BJJ / Grappling tips: Jiu-jitsu works, always!

Positional sparring is a fantastic way to sharpen your execution of a technique. Way more important than Free Rolling and that's not just my opinion. It's the opinion of practically every single world champ or Gracie family member I have ever interviewed.

For those not familiar with the term positional sparring: The instructor introduces three triangle fundamental escapes (for instance) then you drilled them in isolation (against progressive resistance) and then you roll, but every roll started from inside your partner's triangle set-up position. This is an excellent way to learn fast and learn well!

BJJ / Grappling tips: escape the triangle choke from guard

How to escape the triangle choke from guard:

Moving upstream is a marketing term. It can easily be explained with the analogy of a river. If you walk past a river and spot a problem (pollution, stagnant water...etc.) you can either address the immediate problem or simply walk upstream trying to understand the origins of the situation at hand.

What does all this have to do with BJJ/grappling? Everything! Prevention is the best solution in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and by moving upstream we solve problems we didn’t even know we had.

Are you getting caught in triangles in the closed guard? Want to learn how to avoid that in the first place? Let’s move upstream step by step:

Don’t let your opponent close their guard around you, and earlier than that…

Don’t leave your arms one in and one out, and earlier than that…

Don’t let your opponent control your head and posture, and earlier than that…

Don’t let your opponent place their foot (feet) on your hip(s) in open guard, and earlier than that…

Don’t let your opponent control your sleeves

The way I see it, the deeper you get into the rabbit hole, the harder it will be to get out and the more likely that you will get caught. Your chances of you getting caught in a triangle are higher if you let them place their foot on your hip than if you use your knees and elbows to control their thighs (even if they manage to control your wrists) and they are higher still if they control your posture (from your head or collar).

The beauty of moving upstream is that if you don’t let them control your sleeves your will avoid triangles, omoplatas, armbars and most sweeps.

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BJJ Tip: Saulo Ribeiro shows his attacks from mount: Cross choke and armbar

You go to the gym to learn, not to compete. Grappling/BJJ has a series of positions and the fastest way to get good is to immerse yourself in the "map" that is grappling. You need to visit all the locations and familiarize yourself with the neighbourhoods. I know that many grapplers give this advice but they usually refer to starting in disadvantageous positions (working escapes...etc.), which is very sound advice indeed.

What I’m referring to however is giving EVERY POSITION a chance. Are you decent from side control top but you often get bucked up from mount? Are your gi chokes miles better than your arm bars? Make a commitment to shelve what your good at for a couple of months and exclusively work on what you feel is shaky, but don’t see it as a chore!

In this clip, one of the best jiujitsu fighters and teachers Saulo Ribeiro shows us his secrets to attacking with the double attack (cross choke and the arm lock) from the mounted position:



Remember why we are in this game. It’s because we love it. Look at working your weaknesses as a fantastic opportunity to tighten your game but also as a gift to your partners to sharpen their counters. Or as every great jiujitsu coach / instructor I have ever met and learnt from says: Enjoy the process!

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BJJ Tips: Drilling against progressive resistance is the fastest way to learn new, functional skills.

Brilliant teacher Mr Christian Graugart: The BJJ Globetrotter

BJJ / Grappling has enriched my life in many ways. Some obvious such as the health benefits (physically and mentally) and some more subtle ways but no less important and profound (spiritually, great friendships, fun...etc.).

If I had to single out the one activity within BJJ that I feel is the most responsible for all there fantastic effects I'd have to say it's what is often referred to as the Isolation drills or isolation stage.

You can learn more about the Isolation stage here and here but in a nutshell, it's a process of controlled pressure-testing of a skill. I actually came in contact with this a few years before I first stepped onto the BJJ mat, in a language teaching course to be exact, and it wasn't even called Isolation back then. You see, a great model for teaching language is the CRA model or more commonly referred to as the ARC model (simply because it's easier to remember). This stands for:

Controlled Practice: Where skills are introduced. Compliance is important at this stage. An example would be learning a new set of words or phrases. This is also called the Introduction stage.

BJJ / Grappling Back Take Tips: The Secret to Successful Armdrags

Commitment is very important in martial arts in general and especially so in BJJ and grappling. Coming to BJJ from the "one-punch-one-kill" mentality of Karate, every BJJ coach / instructor I've learned from has stressed upon me that in grappling, moves are never a one-off and combinations are the key to success. Nonetheless, you must commit to each individual technique, have full faith in it and never do it half-heartedly. This is never truer than in the example of armdrags.

The heart of armdrags (irrespective whether from closed guard, open/butterfly guard or even standing) is in the first two moves:

1. Clearing the arm to the side
2. Reaching your arm across his back to the opposite lat.

What you do from here depends really on where your partner’s weight is and your own preference really… Christian Graugart gives a very nice breakdown of a few options on his blog. Above all, however, nothing will work unless you completely own that arm, and that is achieved by hugging/clinching tightly.

Leave behind the false notion that pure technique involves no muscle exertion. That is a misunderstanding! The art is pitting your strengths against your partner’s weaknesses: Your two legs against their neck (triangle) your hips and back against their biceps (arm bar) and, in the case of the armdrag, your clinching musculature against an isolated lat and rear deltoid! Once you get the arm past your centre line, you own it. Maintain a tight hug while you advance to the back (or any other option).

In the words of Beatrix Kiddo: Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now.

BJJ Tips: Escaping the mounted position

Stuck?

In his fantastic book : Jiu-jitsu University: The Daddy of BJJ books!, Saulo Ribeiro tells a story about his meeting with Helio Gracie. The short of it is: Helio told Saulo that irrespective of the latter’s athletic ability and youth he (Saulo) wouldn’t be able to defeat Helio. Helio didn’t say that he could defeat Saulo: Only that he wouldn’t be defeated. Helio was confident that he would survive!

Before you start looking at escaping from side control (or any position for that matter) ask yourself if you are doing all you need to do to survive in the position:

Are you stopping him from anchoring his weight to you with his arms?
Are you stopping him from controlling your neck?
Are you stopping him from controlling your nearside arm?
Are you stopping him from controlling your farside arm?
Are you stopping him from controlling your hips?

Once you have answered yes to these questions, you should find yourself in a position where you can start bridging and creating space between you and your partner (the most important component of escapes). Follow that bridge with a good shrimping motion to connect your nearside elbow and knee and your more than half way to Freeville!

If you want a better (much!) description and more, I highly recommend Saulo’s book and, of course, all his DVDs. In the meantime, feast your eyes on this backdoor escape from the technical mount that I've been working on for a couple of months. It's demonstrated here by a hero of mine Mr Roy Harris with a much younger Mr Roy Dean/




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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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Rickson Gracie about Positions in BJJ and grappling

Gracie, Inosanto, Machado. Wow!

Master Rickson Gracie shared some fantastic insights on the positional strategy of Jiu Jitsu during his seminar in Amsterdam. Most jiu jitsu practitioners are familiar with the famous "Flow with the Go"*

As promised in my earlier post, I will share many of these thoughts from the Gracie Master. One that really stuck with me was his focus on positional control. Here are two Rickson Gracie quotes and his interpretation of them:

Positional strategy guidline number 1:

"When you are on the ground, only one of you two can be comfortable at any one time. Either you are comfortable or the opponent is. Your job is to transfer the comfortable from him to you in every position"

BJJ Tips: How do you define success in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

Our advanced BJJ sessions at the Labs - BJJ always include a huge chunk of sparring / rolling. The objective is not to win every grappling sparring bout at the gym. That would be ridiculous. Not only will you run into several athletes of a similar if not higher level (especially if this is at a big, healthy BJJ academy / gym), but you are constantly swimming against the current of resistance. After an hour and 30 minutes or so, the semi-dead grappler will easily get tapped by a stronger / fresher* / more skilled opponent. So what does that mean in the grand scheme of things? Well, nothing naturally!

That brings us to the question, how do you define success on a BJJ mat?

I have asked this question to a number of athletes** / BJJ enthusiasts and here are a few of their suggestions, please remember that none are more right than the others:

1. Number of rounds won in a row against equals in skill (irrespective of size, gender…etc.)
2. Winning is not losing (made famous by Helio Gracie)
3. Keeping someone stronger at bay
4. Keeping someone more technical at bay
5. Positionally dominating someone stronger (with or without a submission)
6. Positionally dominating someone more technical (with or without a submission)
7. Doing what you used to do but with less energy expenditure (efficiency)

Add to this specialisations within the Grappling-orientated game (Gi v No gi – v MMA) and the multitude of brackets that the Sport (an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively) bring to the table (such as age, weight and round durations) and the question becomes very big. Answering these questions is important to outline your progress in the grappling game but more importantly to stay happy and motivated.

It seems to me that the healthiest way to look at this is to keep an open mind and rotate your priorities in line with your progress. Someone just starting may have self-defence and general health at the top of their list but after 6-7 months of rolling, they value the mental challenge that grappling provides. Suddenly, they don't try to muscle out of mount bottom but patiently look for the technical solution. The attractant is different, but the game is the same. Keep your goals fresh and you will be able to enjoy this wonderful game your whole life***.

*Not everyone can / wants to train the full two hours so some people only manage to attend the second hour, which does mean they are much fresher and fuller of energy
**and athletes from other sports
***that's my only goal: to actually continue training BJJ my whole life (or until I no longer want to). Funny thing is, every time I step foot on the mat, I can tick that goal :)

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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BJJ Tips: Watching Instructional DVDs & How to best learn from them (Part II)

In my previous post I outlined a set of rules that I follow when watching new instructional BJJ / Grappling DVDs. These rules where ideas based on my years of experience, both as a team manager and qualified teacher and the concept that learning is learning irrespective of the material being learnt. I also promised to talk more about the best way to actually take in what you are watching and incorporate it into your practice and eventually your game.

As said before, watching BJJ / Grappling DVDs is no different than any other learning activity and hence the same rules I learnt as a language teacher apply to it.

The second set of rules applies to what you do after the DVD watching session. I strongly recommend that you:

1. Repeat what you just watched without a partner
2. Identify 3-5 make-or-break focal points about the technique and keep them as your mental hooks when watching or performing the technique. For instance, if you are looking at Side Control Top maintenance, your points could be killing the arms, blocking the hip and applying a cross-face.
3. Put a buzzer on your phone to remind you just before your session to practice the technique on your own before or after the session.
4. Schedule at least 30 minutes where you go to a rolling session and just look out for this technique. See how people of different skill levels, shapes and sizes apply (or fail to apply) the technique and figure out whether or not they applied the 3-5 pointers you outlined above.
5. Make this technique your focus for 1-2 months.

This, in my personal opinion, is the best way to get a wealth of knowledge out of a 10-15 minute segment from an instructional BJJ / Grappling DVD. The trickis having the patience and discipline to stick to the plan rather than rush through the DVDs justin order to go and order a new one.

Additional Bonus: Once you are good at the technique you should start breaking down the appropriate defence and reverse engineering that goes with it. Continuing with our Side Control example, when you realise the importance of killing the arms from the top, focus on freeing the arms and posturing when working your SC escape game. Not bad for 15 minutes!

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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BJJ Tips: Watching Instructional DVDs & How to best learn from them (Part I)

I recently received Combat Base Brown Belt Adam Adshead's BJJ DVDs "50 Common Mistakes To Avoid In BJJ" and, eager as a... ehm… grappling beaver, I couldn't wait to open and pop the instructional DVDs into my laptop. The only thing was, I had a million and one other things I needed to do. I revved up my time management engine and started thinking about how and when to best make time for them. I suddenly realised that part time grapplers need a different approach to watching DVDs (or any other BJJ / Grappling instructional media such as online learning...etc.). I'm not saying other grapplers wouldn't benefit from this approach but someone who has a lot of time on their hands can do things at a more leisurely pace and still get away with it. You and I probably can't.

The way I see it, watching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu DVDs is no different than any other learning activity and hence the same rules I learnt as a language teacher apply to it. I will present these rules over two posts.

The first set of rules applies to the instructional DVD watching session itself. It needs to be BFII:

1. Brief: the brain will start switching off after approximately 15-20 minutes, sooner if the instructor is not the engaging type. There's no need to watch for longer at any one time, unless watching for leisure.
   
2. Frequent: because all u need is 15 minutes you should be able to squeeze 3-4 such sessions in a week.
   
3. Individualised: jump straight up to the section you need to review, treating this as a private session with the author. If you are currently working on your passing game, pop the passing DVD in first even if it's number 5 in the series. Luckily, these DVDs were chapterised by position / topic.
   
4. Interactive: straight or very soon after watching the technique, simulate it on your own and make a note to practice it with a partner in your very next session. After all, you've paid for your DVDs and that’s wasted money unless you learn and incorporate the new techniques into your game.

In my next post, I’ll talk more about the best way to actually take in what you are watching and incorporate it into your practice and eventually your grappling game.


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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

Proudly sponsored by Predator Fightwear: Built for the kill and Brutal TShirt: Made By Grapplers For Fighters

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BJJ, Kettlebells, Aging & Recovery: Are you increasing your training volume too fast too soon? 5% is a sweet number.

BJJ / Grappling / MMA and Kettlebells go together nicely. One of my favourite exercises with KB is the swing, where I am currently swinging for reps of 20, active-resting 1 minute between cycles of swings.


I have been doing this twice a week, in-between, after or just before grappling / BJJ workouts, for a few weeks* and I am getting to feel comfortable with the pace and the workload and thought to myself it was time to up it a little so recently I increased to 25 reps, keeping the active rest period to 1 minute and as they say in research terms: all other factors remaining equal.

The good news: I got training soreness in my hamstrings and adductors (the muscles on the inside of your thighs) so my form must have been good as these are the right target muscles.

The bad news: I got tons of training soreness in my hamstrings and adductors!

Getting out of bed was a pain. A disproportional pain, I thought, compared to a simple increase of 5 reps. After all, what’s 5 reps?!

That’s when it hit me. I had increased my training load by 25% (5 is 25% of 20).

I had upped my workout volume by a quarter. No wonder my thighs were sore!

Next time I do swings I will bring the reps down to 21, which translates to a more manageable 5% increase.

Take the time now to review your training, or even better your other life components such as work, hobbies or expenses. Are you taking on too much in one go? Are you blinded by the numbers? Picking up 10lb on your existing 180lb body frame is more than 5% increase. Are your joints and ligaments 5% stronger to handle this load? That’s just a simple example to get you started.

*keep in mind that I can be lazy and miss a week here or there :)

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: Escape Knee On Belly / Chest

In escapes, preparation is key. You should never let your opponent settle their weight on you in any disadvantageous position such as the side, mount or indeed the knee on belly (sometimes called Knee ride).

Check out the two escapes below from knee on belly by Ralph Gracie black belt and exciting YouTube phenomenon Mr Kurt Osiander. While you watch the second escape (the one where your opponent has already put their knee on your belly / chest) think about why his right hand shoots to control the opponent's left knee?






The way I see it:

1. Both armbar attacks (nearside armbar and farside spinning armbar) need that leg to move around Kurt's head so by controlling it with a frame he successfully blocks against armbar danger.
2. Not to forget that it helps his head slip out from the high lapel control of his opponent's left hand and
3. By keeping that knee at a distance, the opponent can't just simply abandon knee on belly and step over to mount (well not for long anyway as Kurt could slide under that knee to a variety of guard / half guard attack positions)

This is just an example of how you should approach jiu jitsu mentally and strategically. Comparisons between BJJ and chess are thrown left, right and centre but what do they actually mean? After a long conversation with my jiu jitsu instructor Mr David Onuma this Saturday I'm a little clearer on the analogy.

Basically, you want to think ahead*. From any and every BJJ / grappling position, what are your opponent's options and what are yours? What do they need to do to get there and how can you stop them while at the same time facilitating your own positional progress? There are many ways to escape from a bad position, but the best ones are the ones that safely and efficiently take you to an advantageous attacking one. For example, the best sweeps or takedowns are the ones that land you clear of your opponent's guard and safe from any counters.
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*warning. Thinking ahead can only rest on a clear understanding of what's happening now. It is recommended you spend a long time honing your perception and awareness of what you are doing and why and what the opponent is doing and why before you can think about what they plan on doing next. Without this awareness, jiu jitsu attacks and sweeps will always seem to magically catch you by surprise.

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

Proudly sponsored by Predator Fightwear: Built for the kill and Brutal TShirt: Made By Grapplers For Fighters

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BJJ Tips: How to add to your grappling game? The secret is dedication!

I watched this BudoVideos RolledUp with Vinicius Draculino Magalhaes*. The video is full of fantastic gems as always but towards the end, Budo Jake chats to Brandon Mullins* and Brandon ends up showing Jake a simple, fundamental and very effective move to maintain side control against a bigger and stronger opponent. The move is very short and sweet and I've seen it before on Ryan Hall's fantastic series on the back position but something Brandon said really caught my attention:

"When I wanted to put this move into my game, I think I did it for about 1500 times in about a month. I kept count!"

1,500 times! I once did a 1hr session of just shrimping and it helped my development loads but 15 hundred repetitions in a month? That's fantatic dedication. I will immediately implement that strategy. I will decide on a simple fundamental move and I will do it for a large number over the coming 30 days.

*Brandon "Wolverine" Mullins. 1st degree Black belt under Vinicius Draculino Magalhaes and has hundreds of titles in his career in Gi BJJ, Judo, Wrestling and NOGI Jiu-Jitsu, and being one of the two Americans to win the World NoGI championships two times. Professor Brandon is by far the most accomplished Texan BJJ competitor in history


"A good school is important and good instructor and all that, but the most important thing is the dedication of the student."


Draculina when asked about why he thinks his school has produced such a large number of champions. He's a 4-time Pan American Champion, 1 time no gi pan American champion- 2008, 2 Times Brazilian national champion, 2 Times Silver medalist at the world BJJ championships, MMA lightweight champion in Brazil, Strike Force Feather weight Winner and Abu-Dhabi veteran. Besides these titles held as a competitor and fighter, Professor Vinicius is considered one of the best instructors in the BJJ world. Among his students, you will find world champions, Pan Ams, national BJJ champions, more than 100 Black Belts, MMA and Grappling champions spread all over the World.


From http://www.graciebarratx.com/team_members

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

Proudly sponsored by Predator Fightwear: Built for the kill and Brutal TShirt: Made By Grapplers For Fighters

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BJJ / Grappling Back Take Tips: Successful Armdrags and the way Roger Gracie takes the back

One of the newer BJJ enthusiasts at the Labs comes from a Karate background. The particular style of Karate he had trained featured an important aspect in their sparring called Sabaki.

Sabaki (捌き) simply means management or handling but it's often translated to "movement". The reason I like "management" is because it indicates movement with an intent or purpose. In modern Karate, Sabaki* aims to take you out the opponent's line of fire and into a position where you can attack with less/no chance of getting hit back. I was having a short chat with my new friend and the more we talked about Sabaki the more it reminded me of this article I wrote a couple of years back on taking the back with an armdrag.

BJJ / Grappling Tips: Comparing Your Skill To Peers. The Danger of Small Samples

Is the earth big or small?

Do you compare your grappling ability to that of your peers on the BJJ mat? Have you ever felt like you (or someone else) are not really worthy of your belt / achievement (irrespective of whether you felt you deserve more or less)?

Spending the last week observing maths teaching at a high school inspired this post. If you are trying to learn a skill and hence dedicated 2-5 hours / week to learning it and the teacher gave you a pop quiz at any random time and you scored say 18 or more out of 30 then you can smile and rest assured that you are learning enough to pass*.

It would be rude of me to come up to you and say that you are not really worthy of your grade or that you should be moved down to a lower-ability group.

Now look at the groups below.  These groups are theoretical representations of how 10 pupils may fare at a test with the maximum result of 30. This means that by most standards a score of 15 is a pass.

How would you feel if you scored 18 and happened to be in group A? How about in group B or C?

Nothing in your own performance has changed. You are still you, the curriculum is still the same, your score is the same and the test is still the same. The only difference is the score of others**.

If you score 18 in group A and compare yourself to others you would probably think that you are the bees-knees. Top three in your class and all that jazz. A proverbial “big” fish in a “small” pond. Meanwhile, an 18 score would probably make you feel like an average student in group C and, ironically, scraping by in group B.

The fact of the matter is that you are learning your chosen skill just fine. There is much danger in comparing yourself to others and, in all honesty, it’s kind of rude. The example above shows that your performance doesn’t change so you are, in essence, simple expressing envy at the success of your peers.

Just like in a classroom where all marking and assessment is done by your teacher, progress assessment in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu should be left to your head instructor. He or she has seen it all. Most good BJJ / grappling instructors have been around and seen a wide variety of students so when they grade*** you they are doing it against the backdrop of a big sea of blues, purples, browns and ultimately black belts.

I understand that it's only human to do this. I am simply suggesting that you catch yourself the next time you do it. Simply smile at yourself and acknowledge what you are doing****.

*we are talking about passing here and not peak performance. An average purple belt and an elite purple belt competitor are two different animals

**if all three groups have the same instructor / teacher, there are questions that can be asked but that’s outside the scope of this article

***or simply give you advice about your performance. Motive for training and personal goals change the game! More on that in a future post
****something I learnt from mindfulness meditation so if you see me smiling on the mat after I get a proper beating you'll now know why

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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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BJJ tips: half guard sweep - depth vs breadth of game part II

One of the grappling techniques taught at the recent CFS BJJ seminar was the "Classica" or "Shaolin" Sweep from half guard. This sweep was, to my knowledge, made popular in 1997 when Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro ripped people apart with it at the Mundial. Here is an old video of Shaolin sharing his sweep with us:



The way we were taught this half guard sweep, by Roger Gracie black belt Nick Brooks, was as an alternative to another half guard sweep so the set-up and grip are slightly different to Shaolin's version but the way I learn (or love to learn) is by taking something and really digging into it. I like to research the living hell out of something so I have many details on it's versions and variations. I like to learn many entries to the same position so I was therefore very happy when I found this video by the fantastic Stephan Kesting where he visited Shaolin at his New York BJJ academy and got him to breakdown the details of the sweep that bears his name, 14 years after he got the mundial silver medal in 1997



Now, drill drill drill :) No knowledge is true until you can execute and that can only be achieved thru drilling against progressive resistance.

If you know another great breakdown of this sweep, I'd love to know about it so leave us a comment.


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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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BJJ Tips: Side control posture breaking and the value of your jiu jitsu instructor knowing you

BJJ seminars are a fantastic way to learn grappling techniques. My favourite ones are with instructors I have some form of a relationship with*, such as my own instructors or people I have come to learn from or roll with over the years. Why? Because they know me and where I am in my development and what I mean with my questions.

Yesterday, a small team of 6 Lab Rats travelled down to London to the Mill Hill Jiu Jitsu Club for the first Biannual grading and seminar with the CFS-BJJ head instructor David Onuma and his friend, training partner and super-nice guy Nick Brooks (Roger Gracie Black Belt, head instructor at MHJJ). We have known David (and Nick, thru him) for quite some time, learned from them and rolled with them on several occasions.

What this means is that when, during the Q&A section, I asked about good side control attacks two things happened:

1. My coach David came around and added a few details on how he works to kill the arm posture on i, the far side ii, the near side and iii, how one posture attack can lead to the other. Tips he gave me were fantastic and beautifully suitable to my game.

Here is an example of some basic posture breaking from side control top by BJJ Black Belt Dr. Marc Hagebusch, head instructor and owner of Texarkana Jiu Jitsu:



2. Nick presumed that I have done all I can to break my opponent's defences but he has somehow managed to maintain and airt-tight defence. I am in side control top, but don't quite have the arm posture broken so he showed me how to advance my position to a far more dangerous one (and gain a few nice points along the way)

BJJ / Grappling tips: depth vs breadth of game. Should I focus on technical details or learning more techniques and counters?

How can you defeat your opponent's defences? Are you struggling to make your jiu jitsu submissions work? Do you find yourself attempting submissions but struggling to finish with them?

The reason I lead with these questions is because I have the privilege of teaching jiu jitsu (2 BJJ Fundamentals classes per week, weekly private sessions and 4-5 Intro-to-Grappling courses per year) and when jiu jitsu students and grapplers attempt a move for the first time against resistance, it is not unheard of that they come across an obstacle they can't figure out. It's only natural that the first time you (or I or anyone) attempt a BJJ submission against a resisting opponent that we forget a small make-it-or-break-it detail and they defend successfully. Sometimes, we do everything correctly but we do it at the wrong time and that gives our training partner the perfect opportunity to block our attack. When that happens, we can do a number of things:

1. Learn a counter to the counter: e.g. I go for an americana from mount but accidently leave enough space for their free arm to slide between us and support the arm that's under attack so I spin to S-mount for an armbar on it

2. Learn a defence to the counter: e.g. I go for a kimura from side control / head mount and they grip their belt so I use a grip break to release their hand and carry on with the original attack (the kimura)

Check out this example by none other than Mr Craig Kukuk (to my knowledge the first American to get a BJJ Black Belt)

3. Learn from my mistake and make sure I have a way to prevent it happening again: I go for a cross choke from guard but my first forearm was not flush against their chest so they managed to sneak a hand under it to defend the neck. I acknowledge that and ensure I do it properly next time (i.e. keep the forearm flush against their chest, control that wrist or at least attack with a sweep so they are forced to use that hand to post)

I'm sure I'm leaving some more options out but you get the point. Every action has a number of potential reactions.

Which answer is the correct answer? Well, let's investigate what would happen if we took each option further:

BJJ / Grappling tips: How best to learn BJJ / Grappling: Listen to my actions and see my words

The best way to learn BJJ, grappling or any other activity is to focus on the details of the fundamental skills. The more we understand grappling details, the better we understand the whole picture and the reason for that is because everything is connected in BJJ. If you do the first three moves correctly, there is a higher probability that what you do after that will be good too.

My strongest memory of enhanced learning is from spending a lot of time with my karate instructor sensei Siamak back at the Gothenburg Kanzenkai. On one occasion, we were practicing lead leg inwards foot sweeps entry to punches (ashi barai to gyaku tsuki) and I just couldn't get the sweep to work. I was bashing the hell of my partner's leg (to his dismay) but I just couldn't get it to budge. I asked sensei over to watch and correct and very quickly he realised what I was doing (or rather not doing). Simply, my angle of entry was a little off (I searched the internet for pictures to demonstrate what I'm saying and these two are the best I could find)

This is the angle I was coming at

this is the correct entry angle

While that technique did become my favourite attack (and I still use it, even in BJJ), it's what he said afterwards that was one of the most important lessons I've had in martial arts and learning in general:

"You must always try to steal the most amount of knowledge from all your teachers. We as instructors always strive to share as much as possible, but there will be times when a move or detail gets missed. We are only human. You must not only watch my actions and listen to my instructios, but also listen to my actions and see my words"

Translation to BJJ speak:

BJJ / Grappling Tips: Tight Game Comes to Those Who Use Their Head

and knees...and hips...and shoulders...you get my drift.

When we are shown a technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, grappling, sculpture, movie directing or any art, we are shown a demonstration of principles. The same principles of that art can, naturally, be demonstrated differently but just as validly. In the words of one of my favourite authors and lifestyle designers Mr Tim Ferris, what you do is far more important that how you do it.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we need to maintain position, block out our opponent's attempts to escape or counter, gradually gain more control all while we slowly work towards a submission. How we do all this is not fixed in stone and will vary and depend on relative size, positioning, orientation of bodies and personal preference and style amongst other factors. Part of the beauty of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that the same objective can be achieved in different methods by different people.

For example, you can block guard recovery from side control by keeping your (right) knee tight to your opponent's (right) hip, or using your (right) forearm, or even your (right) hip. These all do the same job, but they lead to different outcomes. For instance, if you are using your right arm, you have more mobility as both knees are free but you can't really use that arm to attack (at least not unless you relieve it from its duty) and so on.

The more body parts we involve and get good at using in BJJ, the more tools we have in our grappling tool box. Using the head is, in my opinion, something people don't start off doing before they've been training BJJ for a couple of years and singling out parts of the head (like the forehead, the chin...etc.) comes on later still. In this video of American BJJ and grappling coach extraordinaire Mr Lloyd Irvine shows a beautiful demonstration of using the head and the elbow to stay tight in transitions, gain leverage and maintain high pressure from the side control with continuous submission attacks in his "Kimura Mouse Trap":



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Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

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