Today's video clip is about a rarely-discussed but absolutely essential aspect of the Spider Guard. It's the secret sauce of the Spider Guard. And it comes down to pressure... Pressure is one of those things that can be hard to see if you don't know what you're looking for. But there's no mistaking pressure when you feel it! … [Read more...]
Strategy
The Complete Spider Guard Gameplan Mindmap
OK, this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen… I recently did an interview with Elliott Bayev on how to build BJJ gameplans. One of the things that Elliott did for this project was to create an in-depth mindmap showing his entire Spider Guard gameplan. And you can get that gameplan completely for free right now. Of course this gameplan covers the ‘regular’ spider guard (both feet … [Read more...]
Podcast EP24: How to Build a BJJ Gameplan
Here's a really cool video interview I did with my friend, BJJ blackbelt, renowned coach, and fierce competitor Elliott Bayev. This interview is special because we break down the steps of building a BJJ gameplan. We go right from the basic BJJ self defense gameplan, and build up to the intricate strategies used by world class competitors. There are tons of immediately useful takeaways … [Read more...]
Correcting the Position
There's a useful phrase that my friend and champion competitor Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins uses all the time... "Correct the position." Let's say you launch your opponent through the air with an absolutely perfect butterfly guard sweep. He lands flat on his back, and you race to the top and get to sidemount. … [Read more...]
A Time to FREAK OUT!
When it comes to sparring, many BJJ rookies just freak out for the whole session. Every grip is a deathgrip, they spaz out when they're in the guard, and then push with every bit of their strength the whole time that they're pinned on the bottom. And then they get tired... … [Read more...]
A Jedi Mind Trick for Passing Butterfly Guard
This butterfly guard pass doesn't require athleticism, speed or killer grips; instead this guard pass is all about the timing. To have great timing you either need to have super-fast reflexes to react to your opponent, OR you have to 'train' your opponent to give you a certain energy so you can anticipate it and have your response already waiting for him. … [Read more...]
The Best Time to Pass the Guard
Many matches are won or lost in the struggle to pass the guard. In fact passing the guard of a skilled player may be the single hardest thing to do in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's not uncommon for a high-level competitor to spend 8 or 9 minutes of a 10 minute match fighting like crazy trying to pass the guard. … [Read more...]
Lapeloplatas, Feet on Lapel Spider Guards, & Other Gi BJJ Tricks
My friend Ostap Manastyrski and I recently shot a video about the evolving trend in the competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world that involves playing with the lapels of your opponent. People are now doing spider guard on the lapels, attacking with omoplata-style movements against the lapels, and developing all kinds of new gi-based tricks and strategies to manipulate and off balance their … [Read more...]
My Favorite One-Two-Three Sweep Combo from the Half Guard
The half guard is one of my favorite guard positions. And here are three of my favorite half guard sweeps and attacks! Not only is each of these moves a high percentage technique in its own right, but when you put them together they create a powerful one-two-three combination that will serve you well in the half guard for the rest of your grappling career. The first attack in this sequence … [Read more...]
Ronda Rousey and the Power of Gameplans
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...]
No Gi Guard Passing Strategies vs. Bigger People
Passing the guard in a technical manner during no gi training can often be very frustrating, especially for people coming from a gi-based background. To the uninitiated it just seems that things move too fast... That there aren't any good handles to control your opponent... And things seem even worse when you're going up against a bigger person who's not afraid to use his athleticism to fight … [Read more...]
BJJ Training Strategies
Having the right assortment of techniques is pretty darn important in BJJ. But having the right training strategies is even more important... By 'training strategies' I'm talking about the big picture. Like knowing which techniques to use, when to use them, and how to correctly train those techniques in the first place. … [Read more...]
How to Attack Super-Defensive Opponents
It's a fact: big guys don't like losing to smaller guys. That's why sometimes, when a bigger guy realizes he's not going to be able to actually win a match, he changes gears and uses all his strength and size for only one thing... ... to stall, stall, stall and hope for a draw! It can be super-frustrating when an opponent absolutely refuses to engage with you. Especially when the damn guy … [Read more...]
Podcast EP12: BJJ Competition and Training Strategies with Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins
In this interview 2 x World No Gi Champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins shares his best competition and training advice. The questions come from my newsletter readership, who I polled to see if they had any questions for Brandon, especially about training, competing or holding their own against bigger opponents. Boy, did they ever! We then sifted and sorted hundreds of emails to pick out the … [Read more...]
On Keeping Your Enemies (and their Coaches) Close
I don't remember too much from my first BJJ tournament other than that the place was packed, that there were lots of huge guys strutting around like they owned the place, and that I was nervous as hell. … [Read more...]
Short & Long Term Problem Solving
Grappling is problem solving, and part of improving in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is maintaining enough awareness during sparring to figure out precisely what your problems are. Let me explain... … [Read more...]
Beating the Big Guy (Again)
Of all the questions I am asked, the most common question has to be how to beat someone who is much bigger than yourself... I've already tackled beating the larger, stronger opponent in a previous article on this site but people keep on asking me for more tips … [Read more...]
Shutting Down the Leglock Game
There is a certain type of opponent who is best described as a compulsive leglocker. You know the type: no sooner have you put him in your guard than he flings himself backwards and starts attacking your lower body with ankle locks, toe holds, kneebars and other submissions. You generally don't want to trade leglocks with this kind of opponent - he uses them all the time and will probably get … [Read more...]
Defeating the Smaller, Faster Opponent
I am sure some of you are scratching your heads, trying to figure out why on earth I would be writing about how to beat a smaller opponent... Well I've written a fair bit on how to take out bigger guys, but smaller opponents tend to be fast, squirrelly, and sneaky. Also they’re not about to take it easy on you just because you’re bigger … [Read more...]
The Larger, Stronger Opponent
If you try contesting a larger, stronger opponent using your strength against his strength you will probably lose.You need to fight the battle on your own terms, and two effective (and somewhat related) strategies to do this include: 1, Move quicker 2, Tire him out. … [Read more...]