Hey. Ando again from Happy Life Martial Arts. I'm blessed again to be
standing here with Stephan Kesting, founder of Grapplearts.com and Self-Defense
Tutorials.com. He's a mountain of a man and a mountain of good information, so I
hope you guys will listen up. Mr. Kesting, will you help us out. I got a problem here,
sir. I have a lot of friends who watch the channel and they don't have the
opportunity to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, maybe still don't believe
in wrestling and groundwork, if I don't know anything about groundwork, and I'm
still hesitating about joining a BJJ club, what are the top priorities if you
know-- you slip and you lose your footing in a fight, if you get hit
and you know you're going down, the guy's grabbing you, know you're going down, as
an experienced grappler guy, what are the first things that flash through your
mind as you're going down ? >> Okay. Well, there is sort of the conceptual level
and then there's a couple of technical things. I will do both. >> Okay.
>> We'll show actually some techniques per se, but first, to quote another Jiu-Jitsu
black belt, Kurt Osiander, if you go to the ground and you don't know what
you're doing, son, you F'd up a long time ago. You know, because
you can learn techniques, but unless you do some level of training of those
techniques, they're worthless. You can watch YouTube videos, unless you go and
train them with a friend, at a club-- you don't only have to do jiu-jitsu. You can do Judo,
submission grappling, catch wrestling, there are lots of systems where you
become comfortable on the ground. You know, that's that's my initial disclaimer.
Number two, don't panic. Fear is the mind killer. It is the little death. And if you
completely panic, you're gonna do stupid things. We've got to keep on thinking. I'm
sure we would probably agree-- never, it's always a little bit tricky with you--
>> Appreciate that. >>Because the brain is the most important muscle for self-defense.
You gotta keep on thinking because maybe there's is a different way out. Maybe you
should yell, maybe you shouldn't yell, maybe you get a weapon, maybe you shouldn't get
a weapon, maybe you should play dead, maybe you should hand over your wallet. It's all contextual.
So, don't panic. The way to not panic is actually to get comfortable on the
ground. At this range right now, we're in a casual conversational range. This is
the range that we're used to. If we were having the same conversation here, this
would be awkward for both of us. >> Well, kind of. >> On the ground, with the pressure,
people lose their minds because they're not familiar with the pressure
on the ground. So, the most important thing of grappling actually, is becoming
comfortable with that pressure on the ground. Again, you can only do it--
learn it by doing it. >> So, what are the stupid things that people do? >> Sure. stupid
things that people do. They turn their back. >> Okay. >> Let's assume I've ended
up on the ground. We're not gonna cover the process of getting to the ground.
Like you said, you could slip, try not to hit your head on the ground. Try and cover
your head. Try and bring your chin to your chest. Okay, that's stupid thing
number one. Falling like this. If I fall like this, in an expanded position, the
odds of my head hitting the pavement and be getting knocked out are worse, are much
higher than if I'm here. I bring my chin to my chest and I fall.
I might not know a breakfall, but I'd far rather land on my shoulders than
on the back of my head. Chin to chest. Number.
This big scary guy in a red shirt is attacking me." I'm gonna turn
away. This is suicide. First of all, I can't
defend . If you want to kick me... >> Ha!
>> If you want to punch me, you can punch me. Or you can choke me, right? If I'm here, AGH.
If you know what you're doing and a lot of guys know what they're doing these
days. >> Right. >>There are a lot of tough guys who watch the UFC and even if they don't
train MMA or BJJ, and a lot of them do, they still
understand the basic concept. They're jumping on someone's back and choking
them out. So, number one, don't turn your back. In Jiu-Jitsu, there are a couple of examples when you
turn your back, but it's a high-level tactic. It's like a spinning
back-kick of standing, right? >> It's because you already know what to do. >> Exactly.
>> You can break the rules once you know the rules. Don't start with it. >> Exactly.
Number two is if I'm fighting you, the basic concept of the jiu-jitsu guard is to get
my legs between me and you. I'm in a terrible position,I'm in a terrible
position, I'm in a terrible position, I'm in a terrible position, I'm not in a
great position, but this is better than all the alternatives. The difference is
you could kneel down please enter the difference between here being in my
dart and the difference with you sitting on top of me looks kind of similar but
it's a huge difference because I could bring my legs in what's my legs are in
the game I can control distance I can push you away I can if you're crunching
at me I can pull you in and I can keep you close I can keep you far away and
bringing my legs in this super important now the whole intricacies of the jujitsu
guard game we don't have time to go into so it just leaves everybody with this if
you stand up please and oh this in itself is well worth grilling one person
standing the other person on the ground without doing any sophisticated guard I
know you know what the guard passes just try and get past my legs we're just
going to be running here and I'm gonna be trying to put my feet even go far
away to just try and run around right I'm gonna be playing this kind of game
so long as I can keep my feet between me and you right I can control the distance
and I might be able to up kick one mistake one final bonus tip there's so
many people get into who's gonna kick you away and stand up get away from me
get away from me okay did you write all that on video that's beautiful the baby
drop Roach that's excellent don't get so focused on kicking that you lose the
position if I'm shaking like crazy you can throw my leg to the side and now I'm
screwed right whereas the main thing is keeping the
position if you come in a bit and I see that opening I think it I can kick I can
do various sweets I can use my feet but I don't want to do that expense of
losing the position it's like saying these a stand up analogy if you get
attacked just go like this close your eyes and cool like that and hold your
breath cuz you're gonna get tired so to recap chin to chest
if you fall yep protect your head and if you can't don't turn your back mmm
life is almost always better with your feet are in plate it keep the guy in
your guard keep the eye on your guard maintain that position drill that it's
actually a very non-threatening way to start your jiu-jitsu career sure it's
training with one person on their back the other person trying to run around
the other person especially with women especially with kids
we're like what do you mean you want me to put you in between my legs and pull
you down to work my chest sort of an open guard approach is much more
palatable often I find and then don't go crazy with the kicking you can kick but
maintain the position first all right there's a lot to think about there
practise falling practice being on the ground you put a pillow on your face
practice that feeling of suffocation practice getting up off the ground
practice kicking from the ground so there's a lot better you can practice
right now at home or even with your kid or your dog and they don't even know
you're practicing just orienting yourself and that's a lot of great
information. Thank you very much. That's excellent.
>> Always a pleasure, Ando. >> Thank you. And it's a good lesson there, something he said
at the end-- life is always better if you face your problems. So, every time you
turn away and you deny something, it's probably gonna make things worse. So,
face your problems, people. Until next time, keep fighting for a happy life.