Being in the room with the nickname “little Tony” for the adult class at 16 years old waiting for my turn to play King of the Mat at our Jiu Jitsu academy was by today’s standards like the wild west. King of the Mat was a takedown game that quickly pointed out who had wrestling or judo experience, or who was overall just plain tough. This was a time where Gracie Jiu Jitsu was being tested every day and taking on the challenge by any Martial Art or Martial Artists. It was an every Saturday experience to have challenge matches with street-tough guys. My second nickname was “The Skills Assessor” given to me by my Instructor Steve Maxwell. (The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Page 43)
Maxwell gave me this nickname, quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper because people during their first session did not want to take the basic classes, so Steve would make them a deal. If they could tap me out they could take the advance classes. I gained a lot of experience from these assessments and kept many people in the basic class. None the less on any given Tuesday night class, Steve liked to have wall drills like the King of the Mat because he had a background in wrestling at the time over 25 years. The rules were easy. The winner stayed and the loser returned to the line along the red wall.
I can’t remember the person’s name that was taking down the students that were in front of me because this person did not last long at our school. It was clear that this person back in 1995 was a black belt in Martial Arts based on his uniform patches that had karate logos that said so and it was noticeable that he had some experience in grappling as he was the King for a little bit there. As he took the person that was two ahead of me down, I stepped forward because it was my getting closer for me to win or lose. Right before I reached the on-deck spot, the person behind me, Nick Odorisio who would go on to become my friend and was a kickboxer (“Bando”-Google It), said, “He is crossing his feet.” I looked quickly to his feet and Nick was correct. The guy was crossing his feet when the opponent was circling him. Nick and I knew that he was going to beat the student and I was going to be next. Sure enough, it was my turn as I stepped to the center of the tatami with a little strategy. All of was thinking was how I was to take this black belt down the moment his feet crossed. It was just what I did. I can’t remember if I moved to the right or the left in a circle, but I did not rush it; I knew his feet would cross. It was a flaw in his movement. After the successful double leg takedown, I got up and smiled towards Nick because it worked. He smiled back because he gave me the strategy.
Now Nick always remembers that day because he has told the story to me and several of my friends over the years. This was the day he started to believe in Jiu Jitsu. He always tells that story that “little Tony took me down in less than 10 seconds after I gave him the strategy to beat the guy before him. Tony that little kid still green behind the ears of life.”
It is all true because Nick taught me a lot that day and I would go on to learn that I taught him a lot as well by using a judo sacrifice throw I learned from Relson Gracie that all of his years of Martial Arts training could not stop. And Nick, I hope that you read this and remember my second nickname.
It is with this story that I want to continue the study in part 2 of What Do You Stand For Tatum VS Gracie. In part 1, I explored the Kenpo Karate Neural Bow Stance and Rickson Gracie’s Fighting “Square Stance,” and how each person and specific stance counters the common upward kick to the groin by an opponent. The concept that was highlighted in addition to some of the benefits of the respected stances was the Shield vs Tilted Shield defense. If you have not already, take a look at part 1.
When you think of the lesson I learned many years ago about how flawed it was to cross your legs in your stance, there is much more to this study. In my Judo practice, I spent over a year training Ashi Waza (Foot Techniques) because I had injured my knee and had a very challenging time off-balancing my training partners; even the ones smaller than me. The strategy I wanted to apply was a simple strategy of lining up my opponent’s feet based on how his stance was when we gripped uniforms. My tripping technique used was a Sticky Foot variation of Ko Soto Gari (Minor Outer Reap). The idea was I would either get the foot trip or my opponent would be off-balance where it was easier to complete a secondary throw.
Think now of my strategy as it relates to you being 50 pounds heavier than at me and much stronger. Throw-in, pun intended, that I also have a bad knee that I really should be training Judo on. Think further that I know all this and in the open space it is going to be difficult for me to be successful; however, what if the mat was a tight rope ten feet off the ground? With our feet lined up, the first person to execute an ashi waza technique could leverage the balance. I did this for a year straight. Like the balance beam or tight rope, my goal was to use an opposite stance than my opponent, get his feet to lined up straight, and perform the sticky foot ko soto gari first. Since I started the move, my weight could balance against my opponent’s body while at the same time while we hopped on one foot together; I had the advantage. It becomes very easy to throw someone that is off-balance. You have the edge and with just a little bit more balance to throw him off the tight rope.
So far, this writing has told the story of the successful strategy of lining up your opponent’s legs in his stance and even getting the feet to cross. If I am going to explore Rickson Gracie’s fighting “Square Stance,” you are going to need to know how he is always in balance in the open space or a grappling situation. You are going to need to learn about invisible force and Rickson’s concept of connection in how it works. I have written about this in detail in my book, “A Story of Invisible Power- A Path Towards Jiu Jitsu Principles and Execution,” Yet more important for this writing, I would like for the knowledgeable Jiu Jitsu student(s) or instructor(s) to understand and learn that the real magic of Rickson’s “Square Stance” is how he uses it in the clinch during a real fight. Let us see how far we can go in this understanding?
When I teach Jiu Jitsu at seminars, private lessons, or even in group classes with development ranks or black belts, I like to say, “Show me your fighting stance.” It is even better when the person is a black belt in Striking arts like Kenpo, Karate, or Tae Kwon Do. What happens next is, almost 100% of the time, the person shows an “On-Guard” fighting stance with foot positioning like this:
From this type of conventional stance, I show them will hand pressure that the stance is strong when I push into them (North) and when I pull them towards me (South). We typically smile when I say, “So you are strong North and South.” Next, I step to the side, and with my tips of my finger and my thumb, I grip the kimono with the smallest amount of pressure to pull the person toward me (East) or push the person away from me (West). In both examples, the skilled black belt in a normal fighting stance loses balance and has to take a step. This is even worst or can be a much better learning experience when I am teaching a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. They all lose their balance. Rickson Gracie did it to me as well.
After I have, in a nice educational way, showed the limitations of the striking conventional fighting stance, and remember at a lot of people have a fighting stance with their legs from the beginning lined up, I tell the student or BJJ instructor to push or pull me North, South, East, and West. Ready go…
Invisible Force + Connection + Rickson Gracie’s “Square Stance = You are not moving North, South, East, and West.
People will look at Rickson’s “Square Stance” in a picture and think this is interesting to see how the arrows go, where the different pressures are, and the weight-distributions move. Some people with a lot of experience will say there is nothing new in Rickson’s stance because this type of stance is found in their Martial Art. Well, again, the magic is found in the Jiu Jitsu you don’t see. I mean, Rickson calls it Invisible Jiu Jitsu. His trick is that he can perform Invisible Jiu Jitsu with the expressions of principles.
These pictures are worth a thousand words because this “could be” one of the starting points on the path towards success in understanding how Rickson does it. There are many points that I have found to teach this type of Invisible Jiu Jitsu to others over the last 7 years from the time of this writing. I can do this because I understand how to connect the different key principles of Rickson’s Jiu Jitsu; he has taught me and has said now I am know his secrets with a smile.
Learning how to have a standing base (but better), how to have different types of standing base (that can be tested), and learning how to add resistance to these different types of basics are critical to understanding Rickson’s Self-Defense curriculum and help you really discover how the core techniques on the ground can be much more effective in realistic execution. The difference(s) in what he is doing vs other Gracie Jiu Jitsu family members is how the basics are challenged with resistance and more specifically how Rickson shows how to stack the deck using principles of leverage x10, base x10, weight-distribution x10, pressure x10 (if needed), and held together with his theory of connection which is almost everything. I hope by now I can make you start to think, “What Do I Stand For?”
All this described is only really understood by feeling. I could go on to point out the with Rickson and when it comes to his fighting “Square Stance,” he is always in proper balance; as I mentioned earlier in this writing. In the open space, no matter how the opponent moves with every step Rickson remains in base. This can be tested.
Do you know how many times I have taught Rickson’s “Square Stance” to other people, testing their balance North, South, East, and West to the point they think they got, and when I start moving in the open space and shout stop to only find them lining up their feet again? Too many to count. Every one of them lined up their feet when I play this game and shout stop. It is at this moment you are for the most part strong only North and South. You have nothing in terms of balance East and West. Rickson is always in a proper base and can hold himself accountable by testing it.
The Invisible Jiu Jitsu 102 logically flows to the next question to ask now that you better understand how to stand using Rickson Gracie’s “Square Stance.” The question now is, “Show me how you do a clinch?” It is in this example you can learn how to use connection theory x10. For now, we are exploring class 101 and Rickson’s “Square Stance.”
One day I hope to write about how the clinch, much like the stance, is yet another commonly misunderstood technique taught in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community. Too many instructors and practitioners teach/are taught to use their arms as the key leverage indicator or factor. The arms are the last thing; the last factor. Again, this can all be tested, held accountable, and was developed with blood from Rickson Gracie from his Vale Tudo (Anything Goes) professional fights in Brazil.
In this next part in the comparison of Tatum VS Gracie, I want to bring in a specialist and source some of his writing about Kenpo Karate’s Neutral Bow stance. Bill Parsons is my Kenpo Karate instructor. He holds a 7th Degree Black Belt in Kenpo as well as a 1st Degree Black Belt in Hapkido. Bill has also been a student of three different systems of Chinese Gung Fu. Has studied the Hawaiian art of Kajukenbo, and the Korean arts of Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do. Mr. Parsons also serves as a Program Administrator and Certified V-Instructor for the International Karate Connection Association (IKCA).
Bill says:
I’m following with interest your comparison of BJJ (Rickson Gracie) square stance with the Kenpo neutral bow. They are both strong and effective stances based on what they are meant to accomplish. I find it interesting that both deal with the receiving of force differently, due to the different applications of force.
The structure of the square stance is ideal for sustained pressure after contact, after all, it’s a grappling stance, and a good one. This contact may or may not initially impart a substantial impact force. I’d be interested to know how the attacker striking is handled. Absorption and/or smothering?
The structure of the neutral bow is ideal for nullifying substantial impact force, either through blocking or redirecting. While at the same time reducing exposure of vulnerable areas and maintaining the ability to employ counter-offensive weapons/movement.
Both receive and counter force; both position the attacker for a subsequent response. But I feel it has to be acknowledged what type of force it is. Is it force after the impact or force with the impact?
I may be wrong because so much goes into this, but my base observation is that one invites sustained contact pre-defensive maneuver, while the other avoids sustained contact pre-defensive maneuver.
A surface observation is to say that one counters grabs by grabbing back, and one counters striking by striking back. The real question is how effective is the grappling stance against a skilled striker (upper and lower case) and how effective is the striking stance against a skilled grappler (inside the wrists range)? At the end of the day, it’s not either/or; it’s both.
In Bill Parsons’ observables of my analysis in Part 1 of What Do You Stand For? Tatum VS Gracie, he has expressed some great points and has concluded the values of both stances. They are so many types of forces that occur in a real situation under stress. Too many to explore at this time.
However, to help answer Bill’s question about how Rickson’s “Square Stance” answers the elements of an attacker striking, well Bill that is the game of distance management and movement that all good strikers and grapplers understand. Rickson is not “very” different in this understanding. Gracie Jiu Jitsu has shown for many years the effectiveness of closing the distance against striking styles. In Bill’s words, “Absorption and/or smothering,” closing the distance to execute a clinch or takedown is completed with good timing. Rickson uses a lot of stop-hitting strategies, arm deflections, framing, and smothering pressure. It all really depends on the specific type of attack. One of the main goals is not to be hit.
I will leave this writing with a clue as to what makes Rickson much different when it comes to distance management and the use of space standing or on the ground. This is specifically Rickson Gracie’s application on how to influence the concept of “the middle” position(s). And one day again outside of my book, I would like to write about Rickson’s Concept of the Middle. – T –
Part 1 – What Do You Stand For? Tatum VS Gracie
To The Reader
The author will be most happy to receive your comments, including criticisms and suggestions. Noteworthy comments may be included in future editions or books on this series.
For more information about Rickson Gracie’s Jiu Jitsu, visit www.jjgf.com and checkout the Self Defense Unit. Likewise, for more information about Larry Tatum’s Kenpo Karate, visit www.ltatum.com.
For more information about Tony Pacenski’s books and instructional in Martial Arts, visit:
www.soulfight.net – Books, Instructionals, and Gear.
www.gunjiuniversity.com – Military Arresting Technique – Books, Instructionals, and Certifications.
Written by Prof. “little” Tony Pacenski
6 June 2020
