In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience featuring comedian Joey Diaz, Rogan shared insights into what he considers the most significant breakthrough in his jiu-jitsu development.
According to Rogan, his jiu-jitsu skills advanced dramatically when he began training with his friend Eddie Bravo in a more structured, deliberate way.
“The biggest leap that I ever got in my like in the beginning of my jiu-jitsu journey was when I became friends with Eddie [Bravo],” Rogan explained. “We would train in my garage. I had mats in my garage and we would just drill for like an hour and a half a couple times a week.”
Rather than focusing on competitive sparring, Rogan and Bravo would concentrate on perfecting specific techniques through repeated drilling – a practice that many jiu-jitsu practitioners overlook in favor of live rolling.
“He was showing me a lot of his rubber guard stuff, like the early stuff, but we would just drill like different positions, how to escape certain positions, how to finish from certain positions, what to be careful of, and then we just go through paths,” Rogan said.
The UFC commentator described their training methodology, explaining that they would work through entire sequences with moderate resistance:
“Like path was, you know, pass into half guard, push on the knee, move into side control, side control, head and arm, secure the arm, finish the arm triangle.”
Rogan emphasized that the key was practicing with just enough resistance to make the drill realistic but not so much that it prevented completing the techniques. “If he was doing it to me, I would resist like 40% maybe. You know, you just kind of like sort of resist and they secure it and you kind of resist and they finish it off.”
This approach allowed Rogan to develop muscle memory and technical understanding without the ego-driven intensity that can hinder learning in full-intensity sparring sessions.
Interestingly, Rogan noted that this drilling-focused approach is gaining more mainstream acceptance in jiu-jitsu today:
“That’s big now. Drilling is everything. People are flow rolling. Like people are selling it more.”
He observed that even top competitors like Tom DeBlass advocate for this training method, noting that
“it’s the way to get better.”
The conversation with Diaz highlighted how this methodical approach to training stands in contrast to the common tendency among young practitioners to focus primarily on live rolling, where technical development can be sacrificed for intensity.
For Rogan, those garage drilling sessions with Eddie Bravo weren’t just casual training – they represented the foundation that propelled his jiu-jitsu journey forward more than any other training approach he’s experienced.
