BJJ: Are you casual or are you serious?

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BJJ: Are you casual or are you serious?

BJJ: Are you casual or are you serious? One of the first things we ask a new student who wants to become a student here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com) is “are you casual or are you serious?” Casual vs. Serious: It’s important to know what your goals are. Time is an extremely valuable expenditure. Of all the things we can find and make and get, time isn’t one of them. One of my favorite quotes is from Charles Buxton “you will never find the time for anything. If you want time, you must make it” That’s why you have to differentiate between being a casual learner and serious learner. Once you understand this as a choice, all around you you’ll see opportunities to deepen your knowledge and transition from being a vague generalist to an intensive specialist.
Commitment is a powerful amplifier for this process. It can take a weak signal and make it stronger. Like the best moves in jiu-jitsu, commitment is a leverage point which gets your time working harder than it otherwise might. You make an uncommon investment when you put yourself completely behind an effort or an idea and when you’re all in, you get a significant return. Choose to go from casual to serious and make your time worth more. In BJJ, I have found that like everything else in life, the most committed to getting better are the people who make the most progress. If you want to find the time for something, you will. And you will reap the rewards.
A quote about time and the mountains

Managing your emotions in BJJ

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Managing your emotions in BJJ

Today I want to talk about managing your emotions in BJJ. Emotional state management in Jiu-Jitsu and even in life for that matter is a critical skill to develop. It’s something we really focus on at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com). Jiu-Jitsu rewards you when you give attention to “the main thing”. For many of us, not having things go our way can be a frustrating experience that takes us away from that main thing. It can lead to anger or irritation, which then clouds the sort of clear thinking that’s needed for proactive problem-solving. In almost all cases, anger and frustration do not actually help you. In addition, it works in the exact opposite way. Anger of any form will keep you frozen, immobilizing you with no productive outcome. An alternative is to try framing whatever problem you face in a way that assumes there is an answer to be found, even if you can’t see it yet. It may take some time and you may need to recruit others to help you get on this path. But you‘ll get where you’re going faster by emphasizing an active search for creative solutions, rather than letting your frustration paralyze you. Also, here is something else to think about. Your physical heath. Anger can also affect your health in many different ways. An angry outburst can put your heart at risk. It can also weaken your immune system and if you are later in age, possibly lead to a stroke. If you have anxiety, it can make that worse and lead to depression. Studies show that happy people live longer. They also show stress is very tightly linked to general health. If you’re stressed and angry, you’ll shorten your lifespan. These are some more things to consider when it comes to managing your emotions.

Improvement has a cost in BJJ

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Improvement has a cost in BJJ

Improvement has a cost in BJJ. Let be honest, improvement has a cost in almost everything we do, not just BJJ. First of all, it takes time and effort to make something better. It’s also hazardous because trying to make things BETTER might actually make them WORSE. With that hazard comes fear. And if you’re the one who makes a change and things get worse, guess who’s responsible? All of this is why many people won’t willingly try to improve unless there’s an urgent reason to do so. But in order to improve, you have to put in the work. One of my favorites quotes I use here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com) is “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” The best training sparks this desire to change, though, because no matter how long you’ve been doing it, there are always a few things that need fixing. If you surround yourself with those who require more of you, surround yourself with people with like minded goals, or put yourself into those sorts of situations which demand more from you, you face the uncomfortable, difficult necessity to improve. But difficult doesn’t mean HOPELESS. Part of your task is to understand how difficult and even fearful it can be to try to make things better, then to do it anyway. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. That is one of the key lessons to learn in BJJ. One of the best lessons a white in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can learn is to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We preach this our newer and older students. The faster everyone learns this important lesson, the faster everyone’s Jiu-Jitsu will improve ..and at a quicker rate. If you are a whitebelt in Jiu-Jitsu, heed this advice and watch your game improve.

Principles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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Principles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Learning the principles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the foundation of our art. All the best Academies and Jiu-Jitsu teachers everywhere don’t just teach “moves”, they teach principles of the art. With regards to Jiu-Jitsu technique, fashions come and go. What is popular today can be replaced by tomorrow. But underneath that surface, technique lies something permanent, something deep and unchanging whose weight will give your game gravitas, the bedrock of the art, PRINCIPLES. Focus on those and your game will never go out of style. I was lucky to be trained early in my BJJ journey by Professor David Adiv (www.gracienewjersey.com), he didn’t just teach techniques, he taught the principles of Brazilian/Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The hows and the whys we do everything in our art. How, where and why to use frames in a great example. In a game where control is everything, using frames to prevent an opponent from establishing controlling grips and position is a huge part of your development. The centerpiece of your frames will always be the link between your knees and elbows. The closer your opponent gets to you, the closer your knees and elbows need to be together. We stress this from the beginning of your journey here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com).

The first points of contact in BJJ

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The first points of contact in BJJ

Today, I want to talk about the first points of contact in BJJ….hands and head. Hands and head is something we talk about this a lot at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com). When you first make contact with an opponent, whether it be standing or from seated guard situations, the first points of contact with your opponent will typically be at the hands and forehead. Learning to place them so as to create defensive barriers and then manipulate them to create offensive opportunities is a big part of your opening strategies in Jiu-Jitsu. Always understand that your head and hands have both defensive and offensive value. But that in most cases, it’s tactically smart to take care of your defensive responsibilities before your offensive ones. Your head and hands are both a barrier and a key to your opponents door that can give you access to everything else. Use them wisely from the start of each engagement and you will stop an opponent in his tracks while setting up your own attacks. Learning how to use these 2 in unison will definitely improve your Jiu-Jitsu game. In conclusion, you may not see results right away, it takes time to practice and build this game, but once you start to use this, when you have that “A HA” moment, your BJJ game will take off. Remember your defense will always improve first, offense will come after. Learning the defense to something will always help you learn the offense in the long run. That is something that many BJJ practitioners don’t realize until they reach a colored belt, but it is a lesson everyone, of every rank, will eventually learn on their BJJ journey. Practice this every day and let me know how it works out for you.

Always dictate the pace in BJJ

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Always dictate the pace in BJJ

Always dictate the pace in BJJ, this is something I preach almost every single class here at Savarese Jiu-Jitsu Academy (www.northnjbjj.com). Create a strong initial threat and you will own the next move almost 100% of the time. If you can put your opponent under extreme pressure with a given move, it will elicit such a focus on defense that you will have a considerable tactical advantage in any follow up move. An opponent whose entire attention is bound up defending one move will be very vulnerable to any subsequent move. It is up to you however, to develop the sensitivity to know how to keep the pressure on the first attempt but know inside that it’s unlikely to break through the opponents defense and concoct a good follow up. Attacking in combinations becomes a must the higher up the ranks you go. There are two ways you can fail with this. The first is Tunnel vision that keeps you focused only on that first move when it’s becoming clear that it won’t work. The second is not putting enough pressure on the first move so the opponent is not sufficiently distracted and can thus defend the second move as soon as you attempt it. Learning to balance these two demands is a big part of your development towards a strong offense. And if you constantly are attacking and dictating pace, forcing your opponent to constantly defend your every move, your chances of coming out on top and getting a pass, sweep or dominant position rise greatly and thus your chances of getting a submission from that dominant position increases as well. I cannot stress enough how important dictating the pace of your fight or training session is to eventual victory. Try this and watch the difference.

Legs vs head in BJJ

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Legs vs head in BJJ

Fighting legs vs head in BJJ, specifically your legs vs their head, is one of the best forms of control in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com), one of the basic features of Jiu-Jitsu is the notion of controlling greater strength and aggression with lesser strength and aggression via mechanical and tactical advantage. One of the surest ways to do this is to use the strongest parts of the human body (legs and hips) against the weaker parts (head and shoulders for example). Two excellent examples of this would be the triangle and armlock/armbar, both of which directly match your legs against an opponents head and arm. Whenever possible look for this kind of match up in your favor. if you want to defeat biggest and stronger opponents, then you must seek to fight your opponents upper body with your lower body as much as possible. That is the matchup body-wise that will favor you. If you make it a battle of your upper body against a similarly skilled and bigger opponents upper body it is unlikely you will win. So in conclusion, always make it a fight between your lower body and your opponents upper body and victory will definitely find your door more often than not.

A man sitting on the ground with another man.

Fatigue is the ultimate submission in BJJ

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Fatigue is the ultimate submission in BJJ

Fatigue is the ultimate submission in BJJ. We all have our favorite submission holds, but people who get tired will eventually “break”. The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi had a great quote about this…”Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” In time, I hope you develop at least five to six submissions that you can attack from anywhere on anyone. But never lose sight of a fundamental truth in grappling. The ultimate submission is not a hold per se, it is fatigue. If you can physically and mentally break an opponent with fatigue they will submit with their mind first and then with their second. A big part of your skill set has to be the skill of wearing down and exhausting an opponent so that all the submission holds are easy to apply and which an opponent will gladly surrender to. In the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, this is also called “cooking an opponent as well. There are ways to control and manipulate grips, stance and pace that are heavily in your favor so that an opponent is working at two or three times the rate you are. If you can maintain this, the result is inevitable. An opponent who is looking for an excuse to quit,  your submission hold provides that excuse. When you put hands on an opponent your constant underlying goal should be to create a disparity in work rate skewed in your favor that opens the door to submission later in the match.

Plotting your next move in BJJ

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Plotting your next move in BJJ

Plotting your next move in BJJ in a great habit to get into. There are times in Jiu-Jitsu where you have to move quickly and keep moving. There simply isn’t time to think and you have to trust in the habits you gained through training in the Academy to prevail. Fortunately there are just as many times where you DO have time to stop, think and plot your next move among competing options. Unfortunately, we all have a tendency to ignore the different nature of these two situations and we often just unthinkingly charge ahead to the next move when we actually had plenty of time to think and plot. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bjjlyndhurst.com) we teach our students to make sure you use time constructively if time is available. That often means the difference between moving for the sake of moving versus moving with a purpose. There are many situations in Jiu-Jitsu where you exert sufficient control where you can take some time to figure out the next move. Here, our student Cait uses the control afforded by a tight back head and arm (seatbelt) grip to plot how she will get hooks in and finish or gain a better position.

Is the back BJJ’s best position?

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Is the back BJJ’s best position?

Is the back BJJ’s best position? It is a question we ponder at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bergencountybjj.com). We love the back as well as the mount. But only one position truly merges position and submission,  the back. If you look at the pinning pressures of Jiu-Jitsu, you will see that as desirable as they are, you still have quite a bit of work to do to go beyond the pin into the submission. Getting side control or the mounted position or north south or knee on belly is good, but getting the arm or a chokehold from there requires a significant set of skills. The rear mount (aka the back) on the other hand, leaves you VERY close to submission. Unless your opponent has good defensive skills, a simple wrapping of your arm around the neck is enough to end it. You can see how closely the position (rear mount) is to the submission (rear naked choke) by the fact that the escape from one entails the escape from the other. This is not true for say, a mounted arm bar or Kimura from side or knee on belly. Usually escaping the pin is one thing, the submission from that pin is another. As such rear mount/rear naked choke is the single best synthesis of position and submission in the art of BJJ. Mastering the art of getting there, staying there, and finishing from there is the best way to close the gap between position and submission in your game. In this photo, one of our top women, Ariana Zeppetelli, controls the back position before attacking with the aforementioned rear mount/back to rear naked choke combination, one of the deadliest in Jiu-Jitsu. Notice she also has double wrist control in an effort to completely flatten her opponent.

A woman is wrestling on the ground in a gym.

Is the back BJJ’s best position?