ChrisWrestling's blog

1) See the opening position as a puzzle to solve. Different things your opponent does will create different circumstances that should be treated, well.... different. If you're both on your knees notice his base, if his knees are close together he's going to be easier to knock over so get your high grips and turn the corner (don't go straight to one side or straight back). If he sits on his butt, don't try to climb on top of him, he's probably going to use his hooks to prevent that and you'll just get swept. Don't try to circle around without any kind of control either, he's able to move faster than you because his butt is the center of the circle. The answer to someone sitting on their butt is to shut down their hook game, control their hips, and treat it like an open guard (if you don't know what that is, look it up).

2) Only extend your arms if you have a reason to. If you're in a 50/50 situation (meaning neither of you have an advantage) it's reasonably safe to extend your arms. If you are on top in mount, it's ok. Likewise for guard, on top in side mount, on top in knee ride, when you're on top in side control. Notice a theme? If you're on the offensive it's generally ok to extend your arms, otherwise keep them glued to your chest, protecting your neck, building a conservative frame, or when you have a specific, well calculated, task that requires your amrs.

3) Both wrestlers start off with a full tank of gas. Often with evenly matched wrestlers the one with more gas in the tank at the end of the match is the one who wins. Pace yourself accordingly.

4) Speed and muscle don't make up for bad technique, they just increase the chances that someone is going to get hurt. Remember #1, see each situation as a puzzle to solve, there is a technical answer, rarely does that answer involve going fast and using muscle.

5) New wrestlers tend to be grabby. The grips game is in a lot of ways the most hard thing about wrestling. Especially in a no gi situation when there is a lot of sweat, hands and wrists are almost impossible to hold (btw, never grab fingers unless you don't give two shits about the safety of your partner), instead go for the back of the neck, the shoulders, elbows, learn to use your feet and legs as hooks and levers. Likewise, if you are under someone in any position besides guard, don't hold them to you. For one, that's how I get most of my Americanas on people. Secondly, You're using a lot of energy (#3) and not facilitating any kind of escape from that position.

6) Wrestle with your legs as much as you do with your arms. The people who advance the quickest learn this early on. Use butterfly and spider-guard, even no gi, learn a scissor sweep, reverse scissor sweep, and hook sweep. These are my most common sweeps.

7) Learn your basic positions. Side control, scarf, north south (calm down pervs :-P), switch base, knee ride (knee on belly), low mount, midrange mount, S mount, side mount, back mount, guard (start with the simple ones), top 4 quarter. Learn how to maintain these positions and make that your goal in your rolls for a while. Screw submissions, just get to these positions and learn to maintain them. Then focus on transitioning to these positions successfully. If someone is starting to escape, sometimes the answer isn't to keep that position but to transition to something which allows you to maintain control.

8) When learning your basic positions pay attention to how you're maintaining them. Most positions rely on pressure (where your single point of pressure is on your opponent), connection (how are you held to them), and how you are rooted in the ground (how are you preventing yourself from getting rolled or swept). Now, deconstruct those positions and ask yourself, how can I get the pressure off of me enough that I can move, how can I weaken my opponent's connection, and how can I unroot my partner from the ground. In most instances you only need to take away one of these elements in order to escape.

9) When you start doing submissions pay attention to technique. No technique requires a lot of muscle, if you're using a lot to finish then you're not executing the technique right. Unlike pro wrestling, you cannot hold a good submission for a long time, you can't crank it on. Submissions are designed to either break your opponent or knock them out. This is why I always establish my position and control and then attack. When I attack it is always slow because I'm confident that my opponent can't get away or defend so I can take my time and finish in a safe, controlled manner.

10) This is my coaches #1 priority for everything: DON'T LOSE! New wrestlers often are so caught up in being strong, grabby, neck cranky, or even so focused on just getting out of a bad situation that they get caught in submissions. Look, if someone has mounted you, your first priority is NOT to escape mount because mount is an attack position. If you're trying to push someone off of you, you are opening yourself up to submissions. Protect against submissions and then focus on their pressure, connection, and how they are rooted into the ground. From there you can start to break down their control and transition to something better. I'm going to take this a little further than my coach does and say that this applies to dominant positions as well. Yeah, the risk of getting submitted is low, but a good wrestler is going to start to pick apart your game and if you're not careful you're going to lose that position you worked so hard to get in the first place. So respect every thing your partner does, especially if they train BJJ because nothing they do will be random, spazzy, uncontrolled, or unplanned.

Summary:
1) have an opening strategy, recognize your opponents opening strategy, and move strategically
2) Protect your arms
3) Conserve your energy
4) Rely on technique, not speed or muscle
5) Go for easier to obtain and maintain grips
6) Use your damn legs
7) Learn your positions and how to maintain them
8) Deconstruct #7 to lean how to escape those positions
9) Good submissions depend on technique, not strength or speed. Maintain your position and apply slowly to avoid injuring your partner.
10) Don't lose. Don't get submitted, don't lose your position. This is always your #1 priority.