Jiu-Jitsu Letter

The Newsletter

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May 2026

• What You Know From Being There 2026-05-28
• Stripes 2026-05-21
• Perfect Conditions 2026-05-14
• Right Voice, Right Time 2026-05-07

April 2026

• From the Outside 2026-04-30
• The Middle 2026-04-23
• Good at It vs Good at Teaching It 2026-04-16
• Slow Down 2026-04-09
• Turn Back 2026-04-02

March 2026

• Know Who You’re Rolling With 2026-03-26
• Teacher Mode, Student Mode 2026-03-19
• Jiu-Jitsu is a Tool 2026-03-12
• Safer to Reset 2026-03-05

February 2026

• One Reason It Escalates 2026-02-26
• Parents Should Train Too 2026-02-19
• People Have to Like You 2026-02-12
• Stay on the Mat 2026-02-05

January 2026

• Trust 2026-01-29
• When Teachers Disappoint 2026-01-22
• Premature Optimization 2026-01-15
• Rounds to Be Careful With 2026-01-08
• Keep Going 2026-01-01

December 2025

• The Relationship Changes 2025-12-25
• Patterns and Bad Days 2025-12-18
• Letting Things Start 2025-12-11
• Vibration Weakens Friction 2025-12-04

November 2025

• Longevity First 2025-11-27
• Better Partner 2025-11-21
• Train According to Your Life 2025-11-13
• Start Smaller 2025-11-06

October 2025

• Don’t Look for Perfect 2025-10-30
• Simple is Efficient 2025-10-23
• Not Militant 2025-10-16
• Training Safely is Selfish 2025-10-09
• From Excitement to Identity 2025-10-02

September 2025

• Lose on Purpose 2025-09-25
• Experiments 2025-09-18
• The Teacher You Want vs The Teacher You Need 2025-09-11
• Stepping Stones 2025-09-04

August 2025

• You Don’t Have Time to Be Great Everywhere 2025-08-28
• Connect and Help 2025-08-21
• Force Against Force 2025-08-14
• Questions, Part 2 2025-08-07

July 2025

• The In-Betweens 2025-07-31
• Do the Thing 2025-07-24
• When You Go Elsewhere 2025-07-17
• Future Self 2025-07-10
• Winning Within a Round 2025-07-03

June 2025

• Learning Tip, Teaching Tip 2025-06-26
• When Kids Fail in Class 2025-06-19
• Teacher’s Teacher 2025-06-12
• Advice 2025-06-05

May 2025

• Standards and Delusions 2025-05-29
• Early Exploration 2025-05-22
• Bucket and Filters 2025-05-15
• Once or Twice a Week 2025-05-08
• Body Fold Takedown 2025-05-01

April 2025

• Basics, Again 2025-04-24
• There Are A Lot of People A Lot Better 2025-04-17
• Tough Guys 2025-04-10
• When Change Occurs 2025-04-03

March 2025

• Don’t Go 2025-03-27
• How Many Times? 2025-03-20
• Think About the End 2025-03-13
• Ignorance Expands 2025-03-06

February 2025

• Reminder to Change 2025-02-27
• Permisison to Create 2025-02-20
• Jiu-Jitsu is Better 2025-02-13
• Everything 2025-02-06

January 2025

• Learn to Disengage Too 2025-01-30
• Let Them Help 2025-01-23
• Same Partner? 2025-01-16
• Repeat 2025-01-09
• Boring and Hard 2025-01-02

December 2024

• Learn When Ready 2024-12-26
• Do You Need to Compete? 2024-12-19
• Frank Mir on Grappling 2024-12-12
• Don’t Match Them 2024-12-05

November 2024

• For What? 2024-11-28
• Technical Snobbery 2024-11-21
• Help Others to Help Yourself 2024-11-14
• Fear of Them / Fear of Us 2024-11-07
• Do It Again 2024-11-01

October 2024

• On Flexibility 2024-10-24
• JJM on Teaching 2024-10-17
• Full Cup 2024-10-10
• You Should Leave 2024-10-03

September 2024

• Year Two Completed 2024-09-26
• Never Fight for Free 2024-09-26
• Train Elsewhere 2024-09-19
• People Near You 2024-09-12
• Connection and Humility 2024-09-05
• BJJ Drama 2024-09-05

August 2024

• Ask Yourself 2024-08-29
• Give Them a Head Start 2024-08-22
• On Approaching Training 2024-08-15
• Adding and Subtracting 2024-08-09
• The Cost 2024-08-01

July 2024

• Don’t Make Them Hurt You 2024-07-25
• Be Their Favorite 2024-07-18
• Tell Me 100 Times 2024-07-11
• Some Notes 2024-07-04

June 2024

• Work on Technique 2024-06-27
• Clothing 2024-06-21
• Quarter to Quarter 2024-06-14
• Estimate Me 2024-06-06

May 2024

• Craig Jones on Danaher 2024-05-30
• Exhale 2024-05-23
• Insurance Policy 2024-05-16
• Don’t Quit 2024-05-09
• Connections 2024-05-03

April 2024

• Some Books 2024-04-25
• Right Ways 2024-04-18
• Questions 2024-04-11
• Trust 2024-04-04

March 2024

• Debrief 2024-03-28
• Fake Gurus 2024-03-21
• Don’t Flex 2024-03-14
• Beginner Quotes 2024-03-07

February 2024

• Don’t Celebrate 2024-02-29
• Quick Note to Parents 2024-02-22
• It’s Not Part of the Script 2024-02-15
• Amateur 2024-02-08
• Help More 2024-02-01

January 2024

• Compounding 2024-01-25
• If You Don’t Have Time 2024-01-18
• It’s Your Hobby 2024-01-11
• Phony 2024-01-04

December 2023

• No More Clashing 2023-12-28
• Culture Matters 2023-12-21
• Promoted to Black Belt 2023-12-14
• Titles and Letters 2023-12-07

November 2023

• You Never Know 2023-11-30
• No Influence 2023-11-23
• Your Opinion 2023-11-16
• Gis 2023-11-09
• Not a Family 2023-11-02

October 2023

• Costs 2023-10-26
• Goals for Class 2023-10-19
• Third Place 2023-10-12
• Bad People Stay Bad 2023-10-05

September 2023

• Not Self-Defense 2023-09-28
• Art for Art’s Sake 2023-09-21
• Change 2023-09-14
• Maybe You’re the Problem 2023-09-07

August 2023

• Reassurance 2023-08-31
• Helping or Impressing? 2023-08-24
• Excuses 2023-08-17
• No Resistance 2023-08-10
• Tap Early, Tap Often 2023-08-03

July 2023

• BJJ with Strikes 2023-07-28
• Compete? 2023-07-20
• Teach for Yourself, Practice for Your Students 2023-07-13
• Skip It (For Now) 2023-07-06

June 2023

• Social Media 2023-06-30
• When You Adopt, You Drop 2023-06-22
• DECS 2023-06-15
• Black Belt Proxy 2023-06-08
• Doing It Wrong 2023-06-01

May 2023

• Jita Kyoei 2023-05-25
• Spirit of the Game 2023-05-18
• Train Forever Formula 2023-05-11
• Infinite Games 2023-05-04

April 2023

• The Art of Learning 2023-04-27
• Simple 2023-04-20
• Owen Livesey on Raspberry Ape 2023-04-13
• Think Slow 2023-04-06

March 2023

• Teach Kids 2023-03-30
• Sometimes, You’re Supposed to Lose 2023-03-24
• Learn From the Best 2023-03-16
• Class, Part 2 2023-03-09
• Class 2023-03-02

February 2023

• School Rules 2023-02-23
• The Main Reason 2023-02-16
• BJJ and Progress 2023-02-09
• They Don’t Really Love It 2023-02-02

January 2023

• Having Fun 2023-01-26
• Onboarding and Off-Boarding 2023-01-19
• No Sides 2023-01-13
• The Worst 2023-01-05

December 2022

• Ultracrepidarian 2022-12-29
• Self-Defense First 2022-12-22
• Below Average 2022-12-15
• Roger on Beginners 2022-12-08
• Advice Sometimes Expires 2022-12-01

November 2022

• You Don’t Have to Take It All 2022-11-24
• Talk Less 2022-11-18
• Disengage 2022-11-10
• Declining is OK 2022-11-03

October 2022

• Caring and Sweating 2022-10-27
• Confidence 2022-10-20
• New Skills 2022-10-14
• Reminders, Not Lessons 2022-10-07

September 2022

• The Actual Reward 2022-09-30
• Embrace Everything 2022-09-22
• It’s Not Working 2022-09-16
• Cheap 2022-09-09
• Tough Times 2022-09-01

August 2022

• Kareem on Kobe 2022-08-25
• Why You Don’t Learn from Failure 2022-08-18
• Yes Rounds Off 2022-08-11
• Mikey Musumeci on Hobbyists 2022-08-04

July 2022

• Ten Years of Teaching 2022-07-28
• Gracie Jiu-Jitsu La Palma 2022-07-21
• Promotion Motivation 2022-07-14
• Musashi 2022-07-07

June 2022

• Emerson 2022-06-30
• Secret 2022-06-23
• Sylvio Behring 2022-06-16
• Daniel Coyle 2022-06-09
• Danaher on the Darce 2022-06-02

May 2022

• Big Magic 2022-05-26
• Do Your Own Thing 2022-05-19
• Fall in Love with Who You Are 2022-05-12
• Foolish 2022-05-05

April 2022

• It Was Fun 2022-04-28
• If You’re Stuck 2022-04-22
• It’s For Nothing 2022-04-14
• That’s Why I Skate 2022-04-07

March 2022

• It’s Not Always What It Feels Like 2022-03-31
• Your 60s 2022-03-24
• Warmups 2022-03-17
• Henry Akins on the Basics 2022-03-10
• Your Network 2022-03-03

February 2022

• Define Victory 2022-02-24
• Frustration 2022-02-17
• Boredom 2022-02-10
• Ben Askren 2022-02-03

January 2022

• Ryan Hall’s Open Letter 2022-01-27
• Teach Sooner Than Later 2022-01-20
• Reps on Blues 2022-01-13
• Change Your Mind 2022-01-06

December 2021

• Dean Lister on Danaher 2021-12-30
• Thinking About Belts 2021-12-24
• Valente Brothers on Belts 2021-12-16
• Chris Haueter on Belts 2021-12-07
• It’s So Freaking Awesome 2021-12-02

November 2021

• You Already Know 2021-11-26
• Advanced Learning 2021-11-18
• It’s Not the Olympics 2021-11-11
• If You Trust the Source 2021-11-04

October 2021

• On Using Notebooks 2021-10-28
• Unlearn to Learn 2021-10-21
• The Way of the Fight: John Danaher 2021-10-14
• Far From Mastery 2021-10-07

September 2021

• Just Keep Going 2021-09-30
• Why Jiu-Jitsu 2021-09-24
• The Fighter’s Mind: John Danaher 2021-09-17
• They Want to Help 2021-09-10
• Advise Others, Advise Yourself 2021-09-03

August 2021

• Garbage Time 2021-08-27
• Recreational Practitioners 2021-08-20
• An Excerpt 2021-08-12
• A Bad Clinch 2021-08-06

July 2021

• White Belt Sparring, Part 2 2021-07-30
• On Celebrating 2021-07-23
• Dinosaur Facts 2021-07-16
• White Belt Sparring 2021-07-09
• More on Knowledge 2021-07-02

June 2021

• Recall and Feedback 2021-06-25
• Gordon Ryan on JRE 2021-06-18
• Skills Over Attributes 2021-06-11
• You Don’t Need to Win Every Battle 2021-06-04

May 2021

• Good Defense / Good Offense 2021-05-28
• Their Excuses 2021-05-21
• Stop Moving 2021-05-14
• Keep It Moving 2021-05-07

April 2021

• Jean Jacques Machado 2021-04-30
• Late Stage Defense 2021-04-23
• Harvey Penick 2021-04-16
• Looking Foolish 2021-04-09
• Knowledge 2021-04-02

March 2021

• Stage 5 2021-03-26
• Everything Works 2021-03-19
• Question Authority 2021-03-12
• Why Jiu-Jitsu 2021-03-05

February 2021

• Hippo Teaching Baby 2021-02-26
• Seminar Submissions 2021-02-19
• Worth Defending / Opening Closed Guard 2021-02-12
• Is Success Good? 2021-02-05

January 2021

• Quitting for Injuries 2021-01-29
• Stick With It 2021-01-22
• Headlocks 2021-01-15
• If You’re Not Sure, Tap 2021-01-08
• Take Action 2021-01-01

December 2020

• Clinch Takedowns 2020-12-25
• RNC in MMA 2020-12-18
• Copy / Discover 2020-12-11
• Technique Lasts 2020-12-04

November 2020

• Is it BS? 2020-11-27
• Start at the End 2020-11-20
• I Know That Already 2020-11-13
• When I Train With You, I’ll Make My Final Decision 2020-11-06

October 2020

• Discipline of Do Easy 2020-10-30
• Sometimes Wrong Works 2020-10-23
• Not Too High, Not Too Low 2020-10-16
• How Long Will You Train? 2020-10-09
• I Don’t Know 2020-10-02

September 2020

• George Leonard’s Mastery 2020-09-25
• The Intermediate 2020-09-18
• Weak and Dumb 2020-09-11
• The Common Path 2020-09-04

August 2020

• Whack a Mole 2020-08-26
• Holes in Your Game 2020-08-21
• Not Magic 2020-08-14
• Don’t Talk So Much 2020-08-07

July 2020

• Window of Compliance 2020-07-31
• We Send Them Elsewhere 2020-07-24
• Get to Your Spots 2020-07-18

June 2020

• Prepare for Your Forties 2020-06-12

May 2020

• Tap Earlier 2020-05-18

April 2020

• Basics 2020-04-28
• Commit 2020-04-14
• Teach It 2020-04-07

March 2020

• Extra Credit 2020-03-31
• Checkmarks 2020-03-26
• Autodidactism 2020-03-24
• Month-to-Month 2020-03-19
• Learning 2020-03-18
• Master One Side 2020-03-16
• Laundry 2020-03-11
• Secret Techniques 2020-03-10
• Perishable 2020-03-09
• No Rounds Off 2020-03-08
• Train Slow 2020-03-07
• Imposter 2020-03-06
• Breaks 2020-03-05
• Plateaus 2020-03-04
• Sparring, Part 1 2020-03-02