Imagine that you’re in a match, and you’ve just swept the other guy onto his ass. That’s a great feeling, but should you take a brief time out to congratulate yourself?
Of course not.
Languidly taking your time after a sweep might work great against white and blue belts in friendly, relaxed rolling, but it’ll never work against a serious opponent, especially in competition where people just don’t want to give up points.
If you don’t capitalise on that sweep immediately against a good opponent, then he’s going to scramble away and get back to his feet.
All that work for nothing.
So after sweeping someone IMMEDIATELY use that technical standup, get on top, and stabilise the top position (before he can re-establish the top position).
Or, better yet, get to the top and then IMMEDIATELY start working for that guard pass (before he has time to establish a solid guard position on you).
Taking a siesta to recover when you should be working is a cardinal sin in jiu-jitsu. It can take a lot of work to get a slight advantage with a grip, a kuzushi, or a sweep, so that’s NOT when you should relax the pace. Push your advantage, and then rest in a dominant position.
Learn when to rest vs. when to double down and push just a bit harder, just for one second more.
Linking your techniques together to create an unstoppable momentum is dependent on three things (the third is the most important)…
First, there’s the mindset of linking your moves and not pausing at the end of each step.
Second, there’s having the physical fitness to continue moving, at least for short durations.
Third, and most importantly, it’s having the technical knowledge of how to connect your techniques.
This involves learning which techniques go well together, pre-planning those transitions, drilling them, and then gradually incorporating them into your sparring.
If you want a couple of concrete examples how you might do this, check out this article here.
This article has great examples of how BJJ world champion Brandon Wolverine Mullins connects his butterfly guard sweeps to his guard passes and his de la Riva guard to his guard passes.
A BJJ World Champions Reveals How to Connect Your Sweeps and Guard Passes
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