Claudio Calasans is quite the talented Jiu Jitsu champion. With black belts in both BJJ and Judo, he has proven his wide range of skills. He can take you down with a devastating Judo throw, battle you from the 50/50 guard, or attack you with his relentless wrist lock attacks. Calasans is a purveyor of […]

Travis Stevens made history at this year’s Olympic Games. He became the first American man to win a silver medal in Judo at the Olympics since 1992. While Travis is a great Judoka, he also showed some of his skills as a BJJ black belt in his Olympic matches as well. In a couple of […]

Luiz Panza, who is becoming one of the most well known Jiu Jitsu champions in the sport spends a lot of his matches in the 50/50 guard. While there is some controversy around the 50/50 guard around the topic of stalling, Panza is one who uses the guard extremely well, without stalling. Luiz Panza uses […]

Bernardo Faria is a BJJ champion who is skilled at so many aspects of Jiu Jitsu. He can beat you up almost anywhere on the mat. With a multitude of championship titles and medals to his name, there are a few areas in particular that he really shines. One of those areas happens to be […]

There is one technique that almost every smaller skilled jiu jitsu practitioner uses when rolling with or competing against a larger, stronger practitioner: the arm drag.  This move is so powerful that it has determined the outcome of major championship matches worldwide.  Why is this technique so powerful?  What mechanism makes it so effective? Unlike […]

For us no gi grapplers, one of the things that we need are solid, great quality pair of no gi shorts. Shorts are important for no gi, just as a good gi is important for BJJ practitioners. With so many different no gi shorts on the market, it can seem like a daunting task on […]

When buying a gi, you will see many different terms thrown around. The most common term that is important to know is the term weave. It is important to know the difference between these weaves because both are functionally different. There is single weave and double weave gi’s. Then there are different weaves such as […]

There is one takedown in the grappling world that is considered the most dangerous. It is banned completely in Judo. In most BJJ tournaments it is banned as well, perhaps with the exception for some tournaments in the black belt division. That takedown is the flying scissor. The flying scissor became popular from the Russian […]

Twister side control is a dynamic way of holding the side control position, made popular by Eddie Bravo and his 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu system. Both twister side control and normal side control are great for controlling an opponent, and offer some great submissions. But with twister side control, there is a twist (pun intended). […]

Butterfly guard is a tricky guard to pass for a competitor that knows how to use it well. It offers a healthy variety of attacks, and allows the user to adapt. But, not everyone is a butterfly guard specialist when they go to the position. Many times people make mistakes of keeping their knees down, […]

The guard is a dynamic position. It is dynamic because of the all the things you can do from it. You can break posture, control an opponent, go for submissions or you can sweep. While there are plenty of good sweeps, the first sweep from guard that you should know is the flower sweep (also […]

The toe hold. It is a classic foot lock attack, but oft forgotten about. It is prominent in the Catch Wrestling style and is also present in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The toe hold is a gray area of grappling. In IBJJF tournaments, people tend to favor the straight foot lock, while in the submission only […]

While foot locks are to be respected, you do not have to fear them. While you need to be cautious and aware, a foot lock does not mean that your goose is cooked. Far from it. If you know the proper defense, then a foot lock will be no different than any other submission. The […]

There are very few moves in jiu jitsu that provide competent practitioners a true edge or advantage in competition.  The kimura, sometimes referred to as a double wrist lock, is one such move.  The kimura can be a method of doing jiu jitsu, but what makes it so special?  Why is this move such an […]

The De La Riva guard can be such a fantastic guard if you know how to work it. The bread and butter techniques of De La Riva guard are the sweeps. It is a guard where if you know how to control your opponent with it, that you’ll be easily able to complete any of […]