Goal Setting
I have too many goals at the moment. Maybe one of them should be to have fewer goals.
Here’s the grand list:
– Improve my conditioning, endurance and strength. – Focus on generating momentum from my core and using my entire body in unison. – Train transitions instead of just static positions. – Train combinations instead of isolated techniques. – Be fully committed to my movements, transitions and techniques. – Drill the crazy scrambles until I can come out on top (literally or figuratively). – Work on my takedowns and wrestling skills. – Get a mean armdrag from standing, even left-handed. – Use the duck under and Russian 2-on-1 in combination with the armdrag. – Fight to come to my knees and stand up more, especially from under side control. – Make wrestling sit-outs instinctual. – Acquire better base and balance, especially while passing. – Develop supernaturally heavy hips for passing guard. – Build an aggressive guard passing game from standing and knees. – Improve my standing guard breaks from good posture and safety position (AKA stalling posture). – Make the Margarida my money pass. – Fight for underhooks more from everywhere. – Finally get a decent underhook-take-the-back half guard game. – Also work on the out-the-back-door deep half guard. – Refine my core game as I continue to expand it by incorporating new strategies, positions and techniques. – Revisit things I thought didn’t suit me before and see if they do now. – Spot bad habits and eliminate them. – Be aggressive. – Compete in the next Pan Ams.I could think of a few more, and I’m always coming up with more, but that’s always true. So many spinning plates to keep up.
That’s awful lot of goals. There’s no way of working on them all at once without losing direction. Part of handling that will be consolidating them and seeing which ones fall under the same theme so I can address them collectively.
But I think another part of the solution is to pick certain goals and give myself an assignment to work on them for a certain amount of time. This is to keep me on track, focused on a limited number of goals, so I can progress through each of them in an orderly way rather than jumping around and never devoting enough time and energy to any single one.
From the next two months, for better or worse, I will work on:
– Traditional and deep half guard with the underhook. – Standing passes and the Margarida in particular.How I’ll do it:
– Drill these any chance I have, such as at open mat and before and after class. – Do progressive resistance isolation drilling/sparring of each. – Pull half guard all the time. Switch to half guard from my other guards. – Always stand to pass.Setting these specific goals doesn’t preclude several of my other more general ones, such as getting the underhook more, always trying to come on top, staying aggressive, etc. These broad goals apply to the specific ones.
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There’s a lot in here that I find useful to my own studies, it will be interesting how much resonates with other readers.
I don’t think these are too many goals. In fact it looks like a very limited number of goals. Particularly given the number of hours you spend on the mat each week. Of course, given your drive for perfection, as opposed to the mere familiarity most of us would settle for, I can see how it seems like a lot. But maybe you’ll just work parts of this outline intensely, and other parts more lightly. You won’t know how to allocate your efforts until you actually start focusing on the individual steps. A lot of it may just be re-orienting your outlook, like standing up more, which runs against the unspoken rule of “don’t stand up” during rolling.
Anyway, focusing for a while on half-guard instead of closed guard – which is the big focus at our academy – doesn’t seem stretching yourself too thin. You aren’t trying to master all forms of open guard; just one form of close guard which most of us find ourselves using automatically/inadvertently anyway, when our traditional closed guard is passed.
Your outline seems oriented toward competition, right? The emphasis on returning to standing; disengaging; standing passes.
In the context of this outline, what do you think about the chapters in Mastering Rubber Guard dealing with transitions from Butterfly/Cocoon to Dog Fight (Half Guard on full knees) to Pyramid? This sequence of back and forth transitions has started to look more appealing to me. My biggest problem when I started studying Half Guard was assuming it started out as a static position, flat on my back, and trying to remember the Jaws of Life, Whip Up, etc., sequence, when in reality it’s probably a better idea to avoid being flat on your back in the first place – if you can – and drilling from the frame position and many other positions is equally important as drilling from the most adverse bottom position imaginable.
Recently one instructor has been showing me some “single leg” techniques out of Half Guard, which involve grabbing their “trapped leg” to tip them over, instead of going for their “free” leg. I hadn’t seen this before because at my level I’ve just been trying to learn the basic “dive under” sweeps (Old School, Electric Chair) but the way the instructor demonstrated it was very appealing and I am going to ask him to work with me more on it. The way it comes up is more out of a scrambling, fluid situation than out of sequenced plan.
BTW, “getting the underhook more” is something I need to be slapped on the wrist about. I’ve gotten so spoiled whizzering people in Half Guard that I’ve forgotten that swimming for the underhook, when I’m in top position, is infinitely better in terms of flattening them back down. The Whizzer protects my back, but unless I can muscle them flat, doesn’t seem to give me much upside. Swimming for the underhook is better. The same instructor who’s encouraging me to work the single leg is trying to get me to stop whizzering and start swimming for the underhook. But I have to “re-do” my muscle memory now.
Finally, my “bible,” MRG, doesn’t deal with the Darcy risk in half guard. We need some adaptation of a lot of half guard techniques to reduce the Darcy risk. I know JRockwell (sp?) has his “escape” posted, but obviously it would be better to move through Half Guard techniques without leaving ourselves laughably open tothe Darcy.
Once again, I can only hope you start YouTubing stuff. I remember when you posted great sequential still photos of techniques. It would be great to see some YouTube clips, now the technology is there. You post a lot of links of others demonstrating moves – now its your turn. :-)
I like the idea of making time frames – It allows you to concetrate on the core details of each move and what, or why’s are answered over constant evaluation.
Instead of each guy just cycling back and forth with what one another knows. Which happens all too often even with my self. To make the most of your time the best option is to take a small piece of your game and just break it down to the smallest understanble bits. You can figure out the ins and outs of the move – and are not over whelmed with the amount of material, as well as the feeling of showing something progressively cooler than the other guy.
I really like the idea of standing to pass – For me it is becoming my favorite way. I at least like to be standing when i begin a pass. It allows you to change quickly to something else. Also it helps achieving the grips you need to pass, once you have the grips you want while standing.. move for your pass and it is very difficult to stop.
good luck with the goals – i simply want to get better and be back to training full time.
I miss he school and everyone there when im gone.
Hello.
Thank you for your journal. It is definitely one of the things that finally convinced me to take the plunge and begin classes in BJJ. I began classes at the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy in Torrance California two weeks ago. Even at this beginning stage I have a few key goals:
-Develop endurance. I still have a fair amount of difficulty making it through an entire one hour class without being winded enough to require additional rest. I want to eliminate the need to take additional rests.
-Develop flexibility.
-Maintain regular attendance when school starts. I want to make sure to attend at least 2 classes per week and preferably attend three.
-Work on break falls.
-Attend each of the 22 Combatives classes at least once by the end of September.
-Qualify for the Advanced Class by the end of January.
At this point, I think the most important goal is to improve my endurance. I have some ideas about this, but would appreciate suggestions. I’m trying to keep up a home exercise regime outside of class, with the possible addition of BJJ specific stretches and exercises.
Anyway, I have enjoyed your journal, and look forward to putting your insight to use in my own training.
Cheers,
Greg
OldDog53,
There is a darce defense/escape that fits very nicely into all of Eddie’s half guard game and doesn’t require you to adapt techniques much.
Let’s say I’ve whipped up onto my right elbow and have an underhook with my left arm (that is the arm he will trap with the darce). As the top guy swims his overhook deeper to go for the darce, simultaneously do two things:
1) Swim your left hand (that currently has the underhook) into a U-shape/pendulum back through near your chest to grab his wrist (in this example you will be grabbing his right wrist – the wrist of his underhook arm that he is trying to get deep)
2) Stretch your neck backwards with a lot of pressure
These two things should either break his darce grip or make it so he can’t connect hands and lock it in. If these two things don’t break the grip, then also tuck in your left elbow to your body (you will be still holding his wrist with that elbow). That should do it.
Now, from this point, a very nice transition is to the Twist Back & Plan B sweep – do not let go of the wrist that you have trapped and he cannot post (from the above escape, simply C-cup his left leg and sweep him towards your left).
Or, after defending the darce attempt, you can simply go to any of the rest of the half guard game, including the dogfight and he cannot stop you simply with a darce threat.
Also, if guys at your gym are defending the darce with that arm back method you mentioned above (either by grabbing their leg, or by grabbing their shorts in the back) then you should try transitioning to the other side of their body, and underhooking their defending arm, while pulling them somewhat on top of you and locking in the lockdown on their far leg – for a twister setup. Shinya Aoki shows this on his japanese dvd.
Anyway, hope that helped and just email me if it is not clear.
I agree that it’s a long list. But then again it’s a list of goals, not “focuses” or top ten priorities. I like how you narrowed things down into what you are working on for the next few months.
I also love the fact that a big tournament is included. Something to build to and dedicate your training toward …
I went from a four-page Grappler’s Gameplan template (based on the free “Ryan Hall gameplan” Lloyd Irvin sends people as part of his free e-mail service) to about six index cards that I carry around with me in my back pocket. Those cards have written on them my six basic sweep/attack sequences from the bottom (my bottom game is my weakest, so that’s what I’m focusing on from now until January 2008).
I also use a lot of “code” a la Eddie Bravo (the only way to fit everything on six index cards!). It’s a nice mnemonic device and just thinking about the code name for a given sequence helps me think through all of the different steps and stages …
One question: “endurance, conditioning AND strength”? Is there anyone of those areas that stands out as needing the most improvement? I love lifting weights and LSD style cardio, but I’ve realized that I’m fine in the strength and endurance categories and that shorter, more intense “conditioning” workouts-
from bodyweight moves to dumbbell complexes-are the best use of my off-the-mat time.Thanks mmaembrace!
”- Train transitions instead of just static positions. – Drill the crazy scrambles until I can come out on top (literally or figuratively).”
i think these are very important and would like to work on them, but how? some transitions are very common, but how can we train for the scrambles with tons of variables and possibilities?
one example: i often get into the position where one person has half guard and the other swings leg to the other side, like reverse scarf pass. i think that this position can give the back to the person on bottom, or give a pass to the top person. it just seems like whoever is slightly higher up relative to the other person has the advantage. it doesn’t always happen starting from half guard, sometimes from an armdrag to the back that you don’t get all the way around to the back but you get the harness and have one hook in. but regardless, it seems that the advantage can be taken by either person, but when do you take the advantage and how. anyway, just something i have been thinking about. thanks for the post and the site in general.
You’re welcome, OldDog53!
That defense comes from Eddie, so I can’t take any credit for it….with that one in your mind, as well as the other options if you are too late, as good as the darce is (my favorite submission for sure), it should not affect your 10th planet game.
Damn that is a lot of goals, I made a post in my blog about goal-setting that might interest you. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.
http://armbarred.blogspot.com/2007/08/remnants-of-my-old-blog.html
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