The Best Submissions For BJJ Beginners To Focus On

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You always remember your first…submission! The one I managed to get was a really hard-fought one and actually features later on in this article. That said, BJJ does offer more submission options than any other grappling martial art out there. That also means that you might end up being extremely confused when you first start training BJJ. It is not that all submissions won’t work for you. Some submissions are simply better for BJJ beginners than others, and it is a smart idea to focus on those first.

Submission hunting is not an easy job, regardless of your Jiu-jitsu level. Still, BJJ beginners really do have it tough. They’d love to sink in a submission, any submission, on anyone in the gym. However, at the same time, they have to try and survive submission attacks and all the positional pressure of more experienced training partners. However, all is fair in BJJ, and there’s no rule that says beginners should only suffer. Still, catching both peers and higher belts in a submission as a beginner is much easier when you use the right submissions for your level.

A Submission Game For BJJ Beginners

As much as BJJ beginners would love to hit flying Gogoplatas, they’ll have to wait their turn. To be honest, there’s really no great time for hunting flying submissions, regardless of belt, but they are out there. For the JIu-jitsu newbies, though, simpler stuff will yield far more results than all the things they look up on YouTube. And that right there is the hardest thing of all – working on things that are great for your level, and not the things that you’d like to do because they’re attractive.

Submission hold that have a high percentage of success in BJJ, share several common traits. The most important one is that they are simple in nature, and require just basic biomechanics in order to get to them. IN other words, the less you have to work for a submission, the easier it is going to be to get it. And BJJ beginners already have enough complicated things in their lives trying to remember the names of BJJ moves, new movement patterns like shrimping and all the positions they’re learning in class.

A BJJ submission game for beginners should only include simple and easy submissions that are easy to set up from specific positions. That means that as a beginner, you should be looking to submit directly, Ifa submission fails, you should either get back to the position or try and get another position. This is not the time to try and link submissions together in a chain and look for fancy transitions.

Actually, when I come to think of it the same submissions that are a perfect fit for BJJ beginners are the highest percentage of submissions overall. So, if they work at the black belt level, why not learn them as early as white?

Choosing The Best Submissions For White Belts

As I discovered, there’s no real system of criteria when it comes to choosing the best submissions for BJJ beginners. Everyone has an opinion on what the best options are, according to their approach. However, certain submissions do feature over and over against in everyone’s list. So, we came up with our own way of deciding which submissions are best for beginners, and more importantly why.

There are three basic criteria that a submissions should fulfill in order to be easy enough for BJJ beginner to learn fast, and efficient enough to work against more experienced training partners. First up is the complexity of the move, or in other words, the mechanics and positioning. Secondly, we have the percentage rate of a move. However, we rate moves according to how well they work across all belts, not just among BJJ beginners. Finally, there’s the difficulty level when it comes to learning a move, for which we use a scale of 1-5. Just as an example, a flying Gogoplata would score 12 on this scale.

Armbar From Mount

How It Works: The armbar is one of the oldest submissions that makes an appearance in all grappling martial arts. The goal is to place your hips behind your opponent’s elbow, while having their arm outstretched. This places pressure on the elbow joint when you push with the hips. From mount, there is a short transition that gets you in the armbar, but it is not hard at all for BJJ beginners to master quickly.

Percentage Rate: The mounted armbar is actually a much higher percentage finish than the armbar from guard. One look at any BJJ tournament will show you far more finishes from mounted armbars as opposed to guard attacks. In fact, most armbars that start in guard, eventually end up in the same finishing position as a mounted armbar.

Difficulty Level: The submission itself is very simple and extremely effective. However, given that there’s a transition between the mount and the final finishing position, I’d rate the armbar as a 3.

The Rear Naked Choke

How It Works: Тhe Rear Naked Choke is the most popular submission move in all of the martial arts. What you’ll soon discover in BJJ is that it is not as easy as it seems, but not too hard either. Done from the back, this choke works by grabbing around the neck with one arm and reinforcing it with your other via a figure four grip.

Percentage Rate: The percentage rate of the Rear Naked Choke is through the roof. Whether it is BJJ, MMA, or even self-defense, being behind someone with a fully locked Rear Naked Choke will only end up in one way – tap or a nap. Arguably the highest percentage submission in JIu-Jitsu, Certain collar choke variations from the back might be more powerful but still do not gear anywhere near the percentage rate of the Rear Naked Choke.

Difficulty Level: 2 at best, and only because people often take a bit of time to get the figure four arm placement right. Apart from that, back control is easy to explain, and the choke is easy to set up. Perfect for BJJ beginners.

Kimura

How It Works: The Kimura is another submission that targets the arm. In contrast to the armbar, though, this is a bent arm lock. That means the arm is bent at an angle that should be 90 degrees or less. A figure four configuration of the arms similar to that of the Rear Naked Choke is what makes this submission very formidable. The best part is that you can get it from virtually any BJJ position. My recommendation would be the closed guard for beginners and white belts in general.

Percentage Rate: The Kimura’s percentage level depends on the position you’re doing it from The closed guard offers the best finishing rate for Kimuras. Moreover setting up the submission is extremely easy and can work both as an attack and a counter.

Difficulty Level: Similar to the Rear Naked Choke, the figure four configurations mean it gets a 2. A good thing is that the Kimura and Rear Naked Choke work with a similar grip, cutting down learning time by half.

Guillotine Choke

How It Works: The guillotine is a choke that comes instinctively to people. In order to work, though, you’ll have to get the right grip, and even understand angles a bit. However, there are so many grips that BJJ beginners can actually choose which suits them the best. Available from the guard and mount in most cases, the preferred starting point for learning Guillotines would be the closed guard. The way it works is you grab an opponent’s neck with one arm, by placing their head in your armpit. You then connect your arms and you squeeze.

Percentage Rate: The guillotine is one of the most used chokes in BJJ and MMA. It works perfectly with and without a Gi, driving its percentage rate through the roof. Getting out of a really tight guillotine is really difficult, making this submission even better.

Difficulty Level: 3, given the grip variations and angle and pressure adjustments. This move takes perhaps the most time to master, compared to the rest in our list. It is more than worth the effort, though!

Arm Triangle

How It Works: This is actually the first submission I managed to get as a white belt. The move is really easy, With an opponent laying on the ground facing up, your goal is to hug their head, while lying next to them, facing down. In order for the move to work though, you’ll need to include the opponent’s near sidearm in the “hug”. Clamping your hands together will result in one of the tightest chokeholds in BJJ.

Percentage Rate: High percentage rate, particularly in No-Gi. It works well in the Gi as well, but the collar can get in the way of setting it up. Half guard is a good spot to hunt for the arm triangle, but so is the mount. However, remember that in order to finish it, you have to be falt on the ground next to your opponent, and not on them.

Difficulty Level: 1. The arm positioning is easy, the body positioning is easy and the power of the choke is huge. You can get extremely good at this submission with just in a very short time.

Cross Collar Choke From Guard

How It Works: A move that most people learn quite early. It is a staple submission of BJJ and works great from both the guard and mount. However, for BJJ beginners, the guard is the more stable and reliable position to set this choke up from. All you need to do is get both your arms in the opponent’s collars by making an “X” with your forearms. A simple pull will get you instant taps.

Percentage Rate: Iн terms of percentage, this is a Gi-only choke, for obvious reasons. That lowers the rate of finishing a bit when we include Gi and NO-gi. However, in Gi BJJ, this one is proven to work even against elite-level black belts, once you get the hang of it.

Difficulty Level: 1. The positioning of the arms is extremely easy, and you need no special movement in the guard to set up. The choking motion requires absolutely no strength, and there’s no reliable way of defending it. That makes it, arguably, the easiest choke you’ll learn as a BJJ beginner.

Closing Arguments

BJJ beginners do have lots of submissions at their disposal. Learning any and all submissions is far from a bad thing to do if you’re just starting out. Just make sure you dedicate time to one, or even better, all of the moves that are best suited for your level. Once you have a solid arsenal you can dabble with any other submission you like.

DVD and DIGITAL Instructionals Related to the Best Submissions For BJJ Beginners :

1. Arm Bars: Enter The System by John Danaher

2. Kimura: Enter The System by John Danaher

3. MASTERING THE GUILLOTINE BY JOSEPH CAPIZZI

4. MASTERING THE GUILLOTINE VOL 2 BY JOSEPH CAPIZZI

5. Understanding Collar Chokes by Travis Stevens

Learn BJJ Fast: 8 Things That Can Slow Your Progress

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BJJ World

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Learn BJj Fast - 8 Things that Slow Your Progress

I have been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for just about a decade now, and one thing I can confirm is that there’s no real way of mastering Jiu-Jitsu. There’s always more and more to learn which means the sport is endless. And that is the most difficult thing to grasp. Once you accept that you’ll never know BJJ completely, you can focus on how to learn BJJ fast in order to get as much knowledge as possible. And yes, fast progress in BJJ is not just possible, but everyone can do it. The trick is not in what you should be doing, though, but in things, you need to avoid doing.

Just like you can’t eve hope to learn everything BJJ has to offer, you have to accept that you’ll be making mistakes as you learn. This holds true for black belts as much as it does for white blets. Of course, white belts usually make catastrophic mistakes of different proportions to those black belts make. And I’m not just talking about technical mistakes. Those are easy to fix. There are certain things BJJ folks do that interfere with their desire to learn BJJ fast. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to progress at a fast pace. The key is giving yourself every chance along the way.

You Can Learn BJJ Fast

There’s a sentiment among BJJ people, particularly those with experience in the art, that you can’t learn BJJ fast. I, personally, do not agree with this notion. There’s clear evidence pointing to the fact that you can learn Jiu-Jitsu at a high level in a very short amount of time. And, contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with how talented someone is. It has to do with training structure and approach primarily, which is down to the coach. Secondarily, it is down to the student and their approach to learning that defines how fast they progress through the Gentle Art.

Another thing to keep in mind is that getting a black belt in record time does not mean someone has managed to learn as much BJJ as possible. That said, most people that did achieve black belts quickly, do have a slightly different approach to things. Some, like BJ Penn, are obvious mega talents and that’s something we can’t learn. Others, like Kit Dale, figured out that understanding fundamental principles and concepts will teach them much more than just learning techniques. Then, there’s John Danaher and his systematic approach. He teaches only the highest percentage stuff, organized in impeccable systems, making people progress lightning fast. While he does not reward their fast progress with belts, you see blue and purple belts from his gym tapping out seasoned, world champion black belts on a regular basis.

However, there’s only so much a coach can do. If you’re really looking to learn BJJ fast, you need to factor in your approach as well. After all, you can’t expect to just walk in an academy and learn lightning fast by leaving ital. lin the hands of the instructors. What you do, on and off the mats will affect your own progress much more than the training systems your Academy employs.

8 Things to Avoid For Quick Progress

While there are plenty of little and big things you need to take into consideration when you’re looking to learn BJJ fast, the 8 that follow have been proven to really make a difference. Most of them are things you need to avoid doing, or you’re doing in the wrong way. Some of them are very obvious, but most people are still doing them, despite being aware of them. Others are going to surprise you, but ultimately, looking at each and every one of them will make you a better grappler. And fast!

Time On The Mats

As obvious as this may sound, you need to spend more time on the mats if you’re looking to learn BJJ fast. How much time is enough is a highly individual thing, as you’ll see later on. The rule of thumb, though, is that the more time you spend in the Academy, the faster you’ll become better at Jiu-Jitsu. A great starting point for most people is at least 4 times per week. However it is not just about to begin on the mats, but what you do when you’re on them.

When you are in the academy, make sure you’re doing everything to pick up as many things as you can. Listen to the instructors and try echniques, of course, However, go one step beyond and have a BJJ notebook to help you organize what you learn. Also, if you’re tired and taking a break fro rolling, watch rolls instead of just chatting with other students. There’s lot’s to learn everywhere you look in a BJJ academy.

Training Frequency

This might seem like it is the same as time on the mats, but we’re actually approaching it from the completely opposite side. Sometimes, you can actually train too much for your own good. I’m not just talking overtraining physically and neurologically, but also mentally. There’s a limit to how much new information you can process, and BJJ offers more than enough. So, trying to be on the mats every day, sometimes perhaps even twice a day in order to learn BJJ fast might actually backfire.

Recovery is just as important as training and that’s something that’s easily forgotten. Physical recovery is, of course, important, but so is mental. As you look to stretch or foam roll, or simply sleep to get your body back in order, so should you do with your mind. You need to leave some time for all the information to sink in and get organized in your mind. Going straight back in tired and overwhelmed will greatly slow your progress, and kill your desire to train entirely.

Becoming Bored

To be honest. It is pretty hard to get bored in Jiu-JItsu, given that here’s no end. However, it can happen, and it can really derail how fast you learn BJJ. This has to do a lot with your mindset, rather than with BJJ itself. It also may have something to do with how the classes are organized in your academy.

Boredom has a lot to do with your level and what you’re trying to accomplish. White belts and most blue belts are in no danger of getting bored with Jiu-JItsu. Purple belts are usually the ones that end up bored doing the same thing over and over again. that right there is what you shouldn’t do. The best way to stop progressing in BJJ is finding a comfort zone of training and staying inside it. You’ll never learn fast if you do not learn new things. And yes, that means doing things you’re not good at and even doing the unthinkable and tapping out to lower belts.

Figuring Out The Conditioning Puzzle

Being in shape is absolutely important for anyone that’s training JIu-Jitsu. Yes, BJJ itself will get you in a certain shape. And yes, you can train BJJ effectively without any particular athletic abilities. However, developing certain abilities that everyone can is definitely going to a big help in learning BJJ fast. That means a decent level off cardio, some flexibility work and perhaps even some strength training exercises. If you want to learn BJJ fast, you’ll need to do your homework outside of the gym. Part of that homework is conditioning.

The polar opposite I have to mention here is overdoing the conditioning. Running marathons, lifting like a strongman or doing hard CrossFit sessions will definitely interfere with your Jiu-Jitsu progress. Make sure you know what is your priority. If it is BJJ, use conditioning to supplement it, not substitute it.

Goal setting

Goals are important in just about anything we do. It is the same in Brazilian Jiu-JItsu. The first thing to do is set goals for yourself and you walk in an academy. Looking to learn BJJ fast is a great goal. The next thing you want to do is do a reality check of your goals. As it is apparent, you can learn BJJ fast, but that also has a limit. You won’t learn nearly as much in two years, as you will in four. So, make sure you’re not trying to achieve goals that are impossible to reach. The trick here is to focus on short term goals, rather than really long term ones.

That brings us to the next thing you should know. You need to stop obsessing with belts, stripes, and promotions. Thos are inevitably going to come, and obsessing won’t bring them to you faster. Learning Jiu-Jitsu will. As you can see from the example of Danaher’s students, you do not need a black belt to beat black belts. His blue blet Nick Rodriguez managed to get silver in the ADCC with just a few months of training.

Choosing The Right Academy

This one might seem like it is out of your hands, but it is certainly within your control. Not every teaching approach fits all students. That means that one academy might not fit your goals as much as another does. That might require you to change an academy that’s easier to get to for one you have to commute to. However, if you want to learn BJJ fast, it is a step you simply have to make. Nobody can influence an athlete, both positively and negatively, as much as a coach/instructor can. So, find the one that suits you and helps you progress, rather than hit a wall.

Also, do not write off switching academies even later on in your BJJ journey. What suited you perfectly as a white belt, might not be the right environment for you when you become a brown belt. There’s nothing bad in switching to pursue your own personal goal.

Don’t Get Comfortable

I guess this one is the toughest thing to do, or not do. When you start training, Jiu-Jitsu will be extremely uncomfortable. It is a period that subsides, but never really disappears, However, as you learn, you start to build your own game, and you figure out what suits you. That means you develop go-to moves and you can get most people with them. This can be a problem if you decide to do nothing but those moves in order to satisfy the need of ending up with more taps in a roll, or whatever.

Tha fasters route to BJ progress is facing challenges constantly. That means challenging yourself not only in tournaments but in the gym as well. When you’re rolling with lower belts. For example, you can limit what you can do to one, two or three moves, all of which are not your favorite, that way you’re forced to learn rather than elan on what you already know. It is how you progress really fast. The same holds true for putting your self in bad spots as often as possible.

What You Do Off The Mats

Finally, what you do of the mats is just as important as what you do on them. If you want to learn BJJ fast, as I said, you’ll need to do some homework. A part of it is conditioning, but another part is to keep on learning even when you’re not training. YouTube videos, BJJ DVDs, reading articles, watching matches are just some examples of things that can help your progress even when you’re off the mats.

Other than that, make sure you get enough rest, you eat as best as you can and you’re in the best possible shape to be training Jiu-Jitsu. Of course, go to the occasional party, have a fast food meal, etc, but try to lead a lifestyle that reflects your goals on the mats. It does make a difference at how fast you learn and it is a big one.

In Summary

If anyone says that you can’t learn BJJ fast, you might want to consider not listening to them. BJJ has a progression of belts and levels, but the speed at which you learn the actual art has nothing to do with belts and grading. On the contrary, it has to do with how well you understand how JIu-JItsu works. Gain that knowledge, and you’ll both be progressing through belts and learning more at an unbelievable pace.

BJJ Standing Submissions: Surprise Everyone!

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BJJ World

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BJJ Standing Submissions: Surprise Everyone

How is your BJJ standing game? Are you a guard puller or do you like to hunt for takedowns and throws? How about submissions? Wait, what? Yeah, taking someone down and/or pulling guard are not your only options from standing. There are virtually no limits to what you can do in Jiu-Jitsu, as long as you follow certain fundamental principles. That means that BJJ standing submissions are not just a possibility but also a very reliable option when standing. Particularly when the opponent has “unbreakable” grips.

Just recently, I decided to switch things up a bit when teaching a class and divert from demonstrating a takedown or guard pull when standing. Instead, I opted for much more unorthodox and less-used options – BJJ standing submissions. It is not like I have a very profound experience with them, so I did extensive research and tested things out in rolling before setting the class up. Suffice e to say, the class was a success and got me thinking more about the standing submissions. IN my experience, some are really reliable and will work for everyone. Others will only probably work for Steven Seagal in a movie. The real trick is figuring out which ones are useful.

Thinking Outside The Box: BJJ Standing Submissions

As you progression in Jiu-Jitsu, the approach you have changed significantly., There’s a reason why there are a clear belt system and progressions in the art. Every belt brings about a different way of thinking. At a certain point, (somewhere around late purple / early brown belt) the ”why not” approach usually appears for most people. That is when you go from “this will never work” to “why not figure how to make this work”. BJJ standing submissions fit this perfectly. They’re uncommon, require thinking outside the box, but ultimately, why wouldn’t you do them if they are legit?

Getting people to submit is hard enough on the ground. Trying to get standing submissions is a whole different level harder. That said, you can get lots of taps if you get timing and mechanics right. If you ask me, timing is much more important when hunting for submissions from standing. That, and knowing when to let go, and get a takedown ora better position. Timing is extremely hard to teach to someone, so the more you drill BJJ standing submissions the better you will be.

That said, the choice of submissions is also extremely important. Leg locks are pretty much out of the question, for obvious reasons. And, unless you’re into Aikido, forget about all the straight and bent arm locks as well. The things to focus on are easy and quick submissions that are painful and difficult for your opponent to defend. In that regard, wristlocks and chokes are moves you can bet on when trying to submit someone from your feet.

Wristlocks Instead Of Grip Breaks

Grip fighting is a huge and extremely vast part of BJJ. It does not seem so at first, but once you get into it, you’ll see there are lots to learn. A big part of grip fighting, especially with the Gi, is breaking the grips. This can be a really difficult task to accomplish. Some people are just too damn strong and there’s no way to break their grip. Others have a certain way of holding that makes it impossible for you to strip the grips off. Both situations offer a perfect opportunity to go for BJJ standing submissions instead of going for throws and takedowns.

The rule of thumb here is that the stronger your opponent holds a grip, the more efficient your wristlock is going to be. There are many ways to hit standing wristlocks, but my personal favorite is using the collar. Loosen up your own collar by grabbing right below the opponent’s grip. Then, feed the collar around their wrist to your other hand, waiting on top of the opponent’s grip. Get your elbows close and squeeze everything together and you have the arm trapped. Now, the opponent can’t let go of the grip even if they want to.

The wrapped collar ensures not just that the wrist is in pace, but that it is bent as well. The second key portion of any wristlock is controlling the elbow. In this case, a simple triceps grip will do. Once you have it, you pull towards your chest to start exerting pressure. However, the real lock comes on when you bend your body forwards, like for a Japanese bow. You’ll notice the opponent goes toe their knees immediately, aping wildly in the process.

This is just one possible example of a standing wristlock that really works. Feel free to experiment with other options if you’re an experienced wristlocker.

Standing Chokes

Another category of BJJ standing submissions worth your time is chokes. Okay, we all know the rear-naked choke works form everywhere, but getting behind someone can be hard. Instead, you can opt for different options. The best part here is that you can go for Gi or No-Gi chokes, depending on the situation.

With the Gi, a collar choke is always a good idea. That’s true for when you have a top position, bottom position and even when you’re standing. And yes, the basic cross collar choke does work standing. The key is getting in a very, very deep cross grip and making sure your other arm is free of the opponent’s grips. With standing Gi chokes, it is all about the angle, so you won’t be standing squared up with your opponent. Instead, you want to circle to the side of the cross grip and sneak your other arm under the gripping arm. The choke works from the side and is kind of a hybrid between the cross collar choke and baseball bat choke. To finish, you want to pull on the collars and push your elbow into the side of the neck.

In both Gi and No-Gi, you also have the option of hitting a guillotine or any front headlock choke variation. Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida in the UFC immediately springs to mind. For a standing guillotine in BJJ though, you don’t have the cage wall to help you. So, from a basic collar tie, the frit thing to ensure that your palm is cupping the back of their neck. It stays there for the duration of the choke. Of course, you need a snap down to get into position. That means placing your other arm around their neck. What you want to accomplish here is gripping the forearm of the collar tie arm with the palm of your other hand. That’s what makes everything tight and gets you an instant standing tap.

Building A Takedown Game On Standing Submissions

BJJ standing submissions are not moves that will work for you every time. As I said, timing is everything, but there are other variables as well. Mechanics, angles, grips, etc. can all make a huge difference. The best approach to standing submission is not to see them as a one-off option, but rather the start of a chain of techniques.

For example, going for any standing wristlock variation is going to help you break grips with ease. The grip break might happen very early as you’re setting your wristlock up, or late, in an attempt to escape. In both cases, you strip a grip off with ease.

Another option wristlock attacks offer is simple takedowns. Namely, as in our example above, wristlocks tend to get people to their knees very fast. Form there on, even if the wristlock itself does not get you a tap, you can just get top position. That way, you get points for a takedown and a pass, plus the advantage for a submission attempt.
In terms of chokes, what you’ll get is a different type of takedown. Chokes usually have people pulling backward, meaning you can use front headlock/cradle attacks without having to adjust too much. Another great option off of standing chokes is getting to the back, as people try and rotate away to release pressure on the neck. Once you have the back, you can get them down, or do other BJJ standing submissions.

Wrapping Up

BJJ standing submissions area great way to introduce something different to your game. The fact that you can either take someone down or pull guard off of them makes for a compelling reason to use them as your first means of attack on the feet. Plus, you can do it all the other way around and use takedowns to maks your standing submission attacks. Keep things playful, but keep them painful as well, and you’ll finish matches in seconds.

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Where Do Celebrities Who Train BJJ Go For Training?

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BJJ World

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Celebrities Who Train BJJ - WHere do they Train?

Do you know what the most popular martial art is among celebrities? That’s right it is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu! Celebrities from all walks of life, from actors, through singers to comedians and everyone in between are turning to the Gentle art. Some like to train just for the sake of it, others are addicted to Jiu-Jitsu and some are even very high-level black belts! The list of celebrities who train BJJ is constantly growing, but a more interesting question is where do celebrities go for their Jiu-Jitsu classes?

Let’s make something clear. Even though celebrities who train BJJ are plenty, running into one in a regular class is not something that happens often. The academies that celebrities choose are not inaccessible for others, they just either book privates, or tend to even join in classes designed especially for them. That said, o you know which BJJ academy has the most celebrities training there?

Celebrities Who Train BJJ

On the list of celebrities who train BJJ, you’ll find just about anyone. And why not? Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most fun and entertaining ways of getting into crazy good shape. Moreover, training and even rolling don’t threaten the faces of the celebrities, which is oftentimes their primary concern. Plus, they get to learn actual self-defense and martial arts skill which are particularly useful to actors, especially those that are a part of action flicks.

Plenty of the celebrities that star in the latest blockbuster movies actually found Jiu-Jitsu through preparing for certain roles. A very often cited example Is Keanu Reeves, who trained rigorously for the John Wick trilogy, and has no intention of stopping. He even pulled Halle Berry into it after the third edition. Scarlett Johanson is another celebrity who turned to BJJ for her role as the Balck Widow and got hooked. Other famous people that are openly crazy about Jiu-jitsu are Demi Lovato, Russel Brand, Ashton Kitcher and plenty of others.

Celebrities who train BJJ keep helping the art grow, both among their peers and the regular population. That often raises the question of whether you can run into your favorite, or any celebrity for that matter if you go for a BJJ class? Well, depending on where you are, your chances vary. If you’re in the California area and go to train regularly, you’re bound to run into a celebrity training on the mats. If you’re lucky, you might end up even rolling with one. However, given the sheer number of academies in California alone, certain schools are far more popular among celebrities compared to others.

Where Do Celebrities Go To Train BJJ?

Where do most of the celebrities who train BJJ go to for their classes? Well, given their crazy schedules and the desire to train with the best, this is often not an easy question to answer. That said, as you’ll notice, later on, there’s a trend among celebrities to visit certain trainers and academies. To their credit, these academies have adjusted to help welcome even the most famous of people and offer them a place where they can train whether privately or as part of a class.

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves is a real ambassador of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is constantly sharing all the benefits from training, after discovering the Gentle Art in preparation for his action roles. Just like many other celebrities past and present, he trains with the Machado brothers. The brothers have several academies across California, but the one that is a den of celebrities is located in Beverly Hills. Holywood A list star Keanu is currently a white belt but it won’t be long before he gets asp promotion, if his work rate is anything to judge by.

Demi Lovato

Probably the most famous person alongside Keanu Reeves that is constantly advertising BJJ for all the good reasons. The pop star has been really vocal about training and is often sharing photos and clips of her training with the gi. She is a very legitimate blue belt and is training up to five days a week when her schedule allows it. Demi started training with Orlando Sanchez and she got her blue belt from him. She is also a frequent visitor to Renzo’s blue basement in New York. Sanchez has also stated that she is training every opportunity she gets when she’s on the road, at different academies. Lovato also trains with Gracia Barra

Tom Hardy

Out of all the celebrities who train BJJ, Hardy is one of those that really look the part. It seems that training grappling martial arts suits him perfectly. That said, he is certainly taking BJJ seriously and is training full time. He showcased alto of his skills in the MMA movie “The Warrior”.

The most interesting part is that he is also an ambassador for REORG Jiu-Jitsu, which is a foundation with a mission to provide serving military personnel and veterans with BJJ classes. It is in association with the We Defy Foundation, and Hardy is one of their main ambassadors, helping veterans through JIu-Jitsu. He currently has two stripes on his white belt.

Guy Ritchie

On the list of celebrities who train BJJ, Ritchie si probably the most high profile grappler of them all. The famous movie director behind classics like Snatch, RocknRolla and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a black belt under Renzo Gracie. That also points to his favorite spot for training when he is in the USA. Across the pond in the UK, Roger Gracie’s academy in London is the school of choice for Ritchie to showcase his skills. Judging by what people who have rolled with him say, hee is a really tough and seasoned black belt.

Ashton Kutcher

Kutcher was in the focus of the public lately particularly due to his association with BJJ. He just got promoted to brown belt a few months ago, and that prompted people to ask if he was really that good, whatever that may mean. Well, given that he trains under Rigan Machado I guess no one can really question the legitimacy of his belt, That, and the fact that he has been at it for the better part of a decade just shows how dedicated Ashton is to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He also has a wrestling background that has helped him advance fast, according to Rigan Machado.

Henry Cavill

Of course, Henry Cavill is going to be among the celbe3rities who train BJJ. How can the man behind roles like Supermen and the Witcher do anything else but grapple? Given his physique, he is one grappler most people would think twice about rolling with. That said, Roger Gracie’s academy is his spot, so if you ever go there for a class you might just end up sharing a roll with the Witcher himself. At the moment, Cavill is still a white belt, but he won’t’ stay one for long!

Vince Vaughn

Vaughn is an actor and comedian that is also a member of the – Ryron and Rener BJJ academy in Torrance, California. A white belt (for now) Vince has been obsessed with training JIu-Jitsu and is one more of the celebrities who train BJJ that can’t help talk about it every chance he gets. At 46 years of age, he also shows that BJJ is truly for anyone, and there’s no bad time to start training.

Usher

There’s no need really to explain who Usher is. What you might not know is that he is a huge fan of MMA and BJJ In particular. He is training grappling a lot and does not shy away from just about any high profile academy eh can get to. He is known to train with Atos team leader Andre Galvao but is also frequent at the ever-present Machado academy in Beverly Hills. Moreover, Usher has also trained with the legendary Anderson Silva.

Russel Brand

Apart from Joe Rogan, Russel Brand has to be the loudest comedian when it comes to recommending Jiu-Jitsu to everyone. Brand is one fo those celebrities who train BJJ not just for the physical aspect of it. He finds really deep psychological meaning in training, and in particular, rolling. That and he has a highly addictive personality, which, as we know, is all you need to get hooked to the Gentle Art. Russel is also training under the Roger Gracie Academy umbrella, with his instructor being Kec Capel. Brand currently holds the rank of blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu.

Nicolas Cage

Talk about “A” list celebrities who train BJJ. Cage is not only training but has been doing so for years under Royce Gracie. He is very dedicated to the art and is even the main star of an upcoming film that is named “Jiu-Jitsu”. Although on the funny side, the movie will showcase Cage’s Jiu-Jitsu skills in fending off alien invaders. If you’re ever in Royce |Graci’s main academy, you might get the chance to check if Cage’s Jiu-Jitsu is out of this world.

Jason Statham

Of course Jason Statham trains BJJ. He is another actor who BJJ suits perfectly, just like Tom Hardy. Statham is actually a purple belt and a great one at that. He is also training in the Roger Gracie Academy, and has trained with Roger’s father and coral belt Mauricio Gomes too. Statham started training with Guy Ritchie, but never really matched the director’s obsession and dedication to grappling. That said, he is a formidable grappler and will undoubtedly earn his black belt soon as well.

Scarlett Johansen

Turning again to the finer half, Ultra popular actress Scarlett Johansen is also among the celebrities who train BJJ. Given the demands of her role in The Avengers, and subsequently her own movie about the Black Widow, training Jiu-Jitsu is the obvious thing to do. Just like most other Holywood celebrities, her “base of operations” for grappling is the Beverly Hills Machado academy, with Rigan as her main coach.

Antony Bourdain

Before we end the list of favorite locations for celebrities to train Jiu-Jitsu, let’s look at where celebrities that are no longer with us preferred to train as well. Anthony Bourdain was a huge ambassador of Brazilian JIu-JItsu and used every possible moment he had to train. He even competed as a blu belt, winning gold at a tournament. He did not take training lightly, making Renzo’s NYC academy his base academy, and we all know the killers that train there under Renzo and John Danaher. Bourdain was known to train in regular classes and roll with anyone.

Paul Walker

The Fast And Furious star died tragically at an early age, and as a brown belt in BJJ. Walker loved training BJJ and was a member of the Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in California. Ricardo Miller, Walker’s coach was also a great friend of the star and gave him his black belt posthumously. Both the grappling and cinematic world lost a really big figure when Paul Walker died.

Can You Roll With Celebrities?

The answer to this question is a simple no. Rolling in Jiu-Jitsu is a tricky business and celebrities do not need the hassle of being tormented by just any training partner. That’s understandable. Of course, there are those among the celebrities that do indulge in rolls with people that are in class. However, most celebrities tend to train in privates, or even specially organized classes.

Given the number of celebrities his academy attracts, which, by the way, started with Chuck Norris, Rigan Machado has actually devised a special curriculum for celebrities who train BJJ. He spent 9 years developing a system that has nearly 700 techniques and that he describes as “flow Jiu-Jitsu”. According to Rigan, the system does not involve full-on rolling, but rather technical drilling and position sparring.

Still, be careful what you wish for. Some of those celebrities that do want to roll, will most likely be able to crush you with ease. Think about rolling with Guy Ritchie or Jason Statham, for example.

In Summary

As Gracie Barra often likes to point out, Jiu-Jitsu is for everyone. Well, celebrities who train BJJ further help prove that point. If these people, that have ultra-busy schedules and crazy lifestyles can train regularly, and get through the belt system, so can ordinary people. That said if you want to perhaps get the chance of a glimpse, or even maybe a roll with a celebrity, certain academies might just provide you with a shot. Just remember, it is not smart to use the information in this article to stalk your favorite celebrity. Particularly not when they know how to fight.

Stretch Guard: Attacking From The Easiest BJJ Open Guard

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BJJ World

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BJJ Stretch Guard - the easiest BJJ Open Guard

The more complicated BJJ guards get, the more efficient simpler versions of guards become. This is somewhat of a paradox, but it is true nonetheless. When it comes to closed guards, the basic closed guard and half guard have remained staples of BJJ throughout the years. The BJJ open guard, on the other hand, keeps evolving on an almost daily basis. Today, there are more open guard variations than one can count, some of them simple and others as complicated as rocket science. It is a fact that they work, but only for certain people. Simpler open guard variations, like the stretch guard, though, are universal and everyone can do them, regardless of experience, age or size.

The stretch guard is not a guard you’ve heard of. And yet, everyone has played a variation of it the moment you’ve opened your guard. The stretch gaud is not a complicated guard at all, and we use it very often, even without realizing it. In fact, you might argue that he stretch guard is the most basic BJJ open guard out there. Still, as with all things grappling, the moment you become aware of something, the better you’ll be at executing it. So, today, we’ll be looking at what the stretch guard is, how it works and what kind of attacks you can set up from there.

The Easiest BJJ Open Guard

If you ask me, the less you complicate things in JIu-Jitsu, the better your BJJ is going to be. BJJ Open guard variations are a great example of this. It is not that stuff like reverse De La Worm guard doesn’t work. It does, as Keenan and others prove over and over again. However, if you do not have the body type or experience Keenan does, for example, your worm guard is never going to be nearly as good as his. Probably not even if you’re an exact Keenan look alike.

The reason is that most open guard systems in BJJ are overly complicated. Granted, they can be hard to get out of, and can confuse opponents, but require a lot of time to master, and can often times end up with you in a bad position rather than the opponent. So, whether it is any BJJ open guard, or a pass, or anything else for that matter, simplicity is key.

The reason why the stretch guard is a more effective open guard than, for example, the worm guard, is in the fact that it is easy. It is easy to get to, easy to hold, easy to get good at fast, offers lots of attacks, and anyone can do it. One thing that might be a drawback is that it is predominantly a Gi guard, although there ara NO-Gi variations possible. But, when you come to think of it, all the lapel based open guards are exclusive to Gi Jiu-Jitsu anyway,

That said another reason the stretch guard works is that it is based on fundamental BJJ principles Control the hips, control the shoulder girdle, break the posture, take away balance. Achieve those and you’ll be able to sweep or submit anyone from the bottom, regardless of how you are positioned. This easy open guard variation offers you the perfect structure to achieve all of the above with ease. That’s why it is effective against all levels of opposition.

How The Stretch Guard Works Guard

The stretch guard is probably the easiest BJJ open guard you’ll ever play. It works best when done against kneeling opponents, particularly as you begin learning it. Once you pick up the basics, you can easily use it against standing, or half-kneeling opponents as well.
Position wise, there’s no real philosophy about leg placement. One leg goes on the hip, while the other goes on the opponent’s shoulder or biceps. The key to playing the guard is what you’re actually doing with your legs. That’s where grips come into play.

Grips make or break the guard, as is the case with any BJJ open guard. In the stretch guard, you want a very simple combination of grips – one on the collar, one on the sleeve. However, they have to very specific grips in order to help you set up the guard perfectly. Namely, the grip on the sleeve has to be a cross grip. The one on the collar can go on both sides, although same a side collar grip is the most used one. You could also use a two-on-one grip, placing your free arm on the triceps of the arm you’re already controlling with a cross grip.

The moment the guard actually starts working is when you use both your grips and leg placement to stretch your opponent out. You want to push out with your legs, most importantly, the one on the hip. If you can extend it completely, that would be ideal. At the same time, both your grips, but most importantly, the cross sleeve one, pull towards you. This will fold your opponent, braking both their posture and base with minimal effort.

Submission Attacks

As you will undoubtedly notice yourself, the easiest thing to pull off from the basic stretch guard is the triangle. The reason why one of your feet iso n the shoulder is to make submission attacks very easy. The moment you stretch someone with the leg on the hip and the grips, their center of gravity gets pushed back .that places them in the perfect position for a triangle, You can actually do not have to do anything at all, apart from swing the leg that is on the shoulder over. From there on, proceed to any triangle variation that you like to do.

A great follow up to the triangle from this BJJ open guard is the armbar. While you can hunt for it as a first choice attack, it works even better when you follow u pa triangle with it. Often times, opponents will try to move to the side the moment they feel your leg on their shoulder going over for a triangle. There’s no triangle now because of the opponent’s super posture, but an armbar is right there. The more stretched the arm is, the tighter it will be. Since the leg is already on their neck, use it to off-balance your opponent and swing the other leg around. A word of caution here, the armbar comes on very quickly, so be careful when rolling.

Another classic move you can hit is the Omoplata. Once again, it works perfectly when the initial (and easiest) triangle setup fails. Once again the setup is reactionary, meaning you act based upon what the opponent is doing. When they try to go under your leg to evade the triangle, they actually set themselves straight up for an Omoplata.

Last but not least you can get the back. If/when the opponent pins the leg that should be on their shoulder down, simply pull them towards you and do a hip escape., That’ll land you in an arm drag-style back take.

The Most Important Thing When Playing Open Guard

One thing you might have noticed about all examples of this BJJ open guard is that the opponent is kneeling in all of them. When you transition from the closed guard to the stretch guard, this is what is going to happen if you do the transition right. The folding motion of the stretch guard prevents opponents from standing up. However, even if they do, you can still use the stretch guard. Everything applies as before, you gust need the right grips and feet placement.

Working the stretch guard against a standing opponent is harder and can be more challenging. When you start learning it, make sure you try it against a kneeling opponent. The leg placement when opponents stand up is with one on the hi, and the other actively switching in front and behind the knee on the opposite side. Once again, you can easily achieve posture breaks and off-balancing opponents as long as you have the grips set up.

Also, you can use the stretch guard to bring an opponent down to the knees simply by stretching them further or threatening a sweep. From there on, you can keep doing all the things we already covered before.

Conclusion

In all my experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the notion that simple is best has proved to be right over and over again. Even when I was enjoying lots of success with complicated and flashy moves, they did not work against everyone. The simple your BJJ is, the more it will work against all types of grapplers. The stretch guard is the simplest BJJ open guard you can play, and yet, it offers much more than the modern complicated ones do. Give it a try and see for yourself.

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Grappling Submission Hunting Vs. Holding Jiu-Jitsu Positions

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BJJ World

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Grappling Submission Hunting Vs. Holding Jiu-Jitsu Positions

The one question that everyone who trains Brazilian JIu-Jitsu wat one point will face is whether you want to be a submission hunter or a positional BJJ player? While there are plenty of nuances that make up everyone’s individual style of grappling, these are the two most prevalent grappling styles when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu. As such, both hunting for grappling submissions, and holding Jiu-Jitsu positions have their merits. However, you need to go through phases where you dedicate to each of them before you can ever think of putting them together.

If you ara competitor in Jiu-JItsu, you have plenty of different opportunities to emerge out of a match victorious. The most desirable outcome is to spend as little time as possible in every match, which means you’d have to finish each opponent. That means using grappling submission moves to force your opponents to tap, or the referee to stop the match. The second most desirable outcome is beating an opponent by a margin of points. The bigger the margin, the better, obviously. Holding Jiu-Jitsu positions are a perfect way of achieving such a victory.

Apart from that, you can win by advantages, which will require you to really understand the BJJ scoring system. There’s also the opportunity to win by referee’s decision, although that one is really rolling the dice. Finally, an opponent can get DQed and get you a win, but I wouldn’t bet on that one too much. So, submissions and points emerge as the best ways to win a match.

Grappling Submission Hunting

Of course, everyone that is training Jiu-Jitsu, or MMA, or submission grappling wants to get taps. In fact, every sport that has options to submit opponents will have people flocking to the moves that can end a match in an instant. However, just as they’re the most desired moves, submissions also tend to be the hardest moves to pull off live. They’re far from impossible, as every grappling submission hunter out there clearly demonstrates. However, becoming proficient in submissions requires you to have a mindset that’s quite a bit different from what usual Jiu-Jitsu classes teach. And yes, this is despite BJ Jcalsses teaching lots of submissions.

If you want to truly become a submission hunter, you’ll have to adopt a different policy to that of traditional Jiu-Jitsu. That aid, you’ll need to take the mantra of “position before submission” with a grain or two of salt. It has merit and truth to it, but it is not a rule of thumb that applies to every grappling situation. Quite the contrary. Holding Jiu-Jitsu positions in order to pin an opponent is a great way to control someone, However, it is a horrible way of actually setting up submissions. Do not get me wrong, this will work in most situations, particularly at the lower levels of BJJ, However, when it comes to tapping out high profile girls and guys, you’ll need a different type of grappling submission hunting skills.

Here’s the trick to catching anyone in a submission – you have to hunt while in transitions. IF you’re hoping that your perfect JIu-Jitsu positioning is going to open up a submission against an experienced opponent, you’re fooling yourself, What you need to do is cause movement, or react to an opponents movement and slap on submissions while transitioning. And to do that you’ll have to completely disregard any advantages Jiu-Jitsu positions bring. The hard part about it is not giving up positions that bring you points in order to go for submissions. It is giving away positions that are considered bad and result in the opponent getting points in order to finish with a submission. Once you master this way of thinking, you’ll become a real submission hunter.

Strategically Holding Jiu-Jitsu Positions

The progression in BJJ usually has something like this: you start off by holding Jiu-Jitsu positions for dear life, once you somehow manage to get to a good one. Then, you’re probably going to wonder how submissions work, and why you’re not getting any. So, the transition to grappling submission hunting happens. Finally, you’ll inevitably go back to trying to figure out how holding Jiu-Jitsu positions really work. This is down to the fact that at a higher level, it becomes harder and harder to pull off submissions, even if you’re the best submission hunter in your academy.

Holding Jiu-Jitsu positions is not going to make you worse at submissions, On the contrary, it should make your attacks better and more precise. BJJ positions, despite how it may look are dynamic in nature. In that sense, it is not about holding sone down for a pin, like in wrestling or Judo. Instead, you’re looking to cause the opponent to react. The positions that bring points in BJJ simply mean you’re in a spot where you can cause damage and illicit reactions while being relatively safe yourself. Why wouldn’t you want to be able to submit someone from such a spot?

COmpetition-wise, holding position is what wins most Gi JIu-Jitsu matches. If you take al ook at the statistics of the largest Gi tournments (Worlds, Pans, Europeans, etc). positional victories are much more common than submissions. At a higher level of the sport, this becomes imperative. You have to know how to hold a dominant Jiu-Jitsu position, whether it is a guard or a top position, for as long as you nee din order to win.

What you’ll find out when you re-discover the value of holding Jiu-Jitsu positions as a higher belt is that they’re actually amazing launching pads for submissions. Just not in the way you were told i.e. position before submission.

How To Make Sense Of it All

During your BJJ Journey, you’ll most certainly go into both the grappling submission hunting direction and the holding Jiu-JItsu positions one. the thing is, what to do after you’ve gained a certain level of experience in both? The answer is by blending the two together so that one helps the other.

In that sense, holding Jiu-Jitsu positions can help you massively improve your submission rate. It is not like you’re going to be able to submit everyone from a tight pin, like side control, for example. However, knowing how to make someone go from side control to let’s say, turtle opens up a transition. it is during this transition that you’ll look to sink in your favourite submissions. transitions are the best time to hunt for submissions, but you can only cause meaningful transitions if you know how to handle positional JIu-Jitsu play.

The same holds true the other way around as well. Submission threats ara gert away to get an opening for your favorite position, like mount, for example. Once you’re ina steady mount, you can stay there and literally ride it out to the end of a match. As an example, getting to mount from side control, while you’re threatening a choke has a much higher percentage rate of success, rather than doing a more obvious transition.

Closing Thoughts

Grappling submission hunting and holding Jiu-Jitsu positions are not tow things in BJJ you should choose from. On the contrary, they make each other stronger, by blending your attacks together into a powerful BJJ game. the thing is, you’ll have to dedicate time, and by time I mean years, to each of them, before you can put everything together. It is well worth it, though, and you should embrace the process rather than trying to speed it up.

The Carnivore Diet For BJJ – Is It A Bad Idea?

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BJJ World

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Carnivore Diet For BJJ - Good Or Bad Idea ?

Have you ever heard of the Carnivore diet? Of course, you have, you’re reading BJJ World, which all but guarantees you’re a fan of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Now, whether you’ve heard about the carnivore diet there first, or you’rea ware of it via any other way, you’ve probably wondered if it is a good diet for BJJ. I know I have. The diet, as it sounds, works by eating nothing but meat, although it does have a certain method behind the madness. Will it work for people looking to grapple at a high level though? Ti certainly seems like it would do the trick for weight cutting. Let’s try and answer some burning questions on this subject.

The healthy / sports diet landscape has been changing lightning fast as of late. Until just a few years ago, any new diets, or eating systems, or whatever they’re called now, took years to build up and present to people. Nowadays, I’d wager there’s a new diet or weight loss meal plan coming out every week. If you think it was easy to get lost among all the stuff out there before, you should try and search for any meal plans or diet nowadays. From general guidelines to specific stuff like a diet for BJJ or MMA, you’ll find pretty much anything online. The real question is, how much of that stuff will keep you healthy first, and help you achieve your athletic goals second? The carnivore diet is the one on trial today and we’ll see whether or not it fits the real needs of grapplers.

What Is The Carnivore Diet?

The Carnivore diet is a meal plan that is pretty restrictive, to begin with. In fact, the only things that you can have on the menu are all types of meat and fish, as well as eggs and a few dairy products. While it may seem similar to the Keto diet, it is actually way more restrictive. No vegetables, nuts, or seeds in this one, including Keto/Paleo people’s favorite: avocados. Goes without saying that all fruits, grains, and carbohydrates, in general, have no place in this diet plan.

The carnivore diet is not really based on science, but more on the belief that humans are by evolution, designed to be carnivores. We all know that humans as a species are omnivores. Still, that’s not a reason not to explore this dieting approach further. That said, there are doctors, like orthopedic specialist Shawn Baker that recommend the diet. Of course, this diet being brand new and all, there’s a lot of research that needs to happen in order to get some real evidence as to whether it can help athletes achieve their two primary goals. Those are being healthy and achieving specific athletic performance goals. There are several carnivore diet studies taking place now. However, we’ll most likely have t wait quite a lot longer for genuine results.

When it comes to the meat choices in the Carnivore diet, you’re unrestricted as long as you have meat on your platter. Options include chicken, fish, beef, pork, lamb, wild game, organ meats, lard, bone marrow, etc. The fattier the meat, the better it will suit the diet. In fact, fat is the primary energy source in this diet. Although a bit controversial, given that they’re not made of meat, eggs and low carb dairy like butter and hard cheeses are also a part of this diet. That’s understandable, as eating meat only will surely become boring after a short while. The burning question, though, is whether the carnivore diet for BJJ?

Let’s Talk About Basic Human Biology

Evolution ideas aside, it is clear that as species, we’re meant to eat plants along with meat. Therefore, the basis of the Carnivore diet claiming humans are carnivores-only goes straight down the drain. If you think you’re a carnivore, think twice – even dogs are not pure carnivores, but omnivores. Only cats and several other species out there are pure carnivores. And no, humans are not among them.

That said, as humans, we do need meat to be a part of our diet, and it can freely be a large part of it. As a meal plan, the Carnivore diet does have its benefits. Whether or not it is an everyday diet for BJJ is a different question. First, it is an awesome way to cut carbs completely from your diet. While I don’t believe this is a good choice for the long run, it is certainly beneficial short term. The Carnivore diet will help you remove all processed carbs. More importantly, it’ll help you get used to living without them, which can be a very hard thing to accomplish. Moreover, it will definitely help you reach your protein goals of ht day, whatever they might be.

On the downside, there are certain health concerns when you first look at the Carnivore diet. First up, normally is the lack of fiber that comes with eating vegetables and fruit. Apart from supplements, there’s no real way of substituting for this. Moreover, higher fat meat means more cholesterol and sodium. Plus, even though the meat has essential amino acids and other compounds we absolutely need, it lacks in plenty of the micronutrients that are also essential to us humans. Not to mention all the processed meat-related diseases that modern research has brought to light.

Setting Up The Carnivore Diet For BJJ

As evidence suggests, you can pull off the Carnivore diet for BJJ, but only if you’re smart about it. In order to keep it in line with the first and most important goal of staying healthy, this diet shouldn’t be your long-term solution. Moreover, you’ll need to supplement vitamins and minerals, as well as a fiber supplement and perhaps even some probiotics. This is a must in order to maintain your body’s physiological balance.

That said, if you’re looking to cut weight, I doubt there’s a better way to slim down rapidly, particularly if you’re on a high-carb diet at the moment. The Carnivore diet is a very delicious way to trim down excess weight, although you do need to be careful. It can be hard to keep processed meat to a minimum on such a diet. That said, you can’t give in to eating all the sausage meat, pepperoni, and bacon you can. The reasons are more than obvious.

Speaking of foods you can eat on the Carnivore Diet, the rules for choosing food are simple. If it is meat or fish, it can be on the menu. Sides and exceptions include butter, hard cheeses, and whipping cream, along with eggs. Coffee and tea are also okay, without sugar, of course. Alcohol is a no-go due to its high sugar content. Also, you’ll need to make sure you’re using the minimum of sauces and certain seasonings. This can be more challenging than giving up carbs. When choosing meat, going for grass-fed and organic is a way better choice than reaching for the processed stuff. However, you can’t really get away from things like bacon and pepperoni on a diet like this. Everything is in moderation, even though you can eat as much as you want in a meal, and during any time of day on this diet.

Conclusion

All in all, the Carnivore diet is a balancing act, just like many other diet plans out there ara. However, it does tend to be more restrictive than others, and can even be harmful to some. As an athlete training in a very demanding combat sport, I doubt that adhering to the diet for a long period of time is a good idea. That said, as a short-term weight loss diet for BJJ, ti may just be the perfect hack. All you have to remember is to supplement wisely with greens, micronutrients and fiber supplements. This will help you retain your gut health. It will also help you regulate other physiological processes that require plant-based food.

The Gracie Challenge Fights: Decoding BJJ History

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BJJ World

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If you train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you know about the Gracie family. Better, said, you’ve heard of them, as there’s too much to know, given how big and complicated that particular family is. What’s also common knowledge in the BJJ world is the story of the Gracie Challenge fights. There are notorious challenges that are the stuff of Jiu-Jitsu legends, up to a point. While some were recorded, there are only eyewitness reports of others, and they’re scratchy at best. What exactly were these Gracie Challenge matches? Let’s try and decode a piece of BJJ history today.

Most, if not all of the MMA and BJJ fans across the world have seen or heard of at least one Gracie challenge. The interesting thing about these challenges is that they’ve turned into a subculture within the BJJ culture itself. There were claims that the Gracies won all of their challenges, which, of course, is not true. That said, to this day, the Gracie Challenge exists, mostly in dojo storming incidents that usually do not end up for the non-BJJ person. Still, the Gracie Challenges brought about something much more important than just fighting and entertainment. They ended up being the perfect tool to announce Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the world and helped change the landscape of martial arts forever.

What Happened Before MMA?

As we all know, bare-knuckle, no-holds-barred matches were held in just about every spot around the world long before the emergence of MMA. Irish bare-knuckle boxing, catch-wrestling (up to a point), Vale Tudo and others were all forms of MMA. The one huge distinction is that there were absolutely no rules, so anything was fair. This is the exact platform the Gracie family used to promote the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The story of Jiu-Jitsu, in just a few sentences, is as follows. A Japanese Judoka, who spent a lot of time traveling the world and engaging in catch wrestling and NHB matches need up in Brazil. There, he thaught his trade to a bunch of students, one of whom was Carlos Gracie. Carlos then modified what he learned (which was a mixture of Japanese Ju-Jitsu, Judo and catch wrestling) and ended up with what we know today as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He taught it to the rest of his family, turning all of them into formidable fighters, regardless of their size or strength.

After opening several schools in Rio, the Gracies decided they wanted to popularize their brand of Jiu-Jitsu. Their marketing strategy was nothing short of brilliant – issue challenge to everyone in local Brazilian newspapers. They invited people to try and win against Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, claiming they would beat everyone that showed up. They did, for the most part, and the Gracie Challenge was born.

The matches took place in a Vale Tudo (Brazilian term for NHB) matches. There were no time limits, rules, or referees. Most of the fights took place in gyms, although some made it to huge areas and a few even turned to massive brawls. Talk about marketing!

Taking The Gracie Challenge To America

Apart from calming they could beat everyone, the Gracie family members made sure they put smaller / lighter people in the fights, and that they wore Gis whenever possible. Sounds familiar? If you know anything about the history of the UFC and MMA, you might recognize a pattern here. It is the exact format Rorion Gracie used to set up the first UFC, which was essentialy a Gracie Challenge at a whole different level than the Vale Tudo ones in Brazil.

Rorion Gracie, the eldest son of Helio, decided to visit the USA, and California in particular. Rorion spent some time in the USA and quickly found out that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu would thrive in America. After coming back to Brazil for a while, he finally moved to the US in the late 1970s, looking to establish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu there. He did not find any martial arts schools that were open to giving him time on their mats, so he had to set his own academy up. He did so using a garage, giving birth to the famous Gracie Garage. There, he started teaching and soon got a solid number of students.

At the same time, Rorieon decided to use the Gracie Challenge his uncle Carlos successfully used in Brazil years before. So, he issued a challenge to any martial artist that would fight him. The rules were no referee, no time limits, and no gloves. Of course, Rorion beat everyone. Soon, he started recording these matches, which turned out to be a marketing masterstroke.

With the Gracie Challenge matches, Rorions’ academy took off and he had to call in reinforcements in the form of Rickson, Royler and Royce from Brazil,m who came along with the Machado brothers. They all helped open academies and held even more Gracie Challenge matches, solidifying BJJ as the toughest martial art out there. By the 90s, they were a real force to be reckoned with.

Most Memorable Gracie Challenge Fights

The very early fights in Brazil, those that brought the Gracie name to attention area largely unknown., They took place behind closed doors, mostly, and with only a few students watching along as spectators.

Out of Helio Gracie’s many matches, the one with Orlando Americo “Dudu” da Silva is worth mentioning. Dudu was a catch wrestler that was 20 kg heavier than Helio. Helio worked a lot form his guard, eventually getting to the feet and finishing Dudu with Capoeira kicks.

Rickson Gracie’s high profile match with Casemiro “Rei Zulu” Nascimiento Martins was one of the early controversial Gracie Challenge matches. Zulu was a professional wrestler and Luta Livre fighter with no formal martial arts training. TRickosn submitted Zulu via a rear-naked choke to win the match and the challenge. Ther rematch, requested by Zulut, turned into chaos. Zulu requested rule changes right before the match and then, both fighters used moves that were previously agreed upon as illegal. Rickson won the second match as well.

Another of Rickon’s notable Gracie challenge matches is the one with Hugo Duarte. Duarte wanted money to fight Rickson, but Gracie decided to attack him on the beach, in front of his students and Duarte had to fight. Rickson won via ground and pound, prompting Duarte to storm Rickosn’s dojo later on which led to a full-blown riot with police eventually intervening.
Yoji Anjo storming Rickon’s gym was another mysterious event until la while ago, when Rickson gave account and video, of what happened. Anjo went in the match strong, but Rickson eventually won, once again via a rear-naked choke.

Renzo Gracie, Who is one more entertaining Gracie family member also had his fair share of controversial Gracie Challenge matches. His biggest one was against Luta Livre legend Eugenio Tadeu. The match ended up with a massive brawl, that also had shots fired and the arena completely demolished. The result was a ban for MMA/Vale Tudo in Rio in the next ten years.

You can see some of the Gracie Challenge matches videos at the end of this article.

Challenges The Gracies Lost

As I said before, the Gracies family did not win every challenge match, but they did emerge victorious from most of them. They seemed to have a lot of success after moving to the states. Still, the early Vale Tudo matches were really hard-fought victories, much to the merit of the Gracies.

One of the earliest legendary challenges is the high profile match between Helio Gracie and Masahiko Kimura. The Judoka accepted the challenge, looking to avenge the performance of teammate Yukio Kato that drew with Helio in an earlier match. Kimura went on to break Helio’s arm with the move that today bears his name. Helio, to his credit, did not tap and his brother Carlos had to throw in the towel.

Another high profile loss of Helio’s was that against his former student Valdemar Santana, who challenged Gracie. Santana, a lot younger and heavier than Helio, won the match. It was almost four hours long with Vale Tudo rules Santana got the win via a soccer kick that knocked Helio unconscious.

Another name that’s notorious for beating the Gracies over and over again, albeit in more controlled fighting conditions is Kazushi Sakuraba. Dubbed “The Gracie Hunter”, Sakuraba submitted Royler becoming the second Japanese fighter to beat a Gracie after Kimura. Royce attempted to avenge the loss but ended up losing himself after an hour and a half long bout. He then went on to break Renzo Gracie’s arm, solidifying his legacy as the Gracie family’s worst nightmare.

In a curious case of events, Gene LeBell also almost became a part of the Gracie Challenge matches. Challenged by the Gracies, LeBell accepted, demanding to fight Helio rather than Rickson. After all, the Judoka was already 60 at the time. Helio accepted, demanding the fight take place at 140 lbs, which was impossible for Gene to accomplish. As a result, the challenge never materialized.

Check out some of the matches in the videos at the end of the article.

The Gracie Challenge Butterfly Effect

What the Gracie Challenge matches accomplished was popularizing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu within the martial arts community. At a time when Eastern striking martial arts were the only thing people associated with grappling, this was quite the feat to achieve. There was actually no better way of marketing how effective BJJ is than fighting anyone and everyone. And yes, the result did not matter as the Gracies’ main goal was to gain more students and spread BJJ around the world. Suffice to say, they succeeded.

In the process, the American edition of Gracie Challenge matches ended up giving birth to something else – modern MMA. Through the formation of the UFC as the biggest Gracie Challenge stage up to date, the Gracies managed to take their challenges to the TV screens, with the UFC being televised. Of course, the organization had a period of difficulties due to the no rules format. However, that later changed, giving birth to MMA in the process. And we can’t really imagine the world of combat sports and martial arts without MMA today, can we?

Another thing that is really fascinating is the Gracie Challenge matches still happen nowadays form time to time. Granted, they do not feature Gracies most of the time, but the story is the same. People storm dojos, whether they’re bodybuilders, or martial artists, calming they can beat the resident BJJ black belt. While these affairs a much more civil nowadays, the outcome is still the same. Jiu-Jitsu still emerges victorious in most of the cases. Plus, it makes up for great entertainment.

Final Words

The Gracie Challenge matches, like them or not, helped BJJ reach far more people than it would have otherwise. In the process, a whole new combat sport was born as well – MMA. What really happened behind closed doors at most of the early matches, both in Brazil and the USA is hard to know. However, according to the video evidence, these challenges were not pretty events at all. This proves the BJJ, in its inceptions, was very effective in a self-defense scenario. This is the somewhat lost aspect of BJJ nowadays. Who knows, perhaps we should bring back occasional Gracie Challenge matches for that reason only. What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaFMCEJ9t2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDhVnjblntc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o0AmeFEGzg

Simplifying The Kimura Trap System For BJJ

By

BJJ World

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How often do you goa about using the Kimura trap system? I’m not just talking about hunting Kimuras here. Instead, you can use the trap system to open up a bunch of other attacks, or even finish the original Kimura. This system is one that most people stumble across, whether it is intentionally or by accident. The fact of the matter is that the system works perfectly, but not many people spend time training it specifically. The system was hugely popular at a certain time but then faded a bit. That is strange because the Kimura trap system is that it is still very much applicable in all Jiu-Jitsu situations. So, let’s get back to it for a bit.

I personally am a huge fan of the Kimura trap system. The way it was presented to me was a part of a single leg defense. It turned this high-percentage takedown into the perfect counter-attacking position. A bit of experimentation and some digging taught me that the Kimura trap system extends to much more than just one trap and one counter in one given situation. In fact, I’ve used the Kimura trap successfully to sweep people, submit people, pass their guard, get their back… IN other words, the Kimura trap system opens up pretty much every door you can think of.

The Power Of The Kimura

Marcelo Garcia might see the Kimura as a strong man move, but it has been proven to work throughout the years. And not just for the buff guys. The move itself is an old submission, one dating to ancient wrestling. There’s no real specific geographic location to pinpoint. The variation we use today is one that comes from Judo. Conversely, it carries the name of the person that actually managed to pull it off against Helio Gracie. Mashiko Kimura was a formidable Japanese Judoka who also engaged in professional wrestling. In 1951, Helio Gracie challenged the Judoka to a match, which ended up with Kimura winning by a bent armlock. In fact, he broke Helio’s arm and his brother Carlos threw in the towel. The Gracies later adopted the move, naming it after Kimura, in honor of his big win.

In modern BJJ, the Kimura is a staple submission, one that’s taught to people very early in their Jiu-Jitsu journey. The move is particularly useful in BJJ as you can get a Kimura from virtually anywhere. The closed guard variation is where most people start, but the half guard is where this move truly shines. You can get it from both top and bottom, as well as from most side control variations. As a submission, the Kimura is powerful and works with a high percentage, but is not too difficult to defend.

However, the Kimura is much more than just a simple arm lock submission. Granted, this is the most desired version of the Kimura. However, it also serves as one fo the best positions of control in JIu-Jitsu, even though it may not score points by itself. The Kimura trap system is the perfect example of how the Kimura can be used in ways that go beyond its original use as a submission. In fact, the Kimura trap system is one of the most intricate trapping systems available in Jiu-Jitsu. That, and there are so many more Kimura variations that were born out of the trapping system.

How The Kimura Trap System Works

The Kimura trap system, as I said is an intricate one and it requires a lot of finesse. However, in essence, the system can be simplified. So much so, that a white belt with fairly little experience can use it to great success. The key thing with the Kimura trap system is how to hang on to the Kimura while doing transitions around your opponent. For that, you first need to understand the Kimura.

Executing a Kimura in BJJ requires you to place your arms in a “figure four” configuration around an opponent arm. The breaking pressure for the submission comes for rotating the arm towards the opposite side shoulder. That inevitably leads to the shoulder you’re attacking popping out of its socket. This is exactly the movement people will try to prevent. Most often they try to grab on to their other arm or the belt or parts of their Gi when available. This can make finishing the Kimura extremely hard but opens up the Kimura trap system. It also brings us to the first and most important thing to know about the Kimura trap – how to hold on. The trick is in extending your arms. The straighter they are, the tighter your Kimura trap will be and the harder it will be for an opponent to escape.

Some of the usual applications of the Kimura trap in Jiu-Jitsu is in defending the single leg takedown or transitioning to the back. In terms of a single leg, the positioning of your opponent’s body offers you the perfect option to warp a Kimura grip on their arm. While the inside arm is usually the target, the trap works on both sides. Form there, any single leg that succeeds will actually open up Kimura submission options or easy transitions for you. One such transition is going to back control, off of a Kimura grip that you’re holding with your extended arms. All it takes is lying on your side like that, and the opponent trying to escape. This alone will get you straight on their back.

Taking the Kimura Trap Further

This is definitely not where the Kimura trap ends, though. If you want to develop your own system, simply get to the Kimura, and hold on. I’d suggest starting in the North-South setup, as it will be easiest to practice control from there. One thing I really love to do form a North-South Kimura trap is going for a scissor choke. Instead of trying to get to the back, which is not easy against seasoned opponents, all you need to do is lie down on your side. Then, place both your legs on each side of the opponent’s neck, top and bottom. The old catch-wrestling scissor choke works like a charm from there, especially with you holding on tightly to the Kimura.

One modern transition is going into an Ashi Garmi from the Kimura trap. Whether you do it on your own, or the opponent tries to survive by pulling you into half guard variations, you’ll get an opening to transition. Opponents will usually pull you into deep half. moreover, they’ll try to hide their arm under their leg to stop the Kimura. This is the perfect moment to actually let go of the Kimura trap and your opponent will find themselves stuck form their own defense. All you need is to now hug the leg and you’re straight into the Inside Senkaku. We all know what follows from there.

Finally, my absolute favorite use of the Kimura trap system is to pass the guard. The same works from the bottom though, and you can use the strap to execute sweeps. However, when it comes to dealing with the half guard, or modern butterfly and shin-to-shin guard variations, the Kimura trap system is my go-to. Whatever your opponent is trying to do form the bottom, all you need is the figure four Kimura grip. Well, that and the all-important extension of your arms. Whether you roll through, fall down or stay on your feet and maneuver. You’ll get one of the easiest passes of your life. If you time it all right, you might even end up with a Kimura submission at the end of it.

Final Words

The Kimura trap system can be as easy or as hard as you make it. All it takes is spending some time in it, and figuring out how to hold on to your opponent. That’s why North-South is a great starting position for practicing the Kimura trap as opposed to the bottom or from standing. Once you’re comfortable, the opponent’s movement will open up different opportunities for you. All you need to do is just lay there holding on to the Kimura.

How The Best BJJ Teams In The World Train For Competition

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BJJ World

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How The Best BJJ Teams In The World Train For Competition

Preparing for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition is a grueling task that requires a lot of hard work. Depending on where you are training at, you might or might not have access to specialized competition preparation classes. Most of the biggest BJJ gyms out there have big competition teams, and henceforth, have special classes to get everyone in fighting shape. Organizing classes like the best BJJ teams out there, or at least parts of classes, is something everyone can do. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how the best in the world prepare their grapplers for tournaments.

If you’ve ever tried a competition prep class, you probably know what you’re in for. These are, or shouldn’t just be hard rolling classes. Open mats are perfect for that. Competition preparation has to be highly organized and structured, containing plenty of different training modalities. That said, each of the best BJJ teams out there has their own training philosophy and methodology IT is undeniable that all of their methods work, as these are the teams that end up producing the most world champion athletes yeara by year. What can we learn from their competition preparation classes?

BJJ Competition Training

BJJ tournaments are unlike competing in pretty much anything else. Of course, I’m going to be focusing on IBJJF/ UAEJJF style tournaments, as those are still the most prestigious and visited ones out there. When it comes to modified reules tournaments and submission only, the training might change according to the ruleset and requirements. But that is as a subject for a different day.

In a BJJ tournament, the hardest thing to prepare for is intensity. Since Jiu-Jitsu competitions are organized in a tournament style, you’re bound to have at least several matches before reaching the finals. That translates to several different opponents that will most likely work with different styles and at different paces. This makes specific preparation for a BJJ tournament extremely hard, as there’s no way to predict the intensity, duration and scrambles each round will bring that means you have to prepare for the hardest possible outcome, both technically and physically, Then, there’s the mental aspect of it all where you have to push through even when things seem bleak because, in Jiu-Jitsu, you can easily end up winning a match you’re losing by a big margin of points.

The best BJJ teams in the world clearly have things down to a science to help their athletes prepare for the biggest tournaments out there. Of course, there’s strength and conditioning that most athletes do outside of the BJJ Academy anyway. However, when it comes to technical, tactical and overall competition preparation, special classes are organized to get everyone in the best shape possible for Brazilian JIu-JItsu tournaments. And, for all of us mortals out there, there’s a lot of takeaways form how the best of the est organize their competition training.

How the Best BJJ Teams Organize their Competition Training

Before you go off commenting that your major team affiliation has not been mentioned among the best BJJ teams, hold your horses. The teams outlined below are those that have had impeccable records for decades in the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. They’re also still the leading grappling teams in the world, producing world champions of all belt levels and ages. Of course, there are a few missing, but the point here is not to include every major BJJ team and their preparation, but only the very best. In that regard, we will take a look at the training methods of 6 different teams that have been at each other’s throats in the quest of becoming the best BJJ competition team out there. So far, they’ve had to settle for sharing the honors, though.

Among the best BJJ teams, we’ll be looking at today is the Alliance team. It is led by Romero Calvacanti and the Gurgel brothers. Also featuring in this list is the inevitable Gracie Barra, the largest BJJ affiliation out there, which has Carlos Gracie Jr. at its helm. One of the strongest competition teams to ever perform at the biggest stages of Jiu-Jitsu is Atos. The team is led by Andre Galvao with the help of the Mendes brothers and their Academy Of Jiu-Jitsu brand. Checkmate and GFTeam’s training methods are also something worth looking at. Finally, we’ll round things off with one of the most intriguing competition teams in modern JIu-Jitsu – the Danaher Death Squad.

Alliance Team Training

Alliance area a team that adopts the “take no prisoners” approach. Their competition preparation starts hard and fast from the very first moment. They tend to have really long and grueling warm-ups, consisting of lots of solo movement drills. Forward rolls, Granby, hip escapes and similar drills go on and on until everyone is drenched in sweat.
Only then does the real competition training start in one of the best BJJ teams out there. Given the style of their most famous athletes, like Michael Langhi, Gurgel, Gianni Grippo, Isaque Bahiense and others, passing has a huge role to play in their training. In that sense, at least 30 minutes of passing drills that switch between technical and high-intensity drilling mark most of Alliance’s competition preparation classes. Of course, such types of drills help the bottom grapplers develop insane defensive guards as well.

Another mark of high-level Alliance team competition training is sparring. When they spar, Alliance team members go for highly technical and extremely high paced sparring sessions. Ther is a lot of focus on technique for two main reasons – one is that it improves performance, and the second is that it keeps their top competitors safe from injuries while training. The cleaner the technique is, the more pace competitors can apply, thus producing some real grappling machines in their dens.

Gracie Barra

Gracie Barra is often seen as more of a for show affiliation. Howevwer, that is because most of their competition training takes place behind closed doors. The Gracie Barra competition teams take tournaments so seriously, that they often organize specialized training camps for major competitions. That way, most of their top competitors from different academies end up training together for days in a very organized and specific manner.

A huge part of Gracie Barra’s competition training are drills. However, they don’t just do any drills but have specialized drill classes in place. One example is stand up drilling, where competitors do ost of repetitive takedown/guard pulling drills. However, they also like to use scenarios as well, where the bottom person continues to work going for counters once a takedown is complete. Speaking of scenarios, common Graci Barra drill sequences include playing guard but training only retention with no sweeps or submissions allowed. The top person has 2 minutes to pass the guard, before witching roles.

Finally, a huge reason why Gracie Barra is one of the best BJJ teams out there is that they have a hugely successful training program for kids, producing some of the world’s best young competitors. Once again lots of drilling and specific BJJ games make up most of the kids’ competition classes in Gracie Barra gyms. Some fo the most notable athletes to represent GB are Edwin Najmi, Felipe Pena, Gabriel Arges and many more.

Atos Team Competition Training

In the world of modern Jiu-Jitsu, there’s hardly a competitor that doesn’t recognize the name Atos. Both their male and female competitors are crème of the crop, coming in at all belt levels and all ages. From child prodigies like the Ruotolo brothers to legends of the sport like the Mendes brothers and team leader Andre Galvao, Atos is areal en of high-level grapplers.

The Atos team competition classes include lots of highly focused sparring that goes on for hours. The team prides itself on crazy levels of conditioning, and a lot of that comes from going literally all out in sparring. Whatever rare footage emerges from team Atos sparring sessions always shows the same thing – rolling intensity second to none of the other best BJJ teams.

Something that clearly puts Atos in a category of its own is their cerebral approach to tournament preparation. Apart from the physically excruciating training sessions, they go over lots of so-called tournament scenarios too. They go over lots of tapes and look at just about any scenario they can. Thus, their competitors never end up surprised during actual matches. In that regard, they do a lot of positional and situation training as well, looking to become comfortable in just about any given situation.

One more huge thing to take away from Atos competition training si the ending of specific classes. Every competition preparation class ends with Andre Galvao doing a Q&A session for everyone present. This helps clear up the stuff that might confuse the competitors. That way, when action time comes, their goals and tasks are clearly set.

The Danaher Death Squad

There’s not much that’s known about specific preparation down in Renzo’s blue basement, even though classes are usually open to visitors. Danaher likes to teach his own systems. Moreover, he uses methods that favor taking people to a very high level of BJJ in a very short amount of time. Suffice to say, this approach is revolutionary and has yielded some of the best competitors of our time, like Gordon Ryan, Gary Tonon and Nicky Rodriguez.

The way competition training is organized for the Danaher Death Squad is by working on their niche systems primarily. This includes lots of submission hunting training. The focus is on connecting all the Danaher systems together so they work as an endless loop that opponents can’t escape.

Specific rounds organized in a very original manner follow suit. What the Danaher Death squad has identified as being the positions that require most training are the mount, closed guard and turtle. Statistically speaking, most matches spend a lot of time with competitors entangled in one or all of these positions. To that extent, specific training includes the top person looking to submit when in mount or turtle. At the same time, the bottom one is looking to escape to the closed guard. This creates awareness and helps immensely with timing and working off of scrambles defensively, Not to mention crisping up submission skills and passing skills, in the sense of the closed guard.

Finally, something “stolen” from wrestling are so-called scrimmage rounds. This is when team members go deep in a position, for example, a single leg takedown. The point is for one person to finish from a deep position, while the other needs to look to escape. Scriammge rounds are Danaher’s favorite way of training takedowns. Sometimes, he takes these rounds up to 20 minutes of time with no ret. The same concept can easily be applied to submissions as well. This helps perfect finishing or escaping from submissions that are sunk in deep already.

Checkmat

When you think of tough as nails competitors in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you’re probably thinking of the Checkmate guys and girls. With members like Buchecha, Jackson Sousa and Marina Ribeiro to name just a few, it is clear why this team brings about such an impression. The man behind the team, Ricardi Vieira is also a huge part of the team’s distinctive competition style.

Vieira is a real beast and a big fan of conceptual Jiu-Jitsu. As attractive as this way of learning is, not many people have achieved great competitive results by basing their competition training on concepts. Checkmate training sessions include a lot of movement and tactics training. In fact, there’s notoriously little technical training in Checkmate competition classes, compared to specific movement and situation training.

The philosophy of Checkmate is based on three principles: control, distance, and opportunity. All three are staples of the Checkmate competition training classes. Their athletes usually work form a host of set positions without any rest for up to two hours. Classes also contain a bunch of tactical drills that help improve everyone’s timing and anticipation. Finally, the mindset of Checkmate competitors is what places them among the Bes BJJ teams out there. Their approach includes winning every scramble they find themselves in, and primarily, giving away absolutely minimum points to their opponents.

GFTeam

Julio Cesar Pereira is the man behind one of the best BJJ teams out there that favors a more traditional style of grappling. In a world of lots of lapel stuff and 50/50 guard GFTeam are still true to the fundamentals that made BJJ popular in the first place. For example, they have a squad of closed guard players that are absolutely the best in the world. The philosophy of this team is having solid fundamentals and exerting lots and lots of pressure. A real old-school game, but one played to perfection thanks to some highly specific competition preparation.

GFteam’s competition preparation includes lots of training sessions within one day. The usual number is up to three specialized training sessions in a day. IN each of those, there are only 3 or 4 positions that competitors work on. They tend to work technically, without too much drilling, looking to improve the finer nuances instead of intensity.

The reason for such a technical approach to competition training is the extremely grueling sparring sessions. In the GFTeam classes, 10 rolls that last at least 6 minutes each are the mandatory minimum for competitors. IN most cases, the preferred number of rolls is 20, translating to two hours of extremely hard rolling. This BJJ team prides itself at having sparring at the core of their competition preparation.

Conclusion

As you can see, competition training differs from team to team. Often times, methods can change according to tournament demands. However, the best BJJ teams out there usually have asset patterns they tend to follow. Throughout the years, they’ve been perfecting their methods, as is clearly proven times and time again by their top competitors. Luckily, most of these methods are not kept secret. That means we can all benefit from incorporating all of them, or parts of them in our own competition training.

A Submission Game For BJJ Beginners

Choosing The Best Submissions For White Belts

Armbar From Mount

The Rear Naked Choke

Kimura

Guillotine Choke

Arm Triangle

Cross Collar Choke From Guard

Closing Arguments

DVD and DIGITAL Instructionals Related to the Best Submissions For BJJ Beginners :

You Can Learn BJJ Fast

8 Things to Avoid For Quick Progress

Time On The Mats

Training Frequency

Becoming Bored

Figuring Out The Conditioning Puzzle

Goal setting

Choosing The Right Academy

Don’t Get Comfortable

What You Do Off The Mats

In Summary

Thinking Outside The Box: BJJ Standing Submissions

Wristlocks Instead Of Grip Breaks

Standing Chokes

Building A Takedown Game On Standing Submissions

Wrapping Up

Celebrities Who Train BJJ

Where Do Celebrities Go To Train BJJ?

Keanu Reeves

Demi Lovato

Tom Hardy

Guy Ritchie

Ashton Kutcher

Henry Cavill

Vince Vaughn

Usher

Russel Brand

Nicolas Cage

Jason Statham

Scarlett Johansen

Antony Bourdain

Paul Walker

Can You Roll With Celebrities?

In Summary

The Easiest BJJ Open Guard

How The Stretch Guard Works Guard

Submission Attacks

The Most Important Thing When Playing Open Guard

Conclusion

Grappling Submission Hunting

Strategically Holding Jiu-Jitsu Positions

How To Make Sense Of it All

Closing Thoughts

What Is The Carnivore Diet?

Let’s Talk About Basic Human Biology

Setting Up The Carnivore Diet For BJJ

Conclusion

What Happened Before MMA?

Taking The Gracie Challenge To America

Most Memorable Gracie Challenge Fights

Challenges The Gracies Lost

The Gracie Challenge Butterfly Effect

Final Words

The Power Of The Kimura

How The Kimura Trap System Works

Taking the Kimura Trap Further

Final Words

BJJ Competition Training

How the Best BJJ Teams Organize their Competition Training

Alliance Team Training

Gracie Barra

Atos Team Competition Training

The Danaher Death Squad

Checkmat

GFTeam

Conclusion