Two men wrestling on a mat in an arena.

Focusing in BJJ


Focusing in BJJ

Focusing in BJJ is one common theme I see people fail at. When it comes to focus, when in doubt, Jiu Jitsu is a complicated sport with a requirement on your part to learn a lot of information. Sometimes it’s a good thing to have one simple idea or directive to give direction to all that information. This can be worth its weight in gold in a stressful match situation where it’s unclear what the next move ought to be. In ashi garami based leg locks, that simple directive is always get as close to your opponent as you can and stay there until the job is done. The vast majority of your opponents defense will involves loosening the connection of your ashi garami and then pulling away to free the knee of his trapped leg. So focus on getting as close as you can, as early as you can and stay in that spot.  Only when you stay true to this simple directive can you apply all the other stuff you need to demonstrate your growing leg lock game. This theory is taught here at Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com). Here the great Dean Lister heel hooks World BJJ Champion Rodolfo Viera in an ADCC (adcombat.com) match..