“I need to work on my basics”. “Basics win matches”. “BJJ is all about the basics”. It’s common to hear statements like these when discussing BJJ. So what are the basics? It’s a simple enough question but it’s hard to get a precise answer to it. You’ll get different answers depending on whom you ask. […]
BJJ is the art of a million moves. At least it can feel like that to a beginner. If your gym follows the common “3 techniques a class” philosophy, you’ll be exposed to several hundred techniques a year. How can you simplify and make sense of all this information? An easy approach is to simply […]
The goal of BJJ is to make your opponent give up, to submit. Each of us will be forced to submit many times while training. It’s a humbling experience. Those of us without any ego problems tap, learn and keep training. Those who can’t manage their ego either quit or become self destructive. The longer […]
You can’t learn BJJ by yourself, you need training partners. The better your training partners, the faster you will improve. The fastest way to improve is to have a club full of good training partners. So, how do you become a good training partner? If you look at any BJJ instructional (or most BJJ classes) […]
You’ve been telling your friends how much you love BJJ and how awesome it is. There’s a competition coming up so you invite them to come watch. Afterwards, you ask them what they think and they give you that look. The one that says this is the stupidest thing they’ve ever seen and that you […]
Here are my videos from the recent Freo Grappling Cup. Match 1 — under 65kg. This is the first time I’ve competed against a lighter opponent. I weighed in at 63kg fully clothed. My opponent, Morgan, weighed 60kg. Win by guillotine. Match 1 — under 75kg. With only one opponent under 65kg, I also enter […]
Yesterday I competed in the Freo Grappling Cup. I had seven matches and received gold for the under 65kgs and silver for the open weight divisions. This was the second competition run by the newly formed Grappling Committee of Western Australia (GCWA). The first was held late last year. GCWA runs no-gi competitions following the […]
Both gorilla sweeps and ninja sweeps are applied when your opponent is supporting his own weight. When your opponent’s weight is supported by you, it is time to consider circus sweeps. The mental image for a circus sweep is the circus act where one performer is balancing on top of another performer. The top person’s […]
Previously we looked at the principles behind gorilla sweeps. Gorilla sweeps rely on using force to destabilise your opponent’s balance so a sweep can then be easily applied. But what if you can’t destabilise your opponent? Continuing with a gorilla type sweep is futile so you need to switch to a different type of sweep. […]
I noticed that myself and other students often attempt to force sweeps inappropriately. It’s not just that the timing of the mechanics of the sweep is wrong, it’s that the sweep is completely inappropriate for the situation. Consider attempting a butterfly hook sweep against an opponent who is kneeling with his hips low to the […]