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Techniques, Tutorials and Gear for BJJ, MMA and Submission Grappling

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Home » Positions

Positions

How to Get Started with Leglocks

January 8, 2025 by Stephan Kesting

The Most Important Positions of Leglocking

To the uninitiated, leglocking can seem like a confusing black art; a spinning tangle of legs resulting in sudden match-winning submissions. But you can't just stick your head in the sand and ignore them because but leglocks have become HUGE in jiu-jitsu, especially in no gi grappling. To become a complete grappler (and to avoid tapping out 10 times per match to some young punk who just … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: 411 Position, 50/50 Guard, Ankle Lock, Heel Hook, Leglocks, No Gi, Positions, Techniques, Video

Half Guard Leg Position Drill for BJJ & Submission Grappling

September 20, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Half Guard Movement Drill

The Half Guard is a very powerful position from which to sweep or submit your opponent.  But just like all other forms of guard, it's really important to know how to move your hips and your legs correctly. No movement = no guard!!! Here's a half-guard drill that teaches you the basic leg and hip movements to manoeuvre into position to apply your techniques and prevent him from passing your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: Drills, Half Guard, Positions, Techniques, Video

What Is Positional Wisdom in BJJ?

March 6, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

BJJ Positions

I recently rolled with a young punk who was strong as a chimpanzee and flexible as an octopus. Not only was he a physical specimen, but - to make matters worse - he also had some really good attack sequences. For example, every time he got the overhook from closed guard I was fending off a barrage of triangles, omoplatas, baratoplatas, and weird-ass backtakes. And when he got to my back he … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Training Tagged With: BJJ, Drills, Positions, Training, Training Modalities

The SOS Position, The Rosetta Stone of the Omoplata

June 24, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

The SOS sitting on shoulder position in the Omoplata game

The omoplata is a very deep position.  There are so many different entries, transitions, defences, escapes, and recounters; it can get a little overwhelming. To bring sense to a scramble it helps to recognize intermediary positions. Positions that repeatedly and reliably occur, often fleetingly, as people engage in what appears to be a chaotic series of transitions. For the omoplata one of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Omoplata, Positions, Techniques, Video

What Is Required for Your BJJ Blue Belt?

November 21, 2022 by Stephan Kesting

What's Required for Blue Belt?

In episode 380 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk you through what's generally required to be a competent blue belt, including... The 8 basic positions in jiu-jitsu A 3 phase strategy for beating a bigger person The real purpose of the guard The 2 types of submissions The hierarchy of positions How to stay safe in bad positions...and what to do next. The importance of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Belt, BJJ, Elliott Bayev, Podcast, Positions, Sparring, Strategy, Teaching, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training Schedule

What is Side Control in BJJ and Submission Grappling?

May 23, 2020 by Mark Lovegrove

18 Variations of Side Control

Side control is a pinning position in Brazilian jiu-jitsu when you're perpendicular to your opponent and are not entangled in their legs.  Typically but not always you're chest to chest with your opponent.  It is one of the 6 main positions in BJJ and it's where you end up most often after passing the guard. But there isn't just one perfect version of side control. Depending on what you're … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Judo, Kesa Gatame, Knee Mount, Positions, Sidemount, Submission, Techniques, Video

Sparring vs Competition Strategies

February 1, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

Optimal Competition Strategy There's an old saying that goes... "Don't do what's best for you.  Instead do what's worst for your opponent." There's a lot of truth there.  In a competition your odds of victory go way up if you can prevent your opponent doing the things that he is best at. Back in the day I once competed against MMA fighter Chris Leben in a submission grappling … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Drills, Leg Lasso, No Gi, Positions, Spider Guard, Strategy, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

2 Concepts for the Absolute BJJ Beginner

November 28, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

2 things for the BJJ Beginner

A Guest Article by Ritchie Yip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeXg51hrgqE   Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be a confusing and frustrating martial art for the absolute beginner. Today we’re going to oversimplify BJJ with 2 basic concepts; so that if you’re just starting out you’ll be able to understand this complex and confusing martial art a little bit more easily... BJJ Beginner Concept … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners Tagged With: BJJ, Concepts, For Beginners, Positions, Ritchie Yip, Tips for Beginners, Training, Video

Free Audio Download of The Roadmap for BJJ

November 24, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Roadmap for BJJ Free Audiobook

The Roadmap for BJJ book tries to help you make sense of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by breaking down the underlying 6 fundamental positions of art.  It focusses the hierarchy of BJJ positions (i.e. which positions are better than others) and then breaks down the relationships and transitions between the positions. If you're new to the art then you should come away with a new understanding of what's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Positions, Strategy, Submission, Submission Grappling, Techniques, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

The Cheat Code for BJJ Turtle Escapes

November 14, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

BJJ turtle escape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmz1ID3VgGU The turtle is a terrible position! Being on all fours is an invitation for your opponent to apply the clock choke, take your back and choke you out, or attack you with other submissions. And if you're talking about an MMA or self defense situation it's even worse.  Now your opponent can elbow, knee and hammerfist you into oblivion without even … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Escapes, Guard Retention, Half Granby, No Gi, Positions, Rory Van Vliet, Sparring, Turtle Position, Video

Back Attacks 4: How to Systematically Apply the Triangle Choke from Rear Mount

August 11, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

The rear triangle choke, also known as 'ura sangaku' is a fantastic way to submit your opponent when you're on his back in rear mount. Here's Rob Biernacki of BJJ Formula fame showing exactly how to do that. This is part 4 in a series on the so-called 'weak side' of the back we're releasing on Youtube and is a small part of the Back Control module of the BJJ Formula instructional. You can get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: BJJ, Chokes, Grapplearts, Positions, Rear Mount

How to Set Traps for Your Opponent in BJJ

April 6, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Thomas Lisboa - setting bjj traps

Today I want to talk about setting traps for your opponent in BJJ. The idea is that you force your opponent into a position or a situation where he only has a limited number of possible responses. Because you already have a pretty good idea of what he's going to do as soon as he uses one of those responses you spring your trap and go to the next pre-programmed move. This concept allows you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Counter, Fabio Gurgel, Guard Passes, Guard Sweeps, Positions, Strategy, Techniques, The Mental Aspect, Thomas Lisboa, Training, Video

Kneel Or Stand to Pass the Guard?

March 24, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

passing closed guard

I once drilled technique with a big, strong rock climber who had a grip from hell and tenacious isometric strength. I noticed how much he liked controlling my gi, breaking my posture and attacking with collar chokes. Since I knew we were going to spar soon I formulated a simple sparring strategy: I told myself that as soon as I ended up in his guard I would stand up and not go back down onto my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: Cartwheel, Closed Guard, Guard Passes, Leglocks, Ostap Manastyrski, Over-Under Pass, Physical Attributes, Positions, Video

Podcast Episode 125: Reilly Bodycomb on Sambo, Leglocks, MMA, Jiu-Jitsu and No Gi Grappling

March 5, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

Reilly Bodycomb Interview

I loved doing this interview with Reilly Bodycomb. Reilly is a Russian sambo and leglock expert who has competed in a TON of different rulesets including BJJ, no gi submission grappling, MMA, Russian Sambo, and Chinese San Shou. He is the Pan-American Sport SAMBO Champion (2016), USA Sport SAMBO Champion (2016), Dutch Combat SAMBO Champion (2016), recently competed in Japan and is a BJJ black … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Classes, Competition, Injuries, Leglocks, MMA, No Gi, Positions, Reilly Bodycomb, Rules, Sambo, Self Defense, Teaching, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Throws, Wrestling

Podcast Rant: Why You Have to do Jiu-Jitsu, and How to Get Good at It Fast

December 21, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

Podcast about how to learn jiu-jitsu fast

Here's a quick 10 minute audio rant I released on my Strenuous Life Podcast recently. I start out by talking about why you absolutely have to train some form of grappling if you consider yourself a martial artist. Then we go into the 6 basic position of traditional BJJ - the positions that you'll be spending 80% of your time in when you're rolling around on the mat. And then I cover the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Podcasts Tagged With: Positions, Techniques, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

The Main Positions of Modern Leglocking

July 27, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

Modern Leglocks Position Cheatsheet

One of the biggest changes in the modern approach to leg locking is the emphasis on controlling the underlying leglock positions rather than going straight for the submission. In some ways this is an old approach; jiu-jitsu been preaching Position before Submission an this is exactly the same philosophy applied to leglocks. I've put together free PDF book for you with a checklist of the 12 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques, Instructional Videos, Mixed Martial Arts, Training Tagged With: 411 Position, BJJ, Competition, Concepts, Leglocks, MMA, No Gi, Open Guard, Positions, Rob Biernacki, Submission, Techniques

On Starting Sparring from the Knees…

June 27, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

starting on the knees

A reader writes: Hi Stephan, I've been doing BJJ for about 6 months and am wondering if you have any advice about what to do when you're starting on the knees? I find that most wrestling-style takedowns are very difficult to do from the knees, especially because my opponents are really good at sprawling. And if I get my grips then inevitably my opponent also gets his grips and the whole … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: Butterfly Guard, Classes, Drills, Judo, Positions, Sparring, Takedowns, Techniques, Training

Five Tricks to Tighten Up Your Sidemount

January 10, 2016 by Stephan Kesting

how to tighten up sidemount

There's nothing worse than weathering the storm in someone's guard, passing their guard by fighting your way past their legs, finally getting to sidemount, making one tiny mistake and then - boom - you're back in their guard. It's tiring, demoralising, and leaves you open to getting swept or tapped out. No!  After doing all that work you want to stay in sidemount, make them pay for giving … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Positions, Sidemount, Submission Grappling, Unorthodox Strategies, Video

How to Defend Strikes on the Ground

November 17, 2015 by Stephan Kesting

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...]

Filed Under: Mixed Martial Arts, Self Defense Tagged With: BJJ, Closed Guard, Comics, Concepts, Escapes, Ground and Pound, Guard Passes, Martial Arts, MMA, Omoplata, Positions, Self Defense, Striking, Submission Grappling, Techniques

How to Stabilise Mount Against a Bigger, Stronger Opponent

August 8, 2013 by Stephan Kesting

Many smaller grapplers avoid the mount position because they feel it's too easy for a larger opponent to simply throw them off or roll them to the bottom. It usually takes a TON of work to get to the mount, and it really sucks when some big doofus simply sits up and rolls you to the bottom where you have to start all over again!= But there ARE ways to shut down this silliness, and allow you to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Android, Emily Kwok, Escapes, iPhone, Mount, Positions, Techniques, Video

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