80/20 for feet and hands

When you first begin your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey, it’s completely natural to instinctively rely on your arms to push, pull, and muscle your way through various positions. After all, most people are accustomed to using their upper body strength in day-to-day activities, so it feels intuitive to apply the same principle on the mat. This approach may work for a while, especially against less experienced training partners, but as you progress, you’ll quickly hit a plateau. You’ll find that using your arms too much not only fatigues you faster, but also limits your technical growth. It can leave you feeling stuck in positions and mentally drained as you wrestle with what feels like sheer physicality.

That’s where the 80/20 rule comes into play—a valuable guideline that encourages you to shift your focus from your arms to your legs. In Jiu-Jitsu, your lower body is far more powerful and capable of generating leverage than your upper body. The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of your effort should come from your legs, hips, and core, while only 20% should come from your arms. Your legs should do the heavy lifting, providing power for movements like sweeps, guard retention, and escapes, while your arms play a more supportive role, stabilizing grips and fine-tuning your positioning.

This principle becomes especially clear when you look at how high-level practitioners apply it in real-time. In the image, for example, we see Kim demonstrating the rule flawlessly in the post image. He’s working a sweep, and instead of relying on his arms to muscle his opponent off balance, he drives with his legs. His legs are extending and stretching out his opponent, using the lower body’s natural strength to create pressure. His arms are merely maintaining a solid connection with the lapel and sleeve—not pulling or forcing anything, just securing grips.

What’s interesting here is how little effort Kim’s upper body needs to apply to finish the sweep. Because his lower body has already done the lion’s share of the work by destabilizing his opponent, all Kim needs is a slight turn of his torso and a minimal pull from his arms to shift his opponent’s balance and complete the technique. It’s efficient, calculated, and a perfect example of how the 80/20 rule maximizes effectiveness while minimizing unnecessary exertion.

By internalizing this concept early on, you’ll conserve energy and open up more opportunities for dynamic and strategic movements on the mat. Instead of hitting walls in your training, you’ll find yourself using less effort while achieving better results, which is key to longevity and success in Jiu-Jitsu.