A troof for the ages

Behold…

One troof you’ve probably not heard anywhere near enough is that:

Technique is only as good as the conditions that you drill in.

Case in point:

These days, even the best shrimp escape for side control isn’t enough to make me give up control. You ain’t getting back to closed guard that easy, son.

At best, you’ll make me move.

It’s not because the technique is bad though. More often, it’s just because people don’t account for how I will defend their first attempt. It’s all or nothing. Escape or reset.

Instead, that first attempt should be just to make me move.

THAT should be your goal.

Creating movement is the key to escaping from bad situation. In fact, you should aim to create so much that control slowly yet surely slips through your opponent’s fingers.

When you do that well, you create opportunity.

And if you’re savvy enough to take advantage, escape becomes much easier and your comfort levels, even in the worst situation, jumps through the roof.

For example…

Earlier today, one of my students wanted to work on escaping side control. So I had him do some situational rolls, so that he could work on his technique against after resistance.

He struggled.

It was much more difficult to deal with an actively resisting opponent than to drill (obviously). That shoulder pressure was on point and he struggled to even move.

In that situation, you have to do little things to break the structure of the position, and once that’s done, massive movement must be created.

And you know what?

You learn some of those little tricks now if you so wish.

Or not.

It’s up to you:

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