Applying Kotler's Model to BJJ / Grappling Training

When I was studying this morning I came across the Kotler model for classifying products and services in my Social Marketing course book. Philip Kotler is a great Business and Marketing mind and in this model he pits immediate satisfaction against long-term well fare.

Of course the goal is to fill our lives with the Soc called Desirable Products (DesP) and minimise the Deficient Products (DefP).

As always, my mind wondered to how this correlates to BJJ / Grappling.

Desirable Strategies/Techniques/Movements are those that give us high scores on both Immediate Satisfaction and Long-Term Welfare, while Deficient ones would score considerably lower on both scales.

Here is a simple attempt on my behalf to fill in the model:

What would you put in the different fields?


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Invisible BJJ Details: Tips on the Palm Up Palm Down Cross Collar Choke

I covered for Martyn last night, coaching both the Fundamentals and Advanced BJJ sessions. I had planned the first to evolve around the art of getting a deep cross collar grip and the options that that can present (chokes, armbar, back take...etc.) and the second session around preventing stalling in a competition scenario. The second session was hard physically. Very hard, actually. One of our blue belts is competing at the Gracie Invitational this weekend and I had designed that session with him in mind, but I will get back to that in another post.

The first session covered details that you don’t usually see and it was inspired by a quote from John Will’s blog: “Notice what no one else notices and you’ll know what no one else knows.”

There are very few secret moves in BJJ / Grappling nowadays. The real secret is and will always be in your application of the moves and your commitment to the level of detail. The Cross Choke from guard is a great example because when done correctly (with three rotations/shrimp movements and the correct wrist action) it will go on so fast, you’ll tap before you even realise you’re tapping. When done with any less than 100% commitment to the technique, it can still work (of course it can – it’s a choke and even a heavy shoulder bag can choke you!) but it will need a lot of muscle and much longer to set in.

It took me at least 20 minutes of repetitions to convince the whole group of exactly how deep I wanted the first hand needs to go into the collar. I mention that for two reasons:

1. They all saw me demonstrate the move a number of times and they all understood what I was saying, but they had probably seen the move so many times before that their eyes were on autopilot. I had to go around to each training pair and say: “Good. Now push that hand at least 2 more inches in. Crunch up and push that hand in and behind their neck”

2. I don’t remember this level of detail being shown to me in a BJJ / Grappling class. If it was, it wasn’t afforded the time it needed to sink into my slow brain. I had to re-learn this choke by rewinding matches and digging into lots of DVDs until I found it and I’m sure that this is the situation for most players.

The way BJJ / Grappling classes are taught at most schools nowadays*, everybody wants at least 3-4 moves from the instructor or they tell you that the class was boring. Well I can put my hand on heart and tell you that when we rolled in the second hour, every single one of those white and blue belts had a much deeper** and more threatening Cross Collar Choke. They learnt something so well that they could apply it successfully in the same day.

Look for the invisible detail. When you find it, drill it against progressive resistance. That’s the easiest and fastest way to gain a deeper understanding of the BJJ / Grappling game.


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*Carlos Valente, 6th degree black belt under Rickson Gracie, talked about this in a great interview on the Fightworks Podcast back in 2006.



**Stephan Kesting lays down the law on deep collar grips in this excellent and concise article.

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BJJ Concepts: Fundamentals = The Least You Can Do

You'll see a lot of people going on about "concept" vs "technique" and nowadays you can get fantastic sets of DVDs that will show you both. In HD!

The way I see the two:

Concepts are the first thing you need to concern yourself with in any position. They are the make it or break it detail. They say you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs. Bingo! That's your concept.

Techniques are means to an end. They are sets of steps that lead to a destination or outcome. Usually that end is a new concept or at least an extension or a variation on a previous one. A basic egg cracking one is when you use both hands and a flashy advanced one is when you do it single handedly. Any one else getting hungry?

Here is my list of concepts for the most common situations in a roll.

Mount Bottom:

Keep your elbows glued to your ribs (unless strikes are allowed)

Half guard Bottom:

Prevent the cross-face

Side Control Bottom:

Keep your elbows in posture

Turtle Bottom:

Shut one side and guard the other

Turtle Top:

Let them carry your weight

Inside Closed Guard:

Keep them flat on their back and in front of you

Inside Open Guard:

Keep your elbow(s) connected to your thigh(s) to block their hooks

Half Guard Top:
Get them flat on their back

Side Control Top:

Make them carry your weight

Mount Top:

Remove obstacles and climb your knee(s)

Closed Guard:

Get your body off-centre

Open Guard:

Entangle their leg(s)

This, of course, is not all you need to do, but you'll struggle to do anything productive if you violate these. There is a variety of ways to achieve these concepts. Those are techniques. You can spend a lot of money and time learning techniques but chances are they won't work* unless you observe the concepts first.

Furthermore, if you run into a situation where your techniques aren't working or they are taking a whole lot of energy/strength/speed to do so, check your underlying concepts.

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*You can violate a concept intentionally, setting a trap. This, of course, is not advised early on but you will see the advanced players do it now and again.

What Are The Fundamentals in BJJ / Grappling?

Martyn posed a great question on Facebook yesterday about how BJJ may resemble a tree. After many a silly answer (thanks Jake!) it came clear that he was hinting to the support the branches receive from a strong and sturdy trunk (the Foundation). Manik also made a very smart, out-of-the-box contribution that, to me, sounded very Avatar-inspired.

A lot of weight is placed on the fundamentals of BJJ, and of course rightly so. But what are they? What are the fundamental techniques of BJJ?

The first time I saw a good list of fundamentals was on Mr Roy Harris' website (which has a wealth of infromation and articles free for all to access. The man is a genius!). The funny thing is, when I saw that list back in the day, I didn't really understand much of it! Adding to that, I wasn't really doing much BJJ / Grappling at the time so I had no training partners or coach to ask and in 2001, the internet wasn't as overloaded with BJJ information as it is now.

Nevertheless, a day or two has passed since 2001 and I have come to re-arrange Mr Harris' list into my own progression which is what I use as a guidline both for my own training and for private sessions.

Basic BJJ Moves:
-Bridge
-Shrimp
-Sit shrimp
-Roll over your shoulder
-Box Drill
-Flip hips over
-Flip hips under
-Light legs

Guard Bottom
-APE-principle
-Breaking posture
-Shaking base
-Working towards the back
-Arm wrap pit stop
-Head and arm posture
-Knee Shield posture
-Biceps ride posture
-Harness control
-Scissor Sweep – Standard variation
-Scissor Sweep – Knee push variation
-Hip Bump Sweep
-Flower / Pendulum sweep
-Technical standing from guard
-Triangle choke
-Cross choke(s)
-Guillotine choke
-Kimura
-Straight armbar(s)
-Omoplata

Half Guard Bottom
-Stone Squirrel Posture
-Getting to your knees (dogfight)
---Knee tap
---Plan B
-Pull Guard

Half Guard Top
-Circle to flatten
-Underhook to flatten
-Wizzer
-Tight knees
-Cross Face
---Escrima pass

Mount Bottom
-Survival posture
---Elbow knee
---Back door shrimp Escape
Mount Top
-Low Mount
---Mount maintenance
---Americana
---Arm triangle choke
-High Mount
-Technical Mount
---Arm wrap pit stop
---Arm bar – Wing choke – Americana Triple attack
---Back take

Back Bottom
-Survival posture
---Turn to face escape
---Shrimp down escape
---Mount Awareness

Back Top
-Hooks and Harness
---Transition to mount
---Bow and Arrow Choke
---Arm triangle Choke
---RNC

Side control Bottom
-Survival posture
---Bridge, Shrimp and Connect: BSC
---Pull guard
---To your knees
Side control Top
-Weight awareness
-Position 1: Far Harness: Cross face & Underhook
---Knee on Belly to Mount
-Position 2: Modified Scarf Hold
-Position 3: Reverse Scarf Hold
---Mount
-Walk side-to-side incl. North/South

Passing
-Guard posture and breaking
-Base and posture
-Standing in Guard
-Sitting guard break
-Standing guard break
-Defence against:
---Triangle choke
---Cross choke
---Guillotine choke
---Kimura
---Straight armbar
---Omoplata
-Combat base Low
---Double under
---Knee-thru Pit stop
-Combat base High
---5 Passing energies

Stand-up
-Posture
-Stance
-Grip fighting
-Pummeling
-Arm drag
-Head snap
-Duck under
-Faint
-Defense
---Stuff-Underhook-Sprawl
---Walk past the guard pull
-Offense
---Double Underhooks
---Leg hook trip
---Fold over
---Knee Tap
-Over Under
---Leg attack combo


Of course, there are loads more techniques that some may consider as essential fundamentals and I'm sure some will look at my list and think "I don't agree that that technique should be there". That's cool.

Once again, to me, the techniques are just stills from the moving picture that is BJJ. Put two grapplers together and they will form postures, exert pressures and open up a number of possibilities and the way I look at what makes the cut for the fundamentals list is simply "Which techniques will enforce the best overall habits, using the least energy, creating the biggest posrture deficit with the opponent and open up the best possibilities?"

The much-discussed Gracie University looks at the fundamentals in a somewhat different light. Their Gracie Combatives Course define them as: The 36 techniques that are most likely to save your ass in a no holds barred fight (my words, but the gist is there). It's a very refreshing view that simplifies many things in BJJ (to open the guard of an a non BJJ schooled attacker, simply punch his face once or twice) but of course leaves a number of questions unanswered with regards to sport BJJ or Submission Grappling. Slideyfoot did one of the best reviews I've ever read on the Gracie University material.

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BJJ Tips: The Myths of BJJ / Grappling: Using Your Whole Body

You may have read somewhere that in BJJ / Grappling you are supposed to use your whole body against a part of your opponent's.

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb (no pun intended) and say that not true. At least not entirely.

Now before you click SEND on that hate mail, hear me out. While it IS important to employ a large structure and a solid frame against your opponent's muscular strength, it is just as important to learn what and when to relax. You shouldn't try to use your whole body all the time. Yes you will and should use your whole body during the full Grappling / BJJ session, but in synergistic cycles.

From a technical standpoint: you should dedicate a large part of your mat time to refining this. This is how the experts make the hard look easy.

From an athletic standpoint: explosiveness and endurance are the combat athlete's most valuable attributes and relaxation lies at the core of both of these.

“Ok I'm sold”, I hear you say, “How do I go about developing this?”

Preparation: pick a BJJ / Grappling position and write down the muscles that should be used in it.

Now get a training partner and get into this position and actively question every muscle you catch tensing. Is it on the list? Should it be tense? When you are satisfied move on to another position and when you are really good it's time to start looking at movement. Transitioning efficiently between positions that you hold efficiently until you can, yes you guessed it, efficiently submit your opponent. That's what makes this game so beautiful.

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Ps. This is gonna take time! But hey, as Karl always says, time’s all we’ve got!


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