Money-JiuJitsu (Part-1): How To Win The Pan Ams

What if I told you there was one thing that you could do that would allow you to win 80% of all your jiu jitsu matches. That’s right 80%,  and you can do this effectively against top level competition. Jiu Jitsu like any other sport is measurable, and if you play the numbers your likely to come out on top. I often think that people get a very skewed view of what’s really happening at a high-level of jiu jitsu competiton. Neither competitor is out there playing around, they adopt a very strategic approach as to how they want to beat the other competitor. If they don’t, they lose, it’s that simple.

Just like in Moneyball when GM’s and player evaluators changed their way of predicting success, I’m calling for a re-evaluation of how we measure and compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This will be the first part of a multiple-part series profiling the 2012 Pan Am’s and what the numbers tell us about finding competitive success. I reviewed almost 50 matches from this years Pan Am’s and collected over 200 different statistics that I will share with you over the next 2 weeks, and there are some very clear patterns that we can all learn from.

Back to that “thing” that will allow you to win 80% of your matches…..

Your goal shouldn’t be to “win matches” or even submit your opponent (wait! keep listening), it should be to score points. “But, I don’t want to score points, I want to submit my opponent and dominate him”, you might say. I agree, but if you want to win and you want to submit your opponent, points are the top predictor of both of these things. Allow me to explain.

The first person to score points won over 80% of the matches at this years Pan Ams. Clearly being the first person to score is a dynamic and imperative advantage. How does this effect you? Obviously we are all always trying to score points, but with this new information in mind shouldn’t you tailor everything you do around being the first to score? The match starts on the feet, what next, how are you going to be the first with points. If you don’t score first you already have a less than 1/5 chance of winning.

But points mean more than winning for the sake of points for one simple reason…

Of all the submissions recorded in almost 50  matches the person who was up on points almost unilaterally was the one getting the submission. Furthermore, 56% of the time the person who scored first was able to achieve a submission. So not only are you 80% more likely to win if you score first, but you are 56% more likely to get a submission as well.

So in review….

My advice, be the first to score! Your chances of winning decrease so much if you don’t.

Easier said than done, huh? Stay-tuned this is just an appetizer for what’s to come. In the next few weeks I’ll show what the numbers say about how to be the first to score, what the best submissions are, the most effective back takes, the most effective passes, the most effective sweeps, and what positions and techniques to avoid.

Please take the time to share this material on your social media profiles. This was a lot of work, and I believe when I am done it will go along ways to improving and growing the sport.

God bless,

Tyler and Jena Bishop