Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tips

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been told by a few different black belts that I really need to start developing my top game. Ironically enough, my top game is actually one of my strengths. However, a couple of years ago, I realized that I had no guard, so I’ve spent the last two years working on guard. In the meantime, I’ve familiarized myself with some classic closed guard and open guard games like the butterfly, spider, De La Riva, and the X-guard. While I’m going to change my focus to top game development now, here are a couple of classic BJJ videos that have helped me develop my guard.

The first video is a great clip of BJ Penn and Leo Viera rolling. I just love to watch BJ Penn’s open guard work. He’s constantly moving his hips to maintain the proper distance from his opponent.

The second video is another favorite of mine of Ricardo De La Riva. About a year ago, I took a private lesson from Tony Passos Black Belt Jeff Rockwell and he showed me some fundamental De La Riva positions. I’ve really enjoyed the sheer technical beauty of De La Riva’s game in the meantime.

Enjoy!

In my last post, we talked a bit about dealing with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training plateaus.   Sometimes, we all get stuck in a rut and need something to give us some fresh ideas.  I’m going to review a few books that have helped me in the past, starting with a good basic BJJ book for beginners.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Basics:

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique (Renzo Gracie and Royler Gracie) – Click to purchase

I still have the receipt from my purchase of “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique” by Renzo Gracie and Royler Gracie. I purchased this book as a frustrated two-month white belt. I was getting really tired of getting submitted over and over again in class. I really felt that I really didn’t understand much of anything at all. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this feeling is completely normal.

I recommend picking up a copy of this book, but it’s a qualified recommendation. I think the “Theory” part of the book is fantastic. This part of the book outlines, step-by-step, the theory of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, from identifying “The Fundamental Problem of the Martial Arts” (paraphrased – How does someone defend themselves from an attack by a bigger, stronger person?), to how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu addresses this fundamental problem. The “Theory” section also discusses the origins of BJJ and development of BJJ. Finally, the “Theory” section addresses BJJ training, technical progression, the belt system (white, blue, purple, brown, and black belts), and the part I found most useful of all, “Basic Positions in Ground Grappling.”

The “Technique” portion of the book is probably good for beginners, especially ones who don’t have access to a qualified instructor. There are a couple of problems with the “Technique” section of the book. First, both Renzo and Royler are wearing white gis in the demonstration photos, which makes it a bit difficult to tell what’s going on, particularly for the beginning student. I found myself asking “Is that Royler’s arm or Renzo’s arm? Where is Renzo’s leg?” quite a bit when I first looked through the book.

Secondly, some of the techniques are not my favorite. One particularly questionable technique is “017 – Passing the guard.” Renzo demonstrates a pass from Royler’s full guard that puts Renzo in a prime position to get triangle choked. A former training partner of mine once referred to the technique as “The Gracie Gift” – as in you’re basically handling a gift-wrapped triangle submission to your opponent.

Finally, I also found it interesting that fairly basic techniques were referred to as “black belt techniques.” For example, “103 – Spider guard sweep” would at most be considered an intermediate technique today. To be fair, this book was published in 2001 and BJJ techniques and instruction has come a long way since then.

Overall, despite my reservations about the “technique” section of the book, I think that this book is a solid purchase, if only for the “theory” section. I think that beginner students should at least take a quick look through the book (just ignore technique 017 – passing the guard ).

Tell me what you think about this book. Comment below or send me an email at ronald@bjjtips.com.

Also, please note that the links to the books are affiliate links. This means that if you purchase a copy of the book (and please do, if you like) through those links, I will get a commission for referring to sale.

One of the most frustrating things that I’ve encountered in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is dealing with the plateau.  What is “the plateau?”  Basically, the plateau is a feeling that no matter how much, often, or hard you train, you don’t feel like you’re getting any better.  If anything, you feel like you might be getting worse.  People that you used to walk through seem tougher and may even be catching you from time to time.

Part of the reason why you may be on the plateau is because your game has become predictable.  Your training partners have figured out how to counter your guard defenses, your guard passes, and your submissions.  They may even have identified the weaknesses in your game and started exploiting them.  For example, if you have a weak side mount escape game, but a strong guard game, your classmates might eventually figure out your guard game, pass your guard, and now, you have to face the fact that you have a weak side mount escape game.

All, I can say is this: as hard as it is to accept, enjoy the plateau!  Your classmates have identified a weakness in your game that you can concentrate on.  This means that if you address that weakness, you will just get that much better.

So, what are good ways to get off that plateau?

1. Check out some BJJ instructional books and videos to get those creative juices flowing.  You may see something that helps you think about your BJJ weakness in a different way.
2. Change up your training schedule: If you always train on the same days every week, changing it up will give you the opportunity to train with different people.  Or you can try visiting a different school for a while.
3. Enter a competition: You may find out that your old moves that don’t work in class anymore (because your training partners have figured them out) work brilliantly in competition.  Competition might give you the mental jump start off of a plateau.

What do you think?  What methods have you used to get out of a BJJ mental rut?  Comment below!

A good guard is vital to any BJJ player.  That’s probably one of the more obvious BJJ-related things you can say.  I hardly consider myself to have a good guard game, but some of my instructors and teammates, present and former, have wicked guards (Machado/Vandry Black Belt Sean Cooper, Relson Gracie Black Belt Phil Cardella, Tony Passos Black Belt Jeff Rockwell, “Rex”, Kevin Massengale, just to name a few).

While all of these people have radically different styles, the one thing that I’ve observed that all of these people have in common is that their hips are constantly moving.  If your hips are mobile, you can constantly adjust the distance between you and your opponent.  This allows you freedom to put your opponent on the defensive since they have to constantly adjust to avoid getting swept or submitted.

A couple of years ago, I realized that in order to get better at BJJ, I had to develop a guard game.  Here’s a few tips on how I’ve improved my guard.

1. Foot on hips: if your opponent starts to crush you from the top when they are in your guard (thus, controlling your hips and/or your upper body), try to get your foot on their hips to push them away.  Be careful of leg attacks like ankle locks, though.
2. Closed guard hip movement: Check out this video, starting at 2:20 or so, on closed guard hip movement:
3. Shrimping: Here’s a helpful video on shrimping – which allows you to free your hips from your opponent has he tries to pass and/or isolate your hips.

What do you think?  What helpful tips do you have on developing your guard?  Comment below!

Recently, I’ve joined a new BJJ academy here in the North Dallas area (www.cobrabjj.com). Cobra BJJ’s head instructor is Carlos Machado black belt Eddie Ricardo. In the two classes I’ve been to so far, I’ve been really impressed with his attention to detail and his emphasis on building a good fundamental game on basic techniques. While it’s fun to learn flying armbars and exotic half-guard sweeps, I’ve learned that if you don’t have a good fundamental game, most somewhat experienced BJJ players will be able to shut down your game. Even if you have a good De La Riva guard game, if you don’t know how to deal with someone with a decent understanding of grip fighting, you’re going to have a long day.

I’m also finding myself thrown in with a bunch of new training partners, which I always enjoy. This group of students have quite a bit of competition experience, and it shows. Their jiu-jitsu is very practical and effective. If you’re playing open guard, you better not hang out during the transitions or you will get passed!

A few months back, I picked up a copy of “Jiu-Jitsu University” by Gracie Humaita Black Belt Saulo Riberio.  The book talks about each BJJ belt level and the area of concentration for each belt level:

While I was reading the white belt section on survival, I realized that a lot of the holes in my game were due to some bad habits. I was trying to force the escape before securing a survival position to protect myself from getting submitted.  For example, my turtle defense (when my opponent is on my back) was flawed since I would try to trap an arm and roll.  I would frequently find myself back mounted or vulnerable to a choke.

Saulo recommends that you tuck your elbows between your knees and touch your head to the mat to prevent any easy armlocks, chokes, or back attacks.  Then, when the opportunity presents itself (if your opponent becomes impatient and changes position), work towards an escape.

Conventional BJJ wisdom says “Position, then submission.”  In other words, first you secure your position, then you have a higher chance of locking in the submission.  I suppose you can apply this statement a different way with escapes: “position, then escape” – make sure your position is secure from submissions, then work on unbalancing your opponent to create an opportunity to escape.

What do you think? Comment below.

Disclaimer: The link above is an Amazon affiliate link. If you decide to purchase the book from Amazon through that link, I will receive a commission from the sale.

Between moving to Dallas, starting a new job, and buying a house, it’s a miracle that I’ve had time to actually train BJJ.  I’ve trained at a couple places in town, but my busy schedule has not let me be quite as consistent or frequent in my training as I’d like.

In the last couple of months, I’ve really enjoyed training (when I can) with new people.  It’s always good to experience some different styles of BJJ.  It’s very easy to get into the same rhythm of training with the same people so training with new people can really change up your game.

Lately, I’ve been working intensely on my open guard game.  In the next year, I’d like to develop a guard that is not only hard to pass, but presents some offensive options as well.  In the past, the guard is the place that I hated to be.  I’m forcing myself to pull guard now, even when it means that I will probably get tapped.

Anyway, I promise to post more frequently.  There’s so much that I’ve learned in the last couple of months, but I simply can’t find the time to write it all down!

I’m still managing my move to Dallas, so I haven’t been training nearly as much as I’d like.  The next time I’m on the mats, I can’t wait to try this triangle tip from Renzo Gracie.

I’m sure all of you have had issues with successfully triangling a larger opponent. Let me know if this works in the comments section! You can also send me an email. I will also report back after my next BJJ class.

In the past few weeks, some of the more popular search terms that led people to my site involve “BJJ progression.”  Below are 5 basic things not to do in BJJ for beginning students.  I’ve also added some great BJJ progression-related links at the bottom of this post.

I remember all of the conflicting feelings I experienced when I first started training BJJ.  While I was excited about learning something new, I would also be very frustrated at my inability to do anything against more advanced students.  I realized that the first thing I had to learn as a white belt was not how to pull off submissions or fancy guard passes, but I had to learn what not to do.

So, for what it’s worth, here are 5 Basic Things Not to Do in BJJ:

1. When mounted, don’t try to escape by trying to bench press your opponent. You will probably get armbarred.
2. When sitting in your opponent’s guard, don’t leave one arm between your opponent’s legs and the other arm outside of your opponent’s legs. You will probably get triangled.
3. When sitting in your opponent’s guard, don’t place your hands on the ground next to your opponent’s hips. You will probably get Kimura-ed or swept.  Keep your arms tucked and closed to your body.
4. When mounted or side mounted, try to ball up and keep your limbs close to your body.  Don’t leave an arm flopping about. If you do, you’re basically asking for an Americana shoulder lock or a pillow choke.
5. Don’t freak out about getting tapped out again and again by your classmates.  Some BJJ practitioners like Jean-Jacques Machado believe that it takes an average student about 18-24 months to really understand the basics of BJJ.

Comments

Clearly, these are very basic BJJ no-nos.  What are your basic tips for white belts?  Comment below!  If you prefer, you can also send me an e-mail.

BJJ Progression-Related Links

• Roy Harris’s classic “Progression in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” post
• The Jiu-Jitsu Fighter’s post “Thoughts on Jiu-Jitsu Belt Progression“
• Wikipedia’s article on the “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Ranking System“

Since I have a few weeks off between my former job and my upcoming job, I’ve been working a few day classes into my BJJ routine.  Today, a training partner of mine talked about how he wanted to learn how to be more experimental in his rolling, as opposed to playing a “safe game.”  In other words, he feels that by sticking with his go-to moves and rolling hard, he’s stagnating and not incorporating new things into his game.  He wants to start exploring new positions and submissions in his free rolling, even if it means that he might lose position or get submitted.

The benefits of playing an experimental game

The great thing about training with people you trust is that you can try new techniques during free rolling without fearing for your safety.  Try that spider guard position or that new armbar that you learned the other day if you see the opportunity.  If you don’t, you definitely will not incorporate it into your game.

Rolling competitively has its benefits too

However, the bad thing about staying in experiemental mode for too long is that you can get a bit lazy and start rationalizing getting submitted by your classmates.  “Oh, if I was really going for it, I would have gotten the sub, no problem.” When you do try to turn up the intensity after a long bout of experimental rolling, you realize that you’ve kind of lost your edge.

I also get a bit unfocused.  I find myself playing De La Riva guard one day, working mounted cross-collar chokes another day, and trying reverse omoplatas yet another day.  The next thing you know, two weeks have passed and you really haven’t accomplished anything.

I have to force myself to roll a bit more competitively once in a while just to see if my experimental rolling is paying off.  I think of competitive rolling as a high school or college quiz, while experimental rolling is like going to lecture.  If your new techniques work in a more competitive roll, great.  If not, you might want to work on them further or consider discarding them altogether.

Comments!

Do you find yourself getting a bit lazy?  Or on the other hand, do you find yourself spending too much time keeping score?  Comment below and/or send me an e-mail!  Let me know if this tip helps your game.