BJJ Tips: Gameplan Development Utilising Management Principles

One of the best management infrastructures for a firm or corporation is that of a star (see diagram below). It has many cross-relationships meaning managing information, sharing knowledge and dealing with sudden set-backs is better and smoother.



Parallel to that, I started thinking about my BJJ / Grappling gameplan and if it was a solid star.


I have an outline to my gameplan. I usually know where to go if I started from any position in grappling and I think any purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu should. Getting better is really a case of learning how to deal with your opponents' multiple objections to you playing your gameplan. As Roy Dean said in his interview with my good friend Meekatsu in Martial Arts Illustrated: as a brown and black belt, you've heard those arguments before.

But that's not enough. To have a complete star-structure, you also need to know what to do when you're gameplan gets completely interrupted. With a complete star, not only do you have answers to what to do if they resist your sweep from guard, but also know what to do if they suddenly pass your guard as you're attempting the sweep or they let you have the sweep but they pull guard rather than let you have the mount. Our BJJ / grappling gameplan need to survive contact with reality.

One thing I've noticed about my coach Martyn over the past 10 months or so. While he's always had great balance and positional maintenance skills, he's now happy to let go, but when he does, it is always to some tighter more dangerous hell-hole than the previous one. Every time I manage to bridge him off me from mount he lands in a perfect omoplata and everytime I elbow-knee escape he's half way to taking my back, his hand already in my collar for the choke. It’s Arte Suave my friends, not Arte GRRRR!





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