Stylistic difference: Very often in training and competition you will face someone with a very different style from your own. It might be because they come from an entirely different grappling background, such as wrestling judo or sambo etc. or it might be because they had a coach with a very different jiu jitsu philosophy than yours. Whatever the reason, athletes need to keep a balance between their concern about WHAT THEIR OPPONENT IS GOING TO DO vs WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. I usually find that excessive worry about what the opponent will try to do is detrimental to performance. It is good to have a working knowledge of his game so that you don't get surprised, but your primary goal must always be to IMPOSE YOUR STRENGTHS RATHER THAN TRY ONLY TO NEGATE HIS. Here, gordon ryan takes on the very talented Russian wrestler, Rustam Chsiev, a man who has defeated many jiu jitsu champions with a fine blend of freestyle wrestling and grappling. In this match neither man could decisively assert their game on the other in regulation time – leaving it to a tense finish in overtime where Mr Ryan's submission skills won the day. Both Athletes did a good job of fighting to keep the game in their domain rather than get drawn into timidity through excessive concern about what the other fellow would do. It made for one of the most exciting EBI finals of them all and a great example to other athletes.
