141. Control is King

Ever wondered why sometimes it feels like you're glued to the mat, unable to get that fluid movement you've been aiming for? The answer lies in understanding the balance between control and mobility in Jiu-Jitsu. This episode unravels this unique principle, drawing parallels to hugging someone tightly versus being able to freely move around them. We talk about how recognizing when to attach yourself to your opponent can give you an immense advantage and slow them down, and similarly, understanding when to be fluid, like while passing a guard, can significantly change the dynamics of a match.

Taking a deeper dive, we discuss how attachment and mobility are interconnected in the Jiu-Jitsu world. We explain how shifting from one position to another necessitates letting go of certain attachments and how beginners often struggle with this concept, trying to maintain pressure while also attempting to move. This episode is a deep reflection on this critical aspect of Jiu-Jitsu, and we guarantee that it will change how you view transitions and control itself. So, get ready to transform your Jiu-Jitsu game. It's time to understand how to optimize control and mobility to truly be in command during a match.

Ask me questions on IG @rozdzynskibjj, I will personally respond to you and record the episode with an official answer.

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www.rolacademy.tv
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Control is king. So judice is such a unique activity, in my mind at least, where Na Hu is stronger, na Hu is faster, but the person who is truly in control is able to manipulate the situation and really benefit from what is being presented at that point of time. So what does control really mean? There is this unique principle that I often refer to, which is control versus mobility. So imagine if you are hugging somebody and you are connected to them, and the moment you are connected to them you cannot move, you cannot circle around them. You are fully, fully connected to them. However, the moment you let go, now you can rotate around that person, but at the same time you are not connected, not as much at least. So control is the ability essentially to pick and choose whether you are fully connected to somebody and you are not moving around them, or you are not as much connected and now you can manipulate a situation where you can go forward, backwards around, you can change the angles and so on. And control, in my mind, is the ability to select which one you will do at any given time so that you can benefit the most out of the entire situation. So there will be some points of time in the G2 match, whether you are top or bottom, where you really want to attach yourself to the other individual, and by being heavy, being centralized, being applying pressure points, you can really slow them down and pin them into the ground with the use of gravity. However, there are other times, whether you are top or bottom, where you don't want to be attached, if you really want to be more fluid. A good example would be passing a guard. If you can't pass the guard, if you are hugging somebody, completely hugging his knees, you get a let go at some point of those knees in order for you to pass the hips. So that's just one of the examples.

Speaker 1: 2:07

There could be many different situations in which we have to let go of the attachment in order for us to have a little bit more mobility. The attachment equals less mobility. More mobility equals less attachment in most of the cases. So how do we manipulate this? How can we use this to our advantage? It's the selective intent of what we are trying to achieve. So if I need to move or relocate from one position to another, I do have to release a certain amount of attachment simply because I'm relocating my body from one point to another. So if you're moving from hips towards the shoulders, you have to let go of the hips. In a sense, you have to move your body towards the shoulders and once you're at the shoulder one is the desire point where you want to be you can reattach yourself again.

Speaker 1: 3:04

But oftentimes we find, especially at the beginning of the journey we find ourselves in a spot where you really try to squeeze. That's very visible when we are exploring new situations or exploring new escapes. We're trying to really attach ourselves and at the same time we are trying to move to a new location and oftentimes this is where the conflict comes in and oftentimes that is a point of difficulty for many, many, many students. So reflect on this by yourself. Anytime you are really squeezing somebody, you're going to have difficulty moving.

Speaker 1: 3:41

You are applying pressures, you are attached to them, you're doing something else, they're giving them a hard time, but you're definitely not moving around their body or relocating your position to a different spot. At the same time, when we flip the coin, when we are relocating ourselves, we cannot be putting pressures. The pressure is not going to be the same, the pressure is not going to be pinpoint in that specific location. The pressure will be moving. As a result of that, we have to lift the pressure in order for us to shift in one or the other direction. Experiably with this principle, I have not learned this until a little bit deeper into my Jiu-Jitsu journey, yet it changed the way how I look about transitions. It changed the way how I look about control itself. Keep on training. That teaches me a lot about Jiu-Jitsu.