There are a LOT of BJJ instructionals at Grapplearts.com/instructionals, and choosing between them can get a little overwhelming. That's why I thought I'd share the five instructionals that have been most popular the last 12 months 1, No Gi Pin Escapes. Having rock-solid escapes from all the major positions of jiu-jitsu is liberating. You can still get back to safety if everything screws … [Read more...]
Drills
Volume over Intensity in BJJ Training
Today I want to talk about how to best allocate your training time in BJJ. You've probably heard the saying that "BJJ is a marathon, not a sprint," right? Well, if BJJ is a marathon then we should also train it as if we were getting ready for a marathon! Now I used to do a LOT of running. Bruce Lee called it "The king of exercises", and he was right. (Sadly, since my hip replacement, I … [Read more...]
How to Flow Roll
If you don't spar then all you're doing is LARPing. Sparring and training against resistance is the secret sauce that makes jiu-jitsu work. Of course you need to do hard sparring once in a while, not every training session needs to be a death roll!! There is a type of BJJ sparring known as 'Flow Rolling' which allows you to train with anyone safely and productively while creating room for … [Read more...]
How to Develop a Killer Knee Ride in Only 17 minutes
The knee ride is the most soul-crushing position in all of jiu-jitsu! It puts HUGE pressure on your opponent, which gives you tons of submission opportunities because of all the stupid things he'll do in his desperation to get out. It’s also a tremendously mobile position that allows you to take advantage of his mistakes, jump on submissions, spin to the back, and more. Here’s a FREE … [Read more...]
Half Guard Leg Position Drill for BJJ & Submission Grappling
The Half Guard is a very powerful position from which to sweep or submit your opponent. But just like all other forms of guard, it's really important to know how to move your hips and your legs correctly. No movement = no guard!!! Here's a half-guard drill that teaches you the basic leg and hip movements to manoeuvre into position to apply your techniques and prevent him from passing your … [Read more...]
Train the Kimura as a Position, Not Just a Submission!
The Kimura is a powerful bent armlock that primarily attacks the shoulder joint, but in addition to being a very powerful armlock it's also a control position. Here's the condensed form of this argument in video format. Check it out and then scroll down for many concrete examples of new ways to use the Kimura. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B-XT1JfhTF4 The Kimura is Both a Submission AND a … [Read more...]
BJJ Foundations for Apple and Android
The best-selling BJJ Foundations instructional is finally available on your phone. This ground-breaking instructional is the best training guide I've ever seen if you want to do extra training outside of class, structure your sparring to be more productive in class, or even teach a class of your own. In this app module you'll get all the techniques, details, drills and combinations on the … [Read more...]
How to Do the Half Granby Roll in BJJ (and Other Critical Guard Retention Movements)
The half granby movement is super important for guard retention in BJJ. However, it can be intimidating to learn, so here's how to drill it against a wall in the privacy of your own home or on the mat before class. 0:00 How to do the half granby movement 0:58 How to drill the high leg movement 2:08 How to learn the full inversion on the wall … [Read more...]
What Is Positional Wisdom in BJJ?
I recently rolled with a young punk who was strong as a chimpanzee and flexible as an octopus. Not only was he a physical specimen, but - to make matters worse - he also had some really good attack sequences. For example, every time he got the overhook from closed guard I was fending off a barrage of triangles, omoplatas, baratoplatas, and weird-ass backtakes. And when he got to my back he … [Read more...]
How to Train The Guard WITHOUT Using Your Hands
The No Hands Guard Drill is one of the very best ways to develop leg dexterity and guard retention in jiu-jitsu. It's also a great way to continue training and making progress if you have an elbow or shoulder injury that makes regular sparring difficult. Here's a video from BJJ Games breaking down the No Hands Guard Drill for you: live footage of the drill in action begins at … [Read more...]
Training to Get Maximum Results from Your BJJ Training in Minimum Time
The traditional class structure of doing a warmup, learning a couple of new techniques, and followed by sparring is NOT an efficient way to learn jiu-jitsu. We can do much better if we use insights from research on coaching and learning. Today's guest is Cal MacDonald, a BJJ black belt and competitor who has dedicated himself to developing his teaching and coaching skills to the highest … [Read more...]
A Training Plan to Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu Skills
This is BIG! I’ve been studying Jiu-Jitsu since the late 1980’s and have trained at many different schools and with hundreds of different instructors. Recently I've been working on a new instructional with BJJ black belt Cal MacDonald, and I'm just SO impressed with what he's put together. His 8-volume instructional called BJJ Foundations covers the exact techniques and movements that … [Read more...]
The Armbar Control Drill
The armbar is one of the 'heavy hitters' in jiu-jitsu because this submission ends a TON of matches, both in training and in competition. But it's a mistake to think of the armbar as a move or an attack; instead you should think of it as a position, almost like the mount, side control or the back. That's because if you want to submit skilled grapplers with the armbar you first need to be … [Read more...]
BJJ Competition Preparation and Training Camp Design with Rob Biernacki
Rob Biernacki and his competition team are on a tear. Rob recently took gold in masters middleweight the Canadian ADCC Open, silver at the California ADCC Open, and gold in black belt M4 at the IBJJF No Gi Worlds. In episode 394 of The Strenuous Life Podcast we talk about Designing an effective training camp Dividing your conditioning and skills training Detaching emotionally from … [Read more...]
Training Methods Are More Important Than Techniques!
The art of jiu-jitsu includes LOTS of techniques. There are so many different armlocks, chokes, leglocks, sweeps, guard passes, throws, transitions and escapes. So the question then becomes, what's the best way to learn these moves and to incorporate them into your game? Back when I started jiu-jitsu, there was a very standard class format: a long warmup, then you'd be shown two or three new … [Read more...]
The BJJ Games Instructional is now LIVE!
It's one thing to learn techniques in class. It's quite another to actually pull them off in sparring or in competition. The key to performing to your full capacity is internalising the timing and strategies behind the techniques. And the best way to do that is through games and play. The brand new BJJ Games instructional by Grapplearts will make your techniques fast, smooth, and … [Read more...]
First, Grab the Lightest, Whitest Whitebelt…
If you've been doing jiu-jitsu for any length of time you probably have a rival on the mats. You're basically forever trying to figure out how to beat him, and he's trying to do the same to you. This is an arms race, and the rivalry is good for both of you. In your battles with your frenemy - let's call him Bob - you're probably searching for new techniques to use on him, right? Maybe … [Read more...]
What is Elbow-Knee Connection
One of the most important skills in jiu-jitsu is guard retention. Think of guard retention as a toolbox containing a whole bunch of tools to solve the problem of your opponent passing your guard. Of all the many guard retention tools in that toolbox possibly the most universally useful one is something known as 'elbow-knee connection. Most guard passes end in side control, and side … [Read more...]
The Ultimate Self Defense Championship
The Ultimate Self-Defense Championship was a competition in which six martial arts YouTubers competed against each other in seven self-defense challenges to find out what works, what doesn't and who would become the ultimate self-defense champion. The results were shocking, and the entertainment value was off the charts! On episode 388 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with the organizer … [Read more...]
How To Do The ‘Imanari Roll’
The Imanari roll is absolutely one of the coolest submission attacks out there. It's unorthodox, it's fancy, but unlike many other flashy moves it's it's also quite high percentage. If you do it correctly you get straight into the 411 leglock position, which is the most powerful leglocking position we have. So there's definitely a huge upside if you land it. This move has been used … [Read more...]