Principles, Concepts, and Technique

I took a technically awesome private today, even though I had so many questions the instructor told me I was crazy. =)

I think part of the mis-communication was I was looking for general ideas, concepts, and principles, as opposed to nuanced technique. To answer all my questions in a technical fashion would have taken months.

This made me think of principles, concepts, and techniques and how they overlap:

prin-ci-ple:

a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived; i.e. the principles of modern physics.

Although Saulo Ribeiro wasn't explicit about using principles in his teaching, he was the first teacher I noticed organizing his instruction in such a way that I almost knew what he was going to say next. Instead of having 30 different escapes based on 30 different mount scenarios he had 2-3 that cycled together, governed by overriding principles. In this paticular case the principle was preventing attatchment before bridging and shrimping to escape.

con-cept:

a general notion or idea; conception.

I think of a concept as offering more individual detail than a principle, but probably less specific as it relates to individual technique. An example would be keeping your opponent flat from half-guard top with a cross-face. The principle would be keeping your opponent flat, the concept would be how specifically a cross-face accomplishes this objective (inhibting movement of the spine, thereby reducing hip mobility), and the technique itself would be the specific mechanics of cross-face.

tech-nique:

1. the body of specialized procedures and methods used in any specific field, esp. in an area of applied science.

2. method of performance; way of accomplishing.

3. technical skill; ability to apply procedures or methods so as to effect a desired result.

Having initially been taught BJJ with a strong conceptual base, and later being exposed to a curriculum based on principles; the latest stage of my journey has seen me be humbled in terms of the importance of fine details. This approach was best articulated by seminar footage I once had of Rigan Machado where he describes his BJJ as a game of inches. A grappling example of this sucking your opponent into you to add power to a cross-face (a technical detail you can feel but can't necessarily see!).