by Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio Some (but not all) BJJ competitors jump to guard in order to get the fight to the ground quickly and avoid conceding takedown points. Most of the time this simply consists of jumping in the air while trying to pull your opponent into your closed guard. … [Read more...]
Butterfly Guard
Wallid Ismael-style guard passing by Andreh Anderson
Andreh Anderson is a brown belt under Rey Diego at (www.reydiogo.com). Here he kindly shares the details of one of his favorite guard passes. Andreh says: "Let me say that I don't know if this is the exact pass Wallid uses. … [Read more...]
Single Leg Sweep, by Andreh Anderson
Andreh Anderson is a black belt under Rey Diego at (www.reydiogo.com) and loves sweeping his opponents. Andreh has this to say about the single leg sweep: "Most of you have probably seen the sweep itself, but I started using the entry when I was a brown belt and it worked really well. … [Read more...]
The Evolution of the ‘Logsplitter’ From Fluke to Trusted BJJ Technique…
Today I want to tell you a story about how I stumbled across a technique by fluke at a tournament, and how it became one of my bread and butter moves from Butterfly Guard, X Guard and Half Guard. There's a high-percentage position that I call the 'Logsplitter' and I use it all the time. I often end up there by transitioning from Butterfly Guard, X Guard and/or Half Guard. The Logsplitter offers … [Read more...]
The ‘Basic’ Butterfly Guard Sweep
The 'basic' butterfly guard sweep is anything but basic. It is an extremely powerful and sophisticated attack that is difficult for your opponent to resist. In addition, this sweep has many followups and recounters, which can make life unstable and unpleasant for your opponent. … [Read more...]
Butterfly Guard / X Guard Q & A
The questions in this article arose, in part, from a discussion of my Butterfly Guard and X Guard video, which is part of the Guard Sweeps DVD Package. Of course everyone is welcome to read on, but for maximum benefit it'd probably be a good idea to pick up a copy of this 2 DVD package … [Read more...]
A Glossary of Guards Part 2: The Open Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev Principal Photography by Keith Haist Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine This is the second of three articles discussing variations of the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu guard position. In this article we are going to focus on the Open Guard, where your legs are NOT locked around your opponent’s torso (the other articles cover the Closed Guard and the … [Read more...]
Get Up, Stand Up!
Why getting off the ground is a critical skills in grappling! (originally published in Black Belt Magazine) When mixed martial arts competition exploded in North America, martial artists quickly learned that most fights end up on the ground. And for years the prevailing wisdom was that groundfighting was inevitable, and if a fight went to the ground it would most likely stay there. In the … [Read more...]
The Three Most Common Butterfly Guard Mistakes
When most people start using the Butterfly Guard in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and/or submission grappling, they make one or all of these three following mistakes. … [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...]
When the Closed Guard Fails…
A reader writes: Q: Hi Stephan, I recently received and read your email with the video link about the closed guard in the Beginning BJJ newsletter. However my instructor is quite thick and muscular, … [Read more...]
Gi vs No Gi: Solved Once and For All?
Gi vs no-gi, I don't think the debate will ever die. I wrote about this topic first in 2004, arguing that most gi-based grapplers should do at least a little bit of no gi grappling, and visa versa. … [Read more...]
How Marcelo Garcia Defeats Larger, Stronger Opponents
There's nothing quite like watching a smaller, lighter, weaker person use their technique to defeat a bigger, heavier, stronger opponent. And when it comes to tapping out bigger, stronger, heavier opponents there's nobody quite like Marcelo Garcia. Not only is he a four time world BJJ champion and three time ADCC champion in his weight class, but he's often fought in the absolute division … [Read more...]
Marcelo Garcia Chokes Me Out Repeatedly
Marcelo Garcia is maybe the very best person in the world at attacking the turtle position. But before I tell you how I know this first hand, I should point out that as you get better you'll run into the turtle position more often. This is because when you're pinned by an advanced player it's pretty damn hard to put them back into your guard. And the other main escape option is to go to … [Read more...]
A Drill To Improve ANY Guard Sweep
Today I'm not going to talk about a technique per se. Instead I'm going to share a cool training method with you. (Training methods are the ways in which you practice, hone and internalize the techniques you're learning. … [Read more...]
A concept that makes it MUCH harder to pass your guard
I shot a new video about a concept that makes it so much harder for someone to pass your guard. Figuring this one out was was a major "aha!" moment for me. And it works in the closed guard AND the open guard, both with the gi AND without the gi. … [Read more...]
Get Off the Ground!!!
Once you get good at Brazilian jiu-jitsu the ground will be your happy place. Rolling around and hunting for submissions will feel as natural as walking! But there's a time and a place for everything... … [Read more...]
Submission Grappling Choke
Here is a modern way of applying the Rear Naked Choke, which had it's origins in Classical Japanese Ju-Jutsu. (This technique is from the Submission Grappling vs. Classical Ju-Jutsu article on Grapplearts.com) Stephan controls his opponent with the butterfly guard. He grips his opponent’s triceps with his right hand… … and pulls him forward while simultaneously moving his … [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...]