Jiu Jitsu Practitioners Everywhere Are Now Prioritizing Wrestling As Part of Their Core Training Regime
There are of course some athletes, like John Marsh, who started jiu jitsu with a strong base in wrestling, built from years of experience. For those of us who got our start in jiu jitsu and are beginning to recognize the importance of wrestling within the sport, it can seem very intimidating to introduce wrestling into our training.
If you’re a white belt, you might be thinking, no way can I learn the fundamentals of jiu jitsu and wrestling at the same time! And if you’re a higher belt level, you might be thinking it’s definitely too late for me to get good at wrestling too - I’ll just stick to the game I know. Truthfully, it’s never too early, and it’s never too late.
Alternatively, you might feel like you’re ready to jump into it! But no amount of enthusiasm can make a quality wrestling instructor fall out of thin air and into your academy. If you’re in a smaller town, the gym you currently train at is probably just the only jiu jitsu gym in town. They might not be equipped to provide quality wrestling classes on top of jiu jitsu classes, and they might not know how to integrate wrestling techniques into what they already teach.
John Marsh’s Course Will Provide the Wrestling Instruction that Your Home Gym Can’t
On many jiu jitsu forums, you’ll find at least a handful of people asking whether wrestling will help their jiu jitsu, and where they can find quality wrestling content to learn from. The answers are: yes, and right here on Jiu Jitsu X! John’s course, I Shoot I Score, has a whopping 63 lessons for you to scour and master.
Marsh wrestled from the age of 14, all the way through high school and college, earning a long list of accomplishments along the way. Those can be found, in all their glory, right here:
High School Wrestling Accomplishments - New Bedford High School
2x Captain
2x State Finalist
2004 D1 South Sectional Champion (135lbs) / Outstanding Wrestler
State Record for most Pins in the least time in a Sectional competition: 3 pins in (2:53)
2004 State Champion (135lbs) / Outstanding Wrestler
State Record for most Pins in the least time in a State competition: 4 pins in (4:55)
2004 All-State Champion (135lbs) / Outstanding Wrestler
2004 Massachusetts Fargo Team
120 Career Victories
Boston Globe Wrestler of the Year
Inducted into Massachusetts Wrestling Hall of Fame 2012
College Wrestling Accomplishments - Slippery Rock University and Bridgewater State College (now Bridgewater State University)
2x Captain
2010 NEWA Champion (149) / Outstanding Wrestler
2x National Qualifier
All-American (5th)
110 Career Victories
Bridgewater State College Athlete of the Year 2010
Inducted into the NEWA Wrestling Hall of Fame 2020
Despite being forced to take a year off from college wrestling following an accident in which he was hit by a drunk driver, John was still invited to train at the Olympic Training Center with many other elite athletes.
His jiu jitsu journey began right after graduating from college in 2010 with a degree in Exercise Physiology. A friend introduced him to a local program, which didn’t really impress him at the time. About 7 years later, while living and working in New York, he met JT Torres. He recalls it as: “I worked with someone who knew him and showed me a highlight video of JT, and I could tell right away that this was much better jiu jitsu than what I was exposed to before.”
Despite starting at an older age, John has gone on to hold his own in major jiu jitsu competitions, earning world championship titles at blue belt in both gi and no-gi.
Successfully Integrate Wrestling Into Your Jiu Jitsu
John describes jiu jitsu as “a variation to a skill I spent most of my life doing.” For him, it has become a natural continuation of the base of skill he developed in wrestling.
His competitive specialties include double legs, single legs, misdirections, and controlling positions like the gift wrap while on the mat. By watching his course, you’ll be able to develop a better understanding of these techniques, and a better overall perspective on how wrestling can aid your jiu jitsu practice.
It’s essentially a launching pad of knowledge, where John is able to “help athletes not have to do things the hard way.” With wrestling in jiu jitsu growing faster than ever, you don’t want to drag your feet or waste time on mediocre instruction that could leave you very far behind your competitors.
A longtime student of Marsh’s, Eric Sainz, says: “Coach John is hands down one of the best instructors that I have ever come across in my years of training. Learning under him has built such a high level foundation for my wrestling and takedowns!”
Over time, John has found a lot of solace and pride in coaching. He feels that his college car accident injury prevented him from reaching his highest potential in wrestling, but he now gets to funnel that drive into helping his students achieve their own greatness. He says, “I love teaching the moves and seeing the students use them and win, and I share in their excitement of it!”
One of his most notable students is also his jiu jitsu teacher, JT Torres. As JT’s wrestling coach, and strength and conditioning coach during ADCC camps, John has played a major role in the accumulation of JT’s many accomplishments. For instance, his two ADCC championship wins. The pair run a gym in White Plains, NY under the name Essential Jiu Jitsu.
The man is a dedicated teacher. He has two national certifications as a personal trainer, volunteers as an assistant wrestling coach for Edgemont High School, and plans to introduce his future children to wrestling and jiu jitsu ASAP! Especially any daughters, for self defense reasons!
Let him continue his passion of teaching! Take his online course, I Shoot I Score! If you aren’t totally sure yet, check out the 3 free techniques on the course page. I Shoot I Score = you watch, you get takedowns. Easy peasy.
Reach Out to John with Any Takedown or Wrestling Related Questions
If you’re taking the course and have some questions, or just want to reach out to John with general wrestling and jiu jitsu inquiries, you can DM him on his Instagram page here.
While you’re at, hit him up about any of the following:
How his latest rock climbing excursion went
What sci-fi or fantasy audiobook he’s currently listening to
If he’s finally gotten good at the newer Call of Duty games yet
What movie he last saw in theaters
He’ll surely be happy to respond!
