In previous articles we've discussed what a grappling arms race is, and how in that situation you can use video self analysis to get an advantage over your training partners. Today I want to briefly touch on one of MY secret weapons in the everlasting arms race in the dojo. That method is focused partner training. Here is what I do. Suppose I consistently run into the same problem with a … [Read more...]
Drills
Podcast Episode 47 – Prison for 15+ Years for a Knock-Out?
In every story about every streetfight the centrepiece is the big haymaker that landed and knocked somebody out cold. It's a compelling story, but the reality is that whenever you do this you automatically run a very serious risk of killing the other guy. Your punch to the head may be powerful, but usually it's not nearly as dangerous as the second impact when his falling head lands on the … [Read more...]
A 3 Step Process for Making an Angle (and Getting a Big Advantage) in the Closed Guard
When you’re fighting your opponent in the Closed Guard, you don’t want to be facing straight towards your opponent creating a big rectangle. Ideally, you want to be doing a Closed Guard with him off the side. This is analogous to being to the side of your opponent in a boxing match: all all of his weapons aren't aimed at you and all your weapons are pointing straight at him! If you can make … [Read more...]
The 5 Steps to Training A New Technique
Most of the videos I post online are from my main Youtube channel which focusses quite heavily on BJJ, no gi jiu-jitsu, MMA and other forms of grappling. But what a lot of people don't know is that I also have a second youtube channel called 'Self Defense Tutorials' which - as the title might imply - focuses more on self defense and martial arts training. Here is one of the videos from that … [Read more...]
How to do the Back Roll
The back roll (or the backwards shoulder roll) is one of the most important movements in BJJ. Honestly, it's right up there with shrimping and bridging! Most fundamentally, the back roll allows you to fall backwards and roll over your shoulders rather than rocketing into the mat and taking the full impact on your back and/or head. But you can also use it to counter guard passes. Set up … [Read more...]
How to do the Forward Roll
The forward roll is one of the core movements in BJJ, Judo, and all grappling arts. The most important use of the forward roll is to avoid injury; if your opponent sweeps you over his head you use this movement to avoid spiking your head down onto the mat and destroying your neck. But you can also use the exact same movement in other contexts, including in scrambles and while applying … [Read more...]
Cartwheels in BJJ and Submission Wrestling
So I saw something spectacular the other day... It was a clip from a wrestling match in which 125 lb Ronnie Bresser from Oregon State cartwheels himself over his opponent in a move called 'the Flying Squirrel' to get to a 15 point advantage and win the match by technical fall (thanks to "i like to wrassle" on reddit for giving me the proper name for it)! Here's the move: Of course … [Read more...]
An Easy and Effective Guard Retention Drill
There are many guard retention techniques you can use to stop someone from passing your guard, but just like any other technique they require drilling and repetition to become automatic. So that's what we're going to start with; an easy line drill where you can warm your body at the beginning of class and also get in lots of repetition for the 'frame and hip escape' guard retention … [Read more...]
3 Spider Guard Drills to Improve Your Sweeping and Submissions
The last time I had a filming session with my friend and training partner Ritchie Yip who runs a BJJ school in Vancouver, BC, he showed me something really cool... It was a series of 3 drills to improve your spider guard sweeps and submissions. The first drill is a relatively easy one to that develops hip mobility and leg dexterity. Spider guard is NOT a static position; as your opponent … [Read more...]
On Starting Sparring from the Knees…
A reader writes: Hi Stephan, I've been doing BJJ for about 6 months and am wondering if you have any advice about what to do when you're starting on the knees? I find that most wrestling-style takedowns are very difficult to do from the knees, especially because my opponents are really good at sprawling. And if I get my grips then inevitably my opponent also gets his grips and the whole … [Read more...]
A Powerful Guard Pass Defense Used by Carlson Gracie
One of the most powerful ways to defend against the guard pass is with a movement called 'the Frame and Hip Escape'. In fact it's fair to say that learning this concept and movement completely revolutionised my guard game, especially my ability to defend against the guard pass! In this article we'll break down this exact movement for you. Then we'll discuss how to train it on your own … [Read more...]
A Simple Drill to Shut Down Your Opponent’s Guard Pass
I don't usually have to spend a lot of time sitting around and dreaming up new crazy techniques to put onto my Youtube channel... Typically all I have to do is look back at the last couple of training sessions I've done and something obvious to talk about pops right out at me. In the case of today's video, I was working with a friend who was having trouble with his guard getting … [Read more...]
The Ultimate Guide to Developing BJJ Hip Movement Through Shrimping
Everyone says that moving your hips is one of the keys to jiu-jitsu. And they’re absolutely right: the correct movement of the hips is critical not only for escaping bad positions, but also for applying submissions, sweeping your opponent, passing the guard and much more. Traditionally an exercise called ‘shrimping’ is often used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to develop hip movement. This exercise … [Read more...]
Movements and Transitions from Knee on Belly
When I first learned the knee on belly position I was told that you should use it for two reasons... Get two points in a tournment, and/or Put so much weight on your opponent and making him so uncomfortable that he would open up his defences and give you the chance to armbar or choke him. Now points and pressure are still totally valid uses of the knee mount. For example, I think using … [Read more...]
A Simple Tweak to Develop a Powerful Bridge in BJJ
The bridge is one of the most important movements in all of BJJ. It is one of the three critical pin escape movements and can be used to escape almost every bad position. For example, the classic (and highly effective) 'Upa' mount escape would not exist without bridging your hips high up to ceiling before turning your body and getting out of the mount. And my favourite way of escaping … [Read more...]
Butterfly Guard: Get Up, Sit Up, Get Up Off Your Back!
The Butterfly Guard is a very powerful sweeping position where you sit on your butt, leaning slightly forward, with both of your feet inside your opponent's legs (click here for a quick intro to the butterfly guard on Grapplearts.com). However you do NOT want to be flat on your back when you're playing butterfly guard. When you're lying back like that you almost all the power behind your … [Read more...]
How to do the Windshield Wiper Guard Pass
The windshield wiper is a leg motion used by a TON of high level BJJ guys to pass the guard (and also to showboat sometimes). It allows you to cross from one side of your opponent's body to the other without him entangling you in either guard or half guard. For example, let's say that you're passing the guard to your right and your opponent counters by high-legging (i.e. stepping over your … [Read more...]
BJJ Rear Mount Master Class Q&A
When Rob Biernacki and I released the BJJ Back Attacks Formula instructional some of the readers of my email newsletter grabbed the app right away and asked some great questions related to the rear mount in BJJ. As it turns out, my partner in rear mount crime was coming back through town recently, so it seemed like a good idea to film videos answers to those questions. Here are the questions … [Read more...]
How to Avoid BJJ Injuries (and Other Dumb Ways to Die)
There’s a smartphone game out there called Dumb Ways to Die. Well, many BJJ guys are playing a similar game every time they step on the mats. It’s called Dumb Ways to Get Injured. To fight this trend here’s an important new article written by my friend (and training partner from long ago) Jeff Meszaros. In this article you get some of Jeff’s crazy stories about some of the dumbest things … [Read more...]
The BJJ Self Defense Experiment
Have you ever wondered if your BJJ would stand up in a self defense situation against an opponent determined to clean your clock with his fists? By the end of this article I'm hoping you'll have a much better idea of what to focus on to sharpen your BJJ skills for self defense purposes... The self defense implications of grappling are important to me (click here to see my other posts on the … [Read more...]