OK, this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen… I recently did an interview with Elliott Bayev on how to build BJJ gameplans. One of the things that Elliott did for this project was to create an in-depth mindmap showing his entire Spider Guard gameplan. And you can get that gameplan completely for free right now. Of course this gameplan covers the ‘regular’ spider guard (both feet … [Read more...]
Elliott Bayev
Podcast EP24: How to Build a BJJ Gameplan
Here's a really cool video interview I did with my friend, BJJ blackbelt, renowned coach, and fierce competitor Elliott Bayev. This interview is special because we break down the steps of building a BJJ gameplan. We go right from the basic BJJ self defense gameplan, and build up to the intricate strategies used by world class competitors. There are tons of immediately useful takeaways … [Read more...]
Don’t Panic, This is Normal!
I often hear from people distraught about some area of their jiu-jitsu lagging behind. It might be their sweeps from the closed guard, their submissions from side mount, their escapes from rear mount, or their butterfly guard passes, but in that that one specific area they’re just not as good at as they should be. Here's the thing though: there will ALWAYS be areas where you are lagging … [Read more...]
How to Open a Stubborn Closed Guard
Passing the guard and establishing a stable position is maybe the single hardest thing to do in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. You can know a ton of guard passing techniques, but what if you're in the Closed Guard and can't start your pass because your opponent absolutely refuses to open up his legs. He just keeps you in his guard with his ankles crossed and wears you down with his wickedly strong legs, … [Read more...]
High Percentage Omoplata Setup from Spider Guard
The omoplata armlock is one of the heavy hitters in the jiu-jitsu arsenal. It's a very effective submission in its own right, but it also sets up many other submissions and can be used to sweep an opponent. Here's a 3 1/2 minute video breakdown of a high percentage omoplata entry from Spider Guard. Specifically this is an omoplata entry from the 'leg lasso' variation of Spider Guard, and my … [Read more...]
Countering and Passing Reverse de la Riva Guard
Regardless of whether you want to add this modern BJJ inverted spinning stuff to your own personal repertoire or not, you should still know how to counter this position. But even if you don't use the Reverse de la Riva Guard yourself, the chances are still good that you'll eventually run into someone who does. And when that happens hopefully you have an answer that allows you to counter the … [Read more...]
Some Tweaks for Tightening the Armbar from Closed Guard
Chances are that the armbar from guard is one of the first techniques you ever learned in BJJ. In fact the closed guard armbar is one of those fundamental techniques that results in submissions every day at every BJJ school in the world (in fact it's the fifth most popular submission in a poll of 533 Grapplearts readers). But just because you learned it early in your career, and just because … [Read more...]
Takedowns for People Who Don’t Do Takedowns…
At it’s core BJJ is an incredibly effective way of fighting on the ground. But the sad truth is that grapplerts who haven’t trained in Judo or wrestling can often have a lot of problems getting the fight to the ground. In fact the only plan many BJJ practitioners have for getting a match to the ground is to pull guard, end of story. … [Read more...]
A Glossary of Guard Positions, or Lumping vs. Splitting
When it comes variations of the guard position grapplers tend to fall into one of two categories: 'lumpers' and 'splitters'. … [Read more...]
Grip Fighting (Using Your Legs)
Grip fighting is very, very important in grappling. Getting your preferred grip and preventing your opponent from getting his grip is a key component of setting up throws with the gi, takedowns without the gi, sinking chokes, passing the guard, sweeping your opponent from the guard, and so on. … [Read more...]