05/08/2026
As a jujutsu gym with many students interested in mixed martial arts, I believe it’s important for them to clearly understand the key differences between jujutsu and MMA — and more importantly, how to approach MMA the right way.
That’s why I created these Six Pillars of MMA. They serve as our North Star for how we train and compete in mixed martial arts. These principles help bridge the gap between pure jujutsu and the unique realities of MMA.
Feel free to share your thoughts or questions.
1. Be Strike Safe:
Perform every technique with constant awareness that strikes are always a threat. Modify or avoid pure grappling/jujutsu positions and entries (deep half guard, certain guards, basic single legs, etc.) because they expose you to punches, elbows, and knees in MMA. Positions and movements that are safe in other arts often aren’t here.
2. Position First:
Prioritize maintaining and improving position over risky submissions, finishes, or low-percentage moves. Giving up position is punished brutally in MMA because bad spots get you hit or controlled. Take calculated risks only when position is secure or the reward clearly justifies it.
3. Dictate Where the Fight Takes Place:
Actively control the battlefield — stand-up range, boxing pocket, clinch, against the fence, or on the ground. Force the fight into areas that favor your strengths and exploit your opponent’s weaknesses. Use the cage as a weapon when appropriate.
4. Manage Distance:
Master control of range across all weapons. MMA has far more variables than any single discipline, so constantly maintain, close, or negate distance. Prevent opponents from enforcing their preferred range while setting up your own entries and combinations.
5. Treat MMA Like Its Own Martial Art:
View MMA as a unified combat sport with its own rules and realities, not a loose collection of striking + grappling. Adapt and integrate tools from boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, and jujutsu holistically. Make your strikes set up takedowns (and vice versa), emphasize clean transitions, and operate everything under MMA-specific constraints. (GSP-style dominance through context, not pure athletic carryover.)
6. Manage Intensity and Pressure:
Control the tempo, rhythm, and emotional climate of the fight. Know when to rush, when to pace yourself, when to agitate, and when to calm things down. Manage your own energy while imposing pressure that breaks the opponent’s will and gas tank.
