Key Takeaways
- A Gi BJJ DVD offering a ton of low-risk high-reward closed gaurd moves.
- The DVD contains moves organized in systems throughout each volume, forming highly effective chains.
- Malachy provides step-by-step instructions on how to turbocharge classic closed guard attacks.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
THE CLOSED GUARD MALACHY FRIEDMAN BJJ DVD AVAILABLE HERE:
The closed guard is the one position in BJJ that you’ll never stop using. So, since you’ll be in it anyway, why not make it work? By that, I mean really work, like a flytrap filled with venomous spikes but with added electrical currents running through it at the same time.
For that, you need someone who can teach you how to play the closed guard stuff you already know with a different set of goals and checkpoints. The Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD features exactly that, guided by the mind of one of the most innovative coaches in BJJ when it comes to effectiveness.
Make your Closed Guard Uncomfortable
Just to make things clear, the idea is to have your closed guard be uncomfortable for the top person, not yourself. I see too many people who just cross their legs, maybe get a grip on a sleeve or collar, and hang out there believing in the mystical power of the closed guard.
Well, news flash – getting to the closed guard alone doesn’t mean you get to channel Helio Gracie’s ghost to help you dominate. You’re actually going to need to put in work, and that work begins when you place pressure on the person you have in your closed guard.
Yes, pressure from bottom positions is a thing, but that’s a subject for a different time. For now, let’s just call it discomfort, and let’s get you to think about it. The next time you claw your way to a closed guard, stop thinking you can just sweep or submit.
Instead, try to make your opponent as uncomfortable as possible from the position, without risking giving away a pass. One look at the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD and you’ll get a heap of ideas on how to do it.
The Quirky Efficiency of Malachy Friedman
When someone comes from a legendary old-school lineage, such as that of Carlson Gracie, you expect effective, simple Jiu-Jitsu, based on aggressiveness and domination. Ricardo Liborio’s black belt Malachy Friedman is kind of an outlier in that regard.
Don’t get me wrong he has all the key qualities of a Carlson Gracie standout – he is methodical, relentless, keeps stuff simple, and dominates. But he does it in his own, quirky way, kind of like when a mad scientist makes you a cup of coffee.
The ex-member of the American Top Team knows perfectly what it takes to make your Jiu-Jitsu work against world champions, proven by the fact we’ve seen him in the corner of plenty of UFC, IBJJF, and ADCC champs to date.
At present, Malachy is running his own Black Label Martial Arts Academy in Charlestown and also has a brand of online instructional series, appropriately dubbed the “Jiu-Jitsu MadLab“. In there, he cooks up original recipes, such as his Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD.
Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD Review
The Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD offers a ton of closed guard moves, chains, systems, and tactics. It lasts for nearly 3 hours and, as you’ll see from out Malachy Friedman DVD review, is organized meticulously over the course of four volumes:
Part 1 – Attacking Posture & Kimura System
This instructional has lots of everything in terms of options from the closed guard. While quite elaborate in terms of the number of techniques, Friedman manages to keep everything neatly organized, offering ways to systematize the content in each volume.
The first one is all about understanding the importance of dealing with posture. Malachy offers gi and No-Gi concepts that are closely tied together, as well as resulting follow-ups along the lines of the butt sweep, a series of direct overhook submissions, and a stunningly deceptive back take.
As the opening portion of the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD gets past its halfway point, Malachy narrows down his focus to the Kimura, offering a mini system that includes sweeps, submissions, and failed Kimura armbar follow-ups.
The best part comes at the very end, setting a very cool trend throughout this entire DVD. Namely, Friedman offers a precise way of taking all the information from this volume and organizing it in a system that will work for anyone.
Part 2 – Scissor Sweep & Lapel Attacks
As we get to the second part of the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD it already feels like we went through an entire BJJ DVD. However, instead of being overwhelmed with everything but the kitchen sink, the material is actually filtered so that it contains only the most useful.
Another testament to that is the section outlining how to take the scissor sweep to a whole new threat level from the closed guard. He ties it in beautifully before introducing triangles, and a nasty loop choke to create a looping chain.
To my great delight, Friedman also covers the Brabo choke/Brabo closed guard, a lapel-based system of choking, sweeping, and back takes that destroys posture like nothing else from the closed guard. Armbars sprinkled throughout the content as a fail-safe to moves that don’t work out make this instructional the real deal.
Part 3 – Flower Sweep & Omoplatas
Part three of the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD takes us through some true old-school BJJ classics. First up is the elusive flower sweep a technique that is as simple as much as beginners tend to mess up.
Malachy’s take on it is to remove the hour-long explanation of mechanics and needless details and focus on how to get it to work. Friedman uses everything, from collar grips to laples and even armbar setups to get to the end range of the flower sweep.
Similarly classic and difficult to comprehend for lots of people is the Omoplata, which is again “dumbed down” to a level taht’s easy to make sense of. The usual culprits including sweep, triangle, and Kimura combo feature here, before the signature final chapter on how to create a system using them.
Part 4 – Armbars & Triangles
The only things left for Malachy to cover from the closed guard are… Well actually he covered pretty much everything, but he still has some very neat alternatives to offer for some of the moves already seen so far in the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD.
Armbars-wise there are spinning, rolling, and counter-attacking setups that will provide an option for literally anyone out there. The re-bite armbar was the one that did it for me. In this part, Malachy offers an armbar system roadmap as he finishes the portion covering them.
The same happens with the triangle, mostly shown from the versatile overhook position. Lots of shoulder locks, from direct attacks, through Kimuras, all the way to the Barataplata turn this system into a nightmare for your opponent. A final set of guidelines on how to create a system out of all these bits of information brings the entire DVD to a close.
Old Guard, New Tricks
The best part about the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD is that it won’t teach you anything new, but you’ll still be able to pull off stuff from the closed guard that never seemed to work for you before.
In essence, you get to re-learn some of the stuff you think you know, looking at them from a perspective that was lacking until now. You’re literally picking up new tricks to make classic day-one stuff like armbars and butt sweeps work against high-level grapplers with tons of experience.
The secret is in how you approach the exchange with the top person, not in the hundreds of technical details you often hear from your coaches or see in YouTube videos. Getting people uncomfortable and attacking with chains organized in systems is completely going to change how successful you are from the closed guard.
FULL DOWNLOAD: MALACHY FRIEDMAN CLOSED GUARD DVD
The Low Hanging Fruit
Go for what’s available once you have the person you’re attacking trapped in your spider web. In a gist, that’s what you’ll learn from the Closed Guard Malachy Friedman BJJ DVD. What makes all the difference is the ability to recognize the best available attack and build a system of chains off of it rather than stubbornly trying to set up a painfully obvious attack. That’s the ‘little’ thing your guard has been missing.