More Control Leads to Less Injuries
When talking about Jiu Jitsu, or any combat sports for that matter, there is a certain level of injury that must be accepted when committing to training the sport. The occasional bruise, sore fingers or toes, and the occasional sore muscles. However, what is not acceptable at all is serious injuries, especially those that can be avoided. One of the major causes of injury in combat sports is uncontrollable bodyweight distributed to our partner during training. Examples include jumping guard or flying submissions. John Danaher pointed this out recently and has banned these particular moves during training in his gyms, and for good reason. We don't encourage this unnecessary risk at Legion either.
These particular moves commit the entire mass of another human, with force, to another. Sure, in drilling and anticipation of these moves it may be done with more control and safety, but during live rolls it is very likely to result in serious injury. This brings up the question of how much control do we exercise during training in all aspects of our Jiu Jitsu? Do we allow our ego to take control when we start to lose a position or a match, and then "lose control" by applying explosive force to not get tapped or swept?
We may all be guilty of this at some point (or many) in our Jiu Jitsu journey, but it is not too late to reflect and make some very beneficial changes. Not only for ourselves but for our training partners as well. Maintaining control throughout a match makes us more efficient, and less likely to gas out during a roll. It allows us to think clearer and perform more technical jiu jitsu, which as our technique develops allows us to exercise these moves faster since we have more control.
It is important to make sure we are focusing on maintaining control and develop our technical skills and stop focusing on the outcome of a roll during training. Instead focus on controlling ourselves and our opponent, we promise your jiu jitsu will get better and you will suffer less injuries.
