Approach on your own terms: Very often in the sport of Jiu Jitsu and indeed, any grappling sport, where you will break contact with your opponent and then have to re-engage. Every time this happens you will have to approach your opponent. When you do this – MAKE A HABIT OF DOING SO ON YOUR TERMS. What does this mean? Whenever you step forward to engage – both of you will have your respective aims – usually they will be directly opposed to each other. Both of you will be seeking some form advantage, which in this type of situation is usually an interesting amalgam of DISTANCE, ANGLE, LEVEL and GRIP. Have a sense l of what you want BEFORE you engage and you are much more likely to get off to a good start. Make sure also that you work to NEGATE what your opponent wants. Here, Georges St-Pierre approaches frank rosenthal and immediately takes control of the grips to prevent any kind of effective attack from the bottom player and setting up a safe entry into guard passing work. The game is hard enough already – don't make it harder by fighting on your opponents terms. Understand what you want upon approach and start working early to get it.
