So there you are, on your back and fighting your opponent with your legs. Maybe you're using the Spider Guard, the Butterfly Guard, or any other variation of Open Guard, but regardless, both you and he are jockeying for grips and position. You’re trying to set up your guard sweeps and submissions, and he’s trying to pass your guard. Then - disaster! Your opponent grips both your pant … [Read more...]
Thomas Lisboa
Winning the Grip Battle At The Beginning Of A Match
In a match there's a HUGE advantage for the person who gets their preferred grips first. If you have grips but your opponent does not then you have almost all the offensive options and he has none. But if he gets his grips first then you'll be lucky to avoid his attacks. This is true regardless of whether you're both on your feet, he pulls guard, or you pull guard. The first grip … [Read more...]
A Closed Guard Passing Strategy
In a world full of butterfly guards, lapel guards, and upside-down-reverse-de-la-Riva guards it's sometimes easy to forget about the oldest guard of all: closed guard. But if someone who is good at closed guard clamps their legs around you and gets his hand in your collar than MAN, are you in trouble!! With that deep grip he's going to destroy your posture, make it impossible for you to … [Read more...]
How to Escape Side Control
Being stuck under side control (aka 'side mount,' or '100 kilos') is one of the great challenges in jiu-jitsu. Here your opponent is able to put a TON of weight onto you, crush your face, attack your arms and neck, and advance his position by getting to the mount or taking your back. In short, being on the bottom of side control sucks, and you have to have some good ways to escape … [Read more...]
BJJ for Law Enforcement
I recently sat down with my friend Rory Van Vliet to talk about the applicability of BJJ in law enforcement, including policing, corrections, security work and even bouncing. If you work in any of these fields then you should probably have a listen because there are some good war stories here! Episode 250 of The Strenuous Life Podcast in Video Form You can watch and listen to the entire … [Read more...]
On the Value of BJJ Competition with Thomas Lisboa
A fun conversation with BJJ black belt Thomas Lisboa about Why testing yourself occasionally in competition gives you things that you just can't get from regular training, How to develop your weakest positions, Why even advanced students should attend the beginner's class, How Brazilian black belts use their skills on the mat to emigrate to North America, And much more. Episode … [Read more...]
The BJJ Crucifix Position and Your Best Submission Options From There
The crucifix is a very important position in BJJ and No Gi grappling. Like the rearmount the crucifix puts you behind your opponent where all your weapons are pointed at him and he's essentially unable to launch any offense against you. Unlike the rearmount, however, the crucifix ties up both of his arms so that defending your choke and armlock attacks becomes even harder for him. So it’s … [Read more...]
How to Set Traps for Your Opponent in BJJ
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...]