Tag: submission grappling

• Turn Toward Trouble (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

  Our only hope for overcoming our troubles is to turn toward them.

  

  One of the most valuable lessons we learn, as we practice jiu-jitsu, is that our troubles do not go away when we turn our backs on them.

  In fact, the more we train, the more we discover that, by turning away from our problems, they actually tend to get much, much worse.

  By turning our backs on our troubles, we forfeit nearly all ability to defend ourselves against them, to overcome them, and to be triumphant against them.

  At first, it may feel like the only way out, it may feel safer and more comfortable than what is in front of us, but, as time goes on, we learn that turning away actually makes us more vulnerable, more susceptible to danger, and leaves us with little to no recourse.

  Turning away in an effort to escape our problems, we come to find, is tantamount to giving up.

  No matter how much pressure we are under, no matter how aggressive and persistent the attack, and regardless of how unprepared, outsized, and outmatched we may be, our only hope for overcoming the difficulties we face is to actually face them.

  To be sure, this is no easy task, but with enough courage, enough persistence, and enough practice, we eventually learn how to not only survive, but how to thrive in unfavorable, uncomfortable, and even painful situations, and, over time, we even come to embrace them and use them to our advantage.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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  August 19, 2020

  brazilian jiu-jitsu, courage, gracie jiu-jitsu, grappling, jiu-jitsu, life lessons, Martial Arts, persistence, practice, submission grappling, success, vulnerability

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• The Consequences Of Overextension (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

  In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, we learn over time that overextending ourselves has very real, even painful, consequences.

  

  One of the greatest benefits of jiu-jitsu training is the near-immediate feedback we receive from rolling (grappling for submissions). When we make mistakes, if we are rolling with someone of equal or greater skill, there are consequences in the form of a a guard pass, a pin escape, a reversal of positions, or a submission.

  Submissions are meant to represent the final outcome of an engagement wherein one person has no physical options left and must, therefore, submit to defeat under threat of a joint break or strangulation. Over time, jiu-jitsu practitioners learn that one of the easiest ways to secure a submission or to get submitted is through the overextension, and therefore, overexposure of a limb, whether an arm, leg, or even the neck.

  If we expose our elbows or stick our arms out, we are likely to get arm-barred, shoulder-locked, or head-and-arm strangled, exposing our legs or feet will result in leg or foot locks, and sticking our necks out with no protection will get us strangled. In short, an extended limb is a vulnerable limb. When we are on the offensive, we are looking to force or exploit overextension and when we are on the defensive, we are looking to limit it.

  The truth of this hard won lesson goes well beyond grappling, however. As is often the case, that which is true in the microcosm of jiu-jitsu also tends to be true in the macrocosm of our lives. Simply put, overextending ourselves sacrifices our integrity and makes us vulnerable in budo and in life.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

  If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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  June 20, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, commitment, extension, gracie jiu-jitsu, grappling, integrity, life lessons, Martial Arts, overcommitment, overextension, submission grappling, submissions

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• Efficiency is Intentional Nonresistance

  Force against resistance begets more resistance.

  

  While the goal of grappling, whether manifested as a throw, a pin, or a submission, is ultimately to impose our will on another person, this is much more easily accomplished if we can create circumstances within which our opponent actually gives us we want, instead of having to take it by force. In this way, he or she is actually helping us achieve our goal without even necessarily knowing it. The ability be victorious, however we define that, within conflict, without actually ‘fighting,’ is one of the unique qualities of jujutsu (the literal romanization of the Japanese 柔術) aka jiu-jitsu.

  Obviously, within all grappling, there is resistance. However, the highest aim of the jujutsu practitioner should not be to face this resistance head on and to overcome resistance with a greater amount of directly opposing force. There is no efficiency in this approach and, as much as grappling is about imposing our will on another human, it is also about doing so efficiently, and the most efficient means by which to accomplish our goal is with our opponent’s consent and assistance, not in direct opposition to it.

  As has been written elsewhere, our approach must be sincere and skillful if it is to be effective. For it to be efficient, however, our efforts toward our goal must be combined with, not in direct opposition to, our opponent’s efforts to stop us. This means, paradoxically, that, so long as we maintain our own safety and integrity, instead of trying to stop our opponent from acting against us, we must allow him or her just enough freedom to move unopposed in a direction that is both predictable and will ultimately lead him or her into a position wherein we are victorious, all without having to cause injury unnecessarily.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as a founding member of the Severna Park and Baltimore Holistic Chamber of Commerce.

  Street art photo taken by Robert Van Valkenburgh, artist unknown unless otherwise noted.

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  February 1, 2020

  aikido, brazilian jiu-jitsu, cooperation, grappling, integrity, jujutsu, nonresistance, resistance, sincerity, submission grappling, violence

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• Committing Sincerely Without Overcommitting

  One of the things that grappling teaches us is that people can sense a dishonest setup and, if we are to make actual progress toward our goal, our approach has to be sincere.

  

  When setting up a throw, a pin, or a submission, we must be prepared that our initial attack may be countered and we must have a backup plan or two. However, this does not mean that our focus should be on our backup plan because that will make our primary attack less sincere and committed. There is no need, on our opponent’s part, to counter an insincere attack because it poses no real threat and, therefore, neither it, nor our secondary or tertiary attacks, will hold much weight in our favor.

  Conversely, if our attack is sincere and true, and our opponent fails to counter it, for whatever reason, there is no need for us to follow up with successive attacks because we will have already been successful with our throw, pin, or submission. In other words, if our primary approach is honest and poses a real threat to our opponent and they do not counter it, they are thrown, pinned, or submitted, but if they do counter it, we move on to our secondary and then tertiary weapons without hesitation. We must always assume our opponent will counter our attack while also committing, but never overcommitting, to it.

  The process of learning what approach works best for us against what counters is a lifetime’s worth of study in intention, motivation, and timing that goes well beyond the grappling mats. It requires having knowledgable, generous teachers, as well as sincere, skilled partners who work with, not against us for the longterm betterment of the group, instead of the short-term, selfish ‘win.’ It is easier to be sincere and forward thinking when we know that the people we are working with have the common goal of mutually beneficial improvement.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as a founding member of the Severna Park and Baltimore Holistic Chamber of Commerce.

  Street art photo taken by Robert Van Valkenburgh, artist unknown unless otherwise noted.

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  January 31, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, committment, grappling, honesty, jujutsu, Martial Arts, mutual benefit, options, over committment, sincerity, submission grappling, wrestling

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• Grappling Is Measured In Irimi

  “Whoever controls the center, wins.” —Ellis Amdur

  

  Grappling is essentially a negotiation for space, space that one person is attempting to occupy to the detriment of the other. Takedowns, throws, pins, strangles, and joint-locks, are really all variants of taking space so that we are in control of it and our opponent is not. In Japanese martial arts, this idea of taking space is known as ‘irimi,’ literally ‘entering body.’

  Irimi, as Ellis Amdur describes it, is a martial form of displacement wherein “[t]wo objects cannot occupy the same space, and I, with greater power/speed/timing/postural stability, etc, take that space.” Whether we are talking about destabilizing an opponent to the point of a fall, like in sumo or judo, pinning an opponent such that he or she can no longer move, like in western-style wrestling, or submitting an opponent with a joint-lock or a strangle, as in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling is measured in our ability to take space and not give it back. It is measured in irimi.

  Through irimi, we develop the ability to predict where our opponent wants to be, the space he or she wants to take. Then, we can choose to either be there first, to cut him or her off by making that space our own, or to not be there at all by moving to a more advantageous position from which we can take more space with less resistance. Irimi is the means by which we take space until we achieve our takedown, throw, pin, and/or submission, and it is also the means by which we do not give up our own space in the process.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as a founding member of the Severna Park and Baltimore Holistic Chamber of Commerce.

  Artwork by Ana, except where otherwise noted.

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  January 11, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, center, grappling, irimi, judo, space, submission grappling, sumo, wrestling

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