By Jeff Marder I’ve been a musician for as long as I can remember, and have been playing professionally for over thirty years. My primary focus is playing keyboards, conducting, and doing electronic music design for Broadway productions, although along the way I’ve also played a lot of jazz, classical, and spent three years in Las Vegas playing keyboards on a Cirque du Soleil … [Read more...]
Rear Mount to Armbar
by Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro The rear mount is a great position in BJJ, submission grappling and NHB. Normally one uses a choke to submit an opponent from the rear mount, but here Shaolin shows an alternative finish with several innovative touches. … [Read more...]
Taking the Back
by Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio Passing the guard and taking an opponent's back in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu match is a huge advantage. Here Shaolin shows you one way to do it: … [Read more...]
A Half Guard Sweep
by Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro The half guard in BJJ is a position that has evolved a lot. Originally it was considered to be a bad position, only one step short of having your guard passed altogether. Now it is the favorite sweeping position of many BJJ practitioners. … [Read more...]
An Innovative Butterfly Guard Jump
by Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio Some (but not all) BJJ competitors jump to guard in order to get the fight to the ground quickly and avoid conceding takedown points. Most of the time this simply consists of jumping in the air while trying to pull your opponent into your closed guard. … [Read more...]
The Shaolin Choke by Andreh Anderson
Andreh Anderson is a black belt under Rey Diego at (www.reydiogo.com). Andreh talks about this choke: "I call it that because Shaolin taught it to us when he visited our school. It wasn't until a year or so after first seeing it that I started using it. … [Read more...]
The Drills of Shaolin
When Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro started talking the drills he uses I paid attention. Shaolin has won the World BJJ Championships 4 times, holds the 140 to 155 lb belt in Shooto, and has a long list of other titles. He is an outstanding competitor in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, submission grappling and mixed martial arts, so he knows how to train effectively and efficiently! … [Read more...]
How Many Guard Passes Do You Need in BJJ?
How many guard passes do you think a four time world champion and an 18 year veteran of BJJ uses? If you can put up with rough guerrilla-style audio in the video below (it was shot at the last minute) then Vitor Shaolin's answer might surprise you... … [Read more...]
Fancy Yet Effective: The ‘Shaolin’ Half Guard Sweep
Normally I advise against flashy techniques. Generally speaking it's rock solid basics and non-fancy fundamentals that win sparring sessions, tournament matches and MMA fights. But I have to make an exception for this technique... … [Read more...]
Best Type of BJJ Guard for Beginners
Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro is a four time World BJJ Champion. In MMA he held the welterweight title in Japanese Shooto. And he has the Cage Rage lightweight championship belt proudly mounted on the wall too... … [Read more...]
A Workout Challenge for You
This week I added a new article to the Grapplearts library called The Drills of Shaolin. In this article renowned BJJ and MMA fighter Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro show four of his favorite drills that he uses for conditioning and sport-specific skill development. … [Read more...]