Let’s start with a definition again.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, ‘Fundamental’ is defined as…

“Forming the base, from which everything else develops.”

So what about a submission is fundamental? Nothing. There is not a single submission that anyone can call fundamental in grappling. It is not required as a base to anything but unto itself. 

So what is fundamental in grappling? Pretty much everything else. Fundamentals: Takedowns, control, transitions, passing, escaping, etc. 

Think about all the wrestlers that walk into a BJJ school and wreck them despite having no submissions in their arsenal. Does this mean that wrestling is superior to BJJ? No. But I believe it highlights that wrestlers have much more developed fundamentals because it is all they do. And high-level fundamentals are dangerous in any engagement.

Let’s pretend we have two identical twins that don’t know each other. They train/eat/weigh the same. Everything about their lives is identical in this fictional situation. Twin 1, we will call Winner, trains exclusively in fundamentals as I described above. He builds decent standup and takedowns, getting top level control, escapes, transitions, and guard passing. Twin 2, we will call Loser, trains submissions every class and has built a decent armbar, triangle and omoplatta game. Sometimes he trains his ankle locks too. Who do we expect to win here?

If Loser can’t take Winner down, he doesn’t have much of a shot at his subs. Likely he will try a guard pull to get to his sub game – unfortunately Winner trains standup and sees it coming. Winner takes top position and its over

Obviously, this is slanted to my opinion, but you cannot deny you would more fear the person with high-level fundamentals and low-level submissions over the reverse. So why does everyone teach submissions as fundamentals and in damn-near every class?

We have all seen that blue belt who can’t escape bottom of side mount but has a good kimura. While he might catch someone in the kimura, once they see its their game, they get smart to the hand fight and elbow distance. Now the blue belt wants to quit because they get destroyed in every round. 

This scenario is created in gyms everywhere because submissions are ‘sexy’ and everyone wants to learn them. You know what is ‘sexier’? Students finding success and knowing what they are doing. This requires making fundamentals classes about fundamentals – not submissions. 

The majority of your training should be on the refinement and cultivation of fundamentals in your grappling because they are the base from which every submission will be found. We always hear “position before submission”. To get and hold a position reliably to submit requires fundamentals. 

The saying should really be “You are trash because your fundamentals are trash” or “teaching submissions as fundamental is saying I want my students to suck longer” or “I don’t know what I am doing, but students pay me anyways.” /EndRant

Mathematical Jiu-Jitsu puts defined fundamental training as the majority (roughly 66%-80%) of its training emphasis because this is what the majority of your grappling will rely on.