Tighten Up Your Turtle Defense With These Important Details From The Legendary Travis Stevens

Concepts For Defense by Travis Stevens

Who is Travis Stevens? He made history by being the third male judoka from the USA to win a silver medal at the Olympic Games.  Travis also holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the legendary John Danaher and Renzo Gracie. It is an understatement to say that he is accomplished in both Judo and Jiu Jitsu.

Travis was born February 28, 1986 and is a lifelong grappler. He began training Judo at the age of 6.  He competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics in the men's half-middleweight (-81 kg) division. On August 9, 2016, Stevens made history by being the third American male judoka to win a silver medal in the Olympics. His other grappling accomplishments include the following: 2^nd place at the 2016: Grand Prix Havana. 3^rd place at the 2015: Pan American Senior Championships , 1st place at the 2015: Pan American Games Toronto, 3^rd place at the 2015: Pan American Senior Championships, 7^th place at the 2015: Grand Prix Dusseldorf, 2^nd place at the 2014: Grand Prix Zagreb, 1rst place at the Pan American Open Miami, 5^th place at the  Grand Slam Tyumen, 2^nd place at the  Grand Prix Havana,  3^rd place at the Pan American Championships Guayaquil, 2^nd place at the  Grand Prix Tbilisi, 1rst place at the Grand Prix Dusseldorf,  5^th place at the 2013: Grand Slam Tokyo, 7^th place at the  Grand Prix Abu Dhabi, 1rst place at the Grand Prix Tashkent, 3^rd place at the Pan American Championships San Jose , 1rst place at the Pan American Open Montevideo, 2^nd place in Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro ,3^rd place in  Grand Prix Abu Dhabi, 1rst place in World Cup Tashkent, 2^nd place in  Grand Slam Moscow , 2^nd place in Pan American Championships Guadalajara, 1rst place Grand Prix Dusseldorf,5^th place in World Cup Budapest and 5^th place in Masters Baku.

Learn the nuances of the turtle position from the legendary Travis Stevens.

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Stevens is an excellent teacher. On January 12, 2013 he opened FUJI Gym in Wakefield, Massachusetts.  He spends the majority of his time teaching there. He also teaches at Renzo Gracie Fort Lee in New Jersey. When he is not teaching, he regularly trains at Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City. Another testament to his ability as an instructor is the fact that his instructional videos for BJJ Fanatics are hugely successful.

 

In this video Travis Stevens explores some principals of defense from the turtle position. One concept that he explores is a chin roll. By posting on his head and rolling his chin allows for several advantages. First it allows him to free his hands to defend or escape. Second, it grants him a better field of vision. Third, it allows him a solid pivot point. By pivoting on his head he is able to create an angle for escape. Another key concept that he talks about is not playing unnecessary defenses. Some use both hands to defend against the choke in the turtle position. Yet that is not being efficient with our defense. The far side hand should be defending against the choke and the near side hand should be defending against the tight waist.  Well done Travis. What an excellent video. I know that I will be pivoting more in my escapes from turtle.

This video is a wonderful example of Travis’s ability to communicate technique to even novice grapplers.  Like all of Stevens’ instructional videos, there is a lot of detail. I know that I often gain new insights every time I re-watch one of his videos. Travis Stevens’ instructional videos have a powerful impact on anyone who makes a careful study of them. Certainly, the Jiu Jitsu community is lucky to have him.

If you like these details check out Steven's instructional Attacking and Defending The Turtle from BJJ Fanatics!

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