Gripping and controlling hands in BJJ

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Gripping and controlling hands in BJJ

Gripping and controlling hands in BJJ in an important concept to learn. Control the hands and everything else is a lot easier. When an opponent comes forward to begin passing your guard, he will generally come in and approach BEHIND their hands. Their hands will initiate contact with your lower legs somewhere between the knee and ankles, either gripping the body or the cloth of your uniform. If they establish a good working grip, they will be in the drivers seat. That’s good for them but very bad for you. Don’t just accept hands controlling your lower legs, something my instructor David Adiv taught me early in my BJJ and I pass on to my students at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com). Fight to control their hands and they won’t be able to control your legs. Then YOU will be in the drivers seat. Sometime, I like to use the sleeve cuff to control my partners right hand and a foot in the bicep to control the left hand. This prevents my partner using his hands in unison, a big part of success in these situations. Learn to use your hands and feet to control his hands when working from bottom guard and watch your overall guard game take off!

Turtle breakdowns in Jiu-Jitsu

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Turtle breakdowns in Jiu-Jitsu

Here are my thought on turtle breakdowns in Jiu-Jitsu. Many grappling sports feature turtle breakdowns. You see them in wrestling, Judo and Sambo. The intent of turtle breakdowns in these grappling styles is usually very different from Jiu-Jitsu. However, Jiu-Jitsu is very unique among grappling styles in so far as it awards points (maximum points actually) to rear mounted positions. In Judo, wrestling and Sambo, the primary goal is not to get hooks in and rear mount,  that score no points in itself ,but rather to turn the opponents back and shoulders towards the floor into a pin in those sports. So the whole direction of turtle breakdowns in BJJ is quite different. The primary focus is on getting your two legs hooked into his hips to attain the rear mount,  it does not matter whether you end on top or bottom, if you get two hooks in you score. Interestingly, in other grappling styles such as Judo if you topple an opponent from turtle and end up in a side pin you can win the match if you hold him down for a period of time. In JBJJ, he same action would score you nothing. The different rule structure leads athletes in different sports in very different directions. When practicing Jiu-Jitsu always keep this in mind and make your primary focus the rear mount position. It gets you the maximum points score and puts you immediately in position for the most high percentage submission in the sport, the rear naked choke. Here, our Savarese BJJ student (www.njbjj.com) Eddie this principle.

Understanding scrambling in BJJ

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Understanding scrambling in BJJ

Understanding scrambling in BJJ can be confusing. In a world of confusion those who have a clear sense of where they want to be will prevail. Some of the scramble situations we find ourselves in Jiu-Jitsu can be totally disorienting, especially to lower ranks. sometimes, both athletes are head over heels and spinning like tops. It is crucial that you be able to go from this common type of scenario and emerge in a good situation, or at least, a better one than your opponent. The key to this is to have a small set of goals as to where you want to maneuver towards as you tumble around around each, so that you are working towards those goals even as you tumble. We suggest here at Savarese BJJ Academy (bergencountybjj.com) to make yourself a flow chart of these scenarios to improve yourself in these spots. When the tumbling stops, you can emerge in a winning position. Don’t just scramble for the sake of scrambling, scramble towards something. Being someone mostly interested in submission I usually like to aim towards some form of leg entanglement in a heated scramble. Variations of ashi-garami are almost always available and when the scramble is done you are in a potentially match winning position or a good position to sweep for a reversal. You might have different preferences and aim for arm bars in a scramble, or a Kimura, whatever you prefer. Just have a prior goal at the onset of a scramble to make sure you got something good in your hand at the end of the scramble.

Pinning while passing guard in BJJ

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Pinning while passing guard in BJJ

Pinning while passing guard in BJJ is a skill that needs to be perfected to increase your success rate. Getting better at pins while passing the guard are the highest scoring maneuvers in all of  Sport BJJ. The mount and the rear mount score double what you get for a takedown or sweep. Passing the guard also earns you more points. As such, there is a great incentive to get there. This often creates a mindset where the pin is enough reward in itself. In the long term however, you must go beyond this and see the dominant pins of Jiu-Jitsu as not just a good position to score ,but a great position to submit people. The key to making this shift is your opponents arms. Don’t be satisfied with the pin itself, go further and trap your opponents arms. We really preach this at our Academy (www.njbjj.com). This will help immeasurably as you try to convert the pin into a submission. From the rear mount pin one of his arms with your legs and suddenly your strangle success rate will double. From the mount, walk your opponents arm out and away from his torso and suddenly you will be strangling and arm locking opponents at twice your normal rate. Make it a habit once you get to your dominant pins to start working on your opponents arms and bridge the gap between position and submission!

Working against resistance in BJJ

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Working against resistance in BJJ

Here are my thought about working against resistance in BJJ. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (bergencountybjj.com) we teach that everything you do in Jiu-Jitsu is done against strong resistance by someone who probably knows the moves you are attempting and knows the counters to those moves. This makes for a situation where you will fail more often that you succeed at a high percentage in the application of your moves. You must get used to this fundamental fact of live sparring and competition. Understand that failure is only temporary and that you always have options to follow up with subsequent attacks and 2nd and 3rd options. Victory almost always goes to the athlete who can sustain attacks over time until a breakthrough is achieved. As you feel strong resistance, take confidence in the fact that you are offensive and your opponent is defensive and that if you can maintain this long enough you will eventually break through no matter how tough the resistance feels. Don’t be discouraged, like the great Thomas Edison once stated “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.†Adopt this mindset for yourself and your Jiu-Jitsu as well.

A simple BJJ test for you

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A simple BJJ test for you

A simple BJJ test for you: Here is a simple test you can perform during or after your sparring training every day. This is a test that will tell you a lot about yourself and your game. At the conclusion of your training, take a memorable part of the session, day for example, a submission that you successfully applied, or a good escape from a bad position, or some other slice of action that had a distinguishable finishing point and ask yourself, What happened exactly and what did I do to get there? When asked this question, almost everyone can/will give only a very general answer. Some cannot/will not give any answer at all. The whole round was just a blur in their memory until a move happened. If you cannot give a reasonably accurate breakdown of what transpired from start to finish for a given move soon after it happened, this tells you something very important – that you are acting without thinking. In some cases this can be very good. If you are winning most of your matches against tough opponents without thought, then this would imply that you have programmed your subconscious to read the match second by second and react correctly before conscious thought was necessary. In these cases most athletes can, if pressed, go back and recall what they did and why, even if initially they couldn’t. In the great majority of cases however, it means that you are simply acting from blind instinct. Your recollection is just a blur of action and the only thing you can recall, even when asked, is the result. This tells you very clearly that you had no control over the events. You just reacted instinctively as things happened – no identification of problems and thinking towards a solution. Every time class ends, USE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TEST YOUR MINDS RECOLLECTION OF WHAT HAPPENED SO THAT NEXT TIME YOU ARE STARTING TO ENGAGE THE POWERS OF YOUR MIND INTO YOUR SPARRING. You will soon find that you are much more mentally in control of the situation than previously and that you see and identify opportunities, dangers, and patterns that you are previously blind to. Here, Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com) student Theresa Zeppetelli applies another tight armbar for the finish and she knew the how and why of every step to get there

BJJ Submission holds must be drilled to perfection

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BJJ Submission holds must be drilled to perfection

BJJ Submission holds must be drilled to perfection. here is the thing about submission holds – they either work completely or they don’t work at all. In addition, absolutely no one remembers a a submission hold that “almost†worked. In the heat of high level competition against athletes aren’t afraid to take some pain, the only only ones that work are those that are perfect in their application. As far as the outcome goes, a submission hold that was 98% perfect is as useless as one that was 5% perfect. Only the ones that are 100% perfect count in training, BJJ sport jiu-jitsu and MMA or even a street fight. As such, if you are to take the long and difficult path towards submission mastery you MUST seek mechanical perfect in your holds. It’s not easy to attain against determined and skilled opponents, but when you get there you will have a truly impressive weapon at your disposal. Here at Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com), we preach the “Outliers” theory after the book by Malcolm Gladwell which says it takes 10,000 repetitions of anything to master it. Look at the pressure generated by this armlock from Kayla Zeppetelli. Pressure and mechanical tightness like this must be your goal.
A woman is lying on the ground in a judo gym.

Muscle memory in BJJ

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Muscle memory in BJJ

Muscle memory in BJJ is extremely important. Here at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com), we find this to be a key to success at higher levels of BJJ. Doings things over and over creates that muscle memory (this is why warmups are so important, the constant drilling of basic movement makes them simple in the long run). We like to call this the Outliers theory after the book by Malcom Gladwell that preaches the philosophy of 10,000 repetitions of anything to master it. Want to make faster decisions? Limit your options. One of the most important factors in who wins and who loses in a Jiu-Jitsu match is speed and quality of decision making. Athletes who make good decisions quickly generally beat athletes who make good decisions slowly. One simple and effective way to increase your speed of decision making is to limit the options you have per scenario. If you have a thousand options, you will inevitably slow down as you decide between competing options. Heed the advice of the great Jean Jacques Machado “”The more you know, the less you use. To use less, you need to know more.””  Have one or two strong attacks per scenario and the decision making process becomes very easy and very fast. Of course it’s no good to make BAD decisions quickly, they have to be good ones. To accomplish this, I suggest researching the most high percentage moves in modern competition in a range of scenarios. If you have a small set of well trained high percentage moves in each of the main scenarios we regularly find ourselves in daily sparring, you will immediately notice decision making is faster and more decisive. And that will result in the fast and decisive action, a key element of winning in Jiu-Jitsu.

A man is wrestling with another man.

Muscle memory in BJJ

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.