Interview with Ryan Hall

**ViciousFlamingo** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 4:30pm

A friend forwarded this interview with Ryan Hall to me today. He makes a couple of interesting assertions.

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/?go=...0&page=1&pc=21

"The shrimp is not a legitimate move."

On the topic of inverted guard: "I don’t believe in it anymore. I’m not doing it anymore. I don’t really believe much at all in the guard, actually."

"You are never, ever allowed to sacrifice position. Ever. Period."

I don't really get the technicalities of what he's saying about the shrimp...can anybody explain?

**Ryno** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 5:08pm

People are always coming up with these crazy whacky schemes or 10 step moves that nobody has ever seen before to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Just get so good that you can tell me what you’re going to do and I can’t stop you. That’s when you have something.

This is when you know that you're a good grappler. It's funny but he's starting to sound a lot like a SAMBO player, with his focus on topside dominance, emphasis on takedowns, and avoidance of slow and patient guard play.

This is a really interesting topic, with regards to playing top game. As a bigger guy who can play topside decently, I've really been focusing on playing off of my back. As an impatient player, I often end up screwing myself just as he points out by trying to rip off a quick sweep or sub against someone who's savvy enough to avoid them. I often just end up just getting passed, then have to fight off attacks from other big boys who play a nice pressuring top game. It is miserable.

As he points out, most good guard players tend to be very patient and capitalize on opponents' mistakes. Patient, I am not. And my veteran training partners just keep getting better at catching on to my limited bag of tricks from the bottom. I can definitely relate to what he's saying about not wanting to be in that position.

**Blue Negation** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 5:47pm

Original article source: http://lockflow.com/viewtopic.php?t=21649

I can definitely relate to a lot of what he's saying. However, I do think he goes a bit far the other direction. We know very well that guard playing works well, too. He holds up Roger as an example, but seems to ignore all the cases where Roger uses regular old full guard to devastating effect.

My own grappling game went to another level when I started throwing, using more takedowns, and focusing heavily on half/butterfly/X-guard sweeping, so I understand. But I feel like he might just be overreacting to getting squashed by high level players when he couldn't pull off his usual bag of tricks.

I really can't go along with not armbarring from the top. If someone's a lot larger than you, for instance, armbars are one of the few powerful ways to submit them. If you armbar properly, even if you can't finish it you can transition back to mount.

He does sound a bit much like a catch wrestler or SAMBO guy, heh. I wonder what his new perspective on leglocks is.

**JohnnyS** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 6:38pm

Funny, because a number of the guys from my club (browns and above have all moved to doing sweep, pass, mount and choke. I think it is an obvious progression within the art. The art isn't changing, it's just what a person does when they train for a long time.

**DKJr** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 6:48pm

I agree with the consensus he's just been pushed to the side of grappling he's not as zomg amazing at, but I'm curious to hear his ideas on shrimping.

**JohnnyS** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 8:04pm

The problem with shrimping is that it often puts you in a bad position. By that I mean if you're under side control and shrimp to get on your side, your opponent can still cross face / drive back into you / kill your legs and move to the other side etc. Like he said in the interview though, it's hard to describe the proper way to do it. I'm guessing he picked it up from the Rickson seminar.

**DKJr** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 8:54pm

Originally Posted by JohnnyS

The problem with shrimping is that it often puts you in a bad position. By that I mean if you're under side control and shrimp to get on your side, your opponent can still cross face / drive back into you / kill your legs and move to the other side etc. Like he said in the interview though, it's hard to describe the proper way to do it. I'm guessing he picked it up from the Rickson seminar.

I've been having trouble recently with higher belts, switching their hands to block my hip and rotating around when I begin to shrimp.

**Coach Josh** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 9:38pm

Read this on the UG earlier today. I will repost my comment here.

Sounds a lot like Judo.

**JohnnyS** · Posted On: 11/16/2009 9:52pm

There is no BJJ without the guard. If a club were to spend all of it's time training people to be on top, then their guys would lose to people with good guards simply because they are not used to it. It's a balancing act.

It's also just common sense to be on top in a BJJ match, that's why you get awarded points for improving your position or sweeping to get on top. What Ryan is saying is nothing new - it's just new to him.