Concepts in Bjj

A concept in Bjj is a description of a mechanism that makes a technique work.

We usually cover one position every week. Positions may have as many as three variations that we cover. For more complex movements, I will break it down into three stages. When we progress to another position from week to week, I like to make it a fairly natural progression. While you are analyzing positions and mapping details, we are also studying concepts that make these movements work.

Move them once their weight is on you.

You only want to use this concept in certain situations. The next four videos are each one of three lessons from a specific position that we worked for the week. We covered the same concept from different positions for four weeks in a row.

Get your hips under theirs when they switch their hips.

We worked on the basic escape first. A seasoned practitioner will switch their hips to maintain position. This is the time to employ this concept.

You can force this in a pinch, but it feels much cooler with careful timing.

Take a post to sweep when their weight is on you.

Don’t be here when you’re playing half guard. When your shoulders are flat, your back and legs have less use. This can still work as a last resort. Again, our first option was something that kept more space.

I learned the second part of this at a Mike Fowler seminar.

Pull them onto you to make the legs light from Closed Guard.

I find this position a lot on the people who want to spin back into Closed Guard from Back Control. It can work at higher levels if you can find a good entry.

Many sweeps from Closed Guard use this concept.

This concept works from DLR-X Guard as long as you find the right angle.

You can catch this position when they want a cutpass but haven’t flattened your shoulders yet.

This looks fancy, but has a practical purpose.
I gotta thank Jake for being a good sport for all of these!

Every position has several overlapping concepts that make it work. You can apply these concepts to more positions, or reverse engineer them to stop your opponent from accomplishing their goals.

Most Black Belts lean towards a few concepts in Bjj that make their approach work. Pay attention when you hear them describing their favorote techniques. There are several right ways to do everything!