Category Archives: For Beginners
A Girl’s Guide to Grapping What You Need to Know Before You Start Rolling
Although the sport and art of grappling is currently mostly a male activity, many female readers have commented on how important it is for women to learn to grapple (see Why Should Women Grapple?). In this article Liz Bader, an active mixed martial art competitor and instructor, explains what women should be aware of before they step onto the mat for the first time. (more…)
Why Should Women Grapple?
Most Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling students are male, and in most grappling schools females are the exception, not the rule. My foundation in the martial arts was self-defense oriented, not competition oriented. (more…)
Grappling with Claustrophobia in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu
This article grew out of an email conversation I had with a reader of the Grapplearts newsletter about his problems with claustrophobia while grappling (read about the initial conversation here). How could he possibly control this awful feeling? (more…)
A Glossary of Guards Part 3: The Half Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev
Principal Photography by Keith Haist
Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine
This is the third and final article in a series introducing a wide variety of guard positions. (more…)
A Glossary of Guards Part 2: The Open Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev
Principal Photography by Keith Haist
Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine (more…)
A Glossary of Guards Part 1: The Closed Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev
Principal Photography by Keith Haist
Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine (more…)
The Way to Train
The Way to Train – Jiu-jitsu Idealism
An article by Tal Williams of Elite Martial Arts.
I was put to task to write something about Brazilian jiu jitsu. I’m not going to teach you any bad ass moves that will ensure metaphoric death to your foes because I don’t know them, and it also doesn’t go with the title. (more…)
BJJ Video Tips for Beginners
In the spring of 2009 I asked my readers to send in video tips to help BJJ beginners. The idea was to augment and complement the work I’m doing with the BeginningBJJ.com site. (more…)
The 3 Most Common First-Time Competition Errors
I was recently asked “what are the most common mistakes that first-time competitors make?”
BJJ tournaments in general, and ESPECIALLY your first competition, are likely to be a little bit chaotic. (more…)
Best Type of BJJ Guard for Beginners
Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro is a four time World BJJ Champion. In MMA he held the welterweight title in Japanese Shooto. And he has the Cage Rage lightweight championship belt proudly mounted on the wall too… (more…)
I got some good feedback on the last post (Advice for a Frustrated, Clumsy and Uncoordinated Grappler) and want to share a couple of tidbits with you today.
Here’s what one anonymous Australian BJJ student in his thirties had to say (more…)
Advice for A Frustrated, Clumsy & Uncoordinated Grappler
——————- A Question ——————-
Hi Stephan
I’ve recently started learning BJJ with some friends at their garage. I am by far the slowest student. We’re following a DVD series with very clear & thorough breakdowns of techniques. (more…)
Teaching BJJ to Kids
Game Theory; How I Learned to Teach BJJ to Kids,
A Guest article by John Connors and Jon Grayzel
Successfully Dealing with Claustrophobia in Grappling
Once upon a time I had an MRI.
For those of you who’ve never had this diagnostic procedure, you start by lying down on a narrow board. Then they slide you into a narrow hole within a gigantic donut-shaped machine. (more…)
A while ago I got an email asking me how to pick sparring partners. The gentleman wrote: “I am a BJJ blue belt, and I want to know how much time I should spend sparring people of my own level, vs people who are better or not as good as I am?” (more…)
Seven Things I Wish I'd Known...
I’m on the road this week, and tonight, on the eve of UFC 99, I find myself in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
I’m excited about tonight’s UFC for number of reasons. First of all the card itself looks great. (more…)
Three Steps to Mastering Any Technique
Some people look at grappling as a giant grab-bag of techniques. They may learn hundreds of techniques, but there’s no rhyme, reason or organizing framework to guide what they learn or work on next. (more…)
Free Book About the Guard for Grapplearts Readers
Heres’s a really cool resource for you, something that I’ve received a TON of positive feedback on. It’s a free, downloadable book that breaks down the many different variations of the Guard position with detailed descriptions and lots of pretty pictures! And you can grab it super easily, for free… (more…)
Beginning BJJ Tips and Behind-the-Scenes at a DVD Shoot
Recently I had a contest where readers sent in their best video tips for BJJ newbies on video. An absolute TON of great tips, techniques, and concepts got sent in, and I was amazed at how little overlap there was. (more…)
Three Keys to Progressing In BJJ
On my road to BJJ black belt I’ve seen the same mistakes made again and again (and I’ve also made a few of them myself). That, in a nutshell, is why I created the Roadmap For Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Package. (more…)
Emerging Soon From the Lab...
I’ve been down in the laboratory recently, cooking up the latest Grapplearts offering. Since we’re in the final stages of production now, and because I thought you might be interested, I’ll whip off the veil of secrecy and tell you about what’s going on. (more…)
Starting BJJ Classes?
If you’re thinking about starting BJJ classes in the New Year, then I want to give you another head’s up about my new BeginningBJJ eBook and eCourse. About 2000 people signed up in the past two weeks for these free materials (which is a pretty overwhelming response)! (more…)
A Free eBook and eCourse for BJJ Beginners
Recently I’ve been working like a madman on my latest project, which is the new website Beginning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (beginningbjj.com).
Ta Da!
This site is specifically designed for people just starting Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. (more…)
On Keeping the Top Position
This is an excerpt on one of the most important sections from my book ” A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu” (more…)
The Two Meanings of the Tap
Tapping out is sending a message to your opponent. The most common message is “OK, you got me with that submission. Now let me go”
Many grapplers don’t realize that tapping out can also be used to send a different message (more…)
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