Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi BJJ DVD instructional showing how to use the guard for self defense.
- Features a couple of different closed guard variations and practical drills
- Based on old-school Gracie Jiu-Jitsu principles proven in MMA and real fights.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10.
JEFF HIGGS SELF DEFENSE GUARD BJJ DVD AVAILABLE HERE:
How confident are you that your BJJ is good enough to get you out of a real-life self defense situation without any major damage? If you hesitate at least one bit during the answer, you need to explore the practical applications of Jiu-Jitsu further and include self defense training.
You won’t need to change your gym and entire life to do it – these days, you can train for everything in your favorite BJ Jacademy. A resource like the Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD is all you need to get ideas of how you can change your focus during rolling and think street while you train the sport.
Practice Art, Train Sport, Think Street
In the famous words of wisdom by the legendary Chris Haueter, one of the original BJJ Dirty Dozen, the best way to become practically good at BJJ is to practice it like a martial art, train it like a sport, but always think street while you are on the mats.
Having a mindset used to the unpredictable environment of a real-life self defense scenario is a big aspect of stress that people with martial arts experience don’t often consider. Think of it as training Jiu-Jitsu but not rolling at all – there’s no way to figure out how to do it simply by having access to technical information only.
Training for these scenarios is not common these days, which ends up costing people who might rely on it, such as law enforcement officers. Haueter’s approach is a great way to still train at any gym possible, but introduce variables in sparring that will help you develop an awareness of the streets.
If you need any ideas on how to incorporate such training tasks into your usual BJJ routine, we recommend checking out the Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD.
Jeff Higgs is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Fabio Santos, a promotion which dates back to 2002. Higgs has been grappling since 1995 when he joined the famous Gracie Torrance Academy. Previously serving as a Navy Seal, Jeff spent a lot of time training with both Santos and his instructor, the legendary Rickson Gracie.
With several big titles to his name from the old days of Jiu-Jitsu, when winning stuff was extremely difficult to do, Jeff represents one of the rare representatives of old-school Gracie Jiu-Jitsu that is actively teaching these days. Also a Judo black belt, Higgs offers well of 30 years of experience with Jiu-Jitsu that includes self defense aspects most modern black belts have no idea about.
Long time friend and training partner of Dean Lister, Higgs has had first-hand experience with the complete development of BJJ since it hit the US, both in terms of sports and BJJ for MMA, making him one of the few true experts on the subject. The Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD is a perfect example of what Jeff’s Jiu-Jitsu is all about.
Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD Review
The Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD is a No-Gi instrucitonal that covers just over an hour of material focused on a no-nonsense approach from the closed guard. While this DVD does not focus on points or sports BJJ goals at all, it still provides one of the most efficient ways to set up an aggressive and dangerous guard game.
Part 1 – Overhook Guard
While I am not overly interested in MMA (anymore), from my limited experience in that particular sport, and my personal preference overall in almost 15 years of BJJ, I find that the overhook position from closed guard offers more than any other variation.
This is confirmed through the opening volume of the Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD. Higgs introduces the direct applicability of this guard to real-life scenarios, often referring to MMA examples and calling in Dean Lister to help prove the point.
What you can expect to form this portion of the instructional is quick and powerful positioning with devastatingly strong, direct attacks such as Kimura and Monoplata variations. Both these make a lot of sense, given the isolation of the shoulder you already have from the overhook.
Part 2 – Craig Kukuk Combo Attacks
A key aspect of practicing for self defense is setting realistic unpredictable scenarios, such as including noise and sudden changes in the environment during your training. The second part of the Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD contains thoughts and ideas on setting this up in your gym.
After talking about how the double wrist position can save you from lots of damage in a street fight scenario, Higgs offers several armbar and triangle attack options, combining them with tactics on using environmental changes to your advantage.
This highly entertaining, and to be honest, quite useful instructional wraps up with a section that contains several chapters on the Craig Kuuk closed guard. Craig is one of the original BJJ Dirty Dozen members (just like Haueter) who influenced Higgs’ Jiu-Jitsu a lot.
The system shows how to use double armlock attacks in self defense situations, before exploring how you can add Dean Lister’s deadly armbar from guard to the mix.
Gracie Jiu-JItsu for Self Defense
There is no denying that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu works for self defense. A part of what makes it ‘unrealistic’ by BJJ standards today is the focus on self defense over achieving points in competitions that feature rules which have nothing to do with real-life altercations.
This provides the opportunity to practice either aspect of the art, but during the past couple of decades, the scales tilted a lot more towards the sports aspects of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which utilize visually impressive, complex, and fun techniques and tactics which would fail miserably in street fight. As a result, people train a lot less self defense Jiu-Jitsu.
In a real-life violent situation, most people with BJJ experience would still jump instinctively to positions like mount top, closed guard, or the back. That just shows how efficient the original Jiu-Jitsu is.
To be able to jump into such a mindset, though, you need practice in settings that mimic real-life situations, and very few gyms employ such training in their curriculums. If you’re interested in BJJ for self defense but you find yourself in one of these gyms, the Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD is a great resource to uncover another dimension to Jiu-Jitsu.
FULL DOWNLOAD: JEFf HIGS SELF DEFENSE GUARD DVD
Fighting Off Your Back (For Real)
If you end up on your back in the streets, go to closed guard. If you’ve done any BJJ at all, you’ll have ideas on what to do next, especially against an untrained opponent. Still, the Jeff Higgs Self Defense Guard BJJ DVD can help guide you more precisely and effectively toward tactics applicable in real-life self defense situations. The best part is that you can still use them in your sports Jiu-Jitsu guard game.
The Best Closed Guard DVD Instructionals and Digital Releases
