The Specialists
THE TAPPER'S TOOLBOX: Fixing the little mistakes in your BJJ game - "Gameplans and your back-up 'A' game"
Aug 12, 2010 - 12:26:03 PM THE TAPPER'S TOOLBOX: Fixing the little mistakes in your BJJ game - "Gameplans and your back-up 'A' game"

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By: Rob Gramer, MMATorch Specialist

On Saturday night, Anderson Silva demonstrated a key component of the fight game every grappler should know: you've gotta have a secondary A-game to fall back on.

Case in point: After arguably getting his ass-kicked for over twenty minutes, Silva finished Chael Sonnen with a triangle choke. The same submission he used to finish the equally skilled wrestler Travis Lutter way back in 2007.

I don't know this for a fact, but I'd bet Anderson Silva – despite his god-like Muay Thai – knew for a fact he couldn't keep the fight standing with either of these expert wrestlers for a full 25 minutes. And instead bet on losing a few takedown wars and being forced to fight off his back in both fights... and trained accordingly.

So, let me ask you, do you have a gameplan? If so, when it fails, do you have something to fall back on?

The Power of a Gameplan

There is an inherent problem in the complexity of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There are literally thousands of techniques. Numerous positions and sub positions (from guard there is spider guard, fifty fifty guard, tornado guard, delariva guard and on and on). And a million transitions between them all.

You could spend a lifetime studying BJJ and still not see it all. Even worse, you can study for years and still be a lousy grappler if you try to learn it all.

Think of it like being a doctor. Would you rather get a heart transplant from a general practitioner or a doctor who specializes in heart transplants?

Gameplans focus your mind. They help you become an expert without drowning in a sea of massive choices.

Here's the proof:

Take a look at any of the top BJJ guys today and you can almost predict how they'll finish their fights.

* Marcelo Garcia is going to take your back and choke you.
* Roger Gracie is going to mount you and choke you.
* Rodrigo Cavaca is going to fifty fifty footlock you for the finish.

Do these guys finish from other submissions and positions? Sure. But when it comes to competing with the best in the world, they stick to their A-Game. Does it always work? No (that's what the back-up game is for), but that's what they always go for first.

With that in mind, here's the 3-step plan to build your rock solid BJJ A-game:

1st: Pick a dominant position that you'd like to finish from. The most common finishing positions are from the back, in mount or side mount and from full guard.

2nd: Decide on what submission you'd like to finish with from the dominant position. Marcelo Garcia goes straight for the rear naked choke. Roger Gracie likes the cross choke from mount. And Anderson Silva obviously knows a thing or two about triangles from guard.

If it's good enough for these world-class grappler, do you think they'll work for you?

3rd: Spend the bulk of your training time working on the transitions that get you to the dominant position you've chosen to finish from.

For example, work your back takes if you want to become a rear naked choke machine. Your sweeps and guard passes if you finish from mount or side mount. And if you finish with the triangle choke, drill your guard pass defense like no tomorrow.

Drill these positions from different angles and learn the most common defenses and you'll soon develop a powerful A-game.

But, what do you do when your A-game fails? I'll answer that question in next week's article.

Rob Gramer is a mechanical engineer and BJJ brown belt, and is MMATorch's new BJJ specialist. For more BJJ articles with a scientific bent and a free report revealing the 33 Grips every grappler must know, visit www.bjjmemoir.com.

RELATED ARTICLE: Check out more from Rob with last week's debut article "Little Hinges Open Big Doors": [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]