I've previously written about why you probably shouldn’t use the top-scoring judo throw - Seio Otoshi - in your BJJ practice. (To recap, this throw requires a TON of reps, potentially exposes you to back takes, is gi-dependent, and there’s a high chance you'll roll over your opponent to end up on the bottom.) But don't throw the Judo baby out with the bathwater!! There IS a heck of a lot … [Read more...]
North-South
An Easy Way to Take the Back
Taking someone's back and achieving rearmount moves you right to the pinnacle of the BJJ positional hierarchy (click here for a downloadable guide to the BJJ positions). From the back you can attack your opponent with chokes and armlocks at will. By contrast he has very, very limited attacks he can use on you since all his weapons are facing away from you. Here's one of my favorite ways to … [Read more...]
How To Do the North South Choke
The north south choke is a powerful choke that you can apply from the top of sidemount or the north south position. This submission looks a bit like an upside-down guillotine choke but the mechanics of finishing the choke are quite different. Given that this technique works both with and without the gi I think everyone should experiment with it, at least enough to recognize when someone is … [Read more...]
The North South Kimura Armlock
Here's a short 1:55 video taking you through the the Kimura armlock attack from the north-south position. This Kimura setup is usually the first attack I go for whenever I'm in the north south position. If you run into resistance then there are a million ways to finish the Kimura or to transition into backtakes, leglocks and armbars. So if you learn this setup it ends up leading you to a … [Read more...]
Submissions and Attacks from the North South Position
The north south position is a variation of side control where you're lined up at roughly 180 degrees to your opponent; your head is pointing towards his feet and vice versa. If you're skilled at the north south position you can make life hell for your opponent, especially since many of his standard side control escapes won't work in this configuration. And it also opens up some very … [Read more...]
Some High Percentage Pin Escapes from the North South Position
One of the most common questions I get asked is "how do I escape from north south?" It's a totally understandable question, because the north south position is a TERRIBLE place to be stuck in! On the bottom your arms are dangling out ripe for armlocking, your neck is just waiting to be choked, and the whole time your opponent is smashing you with heavy pressure from the top. Some of … [Read more...]
The Step-by-Step North South Choke
The North-South Choke is undeniably effective. Properly applied it's incredibly difficult for your opponent to escape before you put him to sleep. And it's proven at the highest levels in both gi and no gi competition, which is why it's one of the 10 key tactics of many time world champion Marcelo Garcia. That being said, even after having been a black belt for many years I still have a … [Read more...]
The Fat, Lazy, Old Man Kimura Finish
The first time I saw this Kimura variation from the north-south position I said to myself, "Yeah right, that'll never work in a million, billion years!" And that's because it looked like you had no control over his body. But the funny thing was that when I actually started training it then it felt pretty good... And then I started catching people in it and tapping them out... And now, … [Read more...]
A Powerful Judo Pinning Trick You Can Use in BJJ
In Judo you win the match if you pin your opponent for 20 seconds, and so Judoka can have some pretty ferocious 'osaekomi' (Japanese for pinning someone's back to the mat). To help them get to a pin and then hold down frantically struggling opponents Judo players have quite a few tricks up their sleeve. Today I want to talk about one of these moves that creates a handle on one of … [Read more...]
10 Key Techniques and Tactics of Marcelo Garcia
Marcelo Garcia is probably the most dominant jiu-jitsu athlete of the last 15 years. When he was competing he owned both the gi and the no gi divisions (4 x ADCC champion, 5 x Mundial World Champion). As if that wasn't enough, his amazing performances in the absolute division against giants like Ricco Rodriguez have ensured his place in grappling history. It’s always a good idea to … [Read more...]
Ronda Rousey and the Power of Gameplans
In case you were hiding under a rock, Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche last night at UFC 157. She both validated her UFC Women's Bantamweight title, and made history by being in the first-ever women's match in the the UFC. And just in case you were under that aforementioned rock, despite a very spirited fight by Liz Carmouche, Ronda won the match with an armbar at 4:49 of the first … [Read more...]
North-South to Mount Transition, by Perry Hauck
Here's a great way to transition into the Mount, one of the most dominant positions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This technique is by Perry Hauck, who was a brown belt under Rey Diogo at the time of this photo shoot. … [Read more...]
Mastering the Kimura
By Stephan Kesting and Marcus Soares Originally published in Grappling Magazine, May 2002 The Kimura lock is one of the most important submission holds in Jiu-jitsu. It is also found in many other grappling systems, where it might be called a hammerlock, a chickenwing, or ude-garami. Whatever it is called, it is a powerful and versatile attack. Wherever you see grapplers competing, whether … [Read more...]
Critical Submission Details
Are there any submissions out there that you just can't finish? You can set it up, lock it on, and strain for all you're worth, but your opponent just won't tap out? It happens all the time. In fact, I'm not immune either. There have been lots of submissions where I initially thought, "oh man, this will never work for me!" But take heart! Usually there are just one or two critical … [Read more...]
BJJ Positions – What About North South?
After my last tip about unorthodox BJJ positions I had some people contact me and tell me that I'd left out the North South position from my list of the 6 fundamental BJJ Positions. I've actually addressed this issue in my Beginning BJJ Package, and so I'm just going to quote from there: … [Read more...]