Authors of the Evolve Blog...
Here is a piece from our ground game experts:
When you've just started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or submission wrestling, it is sometimes very difficult to make sense of all the different pieces of advice. At first, some of it makes sense: "Establish position before submission." Other advice makes slightly less sense. "Stay balanced," for example. After all, how many times have you felt "balanced" only to be swept or rolled over on to your back? Other times the words of advice are completely contradictory. At one moment, "Stay loose!" At another, "Stay tight!" Which is it--loose or tight? How do you make sense of all this?
Sometimes expert advice conflicts with conventional wisdom. Common sense says that rear mount is the most dominant position in the grappling game. To a BJJ World Champion, the rear mount is the most coveted of all positions because you can have all the control in the world without any risk to you. Yet one of the best heavyweight grapplers (Randy Couture) in UFC history despised it. If one of his opponents turtled up, the former UFC champion said, "I would rather take a modified side control [than seize the back]."
Knowledge is everywhere and comes from all sources. Observe it, memorize it, believe it, but realize that as an individual, the only way you can truly capture knowledge is through understanding.
Respect knowledge, but demand of yourself understanding. The next time a BJJ master or grappling wizard gives you advice, try this: consider it gospel. Memorize and believe it. But then apply it. See if it works for you. Especially if you fail at adapting the technique, work even harder to figure out when and under what circumstances the advice holds true. By giving context to knowledge, and then internalizing it, you are further along the path to true understanding.
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