Details vs General movement: Very often I get students come to me asking for details of a given move – the more details I give, the happier they get. This is a natural and good thing. However, I strongly believe that fixation on details can have detrimental effects in some instances. The moves of jiu jitsu are not all the same in overall character. Some of the moves are very STATIC in nature i.e. There is relatively little movement. For example, rear mount is a relatively static position, most of the control and finishes from here are small movements. In cases of static positions, details are paramount and very useful. Other moves/scenarios are much more DYNAMIC with large and fast movements. For example, a drop seoi nage throw. In the case of very dynamic movements, details are still very important, BUT THE STUDENT MUST first LEARN THE GENERAL DYNAMIC MOVEMENT BEFORE THE DETAILS IF HE OR SHE IS TO BE ABLE TO USE IT EFFECTIVELY AGAINST resistance – THE DETAILS WILL COME LATER. Wherever the overall quality of the movement is just as important as the details for success- BEGIN WITH THE OVERALL MOVEMENT AS IT WILL BE USED IN sparring AND COMPETITION- you can always go back to details later. If you begin the details, students will have a lot of theoretical knowledge but lack the movement skills to actually apply it. Here I am coaching ten year old squad prodigy Mikey Wilson details of our back attack system. Due to the fact that this is mostly a static position, the emphasis is on small details of placement and positioning and tactics.
