Advice for Big Boned BJJ Just starting out in Brazilian jiu jitsu can be hard for anyone. Putting your body under a new form of stress, getting to know new people, remembering techniques, and maybe even just walking through the door!  It can...

Guard Passing Has Become A BJJ Rarity The natural evolution of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu appears to favor guard advancement more so than passing. This may be attributed to, in part, by recent innovations in the leg-lock territory which has drastically expanded the potential...

ADCC Vet Shares Aggressive Closed Guard This past week, Tom DeBlass was in the BJJ Fanatics studio filming his upcoming release which is going to change the way you look at the No Gi closed guard.  Best known for his half guard and...

10X World Champ Is Coming to BJJ Fanatics! Bruno Malfacine is one of the most decorated jiu-jitsu competitors of all time. He’ s a 10-time world champion. Yes, 10 times. With all titles being won in the same weight category, Bruno has been...

Olympic Gold Medalist to Share Wrestling with Fanatics Henry Cejudo recently defeated Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227. The fight was definitely not a one-sided affair, with both combatants showing tremendous heart and skill, but Cejudo came away with the hard-fought win. This was...

Transitioning to Jiu Jitsu Can be Life Changing You have been training in another system (most likely a striking art that focuses on forms and point sparring), but you had a chance to try BJJ. Immediately you felt like a fish out of...

Are You Standing In Your Own Way? A few months back, I was rolling with a much lower ranked teammate.  Starting in my guard, he easily went to my side.  Before I knew it, he had my back and I found myself defending...

Dealing with these supposed game stoppers Headbutts, eye gouging, and attacking the groin. The untrained person loves to claim that those three attacks alone nullify any and all martial skill, whether you are a grappler or a striker they will say that they...

Turn your closed guard into the danger zone for your opponent Closed guard sometimes gets a bad rap.  It can be perceived as just a stalling position if the person on bottom is just holding on and not trying to reverse or submit. ...

Setting Your Sights On That First Comp So there’s a competition coming up in a couple months.  You never really considered competing in the past because you either like to just watch, you don’t feel that you have a competitive mindset, or you’re...

Classic Butterfly Guard Never Goes Out of Style With so many guards out there it’s hard to know where to start. As a beginner often times the newest/hottest guard seems like the place to start learning, but often times where beginners will find...

The first time I was ever exposed to the reverse x-guard, I was in New Jersey at Ocean County BJJ. For those of you who don’t know, this is Tom DeBlass' academy, and the training is always tough. But this weekend it was...

Rickson Gracie has recently expressed his disapproval of the rubber guard and its applications. Calling it inefficient, awkward, and stating he feels that using the position can provide some vulnerability to the practitioner wishing to employ it. Eddie Bravo gave Gracie a short introduction...

Jiu Jitsu can help open the door to many amazing opportunities and friendships that can span the globe.  One of my favorite BJJ photographers out there is Lisa Albon who resides in San Diego and publishes her photos under LisaLisaPics.  Back in 2015,...

Sharing BJJ Should Be Every Practitioner's Goal As a practitioner of BJJ, seeing your child step on to the mat for the very first time to begin their own BJJ journey can invoke a whole host of feelings. We feel a sense of...