Conditioning in Martial Arts

A fellow martial arts and traditional medicine practicioner told me that martial arts is nothing more than a combination of physics, anatomy, and conditioning (which includes cardio strength). Physics and anatomy used to make attacks and defenses more effective using the same amount of strength, which includes when, where, and how.

I’d like to discuss on the third element on this blog entry, conditioning. How do we condition ourselves in martial arts. With the internet getting rampant, it’s easy to overload ourselves with irrelevant information, so I’m going to share my experience on some alternatives training to improve your conditioning for martial arts.

1.) Gym membership
Good old gym – and now with gym memberships going down and more
Pros: Given the right gym, you’ll have lots of equipment, trainers, and other facilities to improve your conditioning. In addition, having others exercising tend to give you a motivation to stay focused.
Cons: Can be expensive, and many trainers in Indonesia does not know about martial arts conditioning, thus making your exercise less effective.
More info: visit your local gym – fitness first, celebrity, lifespa, etc.

2.) Kettlebells
From the depths of Russian winter, this piece of cannonball with handles were popularised in US by Pavel Tsatsouline and the fellas at Dragon Door, this has become one of the fastest growing equipments.
Pros: If used correctly, this can develop explosiveness and endurance much quicker than your typical gym routine. Can be used for endurance and cardio simultaneously
Cons: Not available in Indonesia, and shipping them from Singapore (nearest shipping point) making them darn EXPENSIVE.
More info: www.dragondoor.com, www.kettlebells.sg

3.) Sandbags
I first encounter the sandbags from Ross Enamait’s book and website. Sandbags are very versatile, and given their unstable nature, they provide one of the best unisolated strength trainings.
Pros: Relatively Cheap. Sandbags can be constructed using rice sacks (karung goni) filled with smaller bags of sand, or even rice (ie: buy an extra 10kg of rice for your training)
Cons: You look like a out-of-job “kuli” to your neighbors. Imagine doing sandbag sprints on your neighborhood.
For more info: www.rosstraining.com, www.sandbagstrength.com, www.sandbagexercises.com

4.) Bodyweight exercises
Cheapest, mobile, and the most primitive form of exercise. However, when done right, bodyweight exercises can provide one hell of a challenge, and there are books out there on this topic.
Pros: Cheap, obviously. Functional strength, as rarely focuses on a single muscle group.
Cons: Some exercises does not provide gradual increase and require strong stabilizer muscles before being able to be performed (eg: pistol squats). In addition, no money spent = more tendency to quit
More info: Ross Enamait’s naked warrior, Matt Furey’s Combat Conditioning

So, which of these exercises should you do? Depending on your goals and capacity (including $$$ capacity). I personally find the kettlebells and the sandbags for my strength and endurance, while I focus on cardio on the gym (thanks to polluted airs of Jakarta), while including various bodyweight exercises into the whole package (or switch to 100% bodyweight exercises during travels).

What about you? Find the right one, and always make it interesting and enjoyable.

A Mountain of Excuses and a mountain of answers

What makes a champ different than a chump? All people can study techniques and strategies, but I find that those who stands out in the crowd have certain traits, and never-say-die attitude is always one of them.
On certain stages of the development of our game, we will face certain walls that we have to go through. In the beginning of our game, it can be as simple as doing the shrimping properly, keeping the mount, or keeping the guard. While on the later stages of the game, it can be a bit more complex, like working on the finishes or setups to make submissions more effective.
In each and every of these walls, some gone through the wall, but some will quit with a mountain of excuses, such as:

“I'm fat”
“I’m too small”
"I'll get injured"
"I'm not strong enough"
“I’m a woman, I can’t fight men.”
“I haven’t been exercising for awhile”

And the mountain of excuses just keep piling up.

Now, why in the world I say that these are excuses? While some will definitely affect the effectiveness of your game, in a true BJJ spirit of a counter to every move, there got to be a solution to these problems. Let me give you counters for every one of these excuses:

“I’m too fat”
Vincent Majid, our very own heavyweight and bronze medalist in World Sambo, is not exactly thin, but look at his credentials.


while IFL’s Champ and a BJJ Black belt Roy Nelson is not a bodybuilding material. He even smothered Kimbo with his beer gut.


“I’m too small”
Helio Gracie was only 62kg on his prime, defeating opponents twice his size, or even better, look at this video of Jeff Glover fighting in the absolute division.



"I'm not strong enough"
BJJ is developed in such a way that people can overcome stronger and bigger opponents. Therefore, do the technique right, and you should be able to overcome stronger opponent with technique and strategy.

“I’m a woman, I can’t fight men.”
Meet Carmen Janke in red gi.


I’ve NEVER defeated this woman all my life. My best result was a draw after 40 minute match - that is after my instructor, Rob Williams, ushered us out of the gym as he needs to work. Note that at that time, she was the lightest fighter on the gym, and she’s submitting bigger and stronger male on the gym.

Still don't believe me that this is doable? Look at this vid:


“I haven’t been exercising for awhile”
Well, this one is so simple...... get your ass down to the mat and start rolling. You'll get your cardio, strength, and conditioning at the same time.

.... And the mountain of answers for quitting is getting even higher. So, remember to never give up, as winners never quit, and quitters never win, and I bet all wants to be a winner and will not quit whenever they come across any barrier, no matter how big they are.

The Homewrecker – modifications to knee-stab guard opener

Happy Eid-al-Fitr everyone. Well, I may not be a regular blogger, as everyone can see from the 6-month or so of absence, but nevertheless, we are still training, and the blog is still on.

To get straight to the point of this log, a few weeks ago, I had someone with a very small frame starting her BJJ first class. Whilst most of the people that I taught still manage to do most of the moves with minor adjustments, it seems that this time the small frame prevents her from opening a closed guard with the knee-stab. While I had to admit that this move works better against smaller opponents, but I never came into a point where the move did not work due to size difference – she cannot move back far enough whilst holding her opponent’s hips down to break open the closed guard.

I had some thoughts after the class and had some discussion with Louisa, my most senior female student which faces similar issues to a lesser extent. From our discussion, I came to realize that she made small modifications on her knee stab, which she had used against me in the past. Her small frame may prevent her from opening the guard by simply moving her hips back, but her short legs allows her to slip her knees through and maintain control of the legs, then staple the legs, even without opening the guard.

Just to make things a bit clearer, let’s look at the following pictures:

1.) Similar to a knee-stab: hands on the pelvic bone, leave no space between arms (notice that I can't get my hand between them) and opponent’s thigh, posture up, and jam your knees on the tailbone but don’t let your opponent sit on your knees

















2.) Notice that Louisa in unable to break free by moving her hips back while keeping the right knee on the tailbone
















3.) While unable to break the guard, she still manage to create space which she is able to slip he knee to the groin (OUCH! Point). So, remember to wear your groin guard
















4.) Having passed her knees, Louisa can slip through and staple my right leg and begin executing knee-through pass
















5.) Don’t forget the far underhook, or you’ll get your back taken
















6.) Louisa gets the cross face, joint her arms together in gable grip, and maintain staple on my right thigh, and passes her left leg through
















7.) Release staple, and pass to side control

Notice that Louisa’s small size allow my ankles to remain locked even as she slipped her knees through. Don’t worry about this - as long as her knees get inside my guard, she will be able to perform the knee-through pass.

This shows that not all moves are created equal – some work better for smaller opponents (eg: the lawnmower), some are for bigger opponents, etc. – and that everyone has their way of doing it, and some deviations come up with new moves (eg: the tepee, which is a triangle choke variation for people with short legs). This emphasizes that practitioners will need to experiment with techniques, whether through variations on setups, angles, or even the techniques themselves, to optimize their games to their body type. However, in order to properly experiment, you will need a proper understanding of the techniques and test them on the field through sparring sessions and/or tournaments over and over again. So, don’t afraid to ask, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Now, the last but not the least, given the OUCH! Factor on step 3, I’d given this move a nickname “the Homewrecker”, as I think it will be too much burden for Louisa to bear the nickname “nutcracker” or “ballbasher”.

PS: Special thanks to Louisa, Kartini, and Tom for their contribution to this article.

BJJ Lady with One Leg

To start with, I'd like to post a video from Nicolai Holt (my BJJ-junior-turned-instructor) from his competition in Japan in 2005. However, I will not try to inspire people with the perseverance and courage of this woman, which she clearly has shown by competing on the match. Instead, I decided to look at it from a more technical perspective - control on open guard. The match will give you a tremendous insight into guard passing.




For those with slower internet connection, please be patient and download the video till finish, as to you will need to observe the full match to give you the full insights.

On the first half of the match, you can see that the blue gi player keeps the white gi player at bay, recovering back to guard, and even the had her opponent on her mount for a short while until she was reversed and obtained kesa gatame at around 2:50 mark. After that point, the blue gi player was not able to recover guard

Now, what's the X-factor that made the white-gi player able to pass the guard? She passed from the side with the legs at the 2:50 mark.

Most beginners tend to try to pass on the weaker side of the guard (ie: the side with "no legs"), but as tempting and easy as it looks like, this will quickly prove to be counter-productive. Why? Maintaining control open guard is about keeping your opponent face to face against you through push, pull, and hooking actions as you react on which way your opponent will try to pass your guard. Control is maintained if the balance of force between left and right is about equal (ie: if opponent pushes on your left side, you push on your right side), and when this balance is not achieved, then either side is going for an attack (eg: sweeps, guard passes, etc.).

For the one-legged lady, which can only maintain control by pulling and pushing on one side, the concept of maintaining this balance of power is more obvious. She cannot get passed on the side with no legs, as she was able to maintain the lateral balance with her leg. However, as she get passed on her side with the legs, she can no longer maintain or recover this lateral balance, and therefore, got passed.

Therefore, as control is achieved by maintaining this balance of power, the general principle on maintaining the guard is to counter on the opponent's weaker side and never let your opponent get control over / around your stronger side. The same principle applies to guard passing as well - to spoil the balance of force, pass on the side that your opponent has greatest control over.

So, don't forget this when I scream "One-legged lady" during tourneys.

Note: Special thanks to Nicolai Holt for giving me great insights for this blog.

Tournament Preparation: Gameplan(s)

Melbourne, November 2006: Pan Pacific Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships. Nicolai Holt asked me a simple question 30 minutes before my first fight: "Bram, what's your gameplan?"

I couldn't answer.

We probably hear the word "game plan" so many times, but for many, this word does not seem to be synonymous with combat sports.

Apparently, it is as crucial as in other sports. A right game plan allows you to use your skills more efficiently, thus can differentiate between winning or losing, or on the streets, it can mean life or death.

A gameplan is not something that you invent when you jump into the competition or fight. It is something that people prepare to the detail, on how they want their games to move in to their favours, based on their own expertise, their opponent's, and the environment (eg: applicable rules, cage vs ring vs street, one vs multiple opponent, etc.). Having said that, a gameplan should retain a degree of flexibility - ie: you should not force your gameplan, but rather adjust your gameplan to the conditions given during a match, which mainly achieved through preparations of plan B or even plan C should Plan A fails to score.

Now, what elements form a good gameplan?
1.) Know thyself
2.) Know thy opponent
3.) Know the battlefield

1.) Know thyself
One need to assess his or her own strength and weaknesses. What positions are you comfortable in? What moves are you well-versed with? What positions are you NOT want to be in, can you finish by points, and so on. Having a knowledge of these gives you an "area" which you should play your game in, progress, and how to finish your opponent. Spar often, and consult with your trainer on how you should play your game. As your trainer is the closest person to train with you, he should be the best person to develop your gameplan.

2.) Know thy opponent
Knowing yourself is only half the battle - even the great Sun Tzu says so. You will need to know your opponent in order to find the most efficient way of defeating him using your chosen methods, while countering his attempts of trying to nullify your game. More often than not, this is the missing component. On street situations, this cannot be helped, but on tournaments, you can watch your opponents' earlier fights and/or fight videos of competitors.

3.) Know the battlefield
The fight stage can affect the effectiveness of the chosen techniques, thus affects the way your gameplan. A cage is played differently than a ring or a mat; an concrete is different from mats, matches with leglocks are played differently than those with leglocks, and the list goes on. Therefore, be aware of where you fight and under what rule, as this can greatly affect your gameplan, and make sure these are used to your advantage, not to your disadvantage.

Ideally, a good gameplan should have all these three components to maximise your chances of winning, and as developing a gameplan is not a 1-day process, so make sure the game plans are prepared. Even not knowing your opponent, you should prepare a basic gameplan tased on elements 1 and 3. Remember, if you don't prepare to win, you're preparing for a loss.

Now, how did I end up in Melbourne in 06? Well, Nicolai drilled me on a last-minute gameplan, which gave me a win on sub and 2 losses on points, one of them only by one advantage. Not a bad result, but could've been better with more preparation.

Closed Guard Basics

One of the unique features of BJJ, other than its tremendous use of leverage, is the ability to defend yourself, neutralise or even attack opponents from your back. What made this possible is BJJ's guard positions.

The most basic form of guard, as well as the first one that I encountered, was the closed guard. The reason why this guard is taught as the first guard is the fact that this guard offers the maximum area of contact among other guards, thus allowing more control over the person inside the guard.

What are the principles of closed guard?

1. Lock ankles while not in the offensive
2. Break down opponent’s posture and keep it that way
3. Open up your guard for the offensive only after breaking up opponent’s posture
4. Create more angle between your body and your opponent’s for better offenses

The first one, locking the ankles, are often forgotten by many, especially beginners in the heat of battle. Without it, the guard will not be “closed”, and you’ll quickly lose control of your opponent. Crossing the ankle will create a ring which traps your opponent’s hips and allow you to control your opponent. If the ring breaks while you’re trying to establish control, then your guard is broken, and your guard is likely to be passed.

As the basic principle of breaking the ring is by “overloading” them, you will need to prevent your opponent to fix his hips against yours, therefore keeping your hips mobile while immobilizing theirs. Breaking down your opponent’s posture will achieve this, which brings us to the next crucial element of closed guard.

Breaking your opponent’s posture is essentially moving your opponent’s centre of gravity forward toward you and keep them there, ie: break your opponent’s posture is by “sucking” your opponent into your guard. This will make your opponent off-balance, minimizing their capabilities to use leverage, thus minimizing the damage to yourself, as well as setting yourself up for the offensive.

For the offensive, we have to keep coming back to basic principles in BJJ – position over submission. In the case of a guard, you’ll need to open up your guard to attack, but do so after breaking up your opponent’s posture and have sufficient control over him/her. Without it, you’ll lose the guard for a submission attempt, and you’ll end up worse than what it used to be

Lastly, while there are numerous ways to attack your opponent from closed guard, but generally, the more angle you create between their body and yours, the more effective is your submissions and sweeps. Take for example an armbar – the more you take your opponent’s arm across his/her chest (thus more angle between you and your opponent), the faster you get the armbar.

So, keep these principles in mind when keeping your opponent inside your closed guard, and once you’re comfortable with closed guard, don’t hesitate to try other guards to increase you offensive and defensive capabilities.

For more references, here are some of the videos that I find useful:

Closed Guard Principles - as usual, Stephan Kesting did well in his explanations


Closed Guard Crash Course


For all of you Eddie Bravo fans, the Rubber Guard Instructionals:
Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


For those who wants to have a deeper look at this guard, I have the book for the class to borrow, but make sure you understand the basics of guard, or you will not be able to fully utilize this unorthodox guard.

Checking Your Ego by the Door

I can't seem to stop emphasize how much we need each other in order to progress in BJJ. Many would seem to see BJJ as an individual sport, but the fact that we cannot practice without training partners proves that the team element on this sport is more than what it looks like to the common eye, thus the more need to check our egos at the door.

"Ego is the BJJ demon," says our very own Jedi Master Niko Han. It's something we all struggle with, all of the time, at every stage of BJJ, on and off the mat.

Ego is what makes someone crank a submission.
Ego is what stops someone from tapping when they should.

It can just mean you're afraid of losing, have to "win" every roll (even though it's not a competition), especially with those you perceive to be less skillful or physically weaker. The ego is also what stops you from rolling with certain people for fear of losing. Now, this attitude is what will eventually slow down the learning process for a number of reasons.

First, not throwing down ego will hinder us from taking care of our training partner, as we are very likely not to give our opponent any chance to tap and injure them. Remember that training partner will be the ones pushing you further, and injuring a training partner means everyone, including you, will lose a training partner for at least 6 weeks, thus hindering your learning process.

Secondly, tap early. It's not worth it to get injured in training and lose precious training time just for a bloated ego. Tapping early doesn't mean you suck, or wimpy. It means that you have a lion's heart to admit your weakness, reflect on what happened, train, and close that weakness on the next day as opposed to taking 6 week break from injuries. Even guys like Helio Soneca Morreira was submitted by Synergy's very own Max Metino during a seminar when Max was still a white belt, and Helio didn't mind at all.

Thirdly, always take an extra care when training with the following groups: someone weaker than you, newbies, or women. Throw away your ego when training with this group. There is no shame in losing to a weaker and smaller training partner or a newbie, as the art is designed for the weak to triumph against the strong. Nevertheless, you have to take extra care under these circumstances, as lighter people will take more weight relative to theirs when fighting a heavier and stronger opponents. Newbies, on the other hand, tend to lack the experience to know dangerous positions and sometimes might not tap in time. Finally, women, tend to have lighter bones and weaker pound-per-pound. So, when training with these three groups (even more so if a person is included to more than one of these groups), check your ego at the door, and use it as a chance to train your technique, sensitivity, reflexes, and finesse (detil2 halus). This is what make black belts stand out of the crowd.

Finally, let's not forget that our club is named "Synergy". Having “synergy” means no bloated ego, nor about who's the king of the hill, but about improving and supporting each other during training, so that your training partner can improve and push you even further and able to make you a better fighter.

So, throw away the ego - even the great Royler Gracie during the August 2008 seminar in Bali claimed that the miracle escape to triangle choke is nothing more than a tap. He said that because he checked his ego at the door. And that what makes him what he is now.

Relocation Update 2

Friends,

Good News! With the negotiations with Hotel Bumi Karsa at Bidakara finalised and the mats for training obtained, and we can start training today.

Classes held every Monday and Wednesday on 20:00-22:00

The details for the venue will be as follows:
Oceania Fitness Center
Hotel Bumi Karsa 3rd Floor
Komplek Bidakara
Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto Kav.71-73
Pancoran, Jakarta 12870
Tel: +6221 8379 3555



Images: bidakara.co.id

For reference, it's the highrise building after Shell Petrol Station at Pancoran.
For those who has concerns on the traffic from Kuningan, there is an entry via "jalan tikus", as we Indonesians call them, near Plaza GRI / Graha GRI (Great River Indonesia), as shown on the map.

So, we're moving down to Bidakara. What about Cityloft and Wisma Bakrie 2?
We're not actually moving. WE ARE EXPANDING. Bidakara is not temporary. It will be a new Synergy BJJ club, and we are opening up new clubs at City Loft and Wisma Bakrie 2. Currently, we are finalising negotiations with the gym management on the pricing, packages, and schedule. We should be able to start training as early as next Monday, 23 February 2009.

BJJ on Domestic Violence

One day, a female acquaintance which has not trained in martial arts asked me during a coffee break, “What’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?”

After giving a brief explanation, she asked me one another question, “Well, all martial arts that I saw started from a standing position, but what if someone held you down while you were on the ground?”

Dumbfounded, and praying she’s alright, I asked, “Why?”

Apparently, her best friend had just seen a lawyer to file a Domestic Violence case, and my friend was being told a very graphic description of what had happened - he sneaked into her room while she was sleeping and began by holding her to the bed with one leg between hers, one arm covering her mouth and the other around her pelvis.

While I will not go into details on the outcome of the ordeal, there are a number of points that I'd like to point out on this conflict from a self-defense perspective.

Firstly, based on the description of the incident that I was told, the position is strikingly similar to half guard. With neither of them had any background on the grappling arts, the position was achieved rather “instinctively” by the assailant, showing that the positions that we learn on sparring sessions are very much real and applicable to real situations.

Secondly, the above situation shown that, unlike the common belief, there are situations where fights do start on the ground with absolutely no chance of maintaining stand up position, showing more importance of having groundfighting as part of the self defense arsenal. More importantly, when such situations happen, it is very likely that the situation starts with the assailant positioned on top and the victim on the back, which proves that there is a huge advantage of having knowledge on BJJ. Why? As most probably aware, BJJ syllabus provide wide array of defensive and offensive movements with the practitioner lying on their backs – ranging from a hold to maintain position to reversals and even submissions.

Thirdly, while women should benefit more from BJJ as BJJ is meant to overcome stronger and larger opponents with technique, personally I find it quite ironic that I’ve encountered relatively fewer female practicing BJJ, both in percentage and in number, compared to other martial arts which I had trained in or seen. Most are uncomfortable being in close contact with the opposite sex during training, find it overwhelming to go against the guys, or simply sees no need for martial arts or self-defense training (and join a martial arts class for the aerobic part and being part of a trend).

So, next time you’re wondering if all those hard work drilling the techniques into the back of your head really works in real-life situations, and not only for the tournaments, remember this scenario. When people are wondering why we start sparring on the ground and whether there are self-defense scenarios start on the ground, remember this scenario. When people start question as of why women should learn self defense – especially with having their loved ones to protect them, remember this scenario, where the assailant is the one that supposedly protect the victim.

Change of Location - FAQ + Updates

For some members of the club, the issue might have been known since end of last month, but I believe there should be an explanation to all club members on what is going on.

Are the classes gone?
Yes - there will be no more training in Fit by Beat Setiabudi. But only for the better. Continue reading the FAQ.

With the classes gone, is the club out for good?
Absolutely NOT! We may be out of Setiabudi, but only to become stronger than ever. We might be down for a week or two at most, but we are in the process of venturing out to a bigger and better place. We are even planning of holding more activities, including inter-club matches in March, open mat sessions with other grapplers and wrestlers, and weekend BJJ bootcamps.

Where will we be moving?
We'll keep the place within no more than 2km radius from Setiabudi. Our current options are as follows:
1.) Bumi Karsa Hotel Gym at Bidakara, Jl. Jenderal Gatot Subroto, Pancoran
2.) Gold's Gym City Loft, Jl. K.H. Mas Manysur, near Karet
3.) Wisma Bakrie 2, HR Rasuna Said, a few buildings past Setiabudi building
We'll keep everyone posted on where we are moving ASAP, but our priority is to find everyone a place to train ASAP.

Will there be change on the fees?
We'll notify everyone once the negotiation is finalised. Rest assured that we will keep members on top of our priority list on the negotiation, but as people say, quality comes with price, and we intend to improve our training facilities as well

Why so sudden?
Fit by Beat management decided not to extend our agreement to use their gym room for training. Unfortunately, there were no direct or written formal communication from the Fit by Beat management of their intention, or on the eviction notice.

Why do we have to move?
As explained above, there were no formal or direct communication from the Fit by Beat management on the eviction, and we'd like to leave it at that and move on, rather than wasting energy on something of less importance. Nevertheless, we'd like to thank Fit by Beat management on their generousity and support for all these years.

Half Guard Basics

After a brief description and some examples of Hierarchy of Positions, we should come to understand that in grappling, fighters will fight for positions, and this will look like a tug-of-war over the Hierarchy of Positions. That is, both players will try to cross the “neutrality line” throughout the game to a more dominant side of the spectrum in order to win the match and submit their opponent.

Having said that, I find that one of the most common positions grapplers will encounter is half guard, as they often act as the “pit stop” before crossing the neutrality line. For instance, mount escapes to establishing a guard will have a stage where the bottom will be in half guard; or one form of escape from side control is to half guard.

Being one of the most commonly encountered positions in grappling, I’d like to highlight a number of key points required to establish a sound half guard from the bottom, which in reverse, points out what to defend for the person on the top. Note that these movements are to be done sequentially, which I will explain later:

1.) Leg hooks
2.) Outside underhook
3.) Getting to your side

Firstly, getting the leg hooks is the first and important thing in establishing your half guard. This is one key element of the position which will make the top player “stuck” inside a half guard. Without it, top player will be free to advance to side control or even back to mount. The bottom player can halt, or at least delay, the top player’s advance to a better position without the underhook, but not without the leg hooks. There are different leg hooks (outside, inside, single leg, double leg, and so on), each with their own uses, but I will not go into details on this article but will cover them on a later stage.

Next, the outside underhook. While the leg hook is meant to halt the opponent’s advances, by itself it will not grant you much control nor offensive options. In order to obtain this, you will need to pair it up with the outside underhook. This will be the true tug of war between both players, as both require this hook to improve each of their positions. For the top player, this is what they require to pass the half guard. For the bottom player, the underhook is an essential element in getting to the side and go for the offensive.

The third element, getting to the side, is the crucial element in going offensive from the bottom of the half guard. Moving to the side achieves 2 things: taking the weight of the top player off and create space, both allowing more movement for the bottom player, thus allowing them to be on the offensive. In the process of moving to the side, remember to move yourself against your opponent, as opposed to moving your opponent against you. Shifting your own body is easier than moving the top player’s body (plus gravity), and you can feel the difference when making the shift against a much heavier opponent (which is what BJJ is designed for – overcoming bigger and stronger adversaries). The top player’s objective at this stage is to get the bottom player’s back flat to the ground, thus pushing the bottom player one step back.

Note that these elements need to be done sequentially. i.e.: get leg hooks first, then the underhook, then get to your side. You cannot get a half guard with only underhook and getting to your side. The same goes for the top player – with the bottom player attaching the underhook, top player must flatten the shoulder to the ground first before attempting to get the underhook or even to escape the leg hooks.

Of course, half guard game is not limited into these three elements. In fact, there are tons of variations and combination on half guard game, and renowned instructors like Eddie Bravo and Stephan Kesting has put a chapter or even a book specifically discussing the half guard. However, regardless of the variations people made on the half guard, these basic elements will remain intact on the variations, therefore having solid proficiency on these basics will help practitioners on their current game as well as future developments of their game.

Hierarchy of Positions - Video Examples

The Hierarchy of positions may seem very subtle, if not unseen, for the common eye or some of us who just started our journey in BJJ especially given that what we see on the internet or TV tend to be quick submissions where the concept is even more subtle. Nevertheless, the importance of this concept is nothing less than crucial.

To look at this concept a bit more thoroughly, here are some of the videos of matches where the concept of securing positions and moving up the hierarchy are prioritized over a submission attempt shown more clearly:

Bramono vs ? - Pan Pacific 2006, white belt match

The easiest one to pick on is my own match, since I knew what was going through my mind at that moment. The video shows very well on working toward a more dominant position, from neutral position to side control to backmount, then back to mount. Other than moving up the hierarchy, also take a close look on these items on the match:
1.) Submission attempt only made after securing a dominant position
2.) Submission attempt from a bad position (in this case, bottom of mount), VERY LIKELY results in creating an opening for the person in a more dominant position to advance to better a position or a counter-submission.

Nicolai Holt (therealgeeza) vs Jason Sargeant

Grapplers Quest, Las Vegas, USA, December 6th 2008

On this match, you can see geeza worked on his position after getting passed. He worked his way all the way from the bottom of the side control all the way to side control while working on a side choke. Note that the submission attempt was only made after he swept his opponent’s half guard and got on top of him.

Note however, that submission from a disadvantaged position is not all impossible, as shown on the following video:

Nicolai Holt (therealgeeza) vs Vincent “Wagyu” Majid

Djarum Indonesian Submission Wrestling Championship. Any and all no-gi submissions allowed. Senayan National Sports Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia, November 24, 2007.

Notice that although geeza attempted submission without moving up the hierarchy, he had secured a very solid turtle position when he attempted the submission – up to the point which Vincent cannot get through and even left an opening when he tried to get through the turtle position.

So, remember, secure your position, move up the hierarchy whenever you can, as they will provide more offensive option, then attempt the submission. Rule number one is "Position over Submission". Even if the Indonesian Grappling Championship motto says “The Mission is Submission”, you still cannot get a submission without securing your position.

To close the note, allow me to quote a Gracie family member, something which I got from our Jedi Master Niko Han (even say it with a Brazilian accent):

"If you get in a street fight, never attempt a submission when you first land in any position. Focus entirely on establishing control and exhausting your opponent's energy and only once they are totally drained should you shoot for the submission."

-R. Gracie

(Bram’s note: I don’t know which Gracie is this –Rorion, Relson, Rickson, Rolker, Royler, Royce, Roger, and so on….. they all start with “R”!)

Hierarchy of Positions

One of the most common questions from beginners after a few classes is, "when do we learn the (cool) submissions?" I find more and more of such questions, especially given the plethora of resources, on and off the net.

While the amount of resources can be very useful if used correctly, people often forget one of the most basic rules in BJJ: Position Over Submission. Why is this rule so important in BJJ? Because (1) we will not be able to secure a submission if we cannot maintain our position, and more importantly, (2) we cannot even attempt a submission if we are in a disadvantageous position.

The first point is very straightforward. The second point, however, I find it to be a little more complex. To elaborate on the second point, we must understand the hierarchy of positions, as listed below, from the more advantageous to the least:


Taking Back
Mount – top
Knee on belly – top
Side control – top
Establishing guard
Half Guard – top
*Neutral
Half Guard – bottom
Inside guard
Side Control – bottom
Mount – bottom
Back taken


Rules to remember on the hierarchy of positions:

1. The higher the position in the hierarchy, the more dominant you are, and the least dominant is your opponent
2. The more dominant you are, the more offensive options you have.
3. The least dominant you are, the more defensive you have to be (as you'll face more submission attempts from your opponent)

To further clarify this point, let's look at a few examples: On the bottom of a mount, a person cannot do a submission, have few sweeps & reversals, and a number of escapes (eg: ankle pick, bench press, to name a few). Let's move it up the hierarchy a bit - bottom of half guard: some submissions (eg: electric chair), tons of sweeps & reversals (eg: ankle pick / old school, backmount pass), and an elbow escape to full guard. Move it up even more to mount, you have tons of submissions (eg: armbar, slow triangle, ezekiel choke, kimura, etc.), no need for sweeps and reversals.

From these examples, you can see the importance of improving position before attempting a submission, and where to improve your position in order to give you more and better opportunity for pulling off a submission successfully.

Therefore, the next time you end up in a bad position, escape and try to improve your position; if you are unable to pull off a submission from a position, look for a better position and make another attempt after improving your position; and finally, don’t move down the hierarchy for a submission attempt. If a submission’s not going to work, in the exact words of our Synergy Jedi Master Niko Han, “ABORT!, ABORT!, ABORT!”.