Staying Calm Under Pressure: Lessons from Bad Positions

Getting SMASHED sucks especially in Jiu-jitsu. A common thing that happens with newer practitioners is that it also introduces a panic response. This response can make you struggle to escape from the bottom in ways that leave you vulnerable to many submissions. Learning to be calm under pressure is an essential skill in Jiu-jitsu.

Dealing with the claustrophobic effect of being on the bottom can be very difficult. For many practitioners it can be a large block to their success in learning how to escape. Because they are not comfortable being uncomfortable they panic and leave openings that get taken advantage of by more skilled practitioners. Learning to overcome this effect is the first step to being great at escaping.

Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is a phrase that is thrown around in Jiu-jitsu a lot. What it means to me is that you should acknowledge when you are uncomfortable as only a temporary situation and that you can use the skills that you have learned to get yourself out of this position. Learning to pause and take a second to look around the position to see what is making you uncomfortable can be key to overcoming the panic response.

As you progress in Jiu-jitsu you learn that almost every move is stoppable and there are counters for everything. The more you are in bad positions in Jiu-jitsu the easier it becomes to recognize these positions and see how your escapes apply. Going through the struggle of trying to get out of these bad positions is difficult, but it is essential to improving and getting better at Jiu-jitsu.

My instructor, Keith Owen, used to say that “the lucky guy is on the bottom” when rolling. This is because he really emphasized being able to survive on the bottom first and then escape second. After you escape you can use your cool Jiu-jitsu. This is a philosophy I try to carry through to my students as well. Being comfortable being in those bottom positions is a great skill to have, because at some point someone is going to put you in those bad positions and then you have to know how to get out.

Big guys, I say that as a big guy myself, it is imperative that you spend time on the bottom. It is really easy for big guys to fall into the trap of using their size to be on top. Especially when you are newer to Jiu-jitsu you will be tempted to utilize your size and strength to overpower people and get there. As a big guy, get comfortable being on the bottom. It will literally save you from having to learn it later when you start bumping up against people who can put you on your back. I generally make a rule for big guys at certain points in their training where they cannot be on top unless they sweep their partner twice. This forces them to play the bottom position and work on the skills for being on the bottom to improve not just playing the default top position.

Getting stuck on the bottom sucks and can be extremely demoralizing, but getting used to being in those positions can drastically improve your grappling. As we know no one is unbeatable, there are always going to be people that can put you on the bottom so getting used to the position sooner rather than latter is going to be essential.