If you’re new to Jiu Jitsu perhaps you may not understand the term

“game”. Maybe you’ve heard it tossed around in your club’s “lingo”

while at class, but you’re more or less clueless to what this truly

means. Perhaps you’re a journeyman in the middle of the road, you’ve

been training for sometime now, you’ve learned a lot, have experience

under your belt, but aren’t quite confident enough in any particular

“game” to stick with it. Or maybe you’re the advanced grappler, you’ve

stuck with a game that got you to this level, and now you’re bored

with it and want to experience something new or you’ve plateaued.

Whatever your skill level, be it from a “newbie” to the “seasoned”

grappler, you must understand the power of the “game”. You have to

recognize the importance of developing this “game”. The “game” is

unique. It’s special because the “game” is specific to it’s player.

That’s powerful.

Let’s start with the basics…

A “game” is an approach you’re going to be taking while rolling. Some

of these approaches work for just one roll, only to be “shut down” in

the next. While some of these “approaches” can become the staple of a

grappler’s career (hobbyist or professional). It’s the chain of

movements you’re going to string together to put yourself in a

dominant position or to finish with a submission. Knowing what to do

in Jiu Jitsu seems simple really, we all have it engrained in us, from

our infancy stages on the mats. Position before Submission. Our

objectives are clear, get in a dominant position and get the

Submission. This is where the “game” comes in. This is where we have

to decide which route we’re going to take. We have many options that

can lead us to these two objectives.

Choosing a game can be difficult, especially if you have too many

options. If you’re a “newbie” you should probably stick to what your

instructor has been showing you, and implementing those techniques

into your roll as your “game”. If you’ve been training a year or

slightly longer, now’s a good time to begin your experimentation with

different “games”. Before you begin conducting your “experiments”

there are a few variables you should probably consider first.

Flexibility, Body-type (height and weight) and Agility (speed,

strength, balance) are all factors that should be considered before

choosing a “game”. You will waste time, if you attempt to choose a

“game” that’s just not compatible with any of these key

components.(I.E. Ultra-HW grappler wishes to Berimbolo)

Developing your “game” is going to be done through trial and

error(lots of them). Some techniques will fit perfect while others

won’t. The key to improving your game is to improve your “combo

attacks”. A combo attack is where you threaten your opponent with

multiple attacks simultaneously. A basic example of this would be if

I’m in my closed guard, I sit up on my opponent and now my options are

1) Hip-bump sweep 2) Kimura or 3) Guillotine. Obviously, this is a

basic generalization but you get the point. By having combination

attacks, your chances of landing one of the attacks increases

substantially, as opposed to just hunting for one single attack that

your opponent recognizes you’re telegraphing. The beginning stages of

creating a “game” start with the mastery of just a few movements.

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Comfort is key. As you start to mess around and experiment with

different “games” you’ll start to find comfort in the repetition of

certain movements (sweeps, passes, back takes etc.) or guards (closed,

butterfly, Half etc) You may find that you’re starting to have success

with a specific sweep on multiple opponents throughout a roll. If

that’s the case, you’ve found an effective technique. Implementing

effective techniques is the foundation of building a “game”. It’s like

the cliché Bruce Lee quote “Adapt what is useful, reject what is

useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

Let’s quickly discuss the “game” of the “Babe Ruth” of Brazilian Jiu

Jitsu, Marcelo Garcia. The phenomenal athlete and coach revolutionized

the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world with his extremely effective utilization

of the open guard. Marcelo exploded onto the scene as an alternate for

ADCC in 2003. In one of the toughest divisions in submission

grappling, the underdog Marcelo, relied heavily on his unique “game”.

The effective movements of Marcelo’s “game” were open guard sweeps,

arm drags and Rear naked chokes. Clearly, movements Marcelo had

mastered as this so-called “underdog” came out of nowhere to reach the

pinnacle of grappling accomplishments and win ADCC Gold with 4 wins, 3

by rear naked. Marcelo Garcia’s game is perfect. It’s perfection being

in the simplicity of it’s foundation. Sweep, take the back – Submit.

So before delving into the latest trends and flashy moves remember

this: Simplicity. All you need is a few effective sweeps, passes and

submissions that are uniquely “yours”. Remember the objectives

(Position, Submission). All the techniques you’ll learn and movements

you’ll utilize are just there to help assist you in completing your

objectives. If you experience adversity in implementing your “game”

that doesn’t necessarily mean to bail on it, maybe you just have to

navigate a little bit differently, and analyze what’s going on. One

more Bruce Lee quote( I ppromise!) “ I fear not the man who has

practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man that has practices one

kick 10,000 times.” Drill. Drill. Drill. Drill it ‘til you Kill it! If

all you need is to master a few movements don’t waste time on what’s

useless. Know the difference.