Tag Archives: Judo
Get Your Action Photo Featured on Grapplearts
by Stephan KestingOver the years a lot of readers have had their photos of grappling action appear on the Grapplearts Featured Photo page. Some photos were taken by professional photographers, but the majority were taken by amateurs, sometimes even just snapped on on iPhone at the local tournament or open mat.
People love these photos, which is why we’ve recently been cross-posting them on the Grapplearts Facebook page as well…
Sumo Wrestling: Practical Techniques for the Martial Artist
by Stephan KestingWritten by: Andrew Zerling
Originally published in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts – Volume 21 Number 1 – 2012
All photos courtesy of Aikido Centers of New Jersey – Manasquan Dojo, except where noted. (more…)
How to Escape Kesa Gatame and the Headlock
by Stephan KestingKesa Gatame is one of the most under-utilized positions in BJJ. Jiu-jitsu people tend to ignore this position but generations of judo players and wrestlers have proved that Kesa Gatame IS a powerful and effective way to pin someone. And – even worse for someone caught in it – Kesa Gatame is also a great entry into some very effective armlocks, leglocks, neck cranks and diaphragm chokes. (more…)
Ambush Armbar from Modified Scarf Hold
by Stephan KestingI 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:
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…)
Roy Dean: BJJ, Aikido, Judo, Wrestling, and the Martial Artist's Path
by Stephan KestingYou 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…)
Best Takedown vs. Larger Opponents?
by Stephan KestingEvery 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…)
Judo and BJJ Cross-training
by Stephan KestingJudo 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…)
5 Ways You Can Best use Open Mat in BJJ
by Stephan KestingA Guest Article by Mark Mullen
The majority of most BJJ’ers training time is spent attending structured classes at their academy. And most academies divide their structured classes into 3 portions: (more…)
Judo and BJJ: How They Help Each Other
by Stephan KestingAn Interview with Daniel McCormick,
2008 US National Judo Championship Winner, 2009 Judo Olympian
Stephan’s note: This is the transcript of an audio interview I did with Daniel McCormick. You can either read the interview below or listen/download the audio by doing one of the following: (more…)
Top Article Number Seven: One of my Favorites!
by Stephan KestingKnowing what your roots are may not translate to kicking butt more effectively on the mats right away, but it’s still important!
Submission grappling is basically a fusion of wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu… (more…)
Judo for BJJ, An Olympian's Perspective
by Stephan KestingOne of the most neglected areas of BJJ training is takedowns. Which is a shame, for a couple of reasons… (more…)
I shot a new video about a concept that makes it so much harder for someone to pass your guard. Figuring this one out was was a major “aha!” moment for me.
And it works in the closed guard AND the open guard, both with the gi AND without the gi.
How To Escape the Headlock and Kesa-Gatame
by Stephan KestingThe common headlock is often overlooked in BJJ – it’s just not considered to be a very technical pinning position.
But not training your headlock escapes is a HUGE mistake! (more…)
Toby Imada's Amazing MMA Triangle Broken Down For You
by Stephan KestingA lot of people thought that Toby Imada’s triangle choke was the best MMA submission of 2009. And they may be right – it was a stunning display of quick thinking and ‘sticktoitness’ on Toby’s part. (more…)
Judo Books
by Stephan KestingLong time readers won’t be surprised when I say that you can learn a lot by studying the techniques used by grapplers of the past (check out my post on old-time grappling). Rules change and sports evolve, but body mechanics stay the same. (more…)
Old Time Grapplin'
by Stephan KestingI’m a big fan of old Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Catch Wrestling books. I have lots and lots of martial arts books, but some of the real jewels of my library are the Judo and wrestling books published in the 1920′s to the 1960′s. (more…)
Choke Recovery in BJJ and Submission Grappling
by Stephan KestingThe first time I saw someone choked unconscious it scared the crap out of me. And it was made worse by the fact that it was a friend of mine…
It was many years ago at a local tournament. My friend was winning his match but got caught in a sneaky gi choke. (more…)
Offside Kesa Gatame has an Judo Name
by Stephan KestingOK, it’s official. The collective intelligence of the Grapplearts readership is awesome.
Thousands of people people receive my newsletters, and many more read my articles on the website, via RSS feeds, etc. If we all got together and combined our knowledge we’d make Rickson Gracie look like a three-stripe white belt. (more…)
Catch and Release - What to do if your opponent just won't tap?
by Stephan KestingBack when I was mostly training in Judo I heard that there were some traditional dojos in Japan where tapping out to a choke was frowned upon – even in club sparring sessions you were supposed to fight the choke right to the bitter end (more…)
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