In this quick chat, staff member Kurt Weber sits down with Budo Jake to discuss Jake's newest instructional: Effective Counterattacks for Jiujitsu.
KW: Jake it’s been a few years since you made an instructional. What have you been up to?
BJ: It has been a busy few years. I’ve never stopped training and teaching jiujitsu. But other than that, 4 years ago I took a 200 hour Yoga certified teaching program and I’ve also dived deep in the practice of partner acrobatics. All of these practices involve body awareness and connection to oneself and others.
KW: Has the practice of Yoga and Acro helped your jiujitsu?
BJ: Yes, not so much directly, but indirectly. Of course Jiujitsu is about fighting. Yoga and Acro are not. But I find that people that just stick to one single modality can get a bit myopic. Personally, I find the similarities, the differences, and the overlap to be very helpful. Learning different ways of teaching body movement definitely helps me be a better jiujitsu teacher.
KW: So why an instructional on counterattacks?
BJ: Well nowadays there is so much instructional content out there. I wanted to make something both unique and helpful. The 30 or so techniques that I show on this series are moves that I use all of the time in training. I think students might find some new ways of escaping and countering. Sometimes it’s just a matter of seeing someone else do something that opens a door in your way of thinking, like “Oh, I didn’t think about that transition.”
KW: What level student is this instructional for?
BJ: I sincerely think all belt levels can benefit. These are all high percentage moves for me so they are great for beginners. Also, most of these are not the traditional escapes you will learn in class so intermediate and advanced students will also find plenty of new details.
I remember when I was a white belt I was always on the bad end of a submission, that’s just the nature of being a beginner. I felt like my level shot up when I began focusing on defense. Eventually I was able to limit the number of times I tapped during a roll until I developed a reputation for being a guy that was hard to catch.
More than just escaping however, this instructional focuses on being offensive even when you’re in a bad spot. For some moves, the idea is to get out of trouble and then attack. For other moves, the straight ankle lock for example, I show how you can stay safe while in the submission and attack your opponent with a stronger submission.
KW: You’ve been involved in the martial arts for a long time now.
BJ: Yeah, 35 years!
KW: Wow, what are the different arts you have studied?
BJ: Aikido, Judo, Kendo, Karate, and BJJ are the main ones. And for non martial arts, Yoga and Acro which I still practice frequently now
KW: That’s a lot of time spend studying all of those. Any last advice for the students?
BJ: Whether you’ve been training for 5 months or 50 years you have to keep it interesting. Learn new moves, try things on the “bad side”, visit a new academy. Personally, I’ve never really struggled staying interested. Sure I’ve moved around a bit, switched instructors or affiliations but in the end I just love moving, learning and applying the lessons. Every day is a new day and no two rolls are exactly alike.
Check out the trailer for Jake's new instructional:
Get it on DVD HERE.
Watch it now HERE.
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