What's Your Game?
Let's get this clear first. I'm not talking "game" as in "which sport"; but I am talking about "what you're playing." In other words, what is your jits game(plan)? When I first came to Georgia I was training under an Alliance school. On the web you can find a PDF of the Alliance Belt Requirements. Now, when I first looked at this I hated it. I hated the rigid structure of having a checklist of things to know. However, my views have since changed a bit. While I'm still not a fan of such a rigid ranking structure, I thoroughly enjoy having this reference for training purposes. What do I mean? I'll answer with another question, "When you begin a training session, do you have a plan of what you want to work on? If your instructor asks you if you have any questions, or something you want to learn, do you have an answer?" What I like about having this resource is that it allows me to have a gameplan for my daily training. It allows me to make add structure or a checklist of what I want/need to work on rather than just going into training session willy-nilly and training whatever. This approach seems to be quite productive and much more efficient.
Secondly, I like the chart for developing a competition gameplan. That is, what would I do in a given situation. I have a spreadsheet laid out as a "Dope Sheet" for my competitions. I did this when I was preparing for my blue belt test and now that I am a blue belt, I have it laid out under the purple belt format. For example, the Dope Sheet has the same sections as the requirements PDF (Throws/Takedowns, Self-Defense, Guard Passes, Half Guard Sweeps/Passes, Escapes, and Submissions). I've never been one for memorizing names/dates/lists/etc... so on this sheet I don't list the names of techniques. Rather, I write/type in language that makes sense to me. I write down the steps of a certain technique so that I don't have to Youtube that particular technique's name. It is all right there in front of me on how to do a certain technique. The naming isn't so important. The doing is.
So, what is MY game? Well, I have a short and stocky frame. I come from a wrestling background. With both of these in mind, I usually play a tight, high-pressure, game. I used to train a lot of butterfly guard, but when I began training with a much bigger and stronger friend of mine, he would frequently smash me to a flattened half guard. I'm sure that friend will come across this post sooner or later, so I'd like to thank him for being the catalyst of what "my game" is today. I work a lot from half guard. I've recently been focusing on my transitions from and around half-guard-type positions. For example, I want a tight and close half guard, but if my opponent likes applying pressure, I'll move towards a framed butterfly-hooked half guard to give myself room to work. I've also been working a lot of "what if" situations from my half guard. These types of transitions include moving from a tight-half, to a shallow-half, back to the tight-half, to deep-half, to tight-half, to x-guard, to tight-half on the other side, to a sort of pseudo-de-la-riva guard. I've also been working a lot lately on "converting" my closed guard series of submissions to work from the half guard position. While I was talking to my current instructor about these things one day he said; "You know what you're doing? You're developing YOUR game."
I thought about that for a while, enough so that I did this write up. It is natural for us to develop our grappling / fighting styles to A) the rule which we operate under (MMA, self-defense, competition BJJ) and B) our preferences, strengths, and weaknesses. What is not so natural and takes quite a bit more effort is to dive deeply into sets of related positions and attempt to fully understand their connections, their offenses, their defenses, and also how to defeat them. When we start putting together a "dope sheet" that focuses around specific techniques and positions, what we are doing is tailoring a game to our own individual style. We are doing so in vivid, thirsty, and hungry detail. We are branching from a half-cocked approach to training, to a precise and dedicated plan. Game on!
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