Jocko Willink has claimed inn the past that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the martial art that took the most time to become proficient, more than Wrestling or Judo.

How true is that claim? For the latecomers to BJJ and grappling in general, one aspect of the sport can sometimes prove itself to be even more difficult to understand and do well than jiu jitsu: wrestling.

From September of 1990 to 2010 Willink was a Navy SEAL Platoon Commander and Seal Task Unit Commander leading hundreds of operations in combat. He earned his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from world champion Dean Lister, competed at the national level in Submission Grappling, and has trained dozens of professional fighters. He has also coached and cornered fighters in numerous King of the Cage, Pride, and UFC events.

GSP’s coach, BJJ black belt Firas Zahabi is very critical of the current state of Jiu-Jitsu and he feels that not enough Wrestling is used in Jiu-Jitsu:

 Why don’t more jiu-jitsu guys do that? (Use more wrestling in their Jiu-Jitsu) Why is it that only wrestlers are smart enough to use their skill in reverse? I’ll give you my answer to that question, because I’ve thought about it intensively.

One, BJJ guys are s— athletes. No offense to the BJJ world. I love BJJ; I’m a BJJ fanatic. I just think that their counterparts — the wrestlers — have outdone them in the physical realm. Two, the wrestlers are better strategists. Why? When you wrestle, you have three rounds, so you start thinking about strategy as importance. In jiu-jitsu, it’s one round. When the wrestler starts in MMA, he’s thinking, I’ve got to win two out of the three, minimum. That’s the minimum for victory. It’s not what I’m looking for, but it’s the minimum. A jiu-jitsu guy will do something crazy at the end of a round he was winning. Maybe he goes from top position to the bottom looking for a fancy armbar and gives up the round or gives up the position. They make more strategic mistakes than the wrestlers. Wrestlers use their wrestling in reverse; jiu-jitsu guys, no. Third, jiu-jitsu guys, when they roll, when they train, it’s too far from the reality of what happens in the cage, whereas if you look at the training at Tristar, we have to sweep, submit or get up. If we get up, it’s my turn to wrestle you, and we wrestle.

Wrestlers are learning jiu-jitsu, and jiu-jitsu guys aren’t so open-minded to the wrestling. They don’t understand that wrestling is as technical as jiu-jitsu. It’s jiu-jitsu standing up, why are you not in love with it? Why doesn’t it fascinate you?

Jocko’s had an interesting question asked by a Wrestler regarding Jiu-Jitsu. The Wrestler was questioning Jocko’s claim that Jiu-Jitsu was the martial art that took the most time to become proficient:

In podcast 13 you stated that jiu jitsu is the martial art that takes the most time to become proficient I disagree and here’s why: as a wrestler I’ve been able to pick up jiu-jitsu in a matter of  about 2 months to the point where I can submit a blue belt here and there and mostly control purple belt possibly … I might just be a bad teacher but I haven’t had much success teaching jiu-jitsu folks to wrestle. After the same amount of time they’re maybe a low highschool wrestling level… 

Jocko answered:

I guess I should’ve said grappling men in general which is definitely harder to achieve a basic level of competence in rather than striking. Now don’t get me wrong – you take a skilled boxer, they will destroy an unskilled boxer. You take a skilled muay thai guy  they will destroy an unskilled muay thai guy.

He added:

A good wrestler is a good grappler, you are a good grappler and that’s why you’re able to pick up jiu-jitsu quickly because wrestling is grappling which is jiu-jitsu. Are there differences? Yes there are absolutely but…

If you played baseball in college when you get on the office softball team you’re a killer… It’s the same thing with wrestling. As far as the fact that it doesn’t take long to learn if you’re a high level wrestler Yes absolutely, you learn it very quickly. Look at the history of the UFC Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Randy Couture, Tito – all those high level wrestlers and guess what it’s not history high level wrestlers are there now too. Jon Jones, DC.. it’s wrestlers – wrestlers … Now are there other guys who come in and fill in but the majority base is wrestling. So now you also have to look at the early UFCs or you go to any gym and the fact is a jiu-jitsu only guy beats a wrestling only guy 9 times out of 10. That’s the way it is Now if the wrestler can learn very quickly but if the wrestler only knows wrestling and the bjj guy only knows jiu jitsu the jiu jitsu guy is going to win simply because the wrestler doesn’t know how to finish the fight.

Fundamental Folkstyle Wrestling by Adam Wheeler.

• Olympic Medalist Adam Wheeler shows the wrestling fundamentals in one of the most comprehensive courses we have
• Adam shows the takedowns, handfighting, and sprawls to wrestle from the feet.