How many times have you been trying to choke out a training partner, straining and straining, then give up in disgust only to have him say, "Man, I was SO close to tapping out!!" Or what about those times when you've been caught in a choke, see no way out, and your only defense is to hunker down and hope that your opponent will give up before you run out of air or blood to the brain? The … [Read more...]
Escapes
How Vinny Magalhães Survived Fabrício Werdum’s Armbar to Win ADCC
In the heaviest weight class of the 2011 ADCC submission fighting championships there was a fascinating matchup between accomplished grappler and MMA fighter Vinny Magalhães and the two time ADCC champion, Fabrício Werdum. After an initial exchange on the feet Vinny caught Fabrício in an omoplata sweep and got ahead on points. Fabrício escapes, they get back to the feet, there's another … [Read more...]
BJJ Breathing Tricks When You’re On the Bottom, Getting Crushed by Your Opponent
One of the very worst things is to be trapped on the bottom with all your opponent's weight on top of you and be unable to breathe. This is usually followed by exhaustion, panic and surrender. But it doesn't need to be like this - there are several approaches to breathing in BJJ that can make sure air gets into your lungs, oxygen into your blood, and keep you in the game, even when you're … [Read more...]
Mount Escape to Ankle Lock Position
If you're caught in mount the first thing you want to try are the conventional bridging and shrimping movements to escape. These are two of the gold standard escapes for a good reason; they work all the time. But as the old saying goes, man makes plans and God laughs. Even the best techniques are going to fail against some opponents and in certain situations so it's always good to have some … [Read more...]
Three Powerful Neck Crank Defenses
Neck cranks are undeniably powerful submissions often used in submission grappling. Rather than constricting the trachea and arteries at the front and sides of the neck like most chokes, a neck crank typically attacks the cervical spine itself. The trouble is, if you're on the receiving end of one of these attacks and don't tap out fast enough then you can sustain a long-lasting or even … [Read more...]
A Bow and Arrow Choke Escape
The bow and arrow choke is one of the most powerful chokes from the back in the entire BJJ repertoire. Many matches in the black belt division of the Mundials have ended with this choke, so you know it works! This attack is called the 'Bow and Arrow' choke because when you apply it your opponent gets bent sideways into a bow shape, while you stay straight (i.e. an arrow). Bending your … [Read more...]
Escaping the Reverse Mount the Proper Way
The reverse mount is a tricky position... If you're opponent has you caught in it then he's placing a tremendous amount of pressure on your diaphragm, which makes it hard to breath. He also has lots of entries to kneebars, heel hooks, leg laces, and other submissions available to him. Compounding the problem is the fact that it's not a very common position, meaning that most people don't … [Read more...]
2 Favorite Knee on Belly Escapes
Being on the bottom of knee on belly (aka 'knee mount') is a terrible thing! You can't move... Your arms and neck are vulnerable to submissions... And the pressure that an opponent puts on your belly makes it hard to breath. So you have to have a good knee on belly escape you can rely on! To get you started with that, in my 6:06 Youtube video called '2 Favorite Escapes from Knee Mount … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Apply the Omoplata Armlock Submission (and Stop the Rolling Escape)
The omoplata is one of my very favorite armlocks. There are so many opportunities to get to this submission from almost every guard position, the top, in scrambles, etc. And because you're using the strength of both of your legs against his arm it has the potential to be an ultra powerful submission! Trouble is, against better opponents the omoplata often turns into a sweep: your opponent … [Read more...]
Escape the Heel Hook!
Even if you don't like leglocks you still have to know how to defend them! And this is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to the heel hook. (I've been suddenly and powerfully heel hooked by an enthusiastic moron in BJJ class where it's illegal and when we were both wearing the gi. Believe me, it didn't feel good at all!) If there's just one joint lock you should learn to defend it's the heel … [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 … [Read more...]
Napoleon and How To Be Ready for Anything in BJJ
Napoleon Bonaparte may have been a megalomaniac who left millions dead in his wake, but if you read about his battles and military campaigns there is no doubt that he was a strategic and tactical genius. (Well, maybe he wasn't a genius when he invaded Russia in 1812, but before that he was damn near unstoppable...) He fought over sixty battles in his lifetime, during which he was … [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...]
A Triangle Choke Escape that Requires Almost No Training…
Years ago I came back from an Indonesian Silat training camp led by Dan Inosanto. I showed up at BJJ class the next day and was telling a few guys about how much I had enjoyed the training. One guy with a slightly smartass tone asked me, "How would a Silat guy escape from my triangle choke then?" It turns out that there IS a very effective, super high percentage Silat escape to the … [Read more...]
The 4 Most Common Errors For The ‘Upa’ Mount Escape
The 'Upa' (or 'Bridge and Roll') is probably the very first mount escape that a beginner ever learns. It's taught as part of the basic curriculum for a very simple reason: it works! You see this escape in MMA, submission grappling, and BJJ competition with the gi. I've used it as a white belt, blue belt, purple belt, brown belt and black belt. Contrary to what some people will tell you is … [Read more...]
How to Escape Kesa Gatame and the Headlock
Kesa Gatame is one of the most under-utilized positions in BJJ. People in jiu-jitsu tend to ignore this position but generations of judo players and wrestlers have proved that Kesa Gatame IS a powerful and effective way to pin someone. And - even worse for someone caught in it - Kesa Gatame is also a great entry into some very effective armlocks, leglocks, neck cranks and diaphragm … [Read more...]
Don’t Build Your BJJ Game on White Belt Techniques.
Certain BJJ techniques are 'white belt' moves. Which means they might be effective against white belts (and sometimes blue belts) but then stop working once you move up to opponents of a higher skill level. Basically you can pull off just about anything on a newbie. They make rookie mistakes because they're, well, rookies. Whitebelts don't instinctively know how to move to prevent, defend or … [Read more...]
How to Defend Strikes on the Ground
You're walking down the street, someone bumps you, words are exchanged, you get pushed to the ground, and now some big gorilla is trying to knock your teeth down your throat. No matter how focused you are on the sportive aspects of grappling you've still GOTTA know how to defend strikes on the ground!!! It doesn't matter if your goal is casual recreation or if you wanna be the next UFC … [Read more...]
A Better Armbar?
The armbar, as it is usually taught, involves using BOTH of your hands or arms to control ONE of your opponent's arms. This two-on-one control can be used when trying to break through your opponent's defenses, as in the photo below: The two-on-one arm control is usually retained right until your opponent taps out to the finalized armbar, as in the following photo: Now this regular … [Read more...]
How To Use Moves You Already Know to Do Advanced Techniques
We've just launched the latest Grapplearts BJJ instructional mobile app with my friend Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. It's called Advanced BJJ Fundamentals. The name of this app isn't accidental, because it's all about using the fundamental building blocks of jiu-jitsu to make learning easier, to amplify the effectiveness and reliability of your techniques, and to build an advanced … [Read more...]