BJJ / Grappling tips: Jiu-jitsu works, always!

Positional sparring is a fantastic way to sharpen your execution of a technique. Way more important than Free Rolling and that's not just my opinion. It's the opinion of practically every single world champ or Gracie family member I have ever interviewed.

For those not familiar with the term positional sparring: The instructor introduces three triangle fundamental escapes (for instance) then you drilled them in isolation (against progressive resistance) and then you roll, but every roll started from inside your partner's triangle set-up position. This is an excellent way to learn fast and learn well!

BJJ / Grappling Tips from Robson Moura, Gustavo Dantas and Vítor Shaolin Ribeiro.

In 2016 I had the amazing chance to learn from the legend professor Robson Moura when he held a seminar down at NSBJJ in Battersea, London. More importantly, I had a chance to chat to him after the seminar but also to professors Gustavo Dantas and Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro who were both at NSBJJ preparing for Shaolin’s upcoming fight on Polaris Pro. I asked them all different questions: 

“Robinho, if you had to design the perfect 60 minute class, what would it look like?”

BJJ / Grappling tips: escape the triangle choke from guard

How to escape the triangle choke from guard:

Moving upstream is a marketing term. It can easily be explained with the analogy of a river. If you walk past a river and spot a problem (pollution, stagnant water...etc.) you can either address the immediate problem or simply walk upstream trying to understand the origins of the situation at hand.

What does all this have to do with BJJ/grappling? Everything! Prevention is the best solution in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and by moving upstream we solve problems we didn’t even know we had.

Are you getting caught in triangles in the closed guard? Want to learn how to avoid that in the first place? Let’s move upstream step by step:

Don’t let your opponent close their guard around you, and earlier than that…

Don’t leave your arms one in and one out, and earlier than that…

Don’t let your opponent control your head and posture, and earlier than that…

Don’t let your opponent place their foot (feet) on your hip(s) in open guard, and earlier than that…

Don’t let your opponent control your sleeves

The way I see it, the deeper you get into the rabbit hole, the harder it will be to get out and the more likely that you will get caught. Your chances of you getting caught in a triangle are higher if you let them place their foot on your hip than if you use your knees and elbows to control their thighs (even if they manage to control your wrists) and they are higher still if they control your posture (from your head or collar).

The beauty of moving upstream is that if you don’t let them control your sleeves your will avoid triangles, omoplatas, armbars and most sweeps.

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

Check for more resources on Amazon.com:

BJJ and the Cycle of Action

You didn't think Helio rolled competitively every day did you?

BJJ works, but that of course goes both ways.

When I’m rolling competitively I'm always initiating attacks. Always. It might feel like I'm just laying on you in side mount or just holding your head in my guard but believe me I'm actively working to kill your arms in the former and rocking your balance (kuzushi) in the latter to initiate a flower sweep or a back take. At the very least, I'm working to create a posture deficit to my advantage. This is something I've worked hard to develop over the past few years. To me, this is one of the strongest links between BJJ and MMA*.

But as I said above, this goes both ways. The other person is doing the same thing. They are constantly defending and negating my actions, trying to set up their own. This places the following three sets of demands on you:

Mental: As Saulo says in this clip, the only thing that differentiates us on the mat is the heart, and for this style of BJJ you need a huge heart. It's not easy. You're constantly working. Constantly flowing. Constantly in the moment.

Technical: You need to know your techniques inside and out. If your takedowns are getting stuffed and your passes ending with you getting swept then you will eventually stop doing them or at least hesitate to initiate them. Your momentum will be turned against you and you will start freezing.

Physical: I put this last because even though I acknowledge that BJJ, MMA or any combat sport places physical demands on you (strength, cardio, balance...etc.) these can never overshadow technical knowledge and having a big heart.

Start today. Grab a piece of paper and write down three attacks from each position you know and work out how to link them. The next time you roll competitively**, start from one of those positions and just machine-gun those 3 attacks in succession at your partner and watch your progress rocket***! Speed is not essential. Technical knowledge, heart and flow are.

----------------------
*Martyn, our coach at the LABS - FIGHTING FIT MANCHESTER, has always kept the MMA mindset with us. He couldn't care less if we ever compete (whether in gi-jiu jitsu, submission wrestling or MMA) or if we are just training for fun or self-defence. To him, you always keep to the positional strategy and hierarchy of BJJ.
**I don’t roll competitively often at all. I do it every week or two just to stay sharp and more nearer *the rare) competitions.

***Roy Harris wrote a classic article on Progress in Jiu Jitsu and the different belts.


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BJJ / Grappling tips: depth vs breadth of game. Should I focus on technical details or learning more techniques and counters?

How can you defeat your opponent's defences? Are you struggling to make your jiu jitsu submissions work? Do you find yourself attempting submissions but struggling to finish with them?

The reason I lead with these questions is because I have the privilege of teaching jiu jitsu (2 BJJ Fundamentals classes per week, weekly private sessions and 4-5 Intro-to-Grappling courses per year) and when jiu jitsu students and grapplers attempt a move for the first time against resistance, it is not unheard of that they come across an obstacle they can't figure out. It's only natural that the first time you (or I or anyone) attempt a BJJ submission against a resisting opponent that we forget a small make-it-or-break-it detail and they defend successfully. Sometimes, we do everything correctly but we do it at the wrong time and that gives our training partner the perfect opportunity to block our attack. When that happens, we can do a number of things:

1. Learn a counter to the counter: e.g. I go for an americana from mount but accidently leave enough space for their free arm to slide between us and support the arm that's under attack so I spin to S-mount for an armbar on it

2. Learn a defence to the counter: e.g. I go for a kimura from side control / head mount and they grip their belt so I use a grip break to release their hand and carry on with the original attack (the kimura)

Check out this example by none other than Mr Craig Kukuk (to my knowledge the first American to get a BJJ Black Belt)

3. Learn from my mistake and make sure I have a way to prevent it happening again: I go for a cross choke from guard but my first forearm was not flush against their chest so they managed to sneak a hand under it to defend the neck. I acknowledge that and ensure I do it properly next time (i.e. keep the forearm flush against their chest, control that wrist or at least attack with a sweep so they are forced to use that hand to post)

I'm sure I'm leaving some more options out but you get the point. Every action has a number of potential reactions.

Which answer is the correct answer? Well, let's investigate what would happen if we took each option further:

BJJ / Grappling tips: How best to learn BJJ / Grappling: Listen to my actions and see my words

The best way to learn BJJ, grappling or any other activity is to focus on the details of the fundamental skills. The more we understand grappling details, the better we understand the whole picture and the reason for that is because everything is connected in BJJ. If you do the first three moves correctly, there is a higher probability that what you do after that will be good too.

My strongest memory of enhanced learning is from spending a lot of time with my karate instructor sensei Siamak back at the Gothenburg Kanzenkai. On one occasion, we were practicing lead leg inwards foot sweeps entry to punches (ashi barai to gyaku tsuki) and I just couldn't get the sweep to work. I was bashing the hell of my partner's leg (to his dismay) but I just couldn't get it to budge. I asked sensei over to watch and correct and very quickly he realised what I was doing (or rather not doing). Simply, my angle of entry was a little off (I searched the internet for pictures to demonstrate what I'm saying and these two are the best I could find)

This is the angle I was coming at

this is the correct entry angle

While that technique did become my favourite attack (and I still use it, even in BJJ), it's what he said afterwards that was one of the most important lessons I've had in martial arts and learning in general:

"You must always try to steal the most amount of knowledge from all your teachers. We as instructors always strive to share as much as possible, but there will be times when a move or detail gets missed. We are only human. You must not only watch my actions and listen to my instructios, but also listen to my actions and see my words"

Translation to BJJ speak:

BJJ / Grappling tips: stances, movement and great techniques from Eddie Kone, head of EKBJJ

Your basic BJJ / Grappling moves are defenses, escapes, transitions and attacks. Here are a few fundamental ways in how we use our bodies in the initial moments of a match / round / fight:

First the stances*.

Your stance (the way you stand and distribute your weight on the mat) is your base and grounding. They are snapshots of movement so don't imagine that you will be spending any more than a second (even less) in each fixed stance:

'Although there are a hundred kinds of stances, they all exist for the same purpose: to defeat the opponent' - Yagyu Munenori (1571 - 1646)

Get your stances strong and solid and learn to move from them in relaxed manner.

The most important stances are:

Free-movement stance: This is your most prevalent stance and the launch pad of everything else. From here you establish contact with your opponent using your hands, feet, hips and sometimes even head.

Two top level judoka making contact

BJJ Tips: Base and Posture inside the Guard

It is fair to say that having good base and posture when inside the guard is one of the most important, if not the most important details or "concepts" for survival within and progressively opening and, eventually, passing the guard.

"there is never a reason to look at your partner inside the guard"

Where do I get the right to prioritize and label what does and doesn't crack the top priorities? I have a simple formula which I’m happy to update:

If everyone does it, it’s done right at the start and the consequences of ignoring it are dire then chances are it’s pretty important.

As a Part Time Grappler I always seek to find the most basic adjustments because they have a habit of giving me the most Return On Investment (ROI) and let’s be honest, with training only 3-4 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / Grappling sessions per week, that’s all I can afford to focus on. Here are my ideas on the Base and Posture inside the guard.

Base:

1. Knees wide apart but feet close.

2. Sit your butt down.

3. Stay alive and monitor your partner's hip movement and other attempts to circle around you.

Posture:

1. Look at the ceiling. Literally, not figuratively.

2. Create a straight arm* (elbow pointing down, not out) frame against their chest.

3. Stay alive and monitor your partner’s grips and other attempts to break you down.

There are many other ways to play Base and Posture inside the closed guard and I use some of them every now and again but the above is what I do 90% of the time.

Here’s my Return On Investment (ROI):

Base:
1. They can’t sweep, reverse or topple me easily.
2. I stay connected to them and keep a low centre of gravity
3. They can’t take my back nor set up attacks easily.

Posture:

1. They can’t establish head / neck control easily

2. They can’t sit up into me for a hip-bump sweep easily

3. They can’t get set easily and I can set up my own next step (opening their guard)

As you can see, this means I’m relatively safe and ready to progress while they are 2-3 steps behind.

"I wonder what distracted Thomas so he left his elbow dangling like that?"

*Cane Prevost does a much better job than me at explaining his take on Base and Posture in the guard. I say his take because there are a couple tiny differences in the outwardly expression of the concepts but if you look closely you'll see that his version gives him the same ROI mine does, it's just done slightly differently. Funnily enough, someone commented on his blog with a link to a Saulo clip which looks a bit more like what I (badly) seem to emulate.

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BJJ Tips: Nova Uniao Black Belt Robson Moura Advises White and Brown Belts

Caleb and Dan of the Fightworks Podcast have been busy lately and not able to produce the weekly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu show. In my search to update my BJJ / Grappling / martial arts knowledge, I've been looking around iTunes for audio material to listen to while I'm on the train to and from work but also to serve as background to my 5-a-week gym visits. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a number of interviews with none less than 7 time world BJJ champion and Nova Uniao black belt Mr Robson Moura.

In the first podcast, Robson talks about, amongst other topics, what he feels BJJ white and brown belts should be focusing their training on respectively. Not every successful competitor makes for a good teacher but I must say judging by Robson's responses I'm very impressed.

Understanding BJJ: Linking Grappling Techniques

“See Construction”

Please read the above phrase 5 times in your head.

Now please read it again 3 times loud enough for you to hear your own voice (but not necessary loud enough to alarm innocent bystanders, or sitters)

What does it mean?

Do you want me to help you a little? OK, I will put it in a sentence that has Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / Grappling / MMA context:

“As a BJJ athlete, I have travelled the world to see construction!”

I’m sure most of you fine; intelligent people have figured this out by now. If you haven’t, it’s not your fault. It’s a trick. Pesky me!

Now read this:

“As a BJJ athlete, I have travelled the world to seek instruction!”

“See Construction”
“Seek Instruction”

It’s an easy mistake-a to make-a.

Now take that and think about all the moves you’re struggling to make work in BJJ / Grappling. Have a think about that flower sweep you just can’t pull off or the armbar that people seem to escape at will. After you’ve examined it properly and ensured all the technical details are adhered to (and you still can’t make it work) then start thinking about the set-up or the move you do just before.

1. Are you breaking their posture before entering your technique?
2. Are they stationary or are they in motion, generating momentum that you can perhaps use?
3. If you’re linking two or more BJJ manoeuvres, is it very obvious that the first one is just a fake? My Karate sensei always stressed that the first move should always carry enough of a threat to warrant their reaction.

Before initiating the flower sweep, break their posture then release so they posture up and raise their centre of gravity.

If you can’t keep the arm in place to armbar, attack with a deep; threatening palm-up palm-down cross choke and watch them chase you with that arm trying to block the choke.

Basically, if you can’t see the construction, you should seek some instruction.



Here is Gracie Humaita black belt Mr Raphael Lovato Jr. talking you thru the Flower Sweep. Watch and learn from the best!



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BJJ Tips: More on Approaching the Opponent

My previous post was inspired by the awesome three-hour seminar with Royler Gracie black belt Mr Eddie Kone on Sunday at his Rotherham affiliate EKBJJ North. Eddie didn't necessary spend too much time on the topic of approach and grip fighting, but one thing that struck the first time I visited his BJJ and MMA academy in London (The Ultimate Fitness Centre) a few months back was how quick all his students were to establish grips, both from standing, when playing guard and also when working the guard pass. Coming from Karl's heavily MMA-influenced style of underhooks and overhooks, I was very taken aback the first time and as I struggled to grip fight, Eddie's students were 3-4 steps ahead of me. That highlighted a weak area to my attention and I've been working on that from every position and in every roll over the past few months. I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday when we rolled after the seminar that I was better prepared.

To be clear, the biggest improvement was in my approach. It's not that I was grip fighting more, but I was approaching them in a way and at an angle that gave them much less to go for, allowing me to be more proactive with my own grip hunting.

At the request of Allie and Georgette in response to my previous post, I made a quick video addressing the Approach side. In it, Mr Andy Rhind, who was kind enough to drive the two of us to the Eddie Kone seminar, helps me demonstrate my stance and which arm I use to protect my collar and which arm I reach with both from an open (opposite lead legs) and closed (same lead legs) stance.

It's important to notice that while it's all done in standing, the same concepts can just as easily be applied on the ground. Also, the video was shot at the Labs right after 2 x 1hr BJJ sessions so the lens kept steaming up. While that did give the shot a dreamy, Barbra Streisand-y kind of mist, it was not the original intent, just an added bonus :o)



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BJJ Tips: Approaching Your Opponent

The correct approach is very important in any activity, BJJ / grappling is no exception. I learned a long time ago that early mistakes can quickly escalate, snowball and totally throw you off your course. I still remember Mr Robinson my high-school maths teacher shaking his head as I discover that the reason my answer at the bottom of page 3 was way wrong was a simple mistake I made at the top of page 1.

In BJJ / grappling, the first time I heard someone talk of the approach was on a Saulo Ribiero DVD. I was a newly graded BJJ blue belt and up to that point, I never really thought about it. To my simple, inexperienced eyes you just started from the handshake and just somehow went on with the roll, either pulling guard or working the pass. It took Mr Ribiero's well honed attention to the intricate details of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to open my eyes.

Saulo Ribiero masterfully teaching grip fighting on Jiu Jitsu Revolution 2

By the way, by approach I don't mean grips or grip fighting. It's even earlier than that. Just before or immediately after you shake hands with someone, you shape and turn your body and stance in a way that blocks your opponent's advantageous grips. If you are starting from standing for example, you stagger your feet to prevent an easy double leg takedown, you bend your knees and stay mobile, protect your leading arm and collar and keep your back hand active.

This isn't an extensive list by all means but it's a start. This is your BJJ platform from which you tip the scales in your advantage. Anything you do from here, while it may or may not work 100% successfully, will at least be built on a solid BJJ / Grappling foundation.

How do you approach the roll?

Ps. One of the best articles I’ve read about the approach in Stand-up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is this one by my friend Glyn Powditch. Glyn is an awesome brown belt in both Jiu Jitsu and Judo and he taught me 90% of my stand-up strategies, approach and grip fighting.


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BJJ Video Tips: Finishing Straight Armbars from Spider Web / Mount

I have decided to make and post more videos. They really help me get my point across but more importantly, they help start a discussion from the blog readers.

Here is a short video I made with my brother Mr Sam Wandi demonstrating how a weight management principle I picked up in Yoga can be applied to positions and submissions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. To demonstrate the point, I use the straight armbar. Please let me know what you think:



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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tips: Balancing Control and Mobility

Put a basketball on the ground. On it put:

A. A plank of wood.
B. A wet towel*.

Sometimes in BJJ / Grappling you need to be the plank of wood (projecting gravity through a small contact area with them which frees your limbs for mobility and attack) and sometimes you need to be the wet towel (maximizing friction, minimizing your own efforts, unifying both masses into one). Leverage hunters will master the plank version (constant pressure from the side control, half guard and mount top which can be tiring for both) and muscle-heads the wet towel version (constant closeness, perfect tight control but don't dare attack fearing the well-timed escape).

High quality Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players I've rolled with fluidly switch between the two almost without working up a sweat. It's not that they smother the submission out of you, which is still a valid grappling strategy, but rather the submission seems to come when you least expect it. They don't chuck you out of the frying pan into the fire. You walk into it voluntarily. That's BJJ.

*The Wet-towel analogy came to me from an excellent Roy Harris article on using Space in BJJ.

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Auxiliary Training and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / Grappling

It's important to treat it as that: auxiliary. If the intensity, duration or frequency of there sessions has a negative effect on your performance in BJJ / grappling / MMA then you have gone too far. All types of exercise exert stress on your body and dig a proportionate hole into your recovery reserves and you need to weigh off that against the potential benefit that auxiliary training will bring you.

Keeping the above in mind, there is also a hierarchy in building the attributes that you need for grappling and BJJ:

1. Mobility.
2. Endurance.
3. Strength.

You simply need enough mobility to be able to perform all the fundamentals of your art Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Find a simple and reliable programme to increase your range of motion in your wrists, shoulders, neck, lower back, hips and ankles and stick to it. A Yoga vinyasa (chain) like the Sun Salutation is excellent. Notice I didn’t say flexibility! Flexibility is awesome and I stretch loads every single day, but I do it because I enjoy it. For a dynamic art like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (or any other martial art) you need to work on your joint mobility. Rotation work ala Pavel is the way forward.

Once happy with this basic level of flexibility it's time to work on your gas. Once again it's important to remember why you're doing this. This is nothing to do with your Lactic Acid Threshold. You're not aiming to become a long distance runner, or any kind of runner for that matter. Don't get overzealous and push past the lactic acid barrier. Keep the pace and intensity low and never allow these sessions to interfere with your ability to train your main sport and art. If anything, there sessions will help you move the blood around and flush any remaining lactic acid out of your grappling muscles, not generate some more!

Next on the agenda is strength. Once again, keep the goal in mind and don't train like a body builder or a power lifter. Focus instead on strengthening your back, core and legs and perhaps leave the holy bench press aside for a while. You want to be strong in the areas that end up carrying toe most tension and stress during grappling so you can stay healthy and grapple your whole life.



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PART 3: 22 Fat-Loss Tips That Work - But in BJJ / Grappling Terms!

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favourite books is Anita Bean's "Food for Fitness". A cool section in the book is titled: 22 Fat-Loss Tips That Work and, inspired by the Fightworks Podcast interview with Mr Dave Camarillo where he urges the listeners to read from a wide range of topics and try to apply the knowledge to BJJ / Grappling, I decided to give you Anita's tips, but completely twisted to address BJJ / Grappling training rather than weight loss. As a bonus, I will put the original tip at the bottom.

As promised here is part 3 of 3 posts. I hope you enjoy it.

1. Drink water. I don't even want to joke about changing this one. The water break has both a very important physiological importance but also an important social value. It's a half-time get-together for you and your friends and if you ever can't get a technique/move/the energy and you don't want to feel alone, the water break is a great opportunity to exchange "I'm completely lost here too!" looks.

Original tip: Drink water.

2. Take a holistic approach to your art: I don't buy into the whole "Is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu a sport, a self defence system or a martial art?" question. It's everything and that's how I treat it. I love everything about it. The gi, the rash-guard, the MMA, the headlock escapes...the lot!

I remember hearing Marcio Feitosa talk about this on a Fightworks Podcast a few months ago and I completely agree. Why restrict yourself when the art/sport/activity is so encompassing?

Original tip: Eat fruit instead of drinking juice.

3. Beware of scams and empty quick-fix promises: Why oh why would you want this complex art that takes long hours on the mat to master to be easier and quicker to master? It's the equaliser in fights against someone who is bigger, stronger and fitter. It's a joy to share with like-minded people for years and years. It's the next thing to magic! It...takes...time. Let it!

I'm joking (a little) We want it easier and simpler because we are rational beings and because the geography of BJJ / Grappling is different to that of standing, walking and sitting that we are so used to. We think we can solve the riddle, or at least buy the solution on EBay or Amazon (or steal it from YouTube!) and, naturally, that creates an opportunity for people to sell us more and more products, books and courses.

I'm not against books, DVDs or Internet based instruction. I frikkin' love it. I am, however, very selective and don't expect miracles. I expect what I learn in 30 minutes online to still take me hours on the mat to learn and internalize.

Original tip: Beware of "reduced fat" labels.

4. Don't go on EBay or Amazon when your ego is bruised: Nice lead from the previous point. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an art of self development, but we are all guilty of self-Envelopment every now and again.

We are on the mat, we work hard and we get tapped and that's the reality of it. We take it personally sometimes though, especially if there is a question of differing belt colours. Damn them! How dare they! I need to learn how to counter that NOW!

If you go looking online for solutions, they will immediately materialize in the shape of books, DVDs and crystal balls and before you know it you will have a stack of them but no continuation and, chances are, you will still get tapped, just by a new sub!

Original tip: Don't go shopping when you're hungry.

5. Dedicate more time to positional transitions (escapes, sweeps and passes) and less to the cool submissions: Transitions open doors and teach habits. To me, that's the secret of Jiu Jitsu. The way I see a submission (triangle, armbar, footlock...etc.) is as a tighter and tighter position that can't really get any tighter. I have no doubt in my mind that the triangle choke was discovered by mistake when someone escaped mount to half guard, then to guard, then to high guard and then to triangle set up position (one arm in) and then suddenly, the frying pan got hot and someone passed out. Bingo. Focus on climbing the transitional chain and you'll get every submission along the way.

Original tip: Replace half your carbohydrates with veggies.

6. Spend some down time writing a game plan.

Beginning: You shake hands.
End: Someone taps.

Take sometime to fill in the different scenarios of what can happen in between and start working on assigning different solution ideas to the challenges along. Let me get you started:

They establish a good grip on you : break their grip
They pull guard : Hip in and posture up
They open their closed guard : go to combat base, get your grips on the pants and work for a bull-fighter pass (example)...etc.

Why not borrow a start-up flowchart from one of the greatest players: Rickson Gracie's flowchart part one and part two.

Original tip: Match every excuse to a solution.

7. Pack your gym bag the night before and have some spares: This is to avoid excuses to skip the session and to save time. When you get home after the session, don't just take your dirty stuff out of the gym bag. Replace it with clean kit straight away. Since I started doing that, I've not arrived without a rash guard / gi / belt / groin guard / athletic tape...etc. in 5 years.

Original tip: Carry healthy snacks.

8. Use BJJ / Grappling to revolutionise your whole life: I don't mean be a tool towards the rest of the world by telling everyone you meet "Oh I can't eat that / play that / drink that / wear that because a 2 strip blue belt you know!"

However, if starting BJJ / Grappling / MMA is the first move you've taken for your life into a healthy direction then why not compliment it with some early morning stretching, drinking less booze, spending some quality time with loved ones at the dinner table instead of eating in front of the TV...etc. Don't just do something healthy, allow yourself to become a healthier person.

Original tip: Stock up with healthy foods.

There you go ladies and gents. It's been a brain twister for me to transform the diet tips to BJJ / Grappling tips but it was great fun and made me put my own practice under the microscope. I know I can be guilty of, for example, number 4 in the list and I'm working on it. Being poorer helps!

Thanks Mr Recession for stopping me from googling "How to choke frikkin' Wrestler Freaks who pass my open guard!".


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PART 2: 22 Fat-Loss Tips That Work - But in BJJ / Grappling Terms!

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favourite books is Anita Bean's "Food for Fitness". A cool section in the book is titled: 22 Fat-Loss Tips That Work and, inspired by the Fightworks Podcast interview with Mr Dave Camarillo where he urges the listeners to read from a wide range of topics and try to apply the knowledge to BJJ / Grappling, I decided to give you Anita's tips, but completely twisted to address BJJ / Grappling training rather than weight loss. As a bonus, I will put the original tip at the bottom.

As promised here is part 2 of 3 posts. I hope you enjoy it.

22 Fat-Loss Tips That Work - But in BJJ / Grappling Terms!

Let me start by saying that this is NOT a weight-loss post!

As some of you know, one of my favourite books is Anita Bean's "Food for Fitness". It's a great book that tells you what to eat to enhance performance. It centres around everyday items like bananas, porridge, coffee and eggs and while there are many other books that do that (believe me I've read many!) what's awesome about this one is that it addresses the questions of "how much" and "when" to eat! Just yesterday I used it to time the consumption of my cereal bar before my session and my recovery shake and meal and I had one of the best BJJ sessions ever!

But enough about the book - well, almost.

A cool section in the book is titled: 22 Fat-Loss Tips That Work and, inspired by the Fightworks Podcast interview with Mr Dave Camarillo where he urges the listeners to read from a wide range of topics and try to apply the knowledge to BJJ / Grappling, I decided to give you Anita's tips, but completely twisted to address BJJ / Grappling training rather than weight loss. As a bonus, I will put the original tip at the bottom.

Naturally, since the 22 is a lotta tips, I will break it up in 2-3 posts. I hope you enjoy it.

1. Do several, smaller sessions: The best way to learn anything really but especially something as demanding as BJJ / Grappling is to restrict your training to 1hr sessions and do a number of them. If you can, do several in a day. Naturally, they can't all be hard sparring. Personally, I do a dynamic yoga and stretching session in the morning before work (30-45 minutes), a light strength, core and balance session at lunch time (30-45 minutes) and 2 hr sessions on the mat 2-4 days per week. To me, it's all BJJ / Grappling.

Original tip: Eat several, smaller meals.

2. Limit your technique choices: Bruce Lee once said: You want to learn how to punch? Punch! If you want your triangles to get sharper, limit yourself to only using triangles for a month. Something amaxing will start to happen: You will start seeing triangles from angles you never thought about!

Original tip: Limit your food choices.

3. Center your practice around smaller areas the game: Dedicating a month or two to getting solid at mount and side control escapes will give your overall game and confidence a much bigger boost than trying to "get better at everything!" in that month or two.

Original tip: Practice portion control.

4. Don't ban fun techniques: There is nothing wrong with blending in crazy-ass flying techniques and funky shizzle into your overall roll. The flying armbar shouldn't be your only sub but it sure is fun to play around sometimes!

Original tip: Don't ban your favourite foods.

5. Don't skip breakfast. I don't want to change that one. If you have a suggestion please post a comment but I really like this one just the way it is.

6. Never, ever skip the warm-up phase. If you are like the absolute majority of BJJ / Grappling practitioners around the world, you are a Part-Time Grappler. You probably have a job or go to school = sit around for several hours per day. This means your basic physiology is on a different setting than that needed for rolling around with a resisting partner of similar weight. Your awareness is not there. Your eye-hand-foot-hip coordination is still sound asleep. Wake it all up with a nice progressive warm-up.

Original tip: Start with salad.

7. Pay attention to rest and recovery. I remember reading a blog post by Rosi Sexton about recovery (highly recommended read) that made me buy less recovery pills and shakes and sleep more and eat better!

Original tip: Sleep more.

Sorry for such a long post and I hope you liked these. Part two coming soon.

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Key Moo Raa, and Other Bent Armlocks in BJJ / Grappling

Bent armlocks are by far the most available attacks from any position in BJJ / grappling for many reasons:

1. That's one of the best positions to protect yourself on the bottom
2. The bigger the opponent, the tighter their shoulders are (usually)
3. To escape, they usually give you something else just as good (a straight armbar or a choke)

Manik did a great session around entry from side control top into a variety of bent armlocks during yesterday's BJJ fundamentals session.

I suppose calling them armlocks is a misnomer strictly speaking since they actually affect the shoulder joint but that's what they are called.

To me the greatest value in them lies in the words of the awesome Saulo in Revolution 1 series: you either protect the neck or you protect the knee in the belly... And whichever you choose, you open yourself up for a bent armlock.

Knee on belly to Kimura opportunity

Breadcutter choke to Americana opportunity

If you've been reading this blog for a while you probably know that my number one priority from side control is to mount. Yes I attack the arms and the neck but primarily because I want that knee in the belly or step over to the mount. There transitions are, in my eyes, the essence of part-time grappling. Get on top and the rest will follow.

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That's Why We're Called the Lab Rats.

Last night's BJJ sessions at the Labs were amazing, mostly because I wasn't teaching. With Martyn off on holiday in the far east for a couple of weeks, BJJ, No-Gi and MMA coaching responsibility has been passed on to The Labs purple belts. We have our curriculum to work from, but we also have wide margins of freedom within it.

Last night's BJJ fundamentals session covered the postures, pressures and possibilities of the weird and wonderful world of the open guard*. Manik did a great job at controlling the pace and parting with his knowledge. You could tell that here you had:

1. An experienced teacher- by day Manik is a maths teacher.
2. Someone who's just come back from a training holiday in Brazil :)

The second session saw Graeme first delve into the smaller details of a sub-segment of the BJJ open guard, namely the spider guard before drilling escapes and guard passes. I was very excited about this for a couple of reasons:

A, I'd never been shown spider guard properly.
B, I suffer from it often.
C, I hate spiders

Graeme is very good at it. What we have here at the Labs is a fantastic pool of knowledge and we're getting really sharp at the craft of teaching and sharing it. We all have relatively different games, favourite techniques and strategies, not to mention body types and general movement patterns and we all feed into each other’s and everyone else’s pool of knowledge and THAT’S why we are called the Lab Rats.

More than once I heard people rolling next to me on the mat saying: “oh yeah Graeme’s sweep work great with that grip Mike gets on the sleeve”, “the two variations from the scissor sweep we learnt a couple of weeks ago fit right into spider guard” or “Liam is so awesome!”.

Just kidding. I don’t hate spiders.

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*For a quick breakdown of spider, de la riva and other types of open guard, check out Stephan Kesting’s excellent article on the subject.


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