There are four basic areas of fundamentals in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that can be evaluated as your martial arts training advances:

1. Survival
2. Defense
3. Control
4. Offense

Each of these stages builds on top of one another, beginning with survival and defense at the core and working your way up through control and offense. Gathering a full understanding of this framework can help you determine exactly where you are in your progression through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.

Stage One: Survival

This is the foundation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes that must be fully mastered prior to moving forward in your training. This involves breathing practices so that you are able to keep your energy and composure under pressure in order to push through the strenuous, full-body workout that Jiu-Jitsu consists of. Many BJJ competitors will lose in competition because they do not yet understand this fundamental aspect, causing them to over-exert themselves or run out of energy. This is also where you learn how to keep your arms close to your body and protect your face and neck from your opponent.

Stage 2: Defense

This stage begins once you fully understand the techniques of attack that are being used against you and know the correct move to respond with. As in any sport, the best offense is a strong defense. A good defense in Jiu-Jitsu, leads to an escape and then counter-attack, whether it be tacking to prevent an armbar from being finished, tucking your chin and controlling the wrists to stop chokes, or grabbing inside of your thigh to stop a kimura finish. By knowing which defensive technique to apply in the instance of a variety of forms of attack, you are on your way to gaining the next cornerstone of proper Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighting — control.

Stage 3: Control

Control refers to a wide variety of skills that you use to gain a competitive edge in a fight and advance your position. A common goal in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is to achieve side control, mount, or back control on your opponent. This involves keeping guard, passing guard, achieving a dominant position, and more. By learning how to correctly gain control, you can then successfully transition into implementing your offense.

Stage 4: Offense

Offense of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu refers to the realm of submissions and methods of finishing the fight. This is the cherry on top where all your training pays off, as you have worked through the previous steps in order to successfully perform your match-ending attack. After you gain control, you can then set up a submission hold such as an armbar, triangle choke, or rear-naked choke. This usually happens in transition, as you are constantly moving and changing position throughout a fight in order to either escape a bad position or advance to a better one. The key is to remain calm and patient, looking for the right opportunity to capitalize as it becomes available.

If you are new to Jiu-Jitsu classes and wondering how these four stages fit into the levels of BJJ training, the following breaks down the average progression through the belt ranks:

• White belts begin with survival and defense techniques as their primary focus.
• Blue belts still have a strong emphasis on self-defense, but begin developing control and even some offense.
• Purple belts must be sufficient at gaining control enough to the point that offensive opportunities naturally present themselves.
• Brown belts have a strong enough foundation of self-defense and control that they can focus their training on practicing their offense and submissions.
• Black belts are on their way to obtaining a high level of proficiency in all four stages.

When looking at these four stages, you may be wondering, “does this mean as a beginner that I will not learn any offense or submissions in Jiu-Jitsu classes?” No, that’s not what this means. As a beginner, you will be exposed to everything in your Jiu-Jitsu classes as there is certainly a lot of knowledge to gather, but you will be expected to focus on survival and defense the most in order to build a strong foundation.

If you’re interested in trying a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class, we hope you will reach out to our Jiu-Jitsu studio in Santa Barbara or make an appointment online to get a free first class today!