Brazilian jiu jitsu or Krav Maga

[Cecil Burch]

Interesting, do you find this to be the case without a gi as well? I've found a good base and crushing pressure on the top knee defends it pretty well. Not to mention if sparring in MMA and you can strike to the face..

Sure. The point of the top knee is to disrupt the other guy's base with outwards pressure. Especially combined with using your hands to control his neck/arms. Ig you are doing what your should be doing on the bottom, the top guy can only hit with one arm, and it is just an arm punch with no weight behind it. Add to that is the fact that as soon as he commits to trying to punch he is no longer able to stay in a locked position to defend against the sweep. The best time to sweep a guy is almost always when he is trying to hit or access a weapon. That is when he is most vulnerable.

[BWT]

So, I've just completed my second night of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and I love it.

Didn't have a Komono in my size so not even a white belt yet.

That being said, I feel comfortable rolling (socially; my wife felt a bit off put but it's coming and she loves it) from a background with football. I'm totally drinking from a fire hose as far as technique, being out of shape, and candidly a bit of football mindset (in my opinion being a larger guy I think the easy temptation is to "muscle it" and I don't want to but that's what I did for years so it's an easy mindset to fall back into.).

I want to slow down the tempo, keep my heart rate in check, and be more clinical in my approach. Comparing 15-20 second plays where the plays over and go back to a huddle to rolling for minutes at a time.

What would you guys recommend on sustainable tempo and for me to make sure I'm emphasizing strongly at this point. I want to make sure I keep a keen focus on what skills I should be focusing on currently versus getting distracted.

Thank you guys and God Bless,

Brandon

[NerdAlert]

What would you guys recommend on sustainable tempo and for me to make sure I'm emphasizing strongly at this point. I want to make sure I keep a keen focus on what skills I should be focusing on currently versus getting distracted.

As a former wrestler and a "bigger stronger guy" (that's relative, 5'9" 200 pounds and deadlifting 415 at the time), it is really tough not to use that strength in rolls. The ability to use strength and scramble can be an asset, but will also wear you out quickly and actively work against you with higher belts. A brown belt once told me to focus on only using your strength when fighting for hand position. Otherwise just focus on technique.

I'm not experienced enough (or honestly big enough) to know but I read something Paul Sharp wrote somewhere once about size and strength being a huge asset to a skilled grappler, especially when you know how and when to apply that size and strength. Something about body locks becoming a near death experience I have been out of the BJJ gym for awhile now but I really miss it and can't wait to get back out there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cecil Burch]

I recently did a couple of podcasts where I talked about using BJJ in a self-defense context in a weapons based environment. I tend to be impatient when writing because I am not that good at typing and sometimes leave out info (generally out of frustration with how slow I am typing). So on the podcasts I was able to go into some depth that I don't always get to do with the written word.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxF787L8tTo&t=461s

the pertinent discussion starts around the 37:00 minute mark, so you can skip the part where I am wasting time trying to be amusing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxyd1y3kS2Q&t=27s

You can also download this one and listen to it later on Itunes