Obsessed With Jiu-Jitsu: Inside The Mind Of Eddie Cummings Part 2

No matter how obsessed you think you are with jiu-jitsu, Eddie Cummings has you beat -- guaranteed.

Sep 13, 2017 by Averi Clements

Obsessed With Jiu-Jitsu: Inside The Mind Of Eddie Cummings Part 2

No matter how obsessed you think you are with jiu-jitsu, Eddie Cummings has you beat -- guaranteed.

Read: Jiu-Jitsu's Einstein: Inside The Mind Of Eddie Cummings Part 1

After abandoning a more traditional career path in physics to focus on grappling back in 2010, he threw himself into the work that he truly loved and he hasn't stopped since. He spends up to 16 hours a day researching and playing with moves, even though he knows most of them won't make it into his "A-game" for competitions such as the ADCC 2017 World Championships later this month in Espoo, Finland.

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Eddie Cummings goes on the attack at ADCC 2015. Photo: Hywel Teague

As someone who has spent most of his 32 years of life using his mind more than his body, Cummings is more suited to this style of improvement rather than the constant training sessions that younger, more naturally athletic grapplers tend to implement into their routines.

"I'm exploring different ideas, different setups, combinations, controls… I train and rep every day and I keep up my physical conditioning, but most of what I do is researching," he said. "When I was studying math, it was pretty much the same thing, except now there's a physical aspect to it."

Even when he sits in his rashguard and grappling shorts, the vibe that Cummings gives off is more of that of a professor than a professional athlete. He speaks with the air of someone who knows more than he can put into words about his chosen science, but even with all the knowledge he has packed into his brain about jiu-jitsu, he still understands the importance of spending time in the lab --- which, in his case, takes the shape of the famous blue basement of the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City.

In addition to making himself his own guinea pig, he also gets to test his theories on some of the most dangerous "lab rats" in the industry.

"I'm lucky that I can get such high level training and opinions," he said. "You go in with an idea, Gordon (Ryan) will be the first one to smash it."

Cummings also credits a large part of his development to training partner Ottavia Bourdain.

"We really learned the game together and definitely helped each other a lot," Cummings said. "When I talk about all the time I spend researching, she's definitely my co-researcher. We're definitely a team in that regard."

As dedicated as Cummings is to his craft, he's still only human. When asked if he's ever wanted to quit, he laughed.

"Lots of times. Most days, actually," he said. "I think about the amount of effort I put in and how the results you get are very disproportionate when it comes to jiu-jitsu research. Actually training, your results are proportionate to what you put in, to an extent.

When you talk about trying to research a movement or come up with new stuff, it's 99 percent of it that you don't figure anything out, or when you do, it's a technique and your opponents can do it too. So I think sometimes it gets a little disheartening -- you think, 'Wow I should be doing literally anything else and making money.'

The struggle to bring in cash when you're an athlete in a sport that's still growing is a very real one, even for someone at Cummings' level. He puts a "disproportionate" amount of time into making sure his seminars are top notch, and when he competes, it's never for small change.

The problem is that, well, he has a hard time finding opportunities to compete. His reputation as a dangerous leg-locker has left many potential opponents scared of what might happen if he gets a hold of their feet, and many other would-be matches have fallen apart due to injuries or more vague excuses from other grapplers.

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Eddie Cummings vs Samir Chantre. Photo: Mike Calimbas

This year has been particularly rough for him. After a "lackluster" match against Samir Chantre in the main event of Fight to Win Pro 31 back in April, Thiago Macedo pulled out of the match that was supposed to be the main event of F2W Pro 35. A superfight was then arranged between Cummings and Paulo Miyao in August, but Miyao had to drop out due to an injury.

"There was no point in me training for that match [with Chantre] the way I did or studying tape the way I did," Cummings said. "Whoever's fault that was, I could've not shown up for two weeks and had the same result. It's tiring doing these training camps, cutting weight... it's not just the money aspect of not getting paid when you're expecting it. It's just you put in a lot of time and research into prepping for opponents or matches and then they don't happen."

With the second half of the year well underway, Cummings' luck in the competition scene is looking like it might change. Not only is he competing in the -66kg division at ADCC on Sept. 23-24, but just days ago, he also agreed to a rematch against Geo "Freakahzoid" Martinez (whom Cummings lost to in the finals at EBI 10) lined up for December.

Whether or not Cummings has got enough opponents willing to risk getting their ankles broken or their tendons snapped to get a shot at him, he stays motivated by remembering why he's doing all this in the first place.

"Ottavia keeps me grounded, reminds me that I love jiu-jitsu," Cummings said. "She'll say, 'What, you want to go back into math or physics?'

My quality of life would probably be better if I did those things, but I don't love these things like I love jiu-jitsu. I love talking about it, teaching, researching. I do this all day.

Part 3 coming tomorrow

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