Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi BJJ instructional that organizes front headlock attacks better than any other before.
- Features games, solutions to common challenges, and an underlying concept that flows throughout the DVD.
- Contains sweeps, submissions, passes, takedowns, and delivers answers to many common reactions.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 7.5 out of 10.
RETHINK FRONT HEADLOCKS JOSH JANIS DVD GET HERE
Front headlocks do not require systematization and BJJ-ification. That’s only going to result in an overly complicated ‘system” that only a few people in the world might be able to pull off. However, the rudimentary front headlock that does the trick in wrestling is also not versatile enough to be a reliable position in BJJ.
The sweet spot is tight in the middle. If you have no idea what that is, you need to obtain the Rethink Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD. You’ll quickly learn that the front headlock is a tactical position offering dominance and attacking options in all planes and levels of grappling. Sounds enticing? Read on!
More Than Guillotines
The front headlock position should be a scoring position in BJJ. There., I said it. I think the same about a few other positions, such as Ashi Garamis, but I doubt the scoring system will change anytime soon because of my rants in articles.
Speaking of the front headlock, the position is a staple in grappling for a reason – it is much more than a way to try and break down turtled opponents or attempt power-based guillotine chokes. There is a time and a place for the guillotine when you’re playing the front headlock, but there is also a lot more than you can (and should) do.
The Josh Janis Front Headlocks DVD presents the position as one similar to the super technical and versatile pinning position, such as side control and mount. When you try to look at the front headlock like a position of its own and not just a bridge between other positions, or a way to get a guillotine, your game will change drastically.
Professional Jiu-Jitsu Hobbyist Josh Janis
Some people are just good at teaching BJJ in a way that is different from the standards set by Brazilian coaches and serious teachers such as Danaher. Joshua Janis is one such coach who does not take anything too seriously, but delivers grappling information with a quality to rival any of the aforementioned staple names.
Involved with BJJ for most of this millennium, Janis currently owns and runs White Lotus in Milwaukee along with his partner, Meghan. The two grapplers love to travel and teach as well, and Josh has been a familiar face in many BJJ Globetrotters camps around the world.
A black belt under Jon Friedland of Neutral Ground since 2021, Josh pairs his grappling enthusiasm and knowledge with his profession as a communications coach into a teaching style that not many people can match these days. Just a short look at the Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD and you’ll know exactly what I mean!
Rethink Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD Review
The Front Headlock Josh Janis DVD we are looking at today is a No-Gi instructional. It has four volumes, each lasting around 30 minutes, with the entire length of the DVD surpassing two hours:
Part 1 – Building A Home Base
You know you’re in for a different BJJ DVD experience from the moment Josh delivers his overview of the content in his Rethink Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD. It covers the front headlock as the main star of the show, instead of just a quick gimmick to fill in grappling gaps.
Janis begins by offering his conceptual framework when approaching the front headlock, making sure he explains all glossary terms first. He then presents his ‘home base’ concept that is now unheard of in BJJ, but I’ve never seen it used like this for the front headlock before.
Part 2 – Getting to Home Base
Since the entire Front Headlock game that Josh offers revolves around the Home Base position, he dedicates the entire second volume of the Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD to getting there. For that purpose, he divides front headlock engagements into sections:
- Standing engagements – A quick overview of the most common use of FHL in grappling, which is from standing. Usual basics like snaps downs and drags feature here.
- Turtle Game – Things get a lot more interesting as Josh goes over the different ways to implement the home base FHL approach against the turtle, covering not just options but also common challenges.
- Half Guard Game – Once again, the same pattern appears of game overview, Home Base options, solving common problems, and combining everything up to this point.
- Side Control Home Base – One of the best and most underrated uses of front headlocks in BJJ, finally given the recognition it deserves by Janis.
- Passing Game – Exactly what your passing game has been missing – a clear idea of how the FHL can open up avenues you never knew were there.
Part 3 – Sweeping From the Front Headlock
Once again, Joshua demonstrates his versatility of grappling experience by providing an entire volume of sweeps, all originating from a front headlock control position. This entire volume of the Josh Janis Front Headlocks DVD is presented through conditionals: “If an opponent does this, you do that”. And it works!
The scenarios that Joshua covers include the top person trying to pull out of the headlock, trying to jump over (the dreaded Von Flue threat), and pressure passing, to mention a few. He also covers an aspect not many people pay attention to – how to deal with a stalling opponent.
Part 4 – FHL Submissions
Finally, as the Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD reaches its final part, Josh Janis delivers 30+ minutes of submission finishes from the front headlock. Of course, the inevitable guillotines and assorted head and arm chokes are there, set up from both top and bottom positions.
Janis’ toolbox also extends to include a few more sneaky finishes, most notably a nasty surprise wrist lock and a neck crank you definitely won’t be able to use in IBJJF matches.
Control And Submit Larger People
The neck and ankles are your best targets when you’re a diminutive grappler trying to deal with people twice (or more) your size on the Jiu-Jitsu mats. Leg locks are the great equalizer of the past decade, but before that, everyone advised small folks to go for the neck. I know because I am one of those small people who grappled before leg locks were a thing.
In the early days, the goal was to get the back and go for the neck of big people. It was the META of the time and remains a solid tactic these days. The thing that is different is that you don’t have to only attack the neck from the back mount.
While not every position is going to help you slay a giant, you can rely on the front headlock for the job. The best part is that it is not just a great way to finish, but also a solid way to actively pin, and/or take bigger opponents down without gassing out in the process. All of this is covered in the Rethink Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD.
DOWNLOAD HERE: FRONT HEADLOCKS JOSH JANIS DVD
Start at the Front
If you think about one of the most fundamental aspects of grappling, you’ll see that facing your opponent is inevitable if you want to attack. So, if there was a move that gives you dominance from a front-facing position while making it impossible for your opponent to do the same, wouldn’t you use it?
You get where I am going with this, and you’re probably aware by now that the Rethink Front Headlocks Josh Janis DVD holds plenty of options in that regard. You just need to use them.
