There I am, training with Bryson, our multi-talented Uke and photographer. We start off and maybe 2 minutes in, he’s starting to frustrate me.
I’m getting upset…
We’re training and he’s shutting down every single one of my underhook attempts. I’m annoyed so I say fuck it. I’m going for something else. I start adjusting my game. And there it is… I’m passing effortlessly.
It was at that moment, my life became much easier.
The thing is, jiu-jitsu done poorly is hard. As you get better, it should get easier depending on the skill level and athletic ability of your opponent. But yes, the “gentle art” should be gentle. It should be efficient and it should look effortless.
As I’m sitting here, staring into the trees at a State Park in Idaho, with an upcoming birthday I can’t help but think about two things.
1) I’m getting older.
2) I’m getting older and still have to do jiu-jitsu for the rest of my life.
And, if I’m planning on training for the rest of my life, then I have to make things easier for myself. In this case, I really wanted the underhooks, but I settled for something else, since that was the path of least resistance.
In my last email, I went on and on about the power of underhooks. And yes it’s true. Underhooks will save your ass 99 times out of a 100 and in jiu-jitsu, it’s really important to understand and apply the use of underhooks.
Bryson knew this because we had JUST filmed the underhook techniques. It was fresh in his mind so of course, he’s looking for his own underhooks in order to attack me. So, I had to do something different (I’ll share this sparring narration another time, but today’s post is a follow up to last week).
If you missed last week’s email [link above], here’s the recap
Problems:
Underhooks seem to always get missed, especially in beginners without sound fundamentals.
It’s hard to teach underhook
Solution: Teach underhooks as a “position” and not necessarily as a single step in the procedure.
In my last email I showed underhook concepts and why they were so powerful. We started with basic positioning and demonstrated how underhooks allowed incredible control over an opponent.
I also showed ways to get to the underhook from the top position (Standing and guard passing).
In today’s email, we’re going to explore underhooks from the bottom position particularly in the half guard and open guard and show how underhooks can be used as a last line of defense when your guard is getting passed.
I’m also going to cover a purely defensive concept that I learned that may give you a lot more insight into how the underhooks play into your defensive jiu-jitsu.
Let’s dive in!
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