Mikey Musumeci is one of the sharpest minds in the Jiu-Jitsu world and he’s now decided to weigh in on the current debate around ecological training methods in the sport. It’s something that’s been bubbling up for a while now as fans of this approach have started to grow in number, and it came to a head recently when it’s most popular proponent Greg Souders actually debated elite competitor Dan Manasoiu. Even that didn’t quite settle the argument and there’s still plenty of ground to be covered, so it’s no surprise to see that more of the biggest names in BJJ are sharing their thoughts.
Musumeci is just the latest to do so and in fact, he opens with a statement that echoes the one made by the Mendes brothers previously. They said that the ecological approach is something that has been used as part of training for a very long time, just without that specific name. Musumeci also says that it’s already an important element of the sport:
“The truth is both extremes would be wrong, but both together are what Jiu-Jitsu actually is. Ecological Jiu-Jitsu is just specific training. They make it like some new thing that’s trending right now, but it’s just specific training.”
Mikey Musumeci also explained exactly why ecological training methods, or specific training, is so important and how it benefits your learning:
“You learn in a spot that there’s only a certain amount of reactions your partner could give you. Like they post their arm, they put their weight on their back leg. And with this, you problem solve. Jiu-Jitsu is all problem-solving.”
Although he clearly sees the value in the approach, Musumeci also made sure to hammer home the idea that it shouldn’t be your only form of training just like drilling shouldn’t be either:
“If you’re doing ecological Jiu-Jitsu or specific training without actually putting moves into place, you won’t even know what you’re doing. If you’re just doing moved without reactions then you’re just forcing your moves and you’re still not doing Jiu-Jitsu correctly. So if you see what I’m saying, both are super important and you need both in order to do Jiu-Jitsu.”
Mikey Musumeci shared his thoughts on ecological training methods in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
