Not even o soto makikomi?First BJJ tournament I ever fought I hit kouchi makikomi, got my back taken, and got choked out. It's risky to say the least. You can do it successfully without giving up your back, but you can also cartwheel over a guy, grab his waist, and powerbomb him. Doesn't mean it should be your first option. There are a lot of throws I'll try in a BJJ match before kouchi makikomi or any other makikomi.
Not even o soto makikomi?
There's no danger of giving up your back and you land immediately into a literally crushing kesa.
o soto makikomi doesn't give you head control, so no kesa.
o soto makikomi doesn't give you head control, so no kesa. Again, it can definitely work, but it wouldn't be my first choice since if you don't hit it right you are risking your back.
Hey Uchi Mata, I'm wondering if you could discuss your transition to BJJ. In particular, did you adapt your Judo game or are you more BJJ style now?
I've been going to BJJ once a week now because of my schedule (not much else). I have been able to submit purples and would say I'm on par with most of them. But the browns have been a large gap.
I thought blue->purple was said to be the largest gap but now am not so sure. It seems like browns are capable at fighting full speed with technical precision, whereas purples do not. Or maybe they train more.
Anyway, I'm trying to make it my goal to tap a brown but not sure how except by just training more. I mostly follow a Judo game: pass, pin, sub (probably brown level). Not so good at guard or back control (blue level).
What would you work on? Thanks.
In a year I learned to tap blues, then purples, but I guess browns will take some work. Although I'm not entirely convinced athleticism reaches a limit here for Judo, because they are the ones training every day and I've rocking a dad bod now.
I am primarily a BJJ guy now to the extent that I'm primarily anything. I personally think of it all as grappling, and I just try to find the best people around in any style and train with them.
Blue to purple is the biggest gap in terms of technical knowledge, but one thing about brown belt is that quite a few people drop out after purple so the ones who make it to brown are usually very dedicated and very good. I've rolled with some just okay purple belts, but with the exception of guy who were quite a bit older I've never rolled with a brown belt who wasn't really good. As you go up the ranks the quality becomes more consistent for sure.
In terms of what to develop, you can dominate just okay purple belts simply by being aggressive, athletic, and a generally good grappler even if your technique is basic (and in terms of guard passing and subbing from the top, I've never met a Judoka whose technique surpassed the basics unless they'd also trained BJJ). But for brown and black belts, they'll be able to deal with even well applied basics, so I think if you want to hang with brown belts you'd have to devote a lot of time to BJJ. You'll need a fairly diverse passing game to deal with their guards, and while I think you can actually get away with a fairly simple guard game it does need to be sharp. In terms of practicing specific things, I'd say that one of the biggest divides between Judoka with good ne waza and BJJ higher ranks is the ability to pass standing. Because of the rules of Judo it's not something most Judoka do at all, but it's the main way high level BJJ people pass for the most part. So if you want to use your current top heavy game, I'd say learn how to do a few standing passes and work on integrating them. You'll probably also need to improve your submission chains from the top, I've not met too many Judo guys who are good at that but you're rarely going to catch a good brown belt with the first sub you try.
One last thing about purple belts: keep in mind that purple belt takes usually about 5 years to get, so it's equivalent more or less to a shodan in Judo. I think it's a useful analogy because while purple belts do usually have pretty decent technical knowledge, they usually don't have very coherent games unless they compete a lot and they tend to have trouble dealing with people who come at them hard and know what they want to do. I saw that a lot as a purple belt; I competed quite a bit and worked hard on my competition game, and as a result I could dominate most non-competitive purple belts and I never had any trouble on the ground with anyone at Judo, including guys in the top 10 of their weight class in the US. But those same guys would have dominated some of the purple belts I train with who are more recreational, because the Judoka were strong, athletic, and aggressive in a way that recreational BJJ guys just aren't used to and have trouble handling.
Hey Uchi Mata, I'm wondering if you could discuss your transition to BJJ. In particular, did you adapt your Judo game or are you more BJJ style now?
I've been going to BJJ once a week now because of my schedule (not much else). I have been able to submit purples and would say I'm on par with most of them. But the browns have been a large gap.
I thought blue->purple was said to be the largest gap but now am not so sure. It seems like browns are capable at fighting full speed with technical precision, whereas purples do not. Or maybe they train more.
Anyway, I'm trying to make it my goal to tap a brown but not sure how except by just training more. I mostly follow a Judo game: pass, pin, sub (probably brown level). Not so good at guard or back control (blue level).
What would you work on? Thanks.
Oh please.
He's a judo shodan (in 'Murica that's at least 4-6 years of training) who trained a year in BJJ, and was able to tap blues and purples after said year. That's entirely feasible.
I think you are spot on as well RJ. The purples feel like they are mechanically doing step 1,2,3. Whereas browns feel you out. They've got that Judo feel actually, sensing your balance, even some action-reaction.
I try to practice with varied levels just as I do in Judo. I'm about par with recreational purple. Those who I am athletically superior to (even with dad bod) are no threat to me, but the competitive ones catch me. But, taking a stab at higher belts keeps things interesting.
I think I will keep skipping the exotic guards, but I gotta get better at more positions to attack, learn to transition to back control, and get some good sub chains going.