my Arte Suave

Getting better faster: The use of single techniques…

You know when that guy in your school hits you with that amazing technique, and you either wonder for a while how or what that technique was or you just ask that person there what happend. This will occur a bunch in jiu-jitsu, where if your impressed by something you want to know what it is, to see if maybe it can be something you can add to your game. There arent too many things wrong with this phenomenon in BJJ, but it becomes a problem when you think of jiu-jitsu as a static thing, or something that relies on Square always going into square so to speak. Not to sound ‘cliché’ but Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is water and the ability to move in water never thinking that a single technique will always work for the same opponent. I’ve always done well for myself but only figured this out recently, maybe towards the end of 2009 that knowing one guard pass will not help me do much when it comes to beating guys who are not new to jiujitsu. In BJJ we talk a lot about set ups for different techniques. A word that I like better which I found out about in a conversation with my instructor Tim Burrill when it comes to passing (or any other position in bjj, just using passing as an example) for instance is ‘traps’. Talking with my instructor he spoke to me about traps and how they should be deployed when passing. For instance I might use a Bull Fighter pass to trap your knees going to one direction then all of a sudden I might use a game to smash your knees together. Because my opponent thought I was going to bull fighter pass them it enabled me to use  a smash pass. 

The reason I write this is because people too many times get caught up in trying to use one technique and thinking it is a one size fits all. It’s not, let tell you that as soon as you figure out that you need to employ and discover the surrounding techniques of one technique that you will sky rocket in your progress and in your journey. Mat time and experience will get you these intangibles that make something work over and over as I am discovering. I myself am employing this way of thinking in all are areas. Figure this one out fast and you will develop faster then the next person in your academy.

Be water my friends -Bruce Lee

Let me know how you fell about this.

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Getting better faster: Coming full circle?

In jiu-jitsu in my opinion to be great or one of the best in the world, and you can check out any past world champion and look at them and see that they are a well rounded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter. I am sure you can find one or two who exclusively played guard, one being Pe de Pano who he himself said all he did was pull guard and win championships like that, but thats another post. What I am getting at is, the more i train the more I realize that you have to come full circle as soon as possible. I dont mean in the sense that you have to be great fast but that you have to have an idea from everywhere I believe. Meaning that, if you are under 3 years of bjj experience, then you should try and be good on top, good on bottom, and just basically have a good understanding of everything. A lot of times people just want to be on top or on bottom. 

Look at the greats! They had top games and bottom games. Ryan Hall said something to this effect in an interview in the past, where he was discussing how he was just a bottom guy in the beginning when he was triangling everyone it seemed, and how that completely messed up his ascension to the top of the mountain in jiu-jitsu. 

Me personally I believe I have taking gigantic strides in this aspect, where the first 12-15 months I was predominantly a bottom guy. During the last 7 months or so, I have become pretty good at passing. Honestly I pass pretty well, but I know i have a tremendous ways to go in improving my passing ability. I pass so well in fact that coupled with my improved conditioning, I feel more comfortable on top these days.

My school is predominantly top driven, so I have been getting remarkable help and instruction from Tim Burrill, he is the master of passing. I will be great at it as well!