Building your repertoire in Jiu-Jitsu

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Building your repertoire in Jiu-Jitsu

Building your repertoire in Jiu-Jitsu can be hard. Also, at times, a blow to the ego. For example, when a young musician develops, a big part of that development is building a repertoire of musical pieces that they can play extremely well, a good gauge of their developing maturity as an artist is the growing extent of their repertoire. As a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, you are as much an artist as a musician, and like them – you must constantly seek to both refine and expand your repertoire; only your repertoire won’t be concerned with music, but with moves enabling you to control, break and strangle opponents. Make sure that at any given time you have a specific set of moves (usually a rather small set) that you are actively working to learn and develop into something you can use successfully against your toughest opponents. If you keep coming out to fight the same people with the same moves it will become difficult as they learn to predict and anticipate your attacks. Actively adding to your repertoire is a fine way to make you unpredictable and stay ahead of your competition. Here, our student Ariana works on her leg lock game – totally new to her when she first started – but one day can perhaps be a major part of her offense. So too in your own life, just because you are not good at something now does not mean you are condemned to stay that way. I have seen many an athlete turn a weakness into a strength in time, you can too!

Two people are practicing martial arts on a mat.

Building your repertoire in Jiu-Jitsu

Approach to open guard attacks

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Approach to open guard attacks

When talking about an approach to open guard attacks, mine is simple. If you can’t get under them, knock them backwards. So, a big part of my theory to this type of situations is to get deep UNDER an opponent so that you can lift and elevate them into vulnerable position from which attacks often succeed. Any kind of lifting attack will require you to get under an opponent’s center of gravity. Pretty soon opponents will figure that out and start backing away from you to prevent you getting under them. That’s when you must start adjusting the direction of your initial attack from under and forwards to backwards in the same direction as their defensive movement. Playing these two games against each other as a dilemma pairing will make you a very dangerous attacker from open guard. Here, Savarese BJJ Academy (bergencountybjj.com) student Leo attempts to get under his opponent to apply this approach. In addition, you can find another article we wrote about the open guard here : https://njbjj.com/open-guard-tips-in-bjj/ 

Distance control in BJJ

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Distance control in BJJ

Distance control in BJJ is something to think about.  When you first go to engage an opponent from seated guard there are a lot of variables that will influence how you will engage. Some of these variables are within your control and some are not. One that often is within your control and which has great importance, is distance. Depending upon what kind of attack you want to employ, you will want to be at an appropriate distance for that attack. Learning to move in such a way that you control the distance between you and your opponent so that you can choose the weapon of your attack is a big part of your development. You should be able to move efficiently from the seated position – scooting – so that you can close distance, maintain distance or increase distance, depending upon what you want to do. Here, our Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com) students Andrew and Anoop square off and try to gain advantage through distance before they even engage in grips. Both athletes know what they want, both have a good idea what the other person wants, now it will come down to movement skills to see who can actually get want they want. Often, there is considerable jousting for distance and angle at this part of the game. This is normal and to be expected. These skills may not be the exciting to learn, but they have a big impact on the outcome, so make sure you devote time to them

First contact in grappling

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First contact in grappling

First contact: Every grappling match begins with the closing of distance and first physical contact, whether it be in standing position or on the floor. It will greatly benefit you to have a plan in place before the first contact happens, rather than make contact and see what happens. There are only so many ways the two of you can initiate contact. So, having a good response to the major possibilities worked out ahead of time let’s you get off to a good start. And when you are facing tough opponents, that’s a great thing. In order to make an effective and proactive first contact you will need an appropriate STANCE, MOTION, GRIP FIGHTING SEQUENCE and PLAN OF ACTION for the initial encounter. These will all vary depending upon what your aims are. Make sure you devote some time developing these skills of first contact, something we stress here at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com). So many times the outcome is heavily influenced by those crucial opening seconds.

Half Guard Passing

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Half Guard Passing

When Half Guard Passing, Use all your options when passing the half guard. In addition, passing the half represents perhaps the most high percentage and versatile method of passing your opponents legs in the sport. So, use it well and use it often. Whenever you choose to use it, be aware that you can pass in three directions. First, to the same side as you initiate the pass. Second, straight up the middle to the mount. Third, across your opponents body to the far side. All three are highly effective and all three combine well with each other. Learning to use all three possible directions, especially in combinations, will make it very difficult for an opponent to stop you. Here, our Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com) Nate gets ready to back step over to the far side to get into a particularly effective passing method that controls an opponents head while while creating great pressure by getting head and hips pointing in opposing directions. Make sure you have at least one trusted method of this type of pass for each of the three main possible directions of getting past the half guard and you will soon find your game generating a lot more success for you!

Recognition of opportunity in BJJ

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Recognition of opportunity in BJJ

The beginning of every application of a physical technique is the mental act of recognition of opportunity in BJJ. Every time you go to apply a move or tactic in the art of Jiu-Jitsu the first step is a mental one – recognizing that the opportunity is there to apply it. Learning to train your eyes and brain and see and recognize is a huge part of your development. A big part of your training must therefore be a kind of mental training. Mental programming that teaches your eyes to see and your kind to recognize so that your body can pull the trigger and execute the move. Nowhere is this more important than programming yourself to see the multitude of opportunities that occur to take the back or mounting your opponent during any grappling exchange. The back is a huge percentage of our body’s total surface area, so opportunity will always be there as you grapple. In addition, many times in losing the back will open up the opportunity to mount. Khabib was a master of this in the UFC (ufc.com) during his reign as champion in that organization. Learning to see and recognize those opportunities is the beginning of actually TAKING the opportunities and becoming renown as a master of back attacks. Here our student Lucy recognizes her opponent head in position to attack a guillotine and she promptly attacks and capitalizes!

BJJ Half guard passing

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BJJ Half guard passing

BJJ Half guard passing can be very beneficial. One of the tips of half guard passing is once you control the head you can focus upon extracting your leg. The ultimate goal of every half guard pass is to extract your leg and pass either to the two sides of your opponent or straight up the middle to the mount. A crucial step on the path to that goal is to pin the head and shoulders. This is usually done via crossface and/or underhook, though there are other good methods as well. Here, one of our Savarese BJJ (bergencountybjj.com) blackbelts Anthony uses a cross face to pass and jump out to an arm-triangle choke. This means he must pay extra attention to keeping his opponents hips flat on the mat so that he is stable enough to begin extracting his leg. Don’t think the cross face alone is enough to flatten an opponent and keep him flat – your hips are an important part of that process also. Walking your hips forward into his is an excellent way to use your legs to keep him flat rather than rely exclusively on your arm.

3 great entry points into submission in BJJ

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3 great entry points into submission in BJJ

Here are 3 great entry points into submission. The Ashi garami entry into all types of leglocks and heel hooks. Another is the Front headlock. In addition, the Kimura and Kimura trap psotion can be dangerous. Theart of Jiu-Jitsu has a dizzying array of moves, tactics, principles and in the wild scrambles of sparring or competition, it can be very difficult to remember what to do. Whenever confusion reigns, just simplify your mind. If you are searching for submission in a dynamic and chaotic situation, focus on the three best entries and most accessible entry points that will give you a tight hold on even a very challenging opponent and get you in a position to start threatening submissions. here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com), we focus on these are the 3 previously mentioned, the ASHI GARAMI, KIMURA and FRONT HEADLOCK positions. Ashi garami will open up a vast number of sweeps, reversals and leg lock submissions. It has been one of the most popular entries on the no-gi submission circuit over the last 5 years. Kimura will open up submissions via Kimura itself, plus arm locks, triangles and sweeps/takedowns. The front headlock will give you guillotines, Darce chokes, Anaconda chokes (among others) and transitions to the back along with many takedowns. In a chaotic and confusing scramble, stay focused on these three control grips. They are almost always available at some point, and will get on the short cut to submission! Here, Professor Lovato uses the Kimura to finish the very tough Ricardo Demente in a match. You see the Kumra trap even being used more often in MMA events across the world in such organizations as UFC, Bellator and One Fighting Championship in Asia. Try these entries and watch and see the improvement in your game.

How to be a good student in BJJ

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How to be a good student in BJJ

How to be a good student in BJJ, I am often asked the question. As the head of Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com) for almost 20 years, I am always asked “what makes a good student?” or “what d you look for in a student”.  People offer all kinds of attributes – intelligence, dexterity, coordination, strength, flexibility, height, mental toughness, confidence etc etc. In fact, over the years I have seen champions emerge who were totally dissimilar in their attributes. Some were confident, some weren’t. Some were strong, but not others. When you look at the winners podium you see every body type and psychological profile represented. In the end, I came to the conclusion that there was no set of attributes that determined how far you would go in Jiu-Jitsu…. except one. There was one attribute that every champion I ever met or trained possessed. It was the only commonality among them all. It was PERSISTENCE. All of them withstood the many trials, heartbreaks, pitfalls, boredom, fatigue and sacrifices on the path towards excellence and stayed true to the course. When I think about this I find it very encouraging. Most of our physical attributes are determined at birth and most of our mental attributes are determined quite early in our upbringing and so there is little to no choice in them. But PERSISTENCE is something that all of us can realistically exhibit, regardless of whatever else we have or lack. In this sense, you all have what it takes to get very good indeed if you can develop and strengthen this simple and widely available attribute. Don’t worry too much about your progress for this day or this week, concern yourself more with this year. think long term. PERSISTENCE OVER TIME is the most valuable trait you can possess and interestingly, the one most likely already in your possession.

Back Attack Theory in BJJ

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Back Attack Theory in BJJ

How does my back attack theory in BJJ differ from others? Here it is…The back… How should I play between the position and the choke? I always coach that in a no-gi submission match with no striking, the back is the ultimate position. When BJJ practitioners wear a gi, I prefer the mount. The mount is arguably as good as the back because you have the collars to create a strong choke threat that combines will with arm bar threat. In MAA or a street fight, when punches/elbows are allowed, the mount becomes a devastating position, but for no gi grappling the back is king in my opinion. A natural question to ask is, “what is the relationship between the position and the main submission from there, the rear naked choke?” In the great majority of cases focus first on solidifying the position first and your choke second. As you get more advanced, your opponents will get very adept at defending the choke and you must then start trapping arms to get the breakthrough. My students are all very adept at this crucial skill and employ a step by step system to get the breakthrough. Understand that the higher you go up in rank, the more you must start to close the gap between position and the choke. The moment you lock the position, you should be threatening your choke and in some cases where appropriate, you can even get you choke arm set FIRST and then get the position AFTER. The more threat you can create at the neck, The easier it will be to trap arms and sometimes even get a quick finish as your opponent defends the position instead of the submission. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com), we practice this often.