I usually listen to some type of podcast in the morning to get through my drive to the dojo or to teach Japanese. All the stuff I listen to is great, but this morning podcast with Tim Ferris was incredible. His interview with Terry Laughlin was profound in its simplicity as well as concise details to understand technical mastery.

The most important idea that I was drawn to, “effortlessness.” Terry comes from a background in coaching swimming, and explains the mastery of swimming in effortlessness. This idea applies directly to the study of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the many grappling arts and martial arts. While conditioning and strength are important factors, true mastery and efficiency comes as a result of using proper technique at the correct moment. All this is really easy to say and understand, but can be very difficult to actually execute. More importantly, it is very difficult to evaluate your efficiency.

In jiu-jitsu you often hear instructors train their students to “relax, slow-down, breathe, use their technique, etc.” All great reminders to help the student understand the importance of training to use their technique. The explanation of things feeling “effortless” is one that I haven’t heard in a long time. (My initial attraction to jiujitsu was in seeking to better understand the martial art while being in an ‘effortless’ state) I think this is a perfect form of assessment. “What was your effort today?” Not in the sense of how hard did you try, but how hard were you forced to work?

• Did you strain when attempting to sweep your opponent?
• Was there tension in your face during a roll?
• Are you exhausted after a roll?

If your answer to any of these questions are a yes, then you are probably not engaging in effortless jiu-jitsu. It’s not the end of the world, nor are they an all or nothing answers. These are indicators for you to make assessment of your effortless training. Make an assessment and engage in understanding your use of technique. Make your evaluation based on the feeling of effortless.

It’s not unusual when a higher level coach or practitioner trains with someone who is newer to jiu-jitsu for them to make things look effortless. This is happens because their technical superiority overwhelms the other person. To the untrained eye it may seem that the higher level person has superior strength and conditioning, but most of the time this is not the case. Things look effortless because technique of leverage and position are overwhelming the  technically inferior practitioner.

I believe Rickson Gracie’s  invisible jiujitsu mirrors the concepts of effortless jiujitsu. The closer you come to using effortlessness is easy to see when there is clearly a lack of understanding for the use of technique, but it isn’t as visible when people know moves and positions, but fail to implement the finer details of a position or technique. Another master of this is Ryan Hall. He often talks about not doing strength and conditioning to better his jiu-jitsu or mixed martial arts technique. Rationalizing that better technique will always prevail.

One more detail from the Tim Ferris podcast that stood out to me was when Terry talked about effortless being silent. The more noise you make the less efficient you are in the water. Although this might seem obvious in the water, with people splashing around making a ton of noise, I think it applies to jiujitsu as well. If striving for effortless doesn’t make sense, try being silent in your rolls. Make as little noise as possible in your transitions. (well, first of all become aware of any noise you might already be making) Once you are aware of the noise, try to silence it with efficient movement. Be effortless.

Eliot Kelly