quinta-feira, 28 de janeiro de 2010
Keep Reading
I can't emphasize enough how critical hip movement is in this sport - it really is the key to making your techniques effective. This includes your pin escapes, applying submissions, throwing your opponent, preventing Guard passes, etc. For example, when a beginner is unable to escape from a pinning position, incorrect hip movement is a major part of the problem at least 80 to 90% of the time.
The most common mistake made by BJJ beginners is not moving the hips.
To ever get good at this art you'll absolutely need to develop good hip movement. You don't need to go as far as mastering the Lambada, but you do need to stop looking like Frankenstein from the waist down.
There are TWO main types of hip movement in BJJ:
The first is movement in the forwards and backwards direction (or 'bridging'). Try lying flat on your back and bringing your heels close to your buttocks. Now arch up, lifting your hips as high as you can towards the ceiling until your body forms a 'bridge'. Your weight is borne by your feet at one end and your shoulders at the other.
If you watch grappling with a critical eye you'll see this motion all the time; just think of how someone lifts their hips to apply an armbar, or bumps their hips up to make space when pinned under an opponent. Bridging hip movement is the source of power for all these techniques.
The second type of hip movement is side-to-side (or 'lateral') movement. While writing this lesson I've tried for at least an hour to describe this movement with words, and have failed miserably. Part of the problem is that lateral hip motion is so unlike any other movements we do in day-to-day life (but that doesn't make it any less important).
In the end I decided to use video, not words, to describe lateral hip motion. Click on the next link and it will take you to a page on one of my sites where you can find a short tutorial about "backwards shrimping". This drill illustrates the concept of lateral hip movement, and is also one of the best ways to teach your hips how to move from side to side.
==> http://www.grapplearts.com/grappling-drill-download-1.htm
Have you ever done this drill before? If not, then I suggest that you start doing it a couple of times a week - there will be an immediate benefit for your BJJ skills.
If you already know this drill then I suggest that you keep practicing it until the movement is absolutely instinctive. I also suggest that you start working on some of the more advanced variations, like sideways and forwards shrimping. All these drills can be practiced on your own either before class or after class (or even in the privacy of your own home).
Are you set for life once you learn the basic bridge and the basic shrimp? Not quite! Learning how and when to best apply these movements takes time: just because you know how to swing a baseball bat properly doesn't mean that you'll be able to hit a home run (yet). Still, focusing on fundamental body mechanics creates a great foundation on which to build your entire BJJ game.
The bottom line is that hip movement is the key to most BJJ techniques, and if your hips are static then you're not doing BJJ.
Stephan Kesting
www.beginningbjj.com
www.grapplearts.com
The most common mistake made by BJJ beginners is not moving the hips.
To ever get good at this art you'll absolutely need to develop good hip movement. You don't need to go as far as mastering the Lambada, but you do need to stop looking like Frankenstein from the waist down.
There are TWO main types of hip movement in BJJ:
The first is movement in the forwards and backwards direction (or 'bridging'). Try lying flat on your back and bringing your heels close to your buttocks. Now arch up, lifting your hips as high as you can towards the ceiling until your body forms a 'bridge'. Your weight is borne by your feet at one end and your shoulders at the other.
If you watch grappling with a critical eye you'll see this motion all the time; just think of how someone lifts their hips to apply an armbar, or bumps their hips up to make space when pinned under an opponent. Bridging hip movement is the source of power for all these techniques.
The second type of hip movement is side-to-side (or 'lateral') movement. While writing this lesson I've tried for at least an hour to describe this movement with words, and have failed miserably. Part of the problem is that lateral hip motion is so unlike any other movements we do in day-to-day life (but that doesn't make it any less important).
In the end I decided to use video, not words, to describe lateral hip motion. Click on the next link and it will take you to a page on one of my sites where you can find a short tutorial about "backwards shrimping". This drill illustrates the concept of lateral hip movement, and is also one of the best ways to teach your hips how to move from side to side.
==> http://www.grapplearts.com/grappling-drill-download-1.htm
Have you ever done this drill before? If not, then I suggest that you start doing it a couple of times a week - there will be an immediate benefit for your BJJ skills.
If you already know this drill then I suggest that you keep practicing it until the movement is absolutely instinctive. I also suggest that you start working on some of the more advanced variations, like sideways and forwards shrimping. All these drills can be practiced on your own either before class or after class (or even in the privacy of your own home).
Are you set for life once you learn the basic bridge and the basic shrimp? Not quite! Learning how and when to best apply these movements takes time: just because you know how to swing a baseball bat properly doesn't mean that you'll be able to hit a home run (yet). Still, focusing on fundamental body mechanics creates a great foundation on which to build your entire BJJ game.
The bottom line is that hip movement is the key to most BJJ techniques, and if your hips are static then you're not doing BJJ.
Stephan Kesting
www.beginningbjj.com
www.grapplearts.com
Interesting Advice
Sometimes the worst thing you can do is take advice out of context.
For example, lot of old school MMA fighters have said they would rather die than tap out in the ring. To them, tapping out to signify their surrender to strikes or a submission is a fate worse than death.
I'm not saying that this is a good attitude, but I understand where they are coming from. These are professional fighters competing at the highest level, who understand the risks of having this do-or-die mindset. Ultimately it's their decision to make; whether they should tap out or take the consequences.
The trouble starts when brand new BJJ students adopt this kamikaze, all-or-nothing attitude while training in class.
Let's say you want to fight in the UFC, and as part of achieving that goal you start training BJJ. Now suppose that you overhear some fighter talking about dying rather than tapping, and so you decide that that's how you're going to train. You're gonna be a badass! Never tap out!! Fight to the last breath!!!
I'm not psychic, but I can promise you this. After just a few months, long before you get anywhere near the Octagon, your body will be completely destroyed. Surgeons will smile when they see you coming, because fixing your body will help them make their next Lexus payment. And if you're very lucky, some day you'll walk without a limp again.
At the other end of the spectrum you've got someone like Dean Lister saying, "the more you tap, the more you learn." If you don't know who Dean Lister is, he's the 2003 winner of the absolute division at ADCC, the toughest and most prestigious submission grappling tournament in the world. He's also been an assistant coach on The Ultimate Fighter TV show, and has fought in the UFC himself.
You can probably see that I agree with "the more you tap, the more you learn." I agree for at least two reasons.
First, if you're injured you can't train. Therefore if something is hurting and you don't know what's going on, just tap out and live to fight another day. Eventually you will develop a better ability to gauge how dangerous a given situation is, but early in the game it's better to err on the side of caution.
Every experienced grappler can tell you a story of how he got injured by being stubborn and not tapping out early enough. They say that intelligence is learning from your own mistakes, and wisdom is learning from someone else's. When it comes to tapping out, don't be intelligent - be wise!
Secondly, by being prepared to tap you will explore a greater variety of positions and submissions. These explorations will greatly increase the size of your mental grappling library, and you'll be a much better grappler (and person) for it.
So when you're just getting started, don't be afraid to tap early and tap often.
Stephan Kesting
For example, lot of old school MMA fighters have said they would rather die than tap out in the ring. To them, tapping out to signify their surrender to strikes or a submission is a fate worse than death.
I'm not saying that this is a good attitude, but I understand where they are coming from. These are professional fighters competing at the highest level, who understand the risks of having this do-or-die mindset. Ultimately it's their decision to make; whether they should tap out or take the consequences.
The trouble starts when brand new BJJ students adopt this kamikaze, all-or-nothing attitude while training in class.
Let's say you want to fight in the UFC, and as part of achieving that goal you start training BJJ. Now suppose that you overhear some fighter talking about dying rather than tapping, and so you decide that that's how you're going to train. You're gonna be a badass! Never tap out!! Fight to the last breath!!!
I'm not psychic, but I can promise you this. After just a few months, long before you get anywhere near the Octagon, your body will be completely destroyed. Surgeons will smile when they see you coming, because fixing your body will help them make their next Lexus payment. And if you're very lucky, some day you'll walk without a limp again.
At the other end of the spectrum you've got someone like Dean Lister saying, "the more you tap, the more you learn." If you don't know who Dean Lister is, he's the 2003 winner of the absolute division at ADCC, the toughest and most prestigious submission grappling tournament in the world. He's also been an assistant coach on The Ultimate Fighter TV show, and has fought in the UFC himself.
You can probably see that I agree with "the more you tap, the more you learn." I agree for at least two reasons.
First, if you're injured you can't train. Therefore if something is hurting and you don't know what's going on, just tap out and live to fight another day. Eventually you will develop a better ability to gauge how dangerous a given situation is, but early in the game it's better to err on the side of caution.
Every experienced grappler can tell you a story of how he got injured by being stubborn and not tapping out early enough. They say that intelligence is learning from your own mistakes, and wisdom is learning from someone else's. When it comes to tapping out, don't be intelligent - be wise!
Secondly, by being prepared to tap you will explore a greater variety of positions and submissions. These explorations will greatly increase the size of your mental grappling library, and you'll be a much better grappler (and person) for it.
So when you're just getting started, don't be afraid to tap early and tap often.
Stephan Kesting
terça-feira, 26 de janeiro de 2010
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