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I had the beginnings of a post written up about how position was the key to BJJ and perhaps to life itself. Then Aesopian came out with this post.

That pretty much beats everything I can put out right now. But I'm going to try and salvage what I can by mashing up his stuff with my own and seeing if I get something workable.

I'm too new to BJJ to have ingrained conceptions of what works and what doesn't work. It pretty much all doesn't work for me. For the last two weeks, I gave up looking to get any submissions or chokes at all during the grappling sessions. I wasn't getting them and all I was doing was opening myself up to them. Ending the fight was two or more steps beyond what I needed to focus on: position.

A while after making that decision, I noticed that my entire conception of what I had to do on the mat had changed. I used to think that everything I did was supposed to get me working my way up this procession: Guard < Half guard < Full Mount < Back Mount. If I got bucked off, slid the wrong way or the guy escaped, I had to start all over from the beginning.

That was wrong.

Now I can see the beginnings of this:

Now, I don't want to sound like a big shot, but I strongly suspect that the person who wrote this up simplified it. There should be lines looping all over the place instead of the "all roads lead to mount" idea here. I say simplification because all those loops and lines would make the durned thing unreadable and make the whole thing moot.

Note how there are NO chokes or submissions in that picture. It's because control of the fight is more important than making the other guy stop breathing. BJJ is not really about preventing the other person from doing what he wants; it's about working to improve your own position relative to his at all times.

I was spreading myself thin by worrying so much about somebody going for a submission or choke on me. It doesn't matter if the opponent is in a dominant position - you can always work little by little to take the control back. Move a foot, grab a wrist, shift your body and then EXPLODE when it's time. Using that, I actually managed to get through one five minute grapple with a blue without getting submitted. I even managed to pass his guard into side control and get full mount (only to be bucked off).

Once I had that revelation down, I was ready for the next one. I quote the following from that Aesopian piece:

What happens when I think of mount as “guard from the top?” I get omoplatas.

What happens if I think of leglocks as a part of open guard? I use them as sweeps and don’t sacrifice position to get them.

What if I look for the harness grip and not just rear mount and two hooks? I can attack the back from everywhere.

What if I see how long I can hold on to an armbar or triangle position without finishing the submission? I see how people will try to escape while learning how to control them and transition to other moves.

I don't think I'm quite ready to do stuff like this - especially since I miss so many opportunities by not seeing them or being slow to take advantage of them. However, I need to keep chewing on this in the back of my head because this is about fluidity. Decision trees have dead ends. OODA loops don't. BJJ doesn't either. I can move from almost being put into mount, to standing and slap on a crucifix in about six seconds flat. The blues can do it even faster.

Aesopian:

Nino isn’t content to simply use the omoplata as a sweep or submission like the rest of us. He camps out there. He meets the locals and takes in the sights. He can maintain it and control them despite their efforts to escape. He’s got a array of alternative ways to finish them. Sometimes he treats it like the crucifix and attacks the neck. Other times he attacks the far arm, simply using omoplata as his basecamp to launch attacks. Hanging off them with his leg tangled around an arm is a desirable and perfectly normal spot for him.

Look at other innovators and you’ll see something similar. They found a position (or a few) that they liked. It could have been part of something we already know, something they invented, or something they stole from wrestling. It worked for them and so they kept at it and figured out the elements that made it tick. They reduced these down to concepts and principles (or at least absorbed an understanding of these into their head somewhere). They learned the control points, where to grip, how to adjust, the leverage, timing, momentum, etc. They found how to get to it from other positions and fit it into their game. And maybe this new positions leads them to more new ones and further innovation.

This is the font of innovation right here. This is not something unique to BJJ. There is little out there that is unknown to all but a select few. Those that pick up something commonplace, work with it, play with it and make it do unforseen things are those that will eventually be rich.

So far, all the innovation I've made is doing the Macarena while in PNUT's guard. He laughed and then proceeded to brabo choke the hell out of me in about a minute. But I'll get there...

Chokes and Mirrors

There is nothing like being choked out fifteen times in a row to bring your self-image back in line with reality.

I joined a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym a month ago.

I showed up on a Saturday morning in a t-shirt and shorts. After a short talk with the instructor, I was invited right into a class. I didn't do much right and I did almost everything wrong. I hadn't walked in thinking I'd be an immediate success, but honestly, I wasn't prepared to be that bad.

Guys almost half my size were constantly taking me down and showing me inventive new ways that I could stop breathing or possess freshly-broken limbs. The bigger guys were doing the same thing - only faster. Collar chokes, arm triangles, leg triangles, brabos, arm bars, knee bars, kimuras, ankle locks and rear naked chokes.

Haven't been in an omaplata or gogoplata yet, but I'm pretty sure someone's going to try and pull one eventually.

While I was being pulverized on the mat, every single person in the class - from the instructor on down - was willing and eager to tell me what I was doing right or wrong and what I should be doing or looking for. Everyone there wants to be there and not only do they want to get better, they want other people to raise their games - so they can beat 'em and get even better.

All I have going for me is the will to get better and the ability to show up four times a week for two to three hours of instruction, conditioning, drilling and grappling. And you know what? That's all it takes.

One of the coolest things about this experience is that I'm not sitting at a desk and having someone yammer on about equations and theoreticals. I'm being taught by proprioception - sensing where my body is and learning where it should be through short instructions/demonstrations, physical cues and actually doing the movements in drills and while sparring. Muscle memory and an ever-growing decision tree is what I'll eventually develope. Boyd's OODA Loop is going to come in handy here as well.

In a sport where the learning curve is measured in years, I've already improved significantly in a month. It sort of sucks that everyone else in the gym is better than me, but at least I can't go any further down. And I have some bitching bruises to show the girls.

(My arm)