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Old 02-16-2012, 10:14 AM   #30
Budd
 
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Dojo: Taikyoku Budo & Kiko - NY, PA, MD
Location: Greater Philadelphia Area
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,000
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Re: Aikido, Rickson Gracie and Connection

So, I think from a BJJ perspective, if you're thinking position before submission - optimizing your Jin and connecting from the other guy's center, I find it's a HUGE aid in always being ahead of the other guy's "loop". Now, if their technique is much better, then it evens out or I'm still stuck (and that's a different problem when you lose control of the engagement, it's tempting to lose control of things that aren't burned into your "way of being" and you're working towards) behind their loop (for different reasons). Also playing a big part are my respective levels in IS development and grappling.

All that being said, when I go for submissions, I'm in the same conundrum - the way I learned to execute those techniques was "wrong" from a pure "ideal" movement perspective. So, while I retrain how I fundamentally move and "be", I also have to rework the techniques from the ground up, so to speak, to be consistent with IS principles. Depending on the caliber of the BJJ school, there are fewer "conflicts" in how the techniques are taught, but more on the assumptions I bring when I try to execute them with my old understanding as it bumps up against what I'm working towards.

So, to simplify, if I focus on the basic things of "connecting center to center", "mentally manage the support of the ground and gravity between us in an optimal manner that will allow me to maintain an optimal position" and then how I receive additional external forces that the other person brings in their efforts to impose their will . .. ALL of this before even worrying about going for a submission . . . I then tend to be in a much better place to apply a submission, or frustrate the other guy into making a mistake, OR (most important to my overall training) be in the best place to escape, deploy a weapon, hit them with knees, hands, elbows, feet, head, shoulder, etc.

Basically, sticking to the basics, working within the specific form, but training a lot of things at once - regardless of whether I get tapped or tap the other person. Of course, it's also not a big focus for me right now, but probably in another 6 months to a year, I'll be getting back into the mix more regularly from a pressure testing perspective.

Last edited by Budd : 02-16-2012 at 10:17 AM.
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