Jab and cross for bjj

I've broken my personal view into little sections because it was looking like a horrible wall of text....

Dilemma
Personally, I think that, in terms of specific moves, it's actually subjective in BJJ and depends on the practitioner which I believe is the reason why we tend to go on much more of a tangent in our sport and look for wild cool-looking stuff, there's no one "technique" that fits the criteria.

Specific Move?
Things like the triangle can be hit from many positions and is an iconic signature of the sport, plus its very high percentage; these are a few things that match the criteria of the "jab-cross" but I think there are too many mechanics and moving parts involved to consider it a fundamental that everyone can and should be pulling off from day one.

Specific Control?
You could argue things like the kimura control as that's fairly simple in concept and application as well as being useful in literally every position that we find ourselves in as we grapple. But then there are extremely successful people that would not use it excessively. In boxing you are (or rather you should be) literally pumping out your jab and jab crosses constantly to set up various things.

It's easy in boxing because you only do it in one position...standing. So maybe we'd have to break it down per position, e.g. for standing the snap-down and arm drag could be your personal jab cross (it is mine) but this is still subjective because I know many more people better at standup grappling than I that wouldn't use these nearly as much.

The Answer according to me
So when it comes down to it, I think the Jab-Cross of BJJ has to be on a conceptual level; i.e. the open elbow concept. In every and all positions I should practically always have the focus on a) keeping my elbows closed to my sides, and b) occupying the same space of my opponent with some part of my body. This concept is simple and can be taught day one to anybody to make them infinitely more successful in grappling the second they apply it. It's universal and is used from takedowns to guard passing to attacking and defending submissions. It's applicable to everyone from the lowest white belt to the highest world-beating competitor.

Why it's hard to teach and possible workarounds
And herein lies the problem in teaching the Jab-Cross of BJJ to people, it's not really a specific move and it's extremely boring to talk about and practice. I have spiced it up in the past by tying people's arms to their sides with a belt and telling them to survive for 2 minutes whilst their opponent tries to submit them with an open canvas for attacks. This makes it all of a sudden more interesting to practice and helps you refine what makes the 'technique' work well at a high level; timing and angles. Sure they could start working for leg attacks or paper cutters, which if you just lay there would get you submitted. But in order to hit any submission they still need to control you which is very hard when they can't get under your arms, so you start timing your movements and angles so that they can't secure the submissions that they can actually achieve whilst your arms are glued to your side; which is the final parallel with the Jab-Cross, extremely easy to do but equally hard to master.

Very good answer. My jab is grip fighting and tieups. Jab is a feeler for distance and sets up cross. Grips are the tool for controlling opponents balance and posture and breaking structure.

I don’t know what a cross would be. Not there yet :)

I agree with Pred500. Understanding that concept of controlling / protecting that space is what helps newbies improve the most IMO.
To continue the boxing analogy, no point learning to throw punches if you don't know how to cover your chin.

shrimping and hip heisting

Pred500, post: 63980, member: 33377

I've broken my personal view into little sections because it was looking like a horrible wall of text....

Dilemma
Personally, I think that, in terms of specific moves, it's actually subjective in BJJ and depends on the practitioner which I believe is the reason why we tend to go on much more of a tangent in our sport and look for wild cool-looking stuff, there's no one "technique" that fits the criteria.

Specific Move?
Things like the triangle can be hit from many positions and is an iconic signature of the sport, plus its very high percentage; these are a few things that match the criteria of the "jab-cross" but I think there are too many mechanics and moving parts involved to consider it a fundamental that everyone can and should be pulling off from day one.

Specific Control?
You could argue things like the kimura control as that's fairly simple in concept and application as well as being useful in literally every position that we find ourselves in as we grapple. But then there are extremely successful people that would not use it excessively. In boxing you are (or rather you should be) literally pumping out your jab and jab crosses constantly to set up various things.

It's easy in boxing because you only do it in one position...standing. So maybe we'd have to break it down per position, e.g. for standing the snap-down and arm drag could be your personal jab cross (it is mine) but this is still subjective because I know many more people better at standup grappling than I that wouldn't use these nearly as much.

The Answer according to me
So when it comes down to it, I think the Jab-Cross of BJJ has to be on a conceptual level; i.e. the open elbow concept. In every and all positions I should practically always have the focus on a) keeping my elbows closed to my sides, and b) occupying the same space of my opponent with some part of my body. This concept is simple and can be taught day one to anybody to make them infinitely more successful in grappling the second they apply it. It's universal and is used from takedowns to guard passing to attacking and defending submissions. It's applicable to everyone from the lowest white belt to the highest world-beating competitor.

Why it's hard to teach and possible workarounds
And herein lies the problem in teaching the Jab-Cross of BJJ to people, it's not really a specific move and it's extremely boring to talk about and practice. I have spiced it up in the past by tying people's arms to their sides with a belt and telling them to survive for 2 minutes whilst their opponent tries to submit them with an open canvas for attacks. This makes it all of a sudden more interesting to practice and helps you refine what makes the 'technique' work well at a high level; timing and angles. Sure they could start working for leg attacks or paper cutters, which if you just lay there would get you submitted. But in order to hit any submission they still need to control you which is very hard when they can't get under your arms, so you start timing your movements and angles so that they can't secure the submissions that they can actually achieve whilst your arms are glued to your side; which is the final parallel with the Jab-Cross, extremely easy to do but equally hard to master.

The first time I heard Jab Cross as it relates to BJJ was from Priit Michaelson, his methodology relates primarily to a defensive mindset. One aspect of his methodology is to identify a realistic offence and from there a proper defence can be found. He advocates 5 defensive positions: Turtle, Panda. Running Man, Hawking and baby bridge from which he can defend everything!?