The bow and arrow choke is one of the highest percentage finishing techniques in all of jiu-jitsu. Statistically it's used to finish a very large number of matches at high level BJJ competition like the Mundials, the Pan-Ams, and more. But some ways of applying the bow and arrow are better than others. Some methods are tighter, some finishes are more powerful, and certain tweaks make it MUCH … [Read more...]
Rear Mount
How to Defend the Back Take in Jiu-Jitsu
There's a terrible feeling of inevitability when you're in someone's guard, he takes your arm across his centerline, and starts to climb to your back. But it doesn't need to be this way. Having your elbow across his centerline doesn't automatically lead to him taking your back and making your life miserable. Here's a technique to get out of this position that has saved my butt many … [Read more...]
Closed Guard Back Take, with Jon Thomas
Being on someone's back is the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu. If you can go climb from your guard to someone's back then you've established a HUGE match-winning advantage and now have a very good chance of choking your opponent out. This approach works at the highest level. I mean Roger Gracie used it again and again in competition against the best people in the world. Here's … [Read more...]
The BJJ Arm Drag
The arm drag is one of the most versatile BJJ techniques. You can use it to take the back, sweep your opponent, set up a barrage of chokes, sweeps and submissions, defend your guard, and even just spam your opponent so he's reacting to you rather than planning his own offense If you're thinking about adding the the arm drag to your game then starting in the butterfly guard is the way to … [Read more...]
An Easy Way to Take the Back
Taking someone's back and achieving rearmount moves you right to the pinnacle of the BJJ positional hierarchy (click here for a downloadable guide to the BJJ positions). From the back you can attack your opponent with chokes and armlocks at will. By contrast he has very, very limited attacks he can use on you since all his weapons are facing away from you. Here's one of my favorite ways to … [Read more...]
Taking the Back from the Ball and Chain Sweep in de la Riva Guard
Over the past few months on this blog I've been sharing a lot of de la Riva guard material. This series has been centered around the Ball and Chain Sweep which is one of the keystone de la Riva attacks that has been used by a lot of top BJJ competitors including Otavio Souza, Pe de Pano, and Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. In case you haven't seen it before here's a quick reminder of what the … [Read more...]
How to Take the Back from Side Control Using the Kimura Armlock Grip
The rear mount is arguably the best position in BJJ. (For a breakdown of the 6 basic positions click here.) Once you're behind the other guy you can attack him with chokes, joint locks and even strikes without much fear of retaliation. But establishing rear mount on a resisting opponent can be tricky, especially if he has learned some basic defenses like not exposing his back during … [Read more...]
Submissions and Attacks from the North South Position
The north south position is a variation of side control where you're lined up at roughly 180 degrees to your opponent; your head is pointing towards his feet and vice versa. If you're skilled at the north south position you can make life hell for your opponent, especially since many of his standard side control escapes won't work in this configuration. And it also opens up some very … [Read more...]
How to Do the Leg Drag Guard Pass
The leg drag is a modern addition to the world of guard passing in BJJ. It was popularized by world class competitors like the Mendes Brothers among many others. And if you spend even a little bit of time competing or watching major tournaments you will notice this style of pass being used successfully in every weight division, from white belt up to world champion black belt. Not only is … [Read more...]
Near vs Far Side Kimura Armlocks
Most grapplers know how to apply the Kimura armlock on the far side of their opponent's bodies. It's an attack taught at white belt that you see in every grappling competition. And many intermediate grapplers don't know that you can actually use the Kimura technique on both sides of your opponent's body. But the near side Kimura is an absolutely critical position for controlling your … [Read more...]
Leg Action in Rear Mount – How to Put the Squeeze on Your Opponent
The rear mount is one of the very best positions you can get in BJJ. In rear mount you're behind your opponent and can attack him with chokes and armlocks (not to mention strikes in an MMA or self defense context). And there's pretty much bugger all that he can do to you... But it can be a lot of work to get here. You have to pass his guard, induce him to turn, secure your grips, get your … [Read more...]
Back Attacks 6: How to Transition to the Crucifix from Rear Mount
The crucifix is an absolutely terrible position to be caught in when you're doing BJJ, No Gi or MMA. Here's Rob Biernacki of BJJ Formula fame showing exactly how to apply the crucifix on your opponent!! This is part 6 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...]
Back Attacks 4: How to Systematically Apply the Triangle Choke from Rear Mount
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...]
How To Do The Crab Ride in BJJ and No Gi Grappling
The Crab Ride is one of the hottest new positions in BJJ used by competitors like Rafa Mendes, Gianni Grippo, the Miyao brothers, Mikey Musumeci and more. It looks kind of like you're doing the butterfly guard on the back of your opponent's legs with your insteps behind his knees... except that you're upside down while doing it! The cool thing is that from that strange position there are a … [Read more...]
Defending and Escaping When Someone is On Your Back!
Having someone on your back in rear mount is an absolutely terrible situation. It doesn't matter if you're doing BJJ, no gi submission grappling, MMA, or are in a self defense situation. When someone is behind you with the hooks in and his arms locked in the seatbelt position then you're really very close to getting choked into a drooling mess. There's a reason that being caught in rear … [Read more...]
Bow and Arrow Chokes in the Street, with Adam Nadow
Jiu-jitsu black belt Adam Nadow was recently attacked in the street and used his training to defend himself and control his attacker until the police arrived. The video of this confrontation later went viral in the BJJ and self defense community. But what's not as commonly known is that he then involved himself in trying to rehabilitate his attacker, going so far as to provide him with food and … [Read more...]
How to Defend and Escape the Rear Naked Choke
In the video above and in the article below we're going to talk about how to defend and escape the Rear Naked Choke. There's a reason that the Rear Naked Choke (or RNC) has finished so many matches in MMA, BJJ and submission grappling: it's a very powerful and super-difficult to escape submission! This effectiveness is the main reason that we've devoted so much time to this choke on Grapplearts … [Read more...]
How a Judo Olympian Takes the Back
Travis Stevens is a 3 time Judo Olympian, an Olympic silver medalist, and a BJJ black belt. So he's deadly on his feet but is also really slick on the ground. In fact his ground attacks were a huge part of his very successful run at the 2016 Olympics. He shared 3 really cool ways to take the back while passing the guard with me, and I was fortunate enough to get it on video for you. All … [Read more...]
A Bow and Arrow Choke Escape
The bow and arrow choke is one of the most powerful chokes from the back in the entire BJJ repertoire. Many matches in the black belt division of the Mundials have ended with this choke, so you know it works! This attack is called the 'Bow and Arrow' choke because when you apply it your opponent gets bent sideways into a bow shape, while you stay straight (i.e. an arrow). Bending your … [Read more...]
Weak Side Rear Mount – The Ultimate Free Guide
In the Rear Mount you can end up on either the ‘strong side’ (your overhook side) or on the ‘weak side’ (your underhook side) (In fact here's a link to an article on Grapplearts.com about the strong side vs weak side debate) Ultimately though, the bottom line is that you can’t always be in charge of where you end up; your opponent gets a vote too! So sometimes you’re going to end up on the … [Read more...]