When you start Jiu Jitsu, it doesn't take much poking around to hear calls from the pressure chorus. BJJ is all about pressure! Make them suffer! Get on top and smash! Maybe this sounds appealing, maybe not so much. Either way, it certainly requires clarification.
What is pressure?
There are two types of pressure that are relevant to your mat life. 1) Performance based pressure. This is that feeling of being under the gun. You have to move, and you have to move now, or things will get worse. 2) Physical pressure. This is feeling like you fell into a garbage compactor. On one side of you is the mats. You are not sure what is on the other side of you, but it surely can't be human. The force is so excruciating you want to tap, and there is a good chance you can't expand your rib cage enough to breathe. Here, we are discussing physical pressure.
Understanding Physical Pressure
There are two important concepts to understand about pressure.
1) Pressure is a tool. It's a tool with broad uses, but still has appropriate and non appropriate applications.
2) Pressure is static. One of your primary goals with pressure is to stop movement. When your opponent is creating space on bottom, pressure is a way to stop them from progressing so you can stay in control.
So, How Do I Use This Thing?
Are you sitting down?
As a white belt, don't focus on pressure.
There, I said it. Here's the problem: the more pressure you create, the less you are moving. As a white belt, you need to move. You need to move a lot. However much you moved today, you need to move more than that. Moving is how you learn to navigate around your partner, and increase your level of experience in every position and circumstance.
As an example, imagine getting to side control and dropping the pressure on for 5 minutes as your partner struggles to move. What did you train? How much do you see? How much did you practice? Compare that to a roll where you end up in 5 positions, escape 4 pins, attack 3 submissions, tap 2 times, and have 1 great learning experience. Multiply those two imaginary rounds by 6 months of experience, and you will have two students with vastly different skill levels.
So, When Do I Get To Use This Thing?
As a white belt your mission is to move. Learning to move is actually the first step in learning how to apply high levels of pressure. That may seem counterintuitive, but skillful pressure is about knowing when to apply it, and about the precision of its application. Precision requires an understanding of your connection, and a sensitivity to your partner's movement. How do you develop those things? You guessed it.
Fear not. Pressure is a large topic that requires exploration. As you develop your game and move up in the ranks, we will revisit this topic.