The “Three Cs” of Training.

After receiving so much positive feedback on my last post which discussed the idea of “leveraging more out of your training time” I decided that it would be prudent to follow up with something a related. The topic that I have chosen to address here comes from the idea of training, but also learning efficiently. While the last post was largely about seeking similarities in movement and technique to train, this post will be about finding common grounds in terms of application.

A common point of discussion on BJJ training is on the type or style of training you do. Some people like to train in the gi, some like no gi; some have a focus purely on competition while others still are solely focused on the “real life” or street applications of BJJ. Of course added to this mix there is MMA style training as well. I have heard it said that BJJ training can be divided into 4 parts; Gi, No Gi, MMA and Self Defence. I agree with this and like the analogy as I believe that to focus on only one aspect is to sell yourself short. My only reservation is that I don’t like to split up Gi and No Gi too much. I believe that the differences between the two are largely mental and that, beyond a few obvious exceptions, solid technique transcends clothing.

So when I break up BJJ into composite parts I like to describe it as being equal parts Self Defence, BJJ Competition (Gi or No Gi) and MMA. Where my view differs from some coaches and associations though, is that I try to find the similarities and teach between the three areas and teach things that cover all three. If that isn’t possible I still want the techniques to cover at least and if not, then they should at least have physical movements and skills that are translatable across multiple arenas.

The way I teach this is through the “Three Cs Rule”, which is that the technique should be applicable in a Comp, the Cage or a Club. This doesn’t mean to say that I don’t teach Spider Guard, knowing that it has no real function on the street or that I make all my students do their tournament prep in MMA gloves working with strikes. It is more a case of training (and learning) efficiency, so applying the technique in a way that shows awareness of all arenas.

By asking myself and students if a given technique will meet the “Three Cs Rule” I am testing the broader understanding of the group and also helping students to gain a broader perspective. A good example of a technique or movement that applies in all areas and also acts as a building block to modify certain techniques for different areas is the Technical Stand Up. This move is most commonly thought of in the self defence and MMA worlds, but can also be used in BJJ competition to escape the bottom or as an alternative to a sweep. It also works to add a more practical element to the great competition technique of the Butterfly Hooks Sweep, by allowing you to stand up in striking environments. An added bonus to the technique that Kenny just demonstrated so nicely for me is that not only can you go to a front headlock position from the Technical Stand Up, but you can also get your base to drive forward for a single or double leg, which definitely has a place in all these environments.

So that is just one example of a concept that has a place in a Comp, Cage or Club. I hope you have enjoyed this post, as promised last time, my post on efficent guard passing is coming soon!

In the mean time, stay safe and get the most out of your training!

"Leveraging" more from your training....

Most people reading this train in Jiu Jitsu and as such know that enough training is never enough, if you have caught the BJJ bug you want to be on the mat all the time. The family atmosphere of most academies and the constant challenges and growth we experience make our BJJ training some of the most rewarding times in our life. However, the reality is that everyone has one reason or another that keeps them off the mat more than they would like. This may be due to down time due to injury, recovery/rest days, work commitments or looking after our families (or any of many other distractions that are otherwise known as "real life"). It is probably no secret that as you get older these factors play a larger role in your life. It maybe that as you get older you start a family which comes with it's own responsibilities, or perhaps our careers become more demanding. Another reality is that once you get beyond 30 your body takes longer to recover from intense training and injuries are much slower in healing. In my own case I have a beautiful family with diverse interests and needs and have a full time career outside of BJJ. Not to mention being involved in the management of the academy also takes time that may otherwise be spent training.

The last year or so has forced me to think seriously about how I get the most of my limited training time, because unlike the 10 or so years that came before, my training time has become more limited. I have been searching for ways to maximise my training time through the use of more efficient training, to "leverage" better results from my training time. This, I believe, is what BJJ teaches us; to apply the principles we learn on the mat into our broader thinking. BJJ teaches us the concepts of leverage and of maximum effect from minimum effort, so it makes sense to apply these principles to the learning of technique and not just to the techniques themselves.

I have come up with a few ideas that help me to achieve my goal of improving the efficiency of my mat time, such as:

• Learn to see jiu jitsu in terms of concepts not individual techniques
• Train jiu jitsu movements not specific techniques
• Recognise useful parallels between different techniques

The great thing is that you can achieve all of these things simultaneously by training the right way. The interesting thing is that this article started it's life not being about maximising training efficiency, but about the parallels between several techniques that I have been teaching recently. However, as I started to thrash out a rough draft I started to realise that there were so many parallels that it was really better to step and speak about the broader concept. That said, I have chosen to highlight a few movement concepts that apply across a range of techniques, some are obvious parallels, others less so, but all are similar. I have listed the movement concept first with description and then I will list some different specific techniques that use them.

Rocking Chair – The first principle I call the "Rocking Chair" because the movement involves rocking the body forward and back or side to side on the butt without changing the position of the legs in relation to the body. So if the movement starts with he thighs at 90° from the torso then as you rock forward or back that posture is maintained. The most common example of this is seen in the Butterfly Hooks Sweep where the opponent is swept through the power of the entire body moving in unison as opposed to a 'kicking' motion with one leg as can be seen in this example. Various forms of spider guard also utilise it such as Kurt Osiander's "Butterfly Sweep" (one of my personal favourites) and Jeremy Arel's "Leg Weave Sweep". A favourite of mine is where these two sweeping styles meet through the utilisation of this principle in Michelle Nicolini's Shin Block Guard, which can be seen from about 0:50 in this one of BJJ Scout's brilliant videos.

Movement Angles – Perhaps a more obvious example of a movement concept is the creation of angles in guard. We teach all of our beginners that the secret to completing either a triangle, armbar or omoplata from the guard is in creating the right angle. Specifically we are referring to the angle we shift our bodies to in relation to our opponent. For a triangle this approximately 45°, an armbar it is 90° and for an omoplata it is 180°. The important thing is that hip movements we use to achieve this are the same, it is only the rotation that varies. So in principle training one technique entry assists with training them all.

These are two common concepts that apply in many techniques and highlight my point well. There are of course many more, but I feel that these are sufficient for now. I did consider discussing inverting from guard and how it could be applied to spin through triangles, berimbolo or helicopter sweeps, but this isn't my area of expertise and would only be repetitious. One other area that I considered discussing was on passing and the fact that all guard passes into three 'families' of passes, however I think that this is a broad enough topic (and one that I am interested enough in) to warrant it's own future article.

In the meantime, stay safe and train SMART!