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Feb
21
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I learned a valuable tip at this weekend’s BJJ tournament so I thought I’d share. If a BJJ black belt, like say Mike Fowler, is kind enough to coach you as a white belt listen to him! While this may sound like common sense it is always that easy.
First the story: I was competing in a No Gi tournament and as is custom at our jiu jitsu school I got a coach for my matches. Not just any coach though, I got 3 time Pan Am champ, bjj black belt in 4 years, Mike Fowler to coach me. He asked me my game plan and I told him a few jiu jitsu moves I was working on but I was more in awe than anything (mistake #1).
My first match was against a guy who was clearly a wrestler. Perfect for me I thought because it gave me a chance to work on my wrestling takedowns and takedown defense. Unfortunately I had told Master Mike that I was going to look for a takedown and if not I would pull guard. Which I did. And then my opponent stood up and I stood up with him. We repeated this several times (mistake #2).
What’s wrong with this approach? First, I gave him enough opportunities to succeed and he did, scoring a takedown. And it was exact opposite of what my coach was advising me. Master Mike kept telling me to stay down and make him pass my open guard, advice I ignored. Not only was it disrespectful, but it cost me 2 points.
Two great learning points I got out of this: First if you have a coach make sure they understand where your game is at and what you plan on doing. I was so in awe I didn’t tell Master Mike any of my game plan, just a couple of jiu jitsu moves that I had been working on.
Second remember that your coach has a better idea of what’s going on in the grappling match than you do, so listen to him! If you are clearly beat in an area they will know and advise you what jiu jitsu moves to do, so listen!
