Building An A Game That Still Grows: with Dr. Colin Smith

In this episode of Caffeinated Jiu Jitsu, I sit down with Dr. Colin Smith to discuss the balance between building a dependable jiu jitsu game and avoiding the trap of becoming too comfortable.

Developing a clear style is important. Every grappler needs positions, reactions, and attacks they can trust. But over time, comfort can quietly become a limitation. If you always return to the same patterns, your training partners may start to read you, your growth may slow down, and your game may become easier to shut down.

Together we explore what it really means to “have a game,” how comfort zones show up in training, why predictability can become a problem, and how to expand your options without abandoning your strengths.

This conversation is for anyone trying to build a more complete, adaptable, and honest version of their jiu jitsu.

Connect with Colin on Instagram @turtlekingbjj

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Check out Rubber Bones at the website link in the show notes, and remember to use the discount code Caffeinated10 when ordering. 

Caffeinated Jiu Jitsu is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu podcast focused on BJJ training, competition preparation, mindset development, belt progression, and the lifestyle of grappling.

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Keep Your Passion Brewing

Transcript

Welcome And Topic Setup

Joe Motes (Host) 0:54

Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Caffeinated Jiu-Jitsu. I am your host for those of you who are new to the podcast, Joe Motes, and I am super excited for today's guest episode. Today we're going to be talking about something that every uh jujitsu practitioner and grappler runs into at some point, whether they realize it or not. And that's the difference in developing a game and become uh and becoming trapped by that game. It's something I've struggled with myself. Um, you know, at first our game feels like progress and we really uh have positions that we trust, but over time it can become our worst enemy. So today, my guest, uh Dr. Colin Smith and I are gonna unpack this topic. I'm excited to have uh Colin on. Uh first time we've had a doctor on. That's kind of cool. And we uh I have a physician in the house, um, especially if we're having back troubles. Uh Colin is a chiropractor. He is a former D1 rugby player. Uh he's a purple belt training out of proving grounds jujitsu. Did I get that right, Colin? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And he is also founder of, and it's something we're gonna talk about here in a moment, the horde. And that's uh Metro Detroit's only five time a week, 6 a.m. class. That's that's crazy. Who gets up at that time to train jujitsu?

Colin Smith 2:34

Uh, the crazy guys, apparently.

Joe Motes (Host) 2:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. He's also celebrating his first year of uh private practice and is on uh chiropractic uh uh practice. Hey, Colin, look welcome, man. Excited to have you here. Thank you, Joe.

Colin Smith 2:49

It's uh it's been an honor to uh be approached to do this episode, but also to be able to go from listener to to participant on the uh podcast sphere. Uh I'm quite the podcast uh listener myself.

Colin’s Rugby To Jiu-Jitsu Path

Joe Motes (Host) 3:06

So awesome, man. Well, we appreciate it. And um it's crazy. So just uh how Colin and I got connected uh for the listeners, he posted a story. I think it was a story on Instagram. And as everybody knows, I'm really big. Um, you know, one of the things that keeps me in jujitsu is the community and the the vibe of the gyms that I train at and things like that. And it was uh it was a post of you dancing with uh, you know, I I I think I guess it was a member of of uh your your club. Okay, okay, well that's good. That's good. Um and man, it would just it just really kind of stood out. And I I reached out and said, hey man, that's awesome, and I want to get you on for a conversation. Uh so that here we are. But before we get into our our big topics, um let's let's learn a little bit more about you. Uh, you know, uh your background, how what your connection to jujitsu is, how you kind of came into it. Like what's your origin story, as we call it?

Colin Smith 4:09

Sure. Well, as you touched on, Joe, I uh I'm a division one, former division one collegiate rugby player. I played uh at my alma mater, life university. Uh it's a chiropractic school for those of you not familiar in Marietta, Georgia. Uh did all four years of undergrad there. I did an exercise science degree, and then I went on to become a chiropractor through that school as well. Um, and that's where I transitioned. Once I got um injured playing rugby, I had a really gnarly shoulder injury, had to have surgery, decided I'm done playing rugby for a little bit. Would be a better use of my time. So I picked up rock climbing and then jujitsu afterwards. Uh person I can credit that for is one of my best friends, Doug. He uh he and I met in chiropractic school. He was training at the gym that I'm currently calling my home gym up here in Michigan. He went down to Georgia to start the school, and he was always telling me about it. I'd seen it on the TV, I've watched UFC. So I was like, Yeah, you know what? We'll try it. The stereotypical, like, ah, I'm a man, I can I can do that. I've done all this other crap. So we uh he he finally one day said, Man, I don't want to hear another word until you come to the 6 a.m. and try it. And I was like, Well, I can't not do it now. So uh challenge accepted, right? Yep, it's been uh it's been history ever since. Um finished chiropractic school. Uh we both became chiropractors. He went off to Michigan and has since done his thing. And now we are uh fortunate enough to be where we're at, where I've been able to create a small little group of crazy people called the Hort. Um where we get up at five o'clock in the morning and start at six, and we don't stop sometimes until 7:30, 8 o'clock in the morning.

Joe Motes (Host) 6:05

That's nice. I'll tell you, I I I joked about you know who gets up that early, but I used to get up that early too. When I was working in Atlanta at my uh position before I worked at this last company, I and it's one of the reasons I switched gyms and went to Alliance. That's where I met Dark, where you have another point of connection, right? The third. Yeah, that guy. And he would beat me up every morning from like six to seven a.m.

Colin Smith 6:32

Right.

Joe Motes (Host) 6:32

And I mean, beat me up. I I I bet when I started rolling against him, I was a two-striped white belt. He was a blue belt. Um, I bet you in five minute round, he'd tap me six or seven times, man. It was brutal. Brutal. Brutal. Put me in. It was it it got better over time. It got less and less. And still this day I haven't I haven't beat him in a round. Uh, it is he knows it's a life goal of mine. Um it's a little harder now that we don't train in the same area, but um, I'm hoping that goes to my advantage, and I know he listens, so he knows I'm coming. Still.

Colin Smith 7:11

If that's the case, I gotta shout him out. Dark, I hope you uh you and the missus are having fun, my friend. Uh, we miss you up here in Michigan. All of the KK guys, as Joe mentioned, I uh I've glossed over it a little bit. I am originally from the Atlanta area um with jujitsu, so I trained out of KK's, that's who I got my blue belt under. And uh yeah, Michigan and Atlanta, they're two different styles of jujitsu. It's wild.

Speaker 3 7:37

It's a very big difference.

Joe Motes (Host) 7:39

Yeah, it really is. Um, and then even when you go start training down in South Georgia, like Georgia has is one of those states that is kind of growing, I think, in jujitsu gym like um creations or like people starting gyms. You know, a lot of like purple and brown belts now, I think in jujitsu are starting gyms where it used to be like I don't know when it was first on the scene in the US, like you had to be black belt or get greasy affiliated or something, right? Um but like in a Georgia, it just seems like it's exploding and all all through the southeast. Um, I mean northeast, it's it's been pretty, you know, pretty pretty dominant. I don't know, do you do you guys have a high high density of of gems around you?

Colin Smith 8:25

Um more towards so if you're familiar, everybody from Michigan knows. If you're familiar, you you do the hanging. You got the UP, right?

Joe Motes (Host) 8:32

We they call I guess that's what they call the UP.

Colin Smith 8:36

Um down here north, uh more towards Detroit, there's a very big um area. In fact, um off the top of my head, there's five, maybe six big name gems. You got assembly with Dick Garmo. Um, you have um there's ourselves proving grounds, you've got the juvenile competitors. I our top-ranked competitor, Joe and David, are both juvenile pans and um now adult ADCC trial veterans. Um you have uh Voyage, which is also over in the Metro Detroit area. But then if you go up a little bit higher, you hit another Alliance. Uh you have uh Port Huron, you have a couple other big name gems that are rather heavy hitters in the uh the jujitsu community, it so to speak.

Joe Motes (Host) 9:28

Yeah, yeah. Those big franchise gems is heavy in competition. That was one thing I noticed when training with Alliance. I'm full circle now. I'm back in uh Ironwolf. And they they fall under logic. I'm not sure if you're familiar with logic. Uh huh.

Speaker 3 9:41

Yeah.

Joe Motes (Host) 9:42

Uh Christian Woodmancy um is kind of who they uh fall under, but it's uh it it's it's crazy how just jujitsu continues to grow and to expand. And like there's no slowing down, man. I mean, it's it's insane. And I've learned even more with the the the podcast and things like that. Did you did you get your your blue belt through uh Kenny Cam? Or was that you did, right?

Colin Smith 10:09

Got it, uh, got it on the morning class. Uh he called us up and was like, hey, I got this guy and this guy, they've been working their butts off. And I was yeah, he's Oh my god. Oh my god, it happened.

Joe Motes (Host) 10:21

Uh and then he's got a lot of people. Yeah, it it I'll tell you, it was um so I'm a blue belt uh and uh I think I've had my blue belt maybe for a couple years now. Um, but I remember just thinking, wow, like all those hard mornings and all those tabs. It was like it felt worth it. And you got your purple belt at uh the proving grounds, correct? Yep.

Colin Smith 10:48

I've been up here since 22. And um before I got into proving grounds, I was living out in Jackson, which is right dap smack in the middle of Michigan. Um there wasn't a whole lot of training out there, and really the only standardized uh type of training that I got was driving all the way to the gym that I'm currently at every other week or once a month for about a year. And then um we had a little bout of homelessness, so we we fought through adversity and we're like, all right, let's get back after it. And um was able to kind of step into the position that molded into what we are now, which is the leader of the 6 a.m. starting that out and uh creating something new.

Building The Horde 6 AM Crew

Joe Motes (Host) 11:33

Yeah. Yeah, I I noticed there's a need for six early, early morning classes. There really is. Uh, it was really convenient for me. And um like Ironwolf now, we have a 5 30 a.m. Friday, but that's it. That's it. And it alternates between gi and no gi. And I'm I'm I'm not opposed to no gi. I I train both, but I I prefer ghee. Um so I like getting extra ghee time in. Uh, but it's hard when it's kind of only a Friday. What what kind of made you think, okay, you know what, we need to, we need to maintain, we need to build something here, this this horde early morning thing, right? Two big factors actually played into that.

Colin Smith 12:16

One was my career as a chiropractor. I'm kind of hamstrung. Um at the time I was working for the joint chiropractic, I had uh had become the head chiropractor and opened up an office. Um people in the area know it as Clarkston. It's uh where Pineaba big um concert venue is up near us. Um there was a chiropractor office there position. Um so we stepped in and filled that void. Well, that meant my schedule was 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday every single week. And most people were training either noon or seven in this area, and my closest gym would have been either up in Flint or where my current gym is. So I'd be getting to practice at 7:30, maybe 7.45 if pra if traffic was really crappy that night. And after about a week or two of doing that and making that trek out there after work, I realized one, I'm not gonna progress past blue belt if I have to keep doing that. Right. Yeah. But two, I'm just frustrating myself. So I ended up approaching um a couple guys and said, Hey, if I put together a 6 a.m., would you guys be interested in like checking it out? And it was usually the the dads of the group, the little bit older uh individuals or people with jobs that took them away from training. There was a couple people that said yeah. So I was like, all right, let me talk to the coach now. Let's let's see if there's even uh room for that in in his in his world. So luckily there was, and he uh he gave us our blessing, and that was the uh the birth of the horde. We um we decided, hey, wingin' a prayer type of activities, and uh you build it and they will come type of results.

Joe Motes (Host) 14:05

So yeah, we uh they call the one at Ironwolf the Sleepy Assassins. I love it. I thought and then uh Darek and I um well what'd we do? We even had a patch uh made for at Alliance. It was the caffeinated rollers. I love it. And he made them, and we so those of uh if you I I think if you did X amount of uh morning classes, you got one of these patches. I still have it sewn on one of my Alliance geese.

Colin Smith 14:33

And that's just that's a point of pride, isn't it?

Joe Motes (Host) 14:36

Yeah, it was so cool. Um I love it. Yeah, it it it is. I I like it. I you know, I kind of equate it with that mentality of and I like this. I see a lot of gyms doing like women-only classes. Yep. Um, you know, so women aren't just always in there with the guys and the heavyweights and stuff, they get something. It's just kind of the same thing, right? Those that would probably quit eventually because they can't work all day and then train jujitsu all night, especially if their family uh have family. So that's awesome, man. That's that's exciting to hear that you guys are doing that and that you're leading that.

Colin Smith 15:11

So it's funny you mentioned the patch too. So KK had a patch. You guys got one as well. Um, our de facto nickname, um, if you see the logo, it's a little zombie duck.

Joe Motes (Host) 15:23

Yeah, I saw that. I saw that. Yeah, I'm gonna put it in the show notes so people can check it out.

Colin Smith 15:28

Heck yeah. Um, I ended up um falling in love with the idea of the patch, the hey, you've been around long enough type of deal. So um one of our guys, David uh Rice, he is now a blue belt. He was the last year Pan American champion for I forget what belt, um, but a juvenile pan champion. Um he uh his dad created a company. So we have our own in-house uh nogi uh kind of branded company. And I approached him and said, Hey, we want to do a nogi set. Can you do this design for me? And we ended up having um custom rash guards made for the with that logo on it, and it actually has uh my patch on the side for my company.

What Having A Game Means

Joe Motes (Host) 16:17

Uh oh, you gotta let me know where to pick that up, man, and buy one of those. That sounds awesome. I'll send one. Heck yeah, man, I will send you one. I uh I'm excited. This year we we uh have an affiliate sponsor, rubber bones. I met their owner and CEO uh or founder, Maria, and like her artwork is just I don't know, it's just really cool and edgy. Heck yeah. I was wondering how you got in with rubber bones. Uh you know, uh one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is this this having a game, and people talk a lot about um having a game plan in jujitsu. And I always uh I thought it's a perfect time to share this quote. I love it when Mike Tyson says everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face, right? It's true when it comes to jujitsu. Uh guard players have a game, uh heavier, bigger guys kind of have that pressure passing game, leg lockers have a game. Uh wrestlers, right? Uh they they definitely have have a game and they come to the table with a little bit of uh advantage, but what does it mean to you uh when you know someone says, maybe a white belt or blue belt or someone says, you know, I'm developing my game in jujitsu. What do you what comes to mind and what are some of the things you start thinking about?

Colin Smith 17:35

Um originally I would say all right, you're worth shopping something. That's you that's where you're kind of sharpening the iron. Um now I would say more so as a coaching standpoint, is like, all right, is this person taking the step? All right, if step A of a Kamor is identifying, all right, I want to do a Kamora, and step B is all right, this is the grip, and then this is how I go down the line. It's identifying where that individual is at for me. Um, some of the earlier uh newer guys, you can see it kind of click in their head, like, I want to go after this arm, but I have no idea what to do with it. And then the guys that have been here a little bit longer, once they've gotten that rhythm of all right, this attacks this wrist or this bends this part of the arm, they start to piece it together, and then you can just watch it happen in slow motion. So once we determined that, that was where I started to pick up all right, your body type, your style, your mentality is gonna lend yourself to one side of the spectrum over the other side. Like if you're a super aggressive wrestler, you're probably not gonna set as many traps as like a really sneaky guard player would, and vice versa. It's just it's the dichotomy or the div the the separate poles of those games starting to show themselves more.

Joe Motes (Host) 19:05

Yeah. I how long how many years have you been uh training jujitsu uh now, Calla?

Colin Smith 19:11

Um I started January of 21. Oh yeah. So a while now came up here, yeah. Came up here in 22.

Joe Motes (Host) 19:20

Yeah, so so this is uh a question I'm uh uh very comfortable asking, especially since you're coaching now. Uh from say white belt to maybe blue belt, even up to purple belt, like what at what point do you uh feel a jujitsu practitioner starts to actually have a game versus you know having just a few moves? I didn't start feeling like I had an actual game until uh maybe about nine or ten months ago, to be honest with you. But um there is a point, right?

Colin Smith 19:56

Oh, a hundred percent. Um if I know what it is yet, I am not quite there. But um, where I can feel my specific journey of jujitsu is going, I've gone away from all right, I want to look at just Kamoras or armbars or uh or or a specific attack to where can I find these specific attacks? Like, all right, can I find a Kamura in side control? Can I find it in North South? Can I find it inside uh inside mount? Can I find it on the bottom? Can I find it in Turtle? And yes, we have a guy that can do Kimoras from Turtle and it's horrifying. Um so those um steps in the trajectory of finding the game are where it changed for me. Whereas when I was a blue belt, I was sitting there going, all right, today I want to work my Kamoras, and I would do a topside Kamora, I would do a north-south camora, I would do the mounted Kimora, probably twice and then go off and do whatever else was given to me. Um, and that's where that kind of split happened. Honestly, for me, about late blue belt, I'd say like third or fourth strike blue belt for me.

Joe Motes (Host) 21:10

Uh we hear the we hear the term a game a lot uh when talking about uh game plans and jujitsu or whatever. Uh sometimes I I this is just I wonder if we kind of misinterpret that a little bit or misunderstand what an A game is. I think a lot of times I hear here's w what it meant to me when I first started seeing it was um can I land, you know, if I land the punch choke X amount of times in a role, I am on my A game. But I think that's a misunderstanding of it, right? I think uh it should be broader, right? Like all the way from takedown to pass to what I mean. Do you think that's that that's something that we do a lot? And jujitsu is kind of misinterpreted what an A game should be.

Colin Smith 21:57

I definitely agree. And you I think you said it perfectly. Was when I was in that earlier blue belt, white belt phase, it was all right, I can hit this move, this move, this move, this move, this move, however many times I want. And that's now my A game. No, no, no, no. It's all right. Can I take it from, for example, right now, my A game would be the front headlock to a turtle, to Darse, to Anaconda, punch choke, the whole chain of events.

Joe Motes (Host) 22:22

It's a horrid path.

Colin Smith 22:23

Yeah, if you're good at that, that's awesome, man. Um, but what it what it came from was identifying a lack of exposure to it in the community around us, even though we have a strong wrestling base, not a whole lot of people up here are attacking the front headlock the way they should be. And it took uh upper level black belt in Don, uh, one of our uh high-level coaches, going, Hey, here's an Anaconda look. And I immediately looked at it and went, that's getting added today. And then we did it over and over again. And then I was like, hey, wonder what happens if I change my grip here from a darce to an anaconda or anaconda to darce. Oh, wow. And then that just evolved into wow, I can hit this on whoever I want. Okay. That's the change into the the the game.

Comfort Zone Versus Real Growth

Joe Motes (Host) 23:11

Like what an A game really is, right? Like this. Yeah, if you can go through that whole sequence and also like addressing the the counters. Um, you know, I I think that's important. It sounds it sounds like, you know, as we talk, developing a game gives really uh is important and it gives us structure, but the structure can also be limiting if we're not careful if we're thinking only about submissions, which I I remember as a white boat. That's all I thought jujitsu was just submissions. Um how do I do that? Yeah, yeah. It brings um I I think it brings us to kind of the trap side of this all. And uh one thing I've noticed in training is that uh being comfortable can can kind of be a little sneaky. And what I mean, it it doesn't always feel like uh like uh you're trying to avoid something. Sometimes it feels like being smart, but you you go with what works, right? I mean, I all of my jujitsu right now is pretty much based in in two out of two closed guards, right? Closed guard and then half guard, but you kind of play where you feel strong and you avoid positions where you feel clumsy. No one uh I won't say no one, but a lot of us don't even train both sides when we're drilling technique. But over time, uh that can narrow our development. Where do you see? Um, I am getting to a question here, where do you see uh the line between kind of smartly? That's a word, relying on your strengths and hiding, uh relying on your strengths and hiding in your comfort zone. Like, where's that line between those two? I would say it really depends on your your frame of timeline.

Colin Smith 25:02

So if you're prepping for a tournament or if you're prepping for a super fight or any type of competition type of style training, your goal isn't necessarily to learn more techniques or to learn more strategies to win. It's to figure out what brought you. I know Mike Mike Tyson, we had a great thing. Like you're not gonna come to the dance with somebody else or leave the dance with somebody else when you came with this person. You gotta go to the dance and leave the dance with the person you came here for. That's what training is. Um so taking that lesson into jujitsu is if if I'm getting ready for a competition, I can't be worried about picking up new skills. I gotta hone that. And if I'm just training, that's the time to kind of bridge out and be like, oh, I don't care about getting tapped. Like as some people who have followed us know, is I'm 160 pounds and I'm five foot seven, our biggest guy is 329 pounds and six foot three. So he's a big man. Um it's just playing today's roles in the back of my head. Um that style of training, if I were to go hard every single round with every person I have, I might be able to beat 45-50% of them straight up just on skill, but I'm gonna get worked and destroyed trying to play that game. So what we end up doing is playing the all right, let's play this position. Oh, yeah, you threw me. Let's reset and let's play this position again and let's hone your skill and my skill at the same time. And that's bigger change.

Joe Motes (Host) 26:43

Yeah. I I like that. I um do you do you think there are some like tales or some signs that um and again, this can be from your perspective uh too, not just you know what you see with other other, you know, students or what have you that you're coaching, but uh have you you noticed any signs that a player's game is starting to maybe stunt their growth? Maybe they're staying on this too long and not um venturing out and improving, like adding more tools to the toolkit.

Colin Smith 27:16

Yeah, there's a big principle that we have in in the morning classes um one treat every round like it's not AD CC. Everybody always says that it's like you either treat the round like ADcc finals or it's just another lazy day in the park. I personally have this mindset of I can giggle and still try to choke you. So we we can have fun and do everything, but we're still getting the work done. And I think that's where I want to see jujitsu kind of transition out, is we can still have those really hard dog rounds where it's like we're going for collar times really hard, we're going for snap downs really hard. But if you do something funny, like make me fly three feet through the air because you moved your arm too quickly, I'm gonna giggle like a little child because, well, I mean, that's the giggly part of jujitsu. And if you can't have fun doing this, I think you might be in the wrong spot. Um that much important. It has to stay lighting, yep. Staying light's the important part. Our job as training partners, at least my mentality, is if I'm not the one working, right? Like if I'm not the one putting, all right, I want to do this, this, this, I have to give you the correct response for whatever you're working. So for example, if if I'm working single leg X and you don't do the proper step back, what did you do though that I could be working on? Um, and vice versa. If if you're I start rounds and say, hey, what are you working on today, Joe? And you say, Hey, I'm working on collar drags to to to darses or collar, whatever the the thing is, all right. Well, let's see what it looks like. You might grab the collar right away, or you might grab a collar sleeve or however it is, and then we start from there. Um it allows for us to just bridge past the ego a little bit and go, all right, this is what we're working on. Go.

Joe Motes (Host) 30:06

Yeah, it's funny you mentioned the collar drag. I'm working on that this week. I love that. I I used to be a uh solely guard puller, but uh I I got tired of just pulling people into the worst positions ever, which is on top of me. Can do you think that uh someone can be it's this is a weird question, but can someone be winning around or beating you know opponent after opponent, but still be developing poorly? Kind of feels like um yeah.

Colin Smith 30:39

A hundred percent. Uh to to say that you're beating people means you're winning, yes, but to say you're beating people and that you're progressing is not the same thing. Um if you just want to win tournaments, there's a straight ankle lock for everybody. Um but if you want if you want to learn how to do jujitsu and be a superhero, um you can. And I think that's the interesting part. Um, and that that's more where I like to focus is like, all right, let's learn Kamoras today. Let's learn a different move, let's learn this. Yeah. So that way when you do see it later down the line, it makes a little bit more sense than just okay, you know how to do that. Good job.

Predictable Versus Dependable A Game

Joe Motes (Host) 31:22

Yeah. I think that's good insight. I think that's an important point. That's why I wanted to bring it up because sometimes, you know, the Matt scoreboard can lie to us, I think. I um like I've I've lost rounds to people. So I develop more uh losing around to say Darek than losing around to someone who is a collegiate state champion wrestler who maybe has been chain uh training jujitsu for you know a few months and they just they outweigh me by almost a hundred pounds. Like it's different, right? We think that you know maybe I'm doing fine because I'm surviving or sweeping past and whatever. Um, but it's it's just not the case. I think you have to look at what you walk away from that role with if you win or if you lose, right? 100%. Uh because I think we all, and just in life in general, we lose, we learn more from losses than wins. At least that's my opinion. I think uh once people kind of start solving this for themselves, another issue shows up in this whole uh game planning and staying on this game over and over, and and that's predictability. And that's something that that I see when I work kind of the same uh stuff over and over, especially in smaller gyms. I think one of the most interesting parts about jujitsu is that the room um does eventually learn you. Uh I know I keep coming back to dark, but it's just because we have this this point of interest, same point of interest here, and I've learned a lot of my early jujitsu was spent with him. I started learning some of his stuff. Didn't really matter, but he found ways around it. But your training partners start to know your grips and your entries and your your favorite uh side to work things or your favorite passes, your timing, whatever, right? It they you start to get very predictable when you work this A game over and over. And how I guess a question is um, how maybe how how do we become predictable without realizing it? And then what are some of the clues that um uh we we kind of give off to our training partners that they start saying, okay, yeah, this is this is the game. I mean, what are some of the ones that stand out maybe for you and your experience?

Colin Smith 33:47

Um that's a really good question. I recently have seen a big jump in this uh dilemma for me, where it's all right, I'm right now I'm trying to work my judo a little bit, or I'm trying to work uh some takedowns, and what'll happen is that I'll get it once kind of messy, and then I'll be like, all right, let's try to get it clean this time. And the second time I go for it, they either just guessing 100% correct and they do the exact wrong thing for me. So if I'm going for a foot sweep, they pick the foot that I'm trying to sweep up and move it away from me, and now I've got to reset everything in my brain, or they don't, and they kind of somewhat respond to the question a little bit, and that forces me to go, all right, I can either force this move or abandon it. And that's where I think the predicament of of predictability kind of comes in is if you always force the move, they're gonna know that's coming. And if you never force the move, they're not gonna respect it enough to try it. So you gotta kind of split that that difference of force it sometimes because you just gotta get the rep done, and then hey, that wasn't clean enough, let's reset it up. And somewhere in between down the line, it's gonna just click. And right that that's been my my take on that.

Joe Motes (Host) 35:17

Um I you know, I I I think I I think that's uh that's a good take. I um I don't think predictabilities uh necessarily are always bad. Um but the difference between predictability uh w what what do you think? Do you think there's a difference between predicta being predictable and uh something being dependable? Like a hundred percent. Because I think our our games uh should be less of one, more of the other. But I mean, do you do you feel like there's there's a difference between that? A hundred percent.

When Your Best Stuff Fails

Colin Smith 35:53

And um to to kick it back to when I played rugby, our school, life university was a D1 school. We were nowhere near the size of any of the other D1 players to a man, I think we lost 20 pounds to the disadvantage. Um that being said, one of the things we did very well was the basics. We would drill the basics until every person understood them and could complete them as prescribed. And that allowed us to one, when we retired, not have to think as hard. And two, allowed us to focus on other skills, right? Uh, a lot of people always forget that fitness and and your cardiovascular ability is a skill and it is trainable. Um, rugby back to that is a is a thinking man's game. Jiu-jitsu's human chess, you know? So if you're not thinking, you're dying, literally. And that's kind of the fun part of jujitsu is if the more you get exposed to it, the faster you can answer questions. The faster you answer questions, the more questions you can ask in five minutes. And the more questions you ask in five minutes, the more you can actually do the game.

Joe Motes (Host) 37:05

How do you think someone should kind of respond when their A game starts getting shut down? Like, what are some of the things uh they need to start thinking about as a workaround? Either during a roll or like after, and they're like sitting back, okay, this just isn't working for me anymore.

Colin Smith 37:21

Um my personal when when my a game stops working, I don't necessarily look at it as a negative. I know some people do. Um to me, it's an opening to a new set of skills. So if I have, let's say, for example, my turtle game, my my head head front headlock down to the DARS, down to the anaconda punch choke. If my A game is to take you down and then submit you with a DARS, it may look like I'm throwing you the anaconda first, but it's only because I know that that's the fastest way to get to that darce entry for me in that chain. So if you're able to roll with me, for example, too many times in a row, and you know that that's how I get to that entry, you start hiding your neck, you start laying flat, you start that that chain. Well, it's a pretty easy pivot from that locked up rear-naked choke to the dars. All I gotta do is step over your hip line. So that's where the game goes from all right, a distinctive A to B to C game down the line, instead of being, hey, I know these techniques and how they chain. That's how I've taken a look at how to chain things. Um, I know a lot of people the uh the Holy Trinity for that, where it's like, all right, you have one, you have all three.

Joe Motes (Host) 38:47

That's my Yeah, I I think that's it's perfect. Uh it it is. It's about learning how to how to change chain things together. That's something that I've started to see even in my game is the ability to chain different things. And it's almost like um, you know, kind of like a dependable game says, you know, I have a a clear path. A predictable game is, well, I only have one path. And well, you know, I I think we I think having a a clear path that obviously works is is is better than having just one path. You know, like you, you, you and it's real cool you talk about turtle um because uh I have a hard time keeping people on turtle. I mean they want to get out of that as fast as possible. And I I um uh it it's uh like if you don't have different ways to to chain whether it's the Dars or Anaconda, like you're not gonna hold that position long. So someone like you and your game, you're gonna have to have uh, you know, as little bit of predict uh less predictability than any any path uh that needs to be taken, if that makes sense. Agreed, agreed. I I I think the question becomes, you know, how do how do we keep a uh a dependable game while adding more paths? Like what how how do we do that? And I think a lot of people here expand your game, you know, um get better with your transitions, and they assume it means they need to throw everything out and start chasing just these random techniques. Like, um, I don't do double leg takedowns. I will I won't ever. I don't I don't shoot in where I have to put my knee on the ground because uh man, my knees are terrible. I have the knees of a 70-year-old. But you know, uh I I think this can become its own problem, and and you don't want to become scattered and especially go after things you know won't work.

Colin Smith 40:49

Right.

Joe Motes (Host) 40:49

Uh you want the expansion to connect with what you already do and what you're good at. Um I don't know if you're familiar with uh, and you may be you're a business owner, but uh strengths finder is um this this business method of improving yourself and your strengths. And uh basically what it is is it has you focus on what you're good at and get even better than putting energy into something you're half good at. And that's what I'm talking about here. You know, how can someone expand their game and your opinion without abandoning things that already work for them? Like you wouldn't you wouldn't stop doing DARS because people aren't, you know, you wouldn't completely never do DARS again. Right. Right if that makes sense.

Colin Smith 41:35

Um to take it a step back, I would say it kind of breaks down to the personal philosophy of uh we all had when we first came in. Did jujitsu, at least the ones like us that have taken it farther than just white belt, um, of holy crap, that was really cool. Can you do that again? Um, because that's how I learn is I'm a little bit of a caveman, and my training partners from Marietta will say the same thing. Oh, I remember him getting constantly leg locked. Well, that's because that was really cool, and I wanted to see it again. And that's that's kind of my my mentality of it is like you said it a second ago, what would I do if somebody started laying flat or getting out of the dark? Well, that's what bred into the the punch choke. That's what led into the the switching my arms to the to the anaconda versus the dars and how I'm able to do that from the front headlock as the origination position. It didn't become a game until I realized all three of those could happen at the same time. And that was where, all right, even if you know I'm gonna do that, which one am I gonna hit you with? Right. You don't know because it's they're all the same grip, they're all the same entry, they're all the same thing. And they can't defend all of them at once. Exactly. That's the important part. And that right there's the key is all right, when you're learning something new as the person doing the uh the reps on it, you have to remove your ego before the other person does. So that way, oh, I got single leg X this week. All right, how many different entries are there? There's the need shin to shin, there's back door, there's front door, there's all of these different entries into these positions. All right. Now that we're into that position, what can that position do? It does this, it does this, it does this. Okay, how can I now chain that from a live role into that position? And that's been what the the the theme of the the transition would be is right moving it into that gamification zone.

Joe Motes (Host) 43:39

Gotcha, gotcha. How how would you or how would you recommend somebody that you're coaching uh choose kind of what to add next? You know, is it they look at um what's worked for them in the past and and stay similar, or should they go like way and try some uncharted territory? I mean, how would how would you coach it maybe yourself or somebody else that needed to add some more levels?

Expanding Your Game Without Chaos

Colin Smith 44:06

Um Usually uh one of the big principles we do in our in the horde is um if we don't get uh the curriculum through the the the coaches uh that teach the evening classes first, um, like for today, for example, we had class before they posted it. Today we did single leg X, like we were just talking about. Um, the reason being is we had some newer guys that had never seen leg locks before. Well, how can I get newbies into that position safely and effectively and get them something that they might be able to use today? Um, so we taught the straight ankle lock from single leg X. I didn't teach the entry into it, I just taught them how to throw their hips up and tip them over. So I To answer that, it's it's using the building blocks as the goal mark instead of being like, all right, the goal is to learn the straight ankle lock of the single-legged hex. The goal is to learn how to lift your hips here. The goal is to then learn how to kick them out this way. Now the goal is to learn how to collect the foot. Because that was a more digestible path for them. Because I'm sure you've seen it or you've been a witness to it, where a coach says eight million things in a language that sounds foreign and now your eyes are glazed over and you don't remember what he said.

Joe Motes (Host) 45:24

Yeah. Yeah, that's I think that's a common thing, like a forever thing, where it makes sense when he's he's explaining it, but then when the clap goes off, it it all goes away, right?

Colin Smith 45:36

Hallucination clap and it's gone.

Joe Motes (Host) 45:40

One of the like foundations that are the reasons why I launched uh caffeinated jujitsu was because I think I mentioned this on our kind of intro call, is like it felt so overwhelming, especially when it came to techniques and learning and things like that. Um just endless amount. How do you or how do you teach people to not or how to avoid becoming uh technique collectors? Right? Like just like I I have all these notebooks from when I was a white belt and early blue belt, and they're just filled with techniques, and I bet a third of them I've never even used or probably will use. Exactly. But I spent a lot of time writing about them.

Colin Smith 46:23

Right and looking at it.

Joe Motes (Host) 46:24

You know, I don't do that anymore. Just um, but does that question make sense? Uh is it kind of clear? Okay.

Colin Smith 46:34

The the short answer for me is how do I stop people from becoming technique collectors? I I think it goes back to what I do for a living. So as a chiropractor and as a as a medical practitioner, I have to know a lot for my job. I have to know all OBGYN through state boards. I have to know biochemistry and all of these other steps that the state boards tell me in order to put DR in front of my name and DC after my name. Yep. And as a jiu-jitsu athlete, that's very similar. If you want to be a blue belt, you gotta know how to hip escape and do all of these steps. So collecting a technique becomes the goal of the early white and blue belt stage. But around mid-blue belt, if you're going with some consistency, you should see, in a core essence, the vast majority of jujitsu. You're gonna see an armbar, you're gonna see a leg lock, you're gonna see a komor, you're whatever the position you're gonna see in. To me, that means you've been exposed to it. And then there's that step farther of I want to do only straight ankles in this position, block uh, and almost like the Gordon Lion of like calling your shot. Yeah. And how do you play that kind of all right? I don't want to be a technique collector, but I want don't want to be so not risk-adverse, but say, hey, I'm going only for arm bars from now on, you know, like it or Hodger Gracie, only submitting people with the cross collar into the technical, you know it's coming. Yeah, it's a technical mastery that like I aspire to have, but I couldn't sit there and handicap myself at a world stage and be like, you mean to tell me I'm not gonna sit back on this heel hook or I'm not gonna sit back on this straight ankle lock? Yeah. No, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna take the win. I'm gonna get my name up in the lights and we're gonna do our thing and do the coaching. I'm gonna get my get my medal. Exactly. But if you're just doing it for the fun of the game, like I'm sure I I don't think you're taking this to a professional.

Joe Motes (Host) 48:45

Oh, I'm not gonna be a world champion or I'm not either giving any IBJ JF instructionals.

Colin Smith 48:50

So, as the hobbyists that we are, to be a technique collector would be somebody that goes above and beyond, I would say, just getting exposed to the uh to the positions and to how you can use each position. So that's where I separated.

Joe Motes (Host) 49:09

Yeah, I think the flying arm bar is awesome to watch. But will should I spend time in class learning that?

Speaker 3 49:16

I don't know.

Joe Motes (Host) 49:17

I mean, I'm like I obviously if the professor's gonna teach it, I'm gonna work on it and drill it, but like I'm never going to do that ever.

Colin Smith 49:26

I remember at K's we had a we had a um oh it was early in my white belt. We were doing a drill, and I remember looking over at it, going, you guys, you guys want me to do that?

Productive Discomfort And Positional Rounds

Joe Motes (Host) 49:38

What's especially if you because you said you were what five, five ten, five nine? Five seven, five, six, five seven, yeah, yeah. So um, yeah, and and a lot of people in the gym are uh at least in my gym are bigger, bigger than me. And I'm I'm not tall at all. I'm like five ten and I'm five five ten or five eleven, and I'm one eighty something, and everybody's bigger than me. So like there's only I guess part of my A game is um or or part of my game development has been around who I'm training with. Like I don't want a big guy on top of me. It's gonna be hard to get him off of me, right? If they, you know. Um but yeah. I don't know where I was going with that. I think there's a a a big difference between um what's a term? It's a good time to put a term in there. Kind of productive discomfort, right? You can still be uh you can be uncomfortable, but you can still be productive and then just getting smashed in random positions. And I think people need a way to train outside of our comfort zone without feeling like or wasting time or or maybe destroying our confidence or their confidence. Um you know how can how can we you know train um I don't want to say how can we train discomfort in a productive way, right? Maybe how can we use that to be productive? Does that make sense?

Colin Smith 51:16

I feel like a great example of that is getting comp prep ready for some of our guys, especially being one of the smaller uh individuals uh in my gym. I have to hamstring one of our guys. He's rather big compared to me. So him and I rolling straight up, standing like I would in a comp round, that doesn't do him any good. Like he can throw me halfway across the room just by picking me up. Um simultaneously, we have a guy that's really, really, really good at leg locks but has a terrible time with wrestling. So we have to artificially create the competition level for them. So for the bigger guy, I have him play mainly guard and say, hey, can you actually try to stop somebody that's a lightweight from running around you and doing the the Speedy Gonzalez style, uh constantly attacking? And then on the other side of the spectrum as a coach, I have to turn around and say, All right, you're too good at that. What does it feel like when you when I pin you down to the ground? Can you actually do the correct answer to that move? Um that's been the the hardest part is being able to do both and do it effectively without having to pull in somebody else and be like, hey, roll with this guy, do this, this, and this only, uh, because that's part of getting a team ready for a competition. You know they're gonna see some heavy pressure, you know they're gonna see some wild leg locks, and you know they're gonna see some crazy passing. So, how do you simulate that becomes the coach's like job, in my opinion, is my team gets better if I'm the one helping them hone it either a move or a particular uh idea as far as all right, you're on bottom. How do I get up? You gotta be a dog, man. Get up. Like, don't just accept it. Just stand up. Yeah, just stand up. Um, there's certain times where you just gotta put your big boy pants on or big girl pants on and get up. You can't just lay there and take it.

Joe Motes (Host) 53:31

Yes. Yeah. That's a great point. You you gotta keep moving. Um because I help with the kids class now at Ironwolf, and there's this one kid, and he's man, he's there for like three hours because he stays for tanks of tungsten and all that. Um, but he'll do that, man. He's a big guy, you know, he's he's a tough kid, and he just kind of lays there. And I'm like, dude, you're gonna just lay there, they're gonna submit you. But you know, I think this is uh one of the points I wanted to bring up, you know, hearing your response is I think this is important. Well, I think it's important that gyms really make time for specific training and not just always drill the technique and then go roll for an hour. Um because I can tell you, especially in developing a game plan, specific training has helped me a lot. Um do you feel like these well, you may know them as the positional type rounds. Do you think there's a lot of value in that that type of training? Um, do you feel like someone can get more out of that than live rounds? What are your thoughts on that?

Colin Smith 54:38

Um, it depends on the frame of reference, in my opinion. If you want both parties to excel and get the most out of each round, a positional is gonna be probably your best bet because you can control the ego a little bit. Um, if your goal is to get that ego flared up a little bit and you want to get that uh that comp ready, kind of I'm the biggest in the room, you're gonna have to let them kind of battle battle it out and take the reins off a little bit. Umps we like to do, especially with newer people when we have a lot of people, is call it the uh the human chess game. So I make a move, you make a move. If I grab your right wrist with my right wrist and now we're same side, that's all I'm allowed to do. Now you make another move. So we're able to ramp up and turn it into a flow role kind of that way. Uh, but as far as like controlling, hey, you have too much horsepower for me. Like you're too strong. I can't combat that. Well, if you're only going 80%, I'm going 100%, I'm gonna I run the risk of getting hurt. You're not really getting a full compound out of it. Or I could start us on our back, and now I've got my seatbelt on you, and you've got to strip my grips and you gotta work your A game to kind of get out of it. That's what I see it is how you prep for it is determines whether or not, all right, we're just having fun or we're prepping for something. Yeah, yeah.

Identity Traps And Adaptable Style

Joe Motes (Host) 56:08

I I think that I think that's a great point. Um it's just I I I've been to gyms where they sometimes uh like they'll only they'll teach the technique, you'll drill the technique, then you'll do positional training, and they won't do any rolling. I think it's good when you kind of do a mix. Do the positional training, then you go, I think that's what you get the most. I think this brings uh really uh up something deeper because it's it this is not just all about being uh technical. Um there is an identity piece to all of this a game discussion. You mentioned Hodger Gracie, and we both knew exactly what you were gonna say. Cross choke from the mount. Like that's everybody in jujitsu knows, and everybody knows it's coming, and he's he does this at the highest level. And this guy fought Bouchesha and did it. I mean, it's just um you know, I I I think that um I think what I find interesting is that people uh we just don't it's just not about developing a game. We often develop this identity around it, and you know, I'm a guardpull or I'm a pressure passer, I'm a wrestler, leg locker, whatever, and that can be helpful, but it can also be limiting. Um do you think um people become too attached to their jujitsu identity?

Colin Smith 57:33

I do, Joe. It's it's one of the things that I know all of us have seen is like, oh, guard pulling stupid. Oh, it was a big IG debate, man. Oh, it used to rage bait me. I would see that. Oh, it still rage baits me. It's still to this day. I look at it and go, okay, but the people that are complaining the most about it, you watch their matches and they can't pass open.

Joe Motes (Host) 57:54

They can't pass guard.

Colin Smith 57:56

And it become and wrestling, that's the other side. Like, it's normally not the Olympic wrestlers that are that are really complaining about wrestling either. It's it's the people that think they know how to wrestle. And I'm like, hey, well, I never wrestled collegiately, I never wrestled any type of way like that, but I know that I wouldn't be saying, hey, go wrestle with this person if that was my A game. Like, no, I'm I'm gonna stand across from you and be like, all right, so I can leg lock you, or we can wrestle for a couple minutes and hopefully I have a concussion at the minimum. Yeah, yeah. Well, and it who is it? Um JFLO Judo does these beautiful, I'm sure you've seen them, just absolutely beautiful wrestling clips where he's wrestling with somebody and then out of nowhere, that person's floating through the air and lands on their back. And I'm like, Yep, that's why I pull guard because I have too many concussions already. I don't, I'm good.

Joe Motes (Host) 58:57

Yeah, I I try not to go, you know, when I tell my when I train, I if I know it's somebody that's a wrestler and they just shoot the double leg and launch you halfway across the man, I'm like, hey dude, just if you do it, let's try not to do that. Like, I'm cool if you pick me up and you set me down. I'm cool with that, but like now I'm 40 feet away. Holy I've got a high deductible insurance plan, man. I got family to feed, dude. Like you'll probably you'll probably get the kick out of that.

Colin Smith 59:27

Like, I I'm sure I know you're you're what in your 40s? Yeah, 46. Yep. Okay. 32. Um, some of these guys, man, they they come out swinging for the fences, and I'm like, How old are you? You're like, oh, I'm 18. Yeah, 22. I'm like, oh lord.

Joe Motes (Host) 59:45

Yeah, they're testosterone levels like 950.

Colin Smith 59:48

Yeah. Yeah. Just like, what do you do for work? Oh, you're still in school. That's why you're still full of uh you're still on mom and dad's entrance plan and don't have a care in the world, right?

Joe Motes (Host) 1:00:00

I hear one in to work on Monday, like, what the heck happened to me? Yeah, in your case, if you can't see patients and move them around, you can't have income.

Colin Smith 1:00:10

Right. So I I always tell the I always tell the young guys, like, hey, I have to go to work today. Leave my ankle, leave my knee. That's a big thing, is tell tell your training partners when you're hurt and tell them what is hurt. So that way we don't touch it.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:00:25

Yeah, especially if it's your knees or your back, which seems to be every injury in jujitsu. Um, do you think identity can limit technical growth? I feel like it can a little bit. 100%.

Colin Smith 1:00:36

100%. If you're too much caught, like we just were in the in the the the thralls of uh I'm a wrestler, I'm a guard puller, I'm a leg locker, you're you're to steal Dean Lister's words, why ignore half the body? Yeah, um you you you entered into jujitsu to learn the dark arts for a reason. So learn all of that. Why are you just focused on what's winning competitions? Sure that's fun, sure it goes great on IG, sure it looks good for the for the gram, but I would say personal growth has to be the the forefront. So if I'm trying to learn a new move or trying to learn something important in the sport, that's equal or more important, in my opinion, than just being a good competitor. Can you leave the sport a better place? Can you develop something? I forget what's the last thing that came out. Uh, was it the Woj Lock or something recently besides the Wojlock? Uh Aoki lock, the Wojelock. I guess those are the most right, that's out of Mikey Lock. Those are the most recent innervations of jujitsu. And if you want to make a sport a lasting thing and continue to give back to generations behind you, like the ones that came before us, you gotta do that. You can't just be, oh, it's only for me. You gotta leave a legacy.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:02:06

Yeah, it's it's um I yeah, that is a good point. I um yeah, it's definitely gonna be a sound clip. I uh I think it's uh yeah, we should hang on to some of our identity because we may uh just like Alio Gracie. I mean, he he used jujitsu to adapt to what he needed to do, and then now here we are. I think some of uh our identity is wrapped up in the way we do things and can lead to things like you know the Mikey Lock and all these new things that are coming out because jujitsu is always gonna progress. It's always gonna be new moves that are gonna come out. And if I think 80, 90 percent of all practitioners just stay with what's comfortable, we'll never we won't keep evolving. Um I think that's a really good point. I um man, I don't know what I would bring to the table. It'd have to be something from clothes guard. I don't have anything innovative or or like cool yet. Maybe, maybe when I'm a brown belt or get there, I'll have something.

Colin Smith 1:03:08

But here that's the secret belt. That's the secret belt.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:03:11

Yeah. See, I heard it's purple belt. I I'm kind of excited to see what all these new things are gonna unlock to my mind and body as a purple belt because um it did feel like that.

Colin Smith 1:03:23

When you get the purple, you're like, all right, now I'm a wizard. Okay. Yeah.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:03:27

You're wizard jujitsu, right? Oh man, that's funny.

Colin Smith 1:03:32

It's funny. You you you bring that up. Um, one of the things at White Belt that we always did was like, all right, what's it like to be a blue belt? Oh my god, I can't wait to be a blue belt. As soon as you get that blue belt, all of the upper belts rip your legs off, and then all of the lower belt wrists lock you off or wrists lock you, and then the same thing happened with purple belt. You get your purple belt, and now the brown belts are like, all right, little guy, calm it down. And then the the brown belts and black belts, they beat up on you, and now the blue and white belts are going, Hey, I want to beat you because if I can do that, it means I have a purple belt. No, yeah, like no, yeah.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:04:08

I I saw a Joe Rogan clip on Instagram where he said, like, basically, if you're a purple belt, you're a black belt. I'm thinking, I don't know. I mean, maybe there's some some in there, but uh, I think what he meant was if you make it to purple belt, you have a high chance of getting uh a black belt. Um yeah, uh but I just I I think that uh having an identity, but not getting um comfortable in it and staying in it, not allowing yourself to to evolve. And uh kind of the last little segment here uh that I want to talk through with you if you okay, if you still have uh some time, maybe about 15 more minutes. We're doing great. We're doing great. Um is building a dependable but really adaptable style. Like that's the end game, right? That's what we're talking about, you know. Um that's kind of bringing everything together. And the goal's not I guess the goal here is not to become a completely different grappler every six months, right? I mean, it's okay, like Hodger Gracie, everybody knows what he's known for, and he's he's not gonna stop doing the cross-collar choke. Um the goal is to become harder to shut down and harder to to predict, and you can have a recognizable style and um but it should always kind of have thinking like a tree, these layers and branches and responses. So what what does a adaptable game look like to Dr. Smith on the mat, right? Like whether it's your your your game or or something you look for, what is what is that adaptable game look like?

Colin Smith 1:05:55

That's a big question, I get it, but I would have to say it's kind of in the asking of the question is what am I being asked by my opponent? If my opponent's a guard puller, all right, obviously they're not asking me to wrestle with them right now. They're like they might wrestle up, but if they're asking me questions, is my style or is my game able to answer those questions? Or does it bring up a whole new set of questions? For example, if going with the guard puller, if if I'm on top and I have a guard puller who's really versed in leg locks, and my only option is to step in and try to go shin on shin with him, I'm gonna have a bad time. It doesn't matter how good I am, just by the nature of the position, I'm going to be behind the eight ball. Um kind of similarly, if I'm more of a half guard player and I and I in Initiate a knee cut and they roll to their side and I'm able to collect the head a little bit, sit to a hip a little. Um, I have a bunch of options. I can start looking for darses, I can look for anaconas, I can look for kamoras, I can look for step over arm bars if I free my leg. There's a whole plethora of options left and right. So it becomes a do our games complement each other or do they clearly shift the the paradigm and put one above the other? Um that's where I would say that question starts. And then assuming that, hey, we're at the same parallels, all right. Is my workload gonna beat your workload? Is my frame on my leg gonna be able to stop you from crushing and smash passing me? It becomes a very uh almost actual chess game of all right, my pawn goes here, your pawn goes here, we stalemate, my pawn goes here, yours goes here, I capture it because it's a diagonal uh type of transaction instead of it being uh you're better than me, I'm better than you, in my opinion.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:08:00

Yeah, yeah. I I I love that you use the the uh chess uh analogy. I have my chess board set up back here. I love kind of my brother-in-law got me into chess. And um well, how how should how do you think we should think about the long game development in jujitsu, right? Like um, you know, is there a mindset we need to be? Uh you know, humble, obviously, the lack of ego, but like I don't know, what w how how should you know someone like myself kind of think about long game development?

Colin Smith 1:08:35

I would say uh being a student steward of the the sport and be uh a student of the game. Um if you carry yourself as a ambassador and as somebody who's uh carrying the torch for the sport, you're gonna create uh and want to create a lasting environment that is well-rounded as well as honorable and and uh to your to your stance, uh like you said. Um and if you want to be able to uh transition into any of the other sides of that, that's up to you at that point. You you have to choose to do it though. You can't just accept expect it to happen for you. You have to wake up and consciously do it.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:09:26

Yeah, yeah. I I couldn't agree more. I um well before we wrap up, uh Colin, I want to make this really kind of practical um for listeners who uh are driving home for training or are thinking about what to work next week. If someone feels like they may be too comfortable in their current game, you know, what what should they do first? You know, should they go watch a bunch of BJJ fanatics stuff? Or as tempting as that is. I live I lived on that as a white belt.

Colin Smith 1:09:56

I feel that I I had a a very hard problem until I was uh early blue belt with uh PJJ fanatics with me. Um I would have to say, if specifically speaking from a coach here, um I've noticed in my room when guys start to rely heavily on one thing or another, or they kind of get into the same patterning for the roles. I will throw them a curveball and say, Hey, I want you to work your guard today, or hey, I want you to do this. And part of that is me prodding them saying, Hey, go work something else so you can stop feeling so bored. Um, and another part of that is trying to get them to realize there's more to jujitsu than hey, Kesakatami or uh uh the big man Kamura or anything like that, even if it's effective and you can do it on everybody in the gym. Like, all right, cool. Can you do a leg lock? Can you do an arm bar? Can you do a uh an Americana? Can because I've met people that can't do it an Americana, but they can do a Kamora. It's I I don't understand it, but it I guess that's part of the journey, you know? You gotta you gotta learn the ins and outs of each position. Um but to answer as best as I can, I'd say getting out of your own way and realizing, hey, somebody in this room is better than me at something else. What is it and who is it? And if you want to learn what it is, try to pick their brain, try to try to use their game against them. For example, one of my training partners is really, really good at single leg X, and I want to be good at single leg X. So I am constantly trying to pass his single leg X using high step passing and using shin on shin and and all of the entries. I know how to get at it, and some days I do okay, and some days he snaps my foot like a twig. And it's it's the two two edges of the sword. You win some, you lose some, but you gotta try to win a little bit more than you lose.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:12:01

Yeah. I in your in your Google uh uh foreign submission, you talked about this uh trying to think of it off the top of my head, something about the one percent kind of uh mentality or belief or thinking or something like that. What was it called?

1% A Day For Life

Colin Smith 1:12:16

So I have a motto, uh, I run my practice by it, I try to live my life by it. It's called 1% a day for life. If you stick with me here, 1% a day for life means if I start in January and I go to December at New Year's, I'm 365% better than I was at the beginning of the year. Love it. Now we're all human, last I checked. So you're gonna have to give yourself some grace. Let's call it 50%. So half of the days of the year you slack off and you aren't able to get to your goal of 1% a day. That's still over 150%. I think it's closer to 183, if I'm not mistaken. Um 183% better than you were at the start of the year. And it doesn't have to be the start of the year, it could start today and you'd still have over 100% by the end of the year. It's that simple. And I'm trying to make that not just uh my own life goal, but also my practices goal, my goal in jujitsu, getting one percent better every day, no matter what.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:13:21

You know how I love that, and it answers my final question perfectly. With that mindset, with that thinking, the the one percent in improvement thinking, how can someone apply that to improving their A game and jujitsu?

Colin Smith 1:13:40

100%. I'm to to give an example, if I got one of my white belts today to learn how to do a single leg X entry where you go shin on shin, you tip them over, you go straight up to the single leg, and then you get you get that footlock on. If I can get them to reproduce that tomorrow, that's more that's like 30% jump for a white belt. Like that's that's exponential levels higher. Um thinking about it that way instead of oh, I'm a white belt today and I have to get all the way down here to the black belt level, that that's why black belts are very rare. Um, but if you're a white belt and you think, all right, what can I learn today and then tomorrow and then the next day, well, guess what? A year or two years from now, you're gonna be a blue belt. I think the statistic is four or five percent of the world's population is blue belts. Yeah, like that's crazy. And then even further really reduced for purple and then reduced again for brown. So it becomes the the law of attrition at that point.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:14:41

Yeah, yeah. No, I I I think that uh um I I I like the the the percentages and and the ratios of of how jujitsu is dispersed and kind of like the uh demographics because um it shows a lot of things. It shows one, it's a it's a martial arts that works, you know, and it's not uh it is not something that you are giving, it's something you earn when it comes to skills development and stuff like that. So um I love it, man. Um look, thank you so much for being here, dude. This is appreciate it. And thanks for listening, you know. I uh it's always fun when I get guests on that that also actually listen to the other episodes. I um is there anything that you I want to give you a chance? Is there anything you want to leave uh the listeners with? Um did you get to hear, oh that's right, Emily's uh Dark's wife's a chiropractor too, right?

Colin Smith 1:15:44

Yep.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:15:44

Did y'all know like we had an episode with her uh about like the importance of back health or something? Did you get to listen to that?

Colin Smith 1:15:53

I I got I got a couple pieces of it, and that's when I was like, wait a second, is that Darek's wife? And then I saw Dark after that. I was like, oh, I gotta make sure I talk about that. Did you know her? Do you know her outside of Dark? I met her. Um I met her through Dark. I didn't personally know her in school.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:16:11

So you didn't go to school together training or anything like that.

Colin Smith 1:16:13

At the same time, but we were there at the so uh the way it works, 11 quarters, all that fun stuff. You get through about halfway, then another group comes in, then another. So we uh we were in separate quarters like that, but we were yep, same school, same time. That's crazy. And yeah, man, it was a wild small world when I saw that uh Darek and you had connected and that she was on the podcast as well. I was like, wait a second, you mean to tell me these people? Oh my god.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:16:42

Like we've already talked about chiropractic. Is there anything you want to leave the listeners with, man?

Where To Find Colin Smith

Colin Smith 1:16:51

The biggest thing I can say is keep showing up, keep working hard, don't let the the little things in life keep you from doing the things you chose to do. Uh at the end of the day, this is a choice for all of us. We get to we get to do what we set ourselves out to in this jujitsu world. So if you want to have more fun, go out and have more fun. Don't stress yourself too much, you know?

Joe Motes (Host) 1:17:15

Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thanks so much, man, uh, for being here. Um, you know, and uh to the listeners, uh, you know, thanks for listening to Caffeinated Jiu-Jitsu. If this episode has uh made you think of your own game, I know it has mine and your own comfort zone or a position uh that you've been maybe avoiding, uh, you know, share it with a training partner. And and if you are watching, could you get the video on this? Uh let me know uh what part of your game or let us know. Colin and I both uh what part of your game are you trying to expand on? Colin, if they want to reach out to you, what's the best way to engage with you?

Colin Smith 1:17:57

On um Facebook is gonna be Colin Smith. Uh that's my personal page. Uh, I also have a business page, Intact Health Centers, my chiropractic office. On Instagram, it's gonna be Turtle KingBJJ or the Horde BJJ. Uh both of those are my BJJ profiles, uh, Intact Health Centers as well.

Joe Motes (Host) 1:18:15

And then YouTube as well is the Horde BJJ. Awesome, awesome. Well, thanks again, man, for being here. It's been exciting. Um, yeah, and until next time, next episode, everyone, keep your passion brewing.

Intro/Outro 1:18:38

Today's gonna find that we're gonna be all the time.