Georges St-Pierre/Chris Weidman and bottom position: Two of the most impressive athletes I ever had the honor of working with were Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman. Both were UFC champions and both were outstanding wrestlers capable of taking down anyone in the basement very easily and yet, every time they came to train, THEY ALMOST ALWAYS PULLED guard AND WORKED FROM BOTTOM POSITION. Why? They KNOW they can take down anyone here and recognize that the value of a Jiu Jitsu room is its Jiu Jitsu skill – so they work exclusively in that domain and thus maximize the value of the session to their development. So often I see a Jiu Jitsu athlete training with a wrestler and just pull guard straight away. Doing so means you miss a fine opportunity to work your standing grappling/takedown skills. Of course there may be times you have to pull guard, perhaps for safety reasons in a crowded training room, or because you have a match coming up soon and you want to mimic your plan for the match etc But under normal conditions use your partners for what they are best at to maximize your development. Mr St- Pierre and Mr Weidman did it for years and both became fine Jiu Jitsu practitioners as a result. Of course they could have played a negative game and just avoided going down to the floor but they did not – THEY IMMERSED THEMSELVES IN THE SPORT THEY WISHED TO LEARN EVEN THOUGH INITIALLY IT PUT THEM AT A DISADVANTAGE. They did not care about that – only about their long term development- and in time, both became great champions. Follow their example – immerse yourself in the new skills of a different grappling style and let your skills grow by letting your concern about winning or losing go.
