Necks are delicate things. Seven small stacked cervical vertebrae protecting all the nerves in your spinal cord and held together with a multitude of flimsy ligaments and muscles. Yet in BJJ we stress the neck continuously. We attack it with chokes, crucifixes, and cranks. We stack our opponents, turn their heads with crossfaces, and scissor his head with our legs. We also use our head … [Read more...]
Rubber Guard
How to Pass Mission Control in the Rubber Guard and Lockdown Half Guard
The popular no gi grappling system 10th planet jiu-jitsu has many unique positions and strategies. Their closed rubber guard system, which emphasises and requires quite a bit of flexibility, starts with a position called 'Mission Control'. In Mission Control you get one foot on your opponent's hip and hook your leg behind his neck to keep his posture broken. From here there are numerous … [Read more...]
Eddie Bravo’s Rubber Guard “The NewSchool”
In this sequence Eddie 'Twister' Bravo shows yet another one of his innovative rubber guard setups to lock on the diviangle choke. Hold your opponent's head down by headlocking him with your left arm. Use the classic wrestling grip with your right hand. Shift your hips by pushing off your opponent's right hip. ONLY while your opponent's right hand is on the mat, bring your … [Read more...]
Eddie Bravo’s Rubber Guard “The Meathook”
Here, with permission from Eddie 'Twister' Bravo, the man who submitted Royler Gracie with a triangle choke at Abu Dhabi 2003, is a step, by step breakdown of one of his rubberguard setups. Step One: Hold the opponent's head down as tight as possible with your left arm Step Two: Shift your hips to the side, putting your left foot on your opponents right hip. Step Three: As fast as … [Read more...]
A Glossary of Guards Part 1: The Closed Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev Principal Photography by Keith Haist Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine … [Read more...]
Free Book About the Guard for Grapplearts Readers
Heres's a really cool resource for you, something that I've received a TON of positive feedback on. It's a free, downloadable book that breaks down the many different variations of the Guard position with detailed descriptions and lots of pretty pictures! And you can grab it super easily, for free... … [Read more...]
Jiu-jitsu and Physical Attributes
Physical attributes are things like balance, neck strength, limb length, explosiveness, leg flexibility, and percent body fat. Your physical attributes are the foundation of what you can do with your body, and are influenced by genetics, training, age and injuries. Some instructors teach as if everyone, regardless of age, build and flexibility, can use the same techniques. Well I'm here to tell … [Read more...]