Reflections on ADCC 2017 – The lesson of Xande Ribeiro: One of the stand out performers at this years ADCC world championships was doubtless the great Xande Ribeiro. He had some truly memorable matches including an epic showdown with the man generally believed to be the best currently active jiu jitsu player in the world, Marcus Almeida Buchecha. In addition, Gordon Ryan's toughest victory was over Mr Ribeiro in a match so close it could easily have been ruled a draw in any other setting. An interesting feature of Mr Ribeiro's game this year was that he chose a very traditional style – he pulled closed guard on many of his opponents, especially those he believed were better than him in standing position. In an age of leg locking and innovative open guards, this is rarely seen in contemporary no gi tournaments. It was a brilliant decision however, as Mr Ribeiro was able to apply three of the best arm bar attacks from bottom position closed guard in ADCC history – on very tough opponents. The Technical precision and composure of his attacks was impressive not only to the crowd, but also the other athletes watching from the sidelines. Mr Ribeiro's brilliant ADCC performance paints a very clear lesson to all athletes in the sport – WHICH TECHNIQUES YOU SELECT IN PURSUIT OF VICTORY IS NEVER AS IMPORTANT AS THE DEGREE OF TECHNICAL PRECISION WITH WHICH YOU APPLY THEM. Don't obsess over which techniques are best, the truth is, almost all the major techniques of the sport can be used to attain victory – worry more about how good you are at applying whatever techniques you choose for your arsenal. Trends come and go – but technical excellence and precision in the execution of your chosen moves never goes out of style. Mr Ribeiro's fine performance was all the proof you need.
