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It happened in 2013.

Some young, unknown black belt from Gracie Barra pulled one of the member of the illustrious Gracie clan in the San Diego Abu Dhabi Pro Trials. And not long after the start, the young slugger pulled guard, but the favored son was on him like lice, straight pressure passing out the gate.

Then something unexpected happened.

Somehow, the young slugger established a certain kind of grip in half guard, bridged and rotated belly down. It was almost like he was giving his back, but not quite…

1, 2, 3…

It was over!

But there was no tap.

No.

The favored son was out.

That was the match that put Magid Hage on the map. No one expected him to choke Clark Gracie out like that.

Not long ago, I watched that match again, and I noticed something that made an instant improvement to my understanding of baseball chokes (which are all just funky setups to the cross choke anyway).

First, a little background:

When I originally learned the baseball choke from half guard. The grips were far hand palm up and near hand palm down. The issue with that is the transition to the choke has a submission risk. If your opponent is faster than you, they can armbar the hell out of you and add one more poor limb to their arm collection (those bastards).

But I noticed that Magid’s grip was different.

His near hand was palm up and his far hand was palm down.

I tested it right away, and it was straight bananas. It made the choke so much more lethal and there was no armbar risk. Hell, the only problem was just setting up the grip.

That palm up grip on the near side was harder to set up but that just means that more exploration is called for.

And that’s what yours truly is all about.

And if you didn’t know (how could you not), the best place to start straight up stealing the fruits of my research is:

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Continue reading]]> According to legend, Alexander the Great was once faced with a problem that seemed intractable.

In the year 333 B.C. he marched into the Phrygian capital of Gordium in modern Turkey. And within the city, there was a prophecy. It foretold the conquest of all of Asia by any man who could succeed in unraveling an extremely complicated knot known as the Gordian knot.

It was a challenge that just couldn’t be resisted.

And he didn’t hesitate. He strode forth and spent long moments to unravel the knot, but all his efforts were unsuccessful. The problem was too complex. But then, he did something unexpected. He pulled his sword from his sheath, raised it high, and then severed the knot straight down the middle.

A simple solution to a complex problem.

And there’s lesson there for those of us who play this Jiu-jitsu game.

This art is filled with complexity, but there is also simplicity.

One of the areas where things can easily get complicated is open guard. Every time you look around, there’s a newfangled guard. Worm guard, donkey guard, octopus guard, and so on (hooray for biology inclusion into the art).

I’m not a fundamentalist. I love all the innovation. But you’re faced with a problem when you’re hit with a guard that you’ve never seen before and you have to pass.

That’s where concept comes into play.

No matter what control in guard is determined by the quantity of contact points. Guard is strong when someone has both hands and both legs on you. And if you did nothing else but destroy those points of contact, you would weaken their control.

The application of that principle is very linear too.

Every grip you break, exponentially weakens your opponent’s control. What that means for you is that you don’t need to know a specific pass for every guard that someone uses on you.

You just need to understand how to neutralize and break points of contact.

Even if you did nothing else, you would increase your ability to pass all these complicated guards.

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Over the past thirty years, Jiu-jitsu has spread across the globe, reaching places far and wide. The growth of the art has been extraordinary.

But has it reached its full potential?

No. Not even close. There are still so much of the world that has no idea that Jiu-jitsu exists. They have no idea of the benefit the art holds. And that is through no fault of their own. We have more work to do spread the art.

The Lionheart Initiative

Throughout the decades, the spread of Jiu-jitsu has followed a general pattern.

An upper belt moves to an area. A new school is opened. And over time, students are produced. That process works. But it is not easy, and more challenges arise when the area is remote or language barriers exist.

The Lionheart Initiative grew from the desire to overcome those barriers and plant the seed of Jiu-jitsu within the country of Senegal.

The country has a strong grappling traditions. Laamb Wrestling is the most popular sport there, and the level of intensity and passion that exists for that art will shock you.

It’s inspiring. And it will make you wonder what Jiu-jitsu could become if it experienced Senegal’s influence.

The Seed Has Sprouted

Years ago, LHI planted a seed by sharing Jiu-jitsu with as many people as they could within Senegal. The first year from everything that I heard was a grind. 10 days of teaching and media events. And now the results of those efforts are revealing themselves.

I only had the opportunity to contribute on the third trip, but what I saw was extraordinary. Even without a black belt to consistently guide their training, it is clear that the future of Senegalese Jiu-jitsu is bright.

I saw passion. I saw skill. But most of all, I saw potential.

And I got excited for the future.

Continue reading]]> Getting on someone’s back in Jiu-jitsu is such a magical moment. Right then, you know you have control. They’re in YOUR world. They have to respond to what you do.

But there are few things worse than getting there only to lose it before you can capitalize on your advantage.

I want to help you address that problem. First though, I’ll share some back control concepts with you.

The Essential Elements of Back Control

We tend to focus too much on the hooks on the back. That’s not the foundation of your control.

In fact, your ability to dominate the position depends on something else. It’s not just one thing though. There are three essential elements of back control:

There’s nothing revolutionary about this concept. It’s quite simple actually, but keep it in mind. It will be helpful when you look at the transition I’m going to show you.

Staying on the Back

All escapes from the back require that you lose at least one element of control.

Your grip must be broken in some fashion. Your opponent must angle away from your choking hand. Or there must be some separation created between your chest and their back. If there is an exception to that rule, I have not found it yet. I sat here and raked my brain. I visualized every escape I know, and in every case the rule held true.

And the most common escape focuses on both angling away and disconnection.

What I’m going to share with you is a simple transition you can use to cripple that escape. You’ll be able to frustrate anyone who tries it and maintain your control. It can also be used to set up submission options.

I learned that transition when I was a blue belt. And I’ve used it so much since then. It’s simple and effective.

Add it to your arsenal.

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Last week at Randori, we set a drilling challenge for the students. They had to perform at least 100 armbars from closed guard outside of class. It’s a high goal but interesting things happen when you aim high.

That was true in my case.

I joined in on the challenge, and to make it more fun for me, I started playing with variables of the submission. I modified grips, I cycled through variations, and I landed on an interesting possibility. That was the start of the innovation.

The Armbar

As I played with different armbar variations, one of the setups used was a cross sleeve and tricep grip. It was initiated by using hip movement to pass the arm across your belly button to the position where the armbar can be threatened.

There were two issues though.

1. Once the arm was passed, the arm had to be attacked immediately or a grip had to transfer for posture control. It left a wide probability of escape.
2. The establishment of the two on one grip was a clear trigger. As soon as you grip, they’ll know that you want the arm and they’ll be able to make it difficult.

With those issues identified, the question became: Is there a way to address them? And an answer occurred.

All that was required was the change of a grip and a movement. The hand that was controlling the tricep switched to the collar (palm down). That gave a lot of control over posture, and the sleeve grip by itself is a weaker call for action. That switch though meant that it was no longer possible to easily control their threatened arm. It had become an even battle, arm against arm.

So the solution was to bring the legs into the fight and make it unfair again. Putting both feet on the hips and pushing as you pull with your hands off balances their body, isolates their arm, and makes it easy to transition into the attack.

The Triangle

For every attack, there is a counter, and understanding the counter opens the door to recounters.

This triangle specifically geared for when someone tried their absolute best to keep their elbow tight to their side. In that case, you exaggerate the pull then release. Their arm will fly back and there will be an opportunity for the triangle.

The Canto Strangle

The canto strangle is an awesome submission. It was only shown to me once, but I’ve wanted it since. For that reason, one of my projects is to figure out a way to make it work for me. This is the current attempt at that goal using the foot on hips to create the required space.

Continue reading]]> Julius Park is the owner of Crazy 88 in Maryland, and he has built an extraordinary program. The proof of that lies in his students. Too many to count have become forces to be reckoned with and among their ranks are several World Champions.

I’ve also personally spent many hours training at his gym, and I have a lot of respect for the focus and vision he brings to Jiu-jitsu instruction. That’s why this interview is focused on gym leadership.

How do you inspire excellence with your gym? This interview approaches that question from a captain’s point of view but philosophy isn’t something that always must come from the top. That’s why this is an important topic. What we tell ourselves and what we tell others matters, and it can affect the culture and the growth of a gym.

When one of your students loses a match, what’s the most important thing that must be communicated to them and what must never be said?

There should be an honest assessment of the match. Sometimes this occurs right after the match and other times when the athlete is in a better state of mind and more receptive. The athlete can only get better with feedback and its up to the coach to provide feedback beyond WIN = GOOD and LOSS = BAD.

I think its very dangerous for coaches to put the locus of control outside of the athlete or allow excuses. Sometimes the excuses are real, like the referee really could have made a bad call. But because you don’t have any control over that, you want your athletes focusing on what they can control, rather than what they can’t.

The one thing you never do and that is NEVER put the opponent on a pedestal. I often hear athletes say stuff like “Oh, he’s been a Blue Belt for a long time” or “He won the World Championship” or even worse “He trains at XYZ”. You should never put the opponent on some sort of fundamentally superior position to your athlete. After all, you’ll eventually have to fight them again and hopefully win!

What ideas and philosophies should be reinforced over and over again to build an environment that inspires excellence within a gym?

World class effort. Give recognition to individuals who are working hard towards their goals.

Actions > Words. Self-explanatory.

Be a person others can depend on and look up to. Character of the student base will play a larger role in the long term development of the school than technique or skill.

Pick a lofty goal and hold people accountable to it. I’ve noticed this a lot recently where schools will purposely choose goals that are easily attainable or not quantifiable. Once this goal has been set, its important to make sure people are all working towards it. For example, if you say you want to have a competitive school, but everyone is only training 2x a week – there is obviously a disconnect between reality and the goal.

What do you consider the best methodologies for drilling and practice?

This is a very broad question so I’m not sure how to answer it.

I would say that the purpose of practice is to make people better. Sometimes, the student needs to work on technique. Other times, strategy. Maybe the students need more conditioning. And sometimes the students even need to work on their mental toughness. A practice emphasizing mental toughness is much different than one focusing on technique. So the best methodology is always changing based on what the student base needs. This requires the instructor to always keep an eye on whats occurring on the mats.

I think there should be emphasis on particular systems and these systems should be developed in the right order. For example, I have a White Belt student right now who is focusing on Worm Guard. It actually works pretty well on the other White Belts who are dumbfounded by this. But as soon as he faces non-White Belts, he gets passed easily because his De La Riva and Spider Guard aren’t there.

There should always be an emphasis on Fundamentals (Fundamentals meaning Fundamentals… not Fundamentals meaning everything that was taught before 1996).

I know that you’ve often recommended that your students read specific books, so what are your five best books for inspiring excellence?

Talent Is Overrated, Outliers (I personally found this boring but other people really like it and its a great introduction to the idea of dedicated practice), Mindset, Turning Pro, and The Inner Game of Tennis

I’d also recommend the first 2 chapters of The First 20 Hours

Have you noticed any specific benefits when your students have read those books and others that you’ve recommended?

The benefit of the books for the people who have read them is that it helps students realize that a lot of the patterns and frustrations that they face are commonplace across different fields. It also helps that put their goals and training into context. For example, if you read Outliers, you should understand that you won’t be UFC champion or a BJJ Black Belt in 4 years if you’re training 2x a week.

From a coaching perspective its good too b/c it allows the coach to identify students who are willing to listen to the coach’s advice.

Is there anything that you would like to add on the topic?

I think that everyone should try to pursue excellence. Of course, not everyone is going to become a world champion but everyone can reach the next level of their own development – whether its becoming more fit, more technical, more perceptive, etc. Its the active pursuit of self-improvement that is the most important. It will keep you motivated even though it will take time and be uncomfortable. Its worth it.