I once read an interesting comment on a BJJ forum:
“That there is a lot of low percentage bjj taught, especially back when I started. And that I should not spend time on these low percentage moves.”
“By low percentage, I mean stuff that only works on white belts or people you out-strength, or only works when the opponent is unfamiliar with the move.”
A very insightful comment!
Often we see Youtube videos or techniques taught at seminars where the instructor wants to show something new that he has been catching people with in his own rolling. He doesn’t want to show the same old triangle choke or butterfly guard sweep that he thinks everyone has seen before.
The problem is – as the poster astutely observed – often a large difference in skill or strength levels are required to get these positions.
Ask yourself the following questions:
1) How many fancy submissions have you seen? How many hundreds of different variations are there on Youtube? How many double reverse rolling Ninja Gogoplatas are there out there?
2) Why do we see the same, smaller subset of techniques – e.g., bow and arrow choke, rear naked choke – successful at the highest levels of competition?
Now ask yourself: what features do the first and second category have?
Low Percentage
The first category consists of low percentage moves. They often have many steps or uncommon positions you need to get into in order to do them correctly? They also usually require a high degree of strength or athleticism to perform, and though they may work against a decent grappler the first time, they can often be easily countered by anyone with more than a year of grappling experience.
High Percentage
These moves are often considered part of your basics and are usually taught in Fundamentals classes. They work on advanced belts and have been proven successful at higher levels of competition.
When you are learning jiu-jitsu, focus your training on high percentage techniques that are time-tested and proven to work against black belts.
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