Yup it’s that time of year again folks. Most people are starting to think about their resolutions for the new year. Some are going to quit smoking again, others are going to lose weight again, but lets think of something different…Jiu Jitsu! So lets hear it. What are your Jiu Jitsu resolutions? When thinking of one, make sure to be specific enough so that you can track your progress. I personally am going to work on sweeping from the bottom and gaining the mount. I feel that I need to work on my subs from mount and I am a guard guy, so I need to sweep the person to get on top. The more I put myself in the mount position the more I am forced to make sub attempts from there. On a side note make sure to subscribe to my blogs RSS feed. You can do this by clicking the link that says subscribe to this feed towards the top left of the page. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays!

Jiu jitsu is the gentle art right? I mean you snap peoples arms in half and choke them unconscious until they wet themselves. That has to be gentle! Lets face it Jiu Jitsu can be  brutal when it needs to be, but lately I have been focusing on the gentle aspect in certain positions. This way of thinking has transferred over from mount to knee on belly for me. I’m a light guy so my mount has never been crushing. At first I would always get bucked off and people would escape. I couldn’t figure out how to be heavy enough to pin someone down. I started seeing other small guys have success with the mount because they knew when to stay tight and when to loosen up. After studying this for some time I started to apply as much weight and contact as I could to someone until they started their escape, then I would loosen up and sort of float until they settled back down. I think this works because it plays off the same principal of most things in Jiu Jitsu you need to connect your hips to their hips. By staying loose and floating, I’m disconnecting my hips from theirs at the moment they need that connection. Once they complete their escape attempt I connect again. This has transferred over well to my knee on belly.  With knee on belly I normally grip their collar under their head and my other hand grips their pant leg. This way I can pull up and apply pressure to them when I need to, but also at the same time when they start an escape I can use these hands to post on the mat. When I post on the mat I can float because my weight isn’t 100% on my knee which is connected to their hips. It’s a new concept of small person Jiu Jitsu that I’m starting to play with and I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on it.