Jiu-Jitsu strategy

Hey Lana, how are you?

How are you?

I'm well, I'm well. Looks like you're in the car. I guess you're driving to, uh, meet for Logan?

Yes, we are.

Got it. Well, it's great to see you fight yesterday. Do you call it fight or compete, or how do you call it?

Any term works. I mean, but mostly compete because I'm in competition.

Well, and I was wondering if— do you know what connotation is?

Not fully, no.

Okay, I'll use it. I was wondering if the connotations of fight, the word fight, were too aggressive. The connotations are kind of the emotional, um, you know, the emotional side of a word. So You know, you were competing, but in another sense, I guess fight sounds like a real, um, antagonism or aggression between people. Is that accurate?

I think so.

Okay, so compete. But anyway, you had a good time competing yesterday?

Yes, I had a lot of fun.

Okay, so now that I have had the pleasure of watching you compete, I'm in my mind I broke what you were doing up into 4 pieces, and let me explain them to you and see if that makes sense. On the one hand, there's preparing for the competition, preparing for the match, where you're kind of psychologically getting yourself ready. 2 is the first 2 minutes of the match, um, where you're taking down your opponent and then pinning them for as long as possible. Third is the after the 2 minutes when you can make points. And then fourth is when you're done with the match and you're greeting people afterwards. Does that make sense?

That makes sense. I, but I feel like, I think the, the innermost two steps, the ones when we're actually in the fight, vary more. But I think overall that is a good, um, I think that's a good just overall general description of the ADCC matches.

Okay. Um, by the way, your sound is a little bit rough. I don't know if there's anything you can do to improve your sound. Um, maybe.

Can you hear me better now?

Yeah, closer is probably better. So let's focus in on those— the match itself, which is fair. So tell me what you're trying to do in those first 2 minutes. Tell me what your strategy is, you know, what you're trying to do, and all of that.

Well, in the first 2 minutes, there aren't any points. So that, um, or it's kind of making you want to be more aggressive and not hold back. I think it initializes the fight a little bit more where you can't really just hold in a position for long periods of time. So I mean, it depends on your opponent in the match, but just— and then I guess just be more aggressive. Because you want to get to a good position when the points period starts so that you can get as many points as possible so you're not behind.

So that makes sense. What it looked like to me you were doing is in both cases you tried to take the person down as quickly as possible, and once you had them down, to kind of get on top of them and kind of keep them down and dominate them. Does that sound right?

Yes, that's what happened in those two.

Are you trying to get your opponent to be exhausted or intimidated, or you just want to control her? What are your goals?

I think all of those are goals. It's just they happen and I don't necessarily think about them. I mean, it depends on how the fight goes. Of course, it could go either way.

Got it. I guess one of the reasons I bring up exhausted is, um, when, when you're done with the 2 minutes and points start to happen, then, uh, you know, the concern would be— or I, I would think your concern is, what if she totally takes over? When once— when I let her go— because you have to let her go to switch positions to get points— once you let her go, is it— and it looked like a couple of times she almost could, you know, got you down on the mat. Um, so How do you think of— where do you want to have her at the end of the 2 minutes? What are you thinking of as a good position to be in at the end of those 2 minutes?

Well, I mean, when the points period starts, you definitely not want to be on bottom with them on top of you unless you're in guard and you're in a good position, because when you're in guard and you're on bottom, Even though it might sound weird, it's, it's actually a good position because there are more attacks on bottom guard than on top, in my opinion.

What does it mean to be on bottom and guard? I don't know what that means.

So on bottom and guard is when you're on bottom and they're on top, but they're not necessarily on top of you getting points. There, you could say in between your legs, you have grips and they have grips, they're trying to get past your legs and get to a controlling position. But in order to do that, they have to pass your legs. And there are multiple attacks and sweeps and stuff from there. So that is considered definitely a good position. A lot of people like that.

Got it. So it sounds like you recognize a lot of different positions. And I assume you've got so much experience and so much training that when you're in a particular position, you have strategies for getting out of it and flipping things around?

Most positions, yes.

So when you're in the points thing, let's go into that, and it's switching back and forth, um, how do— first of all, how do the judges give points? Because, because I don't understand the rules very well. It just looks like you move her around, she moves you around, kind of goes back and forth. What should I be looking for in terms of what counts as a point?

You should be looking for different positions. In some cases, if I get to a certain position, they award me a certain amount of points. If— and then another case, when you're in guard and the person on bottom gets on top, that's called a sweep. That awards you a certain amount of points. And so those essentially rack up, and then that's how you get points. It's not necessarily just movement, it's control and then, um, gaining the upper hand, I suppose.

So control of the other person and gaining the upper hand over the other person?

Yes.

Okay. And then, um, when, when you get control, is it in your interest to let her go to get more points so that you can switch things around again? Rather than just maintain a certain controlling position?

Well, again, that varies. Um, it depends on your position. You could have a really good position and there could be a lot of opportunities for you there, so you wouldn't necessarily need to or want to let go. But there are calls for stalling, so you would need to do something. Um, and then again, it depends on the position. Um, in order— I think in my case, the matches that you watched I sort of let go to get to another position, and it didn't always work. Um, I feel like you don't want to necessarily let them go. You want to move and switch positions in a controlled manner, and at least that's how I like to do it. Um, but sometimes, I mean, everybody is really good, so it may look like I'm letting go to go to another position.

And if you, you know, I mean, if you have control, um, I guess I'm wondering if you've already gotten points for getting to a certain position, how do you get more points?

Well, you get more points by going to different positions, and I guess it's a way of asserting, um, dominance in a few positions. It's if you're able to get points By looking at points, and that means you are sort of— that would mostly mean that you're leading the match because they are succumbed to your movements and they're being controlled because you've gotten points for being in certain positions.

Got it. So instead of, as it were, letting them go, sometimes if you were really in a powerful position, you could be dominating them and controlling them in one position. And you could flip them over and continue to dominate them in another position, but you would get points because now you're dominating them in a new position. Is that accurate?

Yes, but there's— you don't get points for every position though.

Why not? What— why are— why are there some positions you don't get points for?

I'm not really sure, but I guess I would assume that it's because, um, well, number one, more different positions are better than others. And two, there's a lot of different positions, and I feel like if every one of them gave points, it would be too much. So there are a certain handful of positions, they're pretty, they're pretty common, but you get points for them.

And would you say in general those points are you have a more clear-cut case of control or dominance? That is, if it was a real fight, you would more definitely be winning? For the positions you get points for?

I think, yeah, most of the positions, if you were in an actual street fight and you had your opponent say he didn't really know how to fight in them, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

Got it. Okay. All of that's a really helpful, more granular understanding of what's going on during the match itself. And then, yeah, talk to me a little bit about what your goal is prior to the match. I mean, it looked like you were trying to get focused. Is that accurate?

Yes, that's accurate. I think that's definitely beneficial. You need to get focused. Being distracted doesn't help.

How many minutes before a match would you say you start to become serious about focus?

I think that in the two matches before my match, I start to sort of just walk around and maybe jog a little bit and stop and then just, I guess, like you say, start to focus.

And are you thinking, what are you thinking? What's going on in your head when you're doing that?

Especially if it's a hard match, I think of all the work I've put in. We put in a lot of work every day, and I'm proud of that. So thinking of that and then also thinking of that my end goal at the end of the match definitely helps.

And it's just a good overall And your end goal is simply to win, or is it more detailed than that?

Most of the time, in simple form, it's to win. There may be a goal larger than that, but I mean, in simple terms, in order to win the bracket, you need to win this match.

And then before match, I also see you going and greeting people and saying hi and that kind of thing. Does that mess up your focus at all, or you can stay in focus even while greeting people?

I can stay in focus. Um, I think, you know, I go say hi to friends before tournaments because they may be in my corner— or sorry, before matches. Um, but I think I don't do that to such an extent that it gets me unfocused. I think I am definitely still focused while I do that.

And then after the match, um, are you just kind of completely done, or how would you describe what you're doing or you're feeling after the match?

Well, after the match, I mean, it depends on what match it is because there's a beginning match, there's your first match, and then there's your last match of the day or the bracket. If you win your last match, you're either in the finals or the match for bronze. So I mean, after that, or just say after your finals, I guess. I pulled down, I, I got the medal with you and my dad, and then, um, greet more people, I guess, as you say. And since my time is— or my time in the mat, in the arena, in the match, on the mat is over for that day because I've completed my last match, win or lose, then I mean It's fun.

Would you say you're relaxed and happy, or do you feel a sense of achievement when you win?

Oh, yes, definitely. Because I think I still get a lot of nerves, especially, um, uh, for certain tournaments. And then if it's out of state or out of city, especially because it's just far away, um, and that probably means it matters. Or the tournament matters more than some others. So I think definitely either if I win or lose, there is sort of a sense of achievement and relaxation than prior to the match— matches, I should say.

How do you take losing? Are you a good loser? Not a good loser? Depends?

I mean, I think I'm a good loser. I think I try to stay a good sport, and I think I do. Of course, it's not what everybody wants, but I think sometimes you have to lose to grow.

It seemed like the girl you beat yesterday was crying after you beat her. Is that common for people to cry when they lose, or is that rare?

Yes, I cry when I lose.

But you do.

I feel like I try not to, but I think at the moment there are so many emotions that come up on you that sometimes it's hard not to, but I think you can still be a good sport while doing it.

Got it. Well, it was fascinating. Of course, I've heard about your jiu-jitsu forever, but it was really fascinating to see you actually competing like that. And yeah, it was fun to see you in person. Anything else for today?

No, I was really glad to see you in person. Thank you for coming out.

You're welcome. Good luck to Logan for today.

Thank you. I'll let him know.

Goodbye.