Shin Whizzer Wisdom With Neil Melanson!

As our sport evolves, we are seeing more and more high level wrestlers bringing techniques to the mats that are forcing us to think differently and respond differently than we maybe had to in the past.  Wrestlers typically bring a very fast paced, high energy game that requires a fair amount of cardio to keep up with coupled with tons of pressure from each position. There is a lot to learn for this style of live training and many takeaways that we can add to our game to make us more difficult to deal with and one of the more exhausting matches anyone has. 

If you follow the sport closely you likely have been seeing a lot of videos on the BJJ Fanatics YouTube channel and video instructionals on their website from Neil Melanson.  Neil is widely know as the guy who does everything differently, yet is still one of the most efficient and scary grapplers on the planet.  Neil has a very unorthodox approach to grappling and has begun to compile “systems” to help teach and explain his style to others. Neil is one of the most sought after instructors in the world when it comes to grappling for competition or mixed martial arts training brining a finite level of detail to each instructional ensuring that nothing is missed in your training so that there is no question whether or not you are able to execute the technique on the mats or not. 

Taking a look at Neil’s Shin Whizzer system we will break down the entry and the purpose of it so that you can easily see if this is something that will fit in your game. 

To start, Neil is sitting in a modified butterfly guard position with his training partner kneeling in front of him on both knees.  Neil has his right arm behind him on the mat for as a frame for support, and has his right arm over his training partner’s right shoulder.  He starts with his left foot planted on the mat and his left knee in his training partner’s chest. His right leg is laying on the mat with his knee pointed to his right and his right foot on the outside of his training partner’s right knee.  

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Neil mentions he likes to do things that cause his training partner to react.  In this situation one of the things he often does to help get close to his training partner and close the gap is do scoot in while driving his left knee into his training partner’s chest.  This will almost always earn a response of them backing up, even if just for a second, giving us the opportunity to scoot in closing the gap.

Typically, in this position a common response from the opponent is to wrap up Neil’s left leg that is posted, sometimes even lacing it and grabbing the bottom leg.  To respond to that Neil is simply taking his left hand on the outside of his left leg and the opponent’s grip on his left leg and grabbing his own left shin. This essentially locks his training partner’s grip in place preventing them, or at least making it much more difficult to pull the arm back out. 

From this position Neil is then looking to use his right hand that is being used as a base to pull his bottom leg out and turn so he is almost parallel to his training partner.  This will put him in a position where he can attack the arm if he want’s to, but also in a position that puts so much pressure on the opponent’s shoulder that it is very difficult for them to try to rebuild posture.  Neil is using his right leg as a kickstand and driving in to his training partner. This position puts you in a great position to finish the submission by simply pulling up on the hand applying pressure in the shoulder.  

In order to be as effective as possible and build the correct muscle memory you should always train as realistically as possible.  Regardless of your level, not just rank, but whether you are a competitor or not, a professional athlete or not, it should not matter.  We should compare ourselves to the best of the best and train as realistically as possible. Neil cautions against allowing yourself to get lazy when training live with opponents that are lower rank or lower skill sets. 

Remember when training it’s important to ensure the safety of your training partner, on the mats at your academy, you should make it your responsibility to ensure no one gets hurt as a result of your inability to control yourself, your submission attempts or any other part of your game.  There are varying thoughts on where that responsibility falls during competition, personally I think it is each competitor’s responsibility to protect themselves and no one else, but on the mats in training, train safe. To be clear, this does not mean to sacrifice technique for your training partners comfort.  Just because knee on belly sucks, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t drill it with them, in that case they just need to deal with it, but what it does mean is control your submission attempts, don’t get sloppy and make sure you give them time to tap before you hurt them.  

The game as we know it is continually evolving, not all of that evolution is going to fit “inside the box” of our past thinking and theories, the more open minded you are, and the more instructors you seek knowledge from the more versatile your game will be, and the more prepared you will be.  One of the best ways to stay loyal to your academy, but also gain knowledge from some of the best athletes and instructors in Jiu Jitsu is through BJJ Fanatics extensive and ever growing library of video instructionals. 

Neil has an entire system around the Shin Whizzer that dives into the details of how to best utilize this system and how to finish various submissions from this setup.  If you want to take your game to the next level and surprise your training partners and more importantly your opponent’s, then you need to make the investment in The Shin Whizzer video instructional by Neil Melanson.  This video is packed full of secrets that were previously reserved for the elite that were lucky enough to be able to train with Neil, but now they are available to you in a format where you can watch, study and re-watch as many times as you want to in order to understand the techniques to the fullest.  Commit today and start implementing high level wrestling techniques into your game immediately. 

The Shin Whizzer System is designed to DOMINATE your opponent. Leave them ZERO chance for escape with Neil Melansons HIGHLY EFFECTIVE Shin Whizzer System. Use the Shin Whizzer to set up Transitions, Submissions, and Sweeps!

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