John Danaher: Positions for less athletic people

 

Positions for less athletic people: A word that gets thrown around a lot in Jiu jitsu bus “athleticism.” No one ever tries to define what they mean by this but generally it refers to the an athletes potential for movement - how fast they can move, what range of motion can they move through, how far they can move via running or jumping and for how long etc etc. In general, movement is aided by space that permits greater freedom of movement. Any kind of physical encumbrances that reduce movement potential is the enemy of athleticism. This provides an important general rule - THE MORE CONNECTION THERE IS BETWEEN YOUR BODY AND YOUR OPPONENTS, THE MORE YOU WILL REDUCE HIS ATHLETICISM. So if you are older, slower, and just plain less athletic than your opponent - you want to maximize connection between your body and his to undermine his athletic advantage. So the best positions for older, slower athletes to work successfully against younger, faster, more explosive, more flexible opponents are those that put the maximum area of your body in contact with his. Arguably the best example of this from bottom position is half guard. This creates very significant connection between the top and bottom player which has a great slowing and holding effect that can be used to undermine faster and more athletic opponents. Next time you feel physically outgunned underneath an opponent, try locking him up in half guard and see if you can take the pace down to a level that works in your favor instead of his.

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