Jiu-jitsu practitioners generally fear losing more than they relish winning. This ‘fear of losing’ generally comes from a lack of understanding behind why we train Jiu-jitsu and a true understanding of positional hierarchy and the primary objectives of each fight position.
A practitioner that doesn’t understand the why of training generally views training as a contest against another person that he must defeat when the reality of why we train is to be a better jiu-jitsu practitioner and over all person than we were yesterday. In other words, to be a better you.
A misunderstanding of the essence of jiu-jitsu generally stems because the practitioner doesn’t understand the core objectives and concerns from each of the primary fight positions, particularly the defensive positions, which more often than not leads to wasted energy and unintentionally leads to the opponent to submitting them.
Here are a few helpful tips to help you with a more learning oriented mindset for training:
• When you’re in an inferior position, the tendency is to want to escape immediately, but that increases your chances of getting submitted. Instead, relax for three deep breaths and then begin to access the situation and choose the best course of action. Your opponent cannot control you AND attack you at the same time. Be patient, neutralize their offense and seize the window when it presets itself.
• The introduction of points and time limits into jiu-jitsu is the primary reason why people are so eager to escape or attack prematurely. Remember when training your focus isn’t about winning it is about bettering your technique so don’t ‘play for points’ when training.
•Impenetrable defense is better than mediocre offense. The best thing to do when trapped is to observe your opponent and focus entirely on neutralizing their game play before implementing your own. Once you have successfully nullified their attack, not only have you demoralized them, but you have set the stage for a much safer and energy efficient escape/pass/attack.
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About The Author:
Jeff Reese, Gracie Jiu-jitsu black belt, has had the honor of learning from two generations of Gracie family members including Royce, Royler, Rodrigo, Rolker, Ralek, Rener, and Ryron; he teaches at Gracie NEPA in Scranton, PA.
