What happens when your jiu-jitsu is too loose? Mainly you lose position and get sat on. Tightness in positions isn't about strength, but an effective application of the tools at your disposal to immobilize your adversary. How tight your positions are and being able to tighten your positions often comes down to utilizing physics and biological mechanisms in your favor. Connections, angles, and isolation techniques are pieces to look at when trying to tighten your grappling game efficiently.
0 Comments
Tension is an interesting thing in BJJ, because it is both your friend and your enemy. Being too tense can be tiring and will be used against you by an experienced practitioner. Being to loose gets you thrown around like a rag doll. So how do you determine correct tension? I don't find being too loose to be most people's issue in training so we will talk about being too tight this round and the next post will be about lacking tension.
If You- are holding your breath have burning forearms are breathing heavily without going anywhere consistently get tipped from advantageous positions etc. You are probably too tight. To remedy these issues look at how you're breathing, how you're gripping, and what you're so attached to. I recommend looking at yourself rolling in video, finding a higher rank to analyze areas of improvement, and focus on implementing those small adjustments for greater success. BJJ is uncomfortable...really uncomfortable. People are always way more in your personal space than is socially acceptable, they're trying to shut off the oxygen to your brain, and twist your limbs. That can be stressful, but that stress will better prepare you should you need to defend yourself. How can you reduce the stress and become more comfortable being uncomfortable.
Control your breathing- If you breathe improperly to begin with you exacerbate the suffocating feeling Keep one shoulder blade off the mat- Bringing one shoulder blade off the mat nullifies some of your opponent's ability to compress your diaphragm and torso Do an inventory- If you can talk you can breathe and therefore what you're experiencing is more mental. Conditioning mental fortitude with a trusted training partner is the most efficient way to remedy this problem I've found. Something I've talked about with many training partners is "the beach". It's a place that you go mentally where nothing is as bad as it seems and you can have a conversation of "real" or "perceived" danger with yourself. Joint locks seem singularly focused. Armbars go after the elbow and ankle locks the ankle. However, success in joint locks depends more on control of the other two major joints in the limb under attack than the joint in danger. Arms and legs have three major joints and the principles you use to attack one generally apply to the other. So if you think of them both as a top, middle, and bottom joint extending from the torso, the possibilities of attack broaden quite a bit.
A quick guide of two thirds control: Elbow- top joint/ bottom joint Shoulder- middle joint/ bottom joint Wrist- top joint/ middle joint Knee- top joint/ bottom joint Hip- middle joint/ bottom joint Ankle- top joint/ middle joint Part of success in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the ability to limit the options of an adversary. If I reach a point where all my opponent's reactions are known, the desired result is almost inevitable. In all facets of jiu-jitsu the ability to predict and control how things happen will more often than not lead to victory. By isolating your adversary to positions where your options are many and theirs are few the success rate of your attacks increases.
Ex: If you watch DDS guys, they operate isolation into funnel systems very well. They initiate their attack sequences from very few places that they know in depth and systematically work toward the desired outcome. BJJ is systematic in nature, setting up a system or chain of techniques that allow you to anticipate the reactions of your opponent and set traps is effective grappling. I attribute the rise of the word system in BJJ to what I call funnel systems (chains where one move is the definitive end) as opposed to open-ended systems (chains with no definitive end). Working to make open-ended systems into funnel systems and adding links to the funnel chains is a constant process for the evolving practitioner.
Balance breaking or kuzushi is an important part of the grappling martial arts. Any takedown or reversal of position is predicated on disrupting an adversary's balance. Focusing on a multi-directional approach to your attack sequences greatly increases efficiency in this skill area. People comprehend movement significantly better one direction at a time, therefore I can up the effectiveness in off-balancing attacks by imposing a choice and exploiting the secondary option's weakness.
The Clock: If you think of human balance like a clock, understanding multi-directional attacks becomes easier. In the middle of the clock, I am strong moving at 3,6,9, and 12. Moving towards all other numbers requires either two motions(back or forward + to the side) or moving in a way that compromises my base. This is the physiological functioning we must exploit for successful implementation of balance breaking principles. In either situation the decision the brain makes to stay standing under normal conditions becomes counterproductive, as it leads to a predictable reaction you can use in your favor. |
AuthorThis is the blog page of Chuva BJJ. It's where you will find information that seems pertinent to the academy. Archives
February 2025
Categories |