Pressure Guard Passing and Postural Deviation : by Michael Jen

This article was emailed to me by Michael Jen from http://www.jenbjj.com/

Most Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners have heard the term "posture" most commonly used to refer to defensive positions when in an opponents closed guard or on the bottom of a pin or the mount. What must be understood is that posture really means the alignment of the body at every moment of every position. Therefore, postural alignment holds the key to not only understanding how to achieve maximum biomechanical strength, stability, and efficiency, but also how to take those qualities away from your opponent.

In order to understand this we need to first examine the ideal posture that serves as the original blueprint for the design of the human body in the standing position. From the front view, this consists of the center of the ankle, kne, hip, and shoulder joints being vertically aligned. In addition, the center of those 4 load joints on one side of the body should be horizontally aligned with the same joints on the opposite side of the body. Also, from the front view, the head and spine should be aligned with the center of the body. From the side view, the center of the ankle, knee, hip, and shoulder joint, in addition to ear, should be vertically aligned. This alignment should be the same when viewing the left and right side of the body.

If you were to draw a line from one joint to the joint that is either vertically above or below it and also the joint that is horizontally on the other side of it, those lines would form a 90-degree angle. If you examine the vertical alignment of the joints from the front and side view, in addition to the alignment of the spine from the front or back view, you will see that it is at a 90-degree angle to the Earth. So, if you look at the structural blue print for human posture, you will notice that it is based upon 90-degree angles.

When the alignment of the body begins to lose its 90-degree angles, what is created are known as postural deviations. The greater the number of deviations that occur and the farther from 90-degrees the angles, the weaker and the more structurally unstable the body becomes.

One of the most destructive postural deviations on the body is counter-rotation. Counter-rotation is when on side of the hips is rotated forward while at the same time, the opposite side of the torso is rotated forward. The more the upper and lower body are twisting in opposite directions, the weaker the body becomes. To comprehend how destructive counter-rotation is to the body, imagine doing a squat using a barbell loaded up with alot of weight with the upper and lower body severely twisted in opposite directions. It would be very clear that the greater the counter-rotation, the less weight it would take to make everything come crashing down.

For this exact reason, the application of counter rotation is an essential component to passing the guard with pressure. When an opponent is playing guard, he has the ability to use all his limbs against you at once. Power comes from the shoulders and hips working in unison. By applying counter rotation tot your opponents body, you are essentially severing the connection between those two sources of power. Once this disconnection occurs, all aspects of your opponents body weaken and it makes it that much easier to pass, and much more difficult to counter. Look at the guard passes that use pressure and see how the application of counter-rotation is an absolutely essential component.