In December, 2008, I sent out a Grappling Tip Email with a tip about not letting your opponent control your hips (see the first tip below). I asked readers to share their best tips for preventing or blocking the guard pass... … [Read more...]
Open Guard
The Evolution of the ‘Logsplitter’ from Fluke to Trusted BJJ Technique
Today I want to tell you a story about how I stumbled across a technique by fluke at a tournament, and how it became one of my bread and butter moves from Butterly Guard, X Guard and Half Guard. … [Read more...]
Get Up, Stand Up!
Why getting off the ground is a critical skills in grappling! (originally published in Black Belt Magazine) When mixed martial arts competition exploded in North America, martial artists quickly learned that most fights end up on the ground. And for years the prevailing wisdom was that groundfighting was inevitable, and if a fight went to the ground it would most likely stay there. In the … [Read more...]
How to Defeat the Bigger Stronger Opponent NOW AVAILABLE
It's here! The How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent DVD set is in stock, and ready to ship right now. Emily Kwok and I have been crafting this 5 DVD set for a long time, and it's one of the best instructional sets I have ever seen. … [Read more...]
A Drill To Improve ANY Guard Sweep
Today I'm not going to talk about a technique per se. Instead I'm going to share a cool training method with you. (Training methods are the ways in which you practice, hone and internalize the techniques you're learning. … [Read more...]
How to Stand Up From Guard And Get Back to Your Feet
Originally published by Stephan Kesting in Ultimate Grappling Magazine Marc Laimon is one of the foremost grappling coaches for mixed martial arts fighters. Not only was he a coach for the hit Spike TV show "The Ultimate Fighter," … [Read more...]
Detailed, Advanced Omoplata
In the past few years I've made some big changes to my omoplata armlock attacks. The omoplata has always been one of my bread and butter moves, but these racent changes have doubled my success rate, especially when going against bigger and/or skilled opponents. But now I'm going to let the cat out of the bag... Click here for a 10 minute detailed tutorial video on the advanced omoplata. … [Read more...]
How To Sweep A Larger Opponent
I've recently featured a fair bit of content from various guest authors. And that's a good thing, because different perspectives are critical to your improvement; after all, no single person can show you everything you need to know about grappling. … [Read more...]
Countering the Double Leg with a Sitout & Switch
I respect most grappling arts, not just BJJ. Freestyle and collegiate wrestling, in particular, have a lot to offer to submission grapplers and BJJ practitioners. Obviously we can get a lot of good throws and takedowns from wrestling, but we can also 'steal' some very powerful moves on the ground as well. … [Read more...]
The ‘Fundamental Five Guard Sweeps’ from the de la Riva Guard
Ricardo de la Riva is an incredibly nice and humble man, but don't let that fool you - this man is a BJJ legend. (I mean, how many people have a popular guard position named after them?) … [Read more...]
‘My’ Technique at ADCC…
Talk about synchronicity! A month ago I told you about a specific guard position I've been having a ton of success with - the logsplitter position. … [Read more...]
Free Book About the Guard for Grapplearts Readers
Heres's a really cool resource for you, something that I've received a TON of positive feedback on. It's a free, downloadable book that breaks down the many different variations of the Guard position with detailed descriptions and lots of pretty pictures! And you can grab it super easily, for free... … [Read more...]
More on the Unpassable Guard…
Recently I published a short article on how I improved my guard pass defense. Shortly thereafter I received an interesting and informative email from 'Scott' who trains at Colorado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Denver CO. … [Read more...]
The Unpassable Guard
A few years ago Denis Kang and I published an article in Grappling Magazine about passing the guard in MMA. In that article we said there are three stages of getting past your opponent's legs: … [Read more...]
One more Von Flue Choke
As you know, in the last few newsletters we've been discussing body position for guillotine chokes and using the 'Von Flue' choke to recounter the guillotine. If you missed them you can click to see the first post here and the second post here. Well, thanks to Shaldag on the Sherdog.net forums I recently I found yet ANOTHER example of a the Von Flue choke being used in competition. This one is … [Read more...]
Everybody Was Von Flue Fighting…
When people first learn the Von Flue choke they often find that their opponent can bridge them over and then they end up on the bottom. If this is happening to you and you're getting rolled into a bad position when trying this choke then first check that your legs are perpendicular (i.e. at 90 degrees) to your opponent. If his head is pointing to 12 o'clock, then your legs should either be to 3 … [Read more...]
A Jiu-jitsu Secret
OK, draw the curtains, turn down the lights, turn off your recording devices and come closer. Today I want to share a principle with you that Marc Laimon calls "one of the secrets of jiu-jitsu". … [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...]
An Alternative To Pulling Guard When Grappling On Your Knees
Many grapplers start their sparring sessions on their knees. From this starting position usually one of two things happen: either the two combatants push and pull each other until one falls over, or someone pulls guard and starts looking for sweeps and submissions. … [Read more...]
Short Legged Guard Work
A while ago I gave some suggestions about dealing with the open guard of long-legged and flexible opponents. In the interests of fairness and balance let's address some options for the opposite situation, namely what to do if you have shorter, inflexible legs. … [Read more...]