BJJ, Chess, and Karate

This is part of a conversation that I'm having with ZenHG who's David. I wanted to post my response because it took me an hour to write it. David asked me, "Do you think of things as 'Kimura' or 'Triangle' or 'Crucafix??' I try not to think in those terms; I think it is best to train yourself, as you said, to look for what you have and go with that. You will find what flows for you, it may appear to be one of the above, but ultimately thinking in those terms - thinking in general - hinders you."

I'm trying to think how to answer your question. When I grapple, I pretty much don't think at all because things can move way too fast for me to sit and think about things. Most of it is muscle memory. With all the attacks, sweeps, and defenses I do, I have to call them by their names so people know what I'm talking about. It's much easier to ask how to do a certain move like finishing a rear naked choke by knowing the name. It's like asking how to do a round house properly.

However, I heard that when I get better, I should be thinking three moves ahead. My instructors have equated to BJJ to chess. In a chess match, I can anticipate what my opponent will do in response to a certain move. I have to think three or four moves ahead so I can be proactive and attack the king. However, I still need to look at what my opponent is doing and determine what he or she is doing is a big enough threat that I need to respond. One can set up traps in chess just like in BJJ.

However, BJJ is much more dynamic than chess. In chess, each person takes a turn. So, moves will always work. However, a person will always try to defend an attack when I'm attacking. It's hard trying to pull of a triangle when someone is countering it. I've learned that there are counters to everything. One has to be creative.

I know many attacks and some defenses, I'm just trying to learn how to pull them off with an active resisting person. This is why I love open mat. This is where all of my learning and experiences come together. I've learned that just rolling is the most important thing one can do in BJJ.

That's the thing I don't like about Karate. Pretty much all of it is theoretical. We hardly get to spar to put our techniques to use. I know some of them we can't do on a real person. However, one need to learn how to pull off moves with active resistance. If one trains in karate for self defense purposes, one can have a guy suit up in this big protective suit and have the girl practice self defense techniques that can hurt the guy.

What's up the low block?? No one will block a kick with their arm. If one goes for the leg, one needs to make sure one is going to grab on to it instead of blocking it. Why teach it as a block then instead of a grab? My teacher says that any training is better than no training. Probably, that's why karate people can still defend themselves from untrained attackers.

What will happen if they wrestled in high school?? Probably a wrestler can pin a girl pretty easily and rape her if the girl doesn't have any ground training. I still have trouble controlling beginners who are guys. They have so much more upper body strength than me.

Yesterday, I watched a little video from Fight Science. It's where it shows a lady being mounted by a guy. The lady protects herself by grabbing onto the guy's throat and squeezing. That in turn can damage the trachea. I don't think that a guy would allow the lady to that to him. I would think that the guy would start ground and pounding the lady or pull his head away. A trained guy would have done an arm bar.