Training Diaries: Marks Of A Great Jiu-Jitsu Partner

Where would we be if we had to train BJJ on our own? Well, I guess we’d be at this point in time, trying to make grappling dummies out of pillows and old Gi tops. Jokes and pandemic lockdowns aside, training Jiu-Jitsu requires two people (at the very least). Even in online programs, it takes a partner for it all to make sense and for real progress to ensue. That said, the more Jiu-jitsu partners we have to train with, the better we will become. Now, not everyone we train with is a great training partner, so let’s take a look at some of the traits that make a great jiu-jitsu training partner.

One of the main reasons why we enjoy training BJJ so much is the human connection factor. Say what you want, but everyone needs human contact, and there’s nothing that delivers on than more than Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Granted this might not be the best time to talk about close contact with the Covid-19 pandemic out and about. However, the fact still remains that we need a Jiu-Jitsu partner to actually training the art/sport. That also means other people need us, so why not try our best to be a great training partner for them?

Value Your Training Partners

If you’re reading BJJ World regularly, you’ve surely seen the quote I’m about to use. It is a quote my professor old me really early on in my Jiu-Jitsu journey and it stuck with me. What he said was this: “The most valuable material possession we have are our bodies. That means that every time we train, we give someone our most valued material possession to use and play with. If they “break it”, we won’t want to extend the same courtesy to that particular training partner again.” This really sums up how important a good jiu-jitsu partner is for training.

It doesn’t matter what belt you are, as a BJJ practitioner you need to make a clear distinction between what a training partner is, and what an opponent is in a competitive match. Sadly, I see people not making this particular distinction way too often. In competition, your goal is to win. That doesn’t mean you need to destroy your opponent mercilessly, but you should be aiming to apply your BJJ knowledge in a way it was intended to. Training, on the other hand, is akin to just playing around.

The value of a great Jiu-Jitsu partner is huge. Given all the different types of people that come to train BJJ, you’re bound to end up with different types of training partners. In fact, you’ll surely bump into the type that nobody really likes to train with. However, you’ll also meet those that make everything enjoyable and fun, not to mention helping you actually learn things. While every type of training partner, even those ‘bad” ones has value, it is the great training partners that we come back to over and over again. That begs the question what type of training partner are you, and what should you do to be considered a great jiu-jitsu partner?

The Marks Of A Great Jiu-Jitsu Partner

There are certain things that really set some jiu-jitsu partners aside from others. In that sense, it doesn’t matter if they’re higher or lower belts. There are higher belts that spaz out completely, as well as lower belts that roll as calmly as Hello Gracie themselves. So, belt color is not important right off the bat.

What matters are the traits that make every roll, drill, or technical practice with a certain training partner an enjoyable experience? As much as trying to strangle one another can be enjoyable, of course. In any case, if you know the marks of a great jiu-jitsu partner, you might just adopt some of them you might be lacking to become a great one yourself. Here is a selection of the most important ones:

Hygiene

This goes first, and I won’t dwell on it. Simply reading the word “hygiene” needs to be enough. Especially now, in the post-Covid-19 world, where people are freaked out about cleanliness and health anyway. If you’re sick, stay at home. Wash your Gi, wear a rash guard underneath, an trim your talons. If you really want to know more about personal BJJ hygiene, read this article.

Focus

One of the things that really puzzles me is the patience span of BJJ people. Despite knowing that we need to be patient, time things, and set traps, we all want everything to happen instantly. Often times, we end up unfocused and trying to do things that help neither us not the Jiu-Jitsu partner we’re training with. Focus is extremely important in training even more so than in competition, actually.

While it is not hard to leave everyday worries and issues outside the mats (in most cases) people still have trouble focusing. The more they train, the more people like to experiment. However, not every time is good for experimenting. Whatever the topic is of class or drills, stick to it. It is all fine if you want to practice Keenan’s latest lapel guard, but your partner might actually want to learn what is being shown. Stay on topic and work on the task. That’s what great training partners do.

Be Welcoming

Once again it doesn’t matter if you’re’ a three-stripe white belt or a brown belt. When new people walk in be welcoming. There’s no need to act stuck up and look down on folks. Remember how you felt the first time you needed to pick a jiu-jitsu partner for a roll? Stay cool, welcome people, explain things to them and help them along the way. You can learn something form every roll, even if you’re a black belt rolling with the person that just signed up.

Drill, Don’t Kill

Also very important. Drilling is one part of BJJ that most of us get wrong. People usually either dedicate too much or not enough. Both are examples of not being a good jiu-jitsu partner. Coaches usually set both goals and tempo for drills. Respect them. If you go too hard, it turns into position sparring, and that’s not the intention of drills. If you just go through the motion, you’re actually doing the other person a disservice.

So, drill as the instructor says, even if you don’t like that particular drill. One day in soon, your partner might not like a drill but they’ll shut up and be a good partner about it because you were.

Be In Control (Of Yourself)

If I had to choose one trait of a great Jiu-Jitsu partner for training, apart from hygiene that would be the ability to stay in control. This extends far beyond controlling an opponent. By control, I mean that you’re controlling your temper, emotions, and situations that arise at all times. Control is knowing that you need to tap and when to tap. Control is also knowing that an opponent should; tap, but they’re not being wise about it. Letting go of that submission and going on with the roll is also a form of self-control.

There’s no place for revenge submissions because they caught you, or deciding you’ll do a move at all costs. That quickly spirals out and you turn into a spaz. If you want o e a good training partner, you need to keep a clear head and always be in control of your emotional state.

Tap

You’ll never learn Jiu-Jitsu if you don’t tap. And that doesn’t just mean tap to higher belts. Tap to everyone. Of course, they’ll have to earn it, but when they do, you don’t just bust out by force or some last-ditch move. Tap, let them have the experience and learn from it so that they have to work harder the next time. A good jiu-jitsu partner drags people up in training, not down. And the best way to do that is to tap out.

Communicate

As much as the physical aspect is important in Jiu-Jitsu so is the social one. Make sure you communicate with your partner at all times. Whether it is before a roll, asking if they’re ok, during, or after, you need to always be willing to talk. That doesn’t mean chat about anything and everything as you roll. But you do need to have feedback that concerns whatever it is you’re both doing.

If you’re a higher belt, you also have the obligation to always answer the questions you know how to answer to lower belts.

Support The Team

This is something that people really appreciate. Whether you show up to pair up with someone for competition classes even if you don’t compete, or show up at a competition as support, that is always welcome. It is also a trait of the very best Jiu-Jitsu partners out there. Just be there for your team, as much as you can. One day for sure they’ll be there for you as well.

In Summary

Training with a good Jiu-Jitsu partner can make all the difference. In reality, we can’t expect everyone to be on the same level, but if more people put just a bit more thought into it, we’d certainly see a lot more great partners and have more great rolls than average ones. And it is not that hard to be a good BJJ training partner. Or even a great one.

How To Make The Low Single For BJJ A Part Of Your Takedown Game

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What is the one thing that BJ folks get the most slack for? Takedowns. To paraphrase what Chris Haueter famously said “the guard has a seductive and rewarding nature”. Going to guard from standing is a safe and lazy way of taking a fight to the ground. It could be argued that a guard pull is also technically a takedown, and I’m on board that particular train of thought. However, the fact remains that we all need to build a takedown game for ourselves. The one thing to consider, though, is looking at “lazy”, low risk but still highly effective takedowns that won’t require Olympic level conditioning in order to perform. The low single for BJJ fits this bill perfectly.

When we’re rolling or competing in BJJ, we usually aim to take the route of least resistance. If we could be lazy about it in the process then that’s a welcome bonus. The nature of BJJ is such that it is more of a chess match than athletic endeavor at times. It is why we love it so much. That said, on the feet, things are slightly different. There’s much more movement in more different planes of motion than on the ground. Moreover, things tend to happen fast and are usually the complete opposite of BJJ exchange on the ground. There are plenty of interesting options to add to your takedown game that can help you mitigate this, but I do think the low single for BJJ is the best possible low risk-high reward takedown option.

Building A Versatile Takedown Game For BJJ

When you think of takedowns for BJJ, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? If you’re thinking of double and single legs, or front headlocks or UchiMatas than you’re on the right track. All of them work and they’ll be great for your takedown game. You just need to dedicate a few years to each of them. And that right there is the truth nobody likes to hear.

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, on the ground, we have all the time in the world to get used to stuff. Moreover, you can focus on doing one thing over and over again from different spots and rally get the hang of it fast. Takedowns are a whole different can of worms. Three are things like distance, timing, level change, grip tactics that you need to drill over and over again, since it is much more about feel and movement that thinking and setting traps, like on the ground.

Speaking of levels, BJJ folks usually see only two levels for executing a takedown. One is standing high, where most Jud throws and the occasional front headlock linger. The other is shooting for a double / single-leg takedown, a Kata Guruma, or anything of the sort. However, we rarely focus on what we can do at a third level, and that’s the ankle level. And I’m not talking about foot sweeps.

The five steps to any takedown (I’ve talked about this before) are stance, motion, level change, penetration, and finishing. These are true for every takedown you need to perform from standing and that includes the low single for BJJ. However, with the low single, you pretty much go from stance and motion to finish, with penetration and level change being so close together that you can’t even tell the ma apart. That translates to a fast takedown, with a low-risk setup and a high percentage of success.

What Is A Low Single Leg Takedown?

The low single is actually one of the most utilized takedowns in wrestling. What exactly is a low single? Well, as the name suggests, it is a single leg takedown, just done with grips lower on the leg than usual. And, given that the usual is knee level, the grips are quite lower in the case of the low single – ankle level. Think ankle pick and you’ll get an idea of where the arms (or at least one of them) need to be. While it may seem like this is a position that extremely easy to get out of or counter, it just isn’t the case. This deceptively tame takedown is actually one of the most dangerous attacks you can use.

In terms of stance and motion wrestlers spend years perfecting those, so I’m just going to skip over them for now. We use different ones in BJJ anyway. The goal with the low single is to get down on all fours. In fact, the lower your shoulders are to the ground, the better. Think turtle position. At the same time you have the one biggest aim of a low single – grab behind the heel. We’ll go more into the specifics of possible grips in the next section. The second “make it or break it” moment after the grip is placing your shoulder on the shin of the opponent, with an ear near the inside of their knee. And yes, the head has to go to the inside if you’re to have any chance of taking people down.

Let’s stop at this point in the takedown for a little while. If you are in a turtle-like position, with a grip on someone’s heel and your shoulder on the shin, you pretty much have control over that leg. The one thing that’s different toa double or single leg is the absence of defensive options – sprawls won’t work. The fact that you’re’ controlling the heel means the leg can’t go back. Moreover, an opponent can’t get it out upwards, or spin around to get out. IN each of these cases, all you need is a bit of a forward push and perhaps a twist to the side and they’ll go right down.

When it comes to building a takedown game around the low single for BJJ, this is all the wrestling information about the takedown you’ll ever need.

The Low Single For BJJ

So, how do you make the low single for BJJ work for you? Easy – you start learning it from the position you’re already good at. In the case of Jiu-Jitsu, that would be the ground. More precisely, guard. Any guard. The goal is to figure out where the arm grips and how to control the leg with your shoulder/head. The turtle is a great spot to start from as well. IN fact, the first few times you go for a slow single in BJJ, it should be a sweep rather than a takedown. I told you it is a versatile move.

When it comes to actually set it up as a takedown, the same motions you do for a double leg will suffice. Think of a penetration step that has the goal of actually only getting you near the lead leg. This is exactly why you’ll succeed- there’s no need to get both legs. The lead leg is all you want and you do want to go low, which is often where opponents try and push you when you grab a hold of their ankle.

Holding on to the leg can be improved in two ways. First, focus on having the fingers of your gripping arm around the heel ads deep and as low possible. You want your pinky finger to be touching the mats. Next, use the forearm to cover the outside part of the top of the foot. This makes it impossible to remove the leg form the position.

For a finish, you can just push. Or, you could try and get a grip on the other heel as well, this time from the inside. Alternatively, you can also go for a double leg if you cut the corner and for the opponent to turn. You might even end up with a back take if they try to twist in order to get the leg out. The options are endless and you can get to all of them from a position that is extremely easy to obtain in the first place. The low single for BJJ is the perfect move to start building a takedown game around. The best part is that it doesn’t matter how much experience you have – the move works for everyone.

Conclusion

Ifyou’reoneofthose highly athletic folks that can explode into a power double faster than the blink of an eye, then you don’t need my advice on building a takedown game. However, that athleticism won’t last forever, so even you might think about having a backup. For all the rest of us “mortal” grapplers out there, the low single for BJJ is one of the slickest and laziest takedowns you can learn. In fact, if wrestlers didn’t already have this one I bet we would’ve come up with it in Jiu-Jitsu.

The Standing Loop Choke, Alexandre Vieira Style

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The loop choke could just be the sneakiest choke in all of Jiu-Jitsu. Well, not all of it, since you can’t really pull it off without a Gi. However, when a Gi is in the game, you can pretty much hit a loop choke from anywhere. I love using it in combination with guillotine chokes in order to be able to move an opponent from top or bottom into positions I like. In fact, the loop choke shares many similarities with the guillotine choke. One such example is that you can do a standing loop choke to finish opponents quickly and in a devastating fashion. And it may just be even more effective than standing guillotines.

IN BJJ, we don’t see that many standing submissions. It is understandable, as people do tend to go to the ground if they notice someone is setting up a standing submission. That’s a legitimate strategy, as it’ll most likely get you out of the submission. I guess this is why most grapplers tend to overlook standing submissions. In their defense, most of the standing stuff doesn’t work anyway. However, there are those that work, and the standing loop choke is at the top of the pile.

Getting Familiar With The Loop Choke

The standing loop choke is a bit different than the one done on the ground, but it shares the same principles. Conversely, all the little tip s and trick for a regular loop choke apply, so we’ll take a look at the basic version before we take things to the feet.

The loop choke is basically a guillotine choke done with a grip on the opponent’s collar, rather than any guillotine grip variation. You can look at it as a cheat choke when it comes to attacking a guillotine with the Gi. Many times the guillotine won’t work because the Gi is in the way of the grip. Well, instead of moaning about it, if you decide to use Gi that is “in the way” you’ll get one of the easiest chokes in Jiu-Jitsu.

For the loop choke finish, you want to have an arm over like for guillotine, and grab the opposite side collar with four fingers on the inside. That’s where the similarities with a guillotine end, though. There’s no way to finish a loop choke by squeezing. Instead, you focus on head placement and arm position. Let me elaborate.

The first loop choke “hack” you need to know is that you shouldn’t place the head deep inside your armpit. Only the crown of the opponent’s head should touch your armpit. This makes it impossible for them to use neck strength, or pop their head, out due to the configuration of the choke.

For the finish itself, you place your free arm with the forearm across the back of the opponent’s neck. This is where I’ll share another major game-changing detail – don’t go deep. There’s no need to try and thread your arm deep into your armpit. Having your palm inside your elbow is more than enough to finish the choke. In fact, it makes the choke even tighter, as opposed to having someone’s head deep in your armpit, and the free arm deep inside your own elbow crease.

A Submission From Hell – Standing Loop Choke

Now that basic mechanics and a couple of subtle tricks are out of the way, let’s focus on the standing loop choke. Alexandre Vieira, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Murilo Bustamante popularized and refined the sanding loop choke back in his brown belt days. He even has several different variations of the standing loop choke and has executed them against some of the world’s best grapplers.

Getting to the standing lop choke is very similar to how you get to a front headlock position without a Gi. In fact, you still need a snap down, but you’re going to do it with a grip on the collar rather than a collar tie. The goal is to thread the head in the armpit of the arm that has the grip on the collar. The difference with the standing loop choke is that you don’t’ go for the same arm configuration, but rather shoot to grab the leg of an opponent with the free arm. Think of doing a Kata Guruma, AKA the Fireman’s Carry throw. A simple pull there will get you taps more often than not. Finishing, however, looks and feels way better when you actually roll the opponent over your shoulders, down to the ground, and you finish facing upwards.

Another variation of his choke is starting it on the ground, but finishing standing, with the opponent across your shoulders. You can get to the loop choke grip from pretty much anywhere, top or bottom. Once you do, you can try and finish the basic way, with the arm across the back of the head. Alternately, you can look to thread under (especially if you’re doing it form a bottom position) and grab the leg. Similarly to before this will have most people tapping out,.However, if they don’t you can always slowly go to your knees and even stand up completely. Just remember that in these situations opponents tend to go to sleep before they can tap.

Loop Choke Defense?

Escape early or escape late. That’s the mantra of escapes that you should follow if you want to successfully wiggle out of stuff in BJJ. In the case of the loop choke, there aren’t many late defenses, especially if the person is doing a standing loop choke which tends to get tighter and tighter with every step. Early defenses, however, work and will frustrate a loop choke hunter, at least for a while.

The earliest thing you can do and should be doing anyway is focusing on posture. Many times when people focus on grip breaks they forget about the rest of their body, including their posture. Grips are the perfect way to take your attention to other things, and you should wise up to it. It is way more important to keep a good posture than it is to break the grip. Remember, if people can’t snap you down, they won’t’ be able to get either a guillotine ora loop choke.

That said, in certain situations, you’ll find yourself in the loop. The one thing that makes the choke practical and quick is also a flaw to an extent. If you can time it right, you can actually use the fact that they’re gripping your collar against them. Namely, instead of trying to fight the grip outright, when you’re in the loop, simply undo your Gi from your belt, This will allow the collar to slide across your neck, and the opponent’s grip will actually pull the Gi creating space, rather than choking you. Sneaky, but it can work if you time it right.

Final Words

Standing submissions are extremely fun and feel like a million buck when you hit them in competition. Apart from some wrist locking options, though I’d say the standing loop choke is your best bet of hitting a standing submission. Granted, you’ll end up on the ground more times than not, but it still counts as a standing submission if you set it up from the feet. Plus, you can always use the loo0p choke position to set up a host of takedowns, from the Kata Guruma toa simpler ankle picks, that you can still turn into loop choke finishes. So many possibilities….

Clean Eating Rules To Make Any Jiu-Jitsu Diet Plan Work

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how to make any jiu-Jitsu diet plan work

What is the best Jiu-Jitsu diet plan in the world? The one you manage to stick to. Easy to say, but extremely hard to do. And yet, accountability is the one thing that is way more important when it comes to dieting and meal plans than anything else. It doesn’t matter how many grams of superfoods you eat at what time. It is relevant, of course, but not detrimental. If you want to reap the benefits of a healthy diet, you need to pick one and stick with it. Clean eating can be easy, but only if you set yourself up to succeed.

The answer to the question of what kind of meal plan is the healthiest does not have one single answer. That is because plenty f diets out there are very healthy. Actually, it is much easier to eat healthy than we presume. There’s no need for a Ph.D. professor to tailor-make everything for us. Even pro athletes don’t hassle as much as some of the trending diets would have you do. In fact, there’s no real specific Jiu-Jitsu diet plan that’s actually tailor-made to make you better at BJJ. Three are ways, though, of making any diet plan healthy and clean, and they’re easy to follow, as long as you’re aware of them.

Why Do You Need A Jiu-Jitsu Diet Plan?

Absolutely not. How many people do you know that train other sports and have specific diets for them? Do any tennis players have a tennis meal plan? What about a rugby or Nascar meal plan? Something about martial arts and weight cutting has people believing their diet needs to contain the name of the sport in order to be effective. So, the only reason people are looking for a specific “jiu-jitsu diet plan” is psychological. And it does factor into the big picture.

The fact of the matter is, this is an important aspect of any meal plan. However, it is not just the psychological aspect. Okay, you have your Jiu-Jitsu diet plan, whether it is Gracie or another family’s all set up. How do you go about making it work? It is not about the plan itself if we’re being honest. The reason why most diets fail is that people can’t stick to them. So, the most important thing after picking your diet plan is to make sure it works for you. To make things easy let me put it like this: What worked for Helio Gracie 50 years ago in Brazil, won’t work for you today in the USA. Even better, what works for you won’t work for the person sitting next to you right now.

Looking at a Jiu-Jitsu diet plan to organize your meals is a great idea. However, trying to follow something to a “T” is not going to work long term. What will work is a plan that you can stick with, and that follows a few simple guidelines. The less you complicate, the better your results will be. T is as simple as that.

Rules To Make Any Meal Plan Work

A bit of common sense is the first and most important ingredient in any meal plan, BJJ, or not. If you need to spend three hours per meal cooking it, there’s no real point in even trying it out. The same holds true for that stuff that passes as food among bodybuilders. If the food is too bland and tasteless, you’ll grow tired of it in a fortnight. In order to set up for success, here are the three things you absolutely need to make any Jiu-jitsu diet plan work:

1. Plan Ahead

The holy trinity begins with a very logical step – become a prepper. Not a doomsday one, but rather, a meal prepper. Iт doesn’t take much to get into the habit of having a meal or two readies ahead of time so you just pop them out and go for it. Especially when you have to juggle between work, house chores, and training BJJ. Moreover, extend preparation тоyour shopping as well. Know what you’ll eat at least a few days in advance and do all the shopping at once. That way you cut back on needles time in supermarkets, plus you don’t’ have to figure out what to eat on a day-to-day basis.

2. Prevent Temptations

This one is very easy to do – just don’t buy stuff that you know doesn’t fit your Jiu-Jitsu diet plan. Sugar should most certainly be on that list. So should any processed foods, especially processed meats and grains. Not buying the bad stuff is not hard once you decide to go on a meal plan. The most difficult thing is throwing out the stuff you already have lying around. Throwing food is never a good idea so you belter stow it away somewhere where you won’t be able to get to it quickly when temptations strike. Or, better yet, give it to someone. We all have that weird friend that can eat anything and look like they’re a pro athlete.

3. Plan to Fail

If you’re looking for the perfect eating plan with no glitches at all, you won’t find it. It doesn’t exist. Instead, plan to fail with your plan. Accept that you’ll eat a thing or two that’s not on the plan. Moreover, you might spend a day of splurging. In fact, you should factor in days like this in order to keep you sane. Whatever plan you choose to stick to, has to have exceptions and you can enjoy them guilt-free when you know they’re an option. If you don’t give yourself some leeway, you’ll most definitely fall off the clean eating bandwagon at some point.

Foods That Are Actually Good For You

In order to satisfy even those who love to obsess over every tiny detail and want a complete Jiu-Jitsu meal plan to go with their Jiu-Jitsu strength and conditioning routine and Gracie t-shirt, I’ll go over some food options that you can’t go wrong with. Just don’t go eating anything but because these are just some key elements of a clean and complete diet and not the only things you need.

Seafood

Any type of seafood is extremely rich in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids which are very important for our bodies. They act as antioxidants to reduce blood pressure and boost immunity. Moreover, these properties are not just used for marketing purposes but are actually proven benefits of eating sea fish. You also don’t’ have to do it every day, twice a week will suffice and you can feel free to rotate your choices.

Soy

This is a food that gets a bad name due to the production processes that sometimes include GMOs. However, it is a staple of the village diet in Japan, a meal plant that has produced the most centenarians in the world. That said, as long as you’re careful where you get your soy form, it’ll fit right on top of any Jiu-Jitsu meal plan. Tofu is the most common and easy to incorporate shape, though.

Soy is awesome for the nervous system, reducing inflammation and preventing certain common types of cancer, like breast cancer for example.

Berries

I guess you can’t talk or think about a healthy diet nowadays and not picture berries of some sort in it. There’s actually a good reason for this. I guess that apart from the Keto/Carnivore diet bunch, everybody else agrees that berries are a great food for a healthy meal plan.

Apart from the incredible levels of antioxidants you get from different berries, they’re also an awesome source of energy without all the drawbacks of highly processed carbs sources. They’re also very rich sources of Vitamin C, as well as the immune-boosting ellagic acid. Plus, you can have them in liquid form if you use them in smoothies, rather than just having to eat them as part of your meals.

Green Tea

Perhaps the one thing everyone agrees is healthy. Green tea is in any and all diet plans, and that includes any respectable Jiu-Jitsu diet plan. It does depend on what type of green tea you bu as well as the form you get it in. The closer you are to the most natural leave from, the better. However, even teabags will do the trick.

Green tea has incredibly positive effects on the brain, on top of providing you with even more antioxidants to help you with athletic performance. There’s also quite a high content of theophylline, a close cousin of caffeine that has all the benefits but none of the side effects. Enjoy as much as you want of it throughout the day. If you can substitute coffee with it altogether, that would be ideal.

Oats

Perhaps the most underrated of grains. They’re immense for heart health on top of containing huge amounts of essential minerals and just as many vitamins. Fiber-wise they’re irreplaceable, containing lots of beta-glucan that lowers sugar absorption and helps keep your gut healthy. Oats contain few calories, yet as a whole grain, they are a powerful source of energy. The perfect food for a Jiu-Jitsu diet plan.

Eggs

Last but not least, we have the humble egg. Not just one of the best sources of protein, but also the perfect source of fat you actually need for your body. Not to mention all the minerals eggs contain, especially free-range. Easy to fit into anyone’s meal plan, they’re a staple of athletic and healthy diets. And yes, you need to eat them whole. Otherwise, they would’ve only come as egg whites.

Closing Thoughts

Choose a meal plan that you know you can stick with. That’s the biggest piece of advice I can give you on clean eating. Sure, it can be a Jiu-Jitsu diet plan, an MMA meal plan, or whatever. Just make sure that when it comes down to preparing a meal, or shopping, you know exactly what you need, and you don’t dread having to cook or eat something. After all, food is there to be enjoyed, right?

Side Control Crucifix Attacks To Make Yourself Enemies In The Gym

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Certain positions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are simply too cruel… But only if you get caught in them. If you’re the one attacking, though, these are the spots to chase. One such position is a fusion of sorts, of two different BJJ positions that are quite powerful on their own as well. The crucifix is one of the nastiest spots to be in, or get out of. Side control is another tough spot you end up in, top or bottom, in pretty much every roll. When you combine the two, though, you get the most powerful side control variation that helps you to both pin and submit anyone with ease. And there are quite a few side control crucifix attacks to choose from.

I’m quite biased towards the side control crucifix. As with many others, I discovered it years ago, when my coach decided to play with it and chose me as the victim. I still to this day will do anything in my power to not let anyone establish it on me. However, I do enjoy torturing people with side control crucifix attacks. The position is very easy to get to from just about any side control variation. Once you’ve got it all set up, it is smooth sailing and a submission buffet. Moreover, you can have even more fun by trying to us the position to actually get the crucifix from the back, if that is your forte.

The Perfect Top Position?

What exactly is the side control crucifix? The name says it all, really. In simple terms, you can consider yourself to be in the side control crucifix anytime you pin both your opponent’s arms from top side control. Usually, this means using your hands to get one arm, and your legs to pin the other. As simple as it sounds it does have a lot of finesse to it, given that side control is a dynamic position and you need to be able to adjust your pin in order to maintain it.

Setting up the position can be done from most side control variations. From a crossface position, the goal is to look and isolate the far side arm first. In many situations, this will be easy as opponents usually try and keep this arm near your neck in order to execute escapes. All you need to do is literally hug the arm, looking to place it on the shoulder that’s further from the opponent’s head. It will work if you hug it on the other side as well, but you won’t have as many attacking options. Only when you have control over the far arm should you go hunting for the other arm.

Getting the second arm is easier. You already have great control over the opponent’s far side arm and shoulder, and with proper weight distribution, you can control their posture as well. Personally, I like to switch between Twister side control and Kesa Gatame to trap the nearside arm, but you can also go directly.

The goal is to get the shin of your leg over the opponent’s near side arm. But you can’t just place the shin anywhere. You want control over the arm and shoulder, which means you need to control the upper arm first and foremost. However, this does allow for some mobility form the elbow down, and possibly, annoying grips on your Gi jacket skirt or belt. A more secure option would be using the leg that’s near the opponent’s head to trap the forearm, and the other leg to trap the upper arm. A windshield wiper motion is all you need to get both and end up in perfect side control crucifix.

Side Control Crucifix Attacks

The side control crucifix is not a position people like to go for often, which really amazes me. In MMA it is a go-to spot for anyone in side control. When striking is involved, you get to be on top, with an opponent that has no arms to defend, and you have ample place to strike significantly. Not to mention all the submission side control crucifix attacks that are also available.

Speaking of side control crucifix submissions, given the positional mechanics, you have two main categories – chokes and armlocks. At least when it comes to the submission that works directly. However, in those two categories, you have more submissions at your disposal than you ‘ll ever need. Moreover, the position works just as well with and without the Gi. When there’s a Gi involved, the choking options, and some aspects of control just get better, though.

The reason why the side control crucifix is so powerful is that it utilizes a fundamental grappling principle – pin the shoulders. With the crucifix, you’re basically taking both arms, from shoulder to palm, out of the equation. Moreover, there’s no way for an opponent to move, regardless of the fact their hips are free since they can’t really move their head or their spine.

Paper Cutter Choke(s)

The simplest thing to do from the side control crucifix has to be the paper cutter choke. Since you have both the opponent’s arms trapped, and you have a free arm yourself, all you need to do is grab the far side lapel with a thumb-in grip and look to place your elbow to the mats, while your forearm presses across the opponent’s neck. For most people, this won’t work though. Instead of giving up on the paper cutter choke, just change the angle – once you can’t go down anymore, start flaring your elbow out, towards the top of the opponent’s head. That’ll get you a tap for sure!

Another option, which is a lot tighter and I prefer is using your own lapel. Get the lapel on the side that’s near the opponent’s head loose. The goal is to thread it under their head. Once you have the end peaking out the other side, place the arm ion a paper cutter choke position (forearm across the neck) and secure it by gripping the lapel end. Now you have a loop around the neck of the opponent to choke with. Grabbing the lapel at the collar level with your other hand only makes things tighter and more brutal.

Crucifix Kimura

Side Control Crucifix Kimura The Kimura is actually the best arm locking submission you could go for from the side control crucifix. For starters, you can easily get the opponent to turn slightly to the side so that you create space for twisting the arm back. To achieve it, all you need to do is step up with the leg that’s near the head. From the “basic” side control crucifix position we discussed before, this automatically turns the opponent at the perfect tangle. Since the arm is already trapped, all you need to do is get the figure four grip.

Once in, there’s no way for the opponent to defend. They can’t lie down to their back because you control the angle. They also can’t use the other arm to grip because it is pinned on the mats. All they could do is try to grab their own belt, which won’t help – you can lead the belt to the back and still finish the Kimura.

4 Finger Loop Choke

For me, this is the most interesting loop choke version that I’ve come across so far. It is another lapel choke, or better said, collar choke, this time with the opponent’s own lapel. The setup is extremely easy. Form the side control crucifix, use the free arm to get four fingers inside the collar that is near you. Once you have the grip, the aim is to get your elbow to touch the mats, on the other side of the opponent’s head. It may feel awkward at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.

The best part is that you don’t have to get their head in the loop to finish this loop choke. Instead, you just grip the collar on the opposite side with your other arm and pull the elbow towards yourself. You’ll be amazed at how many taps you get with this unassuming choke.

Sneaky Wristlock

Probably the simplest submission from the side control crucifix position. In fact, this one makes establishing the position easier, and it even opens up all the grips you need for the other submissions. Whenever you’re windshield wiper-ing your legs into position to pin the arm, all you need to do is reach back with your free arm and bend the wrist towards the ground. The trick is, you need at least one leg to pin the upper arm in order to get the required leverage. Easy, sneaky, and very painful!

Side Control Crucifix Variations

Just when you thought it was all over, there’s more! You don’t just have to stay n the side control crucifix position and hunt for submissions. There are variations that make the position even more uncomfortable and open up different attacks, like neck cranks, or even a rear triangle.

One thing that is perfect to do in No-Gi is to combine the back crucifix with the side control one. In fact, anytime you’re having trouble trapping the near side arm with your legs, you always have an option do go to a different crucifix variation. For example, you could use the palm of the crossface arm to get a deep armpit grip on the far side. That will get you all the control you need to force the opponent to turn, even though you can’t get to their near side arm. Throw a leg over the far side arm and you’re in the nastiest side control crucifix imaginable. You’ve got direct arm locks, neck cranks, or a neat rear triangle.

For the triangle simply let the top arm go so that you can grab your own shin with your arm. The opponent will place the arm in a triangle themselves, after having it kept in the crucifix position. From there, just sit back and go for all the rear triangle attacks that you know.

Conclusion

Painful Jiu-Jitsu is always more fun than playful Jiu-Jitsu. At least according to me. The side control crucifix position is tiring both physically and mentally for the person caught in it. Moreover, all the submissions are high percentage and come with a good dose of pain to make them even more fun.

The BJJ Skill You’re Missing: Standing Back Up To The Feet

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BJJ Skill - Standing back Up To The Feet

What are the most important skills to have in BJJ? As far as I’m concerned, when we’re on the ground, it is all about being on top. Guard play is ok, but only as a means of submitting someone, or getting back up on top. That and leg locks in all shapes and varieties. On the feet, it is all about takedowns. Guard pulling can be ok in certain situations only, given that the top game is the preferred spot to be in. That said, A BJJ skill we often heavily underestimate and tend to undertrain is the actual manner in which we go from the ground up. Standing up to your feet is huge for both sports and self-defense. Here’s why:

The “natural” course of a BJJ match goes something like this: You start off on your feet, find a way to engage with an opponent, and take them down. Form three, you proceed to pass the legs, go through top positions, and control until a match is over or you get a tap. That’s the perfect scenario. Another version is pulling guard, or being on the receiving end of a takedown. Then, the focus shifts to submitting or sweeping and doing everything I just mentioned. However, in reality, BJJ matches, and most certainly, real-life fights don’t always go that way. Do you possess the BJJ skill to stand back up from the ground when the need arises?

It Is Not All About Ground Fighting

Most fights end up on the ground. That is the most often used quote in grappling martial arts, and to some extent, MMA. People also quote statistics, which is a can of worms I’m not opening right now. Let’s just say that getting hit and knocked out does not constitute a fight anymore, despite you being on the ground. It’s a KO. That said, even if it is true that most fights turn to grappling matches, what happens with those that don’t? How do you know which kind of fight you’re in?

Granted, I’m overgeneralizing things, but that’s intentional. In grappling martial arts, and particularly Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we spend most of our time grappling on the ground. That is perfect, and it is extremely fun. We also do spend a considerable amount of time trying to find ways of getting a fight or a match to the ground. And in this case, I do consider guard pulling to be a form of takedown as well, as you’re technically getting the fight to the ground – hence, a takedown. Also great. However, why don’t we focus at all on going in the opposite direction and standing back up?

Standing back up is a BJJ skill most people lack. I’m not just talking about being able to perform a technical standup here. When we are in guard, we often see two avenues o action – submit the opponent or sweep them to get on top. And yet, there’s also a third option – get back up to the feet. How often do you use that option? Not at all? Why?

An Essential Self-Defense BJJ Skill

Forget all the mumbo jumbo self-defense you think you know. In a street fight, you won’t be able to perform a fraction of what you learn as self-defense. What you’ll be able to execute are the things you’re body is used to doing under stress without thinking. IN the case of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, that would be ground fighting. If you train right, you might even be able to be the one that takes the fight to the ground. However, that’s not always the scenario you want. The first rule of self-defense is that if you fight, you’ll get hit, scratched, eye-poked, etc. There’s no getting out without consequences.

In fact, the most essential self-defense BJJ skill that also happens to be the only skill that will get you out of an altercation uncharted is sprinting. Turn around, set your shoes on fire, and run away. You were in a fight that you got out of (defend yourself) without any physical consequences. However, things rarely work out so well.

In a real-life scenario, you might end up being pushed, shoved tripped, or even knocked down to the ground. If you pull guard, you might get away with it. But if the person is far from you, and you have no grips or any sort of attachments, you’re far from your comfort zone of grappling. Now you have to either lie down and try to avoid kicks or get back to your feet, Wait, what? There’s a great use for that pesky BJJ skill we’re all avoiding most of the time – getting back to your feet.

Imagine if you could go back up as well as you can take someone down and choke them out. Now, you can call yourself a complete fighter, regardless if you use your standing-up skill to run away, or finish your adversary for good.

Standing Up in Sports BJJ

In case you think there’s not much use of the BJJ skill of standing back up in sports BJJ, you’re very wrong. As discussed before, it is one of the three main things you can do when you’re in any guard. The guard can be a good neutral position if you set everything right. However, you’re never in a dominant position when you’re on the bottom, apart from wrapping someone up in a submission. In fact, if you think about sweeps more closely, they’re nothing more than ways of getting up while taking your opponent to the ground. You just don’t stand all the way up.

And there’s the place for standing all the way up as well. Let’s talk a bit about the defensive side of things. Something that’s been a real eye-opener for me comes courtesy of Priit Mihkelson’s defensive philosophies. How do you defend the turtle position? Rolling out often means you give up top position anyhow. Trying out other stuff most often exposes your back or direct submission. But have you ever tried just standing up? I literally mean simply standing up from the turtle position? You’ll be amazed at how easy it is, and how many times it’ll lead to getting top position simply because your opponent is confused as to what is happening.

In fact, you can use this BJJ skill to get out of many bottom positions that you don’t want to be in. In the case of MMA, this is a huge advantage, as you can get back up after any takedown or scramble, and be able to play your game. During a grappling match or a roll, it means you get control back, and restart cleanly, with the ability to dominate everything, from the distance and initial exchanges to where the match takes place and even who is on top.

Wrap Up

Standing out with your grappling skills means you need more than just the “garden-variety” Jiu-Jitsu skills everyone acquires. Yeah, spinning and jumping stuff are fun, but what happens when they go wrong? Having the essential BJJ skill of getting back to your feet in a safe way whenever you want is the perfect t backup strategy for everything you attempt to do in a roll or match. Why not have an ace up your sleeve, just in case? Plus, it can come in handy if you’re ever in one of those street fights that “always” end up on the ground.

Brawls, Prison Time and Tragedies: The Other Side Of The Gracie Family

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The Gracie family is one very interesting bunch of folks. And by bunch, I mean a huge bunch as there are more people in that family than some academies have members. We all know that the Gracies are “responsible” for the chaos called BJJ that we’re addicted to. They are often used as examples, hang around in academies, and some folks also bow to them. In any case, as influential as they were and still are in the world of martial arts, there is a side to them that does rear its head from time to time. It can be entertaining, dark, violent, or fun, depending on how you look at things. Let’s see a few examples.

The history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a very curious subject. As it turns out, we don’t really have the full picture, and the more you dig, the less stuff you’re actually able to find out. At least when it comes to what really happened. Folks like Robert Drysdale are trying to hunt down people that we’re there in the beginning and share the real BJJ history, which is the subject of an upcoming BJJ documentary called “Closed Guard”. Still, one mainstay in all BJJ history books is the Gracie family. They really did revolutionize martial arts forever. However, they didn’t do so just because they were good at fighting, but also because they have a wild side to them.

The Gracie Family BJJ Legacy

There’s no family that has impacted martial arts as much as the Gracie family. They are the folks responsible for the most fun martial art/sport/fighting system that was ever put together. The story of a Japanese grappling master coming to Brazil and teaching skinny little Brazilians how to fight is a movie-like one. It just so happens to be true. It is also true that the Gracie’s, mostly Carlos and Helio, later re-structured everything they learned giving BJ the birth.

However, considering that Maeda also had other students (like Luis Franca) who ended up teaching future generations similar things, it does raise the question of how much did the Gracies really modify? Maeda was not just a Judoka, but also an accomplished catch wrestler who fought NHB fights around the globe. SO, it isn’t Kodokan Judo that he taught in Brazil.

That aside, another big truth about the Gracie family is that they popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as such. Nobody can dispute that. And the way they did it in is also unique. They issued a challenge to anyone and everyone that wanted to test their skills against their brand of Jiu-Jitsu. They posted the challenge in local Brazilian newspapers and did so with quite a strong language. Normally, they got a lot of responses, and most of the Gracie challenge matches that followed ended up with victories for the Gracie family.

The same model was later used by Rorion Gracie in the USA, with the establishment of the Gracie garage. It suffices to say that the Gracies were never shy to cause a commotion, speak their mind, or cause a brawl or two. Lots of those were aimed at popularizing Jiu-Jitsu, but some were really out there, and we’ll focus mostly on those here today.

A Different Side To The Gracies

Whether you peg them as good, bad, rebellious, marketing aficionados, or whatever you like, the Gracie family members (some of them) did some crazy things in their time. In fact, they’re still doing them to this very day. Controversy is always news, although in this overly politically-correct world this may not be the headlines Jiu-Jitsu really needs. In any case, it is fun to get to know the violent and mischievous side of the Gracie family. Here are some examples.

The Ralph Gracie Assault

The latest example of a Gracie family member going berserk is when Ralph Gracie assaulted Flavio Almeida t at the 2018 No-Gi Worlds. Ralph approached Flavio on the sidelines, as Almeida was coaching one of his students that was competing at the time. After a short talk, Ralph, out of nowhere, elbowed Almeida in the face and followed up with a few kicks. The entire incident was caught on video and later turned out to be over gym territory in the area of San Francisco.

Almeida ended up with several broken teeth and visible bruising on the face. Lawsuits followed, forcing Ralph Gracie to fly back to Brazil and leave his San Francisco academy indefinitely.

Renzo’s Nightclub Brawl

Renzo is one of the most fun and charismatic characters in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the Gracie family in general. He is also a wild character who once live-tweeted when a couple of thugs tried to mug him in NYC. Suffice to say, he dealt with them swiftly while appearing to really have fun.

There’s another instance of Renzo unleashed in NUC that is on a much bigger scale though. In 2014, along with Igor and Gregor Gracie, and several other grapplers, were involved in a night-club bawl with the bouncers that saw several bouncers end up heavily injured, including some broken bones. The Gracies were arrested and stood trial but got away with community service. The story went public and viral, though, as one of the Gracies’ more violent outbursts.

Ryan Gracie’s Violent tendencies

Speaking of violence and the Gracies, the late Ryan Gracie, brother of Renzo, used to fight and brawl all over the place, in night clubs, streets, and even in competition. Ryan had some high-profile fights which made him famous and a fan favorite in Brazil, However, he also had several assaults to his name, like that of the president of the Rio de Janeiro Jiu-Jitsu League over a letter, and robbing someone in their car. Wrongly diagnosed by a psychiatrist, Ryan was found dead in his cell after being arrested for the robbery.

The Roger Gracie Shooting incident

If you thought Roger Gracie was the calm kid in the Gracie family, you’re’ much mistaken. Now coo land stoic in both teaching and fighting, Roger also has a wild side that folks in Brazil got to see when he was younger. Namely, in an infamous incident when he was blue belt, Roger and three other friends shot rubber bullets and paintball guns at several transvestites, for which he was arrested. Only 19 years of age, Roger was not convicted, and later got sent to the UK to stay away from trouble.

Prison Time For The OGs

Back in 1943, Helio, Carlos, and George Gracie all ended in prions after being accused of assault on former colleague Manuel Rufino. Given that Rufino filed charges, the three Gracie family members spent 7 days in jail. They didn’t stay any longer, though, as there was insufficient evidence, according to the court.

Disrespect inside The Ring

There are several examples of Gracie family members conducting in a disrespectful way inside the ring during MMA fights. Renzo features in both of our examples today. In the first, he spat at Shungo Oyama during their match in Pride in 2002. AS a matter of fact, Renzo ended up losing the fight.

On another occasion, back in 1995, Renzo fought a Judoka named Ben Spikijers. It was only Renzo’s second professional flight, in which he managed to submit the Judoka. The controversy came after Renzo got up, and stomped on his opponent’s head after the submission. Surprisingly, he got off with just a warning from the referee and kept fighting in the tournament two more times that night.

The Death Of Rockson Gracie

Rockson Gracie was the son of the legendary Rickson Gracie who was found dead at the age of 19 in mysterious circumstances. He lived in New York with his girlfriend and suddenly disappeared with no contact. Rickson sent Renzo (who lived in NY) to look for him. After quite the search Renzo identified the body of young Rockson through police reports.

His body was found in a Providence hotel, and the cause of death was attributed to drugs. Later, his body was exhumed and given to his family. The death of Rockson also marked the end of Rickson’s fighting career.

Kron’s WSOF Brawl With Khabib’s Team

One more example of a Gracie family member brawling from recent history. Kron Gracie is known to hang out and train with the Diaz brothers, which are notorious as folks with a short fuse themselves. In 2015 at a WSOF event, Kron was involved in a brawl along with the Diaz camp when they faced off with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s camp right next to the WSOF cage. Krona was taken to the ground in the brawl and can be seen kicking upwards.

All in All

Basically, you can see why Jiu-Jitsu works if you stake a look at how the Gracies tend to conduct themselves in violent situations. They might not always look the part, but they’re certainly not ones that you’d want to meet up a dark alley. Or a well-light one, for that matter. Still, some of their transgressions are down to chance and circumstances, but others do depict a side of the Gracie family that isn’t really the “stoic martial arts masters” type.

4 Working Leg Lock Setups Against Standing Opponents

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4 leg lock setups against standing opponents

Let’s get outside the box for a little while. Like with everything else, every BJJ rule has exceptions. In fact, I don’t really believe there are any rules in BJJ, just some common principles that make things easier. Nonetheless, with everyone now believing there’s only the Ashi Garami way of doing leg locks. People tend to be content with the options they have. That, however, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking to expand our knowledge of leg locks even further. And, contrary to some beliefs, leg lock setups against standing opponents are a viable way of getting a tap. They’re just not as numerous as the leg locks against downed opponents.

Nowadays, you do not have to know every second of Danaher’s leg lock instructional to be a solid leg locker in BJJ. Most coaches have a working knowledge of how the revolutionary system works, and leg locks are now a regular part of any Jiu-Jitsu curriculum. That said, it would be a shame to stop here. Yes, the system is very efficient, thought out, and proven to work. However, Jiu-Jitsu is all about evolution, and we can use the knowledge we have to further explore leg lock setups and combinations. One option is actually finishing a leg lock against standing opponents without having to “break them down to a hip“.

The Rule Of Leg Lock Setups Vs. Standing Opponents

The “rule” of modern leg locks (well, one of them, anyway) is that you need to break an opponent down to a hip to have control over their leg. That is one of the 6 foundational principles of the DDS leg lock system. Suffice to say, it makes a lot of sense, and it works.

When I show people leg locks for the first time, they all tend to focus on the submission aspect of it more than anything else. This is understandable, as we’re talking about leg locks per se. However, the submission itself, or the breaking of the joint will only work with a high degree of reliability if certain conditions are fulfilled. Without going too much into the entries into leg locks I’ll just mention the basics once an opponent is down.

First and foremost, you want to control every joint of the leg, but most importantly, the hip. This is why we use the Ashi Garami or leg entanglement positions. Holding an opponent’s hip to the ground prevents them from having a base, which they can subsequently use to create motion and get out of the position. So, controlling a leg is far more important than getting a breaking configuration as quickly as possible after attacking with a leg lock setup.

When it comes to standing opponents, the reason why most leg lock setups don’t work is because of the freedom of the hips. The notion is that if an opponent has their hips free, they can rotate or kick out of any leg lock attempts you go for. This is the case in most situations, but not all of them. There are exceptions to this rule, and, like most exceptions, they’re highly efficient and unexpected ways of getting a tap.

The Exceptions Of The Rule

Rules are there to be broken, but only if you have a smart way of doing it. It took a lot of trial and error (mostly error) to figure out which of the leg lock setups against standing opponents that actually work. These are a few that exist, but let me be clear from the start – these are not part of an elaborate system. They’re simply one-off moves that happen to be exceptions to the common rule that you can’t pull off leg lock setups against standing opponents.

When and why would you go for moves like this? Well first of all, because they’re there. Not really an in-depth philosophical explanation, but still a very practical one. When you’re attacking with a leg lock setup from the guard, your opponent will be standing in most cases. So, instead of heading directly into an Ashi Garami, which would be ideal, you now have a checkpoint halfway through. This means you can stop, threaten with a submission, maybe even get it, and then if continue to the original Ashi Garami in a much more controlled manner. It is the transition when people manage to wiggle out the most. Having a submission along the way will double the chances you get of a tap, whether an opponent is standing or on the ground.

Moreover, there are different locks you can execute against standing opponents. The one thing that I still haven’t found a way of pulling off is an ankle lock. However, kneebars, calf slicers, heel hooks, and toe holds are all a possibility, if you do the exception to the rule correctly.

A Few Practical Examples

Enough theoretical talk. Let’s look at 4 different leg lock setups against standing opponents that have really proved efficient for me. The reason I am sharing them is that they don’t just work for me, but anyone I’ve shown them to as well. There has to be something there, then. That said, none of the setups are of my own making, just stuff I saw online and ended up pulling off successfully. Imagine how many more things I tried and failed to be content with before I figured these four out. Now, you get to enjoy the result without going through the same.

A Kneebar Against Standing Opponents

This setup works great in just about any situation when you end up with both your legs near the belt of an opponent. It does work from the closed guard, but you can also use it from most X-guard variations as well. For demonstration purposes, let’s talk to someone trying to do a standing opening while in your closed guard.

The moment an opponent plants both feet on the ground, you go for the kneebar. Choose a side and have it underhooked (usually, this is the first leg you can get your hands on). Once both feet are on the ground, simply spin around the leg, trying to hook your leg behind their butt, while keeping the other hook on the front at hip level. You have to be careful though, as the kneebar can come on while an opponent is still standing. This is one of those leg lock setups that are dangerous, so practice carefully while rolling. For the ideal finish, you’d still take your opponent to the ground and wrap the kneebar up.

Sneaky Heel Hook Entanglement

This is by far my favorite against standing opponents. Given that it works from the Single Leg-X Guard, you can pretty much get there from any spot you like. Once in the Single Leg X, you want to get the foot of that leg of the ground anyway, if you’re looking to so leg lock setups. Usually, this gives opponents time to turn and try to corkscrew out. If you keep the Single leg-X guard configuration, they will achieve their goal 9 times out of 10. Since a heel hook is a twisting submission, you need to think about stopping them from rotating in the direction you’re trying to twist to. That’s what you need to remember.

Before you force them to lift the leg, you should actually lock a triangle on the leg. Knee reaping, I know, but you’re hunting for a heel hook anyway. Once you have a triangle you want to take it a step further and lock the top triangle leg behind the far leg knee. That will both lock the opponent in place and lift their leg, exposing the heel. A finish from there is very simple – just like a regular outside heel hook.

Calf Slicer leg Lock Setup

One of the smoothest things you can do is e get someone in a calf slicer while they’re still standing. What I prefer is to go for a calf slicer slicing with the forearms here, rather than the shins. This is mostly because I like to do it when opponents try to counter my leg lock setups by getting their leg out of the shin-to-shin guard and in between my legs. Since I already have the arms in place, it only takes a couple of steps to get a tap.

The key moment is getting the inside leg out wide so that you basically pull your opponent into a knee slice pass. However, before their knee hits the ground, your leg is back in play, with the foot now on the outside of the hip. No pass from there and all you need is to triangle your legs for a very painful finish. Legal for brown belts and above.

A Simple Toe Hold

Speaking of legal leg lock setups against standing opponents, let me provide you with an alternative to the heel hook from earlier. If you want to keep things legal, you can switch the heel hook with a toe hold. However, since you need to get rid of the knee reap as well, you’ll need to improvise a bit.

From the Single Leg-X Guard, you’ll be looking to go into an outside Ashi Garami on a standing opponent. Yes, this may expose you to a leg drag, but only if you don’t use the triangle. With this setup, you simply switch the triangle to the outside, ad hook the top leg in the opponent’s far hip. Now you can lift the leg and push the toes to the butt. This both sets up the toe hold and opens up enough space for you to get eth figure four grip. Finish as you would a toe hold.

Closing Thoughts

Leg locks are fun and they’re still far from being completely discovered. There’s so much to improvise and experiment with them, that I feel we haven’t even touched on the best leg lock setups yet. Getting taps on standing opponents is one of my favorite ways of utilizing leg locks. The reason they work is easy – in all of them, you have at least one foot frilly planted on the ground. Well, that and the factor of surprise.

10 Best Leg Locks DVDs and Digital Instructionals

Rear Triangle Choke And Why You Need To Use It More

BJJ World

The triangle choke is a real hallmark of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Despite the fact that it was used in old Judo curriculums, the triangle never really broke through in martial arts until BJJ came along. The UFC, Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon, and the Gracie family’s logo is all it took for this strangle to establish itself as one of the defining techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Over the years, it has developed, and today, we see the rise of what is arguably the most efficient variation to date – the rear triangle choke.

Up until a few years ago, the rear triangle choke was a move that people use d sparingly in Jiu-Jitsu or MMA. The front triangle, and even the reverse triangle to a point, was much more utilized options than the rear triangle. A part of it may be because we usually got there form the back, and in BJJ, people are taught to never give up on back control. However, with the evolution of BJJ, the rear triangle transformed from a choke to a very useful position of control that opens up lots of options with next to no effort.

The Rear Triangle Position

First and foremost, let’s look at the mechanics of the rear triangle choke. I’ll start talking directly about the position, and I’ll cover entries later in this article. As with all triangle chokes, the rear triangle utilizes a closed wedge around the opponent’s neck. What makes it really potent is the fact that the wedge includes one of the opponent’s arms, making it extremely difficult to get out of.

As the name suggests, the rear triangle is done from behind. The configuration you’re looking for is that same as with every triangle choke. What you basically want is to have one leg on the opponent’s shoulder, with the shin running across the neck to the opposite side. The knee of the leg that’s directly on the neck should be on the ground. This means that you’ll close the triangle on the top side, which also happens to be where you trap the opponent’s arm. As with all triangles, the point is to place the back of the knee of the top leg on the ankle of the bottom one, for the most powerful lock. Furthermore, if you can wedge the foot of the top leg behind the small of the opponent’s back, you’ll accentuate the lock even more.

Why is the rear triangle choke better than the front, side, or reverse variations? To begin with, you’re behind your opponent, which provides you with a great advantage. Moreover, you remove any chance of an opponent posturing or using strength to get out of the choke. ON top of it all, you control how, when, and if they can turn to their side, which gives you complete dominance over the opponent. And that’s before you even think about tapping people out with the rear triangle choke.

Getting There

The rear triangle choke is something you can actually get from a host of different positions. Of course, setting it up from the back is the most utilized entry. However, you can get there from virtually anywhere, like for example top side control or turtle. In fact, the ability to get to a position from as many different spots as possible is a huge determinant of how effective a move is going to be. It suffices to say the rear triangle choke is one of the most effective moves in modern-day Jiu-Jitsu.

From Back Control

When you have someone’s back, the rear triangle choke is a perfect go-to, if your opponent turns out to be a defense specialist. Even though you might have a superior position, sometimes, choking from the back is next to impossible. In fact, getting a choke from the back is one of the hardest things to do in BJJ. The Rear triangle offers a great way to still keep back control, and transition into a different set of submissions.

The main thing when setting up the rear triangle from back control is getting that first leg over the shoulder. And it is all about the grip. Using a cross grip is the best way to set it up as the elbow of the arm needs to stay close to the opponent’s ribs in order for you to get the leg over. Plus, a cross grip means your arm is in place to help the leg thread through and wedge the opponent’s arm in. Once you have it, you simply lie down to the side of the top leg and start working for your rear triangle choke, or other available submissions.

From Side Control

By far, my favorite and most used setup. The setup is from crossface side control and utilizes an Americana to get into place, which makes it even more fun. The goal is to use your arms to set up an Americana on the far arm, but without releasing the crossface. This opens up space for you to start forcing the opponent to turn away from you. You then head for an S-mount like position, with your top leg going deep under the head of the opponent. At all times you keep a grip on the far arm to prevent them from wiggling out.

You only let go of the grip on the far arm, when you’re ready to fall to your side, in order to lock the rear triangle choke up. It is cruise control from thereon.

From Turtle

When you can’t really break a turtled up opponent down to get them back in a meaningful way, the rear triangle choke is always there. The key moment is to control both hands of the opponent, form the usual seatbelt style grip configuration. The goal is to pull them towards the “over” side so that you can use your leg to hook the near side arm. With that, half the job is done.

You now shift your legs so that you sit back down, all the while holding on tightly to the “under” side straight grip. You can simply transfer the leg up like previously, or make it a lot more uncomfortable by extending the top arm first. To do that, you just hug it with both your arms across your own chest. Now you can lock up the triangle and finish at will.

Submitting With The Rear Triangle Choke

The rear triangle choke is a great position to control people from, but it is a strangle first, and foremost. As such, the beauty is in the fact that you can finish not just with a triangle choke, but also a variety of armlocks. In that regard, the rear triangle choke is just like the front triangle.

The Strangle

The rear triangle choke itself is easy to get, but people usually get the pressure wrong. If you simply squeeze with your legs you won’t get much. Sure, you’ll get the odd tap or two, but that’s not what you’re after. Instead, it is a three-step process. First, you pull the arm that’s trapped towards your chest. This places their shoulder in a position to compress their carotid artery. Then, you look to press down with the top leg, looking to hook as far behind the back as possible. Finally, if there still isn’t no tap, you’ll start moving your knees towards one another. This is certain to get a tap from anyone!

Armbar

The amrbar from the rear triangle can be tricky to get. That’s because you need to be locking an elbow that’s pointing to the ceiling, rather than your groin. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The simple rule of armbars still applies-their thumb should be pointing to the ceiling. This creates torsion in the arm to increase the presser that you place on the elbow for a quick and very painful submission.

Lung Compression

One of the most brutal, unexpected, and downright evil things you can do to a person from the rear triangle choke position. This is one of those times when you use your control to get the opponent with both shoulder blades to the ground. The goal is to reach up and look to grab one of their legs at knee level. To achieve this, you might need to pick your hips off the ground, which makes things really uncomfortable for the opponent. Ultimately, what you want to achieve is to compress their body so much that no air is left in the lungs. It is a brutal catch-wrestling style submission that can turn into a kneebar if you run into an opponent that somehow doesn’t tap to a lung compression. I haven’t found one so far.

In Conclusion

The rear triangle choke ticks all the boxes of a top BJJ position – you can enter form a multitude of other positions, you can control an opponent, decide to transition towards the back or top control, or finish in a myriad of ways. What’s not to like? The rear triangle is getting the reputation it derives, and with many people messing around with it I can’t wait to see the next step in this move’s evolution. Stay tuned!

Key Steps To A Better Guard In Jiu-Jitsu

BJJ World

A Few Steps to Improve Any Guard In Jiu-JItsu

Straggling with the guard? Change your approach. No, seriously. It is how you think of the guard in Jiu-Jitsu that is getting you in trouble, and not the guard position itself. It does not matter which guard variation you’re playing. All that matters is what you do with it. Begin on the bottom is never a favorable thing to do, but thanks to the lazy nature of BJJ, and all the options you have from there, you can really thrive off your back. The trick is, understanding why your guard works, and how you can make it fit your style. Simple, right?

The guard in Jiu-Jitsu is why we all fell in love with this crazy sport in the first place. However, it is also extremely tricky. EIF you look at all other grappling martial arts, being on your back is the worst thing that can happen to you. Enter Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and now you have attacking options off of your back. But what are your options, rally? Apart from submitting someone from guard, everything else centers either on standing back up to your feet or sweeping someone to end up in top position. In other words, you’re looking to get back up top anyway. So why would you stay in guard, doing nothing at all? The following few steps will help you understand the guard in Jiu-Jitsu more so that you can become more effective with it. And lazier, of course.

Becoming A Bottom Game Expert

What is a defining trait of all the best guard players out there? If you analyze the game of all top players, Gi and No-Gi alike, you’ll notice several things that they all share. I’m not talking about the technical aspects of the game. What do the rubber guard and worm guard have in common? Apart from both being guards, you’d say not much. That’s not true. Both provide the bottom person with a position of safety first – there’s no direct route to passing. Both provide the guard player with anchors to latch on to their opponent. Moreover, both offer different directions and different attacks to allow the bottom person to achieve a submission or atop position. And these are just some of the similarities.

Most people think of the guard as just another top position. This is what makes the guard in Jiu-Jitsu hard to get results from. When you’re on top, you don’t think about the bottom person doing something to you. Most take gravity, pressure, angles, weight distribution, etc. for granted and they attack. However, on the bottom, you’re on the receiving end of all of those. That means you can’t just treat the guard in Jiu-Jitsu as top position. You need a different mindset when playing guard to actually be effective with it.

Now, with the thought of all guards sharing common characteristics that make them effective, the question is, which guard(s) will you choose to play? That’s entirely down to you., but do ask yourself the most important question of why you’re deciding to play a certain guard,. Rather than how others are playing it. That, and go through all the steps listed below.

How To Improve Your Guard In Jiu-Jitsu

The guard in Jiu-Jitsu has two determinants of success. The first one is how good a guard is at keeping you safe. In a self-defense scenario, that would mean preventing the top person from striking you or getting past the legs. In sports BJJ, it just means preventing passes. The second is how efficient your attacks are. As discussed those come in the form of submissions and sweeps.

Since different guards offer different attacking options this also needs to be high on your list of criteria when choosing a guard to start specializing in. Following a few simple steps will make you have fun in any guard you find yourself while you’re trying to figure out your go-to bottom position.

Attachment(s)

There is no grappling if two people are not connected to each other. This connection usually comes in the form of grips during standing. ON the bottom, though, legs, and sometimes even the head come into play as well. When you’re on top, you might get away with not being in contact with your opponent for short periods of time. If that happens while you’re’ on thy ground, you’ll get your guard passed 9 times out of 10.

Grips are the single most important thing you need to think about when playing guard. Coming in a close second are hooks, or where you place your legs. Most open guards, when you come to think of it have a “hook leg” and an “active leg”. The hook leg is that which keeps you connected to the opponent (De La Riva Hook, 50/50, bottom spider guard hook, shin-to-shin guard bottom leg, etc.). The active leg is the one that engages different parts of the opponent in regard to the situation, providing mobility and versatility. Without the first leg, the second has no point.

When ti comes to attachments,. A good rule of thumb is to have at least one grip and one hook on the opponent’s body. If you can get them in a diagonal configuration, that’s even better. Of course, two grips and both legs engaging is the perfect scenario for any guard in Jiu-Jitsu.

It’s All About The Hips

Try an experiment next time you have a closed guard. Get the lapels of your opponent out of his belt, and grab on to both sided firmly with your grips, as close to their body as possible. Now open the legs and ask your partner to get out. You’ll notice they’ll have difficulties posturing up, or getting distance between you and them. That’s all because you have control of their hips.

Any guard in Jiu-Jitsu has the hips in focus. It can be directly (Reverse De La Riva Guard) or indirectly (Butterfly guard). In all cases, the goal is to control the hips of the opponent in two ways. One is the distance between yourself and them. The other is the ability to move their hips through space in order to off-balance them and execute effective attacks. While the legs usually control the hips, it can also be done with your arms, or with the lapels.

“You Shall Not Pass”

The most fundamental of all steps you need with any guard in Jiu-Jitsu. If people can easily pass your guard there’s no point in attacking. Attacks will work when people are trapped in your guard. In order to set up such a fly trap, your guard needs to become “impassable”. In other words, the only outcome of you being in a guard should be a submission, a sweep, or you standing up to your feet. As usual, the best way is to prevent passes from even taking place, and for that, you need attachments. Hip control and the step that comes next.

Pass More

If you truly want to understands why guards work, focus on passing them. It doesn’t matter if you succeed or fail in passing a guard. If you’re analyzing the guard as you’re passing, you’ll eventually discover the weak spots. Now turn it all upside down, and focus on strengthening these weeks spots in your guard. Then do it all over again, until you’re satisfied with what your guard in Jiu-Jitsu cannot be passed. Then comes the fun part.

Leave Bread Crumbs

This is what I love the most about playing guard in Jiu-Jitsu – the deception. “Leaving bread crumbs” means slowly funneling an opponent deeper into the web of your guard so that you can execute attacks. For example, let’s say you’ve got grips, but not sufficient hip control. You angle yourself in a way that will direct the opponent to try passing on one side. It just so happens that’s the side where you have your hip control ready and waiting. The same principle applies to submit or sweeping from any BJJ guard variation, closed or open. Just remember not to be too obvious about it and really sell that you’re “in trouble”. Bread crumbs….

Have A Backup Option

It comes without saying but still, I have to say it. There’s a phenomenon about Jiu-Jitsu folks in that we all want everything to happen right away, even though we all know it takes patience and adjustments to get anything in BJJ to work. It is the same with any guard in Jiu-Jitsu. This also falls under the bluffing category, along with leaving bread crumbs.

The idea is to never ever play your best move, or best guard for that matter first. Always have an option for “rain days” one which will get you out of trouble if things don’t go as planned. It can be as simple as a grip (think collar guard) or a hook (an active butterfly hook), or it can be an entire guard change, or even inversions and other moves that completely change the game in an instant. Whatever it is, the end goal should be to end up in a safe spot that you know you can get out of. As they say, it’s better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

Mask And Combine Your Attacks

You all know this one, but still, most fail miserably. The reason is obvious and simple – you’re not trying hard enough. It doesn’t matter how good your guard in Jiu-Jitsu is, stay there long enough and someone will pass it. The moment you see that you’re safe, don’t elt an opponent try and figure things out but go on the offensive. However, members that they also know your options are to sweep, submit, or stand up. If you want to make them guess which is it, mask one with another, or even mask two of the same category (like masking an armbar with a triangle) with one another.

The key to succeeding is to really go for the initial move you’re’ doing. No halfhearted efforts and quick transitions. If you want people to react to an attack you actually have to attack, even if you’re real attack is three steps down the road. In case the first and second step work, cool, you still got a result. If not, the final tightly wrapped surprise will be there waiting for them, as they are confused and tired from dealing with the previous two.

Closing Thoughts

Playing guard in Jiu-Jitsu is extremely fun. Especially if you’re wrapping people up with lapels or inverting constantly around their legs. However, you need to know the things that make a guard effective, regardless of which guard you’re playing. If you follow all the steps above, you’ll improve your guard game in next to no time. Who knows, you might just come out of it all developing a brand new guard of your own. Keep experimenting.

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Value Your Training Partners

The Marks Of A Great Jiu-Jitsu Partner

Hygiene

Focus

Be Welcoming

Drill, Don’t Kill

Be In Control (Of Yourself)

Tap

Communicate

Support The Team

In Summary

Building A Versatile Takedown Game For BJJ

What Is A Low Single Leg Takedown?

The Low Single For BJJ

Conclusion

Getting Familiar With The Loop Choke

A Submission From Hell – Standing Loop Choke

Loop Choke Defense?

Final Words

Why Do You Need A Jiu-Jitsu Diet Plan?

Rules To Make Any Meal Plan Work

1. Plan Ahead

2. Prevent Temptations

3. Plan to Fail

Foods That Are Actually Good For You

Seafood

Soy

Berries

Green Tea

Oats

Eggs

Closing Thoughts

The Perfect Top Position?

Side Control Crucifix Attacks

Paper Cutter Choke(s)

Crucifix Kimura

4 Finger Loop Choke

Sneaky Wristlock

Side Control Crucifix Variations

Conclusion

It Is Not All About Ground Fighting

An Essential Self-Defense BJJ Skill

Standing Up in Sports BJJ

Wrap Up

The Gracie Family BJJ Legacy

A Different Side To The Gracies

The Ralph Gracie Assault

Renzo’s Nightclub Brawl

Ryan Gracie’s Violent tendencies

The Roger Gracie Shooting incident

Prison Time For The OGs

Disrespect inside The Ring

The Death Of Rockson Gracie

Kron’s WSOF Brawl With Khabib’s Team

All in All

The Rule Of Leg Lock Setups Vs. Standing Opponents

The Exceptions Of The Rule

A Few Practical Examples

A Kneebar Against Standing Opponents

Sneaky Heel Hook Entanglement

Calf Slicer leg Lock Setup

A Simple Toe Hold

Closing Thoughts

The Rear Triangle Position

Getting There

From Back Control

From Side Control

From Turtle

Submitting With The Rear Triangle Choke

The Strangle

Armbar

Lung Compression

In Conclusion

Becoming A Bottom Game Expert

How To Improve Your Guard In Jiu-Jitsu

Attachment(s)

It’s All About The Hips

“You Shall Not Pass”

Pass More

Leave Bread Crumbs