Jiu Jitsu Moves

When I first started sparring I would go into class just looking to “wing it”, that is do whatever bjj moves came to me. But I never seemed able to react quick enough to my opponents, and I wasn’t able to remember key parts of the moves I was using.

One day I was talking to a purple belt about my frustration. He explained that I was going about it all wrong. Sparring is practice, not a mini grappling tournament. I should be using my notes every day and picking one or two moves to focus on. This way they would be fresh in my head and I would be looking for when to use them.

I began to pick a couple of moves every week to focus on. I would read my notes (not jiu jitsu videos) and refresh the key details that make them work. I would pick either the top game or the guard to focus on and then what jiu jitsu moves to go with from there. Either it was a guard pass, one submission (armbar, etc), and a transition (like knee on belly), or a sweep, a submission, and a set-up.

I saw results immediately. As I was sparring I began to notice when moves work and when they don’t, and began to recognize the set ups for these positions. Any bjj black belt they would never try a scissor sweep on an opponent sitting back on his heels, this wasn’t as obvious to me until I tried nothing but the scissor sweep for a week. Instead a forcing it with muscle or giving up on it, I began to recognize when to use the technique and how to get my opponent to move into the set up position.

At my next bjj tournament, it really paid off. Instead of letting it fly, I went out with an idea of what I was going to do. While I wasn’t Royce Gracie or anything, I was able to recognize what moves to use in and felt like I flowed the entire time.  I was rewarded by winning my first tournament, with a triangle choke set up from an opponent attempting to pass my guard. You guessed it, I worked guard that week!

written by JR \\ tags: Training Improvements