This new BJJ shirt was designed by Mark Mullen, one of my very first jiu-jitsu training partners and occasional contributor to the Grapplearts blog. Obviously being a BJJ black belt he's a skilled grappler and instructor, but what a lot of people don't know is that he also does a lot of graphic design. So when he came up with this image of a charging Japanese dragon I thought it would make a … [Read more...]
Hitler on the Worm Guard
This is one of my favourite BJJ humour videos of all time: Hitler reacting to Keenan Cornelius's Worm Guard! Check it out below. And if you're in the dark about this position check out my post on the worm guard (and passing the worm guard) here. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4zksDUDieA[/youtube] … [Read more...]
Mental Toughness is Transferrable
A few days ago I checked off one of the items on my lifelist by completing a 30 mile mountain ultramarathon (BC's 'Kneeknacker') with 8,000 feet of elevation gain and 8,000 feet of elevation loss. But instead of doing it in the summer we decided to do it on the shortest day of the year. Without support. In the snow. We started with headlamps in the rain before dawn, and finished with … [Read more...]
A Mean Option When Your Opponent is Stalling in BJJ Sidemount
Have you ever trained BJJ with anyone who’s so desperate not to tap out that all they do is stall? Someone who’s whole ego is wrapped up in the idea that such-and-such brown belt hasn’t managed to submit them out recently? It’s one of the biggest traps the ego can lead someone into on the mats… Back in the day I trained with one of these guys who’s entire sense of jiu-jitsu self-worth was … [Read more...]
New T-Shirts: Keep Calm and Grapple On
We just released these brand new shirts. I had fun looking into the history of the classic 'Keep Calm and Carry On' meme - turns out it comes from just before World War 2 where the British government was trying to bolster the public morale in the face of imminent war. They might boost your morale too, but hopefully your situation is a little bit less dire than Europe in 1939... There are … [Read more...]
How To Use Moves You Already Know to Do Advanced Techniques
We've just launched the latest Grapplearts BJJ instructional mobile app with my friend Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. It's called Advanced BJJ Fundamentals. The name of this app isn't accidental, because it's all about using the fundamental building blocks of jiu-jitsu to make learning easier, to amplify the effectiveness and reliability of your techniques, and to build an advanced … [Read more...]
Podcast EP30: BJJ Q&A – Popular Reader Questions Answered
I recently did the second-ever Grapplearts Radio Q&A format podcast. In it I answered questions from my newsletter readers. In this particular podcast we cover many topics, including How to come back to BJJ training after an injury... and not lose your mind while you're rehabbing... Options for transitioning out of Z guard (and half guard in general) to open guard How to improve … [Read more...]
How to Come Up With New Jiu-Jitsu Techniques (and Succeed at Online Dating Too)
The key to having great ideas is to have LOTS of ideas. Dream them up, test them out, and discard the bad ideas quickly! Almost all the new variations of jiu-jitsu techniques you dream up will die a lonely death in the graveyard of stupid ideas. Most of your brilliant new ideas will be crap. Most things you try out in life will fail... Expect this and learn to welcome it. Speed towards … [Read more...]
Taking Responsibility for Your Own BJJ Training
A Guest Article by Kaeli Sweigard When you choose your actions, you choose your consequences. I used to work with “at risk” youth, and this was something I constantly re-iterated to them. They would break into cars, and then complain about having to go to court. I wanted them to really grasp the fact that they could make a different decision, and they would get different results. I wanted them … [Read more...]
How to Tape Your Fingers for BJJ
Some BJJ players - including myself - train and compete with their hands au naturel. But BJJ can be rough on the hands and fingers, especially grip-dependent positions like Spider Guard and de la Riva, and some competitors have so much tape covering their fingers that they look like mummies shambling out from beneath an Egyptian pyramid. In the video below BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki and I … [Read more...]
Bodybuilding, Jiu-Jitsu, and My Quest to Make 240 lbs with Abs…
In my late twenties I went through a phase that most young men go through - I wanted to get big. Maybe not as big as Dorian Yates and the other professional bodybuilders active at the time, but certainly bigger than most other men in my peer group. Yes, I admit that there was a certain element of vanity at work, but I also told myself that it would be good for my jiu-jitsu. The trouble was … [Read more...]
Black Belt Blindness, And Other Dangers….
A black belt is just a 2 inch wide piece of cloth, not a license to pontificate upon matters about which you are utterly ignorant. It's also doesn't give you the right to have people's unquestioning obedience. To get a legitimate black belt in BJJ requires more time, effort, and investment than a black belt in almost any other martial art. If someone has spent the blood, sweat and tears … [Read more...]
Grapplearts BJJ & Submission Grappling T-Shirts
A lot of people ask me about Grapplearts shirts. And while I'm happy to create them I don't want to stock tons and tons of T-Shirt inventory in a cacophony of sizes and colours. That's why I tend to do shirts in limited edition campaigns: I put a design out there, and if we get enough interest in a in it then we go out and get the shirts printed up, ship them out, and then close down the … [Read more...]
4 Magic Phrases to Help You Learn BJJ Faster
In my early days of martial arts training I ran into quite a few teachers who were so full of themselves that students asking questions was almost unheard of. At first I thought that this was normal. I thought that maybe things would change after I'd paid my dues for 10 or 20 years... And then I started training in JKD under Makoto Kabayama. … [Read more...]
Three Big Lessons from Three Martial Arts Injuries
Today’s topic isn’t sexy. There aren’t any clever armbars, killer chokes, or brand new strategies that’ll give you an edge on the mat. But it might just save you years of suffering and stalled progress. Today I want to talk about three big lessons I learned dealing with various types of martial arts injuries… … [Read more...]
Top Secret Sentry Removal Technique
If you're new to the martial arts then you might not get the humour of this, but believe me, there are many jackasses out there with their own versions of this information. The difference is that their tongues aren't firmly planted in the side of their cheeks. Anyway, this particular technique was far too deadly to put into Non-Stop Jiu-Jitsu - putting such information into the wrong hands … [Read more...]
The Complete Spider Guard Gameplan Mindmap
OK, this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen… I recently did an interview with Elliott Bayev on how to build BJJ gameplans. One of the things that Elliott did for this project was to create an in-depth mindmap showing his entire Spider Guard gameplan. And you can get that gameplan completely for free right now. Of course this gameplan covers the ‘regular’ spider guard (both feet … [Read more...]
Podcast EP24: How to Build a BJJ Gameplan
Here's a really cool video interview I did with my friend, BJJ blackbelt, renowned coach, and fierce competitor Elliott Bayev. This interview is special because we break down the steps of building a BJJ gameplan. We go right from the basic BJJ self defense gameplan, and build up to the intricate strategies used by world class competitors. There are tons of immediately useful takeaways … [Read more...]
How to React Without Thinking
What Bruce Lee and Malcolm Gladwell Taught Me About Mushin (or the Art of No-Mind and Executing the Perfect Technique), Bruce Lee and Malcom Gladwell agree with Mark Mullen. Sometimes things just happen too quickly to use conscious thought. Sometimes you just need to forget about thought and simply react to the situation. … [Read more...]
The Two Biggest Benefits of Training Martial Arts
Funny story... I was passing through the downtown core of a major North American city a few years ago. I had 40 minutes to kill, so I went for a walk and quickly came across a martial arts club I had heard about but never set foot in. So into the club I went, to check it out and introduce myself. I was immediately struck by two contrasting impressions... The first thing I noticed were … [Read more...]