Among the elements of a typical class or training schedule, the notion of drilling seems to be the most contentious or controversial.  From the average practitioner who has just learned a technique who is performing repetitions to begin to build muscle, to the...

One of the most elusive things that everyone who steps on the BJJ mats is looking for, even beyond their next stripe or belt promotion, is good cardio.  Think back to the first time you took a BJJ class.  The classic jiu jitsu...

There are a few commonly accepted ways to improve your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Most involve an overall increase in mat time.  These include, attending additional classes, staying after class to do extra live training, drilling or both, attending seminars, investing in BJJ instructional...

Training BJJ is not a solitary activity.  Just like it takes a village to raise a child, as the old saying goes, it takes an academy, an instructor and a lot of training partners over the years to raise a black belt.  One...

Effective guard passing is essential to begin developing as early as humanly possible in your BJJ development because nothing is as frustrating as being held at bay by an opponent's guard, whether it is closed or opened.  During live training, we can sometimes...

There are probably as many opinions about how to get good at jiu jitsu as there are current practitioners out there on the mats.  So why do so many people who put on a gi or step on the mat for the first...

One of the most effective chokes that does not get enough love in the BJJ community is the baseball bat choke. The baseball bat choke is a highly powerful choke that can be used by novices, advanced students, and even no gi competitors. The set ups are endless and it can be attained from a […]

For many of us jiu jitsu practitioners, BJJ becomes so much more than a hobby or a workout.  It can become an obsession.  We think about it in the morning as we are waiting for our coffee to finish brewing, driving to work...

For everyone that starts training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it becomes an instant goal to attain their blue belt. The blue belt has a mystique to most white belts. That is because blue belts are pretty darn competent at performing Jiu Jitsu. A question that I hear a lot is “what can do I to defeat […]

Have you ever heard the term, pulling the trigger? If you have been around combative sporting martial arts, it is probably something that you’ve heard at least once. Usually you will hear it in Muay Thai or Kickboxing. All it means is to not be so tentative. It means to go for your attacks when […]

Everyone who follows the top BJJ tournaments in the sport knows about Luiz Panza. When it comes to gi competition, he is one of the top dogs and is by far the best at foot locks in the gi. In competition, Luiz has over 20 wins by foot lock, including straight foot locks and kneebars. […]

The full guard is one of my favorite positions. It is one of the safer positions to play, so it is low risk for you, yet dangerous for your opponents to be there. The guard allows for a ton of control with posture breaking, gi control and limb control. But, probably my favorite reason to […]

For people that are new to Jiu Jitsu, the mount position can be a frustrating position. You will probably find yourself there quite a bit when you start to roll. You’ll be taken down, and your opponent will end up in mount, or you might get your guard passed. Either way, getting stuck does happen. […]

Though Wrestling seems to be the rage of most people in Jiu Jitsu as of late, I was always a big fan and avid user of takedowns from Judo that are present in BJJ. One of the biggest reasons that Judo takedowns don’t get a lot of love in Jiu Jitsu is that they take […]

While Jiu Jitsu allows for the smaller person to beat the bigger guy, not every single technique is best for beating the bigger guys that we go against on the mats. There are certain techniques that work better than others. Armbars are great, until that big guy curls you like a big free weight and […]