To close out the multi-article technique analysis on advanced entanglements used to turn tricky positions into favorable outcomes, we’ll take a look at Dan Faggella’s third video installment in his Entanglement Protocol series. The entanglement game itself may be more advanced, but it is important to note how our basic fundamentals play into it. This is especially important to note as a beginner or novice student because it displays a necessary relationship between basic movement and advanced concepts; this is an understanding that will serve us well in later studies. After all, the purpose of having a strong fundamental base is not to perform fundamental movements or techniques in isolation, but to be able to apply the fundamentals competently in the thick of intricate scrambles, offensive chains, and defensive maintenance—and to do so without a second thought.
Fundamentals become the building blocks of our more advanced techniques and tactics later in the game. Even further down the line, the advanced concepts themselves will become building blocks of even more advanced applications. Check out THIS INTERVIEW with Ryan Hall discussing applying the concept of entanglement to an even more advanced analysis of the 50/50 Guard.
All of the movements that have been drilled and practiced since day one should pay off in live application. Our comfort and ability to feel the right “moment of application” is dependent on hours and hours of repetition early in and throughout our studies. Along with the obvious need to develop the physicality required for a specific movement—whether that be strength, control, or range of motion—developing that “second nature” feel is perhaps the more important aspect of high volume repetition.
Second Nature Feel
Think about some of the basic techniques we have all learned that are less intuitive and sometimes still cause a momentary lapse in execution. For example, how many have had to pause and remember which way to roll when drilling a Hitchhiker Escape from Juji Gatame (even after repeated lessons)? How many times do we have to correct and instruct students to turn toward their opponent’s hips (not head) following a Fireman Carry takedown? If these fundamentals don’t become second nature, tap outs are bound to happen and dominant positions are likely to be lost.
It is easy to understand how important it is to learn a proper side roll (“koala roll”) for quick re-guarding. It is easy to understand how important shrimping is in creating distance and space while maintaining hip movement against an opponent in top position. It is easy to understand how the bridge will be used for an Umpa escape. However, too often I have seen students that do not make that same connection between these fundamental movements and more intricate techniques.
When you have a new blue belt that states they cannot move their hips a certain way to complete an attack, or they can no longer make an escape that worked against lower level opponents work against more advanced opponents, very often it is due to discomfort or a lack of “second nature” familiarity with a fundamental movement itself or chaining it with another. If a student never built the mechanical relationship between bridging quickly into your opponent before shrimping out, they will find themselves stuck under a purple belt’s Cross Body Mount with little likelihood of creating space—even with the most forceful of shrimp attempts. That is one of the important applications of having a “second nature” bridge, used regularly and for long after the basic Umpa has ceased to be the go-to escape from the Full Mount.
The most telling is the “I’m not that flexible” reasoning. While the student may truly believe that it is flexibility holding them back, more often than not it is proper positioning that would create ease in the movement they are seeking; this could be establishing a proper base to lighten the correct limb, proper shoulder rotation to extend easily into a D’Arce setup, or proper weight distribution for an easy Hip Switch Back Step. It is usually complete familiarity (mental, muscle, and execution), and not flexibility, that is holding the student back.
Bridging the Gap
So what does all of this have to do with today’s video lesson and the advanced concept of entanglements? Everything. We utilized a fundamental shoulder roll to do the unexpected in our first look at Avoiding Surrender or Retreat, disrupted our opponent’s base from the Deep Guard, and then looked at counters to the counter for the “Other Side” of the entanglement story. Yet, each of my entanglement analyses matter-of-factly glossed over the common denominator of proper extraction. Proper extraction in each video is predicated on an understanding and second nature application of the fundamental movement known as the Technical Get Up or Technical Lift.
In Coach Dan’s third installment video, he discusses the details of when to stay entangled, when to disentangle, and bottom versus top leg positioning for proper extraction. He also uses the example of a counter to a counter to a counter (waiter sweep to leg entanglement defense to leg entanglement reversal for proper extraction). With so much going on you can begin to see just how second nature the Technical Get Up needs to become in order to effectively turn bad positions into neutral positions that will result in a favorable outcome. This is happening in a scramble, and so the second nature aspect of the positioning and application is of the utmost importance. There will not be time to think it through during a live roll. The importance of the movement being second nature is heightened when you may need to make slight adaptations on the fly, such as: bracing off of an opponent’s leg instead of posting with the top leg flat-footed on the mat, controlling an opponent’s leg instead of protecting your face from a strike, or using the movement as a lift to complete a sweep instead of simply getting back to your feet.
All of these details require that your Technical Get Up be beyond thought in its application. It needs to be much more like breathing than a technique of its own, with its own multiple steps. Only then can it become a matter-of-fact step in a considerably more intricate scramble or chain of movements. That is the goal of second nature familiarity. Keep this relationship in mind the next time you or a teammate may feel like skipping warm-ups or ending a basic fundamental drill early because “it’s really for the newer students” and you already “know” the technique. “Knowing” a technique is just the beginning. Enjoy the video and remember that the time to make your fundamentals become “second nature” is now!
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Image credit: http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2014/04/study-of-technical-stand-up-in-jiu-jitsu.html
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