Why BJJ is so effective

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Why BJJ is so effective

This is my opinion of Why BJJ is so effective…Clarity of purpose. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (bjjlyndhurst.com) we truly believe that one of the great reasons why classical Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is so successful as a martial art is it’s incredibly simple and clear basic directive. You can explain it to a total beginner in two minutes and it’ll make total sense to them. In fact, it’s so clear that I believe if you took two completely untrained people with no fighting experience of similar size and strength and explained the basic directive of Jiu-Jitsu to one of them but not the other, the one who had been taught that basic directive would have a considerably higher chance of victory if they fought each other, not because they have gained any skill, they haven’t, but just because they now have an effective and proven sense of direction while the other only has his instincts. When one person has a sense of direction and purpose in a crises and the other doesn’t,  I’ll put my money on the person with a sense of direction and purpose every time. What is this basic directive of BJJ? It can be stated in a single sentence. Work your way to the mounted or back position and once there, establish control and finish your opponent. It doesn’t matter whether it’s grappling or fighting. If you follow that simple directive and have the skills to do it against the resistance of your opponent, you’ll be a very difficult challenge for sure against anyone. Remember always that every rule, point allocation, recommendation, technique and tactic of Jiu-Jitsu is just a means to satisfying this basic directive. Never lose sight of its clarity and you’ll always know what to do and how to train and prepare.

How to coach new students in BJJ

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How to coach new students in BJJ

How to coach new students in BJJ is always up for debate. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.northnjbjj.com) , we always think long term. Coach the big picture first. The growth and development of any given technique in our repertoire follows the same pattern as the growth and development of our physical bodies. A technique starts off weak and vulnerable, unable to survive on its own. Then it grows into early development where it begins to mature into early adulthood. Finally it enters into a mature phase where it can not only survive on its own, but work with others, improve itself and rise to prominence. When first coaching a move to a student, I always begin with the big picture. What is the general nature of the move? What are it good and bad points? What are the main things to focus upon? What are the broad movements required for its execution? Sketch the outline first, THE DETAILS CAN ALWAYS COME LATER. Just get them moving in the general directions they need. Just as an artist begins with a sketch and only then brings in the complexity of colors fill the canvas and create a masterpiece over time, so too, The martial artist must begin with the rough outline of the move and over time, add details as a painter adds color to complete a picture. In all technique development , start with general movement and over time refine it with precise movement. Don’t be obsessed with precision at the start, that will come later.

Biggest problem that BJJ beginner students face

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Biggest problem that BJJ beginner students face

The single biggest problem that BJJ beginner students face: When people begin the study of Jiu-Jitsu, they often see it as a matter of learning a sufficient number of moves in sufficient detail to be able to hold their own on the mat with their classmates. Certainly there is a lot of truth to this. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bjjlyndhurst.com) we see the main problem a little differently. The human body has some fundamental and very important imbalances. An obvious example is the left side/right side balance. People are either right handed or left handed and will be stronger and more coordinated on their strong side. Another extremely important balance is that between upper body and lower body strength and coordination. We are all much stronger in the lower body than our upper body. If I asked you to walk several times across the Academy, you could do this easily and with little effort. If I asked you to walk several lengths of the Academy on your hands in a handstand, even if you had the balance skills to do so, it would be a strenuous and tiring workout. If I asked you to sign your name on paper with your hand, you would do so easily. If I asked you to sign your name holding the pen in your toes it would be a real struggle. Humans are insanely stronger and less coordinated in the lower than upper body. This has clear ramifications for Jiu-Jitsu training. We must learn to grapple (and defend) predominantly with our lower body (legs). This means we have to overcome the lack of lower body coordination that most of us bring into the sport. As a beginner, you must put your primary focus upon development of coordination and dexterity in your legs so that you learn to grapple with them.  You must overcome the natural beginners tendency to grapple with the upper body and learn to let your legs do most of the work. Every time you drill moves, be mindful of letting your legs do the majority of the work involved. There is no shortcut here, it will take time. but let me assure you that forming a strong connection of your mind to your legs (knowledge to action) will be the single biggest skill you need to grow in Jiu-Jitsu.

BJJ: Attack the back, immobilize the head

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BJJ: Attack the back, immobilize the head

Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com), we have a saying: In BJJ, Attack the back, immobilize the head. Attacking the back and surrounding and immobilizing the head is so important. There are many effective ways to control and attack from the back, but one of the most important if your goal is to finish by rear naked choke is that of forming an effective circle of wedges around your opponents neck that inhibits head movement and positions you to choke them at a moments notice. The fundamental need in these cases is to always maintain your head on one side of your opponents head and your choke arm on the opposite side. This essential configuration must be locked in place by your control hand which goes under your opponent’s armpit to either snare his wrist/hand or lock up with your choke hand. The combination of tight head position on one side, choke arm on the other, all locked in place by the control hand makes for a superbly controlling position from where escape is difficult. In addition, you are just inches away from a devastating choke finish at any moment and from where it is easy to add additional lower body control by hooking your legs into your opponent’s hips or even locking a tight body triangle around his waist. Practicing this fundamental head and arm positioning as the basis of your back control leading to chokes will soon pay dividends in your submissions game.

The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ

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The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ

Lets have a conversation about The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ. Many believe the Americana aka Keylock in BJJ is the great under performer among the various submission holds of Jiu-Jitsu: The soul of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu resides in its submission holds. There are around fifteen to twenty families of submission holds, each with many many variations in technique and entries. These core submission holds are seen all the time in competition. The Arm bar, the triangle, the rear naked choke, the arm-triangle etc etc. are constantly seen successfully applied in all levels of competition in all weight divisions and all belt levels. There is however, one well known and foundational submission hold that has a truly miserable success rate. In fact, in the 30 years I am training, I cannot think of even a single example of it working successfully in black belt competition at the world championship level gi or no gi. I will go further and say I cannot even recall seeing it successfully applied in local tournaments above purple belt and personally I cannot remember ever seeing a black belt be submitted by it even in the gym. This must make it the single worst performing submission hold among the various foundational submissions in our sport, no? Most of the other submissions perform brilliantly, but the success rate of this one is an utter disaster. can you guess what it is? It is the Americana lock. The only example of it being used successfully that I can recall is a UFC 152 fight by Jon Jones on a badly battered and exhausted Vitor Belfort. That is the only time I have seen it in an MMA fight (and at that point Mr Jones could have submitted him with any lock he chose). This is very unusual, most core moves of the sport have excellent success rates. The American lock is unquestionably a core lock of the sport, taught often at beginner level around the world. In fact, it is usually one of the first submissions we learn and a staple of beginner classes everywhere, yet it scores so few victories that I would understand if an instructor simply stopped teaching it above white belt level. (although the keylock serves as a great set-up to attain the S-Mount position to attack choke and armlocks). Interestingly the American lock is actually very strong and potentially devastating once it is applied. Any type of 2 on 1 hold is. The failure is not mechanical, an American lock will break an arm just as surely as a kimura or armlock or any other (in fact I would argue that the breaking potential of a well applied American lock is superior to most other joint locks, it’s very strong when done well) So why the failure to be successfully applied in competition? If it’s not mechanical, the failure must reside in set-ups and entry and in ability to cope with resistance and counters. Do you think this great failure of the submission family can be rehabilitated? Can we improve our set ups to make this lock work in competition?
A man in white and black uniform on red mat.

The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ

You don’t always win in BJJ

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You don’t always win in BJJ

You don’t always win in BJJ. Just like in life, you do not always win in Jiu-Jitsu, and sometimes class can be very frustrating when we feel like we are not improving.
But we need this challenge as well; otherwise, how will we deal with the inevitable disappointments and set-backs we face in life?
Although jiu-jitsu is an art that allows smaller practitioners to win against larger, stronger opponents, sometimes things do not go our way.
In these situations, we learn to address our ego and improve our ability to handle adversity.
This develops the strength of our character and our patience.
Jiu-jitsu is not a straight uphill climb to black belt, but a series of improvements and plateaus.
It is during these plateaus in our progress that we work on our humility and patience. Without it, success is elusive – both in life and in jiu-jitsu.
Lessons like this are taught ever day at Savarese BJJ Academy (northnjbjj.com)

Multi-Tasking in BJJ

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Multi-Tasking in BJJ

Multi-Tasking in BJJ is a skill that must be learned over time. As much as we value focus in Jiu-Jitsu it should be quite clear to you that there is a strong demand in many situations in BJJ for you to work on several different tasks at the same time if you are to be successful. In the case of the back position, you must be able at a minimum to satisfy the basic demand to maintain the overall position, while at the same time working diligently to actually attack. In practice, and especially when utilizing the back system methodology that we employ, we have to simultaneously work to hold position and also battle through our opponent’s hands to set up strangle attacks. As you gain in sophistication you will add more and more tasks into the equation, like a battle for head position, for left vs right side etc etc. You must master the skills of prioritizing the tasks (position generally takes priority) and of working in two or more at the same time. Here, our Savarese BJJ Academy (www.northnjbjj.com) student Maverick does a fine job of working control of his opponents hips with his legs to stay aligned and keeping head on opposite side of his strangle arm to exert strong control from head to hips. While all this is going on he is engaged in a sharp hand fight with his opponent. This is exactly the kind of practice you must engage in to master this critical aspect of the sport. Multi tasking at the office is one thing – but doing it preserve yourself from a powerful strangle is quite another!

Two people are practicing jiu jitsu on a mat.

Multi-Tasking in BJJ

Problem in the application of BJJ submission holds

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Problem in the application of BJJ submission holds

A common problem in the application of BJJ submission holds is the tendency most people have to attempt the move before they have the preconditions necessary for the success of the move set in place. Get everything in place first, then go. Any given submission has a set of preconditions that will make it work. Failing to establish these prior to attempting the actual is asking for failure. You must learn the preconditions for your favorite submissions and have the diligence and patience to set them in place first and only then apply the submission. This will help you in two important ways. The first is physical. When the preconditions are well set your physical performance of the submission will be much cleaner and tighter. The second is psychological. When the preconditions are well set you will enter into the submission with much greater verve and confidence and display the commitment necessary for submission holds at high levels. Look at how our Savarese BJJ Academy student (www.northnjbjj.com) Ariana has established perfect head, wrist, elbow and leg positioning before she committed to falling into a bottom position high elbow guillotine. She can fall into the move with full confidence knowing that everything is in place before she enters. Know what you need PRIOR to entering your favorite submissions. Then watch your confidence steeply rise as you enter and enjoy your increased success afterwards.

Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the key components to reaching blackbelt. Here are some more tidbits about Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you can preserve your BALANCE, then you can see and react well to every threat and at a moment’s notice launch your own attacks. If you can preserve your COMPOSURE then you can make good decisions even under stress. If you can preserve your BREATHING you can outlast an opponent who matches you in skill and strength. Keep your balance, your composure and your breathing under control whilst denying them to your opponent and you’ll find victory far more often than not. In addition, preserving your BODY is also very important. When your body is screaming for a rest, give it a rest. If you are injured, take some time off. Just go to class and watch. In that case, you are still training your mind. Sometimes, you can learn more from watching than training. Preserving your mind is also important, you cannot let your ego get the best of you during training. The goal has to be growth and acquiring skill and to do that, you have to fail first. Do not be scared to fail. The only way to succeed is by failing first. there is no success without failure. These lessons are taught daily at Savarese BJJ (www.bjjlyndhurst.com). If you practice and master these keys to preservation, you will continue to improve little by little, day by day, month by month, year by year. Remember, you only need to be better than you were the day before, strive to be 1% better than you were yesterday. If your goal is to be a blackbelt someday, heed this advice. Best of luck on your BJJ journey, we are pulling for you!

2 main approaches to a BJJ match

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2 main approaches to a BJJ match

There are 2 main approaches to a BJJ match. The two ways are proactive and reactive approaches. Whenever you go out to battle an opponent there are two main approaches you can take with the application of whatever technique and skills you bring to the match. The first is a PROACTIVE approach where you look to initiate the moves and deliberately push the action towards what you want to do. The second is a REACTIVE approach where you let your opponent initiate and you take advantage of any opening created by your opponent’s attack to counter and get the breakthrough. Each method will always have its advocates. As a general rule proactive methods tend to do better in encounters with a short time limit whilst reactive methods tend to do better in longer encounters. However, it will greatly benefit your development to work hard developing your skills in both approaches. This immediately doubles the number of attacks you make in a given time frame and makes you much less predictable in your attack patterns. Here you can see our Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bjjlyndhurst.com) student Nate approach an opponent. His focused look clearly shows he has an initial proactive goal which he will work hard to enforce upon his foe, but he will also have the creativity to read his opponent’s attacks as he gets close and be ready to go into his reactive counters as well. As much as it’s a good thing to focus on what you want to achieve, remember always that there are two people in a bout and it pays to be able to attack off the actions of both people rather than just one.