Into the vortex: There are two modes of Jiu Jitsu that must be mastered as you go deeper into your Jiu Jitsu journey. The first concerns the ability to SHUT DOWN YOUR OPPONENTS MOVEMENT. This is perhaps the most common approach to Jiu Jitsu. Most of your time on the mat will be devoted to taking an opponent to the floor, gaining top position and getting past his legs into pins and immobilizing him until you can strangle him or joint lock him. There is however, another modality – the opposite of the first – TO CREATE MOVEMENT THAT WE CONTROL BETTER THAN OUR OPPONENT DOES. This is the method of creating scrambles where at the outcome of the scramble we have advantage. Learning to enter into a scramble and emerge with advantage is one of the most fascinating studies in Jiu Jitsu. It looks like chaos – but if you enter with a plan and a skill set you can reliably emerge with profit. Here, Garry Tonon, the best scrambler I ever saw, creates a whirlwind of movement to throw off the great world champion Gilbert Burns in an effort to turn an inferior position into a dominant one. Later in the same match he would go further and use a similar action to enter into a spectacular match winning leg lock, showing once again his expertise in this thrilling aspect of the sport.
