Fundamental Concepts - Frames, Levers, Wedges
Jiu-jitsu, often called "the gentle art," is paradoxically built on precise mechanical principles that allow smaller practitioners to overcome larger opponents. At the core of effective jiu-jitsu are three fundamental concepts: frames, wedges, and levers. Understanding these principles doesn't just improve your technique—it transforms how you approach the entire art.
Frames: Creating Structure and Distance
Frames are structural supports created with your body to maintain space, redirect force, and protect yourself. A proper frame allows you to support weight and pressure without relying on muscular strength.
What Makes an Effective Frame?
An effective frame has these characteristics:
- Skeletal alignment: Force travels through bone, not muscle
- Multiple points of contact: Distributes pressure across your structure
- Proper angles: Creates mechanical advantage against the opponent's force
Common Framing Examples
The Stiff Arm Frame
Using A Stiff Arm To Recover From Speed Passes - Keenan Cornelius
The stiff arm frame is one of the most basic and essential frames in jiu-jitsu. When an opponent is in your guard and attempting to pass, placing your palm on their hip or shoulder creates distance and prevents them from advancing their position.
The Knee-Elbow Frame
Escaping Side Control Knee Elbow Details by Brian Glick - BJJ Fanatics
When side-mounted, connecting your knee and elbow creates a powerful frame that prevents your opponent from establishing control and creates space for escapes. This frame forms a triangle structure that is remarkably strong even against much heavier opponents.
Wedges: Dividing and Conquering Space
Wedges are insertions of your body parts that create and maintain space between you and your opponent or between parts of your opponent's body. They're essential for creating opportunities to advance position or apply submissions.
How Wedges Work
- Space creation: Wedges force separation where there was connection
- Prevention of reconnection: Once inserted, wedges block the path to reconnection
- Directional control: Wedges can guide your opponent's movement in predictable ways
Practical Wedge Applications
The Knee Shield
Strategy for Grappling Larger Opponents | Knee Shield Details - Knight Jiu-Jitsu
The knee shield in half guard is a classic wedge that creates space between you and your opponent while preventing them from establishing chest-to-chest pressure. This wedge gives you time and space to work on sweeps or submissions.
The Butterfly Hook
Butterfly Guard Guide In Gi & Nogi | BJJ Fundamentals - Jordan Teaches Jiujitsu
Butterfly hooks are powerful wedges that can elevate and destabilize your opponent. By inserting your feet between your opponent's legs, you create a wedge that can be used to sweep them or create space for other attacks.
Levers: Multiplying Force Through Mechanics
Levers are perhaps the most important mechanical principle in jiu-jitsu. They allow you to apply force efficiently by creating mechanical advantage through proper positioning.
The Physics of Levers in Jiu-Jitsu
- Fulcrum: The fixed point around which movement occurs
- Effort arm: Where you apply force
- Resistance arm: Where the opponent's resistance is located
The longer your effort arm compared to the resistance arm, the greater your mechanical advantage.
Lever Systems in Action
The Armbar
Tony Ferguson refuses to submit to Charles Oliveira's armbar in Round 1 - Idyll
The armbar is a perfect example of a lever in action. Your hips serve as the fulcrum, while your opponent's arm is the resistance arm. By extending your hips and pulling down on their wrist, you create a powerful lever that can hyperextend the elbow joint with minimal effort.
The Kimura
Top Kimura Finishes in UFC History - UFC
The Kimura grip creates a "figure-four" lever that attacks the shoulder joint. By controlling your opponent's wrist and elbow while establishing a fulcrum near their shoulder, you create a powerful rotational lever that can generate tremendous force.
Why These Concepts Matter
Understanding frames, wedges, and levers transforms jiu-jitsu from a collection of techniques into a coherent system based on mechanical principles. Here's why mastering these concepts is crucial:
Efficiency Over Strength
When you understand these principles, you rely less on attributes like strength and more on proper positioning and mechanics. This is the essence of what Helio Gracie meant when he developed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to work for smaller practitioners.
Problem-Solving Ability
Rather than memorizing hundreds of techniques, understanding these principles allows you to analyze situations and create solutions on the fly. When faced with a novel problem, you can ask:
- Where can I create a frame?
- How can I insert a wedge?
- What lever can I establish?
Accelerated Learning
These concepts provide a framework for understanding new techniques. Instead of learning moves in isolation, you can see how they employ frames, wedges, and levers, making it easier to remember and apply them.
Putting It All Together
The most effective jiu-jitsu often combines all three principles. Consider a basic guard recovery when someone has passed to side control:
- Frame: Create frames against their hip and shoulder
- Wedge: Insert your knee as a wedge to create space
- Lever: Use your frame as a fulcrum to create a lever that moves their weight
Top 25 SUBMISSIONS From The 2024 IBJJF World Championship - FloGrappling
Conclusion
Frames, wedges, and levers are the fundamental building blocks of effective jiu-jitsu. By understanding and consciously applying these principles, you'll develop a deeper understanding of the art and dramatically improve your effectiveness on the mat. Rather than relying on strength or athleticism, you'll be able to use these mechanical principles to overcome larger, stronger opponents—fulfilling the original promise of jiu-jitsu as a martial art for everyone.
The next time you're training, try to identify how these principles appear in the techniques you're practicing. You might be surprised to discover that nearly every effective movement in jiu-jitsu can be understood through the lens of frames, wedges, and levers.