Are you a "how" or a "why" guy?

This is my loose definition of the two types of Jiu Jitsu player I will be discussing, of course all of us are probably a mixture of the two rather than completely one or the other: The "how" student: A how student watches how the technique is done step by step, practises that technique and then implements it into his arsenal of moves They understand how to do the move and given the opportunity in sparring or a match could possibly pull of the new move !sually the only "ind of question you are li"ely to get from this "ind of student is "#an you show me that again$" or "%ow can I get that armbar if my opponent does this$" The "why" student: A why student watches how the technique is done and starts to analyse in their head "why" the technique wor"s, often this analysing period means they often do not implement the technique directly into their arsenal The questions from this "ind of student might sound li"e "why do you pull his elbow up there$" or "why do you control his foot rather than his an"le$" &o although it can ta"e this "ind of student a little longer to figure out why things wor" in Jiu Jitsu they start to see patterns developing as to why a lot of concepts are universal Jiu Jitsu 'y seeing these patterns I believe it gives them some short cuts to getting better quic"er and also a more complete understand of Jiu Jitsu &ome 'JJ players when learning a technique (ust need to "now "how" the technique wor"s, others need to understand "why" it wor"s This trait isn)t so noticeable early on in someone)s Jiu Jitsu career *except for perhaps the two different students as"ing different "inds of questions during the demonstration+ I thin" early on students will flirt between accepting "how" a certain technique wor"s without figuring out the "why" if that technique comes naturally to them Then also having to figure out "why" the technique wor"s because "how" it wor"s was harder for them to grasp initially I thin" the students that focus on the "how" rather the the "why" are often able to start using moves more quic"ly and effectively than the players that are stuc" on trying to figure out "why" it wor"s %owever once the "why" guy has figured that out, they can start applying that understanding to other positions or techniques a lot easier ,or example they start to see "why" most (oint loc"s are fundamentally the same few movements, so next time they are shown a different arm bar they are already ahead of the learning curve and "get" the technique quic"er ,or example, for any "imura shaped attac" on the arm the higher the elbow is above the shoulder *and further the elbow is from the body+ then the less movement that is required from the attac"er to finish the submission That is universally true whether you are a -.."g guy or a /."g guy, whether you are a white belt or blac" belt 0hile the "why" student is thin"ing about that the "how" students are (ust seeing this as another move that they need to learn "how" to do They don)t understand that the "why" it wor"s can often be very similar or the same as a previous technique or position As a player goes through the belt levels and eventually gets to teaching their own students I thin" this is where the difference is really highlighted The "how" guys can easily show how a move is done but because they never too" the time to figure out "why" a technique wor"s their explanation can often exclude a lot of important details about the intricacies of "why" the technique wor"s Also its hard to show to someone with a completely different body type "how" to execute a move if you don)t fully understand "why" it wor"s If you understand

"why" a move wor"s anatomically then this varies very little from person to person, so passing on this "nowledge to someone physically very different to yourself will be a lot easier I also thin" if a coach ta"es the time to ma"e his students understand "why" certain positions and techniques wor" in Jiu Jitsu it gives the student a certain freedom to explore new moves or positions with the a good chances of being able to figure them out I)ve trained with some very high level guys who only ever explained to me "how" to do techniques and I came away with very little stuff that I could use in my game Then some lesser "nown guys have explained to me the "why" of a move or position and it)s completely revolutioni1ed my game in some many different ways &o the moral of the story$ &tart figuring out "why" the things you do in Jiu Jitsu wor", it will give you a new understanding of your game and also lead down new paths of discovery 2xciting times3