There are a lot of things to remember about what we have to do in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Hundreds of techniques, different positions, thousands of counters, a large number of principles and concepts that we have to be doing at all times; in short, a long list of things to not forget, and all of it can be altered in the blink of an eye by what our partner does. It can be daunting, especially to the beginner, thinking about all of this and trying to figure out how we are going to remember any of it in the heat of the moment all while another person is trying to choke us into unconsciousness.

There are a number of mantras that try to help us put this into understandable chunks. Perhaps the most famous in Jiu-Jitsu is “position before submission”. All of these are good and useful but what I have found as an instructor that works particularly well even with complete beginners are three simple words. They are: grips and hips.

What I mean by that is that most things in Jiu-Jitsu are only accomplished when you have good and superior grips and your hips are dominating the fight (i.e. can exert more control over your opponent’s hips and base). It doesn’t really matter how good you are at a particular technique if your opponent has his grips and he is shutting down your hip movement. Conversely, if you have superior grips and you can use your hips in the manner that you want to, you will find that you can make a lot of techniques work even if they are not your particularly best performed ones. 

Techniques are not the important part of the fight. Techniques are only guidelines to physical action. The key factors are what are the drivers that allow those physical actions. Base, posture, position, pressure, are some key ones that are not attribute based, as well as the idea of keep breathing (it may be shocking but beginners forgetting to breath is a chronic event). Similarly, the simple focused idea of always fighting for the best grip possible, and always fighting for the best hip position is easy to remember and does not have to be tied to a specific way of doing it. My methods of using my hips and establishing my grip may be best for me, but for you, another method may be superior. Think of any technique that shows those things as guidelines and suggestions, but don’t get bogged down in them and go into mental vaporlock trying to remember them in the middle of training. 

Watch this short video of a master of grips and hips. Note how Mateus always makes the adjustments on both that keeps him in control. Every successful attack is preceded by a solid control of these two things (also take VERY careful note that after each attack he takes the time to stabilize his post-attack position by making sure he has new established grip and hip superiority so he does not get reversed or countered):

To sum up, don’t try to remember every technique all the time. Remember the principles and framework of jiu-jitsu. If you can consistently do that, you will learn to see the appropriate time for the technique.

When in doubt, get grips and hips!