BJJ Mental Models

In this mini-episode, we explain deliberate practice: a training method intended to improve performance by addressing your weaknesses and breaking through plateaus.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/freeintro

⬆️ LEVEL UP with BJJ Mental Models Premium!

The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com

Need more BJJ Mental Models?

Get the legendary BJJMM newsletter:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletter

Learn more mental models in our online database:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database

Follow us on social:
https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodels
https://threads.com/@bjjmentalmodels
https://bjjmentalmodels.bsky.social
https://youtube.com/@bjjmentalmodels

This week, we're joined by Rob Cole! Rob has been training martial arts for over 35 years, 25 of them focused on grappling, and he coaches at Ascension Athletics in Connecticut, where he runs his practice through the ecological dynamics framework. In this episode, Rob explains the intention-led approach, where you give students a goal to work toward instead of specific things to focus on. Topics include: a plain-language primer on ecological dynamics, intention versus attention, win conditions as a driver of behavior, grip fighting as a warm-up, teaching leglocks without fear.

Follow Rob on Instagram:
https://instagram.com/liquid_rob

Train with Rob at Ascension Athletics:
https://ascensionathleticsct.com

Resources discussed in this episode:

The Constraints-Led Approach, by Ian Renshaw, Keith Davids, Daniel Newcombe and Will Roberts:
https://routledge.com/9781138104075

Ecological Dynamics in Sport Coaching, by Steve M. Smith:
https://routledge.com/9781032869223

Ep. 144: The Constraints-Led Approach, feat. Dr. Rob Gray:
https://bjj.plus/144

Ep. 330: The Student's Guide to Eco, feat. Noah Shaffner & Greg Souders:
https://bjj.plus/330

Mental models discussed in this episode:
Ecological Dynamics
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/ecological-dynamics

Intention
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/intention

Ecological Psychology
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/ecological-psychology

Self-Organization
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/self-organization

Constraints-Led Approach
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/constraints-led-approach

Perception-Action Coupling
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/perception-action-coupling

Win Conditions
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/win-conditions

Deliberate Practice
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/deliberate-practice

Growth from Discomfort
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/growth-from-discomfort

Psychological Safety
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/psychological-safety

Consistency
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/consistency

⬆️ LEVEL UP with BJJ Mental Models Premium!

The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com

Need more BJJ Mental Models?

Get the legendary BJJMM newsletter:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletter

Learn more mental models in our online database:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database

Follow us on social:
https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodels
https://threads.com/@bjjmentalmodels
https://bjjmentalmodels.bsky.social
https://youtube.com/@bjjmentalmodels

Music by Enterprize:
https://enterprize.bandcamp.com

In this mini-episode, we explain differential learning: a training approach used in sports proposing that motor skills are learned by varying how the movement is executed rather than trying to get it identical every time.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/freeintro

⬆️ LEVEL UP with BJJ Mental Models Premium!

The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com

Need more BJJ Mental Models?

Get the legendary BJJMM newsletter:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletter

Learn more mental models in our online database:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database

Follow us on social:
https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodels
https://threads.com/@bjjmentalmodels
https://bjjmentalmodels.bsky.social
https://youtube.com/@bjjmentalmodels

This week, we're joined by Jesse Walker and Shelby York! Jesse and Shelby own Rough Hands BJJ in Louisville, Kentucky, a gym of about 200 students with an unusually high number of women and older grapplers (the average student is around 43). In this episode, they walk a complete beginner through what happens before your first jiu-jitsu class. Topics include: vetting a gym, what to bring, why you should tap early, panic and intensity, injury risk.

Learn more at Rough Hands BJJ:
https://roughhandsbjj.com

Follow Jesse and Shelby at Rough Hands BJJ on Instagram:
https://instagram.com/roughhandsbjj

Resources discussed in this episode:

Yoga for BJJ, by Sebastian Brosche:
https://yogaforbjj.net

Women's Grappling Network on Facebook:
https://facebook.com/groups/341922519178021

Mental models discussed in this episode:
Keep It Playful
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/keep-it-playful

Psychological Safety
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/psychological-safety

Acute Stress Response
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/acute-stress-response

Prioritize Longevity
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/prioritize-longevity

Survival Mode
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/survival-mode

Compatible Intent
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/compatible-intent

Respect Your Opponent
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/respect-your-opponent

Investing in Loss
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/investing-in-loss

Beginner's Mind
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/beginners-mind

Motivation
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/continuum-of-motivation

Prevention Over Cure
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/prevention-over-cure

Paradox of Tolerance
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/paradox-of-tolerance

⬆️ LEVEL UP with BJJ Mental Models Premium!

The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com

Need more BJJ Mental Models?

Get the legendary BJJMM newsletter:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletter

Learn more mental models in our online database:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database

Follow us on social:
https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodels
https://threads.com/@bjjmentalmodels
https://bjjmentalmodels.bsky.social
https://youtube.com/@bjjmentalmodels

Music by Enterprize:
https://enterprize.bandcamp.com

In this mini-episode, we explain gamification: the practice of adding game-like elements to something in order to motivate a certain type of behavior. It's a concept from software design with elements of applied psychology and is used for everything from marketing to products to (of course) jiu-jitsu.

Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/freeintro

⬆️ LEVEL UP with BJJ Mental Models Premium!

The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com

Need more BJJ Mental Models?

Get the legendary BJJMM newsletter:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletter

Learn more mental models in our online database:
https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database

Follow us on social:
https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodels
https://threads.com/@bjjmentalmodels
https://bjjmentalmodels.bsky.social
https://youtube.com/@bjjmentalmodels