Dealing With Resistance

When students are taught a basic techniue in sport jiu jitsu or submission wrestling, they are often taught from a static position with thir partner offering no resistance. There is a good reason for this: in order to make a technique effective, one needs to make sure that all the various components of the technique are properly performed and coordinated. This is impossible to do if someone is resistings. (Yes, there are morons in class who will resist you anyway....but that is another lament for another time) So, you have to start out learning the technique without having to deal with resistance.

THIS FOLKS IS A STARTING POINT!

The next logical step is actually dealing with resistance because the student is going to need to learn how to adjust the move (or flow into another move) based on the resistance he is given. One of the more common ways to train is to teach the move with no resistance and then move directly into sparring. This is a bad idea folks as it jumps from one extreme to the other with no bridge between the two. What is clearly needed here is a series of resistance drills designed to deal with the various movements and pressures an escape attempt will yield.

If you try an spinning armbar on someone, they may stack you, they may stand up, the may move to the left, they may move to the right, they may fall down.....some resistance will lead to an escape, some resistance might lead to being in a worse position that before...The bottom line, however, is that the student must learn to deal with resistance so as to be able to effectively complete his offensive attack (note: this does not mean fixation on a specific tchnique. Sometimes the counter to resistance is another move altogether. EG - Armbar to triangle to kneebar, etc)In short, if you work resistance training you will eventually become a much better wrestler. Simple as that.