Okay. I lied. Inadvertently, but, nonetheless, I must eat my words. Two weeks ago, in my article on Technical Extraction, I suggested it was my close-out technique analysis on Coach Dan’s Entanglement Protocol video series. After weeks of breaking down some of the drills and techniques that showcased the use, goals, and how-to of some specific tricky grappling positions, I took a look at the importance of the Technical Get Up in tying all of these techniques together. Proper extraction is the positional goal of entanglement when a submission finish is not safely available. However, this 4th video in the series left me feeling somewhat incomplete in my analysis as it brought forward one more extremely important unifying aspect of the entanglement game.
Orientation—or, Rather, REorientation
Why is this aspect important enough that I must not leave it out? For one, it is the guiding principle of the entanglement game. The entire purpose of entanglement is to take a situation from somewhat disadvantageous to neutral (or ambiguous) to advantageous. This happens by creating a chaotic situation, while controlling it enough to be the first to act or the one to act more correctly. To avoid simply creating a completely uncontrolled chaotic situation, and throwing caution to the wind regarding the outcome, we all must become proficient in reorientation. This brings me to the second reason that I was compelled to add this piece to the entanglement technique analyses. It requires practice, and lots of it! This is vital to build the Second Nature Feel that is required in the fast-paced scramble of the entanglement game. The reorientation must be happening in the moment, ideally “on the way down”, as Dan makes a point of multiple times in this installment.
“Reorientation is the act of figuring out again where you are in relationship to your environment, or changing direction. If you’re lost in the woods, a compass and map are good for reorientation.
Reorientation is often related to location: figuring out where you are and pointing yourself in the right direction. A football player who gets spun around on the field may need a quick reorientation so he doesn’t run the wrong way. But reorientation is also about rethinking, and maybe changing, the way you approach something, like an idea or a project.”
I like this explanation of reorientation from Vocabulary.com, especially how well it covers the concept as applied to grappling. Coach Dan talks about both the physical act of reorienting the body to extract in an advantageous direction as well as the mental reorientation to change the way you approach some of these tricky positions (doing the unexpected and avoiding first instincts of escape that may still leave you vulnerable).
From the reverse DLR sweep shown, first instinct may be to escape by “sprinting out” leaving your leg or back vulnerable to attack. Similar to the entanglement technique we analyzed to disrupt an impending X-Guard Sweep, Dan does the unexpected and disrupts the sweep by rolling under and becoming more entangled in a more neutral orientation. This offers the building blocks necessary for proper extraction: hiding behind your opponent’s limbs to offer less access to your own, maintaining equal to better control of your opponent’s body parts, and acting first to brace or frame off of your opponent while “untying the knot” for bottom-leg extraction into an advantageous position.
While both world-class competitors show some excellent reorientation instincts in this match, it is clear that Paulo has one of the best inner compasses in the world:
Your Inner Compass
The reason that practice is of such importance to the concept of reorientation in the entanglement game is that it is so time-sensitive. In the second part of the video, Dan covers the reorientation needed from the original attacker to still come out on top (even if the clean sweep was disrupted). This is not unlike when we examined the second side of the X-Guard story in November’s piece Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave!
Drilling these less instinctive movements from both sides of these more advanced and ambiguous position and situations will help you to develop an “inner compass” that will reorient faster than your opponent’s. As you level up in the grappling world, this will determine who gets the upper hand in each scramble. Higher level grappling is rarely a single path approach applied step by step as expected. Your opponents will constantly be disrupting your intended path and forcing you to reorient. Your inner compass needs to become so solid that reorientation happens with the same second nature feel as your fundamentals. If not, you will often be one-step behind and wondering why your opponents are continuously out-scrambling you.
Historically this is thought of a small competitor game, having regularly faced larger opponents from the bottom throughout their journey. As Jiu-Jitsu continues to evolve, competitors like Cyborg Abreu are erasing this idea and showing how effective it can be for all sizes. Efficient grappling works for all of us, and there is always someone bigger and stronger that can render your top game obsolete.
Here is some serious Big Man entanglement—a complete game must be complete!
Image credit: http://www.vitotechnology.com/gyrocompass.html
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