Establish points of connection

The more you are in contact the better. The better the contact quality, the better the result

If you have made it so far in this book, you have understood the principles of BJJ and how it is necessary to take space away from your opponent in order to get closer to a potential victory and neutralise attacks or counter attacks. What we have not yet discussed is “points of contacts”. As an early BJJ practitioner you have no other option but to understand that you will be close to your partner, and the closer the better. This is understood naturally, yet what is sometimes more difficult to understand is why your attacks or your defences are not working properly; why you get swept, inverted; why you do not seem to be able to keep your more experienced opponent from passing your guard (getting past the hip line upwards towards the head); or you can’t seem to pass his/her guard. One of the principal reasons for this is the number and quality of contact points you establish versus your opponent.? ?

Ideally, you want to have four /points of contact: two with your hands and two with your legs. This allows you to follow your opponent in whatever direction he will move without being outpaced by sudden moves. He will literally drag you with him, wherever he goes. It is even possible to have more points of contacts if you can use your chest and elbows and knees at the same time.?

This is ideal but almost unachievable since you are fighting a resisting opponent. As you get closer to him, he will start feeling the danger, even if he is not an expert yet, just out of the pure body pressure. Let us go back to the ideal four points of contacts as a realistic ideal situation. With that in mind, we also need to assess if those point of contacts are quality-oriented points of contact or just quantity. For example, if you put both your feet on his left leg and both your hands on his left leg as well, you have four points of contact but at least two are totally useless.?

The idea of the contact is to be able to push and pull at the same time with two contacts, and push, pull, rotate and elevate your opponent with four points of contacts. We favor quantity in this case, assuming we are not so lost and inexperienced as to place all points close to each other, mainly because of timing. This means that at the same time we are trying to get point of contacts against our opponent he will try to do the same, and possibly even try to break the points of contacts we established.?

It is, and always is, a battle for the right points of contact, also known as “grips”. If we have three grips and the opponent only has two, we have the advantage and need to time our next advancing move in that moment before he recovers a third grip, or he breaks one of your grips. Grips are an art, and there are many ways to improve the quality of your gripping. As in everything in BJJ, in life, and in business, as you get more sophisticated the “devil is in the detail”. Ideally, we want to have more grips than our partner before we advance to the next move. Ideally, we also have grips that can elevate, rotate, pull and push at the same time to break our opponent’s balance in multiple ways.?

This is of course valid in Judo, Sambo and to a lesser extent Aikido as well. If you pay attention, most BJJ and Judo long time practitioners develop crooked and bent fingers due to continuous grip fighting. This is why they tape their fingers, as a support for the joints, to diminish the tremendous and continues stress they are put under.?

Practical application:

?I started my career in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and am therefore familiar with the practice of having to be in close contact with clients, in the right spots and at the right time. Yet the first time I heard a company talk seriously and professionally about “touch points management” was during my years at Philip Morris International (PMI). Touch points, especially for FMCG companies, are any points – virtual or physical – where you are in contact with your potential consumers. In the case of a company like Philip Morris, given the obvious market restrictions due to the nature of their products, these touch points are limited both in number, and in types of approaches you can have.?

This makes their efficiency even more important. Any touch point counts, be it a booth in a mall, a flyer, a promo person standing at the tobacco section of a supermarket, a webpage, a duty-free counter, a sport events etc. If you are smart and sophisticated, you will use these touch points to establish a strong, two-way communication with your clients, or potential consumers, communication which will allow you to anticipate their needs, and possibly even create more needs.?

Human beings are curious by nature and will always seek new things, products and brands, so the quality and duality of your connection with your customers is crucial to keep them with you against their natural instinct to disengage and try new things. Top tier companies go to great extents to use these touch points. Companies such as PMI make the best out of a restricted situation spending millions of dollars to create a great experience for the consumer.

What are your points of connection with your customers? Are they allowing you to have feedback and information needed to anticipate them and keep them connected? If they break one of the contact points, can you regain a better one??