weight and trying to fix everything at once. That’s why this matters so much. It’s not about pushing harder, it’s about placing things better.
Posture and Base: The Foundation of Control
Posture and base are talked about a lot, but they’re often not fully understood. Posture is really just how well your body is aligned. When your posture is good, you feel strong without trying. When it’s broken, everything feels heavy, and you’re constantly playing catch-up. Base is what keeps you stable. It’s your ability to stay balanced and not get moved or swept easily. The important thing is that these two work together. Good posture supports your base, and a solid base allows you to keep your posture. When both are there, you don’t need to rely on strength anywhere near as much as you might think. You’ve probably felt this before without realising it. Someone who doesn’t feel explosive or aggressive, but you just can’t off-balance them or break them down. That’s not strength, that’s good base and posture.
Applying Pressure Without Using Strength
Pressure is another one that gets misunderstood. Real pressure isn’t about being strong, it’s about how you place your body. It’s about how you distribute your weight so the other person carries it, without you feeling like you’re working hard. You’ve probably rolled with someone who felt heavy in a way that didn’t make sense. They weren’t squeezing or tensing, but you couldn’t move, and even breathing felt more difficult. That’s not strength, that’s understanding how to apply pressure properly. When you combine pressure with control of space, everything starts to work better. Passing becomes easier, positions become harder to escape, and your opponent starts to fatigue without you needing to push the pace.
Why BJJ Principles Matter More Than Techniques
Techniques still matter, you obviously need them, but they’re not the starting point. They’re built on top of these principles. If your base is off, your posture is broken, or you’re losing inside space, it doesn’t matter how good the technique is supposed to be, it’s going to feel difficult. On the other hand, when these things are in place, even simple techniques start to work consistently. This becomes even more important as you get older. You can’t rely on speed or explosiveness the same way, and if you try to, you usually end up paying for it. Principles don’t change though. If anything, they become more valuable because they allow you to use less effort and get better results.
A Smarter Way to Train Jiu Jitsu
At some point, it’s worth stepping back and changing the way you think about training. Instead of asking what new technique you need, it’s probably more useful to ask what’s actually happening in the position. Are you controlling the space, or is there too much of it? Do you have inside position, or have you given it away? Are your frames doing their job, or are they collapsing under pressure? Is your posture where it should be? Is your base stable, or are you easy to move? Are you applying pressure efficiently, or just using effort?
If you start to look at things this way, your Jiu Jitsu becomes a lot clearer. You’re not guessing as much, and you’re not relying on remembering the right technique at the right time. The good thing is, you don’t need to learn loads more. You probably already have enough. You just need to start understanding what you’re doing at a deeper level, and once that starts to happen, everything begins to feel more controlled, more efficient, and a lot more enjoyable.