Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ is one of the most sought-after martial arts out there. Young individuals are increasingly enrolling in this martial art because it offers endless opportunities to win at the competitive level as well. However, as they say, the beginnings are quite humble. And yes, you need to put in a lot of dedicated hard work in order to work yourself up to the point that you become a professional Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. In order to do so, you need to know about the things that work best for beginners. When you start, you need to be able to understand the importance of the most important BJJ techniques for beginners. When you train to keep your final goals in mind and the things you need to do early on, you will be able to witness some very good results very well. I think, perhaps, that one of the most important things is buying a fine quality outfit including shorts and rash guard to kickstart things off!
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Don’t Overcrowd Your Brain, Okay?
Rumor has it that BJJ comes with a lot of techniques. In fact, thousands of them. There are a thousand variations of sweeps and locks and chokes and pins and escapes and guard passes. It’s enough to make your head spin! No, don’t let that take your motivation down. I’ll be sharing five (5) of the best techniques that you need to master as a beginner. They also work wonders later on in your career, mind that. Remember that the basics and the extent of your mastery of them will determine how fine of a fighter you shape out to be!
Many people get inspired easily. But unlike most, they put their inspirations into action as well. However, the results are not so helpful. That is because it is of pivotal importance to understand that you need to exert your efforts only where they will provide maximum benefit to you. In the beginning, stories are very inspiring and you’re going to hear a lot of them. Plus, you might just head to YouTube and get all the wrong types of inspiration that you don’t need to. You might hear that the berimbolo is the talk of the town and everybody’s doing it. A YouTuber might convince you to master the rolling kneebar. So, all of this will happen, rest assured. This is where your self-control and restraint will come into play big time. Listen to everyone, but do what the experts say and stick to the basics. The time for advanced techniques will come soon, but hold your horses for now.
What Wrong Inspirations Will Do?
Wrong inspirations will lead you to demotivation and ultimately and untimely exit. That is because if your basics are amiss, you’re not going to get anywhere. Remember that the foundation you build in your career is going to strengthen everything that you learn afterward. If you just in for the trends and want to learn any new thing that comes up on social media or starts trending on news, the game is over. You’re going to chase one thing after the other while at the same time your basics will continue to suffer. Then, when all the time would have been put into no output since people will strong basics will simply outdo you, you will lose the motivation to continue in the sport any further.
What The Basics Will Do?
The basics will allow you to focus on what’s at hand instead of running towards an oasis. Keep yourself calm and composed and, eventually, the time will come when you will be able to work towards even advanced regimes. Master the basics and the easier combos. They will provide you with the best results in the long run.
If your concern is related to progress, rest assured that you will if you keep on practicing the basics with an appreciable fervor and enthusiasm each day in and out. Focus on correcting your body mechanics and you will be able to reap the benefits soon.
Why The Five?
I am sharing five of the most universal BJJ techniques with you. For the major ground positions, these techniques end up making the most frequently used ones. You can use these techniques for many advanced ones as well. From your journey beginning from the white belt to the black belt, you can use techniques and they can be used with or without the Gi. Also, you will be able to master these techniques and gain more fluency as time progresses.
Guard Replacement With Hip Escape
A very effective technique to avoid deadly holds. This escape technique from side control will be your frequent go-to technique on the way to becoming a black belt.
BJJ involves a lot of motion. You need to be able to move your vital body parts in all situations almost as if comes naturally to you. And this will happen as you continue to practice. Move your hips on the bottom for all escapes. With this technique, you’ll be able to master the most important hip movement for escape in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
You need to realize the importance of replacing guard once your opponent has passed yours. At this moment, it should be the only thing that matters to you in the entire world. And if you become a master of this guard replacement technique with hip escape, believe me, Sir or Ma’am, you are in for quite the fun during the contest. Your opponent will simply not be able to undo you. By mastering this technique, you will also get to learn a lot about retaining your guard.
A common mistake in this technique is to try and bench press your opponent when you should really be working hard to create frames by using your arms.
Scissor Sweep
Scissor sweep is going to come in very handy. This technique will teach you all of the attributes that you will come across in other guard sweeps. What will you be able to learn if you master the scissor sweep? Plenty of things! You will be able to learn to break the opponent’s balance, move your hips for the purpose of creating an angle, maintaining grips to stop your opponent from creating a posture or posting a hand, and using the true strength of your legs instead of relying on your upper body.
Note that the scissors sweep can be used in a lethal combination with other types of guard techniques. When you go for quick finishes by using combination attacks, you can combine the triangle and cross-collar choke with scissor sweep to dominate your opponent.
Make sure that you can sharply maneuver your body and then are able to disturb your balance. As soon as you do that successfully, scissor the legs!
Triangle Choke From Guard
So, you want to learn something that’s quite trendy? Well then, enter the triangle choke from guard! All the way from the white belt to the black belt, you will see that the triangle choke is a technique must for all BJJ enthusiasts. It’s also of an indispensable use in the MMA and international competitions for both Gi and No-Gi.
Use your legs and attack your opponent from the bottom. This technique works wonders especially when you go up against a larger opponent when it’s difficult to reverse positions and get on top.
From different guards, you can set this choke up quite differently. You must, however, first learn about the mechanisms of the guard and as time progresses learn about the different ways you can exact it to perfection.
Take care that you do not end up attacking with the triangle when your opponent has a good posture. In such an event, your win rate may end up dropping since a good posture is the best defensive position against the triangle.
Cross-Collar Choke From Guard
Know that the cross-collar grip will enable you to improve on your sweeps and other attacks from the guard since it’s the starting point for then.
Your basic collar and sleeve grip will determine your approach to closed guard strategy. Remember that for the two (2) previous techniques, this is the starting point. This technique will allow you the freedom to control your opponent’s head and undo their posture.
You need to practice this technique really frequently. A common mistake that competitor’s often make is not getting your hand deep into the collar. It’s a make or break deal at this point. Ensure that your first hand reaches sufficiently inside such that you can grab the tag at the back of your opponent’s neck.
Bridge And Roll Escape Vs. Mount
If you want to escape on the ground, know that powerful hip bridges are the key.
You have to be able to leverage the power of your hips and bridge to escape the mount. Know that when it comes to BJJ, you should not hesitate in using your strongest muscle groups where possible. Use your thighs, hamstrings and lower back to push your opponent off you.
Do you know that if you bench press your way out of the mount, it will give your opponent an automatic armbar? You must abandon your habit of pushing with your arms as soon as you start practicing BJJ. The bridge and roll are quite effective and often provide an easy escape from the bottom. If that does not happen, you can easily get stuck or even give up your back.
Make sure to trap your opponent’s arm when bridging. The opponent will be forced to adopt a defensive top position.
