The rise of leg locks in recent years increased the popularity of a guard that most grapplers know today, or at least should know. Ashi garami, often called single leg X guard is a modification of another popular guard, X-guard. Ashi garami was...

One of the most popular forms of open guard grapplers use is a position known as De La Riva guard. This position is dangerous and used by some of the best competitors to win competitions worldwide. The reason it is so popular is...

Let’s face it, most Jiu-Jitsu folks could use some more takedown training. Many grapplers share similar sentiments when it comes to takedowns. Some people are concerned about safety, while others rather just pull guard. BUT what if you could have a safer way...

  In the Co-Main event at PFL 4 in Atlantic City, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Kayla Harrison improved her undefeated record to 5-0. Harrison has been nothing short of dominant in her aspiring MMA career. She also has an AMAZING instructional called The...

Enjoy this exclusive look inside the Tom DeBlass Road to Black Belt and Beyond E-Book DISCIPLINE VERSUS MOTIVATION   Understanding the relationship between discipline and motivation, as well as the distinct differences between the two is crucial to one’s success on the Road...

As a white belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you are caught in a deluge of new terms. Positions, sweeps, submissions...they’re all said casually around the gym and you feel so out place not knowing what they are. If you’re like me, you make...

  Working to pass the closed guard can be a tedious process. In a no gi setting, we often do everything we can to stay out of a closed guard scenario, as it slows thigs down considerably. If your opponent is sharp inside...

What is the worst position you can be stuck in during competition or live training?  What’s your opinion on this? What’s the worst position that you have been stuck in? Was is bottom side control?  Maybe it was in someone’s mount control, or...

Without a doubt, the hardest thing to do in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is to start.  Sure, rolling for the first time can be intimidating and so can competing, but nothing is as nerve-wracking and terrifying as walking into a BJJ school for the...

Leg locks and leg positions have become much more popular over the last several years.  Likely since the statement was made “Why would you ignore 50 percent of the human body”, we have been woken up and forced to engage in the leg...

To loosely quote John Danaher, everyone agrees that the fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu are the most important and deserve to be focused on daily. However, there is a lot of controversy regarding what constitutes the “fundamentals”.   We can likely all agree that the...

The longer you train, the harder you have to work to finish a submission.   The reality of it is this, the longer you have been training, typically, the longer your opponent has been training as well.  That being said, it is becoming more...

When I first started training Jiu Jitsu around 2012, leg locks were used only by a few grapplers. In fact, many schools prohibited the use of many leg attacks, especially the heel hook, claiming that it is too dangerous for ordinary use in...

A rising trend in Jiu Jitsu, thanks to great minds like John Danaher, is the implementation of comprehensive systemic methods to develop one’s skill rather than an individual technique-based game. Watching grapplers like Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon helped me conclude that systems...

Caffeine is one of the most commonly used substances to enhance wakefulness, attention, and physical abilities. Although it is present in a wide array of natural foods, it is most commonly consumed in beverages such as a coffee, energy drinks, and pre-workout supplements....