Masafumi Matsumoto There’s a secret to keeping your guard.I might even call it a “Japanese” secret.Don’t worry.You don’t have to be Japanese to benefit from this secret.Now… some of you know me personally & have rolled with me before.For those who haven’t met & rolled with me in person, I tend to be known as the “spider …
Your move becomes more effective when your opponent doesn’t expect it.And it doesn’t mean you should go for flying triangle or even worm guard.People expect good guard players to play worm guard these days anyway.I think there’s something that many guard players don’t, but should do…It’s probably one of the easiest (and most effective) ways …
There’s still a stigma about leg locks.But it’s hard to doubt how effective… and devastating they can be, especially heel hook variations.This post is based on the questions I got from my friend. These are all great & tricky questions, and I’m sure different people would give you other answers.I’m pretty liberal when it comes …
How can you make progress in BJJ?I’m not talking about getting promoted to your next belt.But I’m talking about something as simple as improving your skills.There can be all sorts of ways to make progress in BJJ.And I want to share a pretty good formula with you.I didn’t come up with the formula, and the …
Yesterday I shared a guard passing highlight video of Tiago Barros, a top competitor from PSLPB.He’s probably one of the best guard passers in his main weight category, the light feather division.Let’s do a quick breakdown of his guard passing style.Here’s the video again. Watch the whole thing before you move on and read further.OK, …
We all started practicing BJJ for different reasons.To put it simply, I wanted to learn something practical & wanted to be stronger.And BJJ kinda came into my life by accident.I had no idea what it was like.18 years later, I still practice it.I know someone who started practicing BJJ because his friend sent him a …
It’s up to you to define what counts as a win in learning BJJ. Defining this plays a vital role in your BJJ journey… … because having clear & correct expectations makes your journey more enjoyable. And without such expectations, you may rarely feel satisfied with your progress. OK, let’s start with what I wouldn’t …
Here’s another thing I recommend if you want to improve your BJJ skills: Don’t take a rest during a sparring session by sitting on the sidelines… … but rest while rolling. You could say that this way of resting is a skill as well. You can learn & improve this resting skill by practicing it …
What’s the healthiest food you can think of? Quinoa? Avocado? Kobe beef? Real olive oil? It’s not a trick question. For the purpose of this post, I don’t care so much about what exactly (and factually) the healthiest food on earth is. I just want you to imagine a food item that you think/know is …
When you start learning BJJ, it can be overwhelming. There are so many positions and concepts in BJJ which you probably had never come across in your entire life. You might have done some other grappling martial art like wrestling or Judo. But still… you’d need to learn a lot of BJJ-specific things. BJJ keeps …