Grip Fighting

Understanding how to fight for and maintain grips can be the difference between success and failure. Mastering grip fighting gives you control of the fight, improves your efficiency, and allows you to execute techniques with precision.

Examples

  • Breaking collar grips to prevent chokes or sweeps.
  • Securing sleeve and collar grips to set up guard attacks.

Why Grip Fighting is Important in BJJ

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Control

  • Grips allow you to dictate the pace and movement of the fight. Controlling your opponent's grips means controlling their ability to attack or escape.

Examples

  • In guard
  • Sleeve and collar grips help you control your opponent's posture and set up attacks.
  • While passing
  • Breaking their grips on your collar or pants prevents them from slowing your movement or sweeping you.
Control the grips, and you control their ability to execute techniques effectively.

Posture Management

  • Grips are essential for breaking or maintaining posture. Without proper grip control, it's harder to create the angles needed for sweeps, submissions, or passes.

Examples

  • Breaking posture in Closed Guard
  • Collar grips allow you to pull their head down to disrupt their balance.
  • Maintaining posture while passing guard
  • Gripping their hips or belt keeps them from pulling you into a bad position.
Good grips give you leverage to control posture and limit your opponent's attacks.

Initiating Offense

  • Most attacks, whether sweeps or submissions, begin with securing grips that allow you to manipulate your opponent.

Examples

  • Triangle setups
  • A sleeve grip keeps their arm controlled while you lock the triangle.
  • Arm drag
  • Gripping the sleeve or wrist allows you to pull their arm across their body and set up sweeps or back takes.
Strong, purposeful grips create openings for attacks and submissions.

Defending Against Offense

  • Breaking your opponent's grips is one of the best ways to shut down their attacks and regain control of the fight.

Examples

  • Preventing guard retention
  • Breaking their collar and Sleeve Grips stops their ability to control your passing.
  • Defending takedowns
  • Stripping a Lapel Grip or wrist control prevents them from setting up throws or trips.
If you neutralize their grips, you neutralize their ability to effectively attack.

Positional Dominance

  • Grips allow you to maintain control in dominant positions by restricting your opponent's movement.

Examples

Effective grips ensure that you stay in control and dictate the terms of the fight.

Balance and Base

  • Grip fighting allows you to off-balance your opponent while maintaining your base, making it easier to sweep or pass.

Examples

  • Guard sweeps
  • Using a sleeve grip to pull them forward, breaking their posture and balance for a pendulum or scissor sweep.
  • Standing exchanges
  • Controlling their collar or wrist while disrupting their balance for a trip or takedown.
Off-balancing your opponent with grip control sets up dominant positions and transitions.

Preventing Stalling

  • Grip fighting keeps both practitioners active and engaged, preventing stalling by forcing reactions and creating opportunities for movement.

Examples

  • In Closed Guard
  • Breaking their grips prevents them from locking you down and forces them to react.
  • While defending takedowns
  • Stripping their grips keeps them from holding you in place while they set up throws.
Winning the grip battle ensures that you're constantly in control of the pace and flow of the fight.

Energy Efficiency

  • Proper grip fighting ensures you aren't overexerting yourself unnecessarily while forcing your opponent to work harder.

Examples

  • Guard retention
  • Strategic grips on their collar and sleeve let you control their movement without using excessive strength.
  • Passing guard
  • Using grip control to pin their hips or knees reduces their ability to resist while you conserve energy.
Effective grip fighting is about precision, not brute strength.

How to Improve Grip Fighting in BJJ

Learn to break grips

  • Practice techniques to strip your opponent's grips, both in gi and no-gi contexts.

Focus on grip placement

  • Aim for strong, high-leverage grips (e.g., deep collar grips, pant grips near the knees).

Drill specific scenarios

  • Incorporate grip-fighting drills into your training, such as grip breaks while passing guard.

Build grip strength

  • Supplement your training with grip-strength exercises like gi pull-ups, towel grips, or rock climbing.

Understand timing

  • Effective grip fighting isn’t just about strength; it’s about timing when to establish, break, or manipulate grips.