Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi BJJ DVD instructional containing a complete closed guard system.
- Features a systematic approach covering positioning, preventing passes, and combining attacks.
- You can use the strategies as mini systems, or together as a comprehensive closed guard game.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9.5 out of 10.
HENRY AKINS BLACK HOLE NO-GI CLOSED GUARD DVD HERE:
the best guard to play for No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu? The answer, which will probably surprise most people, is the closed guard. Forget about it being old and useless in modern Jiu-Jitsu, there’s nothing quite like the insane pressure coming from a solid closed guard game.
The Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD is one of the best instructionals out there to help you understand exactly what you should focus on from the closed guard in No-Gi. The methodology covers structural principles, positional mechanics, and a complete attack and counter-attack strategy.
Closed vs Open Guard for No-Gi
if you take a look at most No-Gi exchanges in a BJJ gym, you’ll see that most people tend to play open guards, and most rolls flow at a high pace. If you watch people compete without the Gi, though, you’ll notice a lot more stalling, which, when the Gi is gone is only available to bottom players as closed-circuit guards.
The closed guard, half guard, and entanglements like 50/50 are the most utilized guards in No-Gi on account of the option to slow the top person down and stall long enough to start attacking from guard. Open guards, as offensive and mobile as they are, tend to succumb to the pressure of high-paced, dexterous movement from the top person.
This Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD focuses a lot on using this moment of peace caused by the closed guard to set up a dangerously effective game based on combining attacks. The tactics are sound and proven to work, but whether or not the instructional delivers will become clear in the Henry Akins Closed Guard DVD review below.
Invisible Jiu-Jitsu Master Henry Akins
Ricksoin Gracie is undoubtedly one of the best ever in BJJ, but he has the same annoying trait many Brazilian coaches do – he holds back a lot on the information he provides. This is driven by the idea that if you want full information you’ll need to go train with the coach.
In today’s BJJ landscape of videos and instructionals \this makes no sense. So, apart from training with Rickson, if you truly want to understand his BJJ advice, look to get it from some of his star students, such as Henry Akins.
Henry is a black belt under Rickson, his 3rd American one, which he earned from Gracie in 2004. That gives him a pedigree of 20 years at black belt, not to mention the previous decade he spent training with Rickon since his start in 1995. Akins went on to be one of the instructors at the Rickson Gracie Academy until a major injury caused him to retire.
These days Henry is the head coach of the Dynamix Martial Arts Academy in LA where he teaches the Invisible Jiu-Jitsu principles Rickson made famous. He has been pretty active lately, with seminars around the world and several instructionals coming out. Today’s focus is on the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD, one of his latest releases.
Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD Review
The Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD is a BJJ instructional that contains 8 volumes, each lasting around 30 minutes, which brings the total running time to just over 4 hours. It features a very methodological approach to setting up, keeping, and attacking from the closed guard positon.
Part 1 – Using the Legs
One of the main aspects of Rickon’s and Aikins’ guard is the heavy emphasis on the role of the legs. In the opening segments of the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD there is a lot of information on how your legs make your closed guard more powerful and diverse.
Akins offers both the foundational mechanics as well as several highly useful drills like practicing no arm posture break, to include the legs in your closed guard tactics. He then builds on the premise of braking posture by introducing the subject of clearing posts from the closed guard.
Part 2 – Clearing Posts
Some of the things in this Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD seem extremely basic but contain truly invisible details that make those basics so efficient. The subject of clearing the posts includes dealing with posts at every level, from the hips to the chest.
Henry even talks about clearing posts with hands-on neck, as well as doing some sneaky counter moves like a double arm lock. The highly annoying elbow post also gets attention in this volume, as well as an elegant solution.
Part 3 – Preventing Stand-Ups
If there is one thing that will annoy everyone who plays closed guard, particularly in No-Gi it is standing up. Once your opponent is on their feet, the closed guard becomes extremely difficult to play.
The solution comes in the third volume of the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD. Henry offers the key principles that prevent people from standing up in your guard, which then allows you to play more efficiently. He also talks about how to use stubborn people’s standing attempts to propel them directly into sweeps.
Part 4 – Sweeps vs. Standing
As the subject of sweeps goes on, Henry begins by exploring how to use the closed guard to sweep people who have already stood up inside your guard. Some classics like the double ankle sweep appear here, enforced by throwing in overhead sweeps and a few bonus armlocks that complete this part of the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD.
Part 5 – Sweeps vs. Kneeling
Getting the top person to come back down from standing with the threat of sweeps effectively allows you to launch a more proactive attacking game. This volume of the Henry Akins No-Gi Closed Guard DVD addresses how to use fundamental sweeping techniques to deal with kneeling opponents.
You might have presumed that the hip bump sweep would appear, and you’d be right. Akins goes over a few different hip motions that effectively set up No-Gi closed guard sweeps, as well as additional posture break tips. Wrapping up with a Guillotine choke setup, Henry announces what comes next.
Part 6 – Submission Combos
If you’ve ever seen a Henry Akins closed guard DVD, you know that he likes to constantly combine submission attacks. With the armbar, triangle, and cross choke his favorite Gi combo, he now shares his thoughts on the best submission chains from closed guard in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.
Part 6 of the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD demonstrates how you can use the cowcatcher guillotine, inverted armbar, and Kumura to completely dominate from the closed guard. Akins shows them each apart and together as a mini system, ending with a highly entertaining Vale Tudo-inspired head and arm control.
Part 7 – Troubleshooting
The final two volumes of this Henry Akins No-Gi Closed Guard DVD cover common scenarios that might cause issues while executing the well-explained strategies above. Stuff like the opponent squaring up or posturing gets solutions in the form of triangles, sweeps, more armbars, and the inclusion of the very tricky clamp guard.
Akinsalso covers a few useful follow-ups on common sweep reactions, which end in the mount and back, respectively before wrapping up by explaining how the seat belt grip from closed guard can work.
Part 8 – Back Takes
As you probably guessed from the conclusion of the previous volume of the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD, the stage is now set to cover back attacks from the No-Gi closed guard.
This final volume goes over different ways to expose the back through posture breaks which begin with very specific grips. A sneaky bottom Americana appears throughout the volume, offering a dilemma attack when you most need it.
The entire instructional ends with Henry Akins bringing the entire system together in a simple blueprint that anyone can follow.
Becoming Effectively Dangerous From Bottom
Whenever someone asks me for better guard attacks I like to test their guard first. In most instances, they end up having leaky guards that allow passes from different directions, meaning there is no real foundation to look for attacks.
The boring part of building a positionally strong guard lies in understanding the foundational goal of the position, which is to keep the top person in control using primarily your legs. Once you know where the top person is, and they can’t disengage, you can think about attacking.
Efficiency in attacking comes from being able to retain guards and prevent people from escaping or passing them. The bad news is that you’ll have to start suffering in guar,d only looking at how to keep the guard vs. the top person’s constant attacks if you want to be good at attacking from guard.
The good news is that the Henry Akins No-Gi Closed Guard DVD can help you achieve that goal. Even better, it helps reduce the clutter so you know exactly what to focus on, speeding up your timeline.
FULL DOWNLOAD: HENRY AKINS NO-GI CLOSED GUARD DVD
Suck ‘Em In The Black Hole!
The closed guard of a true old-school Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt really does feel like a black hole is sucking you in. That’s exactly what you learn from the Henry Akins Black Hole No-Gi Closed Guard DVD – how to keep people inside your guard without any threats to the structure.
This No-Gi instructional is aimed at everyone, from those new to the sport looking to deter passing for at least a moment, to seasoned black belts who’ll end up in the position during a match anyway. Here’s the invisible value of this instructional – everything works with the Gi as well.
The Best Closed Guard DVD Instructionals and Digital Releases
