Wicked BJJ Clock Choke

Wicked BJJ Clock Choke

I spent some time last year adding the clock choke into my game. It's an awesome submission and one I had never really used until early last year. It became quite useful when attacking people's turtle defense.

After using it repeatedly, I ended up in side control with…

Necktie Counter to Omoplata

Necktie Counter to Omoplata

"If, if's and but's were candy and nuts, my what a fine Xmas we'd have."

Spider Killer - The 3 S...Words to Kill Your Opponents Spider Guard

Spider Killer - The 3 S...Words to Kill Your Opponents Spider Guard

Here are some tips on how to deal with that opponent with a nasty spider guard. I use three S…words to remember these - Stuff, Stand, Step. Once we train them, we can bounce back and forth between them if the first one gets countered.

6 Positions of Side Control - How to Drill and Improve BJJ Side Mount

6 Positions of Side Control - How to Drill and Improve BJJ Side Mount

My Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teacher (Andre 'Dedeco' Almeida) showed me this awesome Side Control drill when I was a new White Belt. It is one of the best drills I've seen for…

Guest Appearance: Fight for a Happy Life with Sensei Ando

Guest Appearance: Fight for a Happy Life with Sensei Ando

I had the honor of being invited onto Fight for a Happy Life martial arts podcast with host Sensei Ando. The episode just released today. 

Check out our conversation on topics like - freedom, defining success, barriers to students progress, living life, and weird questions about what I want on my deathbed/tombstone (is this guy planning to kill me???), and lots of laughter.

Monkey Grips! How I Strengthen My Grips and Keep Them Healthy

Monkey Grips! How I Strengthen My Grips and Keep Them Healthy

Fingers hurt after training? Grips not strong enough to hold on when grappling? Check this out.

Grip strength and health can be a really important thing for martial artists. Grip intensive arts such as Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Shuai Jiao, and other Grappling Arts, all require/build grip strength, and put a great deal of wear and tear on the fingers. Today I'm going to show you the methods I use to keep my grips not only strong, but healthy. For strengthening: exercises like rope...

Guest Appearance: The Strenuous Life Podcast w/ Stephen Kesting

Guest Appearance: The Strenuous Life Podcast w/ Stephen Kesting

On the latest episode of his podcast - 'The Strenuous Life' - BJJ Black Belt and founder of Grapplearts, Stephen Kesting and I debate the value of Kung Fu, and if it can coexist with BJJ and MMA. I think you are going to like this! I highly recommend his channels if you haven't already found him!

"Can Kung Fu, BJJ and MMA coexist? Maybe they can, and maybe they can even learn from each other.

This is a conversation I had with with Kung Fu stylist (and BJJ brown belt) Randy Brown in which we touched on the history of Chinese martial arts and what made them less effective over time, what traditional martial arts look like when you start training them with resistance, and much more. I think you’ll like this one!"

'Sneaky' Americana for No-Gi

'Sneaky' Americana for No-Gi

Here is a No-Gi variation for the Sneaky Americana (Keylock) I've been using from under the head. Using the shoulder to crack open their frame, can help me pry my opponents arm up closer to their head, where I can snag ahold of it to go for the Sneaky Americana. 

Be sure to...

Ezekiel Choke to Americana Lock (Keylock)

Ezekiel Choke to Americana Lock (Keylock)

Here is another attack using the same sneaky Americana I've been using from under the head. In this example, we go from the Ezekiel Choke and our opponent defends it. Because my weight is side shifted, my savvy friend will feel my opposite leg go light, and try to push my knee into half guard to gain a better position. 

Rather than stay there and let them get half guard, we skip over to position 2 of Side Control. Now they defend the position by trying to build a frame. This presents the arm in a vulnerable position to grab it from...
 

How and When to Stand Up in a Fight

How and When to Stand Up in a Fight

Team Note: I know many of you who train with me will enjoy this video. Truth be told, I wish we had done it years ago because it is so fundamentally important. There isn't enough time in the day to practice everything, so feel free to take this and practice it whenever you can, and as much as you want.

Video Description: Whether we like it or not, sometimes we end up on the ground in a fight/altercation, or just a dangerous situation. When and how we stand up, can mean the difference between success and fail. Here are some tips for standing up when someone is waiting to pounce. 

Stop Your Opponents Crushing Side Control

Stop Your Opponents Crushing Side Control

Do you hate being crushed in your opponent's side control? Here's something I've been working on in my game that will hopefully help your game. Building a mountain under your opponents crushing side control can give you space and mobility for countering their attacks, and possibly bringing us to a better position.

I'm Not Ready For That.

I'm Not Ready For That.

Another article on the inner demons that get in the way of our training. This one - "I'm not ready for that."

Mantis Captures Prey - How to Stop the Underhooks

Mantis Captures Prey - How to Stop the Underhooks

The underhook is a powerful tool in the hands of an opponent who knows how to use it. They have leverage, control, and setups for numerous takedowns. So how do we stop our opponent from getting the underhooks? With this awesome move from Taijiquan called Fist Under Elbow, and what I like to call Mantis Captures Prey.

Martial Superiority: The Silent Assassin

Martial Superiority: The Silent Assassin

When we look at one school versus another, and determine that one of them is promoting people to Black Belt with far easier requirements than we ourselves went through, or they are expecting less of their students than what we expect of our students, we can climb on our rickety soap box and take a stand against them, railing at the injustice of it all, or we can look at it like this...

Defending the Worst Position Ever!!

Defending the Worst Position Ever!!

The High Mount combined with striking is a deadly combination. This is by far, one of the worst positions you can get stuck in on the ground. The traditional BJJ escape for mount - bridge, trap, and roll doesn't work quite yet, and meanwhile our opponent is raining punches on us, and bringing the thunder like Poseidon.

All too often, we panic in this situation and end up flailing, or trying to grab arms. Here we show a technique we call - 'Shield Up / Shimmy Up' to help you deal with this problematic position. We have to work from where we are, not where we want to be.

How to Escape the Bow and Arrow Choke

How to Escape the Bow and Arrow Choke

I absolutely love the Bow and Arrow choke, but it sucks to be on the receiving end. Here we demonstrate the choke, an escape from the choke, and then how to prepare yourself for your next move after you release the choke.

BJJ Mount Attacks For Smaller Fighters

BJJ Mount Attacks For Smaller Fighters

Fighting bigger opponents can be frustrating when we try and control the mount position. I know I avoided the mount most of the time as a BJJ White Belt after getting tossed around repeatedly. After a while, I started using the high mount to setup some attacks. Here's are two videos highlighting some attacks from the mount. 

5 Reasons Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is THE Best Martial Art for Kids

Striking arts, whether they be Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, Kickboxing, etc. - all require high degrees of focus on multiple facets of fighting, & self-defense (you can read more on this in my 2015 blog post).

I have spent the past 18 years practicing Mantis Boxing, and the past 5 of those also practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I also spent years teaching kids both Kung Fu, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. My first love will always be Mantis Boxing, but frankly speaking, it is not for kids. 

How to Start Martial Arts

How to Start Martial Arts

As we get more people contacting us, and joining classes of late, I thought it was a good time to send around this video again. Max put this episode together a few years ago as part of his Swamp Talks series. Enjoy the sound effects. [Gunshots were not an intentional part of the production]

Emotional Control - A Core Fighting Principle

Emotional Control - A Core Fighting Principle

‘Emotional Control’ - this often sought after, and rarely attained, side effect from martial arts training. We envision the wise old master sitting quietly in meditation, only to turn into a verifiable badass the moment the movie needs an action star to save the day.

What we don’t see, is that emotional control doesn’t really come for free, or as an automatic trait of just taking martial arts classes a few times per week.  It doesn't come with...