Masafumi Matsumoto “He’s very, very patient. Like I said, he’s waiting for what he needs. He’s not gonna force anything.” This is a comment by Josh Presley about Lucas Lepri. (Right, I can’t shut up about Lucas Lepri.) If you didn’t watch it, I shared this video by Josh yesterday. In this video, Josh rolls with Lucas …
I want to give you a quick tip that will help you improve your skills, especially guard passing skills. But before that, here’s a quick observation. Most people give up too quickly when their guard passing doesn’t seem to be working. So, instead of leaning in and onto their opponent, they move away. This is …
Here’s a fascinating question: Why do you practice BJJ? I have multiple answers. My initial reason for starting BJJ was simply because a friend of mine said it’s the best martial arts style. So, in that sense, it didn’t have to be BJJ. If he said Thai boxing was the best, I might have practiced …
Here’s something I observed from a match I saw at AJP Tour Serbia last weekend. The bottom player went for a straight foot lock from the single leg X guard. But even from afar, it looked to me that the foot lock wasn’t working against the top player. The bottom player kept working on the …
Let’s talk about another important concept briefly. Just like the concept of using your weight in my previous post, this one applies to various situations. It’s going to sound ridiculously simple, but you have to break your opponent’s posture as much as you can. How do you take someone down? By breaking their posture. When …
Here’s a simple principle that will help you become more dangerous on the mat: Force your opponent to carry your weight as much as possible. The most straightforward example I can give you is the “tiptoe” concept I wrote about previously. When you take the headquarters position, stand on your toes so you can lean …
Mica Galvão is a 17-year old black belt and has already beaten some of the big names in the game. He has been learning jiu jitsu under his father, Melqui Galvão since he was 2 (yeah, right). And the thing is, Melqui has produced some other talents apart from Mica in a relatively short period. …
I believe the Russian tie is an excellent tie-up for BJJ folks to learn. It can take a while to get used to setting up the tie and maintaining it, but once you start getting it, you can use the Russian tie to create various takedown opportunities. When you set up the Russian tie, you …
I bet you are a normal, good person, more or less. But in jiu jitsu, you have to make your opponent’s life as miserable as possible in the context of grappling. And it sucks for your opponent when your guard pass creates tremendous pressure by using your body weight properly. Most beginners don’t know how, …
I got a message asking if you have to be aggressive in BJJ. What do you think? Do you think you have to be aggressive when you roll or compete? As if you are going to hunt your opponent like a blood-thirsty creature looking for prey? Some people are naturally like that personality-wise, and they …