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 […]

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). […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The butterfly guard is a fantastic asset for anyone that likes to play the open guard game. And its use has been well documented by its effective use in high level competition. While it is known mainly for its effective sweeps to get on top of an opponent, or to set up X Guard, there […]

Sparring (or rolling) in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the reasons that the art is so effective. Unlike other styles of martial arts that perform their techniques in the air, with no real resistance, BJJ relies on actually proving its worth through sparring. BJJ students show their knowledge by using their techniques on fully […]

While there are endless combinations of attacks from the closed guard, two that are often overlooked at the collar chokes. Most people opt to go after the standard techniques, such as armbars and triangle chokes, which is fine. But two great techniques from the closed guard happen to be the cross collar choke and the […]

The back position allows for a plethora of positions for the attacker and limited defenses for the person being attacked. While there are various submissions, some of the most effective techniques are gi chokes. They are fast and furious, and can put an opponent out cold if he doesn’t decide to rightfully tap. The best […]

Dean Lister is a name synonymous with submission attacks to the legs and feet. He is a multiple ADCC champion with wins in the open weight division and an ADCC super fight champion. He is a dangerous leg attack specialists and has specific ways of performing these techniques. By learning the way that he does […]

The full guard has endless possibilities. From the fundamentals, to all the creative things you can do from there, it is a position that is very much alive in that aspect. One of the special possibilities from the guard are wrist lock submissions. Wrist locks are quick, painful and can end a match in just […]

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 […]

Anyone who knows about the elite competitors of Jiu Jitsu knows of, Bernardo Faria. The BJJ black belt from Alliance has been a slayer of fellow elite Jiu Jitsu fighters across the globe. His matches are always action packed and can easily be made into a highlight reel. Faria, whose game is technical and heavy […]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo and Japanese Jiu Jitsu. All are different yet all three are thoroughly intertwined with each other. If you go as far back as you can, they all really came from the same place. Techniques and old styles of China and Japan, eventually would cumulate it the formation of all these different […]

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 […]