Mental Model Database

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Learning Models

Learning models are about hacking your mind. These mental models help you get the most out of your training, learn faster and more consistently, overcome mental roadblocks, identify weaknesses in your game, and develop a champion’s mindset.

• 80/20 Rule
  80% of the results come from 20% of the effort.
  
  
• Abundance Mindset
  Learn to be happy for other people. Their gain does not necessarily mean your loss.
  
  
• Beginner’s Mind
  Approach every learning opportunity as if you are a total beginner.
  
  
• Cognitive Load
  Your brain struggles to learn when it runs out of working memory.
  
  
• Consistency
  Take a step every day to improve your Jiu-Jitsu, even if that step is small.
  
  
• Defensive Thinking
  Focus on succeeding rather than avoiding failure.
  
  
• First Principles
  Break down complex ideas into fundamental concepts that stand alone, then build them back up again.
  
  
• Flow
  Create triggers and routines to help you get into “the zone.”
  
  
• Form to Leave Form
  Drill techniques until they move from your conscious mind to your muscle memory.
  
  
• Growth From Discomfort
  Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
  
  
• Growth Mindset
  Don’t think of attributes like talent and athleticism as unchangeable.
  
  
• Habits Over Results
  The best way to achieve long-term results is to build and maintain short-term habits.
  
  
• Incremental Learning
  You won’t fully learn a technique in one attempt.  Revisit a technique over time to add in the details you weren’t ready for earlier.
  
  
• Interleaving
  Study related skills or concepts in parallel.
  
  
• Investing in Loss
  If you want to get good at something, you need to spend a lot of time being bad at it. View loss as an investment, rather than something to avoid.
  
  
• Kaizen
  Kaizen is the Japanese concept of continuous improvement.
  
  
• Learning Styles
  When sharing information, the medium makes a difference.
  
  
• Loss Aversion
  We feel losses as more painful than equivalent gains, so we tend to avoid situations where losses could occur.
  
  
• Making Smaller Circles
  Master the core fundamentals of a technique before you branch off into the details. Focus on depth before breadth.
  
  
• Meditative Drilling
  Meditative drilling transfers new techniques into muscle memory, even when you aren’t on the mats.
  
  
• Mindfulness
  Train your attention on the present moment. Observe your mind and body as if from a distance.
  
  
• Mnemonics
  Use memory shortcuts, known as mnemonics, to remember complex concepts.
  
  
• Naming Concepts
  Assigning names to complex concepts makes them more memorable.
  
  
• Plus, Minus, Equals
  Train with people better than you, worse than you, and equal to you.
  
  
• Principles Over Techniques
  Memorize the principles behind techniques, rather than obsessing over step-by-step details.
  
  
• Resulting Fallacy
  The quality of your decisions and the quality of your results are not always related.
  
  
• Scientific Method
  Make your decisions objectively, and actively try to break your own ideas.
  
  
• Self-Competition
  The only person you need to compare yourself against is the person you were yesterday.
  
  
• Shuhari
  The steps to mastery: imitate, break from tradition, innovate.
  
  
• Spaced Repetition
  Spaced repetition is a technique that greatly improves your memory.
  
  
• Systematic Abandonment
  What got you here won’t get you there.
  
  
• Train With Purpose
  Define goals for every training opportunity and plans for achieving them.
  
  
• Training Handicaps
  Train without using your strengths to improve your weaknesses.
  
  
• Transfer of Learning
  You can get better at something by learning seemingly unrelated disciplines.

Mechanical Models

Mechanical models are about hacking your body. These mental models help you use physics and human biomechanics to control your own body and manipulate your opponent’s body with maximal force and efficiency.

• 3 Joint Rule
  Limb control requires you to dominate 2/3 of the joints; submissions require 3/3.
  
  
• Anatomic Hierarchy
  The human body has six weapons, and the core is the strongest.
  
  
• Body Tethering
  Be wary of any technique requiring you to tether your body to your opponent’s core.
  
  
• Breaking Mechanics
  Breaking mechanics describe the process of breaking a lever or joint.
  
  
• Center of Gravity
  It’s easier to sweep your opponent in the direction where they’re already leaning.
  
  
• Choking Mechanics
  There are three types of chokes: air chokes, blood chokes, and cranks.
  
  
• Controlled Breathing
  Be mindful of your breathing at all times.  Maintain a deliberate, relaxed cadence of breath.
  
  
• Core Mechanics
  All techniques in Jiu-Jitsu are combinations of frames, levers, wedges, clamps, hooks, and posts.
  
  
• Critical Control Points
  For every technique, there are only a handful of control points that really matter.
  
  
• Direct vs. Proxy Control
  Control can be either direct (eg. a limb) or proxy (eg. the gi).
  
  
• Elbow-Knee Connection
  Keep your elbows close to your knees.
  
  
• Force Compression
  Apply force in rapid, intense bursts.
  
  
• Force Vectors
  Identify the exact angle of incoming force, and meet it or redirect it.
  
  
• Head Position
  Proper positioning of your head controls the distance, improves posture, and minimizes attack vectors.
  
  
• Inside Channel Control
  Control the “inside channel,” or the space between your opponent’s arms and legs.
  
  
• Kinetic Chains
  Joints affect each other when in motion, and creating “closed circuits” with your limbs makes them stronger.
  
  
• Leading Edges
  Focus your defense where your opponent is generating the most force.
  
  
• Limb Coiling
  Keep your limbs coiled close to your core, ready to strike.
  
  
• Mirrored Stances
  Only square your stance if your opponent squares their stance as well.
  
  
• Overwhelming Force
  Use overwhelming force when attacking a limb or joint.  The limbs you’re attacking with should be stronger than the limb being attacked.
  
  
• Ratchet Control
  Add rotation when controlling a limb to increase effectiveness.
  
  
• Seated vs. Supine Guards
  Guards can be either supine (on your back) or seated.
  
  
• Single vs. Double Lever Control
  Attacking a single lever affords more damage, whereas attacking two levers affords more control.
  
  
• Solid Frames
  The strongest frames use bone structure and contain few joints that can be collapsed.
  
  
• Staying Loose
  Keep your muscles relaxed, and only tense them to finish an already successful attack.
  
  
• Stress and Recovery
  Alternate between periods of stress and recovery for maximal growth.
  
  
• Surface Area
  Apply force using the smallest possible surface area of your body.
  
  
• Theory of Alignment
  Jiu-Jitsu is a game of preserving your posture, structure, and base, while attempting to break your opponent’s.
  
  
• Types of Guard
  All guards can be classified as hook-based, clamp-based, frame-based, or hybrid.

Social Models

Social models are about hacking your environment. These mental models help you improve relationships with our training partners and build effective teams.

• Cognitive Dissonance
  When your actions and beliefs aren’t aligned, your mind gets uncomfortable and tries to resolve the discrepancy.
  
  
• Discipline Equals Freedom
  Disciplined practice creates freedom of thought and expression.
  
  
• Emotional Contagion
  Emotions are contagious. Be wary of infecting those around you with negativity.
  
  
• Extreme Ownership
  Take ownership of all areas of your life, even those that are not your fault or responsibility.
  
  
• Feedback Loop
  Feedback is most effective when provided immediately.
  
  
• The Golden Rule
  Treat others the way you want to be treated.
  
  
• Idea Communism
  Rapid leaps in knowledge come from the free sharing of information.
  
  
• Keep it Playful
  Jiu-Jitsu needs to be fun for both you and your training partner.
  
  
• Levels of Competition
  People operating at the highest levels aren’t just “better;” they structure their lives in a completely different way.
  
  
• Psychological Safety
  Create an environment where thoughts and opinions can be freely shared.
  
  
• Race to the Bottom
  Avoid the pressure to undervalue your services.
  
  
• Raise the Level in the Room
  For senior grapplers, the best way to improve is to help your training partners improve.
  
  
• Rapoport’s Rules
  Understand and respect ideas before you criticize them.
  
  
• Respect People, Not Positions
  Treat everyone equally, regardless of their status or authority.
  
  
• Respect Your Opponent
  Failure to respect your opponent often has disastrous consequences.

Strategic Models

Strategic models are about hacking your decision-making. These models help you make quicker decisions in battle, set the table to make victory more likely, and find and exploit weaknesses in your opponent’s game.

• Alignment Over Position
  Managing alignment is more important than managing position.
  
  
• Asymmetric Warfare
  Prefer strategies that attack your opponent where they are weakest.
  
  
• Committed Techniques
  When you have multiple options available, favor techniques with a higher chance of retaining position.
  
  
• Controlling the Distance
  Take away space when attacking and create space when defending.
  
  
• Crossing the Center
  The body is vulnerable when limbs are passed across the center line.
  
  
• Defend With Purpose
  A defense is only a good defense if it gets you out of the bad position.
  
  
• Dictate the Pace
  Be active, not reactive.
  
  
• Dilemma
  Force your opponent to choose between two equally bad options.
  
  
• Do What Works
  If a technique is working for you, it’s a good technique regardless of what anyone says.
  
  
• Dominant Angles
  Create positions where your opponent is not fully facing you, and exploit those angles.
  
  
• Double Trouble
  To fully control a near side limb, you must also control a far side limb.
  
  
• Economy of Motion
  Favor techniques that require minimal movement and energy.
  
  
• Funneling
  Take away options until your opponent is forced to fight you where you’re strongest.
  
  
• Grip Inversion
  The instant your opponent grips you, find a way to invert the grip so you control your opponent.
  
  
• Grips Dictate Position
  Whoever controls the grips controls the position.
  
  
• Inversion
  Find creative solutions by attacking problems backward.
  
  
• Kuzushi
  Break your opponent’s balance before attempting a throw or sweep.
  
  
• Layers of Guard
  Like an onion, the guard has many layers. You pass by peeling the layers back one by one.
  
  
• The Map Is Not the Territory
  Mental models are not always 100% accurate.
  
  
• Marginal Gains
  Big results come from a series of small, incremental improvements.
  
  
• Mask Your Intentions
  Mask your intentions so your opponent doesn’t know what you’re really attacking.
  
  
• Microtransitions
  Single techniques rarely work. Success comes from exploiting windows between techniques.
  
  
• Minimize Attack Vectors
  Position your body to reduce the places your opponent can attack you.
  
  
• Myopia
  Don’t get so caught up in what you want that you ignore better opportunities.
  
  
• Path of Least Resistance
  Go around obstacles rather than through them.
  
  
• Phases of Guard
  Guard has three distinct phases: engagement, maintenance, and retention. Know the right strategy for each.
  
  
• Placeholders
  Don’t abandon one point of control until you’ve replaced it with another.
  
  
• Position Over Submission
  Prefer positional advancement and security over submission attempts. Do not attempt submissions unless you are fully secure in your position.
  
  
• Predictable Responses
  Each technique has a series of common and predictable reactions.
  
  
• Prevention Over Cure
  Preventing a problem is better than fixing it after the fact.
  
  
• Prioritize Longevity
  Be wary of techniques and scenarios that have a high chance of self-injury.
  
  
• Probabilistic Thinking
  Create scenarios where success is a high probability.
  
  
• Return on Investment
  Calculate the risk and possible reward before taking any action.
  
  
• Shifting Platforms
  Continuously move and switch angles to prevent your opponent from applying pressure against you.
  
  
• Table Selection
  Find or create environments where you’re likely to get the best result.
  
  
• Technique Chaining
  A non-stop series of attacks works a lot better than a single attack.
  
  
• Tipping Points
  Once you have sufficient leverage or momentum, your desired outcome can no longer be denied.
  
  
• Win Conditions
  By knowing and exploiting the rules, you can defeat an otherwise superior opponent who doesn’t.
  
  
• Windows of Opportunity
  Timing is just as important as execution.