I'll go ahead and say it: every practitioner should have at least a couple of throws and takedowns for BJJ. Yes, it's true that pulling guard is an option in sport BJJ competition, but ultimately this is a martial art, which means we have to at least occasionally consider the self defense aspects of what we're doing. Are you going to pull guard in a streetfight? Not bloody likely. In this … [Read more...]
The Five Types of Triangle Choke You Need to Know
The triangle choke is one of the most powerful BJJ submissions. Thousands upon thousands of matches have been ended with it, including in the UFC and other MMA events. Knowing how to do the triangle choke properly is an absolute necessity for every grappler This choke originated in Japanese Ju-jutsu and was then incorporated into Judo in the early 1900's where it is known as sankaku-jime … [Read more...]
Implications of the IBJJF Legalising Heel Hooks and Reaping
Starting Jan 1st 2021 adult brown and black belts will be able to use heel hooks and leg reaping entanglements at the brown and black belt adult divisions in no gi competition. Long banned, heel hooks are rotational leglocks where the hip and/or the knee is held in place while the foot is bent and rotated. They are incredibly efficient because they attack the smaller ligaments of the foot and … [Read more...]
An Easy Way to Take the Back
Taking someone's back and achieving rearmount moves you right to the pinnacle of the BJJ positional hierarchy (click here for a downloadable guide to the BJJ positions). From the back you can attack your opponent with chokes and armlocks at will. By contrast he has very, very limited attacks he can use on you since all his weapons are facing away from you. Here's one of my favorite ways to … [Read more...]
How To Do the North South Choke
The north south choke is a powerful choke that you can apply from the top of sidemount or the north south position. This submission looks a bit like an upside-down guillotine choke but the mechanics of finishing the choke are quite different. Given that this technique works both with and without the gi I think everyone should experiment with it, at least enough to recognize when someone is … [Read more...]
The North South Kimura Armlock
Here's a short 1:55 video taking you through the the Kimura armlock attack from the north-south position. This Kimura setup is usually the first attack I go for whenever I'm in the north south position. If you run into resistance then there are a million ways to finish the Kimura or to transition into backtakes, leglocks and armbars. So if you learn this setup it ends up leading you to a … [Read more...]
The Step-by-Step Armbar from Mount
The armbar from mount is often taught as the 'CPR' armbar where you're mounted on your opponent, he sticks his arms straight up, you put both your hands on his chest and swing around into the armbar. It's slick, it's smooth, and it looks great. But the only reason the CPR armbar works is because your opponent has broken his own structure by pushing on your chest. Good opponents will almost … [Read more...]
Taking the Back from the Ball and Chain Sweep in de la Riva Guard
Over the past few months on this blog I've been sharing a lot of de la Riva guard material. This series has been centered around the Ball and Chain Sweep which is one of the keystone de la Riva attacks that has been used by a lot of top BJJ competitors including Otavio Souza, Pe de Pano, and Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. In case you haven't seen it before here's a quick reminder of what the … [Read more...]
How to Set Up the Triangle Choke from Guard
Today we'll cover the real 'secret' to using the triangle choke against higher belts from your guard - it's all about the set up! Tapping out higher belts is a different thing than tapping out beginners... There are certain techniques that serve you well against white and blue belts. But when you climb the ranks and start sparring against higher caliber opponents some of those moves stop … [Read more...]
How to Connect Your Sweeps and Guard Passes in Order to Dominate More Opponents on the Mat
The concept of connecting your guard sweeps to your guard passes is incredibly useful. Anytime you can use one technique to set up the next you have an advantage, yet many grapplers fail to follow up after a successful guard sweep. Let's go through both the theory and practice of this concept. If you start trying to this then we can probably improve your grappling overnight... The Theory of … [Read more...]
The Ranges of Butterfly Guard
Today I want to talk about the importance of range in guard, and then the range micro-battles that occur within a specific style of guard. Let's get started... Ranges Within Guard If you're trying to become a well rounded guard player then it's important to realise that you're going to use different guards at different ranges. For example you might use a foot-on-the-hips spider guard at … [Read more...]
Butterfly Guard to X Guard Standup Sweep
There's one particular guard sweep that I've hit more times than than any other in the last 10 years. When I start setting up this technique I always feel happy and confident because I know the odds of finishing it are very high. What's the name of this technique? It's the X guard standup sweep starting from butterfly guard, and it's one of the most powerful sweeping moves in … [Read more...]
A Secret That Makes Passing the Guard MUCH Easier!
Passing the guard is one of the most difficult things to do in all of grappling. Against anyone who is even close to your own skill level it can be a real battle! But there's one simple thing you can do to make it MUCH easier. Ready? Here's the secret... Begin your guard pass IMMEDIATELY after you sweep or throw your opponent! Don't sweep and then back out to reset your grips - it'll … [Read more...]
Your First Attack from Butterfly Guard
The 'Butt Double" is a high percentage guard attack that's also a low risk way of guaging the distance, feeling out your opponent and setting up other attacks. It's called the "Butt Double" because a) you start sitting on your butt and b) you come up forward like you would in a double leg takdedown. You can use it anytime your opponent is backing up or drawing back from you in the open … [Read more...]
An Amazing Triangle Choke Setup from Open Guard
The triangle choke submission is one of the most powerful attack from the open guard. Your opponent should be continuously about this technique when he's in your guard. However too many people just 'shoot' the triangle time after time without any kind of setup and hope for the best. Yes, a setup-free triangle can work if your opponent is inexperienced or asleep at the wheel, but it's not … [Read more...]
Mental Practice In BJJ
How to Use It to Boost Your Learning and Performance, by Itamar Shatz Have you ever gone over a certain BJJ move in your head, because you felt that doing so can help you learn it? If so, then you’ve engaged in something called “mental practice”, which is the act of visualizing actions in your head in order to improve your ability to perform them in reality. Research on the topic suggests that … [Read more...]
The Ball and Chain Sweep
The Ball and Chain Sweep is one of the highest percentage attacks from the de la Riva guard. This sweep has been used again and again by many high level competitors, and is one of the favorite techniques of BJJ World Champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. In simple terms, to do the ball and chin sweep you start in de la Riva Guard, kick the guy's back leg away from you, sit up, feed his near … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Get a Great Control Grip from the Open Guard
One of the most dangerous times in jiu-jitsu is when you're in the guard with opponent standing above you and no way to control him. In this situation he's only one explosive move away from blasting past your legs and establishing a dominant position. To minimise the chance of him passing here (and to keep yourself safe) you don't need amazing reflexes, you don't need incredible flexibility, … [Read more...]
A Fast and Easy de la Riva Guard Sweep
The de la Riva guard is an essential position in today's grappling repertoire. It's a very deep position with a ton of different options. But sometimes you just want an easy win; a reliable technique to give you some confidence with a position before exploring it further. To get you started here's the Easiest Sweep from de la Riva Guard that I just put onto Youtube last night. This is a … [Read more...]
New Release: The Open Guard System featuring Jon Thomas!!
As of a few minutes ago The Open Guard System featuring Jon Thomas is now available! The whole idea of this instructional is to give you a connected set of plug-and-play systems for the open guard so that you'll always know how to stay safe, advance your position, and then sweep and submit your opponent. Systems are much more powerful than individual techniques because they link techniques … [Read more...]