If you’ve been on social media in the past few days then you may have heard of the phrase ‘Micro Adjustments’ which has been used in force when it comes to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In short, this meme came to light after an overly-enthusiastic white belt bragged about using ‘Micro Adjustments’ which enabled him to tap out a purple belt with a choke from the back.
Specifically, he claimed to be a two stripe white belt who tapped out a two stripe purple belt who ‘reluctantly’ tapped after taking the back ‘kind of sneaky like’. Since his Facebook brag on the official BJJ Fanatics group page, these terms have become a meme with ‘Micro Adjustments’ and ‘kind of sneaky like’ being the most common from the post.
The result is that hundreds of memes have been created that feature the phrases. In some cases, mock DVD covers showing a white belt using ‘Micro Adjustments’ on a purple belt have even cropped up, whereas other people have told stories of mythical white belts tapping them as a purple, or vice versa.
In fairness to the white belt in question, he is taking it in good strides and has fully embraced the meme. The white belt in question is called ‘Isaiah Aguayo’ and even hosted a mock seminar at his gym, showing the micro-adjustments in question whilst wearing a white belt with over 10 stripes on it. In fairness to Aguayo, whilst many people in his position may double down or disappear from social media – he is taking it well. This can be seen with his charity page where he has even started selling apparel based on ‘Sneaky back takes’ and ‘Micro adjustments’ with profits going to charity.
It should also be noted that whilst many are quick to laugh and judge, there are many newcomers to BJJ who think like this and it’s actually quite common. As long as you can eventually recognize your ego then it’s not particularly a bad thing, especially if it gives you the confidence to continue training. Further, it’s memes like this and the Pineapple tradition that has also caused BJJ to grow down the years in comparison to other martial arts. With this said, the story of Isaiah Aguayo should be celebrated as much as it is mocked and laughed at as it has a positive ending for everyone involved.
