Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Movement & Understanding
Simplex Motus™
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu learning system built around simple movement, better decisions, positional understanding, and principles that continue to work under resistance.
Explore the principles, articles, books, podcast, training, and coaching ideas designed to help practitioners understand not only what to do, but why it works.
24
Books
57
Articles
53
Podcast Episodes
12
Principles
What Is Simplex Motus?
Simple movement. Deep understanding.
Simplex Motus means "simple movement." It is a way of studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through principles, mechanics, decision-making, and live problem-solving rather than treating techniques as isolated answers. The same ideas run through the Simplex Motus books, articles, podcast, training, coaching, and educational projects.
Step 01
Understand the position.
Step 02
Recognize the problem.
Step 03
Choose a useful action.
Step 04
Adapt when the situation changes.
Start Here
Where Do You Want to Start?
I'm New to Jiu-Jitsu
Start with fundamentals, positional understanding, movement, safety, and the principles that make techniques easier to understand.
Start With FundamentalsI Already Train
Connect techniques into a more coherent game through mechanics, position, pressure, decision-making, and adaptation.
Explore the PrinciplesI'm a Coach
Explore teaching methodology, constraints-led training, student development, class structure, and coaching principles.
Explore Coaching IdeasI Want to Train
Train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through Simplex Motus instruction and the Family Garage Jiu-Jitsu community in Modesto.
View ClassesI Want to Read
Explore Simplex Motus books and long-form writing on Jiu-Jitsu, movement, coaching, mindset, and learning.
Explore the BooksThe Method
Principles Before Techniques
Techniques change with position, opponent, timing, and context. Principles help make sense of those changes.
Principle 01
Structure before technique
Posture, alignment, and frames are the vocabulary movement is written in.
Principle 02
Position before submission
The finish is downstream of the fight for space, angle, and control.
Principle 03
Understanding before memorization
A memorized sequence collapses the first time an opponent refuses to cooperate.
Principle 04
Simplicity before complexity
The best move is the simplest one that works.
Principle 05
Efficiency before force
Skill is solving the same problem with less strength every year you train.
Principle 06
Timing before speed
Speed without timing is noise. Timing is what pressure is made of.
The Decision Loop
Recognition → Control → Position → Execution
Every exchange runs through the same order. Skip a step and the finish is a gamble instead of a consequence.
The Mechanical Alphabet
Push • Pull • Lever • Twist • Squeeze
Thousands of techniques are built from a handful of mechanical actions. Learn the alphabet and the techniques read themselves.
Latest Writing
View All ArticlesAugust 2026 · Psychology & Mindset
The Pedestal Problem: Why We Admire a Snapshot, Not the Whole Person
An exploration of why martial artists idolize a single moment in someone's career, and what happens when the real person keeps changing after the snapshot was taken.
August 2026 · Training After 40
The Deliberate Grappler: Evolving Jiu-Jitsu Mechanics Through the Years
Discover how aging in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shifts a practitioner's focus from athletic compensation to deliberate efficiency, structural control, and tactical decision-making.
August 2026 · Psychology & Mindset
The Quiet Mind in the Crushing Frame: The Contradiction of Combat Sports Clarity
It looks like chaos, but to the person on the mat, it is surprisingly quiet. Live combat sports force an absolute focus on the present moment, and the physical difficulty temporarily silences the noise of everyday life.
Library
Books by Simplex Motus
Go deeper into the principles, decisions, mechanics, mindset, coaching, and philosophy behind the work.
Simplex Motus: Movement Before Technique
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The 12 Principles of Jiu-Jitsu Movement
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The Art of BJJ Warfare
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More Than Technique
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Podcast
Listen to Simplex Motus
Aug 13, 2026 · 15:06
Stop Abandoning Yourself
This episode explores the difference between accountability and self-cruelty. Through the reality of failure in jiu-jitsu, it examines how mistakes can become useful information or destructive judgments about who we are. The central message is simple: growth does not require punishment. Real strength is learning to face failure honestly, carry the lesson forward, and remain present with yourself instead of abandoning yourself when you fall.
Listen on SpotifyAug 06, 2026 · 18:21
The Finish Is the Consequence
In jiu-jitsu, the submission is rarely created in the final moment. It is the consequence of everything built before it: control, pressure, position, patience, and the steady removal of options. This episode explores why chasing the finish often causes practitioners to rush, lose position, and abandon the structure that made the attack possible. It also examines how the same principle applies beyond the mat. Success and failure are usually not sudden events. They are outcomes constructed...
Listen on SpotifyJul 30, 2026 · 12:07
A Coach Cannot Want It for You
A coach can teach you, guide you, and sharpen you. But a coach cannot want it for you more than you want it for yourself. In this episode, we talk about the spark every student has to bring, the damage that happens when coaches confuse pressure with development, and why growth will always start with you.
Listen on Spotify
Training
Train With Simplex Motus
Simplex Motus principles are not only written about. They are tested and taught on the mat. Regular Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instruction is currently taught through the Family Garage Jiu-Jitsu training community in Modesto, California.
- Fundamentals for new practitioners
- Small-group instruction
- Competition training
- Private instruction
Seminar, workshop, and guest-instruction inquiries are welcome. Host a seminar.
Ecosystem
Simplex Motus Projects
Built from the same focus on learning, movement, reflection, and practical understanding.
Daily Motus
A daily companion of short prompts and reflections that keeps practice a habit.
Visit Daily MotusCLA Game Lab
Constraints-led games and task design for coaches building better training.
Visit CLA Game LabMemotus
Memory and recall tools for studying what you learn instead of forgetting it.
Visit Memotus
Behind Simplex Motus
Max Luong
Simplex Motus is the work of Max Luong, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, instructor, and author of more than twenty books on grappling, coaching philosophy, and personal development. What started as a set of teaching principles grew into a full publishing and education platform grounded in one idea: understanding over memorization.
Learn the principle. Adapt the movement.
Start with the introduction, then follow whichever path fits your training.