Killers on the ground – competent on the feet: Over the years I've had the honor of working with many elite grapplers from other grappling styles such as judo and Wrestling etc. What I noticed is that these fellows were always absolute killers on their feet. Some of them were so skilled that they could literally take their favorite throw and toss someone with it from virtually any grip and even determine which part of their opponents body would land first in the floor. They could grip and then IMMEDIATELY throw/takedown. In addition to being absolute killers on their feet, they were also very competent on the floor. They were not elite level Jiu jitsu on the mat but they certainly weren't bad (there were a few exceptional athletes such as Flavio Canto and my student Travis Stevens who could match even elite level Jiu Jitsu players on the floor – but they were exceptional). This stood in contrast to many Jiu jitsu players who were absolute killers on the floor but incompetent on their feet. There are some exceptional Jiu jitsu athletes who are very competent in the standing position, but a disturbing number had a real discrepancy between their ground and standing skills. In Jiu jitsu you don't have to be a world beater in the standing position. No one is expecting you to hang with elite Judo or wrestling athletes whose primary focus is standing grappling – but you owe it to yourself to at least be COMPETENT at standing skills. When you train work with the ethos that you will become A KILLER ON THE GROUND AND COMPETENT ON YOUR FEET. That is an ideal that is easily attainable for us all and will make your eventual mastery of the sport much more rewarding and well rounded and give you a deeper understanding of the sport we love
