In case you were hiding under a rock, Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche last night at UFC 157. She both validated her UFC Women's Bantamweight title, and made history by being in the first-ever women's match in the the UFC. And just in case you were under that aforementioned rock, despite a very spirited fight by Liz Carmouche, Ronda won the match with an armbar at 4:49 of the first … [Read more...]
Marcelo Garcia
Hidden Techniques for Maintaining Rear Mount
When people teach the rear mount they often show you how to get your hooks in to achieve the rear mount, and then they teach you a couple of submissions from the back. Their idealized flowchart has two steps: Get your hooks in, Submit your opponent. Oh, if only life were so simple! … [Read more...]
Advanced Submission Attacks
Let's talk about an advanced concept that top submission artists use all the time. But first, let's set the stage by talking about the limited number of common positions in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. … [Read more...]
Critical Submission Details
Are there any submissions out there that you just can't finish? You can set it up, lock it on, and strain for all you're worth, but your opponent just won't tap out? It happens all the time. In fact, I'm not immune either. There have been lots of submissions where I initially thought, "oh man, this will never work for me!" But take heart! Usually there are just one or two critical … [Read more...]
How Marcelo Garcia Defeats Larger, Stronger Opponents
There's nothing quite like watching a smaller, lighter, weaker person use their technique to defeat a bigger, heavier, stronger opponent. And when it comes to tapping out bigger, stronger, heavier opponents there's nobody quite like Marcelo Garcia. Not only is he a four time world BJJ champion and three time ADCC champion in his weight class, but he's often fought in the absolute division … [Read more...]
Marcelo Garcia Chokes Me Out Repeatedly
Marcelo Garcia is maybe the very best person in the world at attacking the turtle position. But before I tell you how I know this first hand, I should point out that as you get better you'll run into the turtle position more often. This is because when you're pinned by an advanced player it's pretty damn hard to put them back into your guard. And the other main escape option is to go to … [Read more...]
Sorry, It’s Gonna Get Worse…
As you improve as a grappler you'll go through phases of adding new techniques and strategies to your game. These are exciting times, but the sad truth is that you're usually gonna get worse before you get better. … [Read more...]
Flow Sparring
Last week I had a short but fun training session with my friend Ritchie doing what we call 'flow sparring.' The rules of flow sparring are very simple: you have to keep moving, and you can't use strength. … [Read more...]
Mobility and Position
There are two basic games in grappling: the 'mobility game' and the 'position game'. The mobility game is based on speed and movement - transitions between positions, attacks and reversals are accomplished with speed. … [Read more...]