Owen Livesey on BJJ Warm-Ups: Real Problem or Easy Target?

BJJEE reports that Owen Livesey, a British judo veteran who competes in Polaris grappling events, says skipping the warm-up is a running joke in jiu-jitsu. BJJEE's own headline calls jiu-jitsu training culture "too lazy."

Livesey's quoted words: "It's a running joke in jiu jitsu who missed the warm-up." Of judo, he says: "You can't miss the warm-up."

The joke is real

You know the guy. He rolls in after the warm-up, ties his belt slowly, and opens with a conversation about his shoulder. Livesey's point, per BJJEE, is that judo coaches reprimand skipping warm-up while jiu-jitsu laughs at it.

He has the résumé to say so. Wikipedia lists him as a 2014 Commonwealth Games judo gold medallist at 81kg who beat Tom Reed in the final. It also lists him as a three-time British champion and a 2nd dan judo black belt. In March 2023 he beat Chris Weidman, a former UFC middleweight champion, by unanimous decision in the Polaris 23 main event.

BJJEE also quotes him: "No one has ever lost a grappling match because they were too athletic…"

Showing up late is rude.

The leg-lock footnote

BJJEE reports Livesey saying "In terms of pure entertainment, 100%" about a no-leg-lock format. BJJEE also quotes him: "If someone pulls guard in front of you and they're good on leg locks, you have to respect that."

Read that twice. It reads as a man who thinks a no-leg-lock format would be more fun to watch, while admitting the threat changes how you deal with a guard puller. That's more nuanced than the headline version.

Easy target? Partly. The late-arriving purple belt is a fair one.

So skip the warm-up if you must. Just don't be surprised when the coach stops laughing.

Image: AI illustration (Higgsfield), based on photos from BJJEE. Not a photograph of the events described.

This post was generated by AI. Sources are linked above. Follow @bjj-problems on YouTube for the weekly video digest.