In BJJ… and grappling technique is #1
I’ve been training coming up on 20 years so in that time I have seen many changes in tactics and approaches towards teaching and training.
Some great, some not so welcomed… but either way the one constant thing that has always separated how much students get out of Jiu-jitsu is the idea, the not so simple lesson:
“Technique Rules Supreme”
We have all seen the freak athletes and “naturals’ that everything comes easy to. They start out fast in BJJ training and competition dominating everyone at the same beginners experience level until
- the run into a more athletic individual
- the depend on natural ability instead of technique to get them through and the rest of the pack get too technical for them to deal with
At this point the “natural” has 2 options… Focus on the missing technical skills or quit training, because no one likes feeling of training every day and getting minimal results.
Mind you this totally outside of competition, whereas in a fight/match, results are results and to competitors the win comes first.
In this case, I am talking about people really focused on the complete art of jiu-jitsu, the real beauty is applied well the technique works for anyone almost regardless of body type.
This isn’t martial arts fantasy land so not every position or tactic will work effectively for all body types but the art always provides you effective options to defend yourself in everything from practice to a real fight situation.
Time and time again I have seen students come in with physical challenges that make the lesson plan not the best option for them. While we do always take the time to ensure members, especially beginners, are properly up to speed on the fundamentals in our Mississuaga BJJ Club, being flexible in students development is always fun and another of the advantages students enjoy.
Teach 5 people a technique Monday and come back 6 months later, you are likely to see whole bunch of different looks on the same 1 position. For me as a instructor, watching the student’s use of the art evolve based on personality, body type and fitness is really interesting and helps me guide future student development.
My most recent example would have to be Bonnie and her Omoplata shoulderlock game… training together as a group you are bound to meet a great variety of weights and body types in partners while rolling. Bonnie being a naturally smaller and lighter person I realised vs skilled opponents closed guard wasn’t going to be her best bet vs the 70-100+lbs heavier guys she often trains with.
So, we made some modifications to her guard adding new submissions and sweep focuses in the past 6 weeks, to what I can only call amazing results. Keep in mind she is a “normal person” not training BJJ full time and actually a final year forensics student in university so I would have to say BJJ probably falls in the category of hobby for her, still how fast she took the series of moves and made them work is amazing.
I can personally attest to the danger this new game brings as when rolling with her I fell into a position planning to just flow out when I realised things got real… She really had my arm and I really tried to get away no luck here ok so I had to 100 percent defend + power out of the submission…
“lol I know I said technique over all the rest but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do” 🙂
Here we have Bonnie + Jess ‘aka the gentle giant” working a 1-2 combo from open guard