Using the Warm Ups to Develop Your Half Guard
I like the phrase; “One of the most important things you learn in Martial Arts is how to fall correctly - You may or may not have to defend yourself at some point, however we will all probably trip, slip, or get bumped and fall”. Learning to fall safely is a skill you will probably use much more often than defending yourself.
The warm up movements contain much more useful information about how to use body well outside of falling. The current culture regarding exercise, (broadly, not in the academy), is one of disdain.
Exercise is generally seen as something to be avoided. It doesn’t seem to occur to people generally that perhaps the warms ups are an important part of the broader education we are trying to provide.
What is fighting if not moving?
Have you ever seen a fight where people just stare at each other without moving? Was there a winner or did one of the participants just flinch and then that decided the winner?
To fight well, (or defend yourself well - choose your verb), you need to be able to move WELL. That doesn’t mean more. That doesn’t mean HIIT, CrossFit, or becoming Ironman Triathlon ready is required to fight well, (it actually diminishes your defensive abiliies in many cases).
Moving well doesn’t mean burning more calories than your opponent. You want to be able to use energy more efficiently than the others. The warms up movements are designed to help you become a more efficient mover. Movement, quite often, comes to an almost dead stop when people grab with their hands. An obvious exception would be an attacker holding you with one hand and punching you with the other.
In Half Guard you can use this to your advantage IF you move well and understand what you are trying to accomplish with the movement. In the video below I demonstrate and explain what we are trying to do and how the warm ups tie in. In the video, just like class, the movements are shown first and the technique is after.
Our current itteration of the warms ups begin with hipping up as your rock from the shell. We start here to help you to feel connected from your finger tips all the way to your toes. There is an efficient base movement that originates from trying to move from the spine/core out. Finger tips connected to toes. through a taught, (not overly tense), core. The aim to to make the largest shell you can, in a connected manner - with the movement originating from the muscles around the spine. Spine first.
The warms aren’t so much designed for you to get in “cardio”, but rather to re-train your body to be spine first. Spine first results in more efficient movement patterns. The greater efficiency allows for more work capacity with less effort.
In this form of exercise you are looking for the ease and economy of motion. The ease only comes if you use your body in a connected manner. All high level sports make use of this concept. Jiu Jitsu is no exception.
Greater leverage comes from greater efficency. Greater efficency takes less effort. Eventually. On the front it takes a fair amount of focus and intent. This is good because that is what we are trying to train; Intent, not cardio. Awareness and focus, not output.
Spoiler Alert: If you want to really improve your Jiu Jitsu train your body to be spine first and move in a coordinated manner. Keep your elbows in and hands to yourself. Hands are generally the last thing we use, after the rest of your body is in place.
Can’t wait to work on this?
Here are some of the fundamental movements we work on
Have questions about warm ups, class, or anything Jiu Jitsu ?
If you don’t know and are curious, others probably are as well. Let me know!
Don’t wait to start training until you are in your gi someday later this week. Get a little practice in everyday. Jiu Jitsu is about moving well and moving thoughtfully. The benefits extend far beyond learning a cool armbar!
Good movement saves lives and makes for a better exsistence in general!