Key Takeaways
- A 5-part NO-Gi BJJ DVD offering a highly effective closed guard system.
- Contains study guides on the side scissor and clamp closed guard variations.
- Features pre-organized effective attack sets of sweeps and submission combos.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
SIDE SCISSORS BRIAN GLICK CLOSED GUARD DVD AVAILABLE HERE:
If you’re expecting something exotic when you read the title of the Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD, you’re in for a surprise. This is not some crazy Luta Livre-inspired move, but rather a variation to the good old closed guard. Feel disappointed?
Well, you shouldn’t be. There is nothing at all over the course of this entire instructional that has to do anything with the closed guard as you probably know and train it now. John Danaher’s black belt Brain Glick offers a system that even his mentor would be proud off in simplifying the closed guard to a set of positions and attacks that will work for anyone!
Exploring Angles in BJJ Guards
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received for the closed guard was to use my legs more, aiming to climb the upper body of the top person so that attacks become easy. I was a brown belt when I heard it and it really did transform my closed guard, but it did not happen overnight.
The real value of this advice was not in the direct instructions to use the legs more, but rather in having to figure out how. This led me to understand angles and how they work in relation to playing closed guard, which in turn, allowed me to use my legs almost as arms, giving me a crazy amount of options from the back.
In my opinion, we teach the closed guard completely inefficiently by showing beginners how to look for armbars, triangles, and sweeps from there. Instead, we need to be teaching them angles, since nothing of the above works without mastering the art of superior angles from the closed guard.
An approach based on alternative angles to the ones we’re used to from the closed guard is the main subject running throughout the Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD. Let’s see if the Danaher black belt can help us understand them better.
Brian Glick – A Marvelous BJJ Technician
Brain Glick does not scream fighter or grappler at first sight. No cauliflower ears, wide shoulders, or the demeanor of someone who is extremely well-versed in violence. He perfectly fits the BJJ nerds bunch though, bar the glasses, although mostly as their teacher who’s about to take them on a school trip.
As we very well know, appearances are very deceiving in BJJ. Brian Glick is a John Danaher black belt and not just any black belt – he is one of the first people the grappling mastermind promoted in his coaching career. The two have a long-standing relationship, as Glick constantly refers to his teacher Danaher throughout the Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD.
Danaher himself has acknowledged the powerful mind of Brian, who he even advised at one point to consider giving up BJJ, in the midst of violent exchanges sparked by the UFC in the early days of the Renzo Gracie Academy in NYC. Glick powered through, though, relying on the only superpower he had – technical proficiency. This approach not only helped him survive and thrive but also turn into one of the best BJJ coaches in the world today.
Simplify The System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD Review
This particular No-Gi BJJ instructional is one that I enjoyed watching as much as I have any Danaher or Ryan Hall DVD. The Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD offers a practical way of approaching closed guard, particularly in terms of angles, offering more than five and a half hours of material divided into five different volumes.
Part 1 – The Side Scissor Position
As this Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD kicks off, the first volume is a short one, mostly focused on introductions and what awaits in the instructional ahead. It lasts barely over 10 minutes, with Glick explaining the idea behind the side scissor position, and the three key objectives that you can achieve using it.
Part 2 – Mechanics and Attacks
While I was a bit worried that this might end up being another BJJ instructional with plenty of 15-minute-long volumes, Glick proved me wrong as the second volume of the Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD rolled on.
In this part, Brian talks about everything related to the side scissor position, which is essentially a sideways closed guard. The way Glick presents the content in a study guide and begins by explaining how to use this format to learn.
Basic mechanics quickly follow, with off-balancing motions set up by purposeful gripping the main task that helps in both guard retention and attacks. Nothing is really straightforward with Brian, as every move is there to mask a few others, ending up with a very elaborate system that nobody can predict, yet is easy to master as it only has a few moving parts.
Arm drags and Russian Ties dominate the grip configurations, with attacks leading mostly to the back, given the nature of the guard. Differnet leg configurations turn it into a very formidable guard that easily helps you get the mount when you fail at back takes, with not even the turtle able to stop you.
Triangles and armbars also feature a lot in this part of the Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD, as the position works similarly to the Willimas guard in terms of setups, mostly because of the sideways positioning. Brian arranges the attacks in different sets with moves that flow into one another, and you can easily switch from set to set.
Part 3 – The Clamp
The clamp, although not advertised anywhere compared to the side scissor, features heavily in this Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD, getting its own volume, It is another closed guard variation based on overhook control that ties in perfectly with the side scissor into a complete closed guard system.
This volume of the Simplify the System Brian Glick DVD follows a similar structure to the presentation of the side scissors, focusing on a study guide presentation. Once again, we see knee pulls, basic grips, push-pull mechanics, different entries into the position, and how to utilize the arm drag and 2-on-1 to start attacking.
Part 4 – Combining Guard Positions
During the opening parts of the Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD, Professor Glick said that the perfect closed guard combo ar the calm and the side scissor positions. In this volume, he demonstrates just how powerful this pairing is.
Namely, he shares even more attack sets in this part, focusing on the clamp first, and offering posture breaks, sweeps, arm locks, and triangles, before explaining how to tie al these attack sets with the ones from the side scissors position. The attack sets and end goals are the same, with variations being a result of the slight differences in the starting position.
Part 5 – The Top Lock
The final part of the instructional is a bonus section of sorts, with Glick exploring the top lock position, another great addition to the side scissors and clamp. While you could easily enjoy great BJJ success from the guard without it, it comes as the perfect way to conclude the Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD.
Classic submission combining options featuring armbars and triangles dominate most of this volume, with Glick offering top position follow-ups to initial guard setups using the side scissors and /or the clamp. Before wrapping up, he also covers common troubleshooting issues and how to address them.
Rethinking the Closed Guard
I remain convinced that the closed guard is one of the best guards we can use in BJJ and that it has a place in every grappler’s toolbox. Gi or No-Gi, leg locks or wrist locks, sweeping or back takes, whatever your preferences are, the closed guard can help you achieve them.
The one thing we need to stop doing, though, is looking at the options from this versatile position one-dimensionally. Yes, if you set up in front of your opponent and try to reach far in an attempt to grab and hold their collars, you won’t achieve much. But, then again, this is true at the black belt as it is at the white belt, so there has to be something wrong with this approach.
The closed guard refers to the way you position your legs, and not the entirety of your body, especially relative to your opponent. In fact, the more angles you use, the better your closed guard is going to be. Variations like the Williams Guard, Rubber Guard, high guard, Side Scissors, overhook closed guard, and a bunch of others have been successful simply because they don’t place us in a front alignment, which seems to be what most people think the closed guard is all about.
The Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD offers a couple of different angled closed guard options that are Danaher-approved. I hope that is enough incentive to re-think your closed guard approach.
FULL DOWNLOAD: SIDE SCISSORS BRIAN GLICK DVD
Johnny Scissor Legs!
I guess it is pretty obvious by now that this Simplify the System Side Scissor Brian Glick DVD review is a positive one, and I recommend the instructional to everyone stuck in the closed guard most people picture when we mention the name. If you lack the courage to experiment yourself, Glick offers the perfect blueprint to take you through closed guard variations you haven’t considered, but are more than worth doing so.
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