John Danaher "Guard position the most emphasized position in Jiu Jitsu"

 

Why is guard position the most emphasized position in Jiu Jitsu? When you look at all the various grappling arts you will see that the most distinctive facet of Jiu Jitsu is it’s heavy emphasis upon guard position. Many grappling arts such as wrestling do not have it all. Others such as Judo and Sambo have it but it is not heavily emphasized or seen as desirable. So why does Jiu jitsu make it the centerpiece of its game? There are several good answers you could offer. You might argue along the longs of tactical or historical considerations and certainly there are some very interesting possibilities there. I have always favored a more physical argument. Jiu jitsu has an ideal - the ability to control greater size and strength with lesser size and strength. Other grappling styles have the same ideal, but a different way of realizing it. Judo has this ideal and due to it being a predominantly standing art using balance breaking as its primary means of overcoming greater size and strength. Jiu jitsu does it primarily by MATCHING THE STRENGTH OF THE LOWER BODY AGAINST AN OPPONENTS UPPER BODY WHERE EVER POSSIBLE. An opponent may be considerably larger than you, but his arms will not be stronger than your legs. Guard position allows you to match your leg and hip strength against an opponent arms and shoulders - a battle that a smaller, weaker person with skills can realistically win against a bigger stronger person. Among us human beings the difference between the strength and endurance of our lower body compared with our upper body is considerable - match your legs against a bigger opponents arms and you’re matching your stronger half against his weaker half - that’s how smaller people can beat bigger people on the floor - and that’s why I have faith in guard position as the basis of the bottom game.

John Danaher

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