Developing a Master-like Chess Game
When I first started BJJ one of my favorite sparring partners, Rob (Stonewall BJJ), told me that I needed to setup a game plan for BJJ, like in chess. However, at the time I didn’t know enough Jiu Jitsu to understand what I could and couldn’t do yet, to which he would respond “precisely.” Still not 100% sure what Rob was getting at but I always consider Rob and my moment of precision in the words of Master Pedro Sauer…”All of Jiu Jitsu is a setup.”
Jiu Jitsu has been labeled as a live action chess game by many of its practioners. In the game of chess there’s only a one to two moves each chess piece can make in a game but after just 4 moves are made there are almost 300 million possible follow-up moves. Jiu Jitsu is no different in that there are tens of thousands of combinations of moves that could be made between two opponents after they shake hands. These high number of possibilities can make most people abandon the idea of ever becoming a master of the gentle art or the game of chess.
So how does one become a master? Well, what the greats of anything in life do is not try to master the entire game but instead master various styles of the game and then direct their opponent into their web of destruction. This can be seen when two fighters bump fists and one guy simply sits down on the mat. The guy sitting on the mat is letting his opponent know that I am a shark and my water is this mat. If you decide to kick (or punch) at me or sit down, you will feel the wrath of my ground game. They are leading that person through a window of opportunity they have constructed to get their opponent into an area they are most proficient.
So first, becoming proficient in the cornerstone foundation of Jiu Jitsu is like learning the basic moves of all the chess pieces. (i.e. shrimping, maintaining the closed guard, breaking the closed guard, taking half guard, escaping half guard and protecting the neck). But at those very corners of Jiu Jitsu’s foundation, the various fighting styles splinter like bamboo and the beginning of attack and defense are rapidly exchanged in a fight of differing styles. The adaptability to improvise, adapt and overcome to various styles is learned through exposure and practice. Just like the differences from playing chess in the family den with my dad, in the bedroom with my wife, in parks with strangers and jail with cellmates, I’ve learned that my opponents that quickly whip my ass do it with the same precision and strategy every time. The reason why I receive these beatings/lessons so quickly is for one reason, it’s was their game of strategy that I’m playing, not mine. However as far as styles are concerned, especially during the earlier period of my BJJ journey, when I still had dreadlocks to my knees, was mostly reactionary…I played a reactionary game in BJJ because I had no BJJ style or direction to which I fully subscribed….the only resemblance to a game plan I had was to overpower the hell out of my opponent while putting in my best and hardest efforts. I would grab at any inkling of light or hesitation I saw shine through the other’s guys game and hope for the best.
Traveling around and visiting various BJJ schools provides me a little that “exposure,” not mastery, just exposure with a small sampling of various styles. Some have argued that I could be spending that time perfecting “my game.” But I like to say each time I’m at a new school I get to experience something I didn’t know existed and add into “my game.” Plus, I get to experience a white belt’s sense of amazement when I learn a new progression of the fight from a certain position. Usually a position that I would have avoided because of discomfort and lack of knowledge of options but to my opponent that same position is one of strength for him/her and a vital plan of their attack. Its arguable which Jiu Jitsu style is best … de la riva, deep half guard, worm guard, rubber guard, x-guard, spider guard, donkey guard and for every other style of BJJ you can name as the gentle art is always evolving.
Like everything in life, proficiency in the “basic moves” is key to survival. Learning to do something well and luring your opponent into that realm helps you to play the game while the inverse of that will only get you played into a filter of predictability that quickly leads into a tap, nap or snap moment.
