This morning during our 6am Jiu-Jitsu class at Crossroads BJJ we discussed timing and how it applies to when you should switch which Jiu-Jitsu technique you are using. When you are sparring in Jiu-Jitsu and your training partner is resisting there will come a time during that resistance where they begin to be successful. If when your partners technique begins to be successful you do not switch what you are doing then you will lose.
In todays Jiu-Jitsu class we discussed this idea from the perspective of the bottom Jiu-Jitsu player using the elbow escape to improve their position and move from side control to the guard. In this case if we are focused on controlling the torso to hold our training partner and they begin to work in their knee to escape the top player must switch from controlling the torso to controlling the legs. If we do not switch our control then our bjj training partner will improve there position, and once this has happened if we continue to try and control the torso then we leave ourself open to getting submitted with an armbar.
Timing is essentially how soon we react to our Jiu-Jitsu training partners movements and techniques. In the beginning of your bjj training you will end up compensating for the lack of timing with speed. And it is this over use of speed that creates fatigue. By moving sooner instead of faster and being more selective with how we use these attributes we can spar for longer periods of time and prevent ourselves from reaching exhaustion.