I often get emails from people wanting to know whether drilling with a grappling dummy will help their jiu-jitsu. Dummies are expensive items, and people want to make sure the investment will be worth it. The short answer is no. WATCH AND/OR LISTEN TO MY RANT ON THIS TOPIC Here's a video and podcast with my views on the subject, or if you prefer to read on you can scroll down the page a … [Read more...]
BJJ, Sport, and Philosophy with The Philosograppler
Daniel Bohigian is a Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Dave Camarillo, competes actively, and also teaches 'Philosophy of Sport' at San Jose State. Here's a video on passing the half guard that this fighting academic did for my Youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYhkl2Xb98U Daniel recently appeared on my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast). It was a blast and has … [Read more...]
New Self Defense Focussed Module for Your iPhone or Android Phone
People have been asking for me to include more self defense material on the Grapplearts BJJ Master App. And, as always, your wish is my command! The Self Defense Guard - a 2 module instructional for iPhone and Android - is now the newest module with the Master App. I did this instructional together with BJJ black belt Elliott Bayev. In it you'll get the techniques and strategies from … [Read more...]
Endurance Sports and BJJ, with Paul Kindzia
Paul Kindzia was immersed in the world of marathon and triathalon for many years before immersing himself in BJJ, even going so far as to write a book on the topic called 'Master Jiu-Jitsu, Master Life'. He's got a really interesting story because he went from a fat 220 pound accountant living on soft drinks and fast food to a 13 time elite Ironman. And now he's a highly ranked BJJ masters … [Read more...]
Arm Drag from Reverse de la Riva Guard (Simple and Effective)
The Reverse de la Riva Guard is a variation of the regular de la Riva Guard, but with your inside leg entangling your opponent's lead leg instead of your outside leg. This picture should make it a little clearer what the difference is... Why Use the Reverse de la Riva? Most of the time players use both the regular and the reverse de la Riva positions, because they complement each … [Read more...]
Bow and Arrow Chokes in the Street, with Adam Nadow
Jiu-jitsu black belt Adam Nadow was recently attacked in the street and used his training to defend himself and control his attacker until the police arrived. The video of this confrontation later went viral in the BJJ and self defense community. But what's not as commonly known is that he then involved himself in trying to rehabilitate his attacker, going so far as to provide him with food and … [Read more...]
Rant: In Jiu-Jitsu Sometimes You’re the Hammer and Sometimes You’re the Nail!
It's true in life and it's true in jiu-jitsu... Some days on the mat are going to be wonderful. Nobody will be able to pass your guard, you'll sweep people left and right, and you'll tap everyone out! You were just the hammer! Huzzah!! What I would like to share with you on those days comes from Ancient Rome. When a victorious general (like Caesar) returned from a successful … [Read more...]
Dealing with the Gi in Grappling
Are you coming from a background in submission grappling or training mostly without the gi and trying to get into BJJ? Are you frustrated by the cloth prison (the gi) that's stifling your movements and allowing your opponent to wrap you up? I'm a big fan of being competent in both gi and no gi grappling, if for no other reason than self defense. Yes, you might get attacked on the beach … [Read more...]
5 Techniques for Knee Cut Guard Pass Defense and Prevention
It doesn't matter if you use closed guard, spider guard, butterfly guard, half guard or any other type of guard... At some point someone WILL try to knife through your legs using the Knee Cut Guard Pass! The Knee Cut is one of the most popular, most powerful guard passes out there. Every serious competitor uses some version of it, so you'll absolutely run into it!This is a promise, not a … [Read more...]
Intrinsic vs External Motivation for Training BJJ
Motivation in BJJ is a tricky thing... Some people are mostly motivated to train by internal factors. Typically they feel it's personally rewarding, the process of learning is and improving their skills is it's own reward. Other people are more heavily motivated by external factors. Maybe they really want to achieve their next belt, or they need their coach's approval, or they want a shelf … [Read more...]
The Critical Importance of ‘Kuzushi’ in the Guard
Of all the articles and tips I've shared this year, today's might be the most important one... This concept and strategy has the potential to completely revolutionise your guard game. Ready? Good! Here it is... Use 'Kuzushi' (which is Japanese for 'offbalancing') before every single guard attack you launch! Here's a video on the topic of using Kuzushi from guard that you really should … [Read more...]
The 4 Directions for X Guard Sweeps
Every guard position relies on action-reaction. You fake a sweep in one direction, your opponent reacts, and then you take advantage of that reaction and take them the other way. This is true of every type of guard, but it's very easy to illustrate this with the X guard. In the video below I break down the 4 directional options for X guard sweeps... The sweeps are covered in a bit … [Read more...]
Interview with Master Canoeist, Cliff Jacobson
There are two major passions in my life: martial arts and the outdoors. And today's podcast guest was a HUGE influence on the second part of my life and inspired me to do some of my bigger trips including an 82 day solo trip across the Canadian north. And I managed to get him on the phone for a GREAT one hour talk recently. Cliff Jacobson wrote 'Canoeing Wild Rivers' which was one of the … [Read more...]
Rehab and Prehab for Martial Arts
It was a pleasure to talk with Dr Mark Cheng about injury rehabilitation and rehabilitation today on The Strenuous Life Podcast. Mark has worked with lots of combat athletes in all sorts of martial arts disciplines. He has also trained with some really good instructors, some of which I know personally. Here are just some of the things we cover in this podcast... The process of … [Read more...]
So You Just Got a BJJ Belt Promotion?
So you just got promoted? First of All, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! By the simple act of training you’ve set yourself apart. You’re doing something that 99% of normal people would never do. Armchair quarterbacks sure talk tough, but when it comes to actually putting it on the line and having skin in the game, well, nobody back-pedals faster. But that’s not you. You’ve trained, strained, sweated, … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 181: Why is Sparring So Hard? (Audio + Video)
Ritchie Yip is the brains behind The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass, and in this episode he and I sat down to discuss the path to kickboxing mastery. Too many beginners feel great when they're hitting the pads only to have everything fall apart the very first time they spar. Sparring can be a completely different beast from just drilling technique, and the transition can be incredibly … [Read more...]
Brand New Instructional – The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass
What's a grappler like me doing getting involved with a project like The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass that officially launched today? Totally valid question... First of all I trained in Muay Thai, Jun Fan JKD, and Kajukenbo for years. And dabbled in Savate, Capoeira and Boxing. I like to think that I was pretty good at striking back in the day. One of the things I learned is that … [Read more...]
When Should an MMA Fighter Retire?
Quitting MMA One of the hardest decisions a fighter ever has to make is when to hang up the gloves and retire from the MMA game. In many sports professional athletes are usually forced into retirement by orthopaedic issues. A knee just can’t take the pounding anymore… A problem shoulder just keeps on getting worse… As the the mileage takes its toll and the injuries add up, athletic … [Read more...]
The ‘Soft One, Hard Two’ BJJ Gripfighting Strategy
Have you ever heard the story about the old bull and the young bull, standing at the top of a hill, watching some cows? The young bull turns to the older bull and says, "Hey, let's run down there and each make sweet, sweet love to one of those cows!" The older bull retorts, "Why don't we just walk down there, nice and slow, and make sweet, sweet love to ALL the cows?" The original … [Read more...]
Podcast: How My Diet Experiment Could Have Gone Terribly, Horribly Wrong…
I recently gave the full-on ketogenic diet a try (which I discussed in episode 173 of my podcast - Self Experimentation and Limiting the Downside of Experiments Gone Wrong). For a month I consumed very few carbohydrates and hugely increased the amount of saturated fat I was eating. A typical 'breakfast' was a shake made of whipping cream, coconut milk, spinach and blueberries with about … [Read more...]
Grappling and the 5 Ranges of Fighting
I've said many times that BJJ is a fantastic sport and fitness activity, but that at it's core it's a martial art. And it being a martial art means that you have be able to use it to defend yourself. Now it's pretty hard to beat BJJ and submission grappling as a martial art at close range. The ability to move up the positional hierarchy, getting to more and more dominant position, is a HUGE … [Read more...]
Physical Conditioning & Mental Training for Combat Sport
In this episode I go DEEP with Commonwealth Games gold medalist and 5 time National Team member Nick Ugoalah about the physical conditioning and mental training it takes to become a world class wrestler. It's a fascinating conversation because what Nick shares is applicable to any combat sport and not just wrestling. (It also shows you how damn hard you have to work to become an elite … [Read more...]
Standing vs Kneeling Guard Passes
When you're trying to pass your opponent's guard you can use either standing or kneeling guard passes. (Of course if you're dealing with the closed guard you have an additional decision to make, namely whether you first stand or kneel to break the closed guard open in the first place.) Anyhow, there's a tendency for modern BJJ players to use more standing, mobility based passes, especially … [Read more...]
The 3 Steps to a Takedown
Many grapplers lack even a basic knowledge of takedowns, and this is a HUGE mistake. As far as I'm concerned if you're a submission grappler or a jiu-jitsu player who pulls guard in every competition then you need to have at least a few ways to get the fight to the ground from the feet. In having takedowns is just part of being a well rounded grappler, but it's also for self defense: you'll … [Read more...]
BJJ Self Defense for Girls
I believe that every girl should have some basic self defense training. Yes, defeating a larger, stronger, male aggressor is a high bar to clear for a smaller girl, but it's not impossible - I've seen lots of trained women choke out bigger guys on the mat. The key word here is 'trained'. As in having spent many hours on the mat training, drilling and sparring. Now there are lots of self … [Read more...]