The first time I ever saw the triangle choke in action was in 1994, during the last match of UFC 4. Royce Gracie had just squared off against Dan Severn, a seemingly unstoppable wrestler with a huge weight advantage. I remember thinking, 'There's just no possible way that Royce is gonna win this one.' The fight went to the ground quickly, and after 15 minutes of getting manhandled Royce … [Read more...]
Omoplata
Three BJJ Guard Posture Mistakes That’ll Get You KILLED on the Mats
Using the Power of Posture and Positioning to Prevent Problems (Note to the reader: this lesson #5 from of the Beginning BJJ Course. To receive the other lessons by email please sign up for the free email-based course) Whenever I've got someone in my guard I watch them very carefully for mistakes. If they make a mistake (and if I can capitalize on it quickly) then - boom - they're gonna get … [Read more...]
Hitting the Omoplata from the Butterfly Guard
Many people use the butterfly guard only as a sweeping position. But that's a mistake because you can also hit powerful submissions from the butterfly guard. In fact attacking with sweeps sets up submissions, and attacking with submissions sets up sweeps. Attacking with both from any guard position makes your game so much more effective; why would you want to limit yourself to only one or the … [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...]
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...]
Podcast EP28: How Bernardo Faria Won Double Gold at the BJJ Mundials
In this in-depth interview I talk with Bernardo Faria, the 99kg BJJ fighter who recently took gold in not only his own weight class but also in the absolute division of the 2015 BJJ Mundials. Some of the highlights of my talk with Bernardo Faria included... His mindset going into big tournaments How he developed and refined his highly individual BJJ gameplan What he's learned … [Read more...]
A Super-Powerful Omoplata Finish
If you grapple then you have to use the omoplata. After all, it's one of the 'big five' attacks from the guard (armbar, kimura, triangle, guillotine and omoplata). Much of the time the omoplata ends up functioning as a sweep - your opponent rolls out of it to escape, you follow him, and get to the top. That's not a problem - you're now on top after all - but wouldn't it have been nice to get … [Read more...]
Spider Guard Masterclass is Now Live
After almost 6 months of planning, filming and editing Spider Guard Masterclass is now ready for release! I'm biased of course, but I think that this is an absolutely amazing project. It's an A to Z reference guide for the Spider Guard, which is arguably the most dominant form of open guard in modern BJJ. Checking out this instructional is also risk free: if you don't absolutely love it, … [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...]
Podcast EP19: Clark Gracie on Training, Competing, and Growing up Gracie
This is a great interview with 2013 Pan Am BJJ Champion Clark Gracie. He shares a ton of cool info. You can listen to, read, or download this interview in several different ways… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWxI1oKzpV4 To listen to this conversation you could press play on the video above, but then you might miss out on future episodes, wouldn’t you? So the best thing to do is to … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Safely Control an Opponent on the Ground for Self Defense.
Reverse lapeloplatas and inside-out upside-down berimbolos might be fun to train and effective for some guys in high level competition, but at its core Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a martial art. So once in a while we need to regroup, refocus, and give some thought to what parts of the art we would use in a real self defense situation. … [Read more...]
The Omoplata vs the Marceloplata vs the Baratoplata
Here's a 12 minute tutorial I just put out breaking down two really cool variations of the Omoplata armlock which is one of my all-time favourite techniques. The first variation is called the 'Marceloplata' - it's named after superstar grappler Marcelo Garcia who popularised this technique. The Marceloplata is a great option to use when you've almost finalised a regular Omoplata but your … [Read more...]
Advanced Omoplata Armlock Finish
Jiu-jitsu is so cool! As you might know, the omoplata armlock is one of my very favorite techniques. But even after 10 years of studying this position, I'm still learning new stuff about it... Today I want to share a variation of the omoplata that I learned this summer workingwith Brandon Mullins. Of course this finish works great on larger people, but even though I'm 6'2' and 215 lbs I'm gonna … [Read more...]
Four Ways to Fix Your Omoplata
The omoplata is one of my very favorite submissions. But there are a lot of ways to screw it up. Here's how to make sure it works for you. One of the most common errors people make when trying to apply the omoplata is to lie flat on their back and stay square with your opponent. Yes, if you're ridiculously flexible - able to put both your feet behind your own head for example - then you can … [Read more...]
Technique 4: Omo Plata to footlock
A four step instructional article on transitioning from guard to the omoplata and then into an unexpected footlock when your opponent attempts to counter the omoplata. Stephan has his opponent in his guard and climbs his legs up until his left thigh is resting OVER his opponent's right shoulder. This is known as the "crooked", "climbing" or "high" guard. Stephan creates an attack … [Read more...]
Technique 3: Scissor sweep to Omoplata
The scissor sweep is one of the very first sweeps most BJJ students learn. And it's a legit technique, but even if your opponent counters it then it can still be used to set up a great omoplata attack... Stephan has his opponent in his closed guard, and uses the basic closed guard grip on his opponent's left side Stephan opens his guard, shifts his hips, puts his left shin across his … [Read more...]
Technique 2: Omoplata to wristlock
It's never good when your opponent manages to stand up in your guard. Fortunately you can use the omoplata to bring him back down to earth and put him into a very bad position... Stephan's opponent stands up, attempting to pass his closed guard. He maintains control of his opponent's right arm Stephan swivels his body to his left (so his left ear is touching his opponent's right shin). … [Read more...]
Technique 1: Triangle choke to Omoplata
The omoplata can be an attack in its own right, or a great followup to another technique. Here Stephan shows you how the omoplata can be used to salvage a failed triangle choke... Stephan attacks his opponent with a loose triangle choke. His opponent counters the choke by wrapping his right arm around Stephan's left thigh, preventing the choke from tightening. He controls his … [Read more...]
“Comedy’ reverse omo plata from rear mount
Thanks to Matt Kirtley for submitting this technique. For more information, or to contact Matt, please visit Gracie Barra Clearwater - Stephan Kesting. While this entry into the reverse omo plata may seem like a comedy option (especially when I obviously have the choke in all these photos) I have actually used it when someone is defending their neck really well, especially when they have a gi … [Read more...]
Quicky under pass to reverse omoplata
This is a very effective way to end a match quickly. Thanks to Matt Kirtley for submitting this technique. For more information, or to contact Matt, please visit Gracie Barra Clearwater - Stephan Kesting. I was worried that it might be considered redundant to demonstrate three passes that are so similar. But that quickly passed when I realized I'm awesome and there's no such thing as too … [Read more...]