The term ‘just stand up’ has been around for many years within a BJJ setting. Originally used by those ignorant of BJJ and its powers to immobilize people, it has since spawned a more serious reputation. In this article, we shall look at where the term originally comes from, and whether there’s actually any merit in ‘just standing up’ as a defense against BJJ.
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The origin of the term ‘just stand up’
The meme “just stand up” is associated with the heavyweight mixed martial artist Derrick Lewis, who competes in the UFC. The phrase gained popularity during several of Lewis’s fights against other heavyweight fighters. In these fights, Lewis found himself on the ground in a disadvantaged position. At this weight, it would usually spell disaster.
However, he would ‘just get up’ and seemingly escape awful positions with ease. This would often come from being in bottom side control, where Lewis would fearlessly get to his feet and continue fighting as if nothing bad happened. Sometimes, Lewis would even manage to deliver a knockout punch to his opponents, resulting in a dramatic comeback victory. As a result, MMA fans would seriously critique BJJ and claim that it could be easily countered by standing up from the bottom.
So, does standing up work against BJJ?
If your opponent is bad at grappling or has little pressure on you, then standing up is doable. If ever you’ve sparred an athletic MMA fighter then pinning them down can seem impossible at times due to their physical attributes. Nonetheless, it seems that with Derrick Lewis, it’s more to do with his sloppy opponents rather than possessing some kind of holy technical ability to stand up in bad positions. Nonetheless, his ability to escape from the bottom has genuinely impacted the BJJ world in ways that you may not think. Basically, his style was adapted by Craig Jones, who added a more technical, BJJ-based twist to the art of ‘just stand up’. This leads us to…
Just stand up in BJJ
“Just Stand Up” is a popular instructional series by Craig Jones, an accomplished BJJ practitioner and professional grappler. In this series, Jones focuses on techniques and strategies related to standing up from various positions in BJJ, particularly when an opponent is attempting to control or submit from the bottom position.
The concept of “just standing up” refers to the idea of utilizing effective movement and technique to regain an upright position and escape potentially disadvantageous situations on the ground. Jones breaks down different scenarios, such as being in side control or turtle, and then safely escaping, avoiding submission attempts or back takes in the process. In this DVD, he provides detailed instructions on how to navigate these positions and stand up safely and effectively. In short, you could almost claim this is a defensive form of wrestling up, that includes technical stand ups, reversals, and the correct grip fighting.
Conclusion
If the term ‘Just stand up’ was real, then BJJ and wrestling would be completely useless in BJJ and MMA. It turns out that if someone has great pressure and control over you, then it’s actually way harder to just stand up to escape from the bottom. Nonetheless, there is some skill in what Derrick Lewis did. And, as seen by Craig Jones – if you really learn how to stand up correctly and utilize space whilst on the bottom, then just standing up is a legitimate way to get out of bad positions and avoiding submissions or ground and pound in the process.
