No More Free Hands: The Case for Constant Contact

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No More Free Hands: The Case for Constant Contact

One of the most often forgotten or overlooked aspect of Jiu-Jitsu is the hand fight. As an instructor, I’ve noticed that students often allow their opponent to gain grips and don’t quite understand what grips they themselves should chase.

If you’re a Chess player, view your grips similar to how the pawns move out. By themselves, they don’t always appear to be the most threatening pieces on the board. What makes the pawns true threats, is how they open up the board. The correct placement of a pawn, allows major threats to materialize.

Task Based Games: Wrist Control

What you’ll Learn:

• The importance of constant contact and flow.

• Transitioning from low to high and back to low.

• Reversing the controls to your advantage.

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New Episode Out Today!! - E36 | My Worst Injuries

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My Approach To Hand Fighting

• Conversation Starters - That initial exchange is like the start of a debate. If I can establish a solid argument for why I belong, I can put my opponent on their heels. While that early portioning isn’t always a tell for the end result, it does set you up for a higher rate of success.

• Strategy, Not Slapping - When I decided to teach the hand fighting drill from Kit Dale, I noticed that some students tended to slap or flail around. I had to slow those students down, encouraging them to understand that it’s more about engaging in the flow back and forth. I’m not trying to strike or even stop movement.

• Every Grip Has A Purpose - When I hand fight, I’m using it to close the distance. When my opponent doesn’t allow me to get my desired grip, I secure a secondary one that forces my opponent to then want to break my grip. When they do, I will then work towards the grip I wanted from the beginning. But everything I do has a purpose.

• Break The Grip, Break The Plan - As I mentioned before, I’ll often use the grip breaking sequence that I initiate or even the one that my opponent initiates, to secure better positioning.

• When To Leg Go To Re-Grip - If we’re talking Gi, in order to save my fingers, I have learned to understand when my grip is going to be broken regardless of what I do. When I know that’s on the verge of happening, I intentionally let go and work to regrip with my freehand.

Gentlemen’s Agreements

Too often we allow for grips to materialize and never do anything about them early. We accept that the grip is there, and instead of doing something about it we allow our opponent to then progress further in their game plan. These agreements hinder our advancements and development.

Learn to impose yourself.

Concepts to Keep In Mind

Hand Fighting Concepts

Hand Fighting From Butterfly Guard

Defensive Hand Fighting Concepts

Closing Thoughts

Everything you do during a round needs to have a purpose. Every grip, every time you push, pull, and let go in order to regrip, has to have a purpose. Think of your gripping battle not just as a way to prevent your opponent to advance, but to set up what you’d like for yourself.

Hand Fighting Breakdowns

In the next three videos, I breakdown some great examples of how practitioners apply different aspects of hand fighting in their stand up game.