Last week, I finally won some fights. In fact, I won a lot of fights!
I beat a BJJ white belt who weighs 100 pounds less than me. I’m not (very) proud of this. I also beat an experienced white belt who weighs 50 pounds more than me–no mean feat. And, in my proudest achievement, I beat an honest-to-god Brazilian. He’s cut, and he’s a blue belt. I cleaned him and he was pissy. Woot!
Of course, I lost a few as well–once my hands had given up, I wasn’t very effective. I lost to a very muscular, very experienced 17 year old twin brother who practices 6 days a week. I also lost to a man made of rubber. Oh well. It keeps me humble.
I won by doing a few things well. I played to my strengths. In judo ne waza, we do not drop into guard–we fight for the first position much harder than they do, I think. When we started rolling, I went immediately for a good low throw, rolling them into position. I also refused to enter their guards if possible. When I got a nice clean toss, I passed into kesa-gatame. I wasn’t wearing camo, but I looked like this. Kind of. But better, with my head down and my feet up.
The thing is, the BJJ guys totally know how to get out of this hold–frame and arch. To prevent them escaping, perfect form is required. With a perfect hold down, they rarely seemed to escape.
From kesa gatame, it’s an easy slip into the mount–and into 4 points. Everybody I beat, I beat this way. Oh, or from going back and forth from kesa to side control and on to mount.
There may be several ways, then, that judoka can fight and win against BJJers. First, and most importantly, we need to maintain excellent form. I have lost several fights by playing a bit–raising my head in kesa gatame, or going for low-percentage submissions. This is foolish–while it is possible to beat a jitsuka on the ground, it is not possible to do so while play fighting.
The second way is also quite obvious: we need to play to our strengths. These are hold downs and submissions. It is quite a bit easier to see our strengths than it is to see our weaknesses. These include:
- Sweeps
- Escapes
- Counters
- Combinations
Clearly, our weaknesses outnumber our strengths. Our weaknesses, though, are in defense. If a judoka can keep the momentum in her favour, though, she stands a good chance.
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