From war-torn Africa to climbing remote peaks in Greenland with Alex Honnold, Matt Pycroft has built a very impressive career working as a journalist and filmmaker. In our conversation he goes into detail how he gradually acquired the skills to achieve his goals and the lessons he's learned working with extreme athletes in inhospitable settings all over the globe. Follow Matt on Instagram … [Read more...]
Video
How to Train The Guard WITHOUT Using Your Hands
The No Hands Guard Drill is one of the very best ways to develop leg dexterity and guard retention in jiu-jitsu. It's also a great way to continue training and making progress if you have an elbow or shoulder injury that makes regular sparring difficult. Here's a video from BJJ Games breaking down the No Hands Guard Drill for you: live footage of the drill in action begins at … [Read more...]
Training to Get Maximum Results from Your BJJ Training in Minimum Time
The traditional class structure of doing a warmup, learning a couple of new techniques, and followed by sparring is NOT an efficient way to learn jiu-jitsu. We can do much better if we use insights from research on coaching and learning. Today's guest is Cal MacDonald, a BJJ black belt and competitor who has dedicated himself to developing his teaching and coaching skills to the highest … [Read more...]
BJJ Longevity with Mike Mahaffey (Strenuous Life Podcast Ep 396)
In episode 396 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I talk about BJJ longevity, weight training, practicing at home, and optimal training methods with BJJ old-timer Mike Mahaffey. There are a TON of valuable take-home lessons here for anyone who trains jiu-jitsu, and ESPECIALLY the over-40 crowd! Longevity in BJJ with Mike Mahaffey - Audio Only This conversation was also published as episode … [Read more...]
D’Arce Choke Defense
The D'Arce choke is super-popular right now. This is a choke that traps your opponent's neck and arm inside your figure-foured arms and you can apply it against the half guard, against turtle, from guard passing, and in a ton of scrambles. (Click here for a detailed breakd0wn for applying the D'Arce choke.) This choke is especially popular in no gi grappling because the decreased friction … [Read more...]
Catchwrestling: from the Snake Pit in Wigan England, to Pride FC in Japan, to Modern Submission Grappling
In episode 395 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk to Oz Austwick, who has extensively studied armed and unarmed combat systems in England and Europe. Today we focus on the historical wrestling systems of England... Cornish, Lancashire, Devonshire, Cumberland and Westmoreland wrestling and catchwrestling The influence of Japanese Judo and Jiu-Jitsu on English Wrestling The great Billy … [Read more...]
Competition Kneebar Breakdown
Rob Biernacki recently won gold at black belt in master's ADCC Canada and in black M4 division at IBJJF NoGi Worlds. In a critical match, he swept the reigning champion, came up on top, got entangled in an X guard situation, and then pulled a kneebar out of nowhere to get the submission. The video below breaks down the unorthodox kneebar and finishing mechanics he used at IBJJF No Gi … [Read more...]
Four Lapel-Based Attacks from Side Control
If you train BJJ, knowing some tricks with the lapels to attack your opponent can be very useful, so don't disregard the advantages the gi offers you. Some people don't like training with the gi. I have no problem with that if your only focus is no-gi competition; if that's you, then by all means, train specifically for your sport. But if self-defense is important to you, then you should … [Read more...]
The Step-by-Step Clock Choke
The Clock Choke Heard Round the World We're going to go through my favorite step-by-step method for how to do the clock choke, but first let's talk about a the first time I saw the clock choke and a match that changed jiujitsu... It was in 1998 when Royce Gracie squared off against the Carlson Gracie Wallid Ismael. At the time Royce was undefeated in 5 UFC events and, in my eyes at least, … [Read more...]
The Four Simplest Armdrags for BJJ and Submission Grappling
The armdrag is one of the most important attacks in BJJ and submission grappling. Not only does hitting the armdrag give you a route to your opponent's back, it's also a great probing attack that sets up a whole host of other techniques. The armdrag can be performed in both gi-based BJJ and no gi submission grappling. It was popularised in BJJ when Marcelo Garcia burst onto the scene in 2003, … [Read more...]
The Armbar Control Drill
The armbar is one of the 'heavy hitters' in jiu-jitsu because this submission ends a TON of matches, both in training and in competition. But it's a mistake to think of the armbar as a move or an attack; instead you should think of it as a position, almost like the mount, side control or the back. That's because if you want to submit skilled grapplers with the armbar you first need to be … [Read more...]
BJJ Competition Preparation and Training Camp Design with Rob Biernacki
Rob Biernacki and his competition team are on a tear. Rob recently took gold in masters middleweight the Canadian ADCC Open, silver at the California ADCC Open, and gold in black belt M4 at the IBJJF No Gi Worlds. In episode 394 of The Strenuous Life Podcast we talk about Designing an effective training camp Dividing your conditioning and skills training Detaching emotionally from … [Read more...]
Bareknuckle Boxing and Historical European Swordfighting, with Oz Austwick
In episode 393 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk to Oz Austwick, who has extensively studied armed and unarmed combat systems in Europe. Topics we cover include... The origins of boxing in England, Historical training and conditioning methods, Reconstructing and testing techniques shown in ancient swordfighting manuals, Fighting with live blades, The role of wrestling in real … [Read more...]
Knee Mount Escape to Backside 50/50
If you can do the basic backward somersault, then I've got a pretty spectacular and highly effective kneemount escape for you. The Wu Tang escape takes you from the receiving end of eating pressure under a terrible position to one of the strongest positions in leglocking - the backside 50/50. Here's a detailed video about how to add this escape to your game, even if you're NOT … [Read more...]
What is Elbow-Knee Connection
One of the most important skills in jiu-jitsu is guard retention. Think of guard retention as a toolbox containing a whole bunch of tools to solve the problem of your opponent passing your guard. Of all the many guard retention tools in that toolbox possibly the most universally useful one is something known as 'elbow-knee connection. Most guard passes end in side control, and side … [Read more...]
Countering The Standing Kimura Armlock
The standing Kimura armlock is now an established and respected submission, but it wasn't always like this. In fact, when someone showed me this submission in the early 1990's I thought they were kidding and had run out of legitimate material to share. But then in 1999 and 2000, a Japanese pro-wrestler called Kazushi Sakuraba did something that many thought was impossible. In just over a … [Read more...]
Alone on Everest with Jost Kobusch
On episode 392 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I'm joined by the amazing Jost Kobusch. Jost is a German mountaineer who spent two seasons on Everest trying to ascend the legendarily difficult West Ridge route and the Hornbein Couloir alone, without oxygen, and in the middle of the brutal Himalayan winter. We covered a TON of interesting topics, including 00:00 Jost Kobusch's plans for … [Read more...]
How to Do the Rolling Backtake the Easiest Way
In this article, you'll get a step-by-step system that anyone can use for hitting your first rolling backtake. The mechanics, details, and steps are all here, so scroll down and check them out! How to Do the Rolling Backtake (Video) Here's a video I shot breaking down the three essential steps for doing your first rolling backtake. Watch the video below, practice the steps, hit it in … [Read more...]
Rolling Backtake from Mount
The back is the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu, with chokes from the back accounting for nearly half of all finishes at the black belt level in gi competition. Same for no gi competition. The Rear Naked Choke from the back has been the top submission at ADCC multiple years in a row, surpassing both the heel hook and the armbar in frequency. Given the effectiveness of being … [Read more...]
Steve Kwan Shares the Most Important BJJ Mental Models
Today I'm joined by Steve Kwan, the host and creator of the wildly popular BJJ Mental Models podcast. We discuss the most important mental models in the art and how they can improve your ability to perform on the mat! Check out BJJmentalmodels.com for Steve's podcast and Grapplearts.com/rollingbacktakes for my newest BJJ instructional. And, as always, please send today's episode to … [Read more...]