"My Fingers Hurt..." I get a lot of emails, tweets and messages from BJJ practitioners about fingers hurting all the time. For example, I asked a question about BJJ hand pain on Twitter got a ton of responses (click here to see them on Twitter), including a disconcerting number of white belts who had this problem. So it's a real problem, and not only for people who've been doing the sport a … [Read more...]
Keenan Cornelius
Hitler on the Worm Guard
This is one of my favourite BJJ humour videos of all time: Hitler reacting to Keenan Cornelius's Worm Guard! Check it out below. And if you're in the dark about this position check out my post on the worm guard (and passing the worm guard) here. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4zksDUDieA[/youtube] … [Read more...]
How to Pass ‘Worm Guard’
One of the big trends in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recently has been the increasing sophistication of lapel-based guard control and sweeps. In this style of game the lapel gets fed around arms, behind the torso, and between the legs to make it difficult for your opponent to pass your guard and also much easier to sweep him. The most recent variation in this evolutionary trend is a position called … [Read more...]
Lapeloplatas, Feet on Lapel Spider Guards, & Other Gi BJJ Tricks
My friend Ostap Manastyrski and I recently shot a video about the evolving trend in the competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world that involves playing with the lapels of your opponent. People are now doing spider guard on the lapels, attacking with omoplata-style movements against the lapels, and developing all kinds of new gi-based tricks and strategies to manipulate and off balance their … [Read more...]
Keenan Cornelius’s Inverted Spinning Armbar Explained…
In the No Gi super fight at the 2013 BJJ Expo between Keenan Cornelius and Lucas Leite there was an absolutely spectacular submission. Keenan hit an inverted spinning armbar from half guard that impressed the hell out of everyone who saw it. First, here's the match itself. The armbar sequence starts at about 8:01. I interviewed Keenan earlier this year and thought he shared a lot of … [Read more...]
My Digital Reading List, May 23, 2013
I always say that this jiu-jitsu stuff is a marathon, not a sprint. Partially this is because it takes time to remodel your body so that it can do the things you want it to do. It's also because you need to find and incorporate hundreds of little tricks, tweaks and techniques that work with your body and your ever-evolving style on the mats. … [Read more...]
The Armbar from Fifty-Fifty Guard by Keenan Cornelius
The fifty-fifty guard is a strange creature. In it you and your opponent face each other in the exact same position with your legs intertwined. On the one hand there's no doubt that it's a really powerful sweeping position for whoever's on bottom. But on the other hand it has a reputation as a really horrible way to stall. (Some people just rack up a few sweep points and then use the … [Read more...]
Podcast EP14: Keenan Cornelius on Training, BJJ Competition, MMA Goals and More
Keenan Cornelius is a BJJ phenomenon. Known for his exciting guardwork and movement-oriented game, he won double gold medals in four of the biggest BJJ tournament in the world as a purple belt, which is a HUGE accomplishment. Here's my recent interview with Keenan … [Read more...]