The ultimate goal of BJJ competition is to tap your opponent out, not to win by points. That being said, the point system is still a very important part of the game and you have to understand how to use it!
Here’s why…
First of all, the point system in BJJ tournaments generally reflects what would work in a real fight.
For example, its better to be on top than on bottom in a fight, which is why you get 2 points for a guard sweep. It’s better to get past the legs of an opponent which is why you get 3 points for the guard pass. You can hit your opponent harder in kneemount (2 points) or full mount (4 points) than side mount, and the back is the ultimate position for doing unilateral damage to any enemy (4 points).
Secondly, if you get a lot more points than your opponent he may panic, do something stupid, and give you an opening you can use to submit him.
So points are important in BJJ tournaments…
And I recently came across a really cool system for quickly racking up 15 points in competition.
This came from dropping in on my friend Mike Zenga just as he was finishing up training with Robson ‘Mau Mau’ de Lima Rodrigues.
I came in through the basement door in the middle of an all-out dogfight sparring session…
Mike is a big, tall, and skilled black belt, but Mau Mau is a 3 x No Gi Pan Am champion and 1 x World No Gi Champion. Needless top say there was a lot of sweat, scrambles, and even a brand new hole in the wall where Mike had caved it in. Fun times!
As they wound down their training Mike started prodding Mau Mau to share his patented system for getting 15 points in competition. I wasn’t sure what this was, but it sounded good and so I scrambled to get my camera out!
It ended up being some really cool stuff, and I’m glad I can share it with you now. I think this is one of those things you can add to your game quickly and derive some real benefit from.
Here’s the video of Mau Mau’s system for getting a whole bunch of points and putting your opponent into a terrible position. And if you scroll down below the video you’ll get that same system in bulleted form.
Enjoy!
Here are the steps to go from the bottom to the top, get 15 points, and end up in a great position to submit your opponent as well!
- Start by trapping his right leg in half guard
- Sit up and trap his left arm using the Kimura grip
- Fall back keeping the grip tight
- Escape your hips out to the left slightly and insert your left butterfly hook
- Now shift your hips back under your opponent, lift with your hook and roll your opponent to your right (2 points)
- Land in half guard and maintain the Kimura grip
- Use your right foot to free your left leg and pass his half guard (3 more points, total = 5)
- Pop up to kneemount (2 more points, total = 7)
- Drop down to sidemount, switch your base and swing left leg over to the mount. (4 more points, total = 11) Note that it’s really difficult for your opponent to block the kneemount or the full mount because the arm he might use to block is tied up in the Kimura
- Dismount back to sidemount, circle over your opponent’s head and prop him up onto his right side
- Step over your opponent with your left and let him catch that leg in his half guard
- Use the chair sit manoeuvre to take your opponent’s back (4 more points, total = 15)
- Choke him out from the back!
Train this and then start putting it into action!
Take care,
Stephan Kesting
Related Links
- Click here to find out more about training with Mau Mau
- Click here to buy Mau Mau’s Kimura DVD set on BJJ Fanatics (Mike’s site)
- Click here to download my free app for learning BJJ on your phone or tablet
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