Defense First

When a new student joins, my first priority is to teach them how not to get hurt.

Not how to submit people. Not how to escape. How to position themselves so the damage they’re exposed to is minimal while they’re figuring everything else out.

This is a departure from how most gyms run beginners programs. The standard curriculum starts with basic positions and submissions — learn mount, learn the armbar from mount, drill it 50 times, go live. There’s a logic to it. Students get to feel like they’re doing something.

But I’ve seen the outcome. Beginners who learn offense before defense develop a reactive panic response when things go wrong. They’ve never been taught how to make bad positions manageable, so the moment someone competent gets on top of them, they’re out of their depth and often getting hurt.

Defense first means: before I teach you how to finish, I teach you how to survive. Frames. Posture. Hip movement. Tension and relaxation. The ability to stay calm when someone is on top of you.

The submissions come. They always do. But built on a foundation of survival, they’re more reliable — because you’re not panicking when things don’t go perfectly.

— Vince

Vince Choo

BJJ 3rd-Degree Black Belt · 5th Dan Karate · Coaching since 1993 · VCBJJ Bangsar, KL