BJJ Half Truths

[Balto]

I haven't started a thread in a while. This one is inspired by something I called a half truth in another thread.

What I mean by half truth in BJJ is something that isn't entirely wrong (we probably tell it to beginners to be helpful), but over time we realize is not entirely right either.

I like keeping a list of these for myself because I bring them up a lot when I'm teaching more advanced guys. I think a big part of moving beyond blue belt is figuring out what these things and gaining a deeper understanding than the simplified half truth.

Here's a few I can think off the top of my head.

Never cross your ankles from the back:
You definitely have to watch out for the ankle lock counters. But you can also trap an arm and cross high without much trouble. I knew a really short black belt too who would cross no matter what because he was like 5'3" and his hooks were so high on the chest naturally no one could ever catch him. I don't think I ever did.

Strength doesn't matter:
This is one of the first things people recognize as a half truth. Strength totally matters. Just sometimes not as much as technique. But sometimes more. Even as a black belt, it is much harder for me to fight a strong beginner than it is to fight an average strength one.

You can't do a triangle without trapping an arm in there:
This is my favorite choke ever. I just do a triangle against double unders. If I lock it, it's very high percentage. I won a tournament match with this at blue belt. I tapped my first black belt ever with this choke. Nobody ever sees it coming, and it totally works. Just lock the triangle tight, get the angle, and do the stomp/curl. The arm won't matter. Still no one ever believes me. That just makes it even easier to hit since guys almost dare me to do it unless they've rolled with me before. They always regret it after.

What other ones do you guys have? I'm hoping I see some new ones I haven't thought of yet.

 

[SummerStriker]

Position before Submission

If I can kimura someone from bottom mount, I'm going for it.

 

[Balto]

Position before Submission

If I can kimura someone from bottom mount, I'm going for it.

Love it.

Personally I'm a very position oriented grappler myself. But so many people forget that there are lots of other good control positions beyond the traditional BJJ scoring ones.

Lots of people seem to think leg locks involve giving up position. They are missing the fact that getting your legs entangled by a good leg locker is just as bad as bottom mount. They have dominant control over you, and they are going to be able to submit eventually one way or another.

Pretty much any submission that works had some sort of control, even if it was "bad" position. In reality the position was not so bad if the submission worked.

 

[Coconutwater]

Sooner or later a fight ends up on the ground.

 

[SummerStriker]

Sooner or later a fight ends up on the ground.

On the ground or in the ground.

 

[Balto]

Sooner or later a fight ends up on the ground.

A major plus of grappling training is that in addition to being able to take people down, you can also stay up yourself if you want to.

I did a lot of striking before I started grappling in earnest, so I've always appreciated this benefit. I'm not some awesome striker, but it's nice to know I can probably keep it standing if I wish.

 

[Russky]

Cross collar choke cannot be used from inside the guard. It took me some time to figure how to control the hips and get the proper angle, but I surprised quite a few people with this.
Armbar does not work from inside guard. There is a nice and safe version that either ends up with armbar or guard pass. I love submissions from guard - trust choke, ezekiel choke.

 

[Balto]

Cross collar choke cannot be used from inside the guard. It took me some time to figure how to control the hips and get the proper angle, but I surprised quite a few people with this.

I'm not awesome at it myself, but I've learned the hard way to respect that choke from inside the guard. Definitely not something to sleep on.

 

[Ass-hat]

Position before submission definitely.

Due to my height, if someone has me in their half guard I can flatten them out and start applying pressure to their neck using my shoulder, their hands come up slightly, then bam, I have them in an americana

 

[Kaffe]

I remember constantly being reminded that turning away from your opponent was the biggest of all sins. Then I learned the granby and some nice submission alternatives, and became an unrepentant sinner.

I was also told to always posture up in closed guard. Then I learned the tozi pass and started inviting people to "break" my posture.

 

[Balto]

I was also told to always posture up in closed guard. Then I learned the tozi pass and started inviting people to "break" my posture.

That's a good one.

People forget that good posture is your body's alignment, not what plane you are in. You can totally have good posture during a Tozi pass (and you need to if you want it to work). It's just in a horizontal plane rather than the usual vertical one. Definitely not "bad" posture at all.

 

[dimmyfinster]

BJJ lifestyle is glamorous.

This one might be a full lie, rather than half truth.

 

[Balto]

BJJ lifestyle is glamorous.

This one might be a full lie, rather than half truth.

I'd also go with full lie on that one.

Heard a funny story last week about a famous, super arrogant BJJ star in the headlines a lot recently. I'll leave the name out because I can make the same point without the name and would rather not take a shot at the guy needlessly.

The BJJ star was training at a gym when my friend and his wife visited. They both do BJJ, and his wife is pretty attractive. She was definitely turning some heads in the academy.

While the guy rolls with BJJ star, his wife is filming. Eventually some of the BJJ star's entourage comes over and tells her filming a BJJ star like that is not cool. Okay fine she stops. Sorry about that.

BJJ star is just trashing her husband completely, showing off. After the roll he walks up to her like a big shot and starts chatting her up. They talk for a bit.

Eventually she says "Oh by the way, sorry about the filming. I didn't know you were famous or anything. I still don't even really know who you are. My bad!"

Apparently the whole gym got a good laugh out of this ego check for BJJ star.

 

[JinKazama]

lol, gotta be Dillon danis hahaha

 

[Dirty Holt]

"Check your ego at the door"
Quickest way to get used to not fighting hard or fighting out of things. So many times guys who do this dont get fired up enough to be obsessed with fixing their mistakes and making their offense work. Checking your ego at the door is great advice for a guy who sucks or doesnt really care about competing or reaching their potential.

"Get good at defense before worrying about submitting upper belts"
Great advice if your goal is to get submitted at a slower rate and never win. Spending most of your time on defense and defensive position so you dont get tapped leaves you with zero avenues to beat somebody better; you are merely in a race against the clock in how fast the guy takes your arm home. If you are going to lose against upper belts, its better to develop at least one way where you are a threat instead of building a wall that will eventually get toppled.

 

[Ryoto Machida]

"Check your ego at the door"
Quickest way to get used to not fighting hard or fighting out of things. So many times guys who do this dont get fired up enough to be obsessed with fixing their mistakes and making their offense work. Checking your ego at the door is great advice for a guy who sucks or doesnt really care about competing or reaching their potential.

Seems to me you're misinterpreting this. Checking your ego doesn't mean you don't fight hard or try to get out of things, it just means you don't make "winning" of the utmost important of gym rolls. For example, with some of the other guys at my level, I'd always find myself going straight to my "A" game of guard passing and top control rather than testing myself by working my guard game out of fear that they'd get the better of me. In this case, my ego was inhibiting me from trying new things and getting better, and my game was stagnating as a result. So now, even if it's a guy I KNOW I can beat if I go straight to my "A" game, and I KNOW there's a good chance I can get tapped by trying something different, I'll try something different. And believe me, I'm never about to just concede a tap easily, but if it happens, it happens. I try to look at why and how it happened, learn from it, and move forward. That's what "Checking your ego at the door." means to me. When you get in the habit of "counting taps" against your closest competitors in the gym, that's your ego working to your detriment, and making it hard to get out of your comfort zone.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

In the guard, always have either two arms in, or two arms out.
I dont know if this is a half truth or not, but unless I have a really good grip on the pants it seems like sound advice.

 

[Balto]

The debate over check your ego at the door is showing its half truth status pretty well. It's kind of true, but not all the way.

There is negative ego which hurts your training. That negative ego causes fear, makes you duck rolls, skip working on hard stuff, etc.

There is also positive ego which is absolutely essential to getting better. That positive ego gives you confidence, makes you find a way to win in tough spots no matter what, etc.

I see guys too far on both sides on the spectrum all the time. Neither extreme is good. It's a challenge to find the right balance.

 

[Balto]

"Get good at defense before worrying about submitting upper belts"
Great advice if your goal is to get submitted at a slower rate and never win. Spending most of your time on defense and defensive position so you dont get tapped leaves you with zero avenues to beat somebody better; you are merely in a race against the clock in how fast the guy takes your arm home. If you are going to lose against upper belts, its better to develop at least one way where you are a threat instead of building a wall that will eventually get toppled.

Glad this got brought up. This is a big one for me, but a lot of people don't see it.

I don't even teach escapes in the traditional way. I think they're too defensive and teach a losing mindset. Instead I show guys how to frame preemptively to prevent the guy from establishing a guard pass properly in the first place. Even the defense has more of an attacking slant.

I totally agree that merely extending the time it takes to lose is not progress. Progress is finding ways to win, even if they aren't consistent at first. I'd rather a guy win 1/100 times than win 0/100 times but draw it out longer. At least the 1/100 gives him one positive example to try to recreate.

 

[Balto]

In the guard, always have either two arms in, or two arms out.
I dont know if this is a half truth or not, but unless I have a really good grip on the pants it seems like sound advice.

I'd say half truth just based upon the fact that one in, one out is a major passing position. As long as you can control the leg you really won't get triangled.

It is a little more dangerous than two in or two out though, hence the half true part.