Sunday, July 31, 2011
Your Jiu Jitsu is boring.....
Riddle me this.....all too often lately I've been hearing people say that other peoples jiu jitsu is boring. What does this mean exactly? Not enough movement, not enough action? The person only has a top game, or the person only has a bottom game? Well then I guess my jiu jitsu is BORING. I'll admit, I'm a guard player. I have the height, the legs, and the grips for it. I have never tried for a takedown in a gi competition. I am a guard puller (ahem, do ya KNOW who my coach is?!) I probably always will be. I drill positions on top, I have no quams about working on top in class.....I mean let's face it, I need it. Most of the girls in class that I train with start sitting on their butts so I do not mind working to pass at all. I wish I was as evenly rounded with my top game. Will I ever get there? Maybe. I don't have that male wrestling intuition where they can plant their foreheads into the mat and granby roll with ease. Although I will admit I have been working those granby rolls. :) But there is nothing more frustrating then when I hear someone say "your jiu jitsu is boring" or "his jiu jitsu is boring." I am going to use my boyfriend as an example. Jeff is a wrestler. Not just a wrestler, but a damn good one. He is a top level purple belt under Traven and his top game is great. When he fights, he will pass your guard. It takes 6 minutes and 30 seconds to do it, (makes me a nervous wreck) but he is a heavy smothering machine and he is a killer. I feel sorry for anyone who has to be underneath him in a competition. He can't even do technique on me because he is so heavy, and he distributes pressure like you would not believe. I heard some people at the gym (people mind you, who barely train and never compete) say his bjj is boring. It was mind blowing. Granted he is my man and I always have the "don't you talk about my man like that" rage in me anyways, but the fact that someone who consistently wins..is called boring...does that make sense? So I guess I am boring. I play guard.....I sweep to come on top...a lot of my matches start in guard and end in guard. So I guess I am boring. Should I be doing front flips and cartwheels? Maybe that jump suplex greco-roman move I saw on youtube a few days ago. Who knows. I do what my coaches tell me to do. I play to my strengths. I am trying to take more risks when I train to open up my game more, but that is coming in very small baby steps. I try and mimic what I am taught, and I look up to those who coach and teach me. That's that. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and be boring......
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Oh and just to dote on my Jeff he placed 2nd in purple belt pan ams and 3rd in the open purple pan ams this year. Not so boring to me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of "boring" jiu jitsu, I think of 50/50 guard. I used to think it was a lot more boring before I knew anything about 50/50, but now that I've messed around with it a little I can appreciate it more when I watch competition videos. However, I don't like when people purposely stall (as in just hold the position without trying to do anything) and then at the very end do some quick little sweep attempt just to win by advantage.
ReplyDeleteMaybe boring is the wrong word, but there are people that play a less active game. There are some people that pull guard and immediately begin working techniques, while others need to stall a little more to figure out what to do. I'm sure I count as "boring" since I'm still trying to figure out my game plan, but I think as people figure out what they're more comfortable with, they'll become more active- at least that's what I'm trying to do.
And granby rolls are AWESOME. My goal is to pull one of someday- we drilled them about a week ago and I love them!
Stalling is a topic for a different blog post, that is not boring that's just lame. 50/50 guard is not boring at all to me if you know what to look for and what to do. There have been matches out there that are nothing but 50/50 that ppl who don't know any better think are boring. Think Durinho v. JT Torres. Maaaan that match was sick. A lot of ppl thought it was boring, but at the black belt level there is so much more than can be done in that guard. Moving on, everyone has that guy at their gym who is a top player who is a slow passer. i.e. the sloth like guard passer who covers you like a blanket and makes you feel helpless for the entire roll. I guarantee if you ask the person on the bottom of that match he/she will say anything BUT that guys bjj is boring. They will talk about how much misery they were in. The point I am getting at is that it is very offensive to say someones BJJ is boring, especially when that person trains harder and wants that W more than 95% of the people he/she trains with. And yes the granby roll is where are dreams are made. haha.
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on your perspective. Lots of jiu jitsu can be very boring to watch, which is fine: when you're competing, you're not looking to entertain people, you're looking to win. Judo made the mistake of trying to enforce rules in competition to avoid 'boring' judo, which wasn't a good idea IMO: competitors will always find a way to win, whether it is attractive to watch or not.
It is only a problem if your jiu jitsu becomes boring in the sense that you don't enjoy rolling and/or competing using that style. That would indicate you need to change something or you'll probably lose the motivation to train. I turn up to class because it's fun to learn new technique and/or develop the techniques I already know: it's an engaging physical and mental challenge. I don't care if somebody finds my style boring or not, as long as I'm having fun (though as I also teach, that does complicate things a little: teaching is another cool physical and mental challenge ;D).
If BJJ ever gets to a stage where you can reap financial rewards from competing, then perhaps even that won't matter (very big 'if', though). E.g., I could understand a 'boring' footballer, boxer or indeed MMA fighter maintaining a style which they didn't enjoy all that much but earned them lots of cash, but it doesn't yet make sense in a BJJ context.
Then again, I guess there are examples at the highest level who arguably have a 'boring' style, but it wins them world titles, which in turn enables them to charge a premium for teaching seminars, instructional material etc. As I find the 50/50 very boring, I'd probably put Rafa Mendes in that category, though that may be unfair as I haven't bothered to look into the 50/50 in any great detail. Another example is Gabi Garcia: a lot of people complain her style is 'boring', but I can't imagine she cares as long as her approach continues to win her medals and the associated prestige (although her case is an interesting one, given that many people feel - unfairly or not - she wins mainly by being much bigger than all her opponents, which isn't something you can teach in a seminar setting: it would be interesting to attend one of her seminars and see what and how she teaches).
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