Hi Roy,
Since it´s question time I wanted to ask if you always teach the same posture when passing the guard ie. the same knee-between cheeks in gi or no-gi. Which posture do you use when this fails for some reason - do you also open the legs standing up?
Greetings,
Indrek
Indrek,
The basic posture for passing the guard is just
that: BASIC. It is designed to give the student a
starting point.
It must be remembered that every technique can
be countered. So, when this technique does not
work the student has to move on to another
technique. However, these new techniques are no
longer basic. Rather, they are designed to teach a
student how to deal with specific resistance from
experienced opponents. Which direction a person
goes depends upon the specific type of resistance
encountered. Sometimes it will be best to stand
up. Other times, it will be best to use another
posture. Other times, it will be best to try the same
posture again. Other times, it will be best to pass
chest to chest.
Additionally, posture becomes unimportant at
higher levels. WIth a high level of awareness, a
student can place his hands anywhere on his
opponent's body to pass. He can do this because
his level of awareness is so high that he
understand the strengths and weakness of each
hand placement. (This is why I stress mechanics
and attention to detail from the very beginning!)
Does this make sense?
Good training to you,
Roy Harris
Thank you for the reply - yes it does make sense, I understand your method and approach to bjj...
I was just thinking about the posture becoming unimportant at the higher levels - when I watch many top bjj competitors in competition matches, they almost always use the same posture and type for opening the legs - probably the one which has proven to work most for them over the years. In these occasions they still use a proven posture and try to always get it - in your opinion does it make sense more to learn all the postures and know how to use them according to resistance or does it make sense to always try to use one posture and just to get it all the time?
Greetings,
Indrek
Indrek,
When it comes to the use of posture, every
practitioner will have their favorites they will use
over and over again. However, it must be
remember that what works for one individual does
not work for all.
I believe it is important for beginning level students
to learn the various forms of posture for the varying
forms of guards. For example, when it comes to
the basic posture, if person becomes very good at
this, who's to say that someone will not come
along and repeatedly destroy his posture. Then
what? If the person only knows one form of
posture, he may be sunk. Knowing how to pass
using various means is the best way to learning
how to adapt (which is the real goal in training).
Additionally, I believe an intermediate level student
should learn how to make himself vulnerable
when passing the guard. Why? Because this will
give him more options when passing.
Good training to you,
Roy Harris