Did any of you completely reinvent your game at a late stage in bjj?

asian-glow

asian-glow

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For example, after I got my brown belt, I got heavily into SLX, half guard, and arm in chokes after many years of being a DLR and armbar guy.
 
Idk about “completely reinvent” but I am learning so much new stuff as black belt, as well as “unlearning” outdated ways to do things. There is a reason they say that you finally become a student after you become bb
 
I wouldn't say ''completely reinvented'', but if every two years I had had to predict where my game would be in the next two years, I would have been wrong every time.

I'm amazed that 9 years in my game is 1. still evolving and 2. in ways I can't see coming.
 
Im actually doing less and less, sticking to what I know and increasing my %.
 
In short, yes. It seems like philosophical biases / perspectives held me back, and once I let go of those, my game shot up to the moon. After 15 years (granted, 15 years of being a nobody, so take it for what its worth), I've made more progress in the past two years than all the others combined.
 
Wow I am in no way shape or form as expereinced as the guys in this thread, but its amazing to hear you guys say that later in your grappling career you found your game still evolving and changing. Makes me really think we dont have enough time on this earth as human to completley grasp martial arts.
 
I don’t reinvent but what I noticed is when I don’t feel like I’m getting any better I find it’s always better to revisit the basics and improve on them.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of closed guard work and focusing on getting perpendicular for a armbar/triangle/omoplata/arm drag attack combo.
 
Before purple, all speed passes.

After purple, all pressure passes.

When you get old, the speed and explosiveness disappear.
 
Yes. I've documented on sd that I had a horrible back injury at work where I sustained compression fractures of 3 vertebrae. So upon my return, playing a closed guard game constantly aggravated my back. Luckily at the time I was at a demian maia affiliate so I started forcing myself to "drink the koolaid" and play a half guard based game. It was horrible at first but its become my go to.
 
DatCutman said:
In short, yes. It seems like philosophical biases / perspectives held me back, and once I let go of those, my game shot up to the moon. After 15 years (granted, 15 years of being a nobody, so take it for what its worth), I've made more progress in the past two years than all the others combined.
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Can you be more specific?

For example, one perspective I held back was making sure I only went for chokes that had 0 pain. Mataleaos, who continues to have a large impact on my game, emphasized even high level guys have chokes that have some % of technique and pain. What blew my mind was that he told me that some high level guys actually want their techniques to hurt, as sometimes the technique is not enough.

While I am always seeking the best technique possible, I think being less scrupulous about the pain level of my techniques made me a better grappler.
 
asian-glow said:
Can you be more specific?

For example, one perspective I held back was making sure I only went for chokes that had 0 pain. Mataleaos, who continues to have a large impact on my game, emphasized even high level guys have chokes that have some % of technique and pain. What blew my mind was that he told me that some high level guys actually want their techniques to hurt, as sometimes the technique is not enough.

While I am always seeking the best technique possible, I think being less scrupulous about the pain level of my techniques made me a better grappler.
Click to expand...
I recently have started to find the same thing. For ages I was always trying to be the nice guy and never use full pressure or crank on chokes in particular.

Obviously I don’t go 100% percent, but I use what is safe and required and my game is opening up.

I recently moved gyms and I am outsized as well as outskilled. It took my coach telling me to not be so nice all the time while rolling to make the adjustment.

I used to have a pressure passing game I abandoned for some reason and became the least flexible guard player ever. I am back now to fighting to be on top.
 
A drastic change is unusual unless you get injured at higher belts. Or you have never done nogi before... i have seen that happen.
 
All the time.

Hard toignore the new stuff like single X etc...leg locks
 
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I would say my game has remained similar as I've progressed.
I've added a lot of things to my game, and different things have been emphasized.
I'm different grappler to what I was 5 years ago, but at the same time, I'm not that different.
 
Hell hook finishes from Ashi garami, outside ashi, inside sankaku. That's my main focus since 2015.
 
I don’t know about totally reinvent but my game still streamlines and adjusts every couple of years.
 
Yes, a few times now. Thinking back it speaks to my lack commitment.

In the beginning i was a pull guard then flow straight into rubber guard. Until i had a knee scare.

Switched to Marcelo " wrestling from your butt style which was effective but i had problems with hyper athletic guys passing my guard.

Switched half guard. Lockdown/guard hybrid.

Currently i am q mix of the three styles with added leg locks from 50/50. I probably spend 25 percent of my time in 50/50 for fighting for 50/50. I usually get there from butterfly.

This is over the span of 10 years or so. Man thinking back i could have been so much better had i just stick to one methodology. Especially considering that i never really changed which subs i went for outside of adding the leg locks to my game about a year ago.
 
Not me but one of my old coaches hands were so jacked at BB that he completely stopped any type of sleeve control. No spider, no... nothing. Basically he stopped gripping cloth. Crazy, but it made him even better.
 
mattemate said:
Not me but one of my old coaches hands were so jacked at BB that he completely stopped any type of sleeve control. No spider, no... nothing. Basically he stopped gripping cloth. Crazy, but it made him even better.
Click to expand...
This is what I do too. It's great, and i feel even less of a difference between gi and nogi now.

I do feel that my game has evolved over time and more often than not according to the problems my training partners present to me. When most of my rolls become too easy I tend to stagnate.

I recently started to appreciate how the fundamentals glue everything together. So long as my evolution is organic/chained, I think I'm on the right path. I actually started with regular half, moved to the electric chair series, half butterfly, and now am doing more SLX. The pass few months I've been incorporating the saddle and straight jacket systems into my game - results have been tremendous.
 
Been doing this since 2000. Every year my game changes dramatically.

My game mostly changes to compensate for injuries or deal with young explosive guys that I can’t match with speed.

it’s rare to see guys in their 40s who have triangle chokes as their main attack. :p

I would never say I will be a finished product.
 
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