I have had a problem lately with getting swept by certain blue belts that know a ton of sweeps and use them to quickly turn the tables on me during training. A sweep occurs when the participant, who is underneath, or on bottom, has his opponent in his guard (full or half) and is able to reverse the position, ending up on top of his opponent. It is worth two points in tournament jiu-jitsu and also puts the guy on the receiving end of it in a generally bad position. As an example of how Marcello coaches us to be better, he may occasionally put me with an opponent who is known for being good at or having advanced sweeps and instruct me to start on top and focus on not getting swept, losing points, and ending up in a bad position. In this situation I will play defensively, not particularly worry about submissions or scrambling to break the guard, and focus on keeping my posture and a good base. I will focus completely on not getting the position reversed on me, while my opponent (who also heard the instruction) will attempt multiple ways to do that to me, consecutively, until time is called.

This focused training method allows us to dissect our game and work on improving certain parts of it. It makes us better and more rounded BJJ practitioners overall. The team in there is very supportive of each other’s learning and advancement as well. In the scenario described above, the blue belt who is advanced in sweeping techniques will inevitably chop the white belt down and reverse the position eventually, and in my experience they are always good about using it as a learning experience by briefly explaining what they did and how it can be avoided. By teaching the techniques, they themselves are becoming more advanced at them as well. Then, of course, they’ll start over from the bottom, fight for a bit, and reverse the position on you again with a different sweep, if that is the drill. It is a learning experience for all, and an excellent way that Marcello is able to focus on improving certain aspects of an individual’s game by using other students.

At Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu Coach, once a student advances past the point of constantly fighting for his life all the time and learns how to use weight and leverage instead of strength to conserve energy, then they are able to focus on the intricacies and details of positions and techniques. That is when it truly becomes human chess and the participant must think several moves ahead. Marcello Monteiro teaches students how to think like this through focused drills and training.