The BJJ flow chart is something that has been used by practitioners for years now, with some claiming they’re great and others being more skeptical of their uses. In short, a BJJ flow chart is when you write down moves and what other positions they’re linked to. For example, you could start with an open guard position. From there you can link the available sweeps and submissions, as well as passes and reversals. Because of this, BJJ flow charts are used to visually put down ideas into writing which is beneficial for some.
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How do BJJ flow charts work exactly?
The idea of a BJJ flow chart is to act like a tree with various parts and sections branching out. Because of this, the flow chart can be as in-depth as possible with various intricacies. Alternatively, it can be kept short and simple to avoid confusion and overwhelming positions if preferred.
The idea of a BJJ flow chart is that you can look through the chart at any moment to remember certain moves or possibilities. Supposedly, the more you look at the flow chart, the more you’re likely to remember its details. Ideally, this would then translate over to training where you can remember and visualize the moves associated with your position at the time.
These days, there are specialist websites designed with this in mind. The likes of BJJFlowcharts have quite a detailed system for its users to delve into.
BJJ flow charts for beginners
It could be argued that BJJ flow charts are a great tool for beginners to learn. One of the issues with new students is retaining new information and how things work. BJJ has a wealth of positions and has great depth, especially for new people. Because of this, flow charts are a great way of learning positions and how they link into other areas of BJJ. It’s also a good way to quickly learn the terminology of BJJ. Some new people may get confused with a lot of the names for the advanced moves. This means a flow chart is a good strategy to get comfortable with the positions and possibilities whilst training BJJ.
Building a game
The flow chart can be a useful method of developing a game, especially early on. Typically newer students lack a certain style that takes time to adopt. However, in writing down your best positions and the moves which stem from them, it can quickly lead to a distinct style. This is good in BJJ as it aids your development and leads to quicker progress. By equal measure, it’s just as important to add qualities to the weaker areas of your game. For instance, if you lack options from X-Guard, it can be useful to note down the possible sweeps from the position to fill holes in your game.
BJJ flow charts aren’t needed for experienced students
As said previously, the BJJ flow chart is a good tool for newbies. They keep moves fresh and can help visualize certain positions. However, the issue with the BJJ flow chart is that it’s not as applicable for advanced students. Usually a few years into the martial art, you’re somewhat comfortable with moves and how they work. After a while, moves will become second nature and ingrained into your physical and mental memory. Because your BJJ becomes natural, the need for a flow chart is probably less relevant when compared to a newcomer. Due to your years of experience training your brain is basically a flow chart, you already know which moves stem from which positions and don’t need to visualise this on a piece of paper.
Having said this, if you have previously gone through the effort of making a flow chart it can still be used to gloss over the moves of BJJ. Even BJJ practitioners with years of experience may need to refresh their memories every now and then, so a flow chart may have some use regardless of experience.
Nothing beats training in person
Whilst a flow chart may help some, it’s important to recognize that nothing beats training BJJ in person. This is similar to solo training with a grappling dummy or doing solo drills at home. In short, you need to physically experience training against a resisting opponent. This creates muscle memory which builds the foundations of your training and is what improves you the most. With this in mind, BJJ flow charts may be a useful supplement or tool. However, they aren’t essential for you to progress and should never be prioritized instead of training.
Less is more?
Further exploring the idea of a flow chart, you could argue that less is more. As previously mentioned, it’s up to the individual but you may want to keep it simple to avoid getting bogged down into the micro specifics of each move. For instance, from closed guard, there are literally hundreds of options to choose from. It’s probably best to break this position down into five sweeps and five submissions. This keeps things simple and doesn’t overcomplicate things. Whilst it may be tempting to write down as much information as possible, the reality is retaining a few key moves is probably more effective than trying to learn everything at once.
Summary
Overall, the idea of a flow chart for BJJ is a very good idea for beginners. After the beginner phase, it probably loses its effectiveness in terms of improving your game. However, at the same time as mentioned – it still may have its benefits in terms of refreshing the memory. In conclusion, BJJ flow charts are a good way to retain some initial ideas and link things together whilst training. At the same time, flow charts aren’t for everyone and depend on how the individual chooses to learn.
