Finish a submission in BJJ

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Finish a submission in BJJ

When you go to finish a submission in BJJ,  in the majority of cases it’s not a fight against the clock. It’s a a fight against movement. When we get into a potential finishing positions, there is a natural tendency among all of use to think that time will be the determining factor behind success or failure. That the faster we do it, the less chance an opponent can defend. In fact, the only case where you must race against time is when there is a set time limit and time is close to expiring. Like a BJJ competition match or a timed MMA fight. In all other cases, here at Savarese BJJ (www.bergencountybjj.com), your prime concern should not be time, but rather, restricting movement. It is movement that will enable to get an opponent out of the move. Set your mind to focus upon control over movement, rather than speed of execution. Stop going 100 miles per hour! I often tell my students this : if you were driving your car through beautiful scenery at 100 mph, would you see the beauty? No. Now drive at 25 mph, would you see it? Slow things down rather than speed things up and soon you will be exhibiting the kind of control necessary to finish high level opponents.

BJJ’s path from knowledge to skill

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BJJ’s path from knowledge to skill

BJJ’s path from knowledge to skill is interesting. Here is my view on the path. When all is said and done the single biggest determinant of how successful you will be in Jiu-Jitsu by far is the depth and quality of your skill set, your “toolbox”. Most people go through their careers in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu thinking that skill is something that magically forms over time, that if you train long enough and the skills will come. While there is certainly some truth in this, it’s impossible to train for a long time without picking up skills along the way, it doesn’t always work that way. However, when it comes to skill acquisition, you will do much better if you begin the quest for skill with a quest for knowledge. If you know what the right thing to do is from the start, it takes a lot less time to build that into a skill. Remember that skill is a knowledge that has been hardwired into the movements and reactions of your body. Knowledge and skill are linked but not the same. Many people know what they ought to be doing but lack the physical ability (skill) to actually do it. That is why you don’t see any knowledgeable but old and decrepit red belt masters on the winners podium at the world championships. The pattern of your development is clear. If you want to shorten the time taken to mastery and your blackbelt, begin by seeking knowledge and then embody that knowledge through an intelligently crafted physical training program to turn that mental knowledge into physical skills. Check back tomorrow at www.njbjj.com in the news section for more tips if you enjoyed this blog.

How to double your submission rate in BJJ

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How to double your submission rate in BJJ

Here is a great tip on how to double your submission rate in BJJ. Double your submission success rate by attacking posture as well as the submission. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, almost every match, both athletes know all the high percentage submission holds and their counters. Furthermore, this makes it very difficult to apply them successfully against someone your own size and skill level. One of the best ways to improve this situation is to understand that strong submission defense requires a strong posture from the defense can be fought. If you can break your opponent’s posture while they are desperately defending the submission, you great undermine any defense they try to employ. As a result, you will get a lot more submissions, maybe even double or tripe your success. Don’t be happy with just getting the submission locked on and then try to fight to completion. Go the extra distance and try to break his posture at the same time. Now your opponent has TWO problems to solve at the same time. Having to defend more than submission will usually leave that extra opening you need.  If you enjoyed this article, check www.njbjj.com every day for more helpful jiu-jitsu tips.

A woman is wrestling on the ground in a gym.

How to double your submission rate in BJJ

Denying your opponents attacks in BJJ

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Denying your opponents attacks in BJJ

Denying your opponents attacks in BJJ is where you should start in a match. Start with denying their attacks, then build your attacks. The toughest matches are those you you go blow for blow against your opponent. You are attacking them and they are simultaneously attacking you. Everything becomes a hectic battle where in truth, the outcome could go either way. Battles like this can be fun and certainly make for excitement, but they do not exhibit the ideal of control that is central to winning in our sport. Here at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com), I usually encourage my students to begin with denying their attacks. Start each encounter to shutting down an opponents ability to attack through grip fighting, stance, position and motion. Once you have removed the initial danger, then you can really focus on launching your own attacks without the distraction of having to simultaneously deal with an opponents attacks. It is at this point you can cut through the clutter, In the course of a match, we’re called on to prioritize and decide what is most important. Do you address his grips? Your balance? How about your posture? When it comes time to get through all the noise and distraction, realize that sometimes YOU are the clutter. Learning to get out of your own way is a great skill to develop. It happens through practicing systematically, using what you’ve learned, rather than relying on instinct. Unless you can see and think clearly about what’s actually happening, rather than what you WANT to have happen, you’ll likely prioritize the wrong thing and find yourself in hot water. That is why I like to deny first, then attack.

Connections in BJJ

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Connections in BJJ

Connections in BJJ are very important. Connections: a general rule in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that when defending we look to create space, and when attacking we look to remove space and create pressure. Nowhere is this more true than when you’re working to control a scrambling partner. Out of a scramble from the turtle position, you want to connect yourself as quickly as possible to your partner, who is looking to separate themselves from you. Here Our student Cait is at the beginning of a scramble. You can see a few tools to use in these situations: locked hands, chest-to-back and head height. A couple others not yet established are lower body control, elbow position and head placement (ear-to-ear). Control in Jiu-Jitsu or any form of grappling happens by degrees. Finding ways to form a solid connection between yourself and your partner is a great starting point. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bergencountybjj.com), we stress this. The more you control you have over your opponent, the easier it is to submit them. That is what separates our art from other grappling arts.

Chokes are the ultimate weapon in BJJ/MMA

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Chokes are the ultimate weapon in BJJ/MMA

Chokes are the ultimate weapon in BJJ/MMA. The choke is the ultimate weapon in Jiu-Jitsu because you can’t just power out of it. The great Grandmaster Helio Gracie once said “for the choke, there are no tough guys. With an arm lock, he can be tough and resist the pain. But with the choke, he will just pass out and go to sleep”. Jiu-Jitsu is the art and science of control that leads to submission. Within the realm of submissions you have two main choices, joint locks and chokes. Both are essential knowledge, both are extremely effective,  but if you are ever given a choice,  go with the choke. Chokes take the element of choice out of submission. Whenever you attack a joint, your opponent has a choice of whether to submit or not. The higher the stakes, the more likely the choice will be “no, I will not submit”, and the match will continue. With chokes, their choice becomes irrelevant. If the choice is to submit, the match is over. If they choose not to submit,  they pass out and the match is over. The choice has no effect on the outcome. In a truly tough match with an opponent who is prepared to reckless with their physical health and safety, the choke is truly the grapplers equivalent of a striker’s knock out punch, while the joint lock is perhaps closer to the notion of a body blow, it causes damage that degrades your opponents ability to fight and thus takes you closer to victory but will not always provide a decisive finish. learn your chokes! In your toughest matches, they will be your most trustworthy weapon.

Gi vs No-Gi Chokes in BJJ

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Gi vs No-Gi Chokes in BJJ

Gi vs No-Gi Chokes in BJJ has some similarities and some differences. Gi and no gi – the choking course of action: When it’s time to choke someone with your upper body (chokes with the legs are quite different) there are options. In no-gi grappling, it will generally be your arms, in particular the biceps on one side and wrist/forearm on the other with the wrist/forearm side doing most of the work. In gi grappling, the preferred method will be with the opponents collar (there are other methods that are very effective). The collar has a thin edge to it that is harder and thinner than the forearm/wrist and thus does a better job of penetrating under the jaw to get to the carotid arteries. The collar mimics very well the superior strangling properties of a strong rope or sash that is the best means of a choke that you can ever use. But which of course is not an option in a Jiu-Jitsu match. There are a few cases where one can use rear naked choke in a gi match, but in the vast majority of cases, the collar will provide a much better choking medium than the arm/wrist. When there are limits of a arm/wrist to penetrate under the jaw in a match or fight,   sometimes you can or will have to perform a mandible strangle over the jaw. Now this is less efficient but still very effective, especially if you are and larger and stronger human being. A gi collar would allow much easier penetration under the jaw in circumstances like this due to its blade like edge. Learning to use the edge of the collar will make you choke with even greater power and precision than you do with the arms. this is something it takes years and a lot of mat time to develop, but when you do, it is really effective. For more BJJ tips, check back tomorrow in the news section of  www.njbjj.com 

Power of elbow control in BJJ

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Power of elbow control in BJJ

The power of elbow control is a huge part of success in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Elbow control comes from posture, and a big part of good posture in Jiu-Jitsu is concerned with keeping your elbows close to your hips and torso. In addition, the more you can do this, the more difficult it will be for an opponent to control you and open you up to attacks. It stands to reason then, if you flip that thinking around, the power of elbow control in BJJ also shows that taking your opponents elbows out of position and away from the hip and torso, is an excellent way to undermine his game. It makes it easier to apply your own. This is particularly important when employing chest to chest pinning attacks, especially from the mount position, but it’s also a valuable idea when passing half-guard. Using double underhooks is a great way to  undermine your opponents elbow position and thus make defense from half- guard bottom very difficult. Note that head position also becomes important in this context. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy, (www.njbjj.com), we really love to attack this way from the mount. Also, the basis of defense in Jiu-Jitsu is elbow position. There is a reason why the old masters call them elbow escapes,  knock that domino over first and all the others will soon fall. Defense is the most important aspect of jiu-jitsu, if you can’t be finished, there is no way to lose, right?

Taking risks in BJJ

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Taking risks in BJJ

When starting our BJJ journey, we learn a lot about taking risks in BJJ. Risk, fear and worry: these are three different things and it helps your jiu-jitsu game to keep them separated. Risk is all around. There is a counter to everything you’re trying to do, and a potential downside if things don’t land perfectly. And there is a counter to that. Furthermore, there is a counter to that counter. Taking passing for example, whenever I approach my partner to pass, I risk getting tangled in their legs. This can lead to a triangle choke or possibly an armbar like in the picture above. In addition, from the standing position, any time I shoot for the single leg, I risk getting sprawled on and ending up in a front headlock and/or guillotined. Fear is a reaction to risk. While the risk itself is real, the fear is in our mind. It’s created by “what ifâ€, wondering where we’ll end up if things don’t work out. Will I get guillotined from the front headlock? Will I get choked from the back? Worry is the work we try to do to mitigate fear. Imagining all the ways we can avoid a negative outcome. If risk always means fear, and fear means worry, you’ll get exhausted long before you get better. But if you can see them all as separate, that you can have risk without tremendous fear or worry, you’ll be able to do your best work and improve slowly and efficiently. For more BJJ tips, make sure you visit the news section of Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com) for more helpful tips.

Open guard tips in BJJ

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Open guard tips in BJJ

Here are some open guard tips in BJJ. When working from open guard, – constantly seek to off balance your opponent forward so that their hands go to the mat. Any opponent taken out of balance is an easy target. In addition, a huge part of your ability to develop a strong attacking game from open guard comes down to your ability to off balance your opponent. Also, one of the clearest signs that you have been successful in doing this is your opponents hands being snapped down to the mat. Remember, if their hands are on the mat and they aren’t on you, and if their body on you, they can not pass your guard or stymie your attacks. Gordon Ryan and Felipe Costa, who has since retired from competition, seem to be 2 masters of this and getting their opponents hands to the mat as a way to prevent him interfering with the ashi garami they seem to lock up. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (bergencountybjj.com), we stress this concept to all of our students when attacking open guard. Another effective open guards are is De La Riva guard, named after the great Ricardo de La Riva from the Carlson Gracie team. And butterfly guard, which is more of a BJJ tournament style guard than MMA effective, but became popular in early 90s when the CBJJ was established in Brazil. Renzo Gracie and Jean Jaques Machado was 2 of the most popular users on the guard in that era Then in the 2000s, the grappler that really showed the possibilities of butterfly guard was Marcelo Garcia (pictured executing this theory on Bernardo Faria). He amazed spectators dominating larger opponents with his butterfly guard.