The Stand Up Position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Of all the positions in BJJ, the stand up BJJ position is probably the least known position. BJJ is mostly known for the ground fighting techniques and not generally for the take downs. There is a very limited set of strikes in BJJ from the stand up position.

In BJJ, spacing and distance is a very important concept in stand up. In order to avoid strikes, a BJJ practitioner must stay out striking range. This can be accomplished in two ways.

The first way to stay very far away from the opponent. Keep in mind, some strikers can close the distance very fast. Whenever the striker attempts to come close, the jiu jitsu fight backs up and maintains the space. This concept is very important. Whenever the strikes moves backwards, the jiu jitsu practitioner moves forward to maintain the space. This is repeated until the jiu jitsu fighter can close the distance. This is accomplished by getting the fighter to commit to a strike or get the strike to move forward, while being anticipated by the jiu jitsu fighter. The jiu jitsu fighter will attempt to take advantage of the off balancing of the striker and shoot in at the point in which the striker is unbalanced.

Another technique for staying out of striking range is to stay very close to the opponent by grabbing onto them and staying out of their power range. The power range is the area in which punches, elbows, knees, and kicks can be thrown with maximum effort. This includes using the hips in the attack. One technique for staying close and out of the power range was used by Royce Gracie in UFC 1-3. Royce would shoot in and move to the side of the striker (e.g. under the armpit) and grab hold of his opponent. From there, he could take the opponent down without withstanding strikes with hip involvement.

For novice jiu jitsu practitioners, one concept to understand is that you should not take any shots to the head. Shots to the body can do damage, but it is important not to take a knock out blow.

As a BJJ position, stand up is usually practiced the least in BJJ. It was believed that no matter what would happen, most of the fights would hit the ground. In modern MMA, many fighters have practiced take down defenses that have stifled the attacks of less skilled take down MMA fighters. This is purely subjective though, depending on the skill level of the fighters.

Many BJJ camps now include judo and wrestling in the stand up curriculum. Judo and BJJ practitioners such as David Camarillo and Rhadi Ferguson have attained black belts on both of the arts and integrated the styles into their fighting systems.

The Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA has developed a system of self defense for stand up for Gracie Jiu Jitsu. This is primarily for reality situations in which people are attacked on the streets. However, recently a fighter has stated that he used Gracie Combatives in an MMA fight (Javier Vasquez). Stand up is a very important BJJ position.