Make takedowns a priority in BJJ

Make takedowns a priority in BJJ

If you want to be well-rounded in your Jiu-jitsu game, you have to make takedowns a priority in BJJ. So many BJJ practitioner are killers on the ground but not competent on the feet. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of working with, teaching and training with many elite takedown artists and grappling practitioners from other grappling styles such as Judo, Sambo and Wrestling. What I have noticed is that almost all of these men and women were always absolute killers on their feet. Some of them were so skilled that they could literally take their favorite throw and toss someone with it from virtually any grip and even determine which part of their opponents body would land first in the floor. They could grip and then immediately hit their throw/takedown. In addition to being absolute killers on their feet, they were also very competent on the floor. They were not World Champion BJJ caliber or in the elite level Jiu-Jitsu on the mat but they certainly weren’t bad. This is much different than many in the BJJ community who were absolute killers on the floor but completely incompetent on their feet. While there are some exceptional Jiu-Jitsu athletes who are very competent in the standing position, there is a huge disturbing number had a real discrepancy between their ground and standing skills. (although with tournament like ADCC and the rise in no-gi tournaments, it is getting better). In Jiu-Jitsu, you don’t have to be a world beater in the standing position. No one is expecting you to hang with elite Judo or wrestling athletes whose primary focus is standing grappling. But, and a big but, you owe it to yourself to at least be competent in your standing skills. When you train, work with the mindset that you will become a complete BJJ athlete or practitioner, equally skilled on the ground and your feet. That is an ideal that is easily attainable for us all and will make your eventual mastery of the art of BJJ much more rewarding and well rounded and give you a deeper understanding of the art.