There's a lot more to the standing game of Jiu jitsu than takedowns: When most people think of standing skills in Jiu jitsu they understandably think automatically in terms of takedowns. However, there are many other skills of great importance. Let's consider takedown defense for example. In Jiu jitsu a successful takedown scores two points. A strong counter to takedown that exposes an opponents back and enables you to secure rear mount will score double that – four points. So clearly takedown defense is a potentially very profitable skill that gets widely overlooked in Jiu jitsu. Let's look at pulling guard. This is typically seen as a defeatist strategy which intent is to prevent an opponent scoring on you (usually because you believe he has superior takedown skills to you). What if we changed our thinking a little and instead of passively pulling guard, we pulled directly to a SWEEP from guard? Pulling directly to a guard sweep is no more difficult than pulling guard. Now you can use guard pulling as a MEANS TO SCORE rather than a way to avoid being scored on. Interestingly you will score the same amount (two points) as you would have scored with a takedown. What if an opponent pulls guard on you? Most people just see this as an invitation to play the ground game. What if you saw it as an opportunity to score a quick guard passing off the pull? Now your up three points (more than a takedown) and putting your opponent under real pressure from the start. What about instead of pulling guard you pulled directly to a submission hold? An arm lock, leg lock or strangle? Then the whole damn match would be over! You can see that there are many very potentially lucrative standing skills that get far less attention than they ought to. Perhaps you can among the first to develop these and make them a feature of your game and reap the benefits!
