The 1% Rule. What Jiujitsu taught me about Filmmaking and Content creation
Because I did gymnastics and all kinds of sports growing up, I’ve always maintained a level of athleticism.
Gymnastics alone set the foundation of making me strong and nimble, which gave me a decent head start when I started pursuing stunts.
But when I started training Jiu-Jitsu?
I got smashed. Every. Single. Roll.
For what felt like an eternity, I’d show up, take class, roll. And get absolutely annihilated.
And this went on for months.
My competitive nature (and the fact that I tend to get a little obsessed with things) made me keep coming back—but I’ll be honest, I got discouraged. A lot.
But every day, I tried to focus on getting just a little bit better.
• I’d try to use 10% less energy on my escapes
• I'd focus on anticipating the sweep before it happened instead of reacting late.
• I'd try to hold my guard just 5 seconds longer than last time.
And after a few months, a new guy came in. He was former military and a lot bigger than me.
At this point, I was pretty used to getting my ass whooped so I figured, why not?
We slapped hands and started to roll.
Then something amazing happened.
I was flowing and transitioning like never before. It was like I was rolling like a different person.
I didn’t realize that because I was consistently rolling with people at a higher level than me, I was still improving—even when I felt like I wasn’t.
It took a new guy coming in, someone who was where I was when I first started, for me to see how far I'd come.
That moment changed the way I looked at progress.
Growth doesn’t happen all at once.
It happens by getting just a tiny bit better every day, from putting in reps that compound over time.
Filmmaking and Content Creation Work the Same Way
You aren't going to start creating cinematic masterpieces and gain a million followers the first time you pick up a camera.
The people you look up to will feel like they are light years ahead of you
Just like my Jiu-Jitsu on day one was garbage, my first pieces of content were also garbage
And yours will be too.
The good news? thats true for everyone
But if you keep showing up, if you make your next piece of content just 1% better than your last, you’ll slowly but steadily make progress
One day, you won’t just be making better content—you’ll be a completely different creator.
When you first start training Jiu-Jitsu, the hardest part is that it’s so broad—you don’t even know what to focus on to get better. Filmmaking is the same way. That’s why I created Short Form Filmmaker—not to make you a black belt overnight, but to give you a clear roadmap so you know exactly what to work on and what will make the biggest impact.
But no matter what—keep showing up.
Even when you feel like you’re getting smashed.
Because every rep counts.
Caleb
