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MOVEMENT SKILLS

Maximum Strength, Power, and the relationship between the

two are essential to your performance.

ACCORDING TO JOHN DANAHER, THIS ONE PHYSICAL SKILL CAN HELP
YOU BECOME ONE OF THE FASTEST LEARNERS IN BJJ.

This article will show you the keys to

develop and weaponize that skill.

In his Self-Mastery Course John Danaher

discusses 2 foundational keys to your

overall success in BJJ. The obvious key as

Examples JohnDanaher
we all know is…Training time and training
gives in his article
efficiency (to include the use of that
specifically are below.
training time).

Bottom Position Movement

His second key is having good movement Skills : Bridge, shrimp, rev
skills and physical dexterity. This is the shrimp, supine heist

skill we will be focusing on in this article.

Top Position Movement

Skills: pushing, pulling,
When he discusses movement skills what
standing while in someone’s
exactly is he talking about?
closed guard (deadlift)

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These basic movements are often drilled mindlessly in warmups and done for

speed not proper movement quality. What John is discussing in his Self-

Mastery course is that the mastery of these movement patterns creates more

efficient, powerful, and successful movements that are necessary in almost

every BJJ interaction. Imagine those movements having a higher success rate

when you attempt them simply because your mechanics are correct.

That is why movement quality so important, it is the position when your body is

using the strongest muscle groups to their fullest potential to create the

specific movement pattern you are desiring. You want the correct muscles to

fire and engage in the order as needed for maximum effect.

Bonus, knowing what is needed for you to complete a specific movement

means that you also know how to position your opponent so that they cannot

move optimally against you.

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That’s the skill, Proper Movement Quality…now, how do we
weaponize it?
First, we need to break it down into two categories…general movements vs

specific movements. You’ll want to work in both areas but doing everything

at once is not advantageous.

So, if we look at the key bottom position movements - bridge, supine heist,

etc.… the key muscles engaged are the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps.

Knowing that where to start? General Preparation.

Here we are focused on the movement quality, hypertrophy (growing muscle

fibers), strengthof the muscles, and sometimes the energy systems.

Example: To engage the muscles that are used in the Supine Heist we could

use an exercise like the Barbell Back Squat.

To start with, can you execute the specified movement properly and without

any pain?

Once we know you are moving properly, we can assess the strength of those

specific muscles and see how you stack up for your weight category.

Essentially, how strong are you compared to others in your weight class? For

this example, we are looking for BWx2 for your 1RM.

We can also check the relationship between your strength and power, using a

strength deficit test. This gives us even more insight into how these muscle

work in that movement pattern. With that data in hand, we look for the

weakest link and focus on that area for our general preparation…while not

losing focus of the others of course.

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In this example let’s say this athlete needs more muscle and strength but

moves well and has good overall conditioning.

We will then use the first phase to focus on building (hypertrophy) the glutes

and muscles used in the bridge.

The second phase, Specific Preparation , will depend on the success of

phase 1…did we add enough muscle. If so, we move on and focus on

increasing the strength and power of that muscle. If not, we adapt and

develop a program to achieve our original goal.

Assuming our athlete now has perfect movement quality, has built the needed

muscle and strength,it is time to develop BJJ power.

That is step 2, Specific Preparation. In this phase we will begin to use

exercises more like the actual BJJ movement itself.

With the hip heist or bridge you are typically driving off one leg as the other is

used to pivot the body. Same idea goes for takedown, you usually have one

leg positioned to the rear and you drive off that foot.

To emulate this, we might look at switching from the traditional Back Squat to

a Split Stance Squat. We would also change how and what we are lifting in

this phase. We are no longer looking to add muscle. Instead, we want to

increase our max strength and power in that movement. To do this we begin

by changing the weights, sets, repetitions, rest periods, and the speed that

we move the bar.

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Below are some examples of how we would plan out

the above phases.

WEEK 1 - DAY 1 WEEK 1 - DAY 4

SQUAT SQUAT

REPS %1RM REST REPS %1RM REST

8 85% 3-5 Min 6 90% 3-5 Min

8 85% 3-5 Min 6 90% 3-5 Min

8 85% 3-5 Min 6 90% 3-5 Min

WEEK 2 - DAY 1 WEEK 2 - DAY 4

DEADLIFT SQUAT

REPS %1RM REST REPS %1RM REST

10 70% 3-5 Min 10 70% 3-5 Min

6 90% 3-5 Min 8 90% 3-5 Min

6 90% 3-5 Min 8 90% 3-5 Min

4 95% 3-5 Min 8 95% 3-5 Min

WEEK 3 - DAY 1 WEEK 3 - DAY 4

SQUAT SQUAT

REPS %1RM REST REPS %1RM REST

8 90% 3-5 Min 8 90% 3-5 Min

8 90% 3-5 Min 8 90% 3-5 Min

8 90% 3-5 Min 8 90% 3-5 Min

8 95% 3-5 Min 8 95% 3-5 Min

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To build lean and strong muscle I typically lift heavier than you would in a

typical bodybuilding style program. When lifting heavier you typically can’t get

in the same high volume, so we adapt and get our volume in by adding an

additional day each week.

SPECIFIC PREPARATION:
BUILDING POWER

WEEK 3 - DAY 1

REPS %1RM REST

3 65% -

3 65% -
SPLIT
3 65% -
STANCE

SQUAT 3 65% -

REPS %1RM REST

4 100% -

4 100% -
BROAD
4 100% -
JUMP
4 100% -

REPS %1RM REST

4 80% -

SQUAT
4 80% -
JUMP
4 80% -
non-counter

movement

Dumbbells 4 80% -

REPS %1RM REST

4 - -

SQUAT
4 - -
JUMP
4 - -
Assisted

bands

4 - 5 Min

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Obviously, we are now looking to move lighter weights faster. We have also

begun changing the main exercises to more BJJ specific movements.

In the above example we would use this combination of exercises each week

with the only adjustment being the %1RM for the Split Stance Squat. Week 1

we start at around 65% 1RM and work our way up to 70% 1RM by week 3.

WEEK 1 - DAY 3

SQUAT

REPS %1RM REST REPS %1RM REST

1 78% 15 Sec 1 78% 15 Sec

1 78% 15 Sec 1 78% 15 Sec

1 78% 15 Sec 1 78% 15 Sec

1 78% 15 Sec

Day 3 would again focus on moving weight for speed. Here we are looking for

a controlled decent with a powerful push to the top position. Speed is key…if

you are moving at a rate slower than the first repetition either take a slightly

longer rest or decrease the weight.

WEEK 1 - DAY 5

LEG CURL - 1 LEG

SGL LEG SQUAT
Stability ball

REPS %1RM REST REPS %1RM REST

12 57% - 7ea - -

12 57% - 7ea - -

12 57% 30 sec 7ea - 1 Min

The final day of the week is used for some simple auxiliary work and areas

that you could use additional work.

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 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, having proper body mechanics

and movement is one of the keys to your

success in BJJ.

Focus on those skills and adapt your Strength

training to complement those qualities and you

will see incredible results in your game.

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