This past Thursday we covered Lesson 27 of the Crossroads Martial Arts Curriculum .Learning to defend yourself against somebody trying to punch you in the face is essential to feeling confident in any self defense situation. In Lesson 27 of the Crossroads Martial Arts Curriculum we discuss and drill how to deal with a “Dirty Boxing” situation. Dirty boxing is basically somebody grabbing your head to control your posture with one hand and trying to punch you with the other hand. In todays lesson we start from a typical head lock and discuss how to keep your posture, and most importantly how to stop an attacker from punching you in the body or face. Once we have neutralized these two things we then go into how to improve our position and get to the attackers back where we can take the fight to the ground.
On the ground lesson 27 discusses a number of submission escapes from the bottom of side control. The first submission we discuss is the americana or shoulder lock. There are several ways escape the americana in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu depending on how soon you are able to recognize the submission attempt. As with all submissions the longer you wait to start your escape the more difficult the escapes become. We call this level of timing, and the more you practice, and train the sooner you recognize the attempts and the easier it is to escape. Of course the best way to avoid the submission is not to make the mistake that allows for the initial attack, this is something Lesson 27 also covers. The second set of escapes we cover in this class is escaping from armbars. We deal with two arm-bar escapes. What to do when you can get your elbow out, and what to do when you can’t. Depending on how good the top player is at setting up armbars and how soon you recognize that they are attempting the arm-bar determines which escape you can attempt and how easy it will be to escape.
Everybody begins learning Brazilian Jiu-jitsu because of the power of submissions. The ability to end a fight with a joint lock or choke is one of the most powerful tools to have in a fight, but without the ability to defend submissions you will never be able use those submissions. Having strong defense is the best way to gain confidence in your offense. Without the knowledge that you can be in the worst positions and defend submissions you will never have the confidence to attempt a submission. When you attempt a submission there is always the chance that you will be unsuccessful, if you know that if you miss the submission you will be submittedit is not worth it to attempt the sub. One of the most important things to learn in your first year of jiu-jitsu is good defense.