Category Archives: Articles
No Gi Guard Passing Strategies vs. Bigger People
Passing the guard in a technical manner during no gi training can often be very frustrating, especially for people coming from a gi-based background. To the uninitiated it just seems that things move too fast… That there aren’t any good handles to control your opponent… (more…)
Ambush Armbar from Modified Scarf Hold
I might not be 100% correct with the actual wording, but I’ll always remember this fantastic quote from Karate legend Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace which I read in Black Belt magazine many years ago. It went something like this:
How to Counter the Backstep Guard Pass
BJJ and submission grappling are in a continual state of evolution. New techniques, tactics and strategies emerge, or are rediscovered, or are brought into the art all the time.
The backstep guard pass is one such modern technique. You won’t see this guard pass in old-school BJJ (more…)
How to Pass Deep Half Guard
In the last 5 years the Deep Half Guard position has taken the BJJ and submission grappling world by storm. And every serious grappler now needs to know how to neutralize and pass the Deep Half Guard.
This position is a variation of the half guard. If someone manages to get settled into this position underneath you then they’re right under your center of gravity, can compromise your balance, and very likely be able sweep you or take your back with a wide variety of techniques. (more…)
How to set up and apply the head and arm choke
Here’s a clip of Emily Kwok teaching something really cool – how to set up the head and arm choke (also known as ‘kata gatame’) from mount, and then how to ratchet it on so tightly that your opponent has no choice but to tap out, no matter how big he is. (more…)
A Surprising Way to Pull Guard...
Should you pull guard in competition? And if you decide to pull guard, then how do you do it correctly?
In a certain sense, I am uniquely unqualified to answer these questions…
You see, much of my BJJ comes from 8th degree black belt Marcus Soares, and Marcus is very much from the old-school Carlson Gracie way of doing things. (more…)
How to Counter the Armlock from the Underhook
If you have any exposure to standup grappling then you know the power of a standing underhook. It allows you to dominate your opponent, move him around, and set up lots of throws, takedowns and other moves. (more…)
A reader writes: Hi Stephan, I’ve been doing BJJ for about 6 months and am wondering if you have any advice about what to do when you’re starting on the knees?
I find that most wrestling-style takedowns are very difficult to do from the knees, especially because my opponents are really good at sprawling. (more…)
How to Defeat a Smaller Opponent
Smaller opponents can become big nuisances, especially if they have legitimate skills.
You would think that the very fact that you’re bigger than your opponent means you should be able to go full-Conan on them every time…
Mongol General: “Conan! What is best in life?”
Conan: “To crush your enemies, see them driffen before you, and to hear the lamentation of their vimmen.” (more…)
How the Theory of Multiple Intelligence Can Make You a Better BJJ Instructor
by Brendan Hufford
When you’re teaching, regardless of whether it’s BJJ or calculus, there’s no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ approach. In fact, any experienced teacher knows that different teaching methods are required to get through to different students. (more…)
The Jab-Cross of Open Guard Sweeps
Let’s talk about two of my favorite sweeps from the open guard. These are high percentage techniques that are used again and again at every level, by novice whitebelts and world-class blackbelts.
When learning a new position I think it’s important to learn the high percentage stuff right away. (more…)
How to do the Butterfly Guard Sweep
Today I want to teach you how to do the most important sweep from the butterfly guard correctly.
This is because sometimes in life, you just HAVE to learn certain things. (more…)
Roy Dean: BJJ, Aikido, Judo, Wrestling, and the Martial Artist's Path
You can listen to, read, or download this interview in several different ways…
- Hit play in the middle of the audio player at the bottom of this list, and/or
- Right click on this link and select ‘save as’ to download this mp3 file to your computer, and/or
- Subscribe to the Grapplearts Podcast in iTunes (RECOMMENDED, because this allows you to also listen to previous interviews and podcasts), and/or
- Read the transcript below. (more…)
BJJ in Singapore, a White Belt's View
When I first faced BJJ black-belt, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Mundial and regional champion Zorobabel Moreira on the mat in Singapore last year, I thought I had signed up for a personal self-defence trial. I had no idea what BJJ was and had never worn a “gi”. (more…)
A Fancy-Pants Z Guard Pass that Never Worked Until...
There’s this one impressive, fancy-pants guard pass that I’ve seen in competition many times. It makes everybody go ‘oooh’ and ‘aaaah’, but despite its dramatic nature it’s undeniably effective and has won a LOT of matches at the highest levels of competition.
I tried to imitate this technique, of course, but it was always a complete disaster. I never managed to figure out exactly what these high-level guys were doing. (more…)
Best Takedown vs. Larger Opponents?
Every grappler needs to have a basic understanding of takedowns. You don’t want to be so uni-dimensional that you have no idea how to take somebody down.
But the problem is that not every takedown you learn from Judo or wrestling will work on someone a lot bigger and stronger than you. (more…)
Stabilizing and Attacking Larger Opponents from Sidemount
Many battles are lost by not sufficiently stabilizing sidemount, and/or choosing the wrong attacks to use from that otherwise dominant position.
Let’s say that you’ve done everything right and cut through the guard of a bigger stronger opponent. (more…)
BJJ Training Strategies
Having the right assortment of techniques is pretty darn important in BJJ. But having the right training strategies is even more important…
By ‘training strategies’ I’m talking about the big picture. Like knowing which techniques to use, when to use them, and how to correctly train those techniques in the first place. (more…)
Advanced Triangle Choke Details
Today’s tip is about the details of the Triangle Choke, one of the very highest percentage submissions at every level of competition.
Have you ever noticed how some people can catch EVERYBODY in their signature submission, again and again? Once they’ve got their setup position it’s pretty much a done deal (this applies whether that signature submission is an armbar, a triangle choke, a kneebar, or an upside-down, inside-out Jehosophat choke).
Defending Stupid Big Guy Attacks (and the Honor of Jiu-Jitsu)
It’s amazing what some big guys will do when they get frustrated. In fact, sometimes they’ll try stuff so stupid that it’ll take you completely by surprise!
Now, many BJJ instructors never bother to teach you what to do against these ‘stupid attacks.’ (more…)
How to Attack Super-Defensive Opponents
It’s a fact: big guys don’t like losing to smaller guys.
That’s why sometimes, when a bigger guy realizes he’s not going to be able to actually win a match, he changes gears and uses all his strength and size for only one thing… (more…)
10 Ways to Improve Your BJJ Coaching
by guest author Brendan Hufford
Tournaments are inherently stressful environments. There is always a lot of commotion, and unfortunately, there is also often a lot of disorganization. Assisting our students in navigating such an environment is an essential skill that separates a teacher from a coach.
What a Spider Guard Fail Teaches You About How to Train Any Technique!
Today’s tip comes was inspired from some training I did with a smaller grappler, let’s call him ‘Stu.’
Stu wanted to learn some sweeps from the Spider Guard (an open guard position where you control both of your opponent’s sleeves and have one or both feet on his biceps). (more…)
Are my legs too short to apply the triangle choke?
The first time I ever saw the triangle choke in action was in 1994, during the last match of UFC 4.
Royce Gracie had just squared off against Dan Severn, a seemingly unstoppable wrestler with a huge weight advantage. I remember thinking, ‘There’s just no possible way that Royce is gonna win this one.’ (more…)
Judo and BJJ Cross-training
Judo has a lot to offer to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. And vice versa. Judo places more emphasis on throwing, of course, and BJJ is more ground-oriented, but Judo groundwork (known as ‘newaza‘) isn’t entirely dissimilar to BJJ groundwork. (more…)
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