I did a new podcast with the Spotterup folks. This was a particularly fun interview. John, the host, is fully immersed himself in working the same ideas, so it was great to throw ideas back and forth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PucylFSpwv0&feature=emb_logo

Here is a video tutorial on using fundamental jiujitsu concepts and moves in a self-defense context when the criminal attacker is on top and raining down strikes. How do we apply our skills, and what are the most essential things to do?

I also talk about why in training we should not always rely on having “handles” and making our training harder than reality.

There are a lot of people that read my posts that are fairly new to jiu-jitsu. They are in the early days of trying to figure this complex art out, and I can tell you from experience that doing so is a tough road. BJJ is very deep and chaotic, and truly only time served is what allows you to really grasp the essence.

The problem is, with the Covid19 situation, a number of academies are closing for a time and even for those who may remain open, and it may not be easy for people to get to them. At least two good friends of mine are subject to a lockdown by their employer should they do something like go to a large gathering of people, so training in a group is out of the cards for the next couple of weeks.

I thought I would take a moment to give some tips on getting through such a situation while still helping people start to understand jiu-jitsu.

The thing that truly separates BJJ from almost all other martial arts and self-defense oriented activities is that it is NOT dependent on techniques. Every other fighting system is all about the technique that will be so devastating and unstoppable. The typical and classic self-defense training paradigm is “he does this, you do that”. That is great if the plan all goes your way. Unfortunately in the real world almost nothing goes your way, ever. And if your fighting template is geared for the “I will pre-emptively hit him with a palm strike and then I will use my cycling hammerfists of death to finish him”, when that fails (which it will more often than not), and you are not prepared, that will be a bad day.

In jiu-jistu, because we know that our best intentions are generally countered by a resisting opponent who wants to win and has the freedom to do that in whatever manner he sees fit, there is never a set game plan. That is where most noobs have the hardest time. It is difficult to work a new move when you may not even get the chance to start it all due to the actions of our opponent. So then they get frustrated and think they are not getting better.

The way to get over this is to realize that jiu-jitsu is focused on the underlying framework, principles, physical body movements, and concepts that drive the art and the application. All techniques are, are a temporary way to physically express those principles in the moment, all based on the context and what exactly your opponent is doing – his pressure, his position, his base, his posture, what his limbs are doing, etc. – not on a pre-planned attack. The difference between a white belt and a black belt is not really in the number of techniques, or even how well the black belt physically does the technique, but rather in understanding what technique is appropriate in the moment, and is also just as ready to alter that based on he changes his opponent makes.

That is the reason why the majority of BJJ training has to be with a partner. So much of what you are going to do is based on those varied and unscripted actions by another that you cannot replicate that solo. Even a grappling dummy does not fill that gap in any meaningful way. So what are we left with?

Well, as I wrote above, one of the foundations of jiu-jitsu is the actual body movements. Not prescribed movements in the sense of “do this technique” but rather the actions your body has to do to accomplish techniques. Think for example of playing the guitar. You can play an almost infinite amount of songs with specific actions, but all the actions are going to be powered by your arm, hand, and finger movements at the core. Playing a line from “Stairway to Heaven” is done in essentially the same manner as a line from a jazz song. Similarly, in jiu-jitsu, a fundamental movement like a technical stand up can be just a stand up, or it can be a sweep, or it can be an escape from a bottom position, but the movement is the same. All the opponent provides is the context in which that movement needs to be applied.

So you can focus on the foundational physical actions, and most of them can be done solo. If you myelinate the neural pathways and make a given movement subconscious and automatic, when you need it, your brain is only processing the need and when to do it, and not wasting cognitive power on how to execute it. In this way, solo practice, especially as a lower belt, can be incredibly productive and helps build the foundation for when you do get to go against a partner. This is how we can get through the next few weeks without much diminishment of our jiu-jitsu.

I have done a number of videos illustrating some of these essential motions.

Also, a terrific resource, if you are lucky enough to have it available, is Andre Galvao’s book Drill to Win. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for a while now and is harder to come by. But if you do have access to it, he even gives you a partial training template to use the drills in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Drill-Win-Months-Brazillian-Jiu-Jitsu/dp/B0085S02K2

There are other video resources. Here is one I particularly think it s a good one:

If you do a search for “solo BJJ drills”, you will find a great deal of free info out there. In fact, just last night, I saw where John Danaher, one of the most innovative instructors around, filmed a video over the weekend and will be offering it for free very soon. So keep an eye out for that.

Also, feel free to ask me for other tips or advice. I am happy to help.

I posted this a couple of years ago, but I want to revisit it because it is a topic that unfortunately keeps coming up. For some reason, there are a number of folks in the jiujitsu community who are obsessed with the idea that only losers and lazy people pull guard, and if you do it, you are violating the spirit of what Helio Gracie built. This is the BJJ-centric version of “if you go to the ground in the street, you will get killed” and just like that insipid phrase, has as much real world usefulness.

This current mantra being circulated in BJJ circles essentially tries to demonize someone for pulling guard. The thought goes that if you are just pulling guard, you are missing a substantial part of Jiu-Jitsu and are taking the lazy path. Now, don’t misunderstand me. I come from an academy where we ALWAYS start on our feet, and we spend a substantial amount of time working to understand throws and takedowns, especially ones from a judo perspective. I am all for working the takedown and being on top and I absolutely despise the current trend (especially in the lighter weight divisions) of someone just dropping their butt to the ground to start the match. I think being on top is an optimal place to be, whether in competition or for self-defense. However, and this is the key part to understand, optimal does not mean “100% of the time”. There are extremely good reasons to at times pull guard, and I go over them in the following re-posted article. Please try to keep in mind that context is king (as I regularly try to get across), and ignoring that concept potentially puts you in a situation of using improper tactics when you absolutely cannot afford to do so.

Here is the original article:

Recently, on the Strenuous Life Podcast by Stephen Kesting,

available here:

http://kesting.libsyn.com/116-should-you-pull-guard-in-bjj-competition-or-not

Kesting  talked about a question that often is argued in BJJ circles – should you pull guard in competition? He and his guest spent a bit of time on it and covered a few things pretty well (though the guest really needs to get some depth of experience with realistic self-defense because he missed the mark there), but I think they completely skipped over the single most pertinent answer to that question. And that leaves me to give it a shot.

Should you pull guard in competition? Of course you should, IF THE CONTEXT SAYS IT IS THE BEST RESPONSE. That goes for street oriented self-preservation tactics as well. So what is that context that we should concern ourselves with?

Simply put, if pulling guard gives you a more optimal way to win, then that is the correct context. It is a simple mantra, yet one that seems to be overlooked most of the time the idea is brought up, but it is the only real reason to have any particular move in your arsenal. No move of any kind, standing or ground, works every time, so we need to make sure that the move we choose has the best chance to lead us to victory.

What are examples of the context? The most obvious is when you are sure your opponent is substantially better at takedowns that you are. If you are facing someone who is superior there, why would you try to match his strength? Just because some fighting expert said we should always look to execute the takedown and end up in control? Great idea, but against someone better than that, what is the chance it will work for us?

Check out this video compilation of a person going up against superior Judo players and using a guard pull strategy to negate their advantages:

https://www.watchbjj.com/rolling/ryan-vargas-put-on-a-display-of-sweeps-and-guard-pulls-at-the-2017-world-judo-championships/

Here is a personal case in point. A couple of years ago at the IBJJF Pan-Ams, in my semi-final match, I was going up against a guy who I found out was once a member of an Eastern European Olympic Judo Team. Now, I think I have some decent takedown skills that have worked for me, and I certainly train them on a constant basis in order to get even better at them, but come on! What were my chances of ending up in a good position if I fought an Olympic level judoka for a throw? The answer is slim to none, and slim already left town. Most likely I would have ended up at least two points down and in an inferior bottom position. Instead of wasting time, and/or getting thrown by fighting him on his strengths, I took another path. I got both good initial grips, and pulled him hard into my closed guard where I was immediately was able to get an overhook on one arm and grab part of his far collar with the overhooking hand. I went straight into an excellent position and ended up winning the match (I lost later in the finals, but that is a sad story for another day). I am still waiting for someone to say that was a poor strategy. I won, in a solid and convincing way, so where is the problem? I have also won matches by getting the takedown. Both approaches work, in the correct situation.

Think about it with a good critical eye. Jiu-jitsu is about using your opponent’s strengths and attacks against him. Going head to head in opposition to his strengths is the exact opposite of that mindset. It makes zero sense.

What about in a self-defense context? Exactly the same focus!  If pulling guard can lead to a faster and surer way to win (i.e. survive and prevail against a violent attacker). Then that is what we should do. For example, if you are being attacked by a bigger, stronger criminal and you are on ground that is unstable or slippery such as rain or snow slick surfaces, are you really going to be able to turn into your pet koshi-guruma without ending up falling over with your feet coming up from under you? What if you knew with almost absolute certainty that your attacker knew almost nothing about the ground? How well is he going to be able to defend when you pull him into your guard and then immediately transition into an armbar? In actual fact, my own coach did that when he was assaulted once on the street about 1997. He did essentially a version of a guard pull that resembled a failed yoko-tomoe-nage and as soon as they hit the ground he shifted to a straight armbar and destroyed the attacker’s elbow. Guess who stopped fighting at that moment? I will give you three guesses, and all three should be gimmes. That assault ended in a couple of seconds and my Professor walked away unscathed which seems like a pretty good justification for that particular guard pull.  

Why not exactly “street”, here is a guard pull in an MMA context where the grappler negated the striker’s superiority by taking him a different part of the pool:

Skip to the :50 second mark to see the guard pull, and note how after that position change, the grappler had the edge in controlling what was going on. The striker was completely out of his element, and was trying to figure out how to change his game plan to deal with it, and was failing badly. That most certainly would not have been the case if the grappler had stayed standing against the striker.

Make no mistake about what I am saying and please don’t put words in my mouth. I am not advocating guard pulls 100% of the time. I am advocating having the skill set and experience to be able to choose in the moment what is the path that gives you the best chance of success.

Kind of like life in general, huh?

I recently did a podcast for the Modern Samurai Project and the host, Scott Jedlinski, and I had a deep conversation about the path in jiujitsu for new practitioners and how to act with courtesy in training. I think we covered some good ground that rarely gets covered. Check it out, and check out the earlier shows because Scott gets on some good folks.

https://modernsamuraiproject.podbean.com/e/msp-podcast-38-cecil-burch-%e2%80%93-a-guide-to-transitioning-from-firearms-to-bjj-training/

I, along with my peers like Craig Douglas, Paul Sharp, Chris Fry and a few others, have been talking about the need to be able to integrate empty hand fighting methods, especially grappling, alongside firearms use for self-defense for decades. Over that time, a number of people have tried to argue that the entangled weapons fight does not happen, especially for civilians. They will try to get the idea across that somehow criminals never touch or come close to their victims, and all criminal assaults happen at distance.

Fortunately, with the prevalence of the internet and the information age and the ubiquity of video, we know how wrong that argument is. I have literally hundreds of videos showing that the entangled weapons fight, even for private citizens, happens fairly frequently. Here is a recent example. I like this video for a couple of reason. Number one, it happened this month, and number two, it happened in my city. As a matter of fact, it happened about a block away from the former location of my jiu-jitsu instructor’s academy., where I spent a lot of time, right round the same time of day this assault occurred.

Take note of a few things.

1. Everyone likes to pretend that they “never let someone get too close to them”. In today’s society, there is not a chance of that being true. How do you get off a public bus and not let someone get too close? Are you going to yell “BACK OFF!” to someone behind you? You know what happens after that? The police come by and interview you and possibly arrest you for either disturbing the peace, or some version of assault. You simply don’t have the right to personal space that trumps public interaction. You will be within double arm’s distance of other people – including strangers – more often than not. Pretending otherwise is delusional.
2. Take a look at how many other people were around. There were two within touching distance when the attack started. You can even see they looked and saw what was going on and they kept walking. You cannot count on outside help, nor can you assume that the bad guys won’t attack just because there is a crowd.
3. Note how the very first thing the initial attacker did was grab onto the victim. That is a classic clinch position, and in fact one in which jiujitsu players spend a lot of time dealing with. And if you think about it, starting that way makes perfect sense. He had a contact weapon – the knife – and so he had to be in contact for it to have the intimidation value. Even if he had a pistol, how effective is it to stand at 10 yards away to mug someone? “Hey you, put your wallet and phone down on the ground and move away” does not work particularly well, because if it did, bad guys would be doing that all the time. Instead they move in because that is the best way to succeed. They must exert enough control over the victim to get what they need, and physical control is easier and quicker. That attachment between attacker and victim happens time and again, more often than not.
4. Note how easily and quickly the fight goes to the ground. Also note how obvious it was that NEITHER side tried to go to the ground. This was not a grappling trained attacker fighting a grappling trained defender, but the consequence of fighting for your life when you don’t know how to NOT go to the ground. The typical advice to “not go the ground” is useless and moronic when you don’t put the time into learning how to stay on your feet. We all trip and fall just walking around normally at some point. Why does no one just say “never trip and fall”? Because it is obviously a stupid thing to say. Well, “don’t go to the ground in the street” is just as idiotic.
5. Observe how hard it was for the defender to get back to his feet. Again, the typical keyboard warrior advice to “just get up” is shown to be vapid. If you don’t know, it is only dumb luck that can help, or the incompetence of the attackers. They also had gotten what they wanted and were less interested in continuing, which was a blessing for the good guy. Otherwise, it may have been far worse.  Also  observe that as he runs away, if the attacker had a gun, there is a good chance the good guy would have been shot multiple times as he fled. Just running away may not be the best answer.

To sum up, the entangled fight in real life happens again and again, whether weapons are involved or not. You can try to ignore that at your peril.

John Johnston – the host of Ballistic Radio – and I recently had a terrific conversation about some rarely talked about topics in the training community. We covered how to give critique when you are an instructor, how to not insult training partners and treat them with dignity, and how once you start to see success when you are working to make yourself safer and more capable, the journey itself becomes the path. I thought this was a good use of 45 minutes.

You Can Do It, Too! (PODCAST SEASON 7 EPISODE 313)