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. I've played around with the adjustments she shows, and it allowed me to REALLY tighten up this position WITHOUT using a ton of upper body … [Read 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 … [Read 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. … [Read more...]
Which Grapplearts Instructional DVDs are the Hottest Right Now?
Just in case you want to see what's hot, as of December 2011 the most popular instructionals right now are: 1) THE NUMBER ONE SET: HOW TO DEFEAT THE BIGGER, STRONGER OPPONENT … [Read more...]
Two Drills on Video to Improve your Guard Sweeps
Many of the most powerful guard sweeps rely on your hips being underneath your opponent's center of gravity. This makes him very unstable - think of the difference between 1. standing on the floor beside one of those stability balls, and 2. trying to stand on top of that same stability ball. … [Read more...]
How to Defeat the Bigger Stronger Opponent NOW AVAILABLE
It's here! The How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent DVD set is in stock, and ready to ship right now. Emily Kwok and I have been crafting this 5 DVD set for a long time, and it's one of the best instructional sets I have ever seen. … [Read more...]
How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent
Today is a very exciting day! For the past few months I've been working like crazy to get my new DVD series finished. In these videos I'm collaborating with my friend, and former teammate, Emily Kwok. She's one of the best known competitive grapplers out there! For a lot of different reasons. … [Read more...]
Some recent pics; see me get choked!
Emily Kwok is a BJJ black belt who has trained with some of the best people in the world. And she's been very successful at the highest levels of competition in BJJ, Submission Grappling and Women's MMA. And she recently choked me silly for the camera... … [Read more...]
How To Escape the Headlock and Kesa-Gatame
The 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! … [Read more...]
Black Belt Concepts Course Live Again
The Black Belt Concepts Course is finally live again!! There's no doubt in my mind that this is my very best instructional product; after all, it took an entire year of all-out work to create. … [Read more...]
Detailed, Advanced Omoplata
In the past few years I've made some big changes to my omoplata armlock attacks. The omoplata has always been one of my bread and butter moves, but these racent changes have doubled my success rate, especially when going against bigger and/or skilled opponents. But now I'm going to let the cat out of the bag... Click here for a 10 minute detailed tutorial video on the advanced omoplata. … [Read more...]
The Deep Half Guard (video)
Nowadays you often see the Deep Half Guard at the highest levels of BJJ and submission grappling competition. But there are a lot of important details to the Deep Half Guard that you need to know before it becomes a powerful sweeping weapon. Because I saw this position working again and again, several years ago I decided to add it to my repertoire. It's a bit like regular half guard except you … [Read more...]
Passing the Guard with the ‘Twitch Pass’
Let me share the 'Twitch Guard Pass' with you today - it's one of my highest percentage, bread and butter, go-to moves, so I'm sure you'll like it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scpa6e5sW0M With the Twitch Pass you can blow through someone's guard very quickly. In fact many advanced grapplers use it but - as is so often the case - not all of them can explain it or break it down for … [Read more...]
I’m Alive and I Didn’t Get Double Armbarred…
A reader recently asked me "I haven't heard from you in a long time. Did you get double arm-barred and can't type?" I'm glad that both my arms are great and I can type just fine! … [Read more...]
The Most Important Thing For Improving Your Grappling
I used to think that if I just learned enough ways to pass the guard, mastered enough submissions, memorized enough pin escapes, pick up enough guard sweeps, received enough tactics and just had enough techniques at my fingertips, then... someday... I would master the art of grappling. … [Read more...]
The Grappling Concepts Online Course
I've been hard at work in 'the lab' cooking something up something new... And now it's finally ready: the online 'Black Belt Concepts' course. … [Read more...]
A Video Tutorial on the X Guard
The X Guard is a really powerful open guard position that creates a whole world of trouble for your opponents. Here's an excerpt from my DVD "13 Techniques You Can Use On The Mat Today" which takes you through the most important points of the X Guard... … [Read more...]
40th Birthday, UFC 100 and GrappleCamp 2009
To celebrate my upcoming 40th birthday I'm organizing and hosting a great big grappling get-together. Grapplecamp will be in Vancouver BC on Saturday July 11th and Sunday July 12th. … [Read more...]
Beginning BJJ Tips and Behind-the-Scenes at a DVD Shoot
Recently I had a contest where readers sent in their best video tips for BJJ newbies on video. An absolute TON of great tips, techniques, and concepts got sent in, and I was amazed at how little overlap there was. … [Read more...]
Can’t Get Underhooks in Butterfly Guard?
Underhooks in the butterfly guard postion are super important! I was on a popular BJJ forum this afternoon when a thread about one of my favorite BJJ positions - the butterfly guard - caught my eye. As it turns out, someone was having problems. Here's what he said: "In the last few months I have really been concentrating on trying to get a solid butterfly guard. I bought Kesting's … [Read more...]