Advanced Swiss/Stability Ball training for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

by Mike

We've talked before about the utility of using a Swiss ball for learning balance in BJJ. We generally start our MMA workouts with a couple minutes on the balls and I usually like to do it to warm up before working the bags or while waiting for others to show up.

Once you've gotten the basics from the other video down, you'll be ready to try the hard stuff:



From bumptori.

Basic Injury Prevention

Almost as a follow up to our last article about visible injuries, White Collar Jiu-Jitsu has five easy rules for injury avoidance 101.

Hazmat does a good job of describing some basic safety precautions you should be taking to eliminate or at least mitigate common sources of injury.

The only thing I'd add is, "dont' be stubborn, know when to tap."

Etiquette advice: once you put your mouthguard in, leave it in. Constantly taking your mouthguard out and putting it back in is disgusting - you may as well lick your training partners and the floor.

Also, wearing a mouthguard doesn't excuse you from swallowing. Don't drool all over your partners. Or the floor. You're not 6; have some pride.

How I learned to stop worrying and defend the guillotine

by Mike

I'm always surprised at how many trained fighters get caught in guillotine chokes. At UFC 81, both Jeremy Horn and Tim Sylvia tapped to guillotines. One one hand, these guys should have known how to defend against them. I'm going to show you how to successfully defend against the guillotine, at least until you run up against Nate Marquardt or Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueria and their next-level jiu-jitsu.

When the rest of us are facing good, or even excellent opponents, defense against the guillotine choke is simple and effective. It was very sad that I went so far in my career getting caught in guillotine after guillotine until I finally learned this defense. Since then, I've never tapped or even been in danger from a guillotine.

Aesopian taped a Bryan Harper seminar where guillotine defense was shown, I've added some commentary to the mix.

Defending the Standing Guillotine



How does this defense work?

• Like the demonstrator says, the most important thing is to turn your head into your opponent, keeping your opponent from attacking both carotid arteries. This will not necessarily be sufficient to spare you the choke, but it will keep you in the game long enough to go to step 2:
  
  
• Reaching up to pull his choking hand down. If you're lucky, you'll break his grip and you'll be able to escape. If not, he's still putting pressure on your neck and it is possible to be submitted/go out if you spend too much time in the choke.
  
  
• Putting your arm around the opponent's shoulder and pulling tight. The pulling tight thing is vital, but not mentioned. The guy applying the submission wants to stretch the defender out as much as possible. Either from standing or in the guard (see next video), he wants to stretch himself out and, by virtue of his tight grip, stretch you out as well. From standing, this involves pulling his shoulders back (from the guard, he pushes your hips down as well, giving him more leverage). If you can keep yourself tight to him you and/or prevent him from pulling his shoulder back, you can take away a lot of the pressure of his choke.
  
  
• One thing that I'd like to add to this presentation is that it's not only important to reach as far up as you can, but to try to put your hand/arm as deep into your opponent's back as you can. This will hold you closer/immobilize their shoulder more effectively.
  
  
• The bump/trip should be obvious, but note if the guy on the bottom doesn't let go, you set yourself up for a very nice Von Flue choke.

Just as an aside, it's really embarrassing to tap to a Von Flue choke. Defense against the Von Flue - let go of the guillotine.

Guillotine defense from the guard



Why does this work?

• As noted earlier, the attacker wants to stretch you out, the defender wants to keep that from happening. The easiest way to do that is to clamp down on his shoulder and start trying to stack him.
  
  
• It's important to keep a good base so you don't get swept or have your legs kicked out and you're back to square one.
  
  
• Putting pressure from your shoulder onto the opponent's neck/chin, causes him to instinctively curl up, keeping him from stretching you out. If he's stubborn and stupid, you might even get him to tap.
  
  
• In an MMA situation, a dick move (but very effective) is to throw some shoulder strikes once you've gotten up on your toes and secured a good base.
  

In a future installment, we'll demonstrate a variation of the guillotine that Renzo Gracie likes that turns the guillotine from a Hail Mary into a high-percentage move.

Until then, don't get caught in guillotines.

The Proper Way To Tap Out (Both How and When)

by Mike

In submission grappling, tapping is the method by which you let your partner know that they should let go of a hold. Most commonly, tapping is likened to saying "Uncle," but that's really unnecessarily macho and pointless. Tapping is effectively you saying, "yeah, I'm in a bad spot and can't get out. No sense in continuing."

There's nothing wrong with tapping - in fact, it's built into the sport to keep people from going home injured and unable to train.

For new students, however, rolling may be a scary experience and the first few times someone locks in an armbar or choke can induce panic. Fortunately....

There are really only two things to know about how to tap properly:

1. Tap, Tap - either verbally or physically
   
   Easy enough, eh? Two taps (at least) are required. One tap or a gasp may be be incidental, two are purposeful and let your partner know that you submit.
   
   JKD guys seem to like snapping their fingers. I'm not sure why that is since the snaps always seem to come too late....
   
   
2. Tapping your partner is best. Tapping the mat, second best. Don't tap yourself
   
   Tapping your partner will get their attention. Tapping the mat should be done loud enough that they can differentiate between you and the other guys rolling at other parts of the mat.
   
   Tapping yourself is the best way to not have your tap get noticed.
   

One thing to keep in mind though, in a competition situation, the referee breaks the hold, not the tap. We've all seen situations where someone dropped a hold because the opponent tapped but the referee didn't see it.

Now that we know when to tap, when is the best time to tap? Among new students, I see something like the following: first, they tap as soon as you grab a hold of them. Not necessarily a submission, but even just their wrist. After doing some more drills and learning how to differentiate between pain and injury, they seem to go straight to overconfidence and wait too long to tap and, if they're not working with an experienced partner, get injured. Eventually, they settle down and will tap at the right time.

So when is the right time to tap?

The answer depends on what you're doing.

• If you're competing at a high level, the answer may be, "just after he starts to injure you, since you need every chance you can get to win." Theoretically, if you're competing, you'll have a good idea of your limits and this won't be an issue.
  
  
• If you're just rolling in class, you may want to tap when you realize you're in a bad position and there's no way for you to get out of it. Sometimes it's not worth the wear and tear on your body to try to fight out of a bad position. This is not to say that you should tap every time someone gets you on the bottom under crossbody, but there are times when fighting out from under a D3 heavyweight is not worth having a sore neck/back for the next couple days.
  
  
• Sometimes you need to tap preventatively
  
  Of course, you'll find yourself in the situation where, say you clasp hands to resist an armbar. The other guy puts on some more pressure, you resist, he puts on more pressure and suddenly you realize that your grip is slipping and with as much force as you both are putting into the technique, your arm is going to fly back and likely pop before you can tap.
  
  
• Sometimes you want to save yourself some trouble down the line
  
  Similarly, this may also occur when you get caught in a bad spot with a new, but ridiculously strong partner and he grabs a hold of your neck. You could theoretically power out, but doing so might cause you injury or at least screw up your neck for a few days. In this case, you might also want to tap just to save yourself some pain.

What are your partner's responsibilities to you regarding tapping?

• First and foremost, always be ready for the tap. Your partner might have an injury and even moving in a certain direction may cause them pain.
  
  
• A subpoint of the above: a tap may not always be exaggerated. Sometimes you'll end up in a position where someone's getting choked out (so they can't verbalize the tap), one hand is trapped under them (so they can't tap with that hand) and the other is stuck trying to clear your hands. They may be forced to tap with their feet (think Mike Bourke/Alex Otsuka from Pride 11) or may only be able to use one finger to tap.
  
  
• Next, sometimes you just need to let go. Especially with a newer student who might not know their own limits yet. This usually takes the form of the aforementioned new guy who has a little bit of knowledge and thinks that just because he's still conscious he still has a chance to get out of a choke. I remember rolling at another school and forgot that they didn't teach heel hooks. I was getting tooled until I managed to set up a heel hook and...the guy started rolling into it...I let go immediately, realizing this guy had no idea how close he had just come to a serious injury.
  
  After that, I asked the instructor if they practiced leg locks at all. "No, we don't allow them, they're way too dangerous." Lesson, be sure to ask about etiquette before you start rolling.
  

Anything else I should know?

• Tapping out is preferable to being choked out. If you do get choked out, (see First Aid For Fighters: Fainting for some first aid advice), don't worry. Happens to everyone. The only person who is embarrassed is you. Everyone else is glad that you're OK and then it's back to business as usual.
  
  That said, if this happens more than once or twice....you either need to talk to your coach or a doctor.
  
  
• If you're injured, you can't train. And you make your partner feel bad, even if your injury was totally your fault. Don't worry about tapping - it's training. No one's keeping score.
  
  
• Before you roll, learn what the submissions feel like. The pain you feel in an armbar is different from a kneebar. "Slicers" and heel hooks tend to leave very little space between "ouch" and "broken." Before you pass out from a blood choke there's a couple seconds where you think, "hey, I'm doing OK, I can still...zzzzzzzzz." Wind chokes cause people to panic.
  
  Be aware from your technical drilling how the different submissions feel.
  
  
• Apply submissions slowly. Be aware of your partner. Even in competition, it's considered bad form to crank subs to injure your opponent. In class, it's downright unacceptable. A large part of the submissions game is controlling your partner so that they can't move and you can take your time in applying the submission.
  

CC-licensed photo from Andrei Bonamin

Advice given to a new BJJ player...

by Mike

...upon him sustaining a fairly significant injury in his first couple months and deciding to go back to class despite warnings that he would only aggravate it (and therefore put himself out of training for longer, if not permanently).

"You're never going to win Abu Dhabi."

I think he took it the wrong way. Curious to see how everyone else takes it. Discuss in comments.

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Part 3: Injuries, Intensity and Schedule

by Flipper

As an 8-month student of BJJ, I tend to look upon newer students with mixed feelings. While it’s always good to see someone looking to try out the sport, and a new training partner is always welcome, I always feel a little trepidation about the first few matches I’ll have with them.

Actual, honest-to-god new students (and not the “oh, I went to a class or two” bricker type of folks who want to look good on their first day) tend to know little about technique, and try to make up for it with a lot of energy and physicality. While this usually means the new student will wear themselves out (and as such let someone more experienced like me control a match in terms of position and tempo)- it also means they unintentionally pose a heightened risk of injury to either themselves or their sparing partners (namely, me). New students will refuse to tap out to tight armlocks or chokes to prove they’re tough- and end up injuring their joints or passing out instead. Other new students will attempt illegal moves (wristlocks, for example, are not considered a legit move in most BJJ schools or competitions) or moves they don’t fully understand (if you think you know how to apply an inverted heel hook from an internet video- DON’T DO IT!) to try and stay competitive. It’s even possible for a new student to injure themselves simply because they didn’t realize turning/jumping a certain way would tug on their joints in a manner unintended by biology.

As such, the first bit of advice in this part is that new students should always try to work at a reasonable speed and intensity level. Avoid slamming, tossing, or bouncing your opponent off the ground, and be aware of the difference between pushing/pulling with your arms and legs and punching/kicking. If you know or suspect you weigh a lot more than your opponent, it is considered courteous to not fully sprawl your weight on them. Also, avoid “slapping on” submission holds- always try to apply a submission with gentle and graceful technique. You will lose more than a few submissions by doing this (applying a hold “gently” usually means your opponent will have a good chance to react)- but in the end you will greatly reduce the chance of hurting your partner. The goal of sparring is to learn, not to win.

Despite these precautions, you will likely pick up a number of injuries while training. Common, recurring injuries will include:

• -scrapes and cuts on your feet and hands
  
  
• Bruises on just about any point of your body
  
  
• Swollen knees
  
  
• Hyper-extended knees and elbows
  
  
• Pulled groin, shoulder, and neck muscles
  
  
• Stiff arms, shoulders, back, neck, legs, junk, etc
  
  
• Bruised ribs or damage to rib cartilage

In most of the above cases, you will learn to sort out the difference between minor occurrences (wear-and tear, things that you’ll be able to ignore by the time you’ve warmed up) and the “need to take a week off” items (rib damage will usually be here)- but for beginners, expect to always give yourself a day between classes. Own at least one (preferably 2) hot/cold pads for use after class; use cold for joint hyper-extensions and new injuries, warm/hot for general stiffness or soreness. Try to acquire equipment to mitigate injuries early on- while I look like an absolute tool for wearing them, thick volleyball knee-pads have kept my knees in very good condition while practicing take-downs and guard-passing.

Downtime is the most important factor in recovering. While I would recommend a new student attend class at least twice a week (and look to increase attendance if they intend to be serious about pursuing BJJ as a sport/hobby), I don’t think any new student is well served by attending class more than four times a week until they get a good 3 months under their belt and experience the full range of “jiu-jitsu injuries."

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Part 2: Goals

by Flipper

After the conditioning issue, the next big thing that ends up causing a new student to let their school membership run out is expectations. As I mentioned in part 1, BJJ is a very technique oriented martial art, and it is regularly advertised as a type of “little-man” martial art…a grappling sport where smaller, quick (or just plain wiser) opponents can compete against larger ones. As I also mentioned above, when it comes to sparring between new students, the stronger or more athletic will almost always win. Sadly, this leads a lot of new students to think either (a) they are not “getting it or (b) they were misled about what BJJ is about.

Both of the above statements are true and not in any way contradictory- but most new students have little perspective on what it means to have “technique”. A week or two weeks of extra training over another new student usually means very little, and the fact that you have an extra dozen reps at applying a kimura from closed guard will mean very little against an opponent who weighs 20 lbs. more than you. As my instructor usually puts it, “white belt is about learning the fundamentals of BJJ, a blue belt is about learning the other 90% of the sport, and purple belt is about distinguishing and developing your own style for future competition.” In the above sense, “technique” is something of knowing your own game plan and trying to force your opponent into positions you favor- it’s your “style” in the purple belt sense. A dedicated student can earn their purple belt in just over three years.

Consider that for a minute. It will take you one to two classes to learn a basic armbar. It will take you around 3 months to learn how to apply that armbar from 3-4 basic positions and (maybe) get comfortable doing it in one of those. Then- it will take you between 6 months to a year to get used to setting up an opponent to give up an armbar, or how to reverse a counter to it.

You probably won’t win on technique for a while.

With this in mind, you have to set reasonable goals. Expect to lose a lot of sparring matches and drills early on. Expect to gas out. You will get submitted or swept by blue belt sparring partners seemingly at will, and they will defeat you with the same move over and over and over again!

So- reasonable goals. I recommend to everyone that their goals for the first few weeks should look like this:

• Control my breathing during a match and last to the end of class without being exhausted
  
  
• Spar with one person I have not sparred with yet
  
  
• Spar with one older student (NOTE: I cannot emphasize this enough. I will probably write a part on this alone) and ask them to let you either (a) keep them in guard or (b) attempt to pass their guard for the entire match. Attempt to determine the one/two moves they are using on you, and try to think of a counter
  
  
• Apply one high-risk move from your previous class to sparring/drilling this class. If possible, try it 2-3 times
  
  
• Try to go one minute with a higher belt in full sparring without getting swept or submitted. Then try for two. Then three.

These goals, to some, will probably seem very meager. After a year- they will be remembered that way! However, for your first few months, you will be trying to learn patience, balance, aggression, and foresight while also practicing new and unfamiliar moves every day. The smaller your goals, the more satisfied you will be with your progress.

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Part 1: Conditioning

by Flipper

Writing this article, I think I should make one thing clear- I am by no means an expert in BJJ (or, for that matter, any other grappling art). I have only been practicing BJJ and freestyle wrestling for roughly 8 months. However, I have stuck with it, and I am still new enough to remember most of the early struggles I had in picking up the sport.

Before I began BJJ, I considered myself in good shape and well prepared for training- I worked out 4 days a week for roughly 2 hours a night combining running and a full body strength-training plan. My first two weeks of class were spent sucking wind after nearly every drill and sparring session, and feeling weak as a kitten when pushing or pulling on someone during a fight. Very little will prepare you for the cardio aspect of BJJ, as a good portion of it is understanding when someone is actually attempting to attack you versus someone simply stalling or toying with you. It can take a few weeks to remember to breathe normally and not exert all of your strength from the start of a match. Any decent instructor will teach you patience and focus eventually, but many newcomers assume they can’t excel in BJJ because of early experiences like those.

The first question most people ask (and usually the most misunderstood) is what kind of strength or conditioning do you have to be in when starting BJJ. Newcomers generally learn about the sport from watching UFC, and expect you need the body and conditioning of Randy Couture or such to start. In short, this is wrong. I have trained against 50 year old man with string-bean physiques, and against muscle-bound body-builders (I even trained against a man with half an arm- and he brutalized me!), both were capable of going full speed and full strength against me. A bare level of health and conditioning is, of course, required (as it is for any high energy sport), and you will find that the more athletic/stronger students in a class early on will have an advantage in any sparring situation. However, BJJ is one of the most technique-centered arts you can practice, and it is very common for the “less athletic” to catch up to people, especially if those more athletic students try to rely too much on their beginning physical advantages.

The short of it: in terms of exercising and conditioning, you should probably meet the following conditions:

• No major medical issues that will result in trauma due to high amounts of exertion
  
  
• No severe back, neck, knee, shoulder, or elbow joint issues
  
  
• A basic amount of flexibility: able to basic toe-touches, arm circles, and the like
  
  
• Ability to run/jog a mile (or perform similar aerobic exercise) for roughly 10 minutes

And really- that’s it. Being able to do more would be great, but from most of the other students I’ve seen, you won’t see any major drop-off in the difficulty of your first few weeks unless you are the type of person who participates in 2-3 sports at a time or wrestled in high-school or college (and those years haven’t passed you by). However, over time you will find regular training to be an incredible form of exercise- your conditioning will improve, as will your functional strength. Since starting eight months ago, I have slowed my lifting/running schedule to 1-2 times a week at most, but at the same time I have lost 15 pounds, improved on my running endurance, and increased my upper body strength. All it takes is patience!

Advice for new Jiu-Jitsu Players

by Mike

"Rolling" is the Jiu-Jitsu term for sparring. It's generally used as a verb, "we're gonna roll," "I got folded like a pile of laundry when I rolled with the guys at Relson Gracie's," "wanna roll?"

I'd like to spend some time on the last one. Note that the term is "roll," not "roll around" and most definitely not "roll around together" or "roll around with me." 

I remember being in the locker room one time and a guy popped his head in, "Got some time before class?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Cool. Wanna roll around with me a little?"

"Jesus, dude. At least buy me dinner first."

He didn't get it. At least I was the only one in the locker room.

But, yeah. Roll.

Also, while the custom may vary from school to school, the preferred way greet a partner is to slap hands, not shake. This can get somewhat maddedning when the instructor says, "shake hands," but trust me, nine times out of ten, he really means slap hands.