Pressure: What it is and How to Apply
“How do you apply pressure!?”
This is an age old question that many jiu-jitsu beginners seek to answer and its relatively simple to address…. it’s just challenging in practice.
I like to categorize pressure in two ways.
Pressure is the physical weight someone must carry in training
Pressure is the mental and spiritual discomfort one must carry in training
When people ask about applying pressure, usually it’s physical. The mental pressure generally comes from tough training when you feel worn down towards the end of the match —this is often times fixed with physical conditioning.
The physical type of pressure comes from simply understanding how weight distribution works.
Now, here’s something to consider when training.
If the weight is on the ground, it is not on your opponent.
This concept is simple enough but the reality is, in training, it feels very foreign for beginners to place their weight on their opponent.
Why?
For several reasons…
For one, it may feel unstable placing a lot of weight on your opponent (and in a lot of cases, it is, which is why we have to rely on frames to create immobility in combination with weight).
Secondly, even if you have achieved relative immobilization of your opponent, you still have to deal with escape attempts which will constantly shift your weight to disadvantageous positions.
Thirdly, many practitioners (beginners) are timid and not used to the physical contact of the sport. Thus, it may seem more beneficial to place weight on the ground.
Plus many more…
In today’s email, I’m going to give you a general overview of pressure. By the end of this email, you’re going to understand the general concepts of applying pressure but first understanding how to
More effectively distribute weight on your opponent (GET IT OFF THE GROUND!)
How to relax to become heavier (Become Dead Weight!)
How to move with your opponent to stay heavy despite your opponent’s escape attempts (Not-so-dead-weight!)
Let’s dive in!
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