Those people

There are those people in wrestling and BJJ that, even when you get into a dominant position, you never feel quite in control. Their skillset is so good, that even when in a better position, you still feel like you’re in danger. To be honest, this is quite frustrating. 

In BJJ, there are two people that come to mind for me. I work like hell to get in a dominant position, and to be honest I am not usually successful. The position I am going for is usually side-control and once I get there, these two guys have great hips and guard recovery. Against both, I end up holding side-control more across their shoulder, so my legs are as far away from their legs as possible while still being in side-control. Then, the fun part is you are spending all your talent just keeping them on their back. As soon as you go for any offence, they get out of the bad position. This makes my offence rather pathetic as I go for some simple submissions; figure fours/kimuras, so there are not too many weight shifts to get the arm. Against either of these two, I have managed to hold a good position but have not got a submission on either of them. The other position where these two always give me some issues is when they are on all fours and I am behind them. In MMA, this is my favourite position. However, against these two when I get in position to get a ‘wrestling’ turnover, they don’t resist but rather they roll and look to pull guard. Even though this has happened a number of times, my brain is wired up for wrestling mentality where people do not want to be rolled over. This is another time where I am in a good spot and end up defending as soon as they roll as I have not established side-control and we are back to trying to pass guard and they both have a very good guard.

In wrestling, it is a little different but it’s no less frustrating. These guys are the ones that you get surprised by when you start getting your first moment of success. In that short moment though, you lose your advantage quite quickly. As your confidence grows against these guys, the hesitation stops but sadly the success does not increase. You get them off balance for that split second and go for the takedown. You’re now in a good spot and then they do some small movement with their hips and then suddenly, you lose the position. In wrestling, the idea is to keep going until you either can’t move anymore or you get them down. This means when you keep going with your offence, this guy uses your momentum to get you down or reverse the position. In the space of about 3-5 seconds you have gone from attacking, to almost getting the takedown to ending up in a bad position. This is the definition of frustrating. 

With both the BJJ guys and wrestlers, the main thing that really rubs salt in the wound is the transition. This is when the position is changing and there is some space between you. So, you both scramble to improve your position. This is not a technical thing but more of a feel thing. Their spatial awareness is really good, and they can feel the movements faster than you can. This is not a magical skill, rather an awareness that comes with time. They don’t beat you with speed or power, it is usually something very simple that just works. It can be a hand position, a simple grab, a well-timed step or shift of weight. Whatever it is these people do, it works. As far as I can tell, their fight computer is just faster than yours. This is very frustrating when you start the scramble – you go as fast as you can, and they just do that one simple thing to get the good position.

These are the people that you usually try and get the better of on the mat. They always seem to have that small advantage though. Sometimes though, due to them getting the better of you on many occasions, this can get in your head. Resulting in you giving them too much respect. If you went against them and knew nothing about them, would you treat them different? Of course you would. But I don’t know if that would be to your benefit or detriment. What we do know is that these are the people that we set as the benchmark and a victory against them is getting and keeping a position. Some days that seems rather simple and other days you have no idea what the hell is going on. Either way, without these people, training would not be as much fun.   

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor