Over the last couple of years I started cross training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and it has really helped my Judo game. I was really surprised at how even the new competitors were adept at utilizing ground grappling techniques. I have seen white belts pulling off really complicated moves in class and in competition. While I am amazed by how quickly the BJJ guys learn on the ground, I have noticed that they are making a lot of mistakes when grappling on their feet, and I showed some of my new BJJ friends some quick fixes that helped their games tremendously.
Is your ground game better than your standup game? Most Jiu-Jitsu competitors would undoubtedly say yes. Its pretty simple: if you train to get better on the ground, you will get better on the ground, but if you don’t practice standup techniques, you won't improve. Once I started teaching some of my BJJ friends standup techniques, they started improving their takedowns really quickly. In fact, many of them say that after a few adjustments to their posture, gripping, and throwing techniques, they feel even more comfortable on their feet than they do on the ground.
When you opt in to the box above, I will send you a video of a terrific, low-risk technique to use in a Jiu-Jitsu match. Ouchi Gari is a backward throw that puts the attacker in a very low risk position if the attack misses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouchi_gari Enjoy the technique, I bet it will really help your BJJ Game.
Thanks,
Daniel McCormick
2009 United States National Champion
2008 Olympian Judo (9th Place Finisher)