Help! My BJJ is disorganized.

[Cardio]

I need to organize my BJJ more. I've been studying for about a year and have found that although I have a fair understanding of the game, I am really missing something. I want to learn the basics in the correct order of importance.

My learning has been scattered. I've had two different BJJ instructors (one Machado then Roy Harris based / the other Carlsons Sr. and BTT based). I watch instructional videos and go to technique websites, have been to 1 seminar and 1 tournament, and currently learn from a catch wrestler (who is also a high blue in BJJ).

The result is a plethora of disjoined techniques. I want a firmer base. For example, I might do a fancy sweep from the guard but then get caught in a basic keylock and not know how to escape.

My BJJ instructor will basically teach 3 seemingly random techniques (some simple and advanced) then it's time to roll. My catch instructor shows some really good concept and positions, but not necessarily the way BJJ would do it. I also enjoy watching things like Saulo Ribeiro's Revolution.

I was trying to learn from the Renzo/Kukuk series, and not do anything else untill I'd mastered all of those basics, but the problem is, it only has some of the basics (not alot on positional control, etc.) mixed with some advanced techniques and some "outdated" or techniques that I've seen better variations of.

I've seen alot but I feel that I am still really lacking in the basics. Can someone give me advice on how to "rebuild" my BJJ from the ground up - cover all the essentials in the correct order? Is there an official checklist? A bona-fide book or instructional series that is like a gold standard of BJJ basics? How do I know when I've mastered the basics?

[Dawgie]

Just fucking roll with everyone, try to submit someone on bottom or sweep, and on top try to pass the guard and do submissions. If theres a specific area you suck at, ask anyone to help you there

[randomg1t]

you should just drill them man.

the most common techniques would probably be the armbar, triangle, kimura, rnc. have someone keep putting those on you and you practice your escapes.

i train with a few different groups too and its a good thing. just make sure you stay focused when you roll, dont just do it and be thinking about something else. when you do it, focus, and focus on the basic stuff.

[chokingvictim]

I know how you feel. I feel the same way about some things. I feel like there's basics I need to work on, but everyone still needs to work on the basics when they're a white or even blue belt. It takes a long time to feel comfortable with all of your basic stuff.
What can be frustrating is when you go to class with a few things that you want to work on, but when rolling you never end up in the right position to try what you wanted. I think I have a bad habit of thinking too much about a certain technique, and I end up getting tapped from everyone's guard or from my back, and I never even get the correct position to try what I wanted.
It seems like when I'm just calm and not thinking too far ahead, it comes more naturally and I roll better. I would say just keep at it and you will notice that you'll become more and more comfortable in each position as time goes by. Private lessons couldn't hurt either, unless you're a poor college student like me in which case they're out of the question.

[Balto]

Here's how I would go about it:

1. Hone your positional escapes first. Your grappling is useless if you can't get out of a mount or side control. Make this your first priority and practice these during rolling. When most people can't pin you for more than 30 seconds, then move on to the next step.

2. Learn your guard sweeps. Find a few things that work from both closed and open guard. Drill them a lot and work on them during rolling. When you find yourself easily sweeping your opponents, move on.

3. Get a good guard passing game. Have 1-2 bread and butter passes that you can do instinctively. Try to pick guard passes that work equally well on lots of different kinds of guards (half guard, full guard, open guard, butterfly guard, etc). Once you start passing people's guards in like less than 30 seconds, move on.

4. Work on your top control game. Once you get a pin, make sure you can hold it for at least a minute. Use your weight to crush your opponent. Once you can do this and all the previous steps, you will be pretty good.


You might ask where submissions are in all of this. I left them out because you will just naturally work on them since you are obviously going to try to win when you grapple. If you make a deliberate effort to focus on submissions, you will probably work on them too much. Make a deliberate effort to work on positioning, and I guarantee that the submission skills will follow naturally.

Oh yeah, when you are picking your basic techniques for each step, make sure they flow together well. There are lots of moves where the counter to the first one sets up the second one, and the counter to the second one sets up the first one again. For example, a person counters your bridge and roll mount escape by sitting up high. This sets up the knee on elbow escape though. If they counter knee on elbow by smashing back down on you, you start bridging again. By chaining these escapes back and forth, you will get out much easier than if you just tried a single one.

[wOg]

You know, Cardio, I found myself feeling a little "disorganized" and "unfocused" after about seven months of training.

This might not work for everybody. But what I did was copy the "outline" of the Grappling Game Plan that Lloyd Irvin built for his newest phenom in progress, Ryan Hall. I swapped out all of Ryan's specifics and have kept the outline and started adding mine (for example, Hall is a guard puller and triangle guy. I'm more of a guard passer/side control top guy.)

The outline form really helps break down specifically want I want to try and do in each position I find myself in (standup, bottom in guard, top in guard, bottom in half-guard, top in half-guard etc.) Then I fill in the techniques I've been taught (mostly, or techniques from books and videos that I think will work for me). After every class, I'll check what I did against the gameplan.

For example, I'm putting a real emphasis on standing guard passes for the next 30 days. After class, I don't necessarily evaluate myself based on how well I did with standing guard passes in sparring, but how well I stuck to my game plan to try them at every opportunity. I figure that if I keep working them, they are bound to get better, so just focus on being disciplined and going for the standing guard passes and the improvement should follow. 30 days from now, I'll revisit the issue/game plan and maybe make changes.

I've just started. But I feel like this will really help me. If you're at all like me then you probably have a million techniques (or half-techniques) pinging around in your head 24/7/365. Actually WRITING a game plan/blue print down on paper, helps put all those techniques into some semblance of order. I've compared it to knowing a lot of words in a different language, but not being able to put those words into sophisicated sentences. Stealing this grappling game plan idea from Irvin is how I'm trying to make those sentences.

Best of luck.

[snigg]

maybe try picking a certain aspect of your game that you want to work on on each given day. maybe tomorrow you will work escapes during your rolling. let yourself be put in a bad position then work on escaping. once you are successful and gain an advantageous position, let your opponent sweep you so you are back in a bad spot and work to escape again. dont worry about being subbed, it's only training. i find this method to work for me. lately i have not been real successful with armbars from the guard, so i may pass up other sub attempts and only work on looking for that armbar, or i will tell my partner in advance im only gonna sub him with an armbar so it forces me to be more creative with finding ways to apply it. i would say just focus on one thing at a time...

[Dawgie]

work on one thing at a time

[Cardio]

3. Get a good guard passing game. Have 1-2 bread and butter passes that you can do instinctively. Try to pick guard passes that work equally well on lots of different kinds of guards (half guard, full guard, open guard, butterfly guard, etc). Once you start passing people's guards in like less than 30 seconds, move on.

Any suggestions for this one Balto? What do you personally like?

[tsneds]

Originally Posted by wOg

You know, Cardio, I found myself feeling a little "disorganized" and "unfocused" after about seven months of training.

This might not work for everybody. But what I did was copy the "outline" of the Grappling Game Plan that Lloyd Irvin built for his newest phenom in progress, Ryan Hall. I swapped out all of Ryan's specifics and have kept the outline and started adding mine (for example, Hall is a guard puller and triangle guy. I'm more of a guard passer/side control top guy.)

The outline form really helps break down specifically want I want to try and do in each position I find myself in (standup, bottom in guard, top in guard, bottom in half-guard, top in half-guard etc.) Then I fill in the techniques I've been taught (mostly, or techniques from books and videos that I think will work for me). After every class, I'll check what I did against the gameplan.

For example, I'm putting a real emphasis on standing guard passes for the next 30 days. After class, I don't necessarily evaluate myself based on how well I did with standing guard passes in sparring, but how well I stuck to my game plan to try them at every opportunity. I figure that if I keep working them, they are bound to get better, so just focus on being disciplined and going for the standing guard passes and the improvement should follow. 30 days from now, I'll revisit the issue/game plan and maybe make changes.

I've just started. But I feel like this will really help me. If you're at all like me then you probably have a million techniques (or half-techniques) pinging around in your head 24/7/365. Actually WRITING a game plan/blue print down on paper, helps put all those techniques into some semblance of order. I've compared it to knowing a lot of words in a different language, but not being able to put those words into sophisicated sentences. Stealing this grappling game plan idea from Irvin is how I'm trying to make those sentences.

Best of luck.

Can you write a little bit more about The Grappling Game plan,was it worth the money? Could you give a general breakdown of it's contents?