Transitions

While rolling today I had a thought (this is a big deal because with me thoughts are few and far between:).  Rather then think about the mount position from the bottom as a place were you have to defend.  Why not think of it as a transitional position in which you perhaps allow the other guy to get there for a second and then transition to a position that is more advantageous for yourself.  Now I am not saying give up the mount position intentionally and this plan could certainly backfire if the other guy is savy to you and locks down the position, but in a roll in which there is lots of flow I think this could work.  Maybe it would only work once but hey I’m just trying to think outside the box here.

So many guys fight tooth and nail (including myself) to not give up the mount position and they certainly should, especially in a tournament situation were points are being given for getting to a dominant position.  I think at some point though you reach a place were jiujitsu becomes less of a physical game and more of a mental one.  When it turns into that type of fight it would probably be beneficial to throw out some decoys so to speak and start doing mental gymnastics around your opponent.  Letting them get to mount and then continuing to transition to another position would definitely mess with their head.  At least I know it would with me....

I think this type of thinking can be applied to all aspects of a jiujitsu player’s game.  From passing the guard to escaping side control messing with the other guy’s head is always a good thing.  For myself sometimes its just as simple as pretending you have control of the other guy when it reality that control is tenacious or non existent.  All that matters is that the other guy THINKS your the one in control.  Then he will most likely have a defensive reaction rather then an offensive one which of course is good for you and puts you one move “up” so to speak.  If the other guy is reacting to you he isn’t thinking about imposing his will.  I’m gonna go ahead and shut up now before I confuse myself and leave you all to work through that maze of rhetoric.;)