Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi instructional on the crucifix, containing over 3 hours of material.
- Features controls, entries, and finishing from the BJJ crucifix position.
- Many different setups and follow-ups, as well as a blueprint for training.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
DARRAGH O’CONAILL CRUCIFIX ENCYCLOPEDIA DVD GET HERE:
How do you get out of the crucifix position? Yeah, exactly, most folks have no idea. That is precisely why you need to turn it into one of your main attacking hubs from the back, and even prefer it to traditional back mount control.
The Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD is your go-to resource to understand exactly what the crucifix brings to the table in terms of control and submissions. Also, it is available from a bunch of different positions and scrambles, which provides an opportunistic aspect to including this submission-rich position in your game.
A Different Type of Back Control
Attacking from the back is considered to be one of the best options in BJJ, MMA, and all combat sports that involve grappling. Unless your opponent is significantly larger than you. Then, you might find the ack mount to be exhausting and not effective at all for, well, everything.
But there is still hope for smaller grapplers – the crucifix. That said, the position is not limited to small vs. big scenarios and anyone can use it any time they want. It is somewhat different than back control, but it still offers plenty of submissions, an incredible amount of control, and is easier to get to and establish.
As a drawback, we have the fact that you don’t get any points for that crucifix and the inability to follow up with leg locks since the legs are very far away. Hwoever, in al those cases where you fail to achieve anything from back control, going towards the crucifix instead is going to provide you with a lot more finishing options.
A key reason behind the success of the crucifix is that very few people seem to be using int intentionally, which makes the Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD even more valuable in terms of the subject matter it covers.
Irish BJJ Headliner Darragh O’Conaill
The UK has been a hotbed for the “production” of high-level grapplers lately, with most European big names coming from across the island. One of those names that is immediately recognizable as both a competitor and coach is Darragh O’Conaill.
The Irish-born grappler had an unusual journey through the art, starting with MMA-inspired Jiu-Jitsu back in high school after his PE teacher suggested to rugby-playing Darragh he should give it a try. From white to purple, O’Conaill trained with David Jones who was affiliated with UFC’s Chris Brennan.
It was late as a purple belt that Darragh, then a full-time coach, decided to broaden his knowledge and sought out the Ribeiro others over the pond, who eventually gave him his brown and black belt. Darragh competed heavily at all belt levels on all platforms, from IBJJF to EBI.
He has a particular affection towards all types of strangles which makes the Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD a particularly interesting one. Let’s see what it has to offer.
Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD Review
This Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD is a three-part No-Gi instructional that contains over 3 hours of incredibly resourceful material on the subject of entering, keeping, and finishing from the crucifix position:
Part 1 – Crucifix Control & Retention Basics
The opening part of the Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD starts with him explaining his approach to training and advice on how to use the information in his DD. For anyone completely new, he suggests starting with the least experienced people in the room and building your skills to the higher belts.
Crucifix-wise, he starts by going over the key details of the position in terms of control and how to use your legs, your arms, and your torso to keep a hold of your opponent. He also covers some of the most common ways that people try to get out, including sliding out, rolling over, and bridging.
The final third of the first volume launches into attacks immediately, beginning with the bottom side crucifix which you probably know, and offering a very effective submission chain. The volume wraps up with a series of top-position crucifix attacks, also offering plenty of finishing options.
Part 2 – Turtle and FHL Setups
As we get to the second volume of the instructional, Darragh moves away from the crucifix position and demonstrates how you can attain it from different positions. This particular part focuses on getting it against a turtled opponent from two different positions: hip-to-hip and the front.
In terms of hip-to-hip attacks, there is a lot of arm trapping on both sides, using the arms and the legs. While I prefer trapping the far arm with my arms first, Darragh does offer valid points for trapping the near one with the legs first. He also covers common rolling reactions and how you can use them to your advantage.
Concluding this part of the Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD is a series of front headlock entries, which features plenty of guillotines to elicit reactions out of the opponent and end up in the crucifix. O’Conaill mostly uses seated setups but also introduces inverted attacks to the mix.
Part 3 – Guard entries and Kimura Traps
As we near the conclusion of the Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD there is still more material, especially submissions to go through. The final volume is all about finding routes to the crucifix from different guard situations, such as the seated and half guard. Darragh covers both top and bottom entries and crucifix setups.
Given the close relation between the Kimura and the Crucifix, trapping the amr using the figure-four grip, which is basically a Kimura trap features heavily throughout this volume. Lots of different Kimura lock entries, finishes, and follow-ups provide even more options to play around with the crucifix while holding onto the Kimura grip.
When Back Mount Fails
The crucifix is one of the top options to have if you want to ride out a match for the ack, or actually want to improve your finishing chances with upper body submissions. It is a perfect follow-up to the classic hook-based back control, offering an incredible shoulder pin that is almost impossible to get out of.
On the other side of the spectrum, the crucifix also works as a great entry position to the back, since it is a lot easier to set up from plenty of different BJJ positions. In that sense, ti also correlates closely to side control, allowing back-and-forth action that once again ends up opening classic back attacks.
Personally, I prefer the crucifix to traditional back control because I don’t have to worry about the hips, and shoulder width makes no difference. As a smaller grappler, I find it very difficult to get the choke against folks with broad backs and wide shoulders. The crucifix is the perfect silver bullet to render both arms useless and get freebie chokes, as you’ll see in this Darragh O’Conaill DVD.
FULL DOWNLOAD: DARRAGH O’CONAILL CRUCIFIX DVD
Cross them Off!
The crucifix is a position that everyone needs in their arsenal, but not many people understand and use it purposefully. That puts you in the unique position not to capitalize greatly from the information in the Darragh O’Conaill Crucifix Encyclopedia DVD, as the lack of experience attacking the position also means people have no idea how to deal with it.
Side Control Crucifix Attacks To Make Yourself Enemies In The Gym
