What’s the Point of Buying BJJ Instructionals

How much can you learn without interaction and involvement? That is the question that has to be asked when it comes to paying for knowledge. So let's explore that both from the perspective of learning in general and with a focus on Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

We’re going to expand the perceived scope of this article and ask a simple question.

Why do people pay for knowledge?

Now as you think about that question, also remember that there is so much free information that is available nowadays. It can even be said that there is too much.

You turn on the TV and boom; you’re bombarded with all kinds of information. Then you connect to the web and a wide world of information opens up to you.

So given all the free information, why pay? The answer lies in the idea of value.

There are two sides to that coin. On one side you have the value that one person perceives, and on the other side there is a value or effort that the other person is giving.

Now it’s intuitive that a person will put forth more effort when there is an assurance that they will receive an equivalent benefit for giving their knowledge. So by paying for a product no matter what it is, there is greater likelihood that you will benefit more than if you had tried to find and organize all that information yourself.

Right now, I can go to Youtube and find hundreds of videos on BJJ techniques. A significant number of them are actually quite good too.

The problem is that I might not be able to find the quantity or quality of the specific information I’m looking for. An example is that I’m trying to add Cyborg’s Tornado Guard series to my game. It’s not impossible the whole series on Youtube.

I want to study the whole series though. The benefit of watching it all is that I can see all the possibilities of the position that he’s already come with. That will make it easier to add my own flair here and there.

In essence, it would allow me to start at an elevated position because I already have the experience of someone else to draw from.

A few years have passed since this article was written, and since then, there has emerged an instructional that focused on concepts rather than technique.

Its format consists of identifying a concept and then showing applications of that concept to prove its relevance. In my own experience, I found and am still finding applications for the material, so I recommend it.

Also I came across a fascinating discussion on concepts on Reddit. It will only be interesting to you if you train Jiu-jitsu, but I found it fascinating. For that reason, I want to share it.