Which Technique do I Choose?

[tallgeese]

The question came up in class last night, "Which technique do I choose?" after looking at a couple of variations on escaping back mount. This led to the following short article that I wrote about the question:

In jiu jitsu, classes are often constructed around a core concept or position. This can lead to a couple of techniques shown that fit in roughly the same category. This is a great training strategy in that it lets you rep the fundamentals of a position while dealing with a couple of different variants on the theme. You’re getting deep in your knowledge of one aspect of jiu jitsu while expanding your overall technical options.

When confronted with multiple techniques that are similar, this can lead to the question: “Which technique should I choose?”

It’s a legitimate question for a newer student to ask. White and Blue belt learning is most often associated with technical details of movements and rough strategical grouping of techniques. It makes sense that they often (and should be) asking which is preferred. After all, jiu jitsu is big and the new student is overwhelmed with information. From technical aspects to concept there is just so much to remember, and then make a functional part of what one does under stress at speed that it makes sense for people to want to really get which options are best for them to try to focus on.

However, the answer is bigger and more conceptual that they might expect. It’s really not a question of “If his hand is here you do this.” It’s a much bigger response. It can be summed up by, “It depends.”

This isn’t a great, or informative answer by itself, but its a starting point. Which technique you select really does depend. But on what?

This is where things start to get big on the concept learning. There’s really three things that drive this question of which technique to use:

1) The Situation

2) The Energy

3) Your Preference and Comfort Level

It’s the intersection of these three items that drive your decision making.

First, let’s talk about the Situation element. Jiu Jitsu is big, I mean huge. People are in it to defend themselves, fight MMA, to compete in pure BJJ, for the love of the art, and probably a whole host of other reasons. Each of these is a different situation, with different concerns and appropriate goals and therefore tactics selection. A cop looking to apprehend a fleeing felon will have a different goal than someone trying to get an opponent to the ground in the last two minutes of a match. Because of that, there are elements of jiu jitsu that are better or worse choices for either situation simply because they fill the goals of each individual better. This requires some awareness and an understanding of what elements of jiu jitsu work for what settings better.

So before selecting a technique to use at a given juncture, one has to understand the situation they are in AND what tactics and goals are and are not appropriate.

Next we’ll deal with energy. This isn’t as esoteric as it sounds. It’s simply a question of what an opponent is trying to give me. Jiu jitsu works best when the other guy is doing the work for me. If he (or she) is fighting so hard to prevent one technique then chances are they are handing me another to complete. I will only burn myself out trying to fight attribute to attribute for a technique they are actively fighting. Conversely, when I find the path of least resistance I can more efficiently win the fight. This requires some sensitivity to body mechanics and the ability to read the flow of the fight at pace.

So, prior to selecting at technique, we have to be able to feel the energy that the other person is putting against us AND how to capitalize on it.

Lastly, we look at our preference. This is what we like to do, what we’re confident in, and what our “game” looks like. This is really about self understanding more than external understanding. When placed in any position, a BJJ player will have his or her “game” that set of techniques they like, those movements that work for them, the things they seen play out favorably in open mat over an over again. This breeds a high level of confidence in certain things and it’s one of the strengths of BJJ (but that’s another article.) Because of that confidence, the practitioner is more likely to make choices that put him or her in those positions.

This requires that the practitioner has logged some serious mat hours and developed their own brand of jiu jitsu. This comes down to experience on the mats. Thanks to the learning format of jiu jitsu, this happens quickly and should be well on the way to development by blue belt.

Well, that doesn’t sound to bad does it? Good theory, makes sense. Now consider that each decision must be made under stress in a moment that’s fleeting against a person whose goal it is to NOT let you do what you want. Things just got a bit harder. However, it’s the intersection of these three elements that guide us to, “Which technique should I choose?”

By understanding these three elements, you start to get ahead of the game and how to get your head around each of them is an area of study into itself. But that’s the framework for the answer. Usually not what the questioner had hoped for in terms of a simple answer, but a much more informative one. Will this immediatly change a white belts thinking and decision making pattern? Of course not, but it will give them a frame work within which to really start to dissect what they are doing and start to work on the “Why” of jiu jitsu, and that’s the mark of an advancing practitioner.

So there's the not so short answer. Comments from the KF crew are always welcome.

[sensei8]

Worth repeating...solid article; through and through!!

Sorry to sound like a broken record, however, I don't choose the technique but the situation at hand chooses for me; hence, it'll be automatic! Therefore, I do not hit/choose, it hits/chooses all by itself.

For me, these natural responses, or actions, came into being through years of training. I see attacks in slow motion, more now, than before!

And IF I choose of my own choosing, then I choose the right tool(s) for the moment, and it's not out of curiosity, but it's from an acquired process built through rigorous training these past 5 decades!!

Am I someone to be reckoned with? No!! I'm the furthest thing from it!! I'm familiar with my short-comings!!

Thanks for the article, Alex!!

[tallgeese]

Worth repeating...solid article; through and through!!

Sorry to sound like a broken record, however, I don't choose the technique but the situation at hand chooses for me; hence, it'll be automatic! Therefore, I do not hit/choose, it hits/chooses all by itself.

For me, these natural responses, or actions, came into being through years of training. I see attacks in slow motion, more now, than before!

And IF I choose of my own choosing, then I choose the right tool(s) for the moment, and it's not out of curiosity, but it's from an acquired process built through rigorous training these past 5 decades!!

Am I someone to be reckoned with? No!! I'm the furthest thing from it!! I'm familiar with my short-comings!!

Thanks for the article, Alex!!

I certainly agree to a point, sensei. But there is a certain amount of decision making that goes into anything. My body can whip out a spider guard on command without thought, that does not mean that I should let it given a SD situation on the street. I have to understand that aspect of the equation before I let my body react. Or it might react in a manner that is less than ideal.

So, while the goal is to make sure that you take in all this in an awareness phase one can't overlook it. We as martial artist often rely too much on build muscle memory without considering the decision making process against the stress of real work.

Consider this example. As a cop, I rep handgun presentation, target acquisition, sight alinement and tripper press to the point of not thinking. I can do it without thought. However, plenty of time I have to present for a potential deadly force threat that DOES NOT need shot. In this case, I must process thru decision making. I have to understand the situation as well as what I can do.

Just because my skill set lets me press the trigger, and even my preference might be to do so, the situation doesn't call for it. It's the same with hand to hand skill. Just because I have repped a skill to automation does not mean that it's the best tool at a given time.

So, while I agree wholeheartedly that skills must be repped to an automated process, we cannot look at that in isolation for actual real word problem solving.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for sharing this article, Alex. Great response, and I learned something reading through this.

[ShoriKid]

There are a lot of ways to respond here. Tallgeese, you are spot on I believe. It is pretty much the same sort of question we field when talking about standing technique as well. "It depends" is one of those frustrating answers for students sometimes too.

When you are new, a white belt for BJJ, a set answer is what you are after a lot of times. Hearing an instructor say "it depends" can make you want to pull your hair out. Getting people to trust their instincts when they are very new and unsure of themselves can be tough when there is pressure on during a roll. Getting them to relax and let go with their techniques go takes a lot of time. Without that time everything gets "stuck" in their head. Too much thinking, too much decision making and hesitation causes them to always be just behind. My wrestling coach used to call it "getting lost on the mat".

I'm with Tallgeese on me picking the techniques. While training makes the responses smoother, faster and cleaner, I'm still driving. The training time, the mat sense, helps with Hick's Law. Where those hard earned years of training come in is the speed at which you perceive the attack, read the information and pare down your options. With enough training, you will know your intent, read the energy and the comfort level is there too. Your decision tree has a lot of limbs pared off of it from the get go. Your OODA loop gets shortened up to the point that things seem to just happen.

[sensei8]

Worth repeating...solid article; through and through!!

Sorry to sound like a broken record, however, I don't choose the technique but the situation at hand chooses for me; hence, it'll be automatic! Therefore, I do not hit/choose, it hits/chooses all by itself.

For me, these natural responses, or actions, came into being through years of training. I see attacks in slow motion, more now, than before!

And IF I choose of my own choosing, then I choose the right tool(s) for the moment, and it's not out of curiosity, but it's from an acquired process built through rigorous training these past 5 decades!!

Am I someone to be reckoned with? No!! I'm the furthest thing from it!! I'm familiar with my short-comings!!

Thanks for the article, Alex!!

I certainly agree to a point, sensei. But there is a certain amount of decision making that goes into anything. My body can whip out a spider guard on command without thought, that does not mean that I should let it given a SD situation on the street. I have to understand that aspect of the equation before I let my body react. Or it might react in a manner that is less than ideal.

So, while the goal is to make sure that you take in all this in an awareness phase one can't overlook it. We as martial artist often rely too much on build muscle memory without considering the decision making process against the stress of real work.

Consider this example. As a cop, I rep handgun presentation, target acquisition, sight alinement and tripper press to the point of not thinking. I can do it without thought. However, plenty of time I have to present for a potential deadly force threat that DOES NOT need shot. In this case, I must process thru decision making. I have to understand the situation as well as what I can do.

Just because my skill set lets me press the trigger, and even my preference might be to do so, the situation doesn't call for it. It's the same with hand to hand skill. Just because I have repped a skill to automation does not mean that it's the best tool at a given time.

So, while I agree wholeheartedly that skills must be repped to an automated process, we cannot look at that in isolation for actual real word problem solving.

Great points in your rebuttal, Alex!!

Muscle memory isn't an easy thing to refuse, hence, the automation is natural for me. I don't choose the techniques to bring into action, my techniques come automatically without me having to choose the proper response. Again, I do not hit, it hits all by itself, but my morality is intact.

I don't choose the technique, but I do choose the morality of the techniques; my moral fiber can be found in my muscle memory as well! I'm not an unthinking and uncaring robot without a moral compass!!

So, if you're talking about techniques, I don't choose them at all; they're automatic. If you're talking about the morality of a technique, I choose them freely.