In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, there’s nothing more enjoyable than letting your opponent's trap themselves. It’s one of those moments—especially for the beginner—that make you realize that Jiu Jitsu is as much a game of wits as it is a game of skill. Beautiful...

Your Mindset Needs Trained As Much As Your Berimbolos Stanford researcher Carol Dweck has studied and written extensively on the role of one's mindset on their life and performance.  In simplest terms, she posits that people's mindsets generally fall into one of two main categories,...

If you have been training Jiu Jitsu for even just a few weeks, its pretty likely that you have tapped to an armbar or at least seen more experienced students using it all the time. Even if you haven’t trained at all, you’ve...

The half guard is one of the most comprehensive positions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It is comprehensive in many ways. First, there is a wide array of attacks one can attempt from half guard. These attacks include submissions like the armbar, kimura, and...

The basic half guard sweep is one of the best ways for a half guard player to get on top. For grapplers with a strong base or wrestling background, using half guard to get on top is a no brainer. One example of...

So, you competed in your first tournament, and things didn’t go as well as you had hoped.  What do you do now? How should you deal with this defeat? First off, give yourself credit for putting yourself out there.  It’s the rare few...

In this Bernardo Faria video, 8 time world champion Bruno Malfacine shows a sweep he uses successfully against larger opponents. Discussion of the technique starts at 1:31. The basics of the technique (as described by Malfacine in the video) are as follows: To...

Have you ever been in class and asked your professor what the best defense for a submission is or how to get out of a precarious position, only to have them say something along the lines of “ just don’t get there”? It’s...

In the first part of this article, we looked at a variety of teacher archetypes from the BJJ Fanatics catalogue. In the second part, there are four other types who come to mind, but it might be a good time to explain the...

Injuries are unavoidable in life, especially if you’re involved in a combat sport. After doing Jiu Jitsu for a few months you start to have a new idea of what feeling comfortable means. What are some things that make getting injured more likely?...

We all want to see the BJJ community grow and prosper.  That means we need to all be good ambassadors for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  And sometimes, this means inviting new people to class in the hopes that they will find Jiu Jitsu as...

Most of us are familiar with the physical benefits of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; you become stronger, more flexible, your reflexes improve and much more. Though these are all fantastic benefits to a sport that we all love, most of us find more solace...

If you’re a grappler, the existence of the double leg takedown is definitely on your radar. If you have a wrestling background, it may be one of your go to methods of getting the exchange to the mat. The double leg may have...

Adeline Quackenbush recently published an article in The Mighty on how her BJJ practice helps her deal with the effects of mental illness. It’s important to note that Quackenbush is not saying that BJJ is a cure for mental illness.  And anyone who...

As we talked about in Part 1 and 2, rules play a big role in how your game develops and what it eventually grows in to. Now on to Part 3 to look at the Pros and Cons of Submission Only Grappling as...