Mindset when rolling or competing

[Pat Campagnola]

That's some good wisdom!

[Toppy]

This is full of all details and paths from half guard lockdown, straight from the founder.



(Click on it to buy it)


#support

Funny you should say that... Cos that book appeared through my letterbox this morning lol

[Toppy]

Forgive a white belt for chiming in but I saw something interesting from Stephen Kesting on the subject that I thought was apropos. I'll spit out my opinion humbly so that I can be corrected by those who know more because the subject is interesting to me and I'm still early in my career: there's still time to fix my game.

Stephen Kesting:
"Try ranking these positions in order of how much you know about them:
Closed guard
Open guard
Half guard
Side mount
Knee mount
Full mount
Rear mount

This ordered list then becomes a handy tool to decide which techniques to practice, and what positions you should start your sparring in.

Remember, usually you make your fastest progress by working your weakest area!"

He continues:

"When we take consider those three types of skills for each of the major positions, we end up with 24 skill sets:
Closed guard submissions
Closed guard passes
Closed guard sweeps
Open guard submissions
Open guard passes
Open guard sweeps
Half guard submissions
Half guard passes
Half guard sweeps
Side mount submissions
Side mount transitions
Side mount escapes
Knee mount submissions
Knee mount transitions
Knee mount escapes
Full mount submissions
Full mount transitions
Full mount escapes
Rear mount submissions
Rear mount transitions
Rear mount escapes
Turtle submissions
Turtle transitions
Turtle escapes

Now I don't normally assign homework, but I want you to try this. Go down that list again and figure out if you know at least two techniques for each area."

We would of course need to add the truck if you want to be competitive against your fellows. And I suspect we would be fools to ignore the importance of the standup / takedown game.

Strategic game planning: find weaknesses and fix them. Find strong points and plot paths from weak positions to get to your strong points.

Tactical game planning: I suspect if your game is sharp and you've developed a group of skills that work well together and you're always trying to flow from strength to strength and avoid weak spots, if you're doing a better job of that than your opponents, then come tournament time, you'll come in with an advantage. I suspect that you cannot come in with a game plan against a specific opponent (the way that Eddie was undoubtedly able to against Royler) unless you know who you will face. That may or may not happen at a tournament.

So to some degree, whatever tactical plan you have worked out in the moment, much of that is likely to not go to plan. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" they say. But your strategic framework, the skills you've developed, the flows you've practiced and practiced...they're still there and they are innate (for better or worse).

It seems to me then that the tactical aspect is in being calm and recognizing that your opponent is shutting down your game and that you need to find a way to bail.

Something like that.

Does that make sense? That's my strategy, so it would be good to know if it's crap.

In short (and by way of analogy), I suspect Eddie vs Royler was more a strategic victory than a tactical one. Each opponent had 10 YEARS to figure their opponent out, fix their game, evolve their game. One dominated, the other got dominated by a game that seemed foreign to him and that he had no answer for.

That's the kind of game we want to develop, yes?

Dam that's a lot of homework lol

[bobby rivers]

Imo, ideally you want to be a coiled ball of reactive reps that are just waiting for their trigger to spring. If you are thinking while they are reacting, you're gonna be late. The opposite also applies when you react properly. Capitalizing on opportunities that your opponent gives you makes everything easier. You don't want to let someone put their hand on the mat without trapping it. Otherwise you will go out of your way to force him to do something, when he is willingly giving you a setup. This is one of a thousand examples of triggers for drills/techs. Eventually you are already hugging your knee before you realize his hand is on tha mat.

Stance. This is a huge part of my entire game. Having a strong base to react from, whether attacking or defending, is huge for confidence. Especially when you see openings in your opponents stance. This is a huge weakness in newer competitors, unless they came from wrestling. How does stance translate to mindset? It forces you to focus on position and posture before contact. You are aware of your weight distribution, neck position, and gaps. Elbows in, head up, lead arm ready to swim for an underhook, ready to sprawl or shoot etc. I am also analyzing his stance, weight distribution, and gaps. Are his steps rythmic or repetitive? Are his elbows out? Is his neck weak? Where is his head in relation to mine? While I'm checking the list, my stance is literally my first bait. I want to counter everyway he can possibly explore me. He has to explore me because my stance is tight. Being completely focused on the immediate task at hand as soon as you bump knuckles. Everything else comes down to reps.

Also, breathe. Its crazy how much we involuntarily hold our breathe, especially under pressure. This is never good.

[Toppy]

As with most contentious topics, I believe that history has shown us that there is no categorically correct answer. As examples, we can look at Jon Jones and GSP as two end-members on this spectrum.

After his fight with BJ Penn, GSP was asked about his gameplan. He took about five minutes to describe a detailed multi-tier plan that included a certain amount of clinch time, a certain number of takedowns, guard passing, and some limited striking. He spoke in detail about how he planned to sap BJ's punching power by filling his shoulders up with blood, and slowing down his head movement by wearing out his core muscles by forcing him to shrimp. I was in awe at this brilliant, perfectly executed, and remarkably successful strategy.

After the recent Glover Texeira fight, Jon Jones stated that his loose gameplan had actually been to keep Glover at range with long kicks and to occasionally shoot long double and single leg takedowns. Instead, Jon tore Glover's rotator cuff in the first round with a ridiculous standing shoulder lock, then blasted him with close elbows and uppercuts. Jones does whatever feels correct in the moment to him, and his improvisation instincts have thus far been impeccable. As coach Greg Jackson said about him: "I never want to put a fighter like Jon in a box... I think that’s a disservice to what makes him great. I think you put him in a position to where he understands what’s going to happen in a fight... and let him work and be creative and flow."

Two all-time greats with diametrically opposed yet equally successful mindsets. Thus, part of your journey is figuring out where along this spectrum you fit best.

In every roll, be it practice or tournament, my goal is to improve my game in the long run. Winning is great, but I would never do so by short-changing my own skills (I would never simply hold side control, for example). To this end, I generally approach each match with a set of 3-5 specific moves that I would like to work on. For example, I'll say to myself:
- If passing, I'll use the flyover
- If in top half guard, I'll try the Jap necktie
- If in bottom side control, I'll use the heisman
etc...

At the same time, I am also on the lookout for any specific techniques that my opponent gives me. For example, if I get underhooked from damn near anywhere, I'm probably going to mission control. If you hang your head, I'm grabbing it for a guillotine. And so on.

Basically, I'm always getting reps on specific moves, and I do this so that I'm not falling into a rut by only using my 3 "favorite" or "go-to" moves for years on end. Depending on how quickly I'm learning, I will change my list of moves, perhaps one at a time, in a week, in a month, or in half a year. The Jap necktie took me literally about 6 months and close to 1000 reps before I could do it at all, but now I love it. The waiter sweep, on the other hand, was immediately comfortable and took me less than a week to implement into my game.

There is one more trick I use to get better. If I know my partner's (opponent or training) skillset, I will attempt to use the moves they are good at against them. This is not bravado; I simply know that they are the best litmus test, and they will be able to offer the most insight into the details that I'm getting wrong. If I go against Eddie, I'm going right to quarter clinch or mission control. If I go against Dean Lister, I'm looking for heel hooks and half guard sweeps. I have filled innumerable gaps in my game with this method.

Finally, I almost always ask my partner if they noticed anything I did wrong in particular or if they have any other advice. It doesn't matter how the roll went, who got more taps, or what color their belt is relative to mine; I can almost always learn something from anyone. I've noticed that, paradoxically, white and blue belts often have the most detailed knowledge of a technique's intricacies. I can feel my own knowledge of jiujitsu slip away as I begin to completely internalize techniques. Instead of thinking, I am merely doing.

Wow! I think you just broke my brain lol. But awesome insight. I started the thread to get a bigger picture and you certainly have expanded my view thank you sir

[Mikael Chay]

Excellent thread! Great great insights!

It's so encouraging and inspiring for white belt beginners like me to learn about how more experienced, higher-belts and/or top-level practitioners approach their game in training and in competition.

Thank you so much to all for sharing

[Joshua Jarboe]

...I can almost always learn something from anyone. I've noticed that, paradoxically, white and blue belts often have the most detailed knowledge of a technique's intricacies. I can feel my own knowledge of jiujitsu slip away as I begin to completely internalize techniques. Instead of thinking, I am merely doing.

Beautiful.

The rest of what you said was awesome, but this was poetry.

[Toppy]

Beautiful.

The rest of what you said was awesome, but this was poetry.

Totally agree. Thank you all for sharing

[Tori Applegate]

I personally work on maybe two to five things at a time. For example, right now I'm working on inverting and not getting my guard passed, as well as a certain style of arm bar. It needed some adjustments. Three things..focusing on those on every roll, that's the main focus this week. I change my focus all the time while still maintaining and trying to better all of my current techniques.

When I compete, yes absolutely..I have one focus, one goal, but if you cling to your game plan...and if it doesn't go according to plan..you'll freeze and probably lose. I tell myself one thing when I compete. Move! Just move. Yes I want to get to my guard, but if it isn't happening, just move and capitalize on your opponents mistakes. That's the main focus for me.

[Pat Campagnola]

I personally work on maybe two to five things at a time. For example, right now I'm working on inverting and not getting my guard passed, as well as a certain style of arm bar. It needed some adjustments. Three things..focusing on those on every roll, that's the main focus this week. I change my focus all the time while still maintaining and trying to better all of my current techniques.

When I compete, yes absolutely..I have one focus, one goal, but if you cling to your game plan...and if it doesn't go according to plan..you'll freeze and probably lose. I tell myself one thing when I compete. Move! Just move. Yes I want to get to my guard, but if it isn't happening, just move and capitalize on your opponents mistakes. That's the main focus for me.

I need to start keeping a journal with the things I'm trying to work on each day or week. Writing things down really helps keep me focused with pretty much everything I do in life. I watch and read so much jiu jitsu that my mind starts wondering instead of focusing on a few things.