Some people are under the mistaken impression that you can only defend or sweep from the Half Guard. But it's a big mistake to ignore the powerful submission attacks that present themselves from that position! One of the most powerful, most effective, and most popular attacks from the Half Guard is the Triangle Choke. You see this in high level competition all the time, both with and without … [Read more...]
Brandon Mullins
A Fast and Simple Butterfly Guard Sweep
Jiu-jitsu doesn't always need to be complicated. In fact, sometimes the best solution is also the simplest, most direct solution. Consider a situation where your opponent is in your guard but is refusing to engage you in any meaningful way. Maybe he's ahead on points and is trying to coast for the rest of the match, or maybe he just wants the satisfaction of being able to say that you didn't … [Read more...]
A Super Sneaky and Slick Triangle Choke Attack!
This is one of the sneakiest, slickest submission attacks I have ever seen. The first time I saw this technique was when BJJ world champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins used it at the IBJJF European Championships in 2013. At first I just didn't understand what I had seen. One minute his opponent was in the X Guard, and the next he was tapping out from a super-tight triangle choke. I had to … [Read more...]
Shutting Down the Guard Pass
It's called 'rolling' for a reason: if you're doing BJJ then you're going to be somersaulting all over the place. And there are three types of rolls that you encounter all the time on the mats: The forward roll, The backwards roll The side roll In the video below BJJ world champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins shows how you can use the third movement - the side roll - to defend … [Read more...]
The Easiest Way to Develop Fast Guard Sweeps
Speed kills! When it comes to blowing through your opponent's defenses there's nothing like being just a little bit faster than him. That way you're always a step or two ahead, and he never has the chance to catch up. But how exactly do you do this? Well, have you ever heard of something called Hick's Law? It's an idea that comes from academic research, and has been applied to areas as … [Read more...]
Podcast EP23: Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins on BJJ Training, Competition, Transitions and Evolution
I've got a super cool, super informative interview for you today! This is the first time in Grapplearts history that I’ve interviewed a person for a second time. But boy, did my friend, BJJ black belt, and fierce competitor Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins ever deliver! (click here for the first interview). (Brandon and I originally worked together to create the highly acclaimed instructional … [Read more...]
Correcting the Position
There's a useful phrase that my friend and champion competitor Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins uses all the time... "Correct the position." Let's say you launch your opponent through the air with an absolutely perfect butterfly guard sweep. He lands flat on his back, and you race to the top and get to sidemount. … [Read more...]
The Highest Percentage Rear Mount Escape
There's one specific rear mount escape you'll see more than any other in high level competition... It's also the one that I use all the time when I'm sparring with tough training partners... And to top it off, this technique works with the gi, without the gi, and in MMA! It doesn't matter if it's the BJJ Mundials, a main event at the UFC, or the ADCC finals; when a world-class grappler … [Read more...]
How to NOT Clog Up Your Phone with My Instructional Apps
This week we've been releasing a series of apps featuring BJJ black belt Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins at a rate of one per day. (A lot of the apps have also been getting the coveted four and five star ratings in both Google Play and iTunes, which is awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to rate them!!) But not everyone's happy… … [Read more...]
The Android BJJ Apps Are Finally Here!
The next generation of instructional Android apps have finally arrived! As evidenced by the fact that I slept about 2 hours last night, and now I'm in front of my computer AGAIN, it's taken a TON of development and testing to get here... But today we're releasing the first Android app in the 'How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent' series with myself and black belt world champion Emily … [Read more...]
How to Counter the Cross-Collar Grip
When you're in your opponent's guard one of the most annoying things he can do is secure a really good cross-collar grip on you. True, this grip doesn't have much utility for MMA or no-gi training (in fact being too reliant on it can create some really bad habits for when the gi comes off), but in BJJ the cross-collar grip is a serious problem. When your opponent snags a cross collar grip on you … [Read more...]
A Easy Way to Stay Out of Trouble in the Guard
Posture, posture, posture... Everyone talks about posture as THE solution to staying out of trouble in the guard. Every guard pass ever taught starts out with, "First, make posture in the guard." But the trouble is that your opponent knows this too. If you're in his closed guard, and if posture is good for you, then posture is bad for him. So guess what? He'll work like crazy to disrupt, destroy, … [Read more...]
The Highest Percentage Sidemount Escape in BJJ?
Sidemount is arguably the pinning position you're going to run into most often in BJJ. Most guard passes lead into sidemount, and from sidemount you can get to almost every other position (it's kind of like the Grand Central Station of BJJ pinning)! So it's not surprising that there are a ton of different sidemount escapes involving shrimping, bridging, spinning, reguarding, etc. But the … [Read more...]
Ronda Rousey and the Power of Gameplans
In case you were hiding under a rock, Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche last night at UFC 157. She both validated her UFC Women's Bantamweight title, and made history by being in the first-ever women's match in the the UFC. And just in case you were under that aforementioned rock, despite a very spirited fight by Liz Carmouche, Ronda won the match with an armbar at 4:49 of the first … [Read more...]
How to Defeat a Smaller Opponent
Smaller opponents can become big nuisances, especially if they have legitimate skills. You would think that the very fact that you're bigger than your opponent means you should be able to go full-Conan on them every time... Mongol General: "Conan! What is best in life?" Conan: "To crush your enemies, see them driffen before you, and to hear the lamentation of their vimmen." … [Read more...]
An Advanced Guard Sweep
What is an 'advanced' guard sweep? Well, sometimes it's a technique that requires such ridiculous levels of strength, flexibility, or explosiveness that it's completely out of reach of 99% of recreational BJJ players. … [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...]
Best Takedown vs. Larger Opponents?
Every 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. … [Read more...]
Stabilizing and Attacking Larger Opponents from Sidemount
Many battles are lost by not sufficiently stabilizing sidemount, and/or choosing the wrong attacks to use from that otherwise dominant position. Let's say that you've done everything right and cut through the guard of a bigger stronger opponent. You've just arrived in sidemount. The first few seconds in sidemount are actually a rather dangerous time, especially if you're giving up a lot … [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...]