Hey guys,

Context: I'm a hobbyist, train at a small school where I'm the most experienced besides the coach/professor. I did a comp this past week and plan to do one every 3-4 months in my purple journey since getting it earlier this year.

I was at a comp this week and had the chance to watch a BUNCH of matches before mine. I noticed that there really weren't that many takedowns that occurred, at least with the 'masters' and colored belts. Most of the time I saw both guys get into a stalemate with the same boring position: collar/tricep grip, head position, wide base, butt out, pushing back and forth. Then, inevitably someone decides to pull guard.

I attempted some foot sweeps but couldn't seem to 'lift' them up enough to get their hips close enough to mine to effectively get the takedown, eventually resorting to pulling guard myself.

Maybe the answer is just "train more takedowns" but I actually do spend a good amount of time training takedowns. In fact, the last couple of saturdays before the comp I did a little roulette thing that I saw on youtube where I did as many takedowns as I could with like 8 rotating ukes without repeating. That being said, comp resistance is a whole different level than training with ukes.

I'm more curious to understand any resources, strategies or advice to bridge the gap between mat time, open mats, and instilling my will during a comp match without adrenaline dumping hunting for the takedown.

Hello everyone! Today we've got another position that can give you a significant knowledge/tactical advantage over your opponents.

Shallow 5050 is an exceptionally difficult position to deal with for your opponents in a point format.

This position is fixed - meaning you can spend a long time there working towards a finish, or you can be patient and wait for your opponent to spring the trap

It's a little tricky to learn and does require some flexibility, but once mastered, you become very formidable indeed.

This position works best in formats which have points and encourage this underdeveloped area of the game

I hope you guys enjoy!

Hey guys,

Im 30 yrs old Brazilian who have been doing bjj for nearly 15 years. I just got my Black belt (many life situations, it was a long journey, but here am I).

I have been teaching bjj in an informal way for a time (for example I have created my college team, and even after graduating I'm still giving weekly classes for free, as a hobby)

I always do my best to give the best classes as possible. I really love to teach and my white belts love my classes (I always ask for anonymous feedback for them). But I realized I have never studied how to teach jiu-jitsu in a more methodological way.

My current methodology is: I teach what I would like to have learned before, always focusing on movement.

I always start my classes with a warmup, some ukemi, 1 or 2 throws, then around two movements that might be a passing/swept, or finishing. When possible, I try to connect the throws-passing-finishing in order to create drills.

I'm not on that fancy franchises like Gracie Barra or alliance where they follow a teaching protocol. Do you have tips, materials or views on how to build great bjj athletes?

Im thinking about taking this hobby more seriously rn and even teaching as a side job

Hello everyone. Looking for everyone’s input on the best patreon accounts to learn advanced grappling. I’m a purple belt kids coach and I realize I need to be putting in extra time learning advanced techniques but freshening up on fundamentals to better be able to teach them. The Patreon I’m currently subscribed to seems to just be recycling techniques and lacks content. I saw Deandre Corbe has some other subscription, anyone used it and found value?

I work early and have no free time after work until I go to bed. Are there any gyms in Jax that have classes 4-5 am? I've seen some with classes start at 6am, but I'd be late to work AND unshowered if I attended the full class then left for work.

- a young laborer who still wants to get rolls in

I'm a white belt with about 2 years of training. These days, I'm pretty comfortable playing a more relaxed, flowy game, and I can hold my own during 100% intensity rolls with higher belts. Even if I can't submit them, I can defend myself well, avoid getting submitted, and sometimes even survive entire rounds against more experienced guys. And just to be clear, I know the difference between actually defending well and higher belts letting me work

However, against less experienced people, especially young, athletic, explosive guys, I struggle to impose my game. They don't necessarily submit me, and I'm in advantageous positions for most of the round, but I still can't seem to truly dominate them

For those of you who've been through this, what's your best advice? Besides the obvious stuff like lifting weights and improving cardio

So I use these really old judo mats to teach Jiu-Jitsu at the middle school I work at in Taiwan. They were free so I can't complain too much but they tend to move all over the place when the rolling gets aggressive and they aren't soft enough that I feel comfortable doing much standup. Well today my school told me they could buy me new mats and now I'm at a loss for what to look for. In the photos you can see the space that I'm working with as well as how many old (and dirty) mats I have access to. I was hoping to get some recommendations and here are a few questions I would love to get some advice on:

1) Puzzle mats - would placing new puzzle mats on top of these old judo mats result in a more stable and noticeably softer surface overall? Or do you think that would be problematic for some reason? Depending on the budget they give me, I'm thinking this would be the cheapest way to go.

2) Other Options - other than the puzzle mat stack idea, what type of mats would you recommend?

3) Sourcing - I'm assuming that trying to buy local would give the best price. Has anyone ever bought mats in Taiwan before? Or do you know of companies that aren't too expensive on international shipping (longshot probably)?

Thank you for any and all advice! Oss.

His resume is kinda great tbh anyone think he’s deserving of maybe a top 10 heavyweight all time ?

2x ADCC Champ (in two eras)
2x ADCC Silver medalist
1x ADCC Bronze Medalist
NoGi World Champ at black belt
3x UWW grappling world champ
PAC 10 champ for wrestling

Relocating to Lincoln, CA in the near future. I typically train during the day, around noon, so finding a gym with midday classes is a big factor.

For those training in Lincoln and or the surrounding area, where would you recommend? I’m really looking for a chill gym culture and solid training partners. I’ve dropped in at Lincoln Jiu Jitsu Academy when visiting the area during the holidays and had a good vibe.

Any good training in Boston or surrounding Saturday morning/afternoon or Sunday morning?? Open mats or classes ?

Gi/nogi I’ll take whatever at this point 😂

I’ve pretty much been known as an over under guy at my gym am my best partners as of late have been doing some very malicious frames to keep me from even getting into a nice tight over under passing position.

Of course, I look up to Bernardo when it comes to this stuff, and I’m having trouble understanding some of the hidden jiu-jitsu or more subtle things that he’s doing to surpass these frames and get into a nice tight over under passing position with the shoulder right on the opponents ribs.

I was wondering if anyone had some advice.

TL;DR: My training partners are framing so aggressively when i try getting into Over/Under they’re knocking my contacts out of my eyes. How do I overcome this and have my way with them?

Hi all,

Been playing around with this grip from z-guard and half butterfly.

I can’t seem to find any information about it.

It looks like an over hook Octopus grip?

Any clues?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

I’m very much a hobbyist 30 year old blue belt. I’ve competed about 8-9 times at this point and I’m trying to lock in, instead of signing up for a competition last minute and winging it I want to actually focus leading in. With that said, what does your week of comp training look like? Rolling with A game stuff only, situational work, or what? Also, what’s your day of competition warm up like?

Hey team,heading to Thailand, specifically bangtao mma. Just looking for anyone who’s been recently to pick their brain.
Where did you stay? Easiest way to get from the airport to bangtao? How did you get around, scooter? What’s there to do around the area when you’re not training? And any other helpful advice you picked up?

Cheers!

We can leave white belts out of the equation since they don't count as humans. But for blue belts and higher, what mainstream sub do you think is often performed improperly most often?

I think Im going north-south knee-jerk reaction but I havent thought about it too long.

Was rolling today in the gi with a dude that's probably got at least 30lbs on me (I'm 5'10, 180-ish) and I'm in the bottom closed guard after losing the mount by a trap and roll. I'm usually comfortable in the bottom closed guard, but today my opponent played something I wasn't used to.

Rather than try any of the more conventional passing techniques where you keep distance and try to stand up, my opponent locked up a bad head and arm choke (his head was underneath my armpit, but he wasn't able to get my elbow across my centerline to block the neck with my own shoulder), stood up and tri-podded, and just continued to pressure into me while squeezing to try to finish the choke. Although the choke never came on, he opted to maintain the position to force me to make a move.

Because of the chest to chest pressure, I found I was unable to break him down by pulling my knees in. So then I tried to open the closed guard and insert a butterfly hook, but I think he stepped out or leg pummeled and sprawled his hips or something, and before I knew it I was in half guard.

What are some effective tactics for generating offense in this situation where the top player stalls with upper body controls and has zero intention to open the closed guard?

Since storm shut down I’ve been unable to find any no gi gear from them, anyone know a website I might be able to find some?

one of my matches from yesterday. after i made the leg entry and got to the ankle my mind went blank only thinking about finishing him with the ankle lock and i completely forgot about my own legs and the position they were in giving him the win. even tho i think i was abit of a reap from him it was very silly of me leaving my legs in such a poor position, do you guys have a system in your head to make sure you are defending your own legs when going for an ankle lock, toe hold etc.
was my first time in a gi in about 5 months and theres obviously alot i need to work on.
any tips appreciated im in the white gi

First gi was a Koral in '07. If you air dried it, it would stand up on its own. I want whatever the roughest weave is. Who makes it? Closest I can find is a kingz balistico. I do not want my gi to feel like a baby blanky, I want shark skin. Allfeedbackisappreciatedthankyousomuchy.

Sometimes I hear my professor teach a technique and I think to myself "wow, imagine if he called me up to demonstrate, I'd be doomed." LMAO!

I really am in awe of people who can teach multiple techniques and in great detail.

I think at this point I can probably troubleshoot basic problems beginners have.

But wow, I don't think I can really explain much of anything when it comes to a specific technique. Maybe over under pass cause I do it a lot but I don't know all the details.

What are you guys confidently teaching?

this is blue belt under 69kg ( both of us were well under weight) im in the long sleeve rashguard

I've been training BJJ for almost a year, and after every roll, I often realize I missed opportunities to use techniques I've seen in instructionals or drilled before. I can remember these moves when reviewing the roll in my head, but in the moment, I completely forget they exist.

Is there a method to consolidate what I've learned and make it more automatic during rolls? How do you avoid getting overwhelmed by all the techniques you're learning?