How Positive is Your Gripping?

By Fanatics Authors, May 25, 2018

It's a busy time here at BJJ Fanatics headquarters! In addition to all of the new content that we're working on, we've just spent the last two weekends reshooting Professor John Danaher's magnum opus Leg Locks: Enter the System and it's follow up which will be a complete look at his back attack system.

As customers and fans of BJJ Fanatics, we are striving to give you the best experience we can and due to the audio issues present in the first version of John Danaher's system, you will now receive an updated and improved version with drastically improved audio and according to John himself, a leaner more impactful version of the instruction.

If the preview video below is any indication, this new version is going to be simply amazing. You can take advantage of our mistake and get both versions if you order between now and when the new series is released.

In the video, John Danaher shares a philosophic look at BJJ grips and how they are used. For him, grips can come in two categories, those that are positive in nature and those that are negative. What is the difference?

Negative Gripping

Let's look at the negative side of gripping for John Danaher. Negative grips would be any grips that are not advancing one's plan or purpose. A negative grip would be one that is trying to stop an opponent from enacting their own plan.

Positive Gripping

On the other hand, positive gripping would be using one's grips to actively set up a position or a game plan. In the example shown in the video, John uses the double wrist grip to initiate an arm drag. The opponent reacts by protecting his back which opens up the opportunity to grip the lower leg and enter into ashi garami.

So the next time you grab the gi or your opponent's body, ask yourself, is this a negative grip where you're simply trying to stop or negate someone else's game plan or are you positively gripping to move forward towards your end goal?

John Danaher's Leg Locks: Enter the System series is going to change not only how you do jiu jitsu, but how you see and think about jiu jitsu. He is one of the most sought after coaches and instructors on the planet. His students dominate the world of submission grappling and his influence goes beyond the BJJ mats, to the cages of the UFC and Bellator.