One of the most creative minds in the world of jiu-jitsu is Mike Bidwell – aka the “Spider Ninja”.
Mike has gained legions of fans in the BJJ world with his innovations on techniques (see the “Cry-angle Choke” video) and his videos on flowing and transitions.
Recently, I had the chance to see the newest video release by the “Spider Ninja” called “Flow-Jitsu” done in collaboration with Nic Gregoriades of the Jiu-jitsu Brotherhood.
This is not merely a collection of cool moves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzaAX3e89q4&
Watch one of the “Spider Ninja’s” short Facebook videos where he flows from one position to another and you will get an idea of his “be like water” style.
Flow-Jitsu is centered around the idea of having your jiu-jitsu techniques flow naturally from one technique to another in combination with how your opponents reacts.
The video explains the concept in addition to showing specific technique combinations.
There is that old saying that goes, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
This is what Flow-Jitsu does. You learn to create your own jiu-jitsu moves.
The “Spider Ninja’s” Flow-Jitsu also uses his innovative approach to tweaking techniques that you already know. Bidwell shows his own variations of the standard “hip bump / Kimura sweep” and this opens your thinking to how you might experiment with and tweak your own favorite techniques.
There is no shortage of technique resources out there on YouTube for those students of BJJ looking how to perform a basic triangle.
What is different with Flow-Jitsu is:
1) It teaches the philosophy of freeing up your jiu-jitsu from static positions into flowing effortlessly from one position to another.
2) It looks at moves in terms of chaining techniques together into sequences instead of individual techniques.
3) It looks at the basic techniques as a starting point from which to get creative and conduct your own innovations.
Mike shares some great details on how to maximize the effectiveness of the individual techniques and how he has made his own creative variations of techniques.
This video has enough material for you and your training partners to drill for months.
Watching some creative black belts roll, I am reminded of jazz musicians. There is a difference between a musician who has learned some cover tunes and can imitate them skillfully and the master guitarist who is improvising intuitively in coordination with the other members of the band.
He is improvising as the situation unfolds. He is in a state of “flow,” reacting unconsciously and intuitively to the other musicians.
If I am not stretching the analogy too far, this idea of intuitive, mindless flow is one of the concepts conveyed by Flow-Jitsu.
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Read also on Jiu-jitsu Times – “The Spider-Ninja” on Experimentation and Innovation in your Jiu-Jitsu
