Jiu-Jitsu Roadmap
Learn the Game
You usually read the rules or figure out the goal of the game when you play it so you can win. Jiu-Jitsu is about getting your opponent to the ground to then control them into exhaustion and then submit them through joint locks/breaks and strangle holds. A smaller person can defeat a larger through properly executed techniques.
Jiu-Jitsu is the smart persons game
A game of physical chess with mind and body both at work. A game of strategy, wit and athleticism.
Jiu-Jitsu has several positions, and each of them need to be drilled from top and bottom and on the left and right side.
Boxing has 5 main punches that it uses. Which can be combined in many combinations, but other than foot work, stances, and head movement, there isn’t much else to the system, relatively speaking.
Positional Hierarchy - Bottom or Top Position
1. Guard – Neutral Turtle - Neutral
2. Side Mount->
3. Knee Mount->
4. Full Mount->
5. Rear Mount
Each pin position has escape, control, and submission, and guard adds the pass and sweep components.
Position before submission
Don’t overfocus on the submission and get reversed. Pay attention to the big picture too. Pin and Exhaust
Get good at survival and escaping
If they can’t submit you, then you can’t lose. You will have no fear and become a submission hunter.
At the early stages you should be focused on strike protection and:
1. Positional Survival: Your ability to breathe, stay comfortable, and not be submitted from the bottom.
2. Positional Escape: Escape the inferior position into a neutral or dominant position.
3. Submission Escape: Preemptive Counter first, and get caught in a sub, now you have to get out or die.
4. Escape into attacks. If you can escape into a counter attack, now the opponent is reacting to you.
5. 2 Escape, Control, Submissions from each position as well as sweep and pass from guard.
Top Position
Top position necessity will change based on the game you are playing. If in MMA or Self-Defense , you have the option to strike the bottom person, and if you’re on the bottom punches to defend, but in BJJ it’s not the end of the world if you have good escapes or a good guard game
High Percentage Submissions
A certain percentage of submissions win it every time. Focus on those and get really good at those. Fear not the man that practice 10,000 kicks, rather one kick 10,000 times.
Offensive Strategy
Pass the guard, Side Mount Pin/sub, Mount Pin, sub, Take their back, Control, Submit. Or Guard Control Submission, you can also do chokes and joint locks from standing. High Percentage Submissions!
Defensive Strategy
The majority of the escapes in jiu-jitsu go from an inferior position to a neutral position. The two main neutral positions are Guard and Turtle. Get to guard, if you can’t get to guard, get to turtle, turtle is your transitionary position to get to guard. Reduce Discomfort, Survive, Get inside position with frames and wedges.
Hooks
Grappling is all about the hooks. Underhooks and Overhooks as well as using your legs to breakdown and control your opponent are all hooks. Make sure you have your hooks in and on to control your op
Gi Vs. No Gi
No-Gi is very slippery and could be defined as submission wrestling. Gi slows the game down as you can hold your opponent. You can also be thrown and choked with the control of your Gi.
Hip Movement
Hip movement is the key to the art. You maneuver your own body around your opponent like water. That way you can flow around a bigger stronger opponent, and also, you conserve energy when you simply switch positioning instead of trying to muscle the opponent.