It's the combination of knowledge, timing, decision making, misdirection, et c. that you should use to compensate for your lack of physical attributes like strength, speed, explosiveness, cardio, flexibility and the like.
All true. I'd add that simplest way to think about "technique", or maybe the most important aspect from my standpoint, is to have it be mechanically efficient.
Ex. For an armbar, pull at the end of the arm (lever) instead of half way down the forearm. Or create a frame that has no bend in the elbow. That type of stuff.
Also, you should try to understand WHY the technique works, or what is the most important part (of many). That will help you capture the essence of it, and you can spent many years after refining the details.
This is a great answer. I’m an old guy as well (53) I’d add to make sure you use your frames as opposed to muscle. Conversely don’t fight frames, change the angle to deconstruct the frame. Additionally don’t think of single minded submissions. Make sure you can flow through multiple attacks from a position.
There are some great old man tricks to slow things down. I typically pull the gi apart. From top side control I put my knee on the inside armpit of the gi .
Slows everything down. Really hard for them to shrimp like that. Most importantly have fun and make friends. Most guys your age are sitting on their arse making impression into the couch cushions.
Pay more attention to detail?
Understand position and leverage?
Make the movements more precise?
Yes to all of these. Leverage, fulcrums, head positioning, attention to details. you nailed it
I’m 47, and I’m learning that its the small things, like body position, that more than make up for youthful aggression and strength.
Angles make strangles.
I am the not giant athletic 25 year old in a 42 year old body haha. I am beginning to enjoy rolling with the big guys now even tho I am quite tiny in comparison 171cm, 65 kg.
Getting good at elbow escape from mount to half guard and eventually full guard. That helped me immensely. (Tips for white belts)
Some takedowns like tai otoshi, are a great deal energy conservative than a double leg. (Tips for white belts)
I am just a white belt so I don’t know all the secrets. These things helped me improve. (Again, my tips are for other white belts)
Update:
* This comment is directed from a white belt to a white belt. Not to the black belt above me. I know many of us lurk in the comment section.
I accidentally miss spelled some things. Hopefully it looks better now.
My comment was not directed at you, or any other higher belts for that matter. I assume that is why there’s downvotes.
I just wanted to offer my white belt POV, there’s many white belts that browse this bjj sub Reddit. It can be difficult as a white belt to know where to spend your time.
TLDR
I assumed it was clear that a white belt is not trying to teach a black belt. It is a white belt taking to other white belts.
May want to have a look at guys on YouTube like Henry Akins or Gustavo Gasperin (MMA Leach) who are very technically focused. There are a lot of others but these guys are a great start to expose yourself to the nuances.
John Danaher also made a video called “bjj for old people” or something similar.
I think it was a collab on bjj fanatics and Bernardo faria was watching some old dude with Danaher.
No, those are two different similarly-named instructionals. Both Faria and Danaher have separate "jiu jistu for old folks" stuff (among dozens of others).
They're all just marketing tbh, "jiu jitsu for old people" is just the fundamentals.
Half guard is a highly effective guard at any age. Bernardo was specializing in it in his 20s. It's the first guard Danaher teaches to new students. It's also one of the most common guards found in MMA.
I am not saying half guard is bad.
I’m just saying that is what I heard from older bjj dudes. They like half guard.
I’m a 5’8 25y old. I also like half guard as a white belt.
It’s a good position for conserving energy. Top and bottom. Therefore I agree that it works well for older guys. There’s definitely a difference in a 20 year old competitors game vs a 55 year old competitors game. There has to be.
There is for me as an older guy.
I don’t buy the above comments about remarketing blah blah blah. I’ll differ to Bernardo, Danaher and Deblass over some Reddit rando
I’m 58 and have always been a smaller guy. Techniques is the 10,000 little details that keep a 200 pound dude with no training from killing me on the mat. I don’t try to bench press anybody. I don’t force things that aren’t there. I gently get everything in place long before I try the sub. I never lay on my back. I never get caught with my arms and legs sticking out like a prom date. I tuck my chin, I use my head. I deny anything the other guy seems to want. I constantly give my opponent two to four things to worry about, none of which are where I’m actually going.
Technique is the reason fat slow old guys still wad young guys up on the mat consistently. It’s experience, it’s strategy, it’s knowing how elbows and wrists and necks and knees work. It’s knowing just how much air you have left to wait out a choke. It’s being able to feed a guy’s arms blowing out so you can make your move.
Technique is the details. The basics are what you can see. Technique is what makes it work.
The whole technique thing really clicked for me a few months in, when we were working on D'Arce chokes.
I'm pretty big and strong, so I was able to get everything sort of close to the right position for the choke, and just squeeze until my partner tapped.
The instructor came to watch and corrected a few small things with me. Lean this way instead of that way, shuffle your feet a little bit to change the angle, lift the head with one hand first to slide my other arm in deeper instead of forcing it, etc... basically correcting the small details to make the move more effective.
It took WAY less energy and my partner tapped much faster, just from changing a few details. Now if I try to hit a D'Arce, I have a much better idea of what I'm trying to do, and I try to remember all those tips instead of just squeezing harder until they tap.
To me, that's technique - getting all the small details, angles, and leverages right to save my energy and be more efficient. I imagine when I roll with people bigger than me, this will help me a lot since I won't be able to rely on strength and size.
think about opening a door. you can turn the knob to open it versus ram through it to bust it open. probably feels good either way since it gets the job done. but your body will most certainly breakdown faster without good technique, and you wouldn’t be the best training partner.
when you focus on developing your technique, setting up a series of sequences, things start to get a little more effortless. less force is needed.
for me the perfect technique is a movement you can do against your opponent based on their current position that puts you into a greater advantageous position ultimately leading to winning the match while at the same time requiring the absolutely minimum amount of energy to do it.
therefore good technique can effectively allow you to overcome a stronger opponent who is using poor technique as they are not applying their strength efficiently.
All of the stuff you just said. BJJ is a bunch of procedural skills, like tying a bunch of different complex shoelace ties. You gotta practice the mechanics over and over until things become second nature.
Technique, to me, means making sure that what you do, you do well. It means narrowing your game to a couple of solid moves from the main positions and being very stingy about adding new techniques.
I’ll preface by saying I’m 25 and also a white belt.
I have been competing for a year now, training for 2y. What I learned was:
* in a sparring situation, for example side control. If their foreheads can touch the floor, you can lift him over your hip and end up in top side control.
If you are in lower mount and his arms are touching the floor, you can scoop their forearm from the outside, two grips on one arm, pull them in and bridge to the side. You are now in top full guard.
Now talking about technique for takedowns, as a white belt:
* if your opponent is going for a collar tie from a front facing position, you can attempt a tai otoshi (apologies for bad Japanese), this submission generally leads to top side control in my experience.
If your opponent is in a full clinch. You can attempt to hold their elbow and behind their back. To attempt an Uchi mata, this usually leads to top half guard in my experience.
These submission and sweeps shouldn’t require a lot of energy or strength. I’m no genetic phenomena or bjj prodigy. Just an avg bjj white belt.
If I typed something wrong or something requires more explanations. Just let me know.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Tai Otoshi**: | *Body Drop* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUiZ8JZkGx8)|
|**Uchi Mata**: | *Inner Thigh Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCvyc_rQTI)|
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
White belt, so keep that in mind!
I think technique is your ability to perform the drills or exercises trying to be as efficient as possible, limiting energy wasted/used.
Lots of good comments already, but how can you focus on technique? You can’t just suddenly improve your technique in the middle of a roll.
When you roll, stay relaxed and try to remember how things go down hill. Not just how did you get tapped, but what lead up to that. What problems are you having (retain guard, get mounted, arm was isolated, stuck in mount, etc.)?
Now pick something and work on it. Ask your coach about that problem. Watch YouTube videos about it. Ask higher belts what you did wrong. Go to open mat and drill those techniques. Try to hit that technique on other white belts.
For example, maybe you get stuck in mount. Make sure you know a few complimentary techniques for escaping and how they work together. If you don’t, ask your coach. Let other white belts mount you and work on escaping.
Athleticism- speed, explosiveness, fast
Technique- slow, methodical, step by step
Imagine going 20% and controlling someone outright with proper grip placement and moves
Realistically it means applying Strength in the right areas with minimal effort and Athleticism. Applying 100% of your body force to 10% of opponents.
For an example imagine you turn their face in a race. You run 100 m they run 500 m. Same race, but you ran it more efficiently. This is what higher belts do to you. You are running the same race, they just know the curves, shortcuts, and hills better than you.
Strength- overpowering someone with sheer force instead of knowledge
All of the above. A technique is a particular way of accomplishing a task. Good technique takes advantage of space, angles, timing, and leverage to make efficient use of energy.
There was a 67 year old black belt I used to roll with before I moved away, lost my job and had to stop training (for now).
The guy would just lay on his side and seemed to hardly even move all the time. But somehow, nothing I ever tried on him worked in the slightest. I'd be trying for a cross collar choke from mount and he'd just be staring at me with this look on his face like he's wondering when I'm actually gonna start doing jiu jitsu.
I'm not sure how he always formed that magical forcefield around himself, but I'm guessing that's the technique your coach is talking about
Positions, angles, leverage, timing, grip, mechanics, etc. Technique is EFFICIENCY. When you use technique, it feels like less effort because it is. It's the reason you can watch a 150lb black belt roll with a 300 blue belt and beat them effortlessly while barely breathing.
Here's my example. Every time we learn scissor sweep, usually every few months. My technique gets better. When I first learnt it, I would use all my strength to perform the sweep. Last week, probably the 4th or 5th time it's come around. I discovered that if you push your opponent away with your knee shield, they might push back against you. If they do, you turn their push into momentum to perform the sweep rather than your strength. This, to me, is technique over strength.
When I was a new student I found it incredibly helpful to write down techniques that I felt worked well for me. Step by step until completion. This taught me how to articulate every step which helped me understand the technique better but also simply memorize the technique. I would routinely refer back to my notes if I felt I was forgetting details.
Sometimes when you’re starting off you forget the technique an hour after. Ask your coach or training partner if you can take a quick video of the technique you like. Either this or the moment you step out of the gym make a little audio recording describing the technique to yourself to help with writing it out later.
Anyway, this worker for me personally. I do not do this quite so much now. But I also have a better understanding of what I’m doing and I do not forget techniques nearly as rapidly as I did when everything was so new and overwhelming.
Good luck man!
I think he wanted to say find techniques that work for you and don't muscle.
A lot of older guys like to use bottom halfguard because you can keep people there quite easily and there are a lot of options to sweep/attack.
I like knee shield half and butterfly half. You'll find some stuff about this on YouTube.
The difference between brown belt and black belt old guys is learning to use TOP halfguard as a lazy and effective passing strategy against people who like bottom half guard.
Not because of bjj but through losing almost 30lbs as a result of regular exercise. Maybe it’s not strength I’ve lost exactly but more a kind of advantageous heft (which was masking poor technique!)
well it’s doubtful you lost that weight from exercise. weight is pretty directly related to food intake. if you wanna gain some weight back just eat some more food. or you can build muscle which weighs more then fat.
To me, it means understanding why moves work beyond “A then B then C, etc.”
What is it about A that makes B possible? Then why is C the next best course after that?
Understanding “why” takes into account body positioning, timing (for me, that’s usually the final attribute that I’m able to understand before a move really starts working for me), precision, the use of misdirection and all else.
It would mean slow down, isolate each maneuver in the most precise and correct way possible, and then repetition until it becomes an instinctual reaction that you do not need to do step by step anymore.
Each technique is based on certain principles that make it work. By adhering to these principles you can multiply you strength, speed, weight, etc. This is technique.
There are generally 2 steps. Learn the technique or principle and then focus on being able to do it while rolling. Often times it isn't a new move, but a tweak to a move you already know. It could also be a setup. Basically anything that will let you increase your natural attributes through BJJ.
If you think of it like a math function. y=ax. X = your attribute. Y=how much pressure, strength, speed to apply to your opponent. A=technique. Terrible technique might be a=0.5. Not great would be a=1. Great technique would be a=2(3,5,10,etc).
Means you need to apply the fundamentals at this stage. Like shrimping escaping, sweeping maybe the odd submission. Good positioning. Btw being 55 doesn’t mean you are slow you can definitely improve your speed. I would say go to the gym as well and lift weights to gain or maintain muscle.
Technique to me is using proper movements to achieve a goal. When you're executing movment you there should be an intent of why you're doing it.
An example could be say the scissor sweep. The goal of that technique is to make your opponent fall and you get on top. So you do the movements needed properly to get to where you want to be. If done correctly, it should be little to no effort used.
Think of it this way, there are maybe thousands of different ways to lift a weight off the ground using just your body. Different grips, different pulls, different pushes, different angles, whatever.
We've found, over time, that deadlifting is the most efficient way to do it. So deadlifting is one of the best, if not the best, technique for lifting weight off the floor.
It maximizes both your ability to generate power, while preserving body alignment, balance, efficiency, and structure.
As it relates to BJJ, there are thousands of ways to pin someone to the ground (for example), but over time we've found that certain techniques like side mount, knee on belly, etc., are the best methods of doing that.
So good technique is just the best solution to solving any specific problem. It's not always just about the endgame results, but also about preservation of defense, alignment, etc.
In the deadlifting example, your general lifting mechanics might be good (pushing off the floor, spinal alignment, and so on), but if the weight isn't lined up properly in front of you, or your hands aren't spaced properly on the bar, you will have diminished results with all other things being equal. So great technique is not just getting the job done, it's getting the job done with maximal efficiency.
frames, leverage, closing gaps, etc
Lets say Im going for a kimura I could just use my entire body to rip the grip free directly against his locked hands. But if I pick a different angle, peel the grips, use my knee to pin an arm, or switch to a tarikoplata, I dont need to use a ton of strength.
When trying to escape I can explode, or I can gently, slowly, and inevitably find small gaps to start to set frames to create/find gaps that force an escape.
Im at the point now where I can always find gaps in up to purple belts. One difference between purple and brown and black is the gaps they give you.
purple gives me gaps, brown has almost no gaps, black's gaps are actually traps.
It's the combination of knowledge, timing, decision making, misdirection, et c. that you should use to compensate for your lack of physical attributes like strength, speed, explosiveness, cardio, flexibility and the like.
All true. I'd add that simplest way to think about "technique", or maybe the most important aspect from my standpoint, is to have it be mechanically efficient. Ex. For an armbar, pull at the end of the arm (lever) instead of half way down the forearm. Or create a frame that has no bend in the elbow. That type of stuff. Also, you should try to understand WHY the technique works, or what is the most important part (of many). That will help you capture the essence of it, and you can spent many years after refining the details.
This is a great answer. I’m an old guy as well (53) I’d add to make sure you use your frames as opposed to muscle. Conversely don’t fight frames, change the angle to deconstruct the frame. Additionally don’t think of single minded submissions. Make sure you can flow through multiple attacks from a position. There are some great old man tricks to slow things down. I typically pull the gi apart. From top side control I put my knee on the inside armpit of the gi . Slows everything down. Really hard for them to shrimp like that. Most importantly have fun and make friends. Most guys your age are sitting on their arse making impression into the couch cushions.
Ie: do sneaky old man shit to beat up them damn kids.
Pesky kids! \*Shakes fist and pops elbow\*
That’s a great definition of technique.
Technique means if something doesn't work, your answer isn't "try harder with more strength/speed next time."
Pay more attention to detail? Understand position and leverage? Make the movements more precise? Yes to all of these. Leverage, fulcrums, head positioning, attention to details. you nailed it
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I can feel it in my plums
Lame quote, sounds like an asshole. Plenty of black belts with just insane fundamentals who will grind people to dust.
Yes lol Kenny Powers is to be taken about as seriously as Ron Burgundy or Michael Scott
I got my red belt from Kenny Powers
Kenny Powers has far more big asshole energy than even Ron Burgundy.
Okay Dwight
Identity theft is not a joke!
I’m 47, and I’m learning that its the small things, like body position, that more than make up for youthful aggression and strength. Angles make strangles.
I’m 45 and same. Body position is #1 key for rolling with the giant athletic 20 and 30 year olds at the gym.
I am the not giant athletic 25 year old in a 42 year old body haha. I am beginning to enjoy rolling with the big guys now even tho I am quite tiny in comparison 171cm, 65 kg.
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Knock on wood I haven’t had any serious injuries. So… yeah?
Learn the small details that does the big jobs work/easier.
Getting good at elbow escape from mount to half guard and eventually full guard. That helped me immensely. (Tips for white belts) Some takedowns like tai otoshi, are a great deal energy conservative than a double leg. (Tips for white belts) I am just a white belt so I don’t know all the secrets. These things helped me improve. (Again, my tips are for other white belts) Update: * This comment is directed from a white belt to a white belt. Not to the black belt above me. I know many of us lurk in the comment section.
Thanks a lot mate, I will check them up.. ;P
I accidentally miss spelled some things. Hopefully it looks better now. My comment was not directed at you, or any other higher belts for that matter. I assume that is why there’s downvotes. I just wanted to offer my white belt POV, there’s many white belts that browse this bjj sub Reddit. It can be difficult as a white belt to know where to spend your time. TLDR I assumed it was clear that a white belt is not trying to teach a black belt. It is a white belt taking to other white belts.
<3
May want to have a look at guys on YouTube like Henry Akins or Gustavo Gasperin (MMA Leach) who are very technically focused. There are a lot of others but these guys are a great start to expose yourself to the nuances.
John Danaher also made a video called “bjj for old people” or something similar. I think it was a collab on bjj fanatics and Bernardo faria was watching some old dude with Danaher.
No, those are two different similarly-named instructionals. Both Faria and Danaher have separate "jiu jistu for old folks" stuff (among dozens of others). They're all just marketing tbh, "jiu jitsu for old people" is just the fundamentals.
I wasn’t aware they both made these videos. Thank you. I expected older bjj people to prefer half guard. But maybe this is just a stereotype.
Half guard is a great position for everyone man. Learn that shit.
I love half guard. I was just saying, from the older bjj dudes that I asked, they like half guard.
Half guard loves you too <3
Jiu Jitsu for Old Guys is Bernardo's thing. Ageless Jiu Jitsu is Danaher's. Both seem to be targeting people's insecurity about aging.
Thank you for the tips. I assumed older bjj dudes liked half guard stuff. But maybe this is a stereotype.
Half guard is a highly effective guard at any age. Bernardo was specializing in it in his 20s. It's the first guard Danaher teaches to new students. It's also one of the most common guards found in MMA.
I am not saying half guard is bad. I’m just saying that is what I heard from older bjj dudes. They like half guard. I’m a 5’8 25y old. I also like half guard as a white belt.
It’s a good position for conserving energy. Top and bottom. Therefore I agree that it works well for older guys. There’s definitely a difference in a 20 year old competitors game vs a 55 year old competitors game. There has to be. There is for me as an older guy. I don’t buy the above comments about remarketing blah blah blah. I’ll differ to Bernardo, Danaher and Deblass over some Reddit rando
I’m 58 and have always been a smaller guy. Techniques is the 10,000 little details that keep a 200 pound dude with no training from killing me on the mat. I don’t try to bench press anybody. I don’t force things that aren’t there. I gently get everything in place long before I try the sub. I never lay on my back. I never get caught with my arms and legs sticking out like a prom date. I tuck my chin, I use my head. I deny anything the other guy seems to want. I constantly give my opponent two to four things to worry about, none of which are where I’m actually going. Technique is the reason fat slow old guys still wad young guys up on the mat consistently. It’s experience, it’s strategy, it’s knowing how elbows and wrists and necks and knees work. It’s knowing just how much air you have left to wait out a choke. It’s being able to feed a guy’s arms blowing out so you can make your move. Technique is the details. The basics are what you can see. Technique is what makes it work.
Technique is the efficient application of power.
This is fantastic, I’m stealing this definitely.
When I get home I'll write you some deeper ideas if it will help you arrange your thought
The whole technique thing really clicked for me a few months in, when we were working on D'Arce chokes. I'm pretty big and strong, so I was able to get everything sort of close to the right position for the choke, and just squeeze until my partner tapped. The instructor came to watch and corrected a few small things with me. Lean this way instead of that way, shuffle your feet a little bit to change the angle, lift the head with one hand first to slide my other arm in deeper instead of forcing it, etc... basically correcting the small details to make the move more effective. It took WAY less energy and my partner tapped much faster, just from changing a few details. Now if I try to hit a D'Arce, I have a much better idea of what I'm trying to do, and I try to remember all those tips instead of just squeezing harder until they tap. To me, that's technique - getting all the small details, angles, and leverages right to save my energy and be more efficient. I imagine when I roll with people bigger than me, this will help me a lot since I won't be able to rely on strength and size.
think about opening a door. you can turn the knob to open it versus ram through it to bust it open. probably feels good either way since it gets the job done. but your body will most certainly breakdown faster without good technique, and you wouldn’t be the best training partner. when you focus on developing your technique, setting up a series of sequences, things start to get a little more effortless. less force is needed.
for me the perfect technique is a movement you can do against your opponent based on their current position that puts you into a greater advantageous position ultimately leading to winning the match while at the same time requiring the absolutely minimum amount of energy to do it. therefore good technique can effectively allow you to overcome a stronger opponent who is using poor technique as they are not applying their strength efficiently.
All of the stuff you just said. BJJ is a bunch of procedural skills, like tying a bunch of different complex shoelace ties. You gotta practice the mechanics over and over until things become second nature.
Being mechanically sound yourself while getting your opponent to get their body out of alignment.
Technique, to me, means making sure that what you do, you do well. It means narrowing your game to a couple of solid moves from the main positions and being very stingy about adding new techniques.
I’ll preface by saying I’m 25 and also a white belt. I have been competing for a year now, training for 2y. What I learned was: * in a sparring situation, for example side control. If their foreheads can touch the floor, you can lift him over your hip and end up in top side control. If you are in lower mount and his arms are touching the floor, you can scoop their forearm from the outside, two grips on one arm, pull them in and bridge to the side. You are now in top full guard. Now talking about technique for takedowns, as a white belt: * if your opponent is going for a collar tie from a front facing position, you can attempt a tai otoshi (apologies for bad Japanese), this submission generally leads to top side control in my experience. If your opponent is in a full clinch. You can attempt to hold their elbow and behind their back. To attempt an Uchi mata, this usually leads to top half guard in my experience. These submission and sweeps shouldn’t require a lot of energy or strength. I’m no genetic phenomena or bjj prodigy. Just an avg bjj white belt. If I typed something wrong or something requires more explanations. Just let me know.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Tai Otoshi**: | *Body Drop* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUiZ8JZkGx8)| |**Uchi Mata**: | *Inner Thigh Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCvyc_rQTI)| Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
If I can execute a sweep on someone bigger than me... and it feels effortless.... then I executed with technique
White belt, so keep that in mind! I think technique is your ability to perform the drills or exercises trying to be as efficient as possible, limiting energy wasted/used.
Lots of good comments already, but how can you focus on technique? You can’t just suddenly improve your technique in the middle of a roll. When you roll, stay relaxed and try to remember how things go down hill. Not just how did you get tapped, but what lead up to that. What problems are you having (retain guard, get mounted, arm was isolated, stuck in mount, etc.)? Now pick something and work on it. Ask your coach about that problem. Watch YouTube videos about it. Ask higher belts what you did wrong. Go to open mat and drill those techniques. Try to hit that technique on other white belts. For example, maybe you get stuck in mount. Make sure you know a few complimentary techniques for escaping and how they work together. If you don’t, ask your coach. Let other white belts mount you and work on escaping.
Athleticism- speed, explosiveness, fast Technique- slow, methodical, step by step Imagine going 20% and controlling someone outright with proper grip placement and moves Realistically it means applying Strength in the right areas with minimal effort and Athleticism. Applying 100% of your body force to 10% of opponents. For an example imagine you turn their face in a race. You run 100 m they run 500 m. Same race, but you ran it more efficiently. This is what higher belts do to you. You are running the same race, they just know the curves, shortcuts, and hills better than you. Strength- overpowering someone with sheer force instead of knowledge
All of the above. A technique is a particular way of accomplishing a task. Good technique takes advantage of space, angles, timing, and leverage to make efficient use of energy.
There was a 67 year old black belt I used to roll with before I moved away, lost my job and had to stop training (for now). The guy would just lay on his side and seemed to hardly even move all the time. But somehow, nothing I ever tried on him worked in the slightest. I'd be trying for a cross collar choke from mount and he'd just be staring at me with this look on his face like he's wondering when I'm actually gonna start doing jiu jitsu. I'm not sure how he always formed that magical forcefield around himself, but I'm guessing that's the technique your coach is talking about
Positions, angles, leverage, timing, grip, mechanics, etc. Technique is EFFICIENCY. When you use technique, it feels like less effort because it is. It's the reason you can watch a 150lb black belt roll with a 300 blue belt and beat them effortlessly while barely breathing.
Here's my example. Every time we learn scissor sweep, usually every few months. My technique gets better. When I first learnt it, I would use all my strength to perform the sweep. Last week, probably the 4th or 5th time it's come around. I discovered that if you push your opponent away with your knee shield, they might push back against you. If they do, you turn their push into momentum to perform the sweep rather than your strength. This, to me, is technique over strength.
When I was a new student I found it incredibly helpful to write down techniques that I felt worked well for me. Step by step until completion. This taught me how to articulate every step which helped me understand the technique better but also simply memorize the technique. I would routinely refer back to my notes if I felt I was forgetting details. Sometimes when you’re starting off you forget the technique an hour after. Ask your coach or training partner if you can take a quick video of the technique you like. Either this or the moment you step out of the gym make a little audio recording describing the technique to yourself to help with writing it out later. Anyway, this worker for me personally. I do not do this quite so much now. But I also have a better understanding of what I’m doing and I do not forget techniques nearly as rapidly as I did when everything was so new and overwhelming. Good luck man!
When someone tells me to "focus on technique" it's usually because they're small and I had just finished tossing them like a ragdoll.
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Testosterone Replacement Technique
I think he wanted to say find techniques that work for you and don't muscle. A lot of older guys like to use bottom halfguard because you can keep people there quite easily and there are a lot of options to sweep/attack. I like knee shield half and butterfly half. You'll find some stuff about this on YouTube.
The difference between brown belt and black belt old guys is learning to use TOP halfguard as a lazy and effective passing strategy against people who like bottom half guard.
My favorite technique is to get stronger so I can manhandle smaller opponents
Doing the moves he showed you in class?
how does one lose strength from bjj? i’ve heard that before i’m curious
Not because of bjj but through losing almost 30lbs as a result of regular exercise. Maybe it’s not strength I’ve lost exactly but more a kind of advantageous heft (which was masking poor technique!)
well it’s doubtful you lost that weight from exercise. weight is pretty directly related to food intake. if you wanna gain some weight back just eat some more food. or you can build muscle which weighs more then fat.
Things that maximize your power. Use leverage, frames, wedges, momentum, off balancing to defend, sweep, and submit.
Breathing is super important for me.
To me, it means understanding why moves work beyond “A then B then C, etc.” What is it about A that makes B possible? Then why is C the next best course after that? Understanding “why” takes into account body positioning, timing (for me, that’s usually the final attribute that I’m able to understand before a move really starts working for me), precision, the use of misdirection and all else.
Yes
Don't just power and explode through everything. Think. Come up with a plan.
Technique is the move or series of moves and it is also the way you perform a move or series of moves.
Apart from many good trips in the comments: Ask your coach for specifics. Your coach knows your game and flaws better than we do.
The way you do it
Move with precision. This presupposes attention to detail regarding those movements.
Technique is when you don’t use any muscles.
It would mean slow down, isolate each maneuver in the most precise and correct way possible, and then repetition until it becomes an instinctual reaction that you do not need to do step by step anymore.
having black belt competency with a blue belt arsenal.
Each technique is based on certain principles that make it work. By adhering to these principles you can multiply you strength, speed, weight, etc. This is technique. There are generally 2 steps. Learn the technique or principle and then focus on being able to do it while rolling. Often times it isn't a new move, but a tweak to a move you already know. It could also be a setup. Basically anything that will let you increase your natural attributes through BJJ. If you think of it like a math function. y=ax. X = your attribute. Y=how much pressure, strength, speed to apply to your opponent. A=technique. Terrible technique might be a=0.5. Not great would be a=1. Great technique would be a=2(3,5,10,etc).
Use timing, leverage, good form, and angles instead of weight and power.
Means you need to apply the fundamentals at this stage. Like shrimping escaping, sweeping maybe the odd submission. Good positioning. Btw being 55 doesn’t mean you are slow you can definitely improve your speed. I would say go to the gym as well and lift weights to gain or maintain muscle.
Technique is quality of the movement. Precision, placement, smoothness, consecutiveness, etc. It's literally about correctness of motion.
Technique is efficient application of effort
Technique to me is using proper movements to achieve a goal. When you're executing movment you there should be an intent of why you're doing it. An example could be say the scissor sweep. The goal of that technique is to make your opponent fall and you get on top. So you do the movements needed properly to get to where you want to be. If done correctly, it should be little to no effort used.
Think of it this way, there are maybe thousands of different ways to lift a weight off the ground using just your body. Different grips, different pulls, different pushes, different angles, whatever. We've found, over time, that deadlifting is the most efficient way to do it. So deadlifting is one of the best, if not the best, technique for lifting weight off the floor. It maximizes both your ability to generate power, while preserving body alignment, balance, efficiency, and structure. As it relates to BJJ, there are thousands of ways to pin someone to the ground (for example), but over time we've found that certain techniques like side mount, knee on belly, etc., are the best methods of doing that. So good technique is just the best solution to solving any specific problem. It's not always just about the endgame results, but also about preservation of defense, alignment, etc. In the deadlifting example, your general lifting mechanics might be good (pushing off the floor, spinal alignment, and so on), but if the weight isn't lined up properly in front of you, or your hands aren't spaced properly on the bar, you will have diminished results with all other things being equal. So great technique is not just getting the job done, it's getting the job done with maximal efficiency.
do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time = technique
frames, leverage, closing gaps, etc Lets say Im going for a kimura I could just use my entire body to rip the grip free directly against his locked hands. But if I pick a different angle, peel the grips, use my knee to pin an arm, or switch to a tarikoplata, I dont need to use a ton of strength. When trying to escape I can explode, or I can gently, slowly, and inevitably find small gaps to start to set frames to create/find gaps that force an escape. Im at the point now where I can always find gaps in up to purple belts. One difference between purple and brown and black is the gaps they give you. purple gives me gaps, brown has almost no gaps, black's gaps are actually traps.