It Starts In The Base
Building off your foundation is how to maximize your potential
Spring is the real start of the new year depending who you ask. It makes sense to me. This sense is palpable in the city. Life sings at the top of its lungs, literally and figuratively. Flowers and artists paint the streets.
The journey to the mats is easier in the Spring. I’m not the only one who starts training more. The uptick gave me some new data. There was something working very well, I couldn’t put my finger on it. My wrestling was solid, my guard passing was easier, as was my guard. What is different?
Oh, my base! My base is much better than it was.
You don’t catch me crossing my feet any more when I’m tired or carrying my weight over my toes. Those Kettlebell snatches are paying off. Confuscious once said, there is no better teacher than a sixty pound cannonball held over your head, just waiting to punish you for your shit technique. I hear he had a mean Bent Press.
But my base. I hadn’t even realized it. But it all starts in the base. Every athletic movement starts in your base. Whether you're shooting a basketball or shooting a double leg, if you’re not balanced and poised to resist external forces, you're gonna fuck up.
I love those train rides home. Despite the BO and screeching tracks, they are meditative after hard training.
A sense of base did not come natural to me. When I started at 14 I was constantly tripping over my feet and getting knocked off balance. The definition of starting on the wrong foot.
Now, a portion of my thoughts are always dedicated to my base. Not just on the mats. When I’m walking through the city. When I wake up and stretch in the morning. When I stand and look out the window. When you have a shit base, you’re making a choice. That choice is losing to gravity; Allowing it to bend you in ways you weren’t meant to.
Start the day with a win.
My favorite sessions are the back-to-back classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. There’s something about that grind that forces full commitment to the moment. That moment when I change rash guards between classes and entertain giving myself a pass - You had a good session at the 6PM, just go home and relax, turn on a game. But life is all about the present moment. And I am here. I am ready for more.
By the second hour, my body’s already spent, and that’s when the real challenge starts. It’s no longer just about technique – it’s being present.
It’s about staying solid and balanced when your body wants to sway around like a drunk. Fatigue is intoxicating. It’s about staying intentional and decisive when resisting your training partners pressure, and having faith in the base you have established- standing or seated.
A strong base is the antidote to fatigue.
No matter what phase of the game you are in, you should feel centered and wide; Prepared for an unexpected force to shove you off balance from any direction.
If you're standing, this means having a solid hinge in your hips, staggered feet just wider than shoulder width, weight distributed evenly through the four corners of your feet. For any takedown to work on you, your base must be broken. For you to effectively break your partners base, you must be firmly in yours. These principles are similar for guard passing. Wide, centered.
If you ever feel like you’re gonna topple over, GET LOW. GET WIDE.
Your open guard should not have you feeling like a dreidel balancing on your tailbone. Root those legs down, keep your head in front of your hips. Again, if you’re gonna attack a passer from guard, it must be initiated from a firm base.
Rooted to the ground. Points of contact equal friction. Friction equals an unfuckwithable base.
Rooted does not equal rigid.
I used to think good offense meant pushing forward at all costs, as if I was storming Normandy. Growth meant realizing it’s more about adaptability within stability. Sometimes, the best way to hold your ground is to absorb your opponent’s energy, letting them commit too far before redirecting their overextension. Think Kung Fu Panda.
A great grappler will punish a rigid base. You want to be a brick wall all the time, you’re gonna get blasted down, underhooked, knee sliced, and before you know it a shoulder is driving your face into a sweat puddle, and you’re helpless as a baby. A great base is knowing when to stand firm, and when to flow within your base. Like a tree swaying in the wind.
Whenever you are feeling stagnant in training, remember: It starts in the base.
Garrett is a lifelong grappler with over 15 years of experience on the mats, including coaching, competing, and teaching privates. He has trained with and under multiple world champions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Garrett works as a journalist and copywriter in advertising. You can find him training at Marcelo Garcia Academy in Manhattan.