Old man (53) black belt here. Done martial arts and combat sports for 39 years. About to dole out some wisdom:

When you’re on the mat training day to day, being able to come back the next session is priority. Losing training time limits progress. As such, you may want to consider how hard you are rolling in the gym, who your training partners are, and what your goals are, in an effort to minimize setbacks.

Training for a competition? You’ll need to go harder and exert yourself to mimic competition intensity. But not every round needs to be all out. Other sports don’t play full games over and over to get ready for a match, so why would we JUST do hard rounds to get ready a bjj competition?

Learn who you can go harder with safely. And learn what your limits are and don’t exceed them. If you’re not training for a competition, you may never need to roll at more than 70% effort to improve. Personally, I love going slower on purpose and thwarting the plans of my younger training partners.

Also, make sure to leave time to rest and rejuvenate. Lack of rest can lead to lost time on the mats. Believe me. I know. lol.

Has anybody tried to use bjj in a self defense situation/street fight and have it not work out? what went wrong you think?

Bro just gets up and storms off when someone gets the better of him. Makes everyone uncomfortable. How common is this?

In case somebody missed it, Raja Jackson (son of 'Rampage' Quinton Jackson and a minor league MMA fighter) brutally assaulted an indie pro wrestler and has possibly inflicted permanent damage several hours ago.

Obviously, there are many things going with Raja Jackson, but I want to stress only one.

Since the very first day I walked into a karate class as a kid, we've been taught two basic, non-negotiable truths: 1) martial arts are only used for defense in case of serious threat and 2) the gym is a safe haven, where everyone is treated with utmost and unconditional respect and support. A child or adult, loser or gifted, weak or strong, meek or confident.

Raja Jackson has been very visible for the last several years for the wrong reasons, and it was obvious that he was taught the exact opposite things. His own father mocking and insulting him on camera while Raja was training, his training partners picking on him because of his father's fame and that near-KO story from a week ago show that Raja had a proving ground instead of a safe haven. And him claiming that he's standing up for himself by attacking a vulnerable person shows that he is OK to use his fighting skills because he feels like it.

That's obviously not an excuse, and I hope that Raja will have a long prison sentence, and that people will avoid training in Quinton's gym. But the coaches/owners/senior belts in their gyms should take this unfortunate incident (let's hope it won't end up as more than that) as a reminder that you need to remind people (and yourselves) of those 2 basic truths regularly, particularly in BJJ dojos, that teach potentially lethal skills and are increasingly hobbyist-oriented at the same time. Simply because we never know who is on the crossroads between going the Raja Jackson or Jose Aldo route. No matter how many reddit dwellers post that they are 'only paying for BJJ instruction' and 'don't need life coaching classes'.

It feels like my school is turning into a MCDOJO. Last year I was promoted to black belt along with another 10 guys who had all been training together for about almost 20 years. We all had to pay a super ridiculously high graduation fee. About 1500 granted we did have a pretty big party at a really nice restaurant. It still felt like a little much. Mostly my reasoning for going forward with that was because I’ve spent so much time on the mats with those guys I wanted to basically graduate with them. We were his basically his first students.

I haven’t been able to get in the school as much because I just recently had a baby and then I told my instructor I was going to cancel for a few months and then was told that if I canceled my fee was going to go up. I’m starting to get an ick from it, but it’s hard because this is the school where everything started for me and to be honest he’s a really great instructor has put metals around my neck many times when I was competing, but it’s starting to feel like it’s a bit too much. Been paying 250mo for almost a year and haven’t been able to because of kids and limited time. Feel kind of stuck not sure what to do.?

First off, they both have the same last name. That's a dead giveaway and I don't know how people don't talk about this more. They both grew up grappling and in college, that they attended together, Jon wanted to develope CTE like his half brothers playing football so he went into MMA. Of course, while they both were in college they picked up the same extra curricular activities, snow sports ❄️.They have both been know to be avid skiiers 👃. Lastly, Craig has taken a lot of inspiration from his older brother doing everything he can to entertain the kids, setting up gyms, shooting youtube videos with the kids. This was influence from Jon being a great dad putting a show on for his children for a private match against their mother. (Normally he asks for 30m but he did this one for free) Bonus, Jon Jones made Gordan's tummy hurt extra to never return to the sport as a double agent. Not sure why Gordo would trust the brother of his #1 enemy.

Guard Passing is a very difficult subject to approach because you need to know Guard Breaks, Guard Retention, and Open Guard (including DLR, RDLR, SLX, X guard, K guard, Butterfly, and a few others). Once you get through that you need to know Half Guard Passing, North South, Knee on belly aka Neon Belly, reverse half guard (twister, reverse kesa, or ushiro kesa gatame). That is 14 different positions, moves, sequences, etc just to get started. Start with the notion that techniques are just opinions. However, some opinions are just objectively better. We are all different people and need to hear, see, and experience different things. I am not claiming that I am “right” I am just showing what I have found success with over many many years as a student of the game. I believe this is an easier pathway to perform higher level passing. There is so much more to this but this guideline should help get you started.

There are common passing types such as pressure and outside. There are common goals such as passing the knee line, and controlling the head. I have found a style that works best for me over many years. It is a mix of toreando, leg drags, kneecuts, and smash passes. 

Additionally, there are vertical aspects of passing. The ankle positioning will control the type of pass you need to use to be the most successful. It is extremely difficult to FORCE a pass. Put if they give different looks. You have better options. 

Overall goal of guard passing

Pass the foot line

Pass the knee line

Pass the hip line

Get chest to chest

Control the head

Quick example

https://youtu.be/vIv8YQXXz2k?si=qOIGv-Th_TPfI22Q

Vertical positions!

Low ankle- butterfly guard- preferred for knee cuts, and x passes

https://youtu.be/wIKVKmkktx4?si=wHgqpCgGny-qY0T9

HQ- head quarters- a very common low ankle passing position

https://youtu.be/4taI2oASGGw?si=28bJdQ4J8sSxZwoj

High ankle- supine guard- preferred for over under, single stack, and leg drag players

https://youtu.be/N_QMKizInM8?si=QqiI84qQu4bOf6Cc

https://youtu.be/72Sn9CBYX90?si=TXfWnyDZAxJ3gfMt

Inverted- spinny moves- preferred for its ease of passing as their spine is compressed

https://youtu.be/jpmQ5_bbxRE?si=5svxNeNA39LU9yQM

Keep in mind that you can typically force a hierarchy of these positions. https://youtube.com/shorts/FwS2EkltGUE?si=6pXzbG2gvtWLl66z

We will start with 

Guard Breaks!

General Goal-Break grips. Push the hooking leg down. Step to a dominate position.

Closed Guard- Pop up, lean, push knee down

https://youtu.be/RDrrWZosCMw?si=wgSOvHWPVdDW5mM9

https://youtu.be/BVB9Nu_j8kw?si=1qhhtJDBWWzwtiaP

Or The violator, log splitter, knee in the butt break. A key detail I have found is to round my back to create a space for the knee to slide into. This is most people's favorite closed guard break.

https://youtube.com/shorts/4O0C267NKt0?si=vEJq_Yas9ITzA9x3

DLR- push the hook down

https://youtube.com/shorts/R8SDySMWpCk?si=1-TtXYKT6G57PSQV

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZaLxTP-nCx8?si=PFWEcXF9J_RxB8ft

RDLR- cut 90 degrees away extending near side leg to kill the hook

https://youtube.com/shorts/3GTOtMBOtG4?si=pl0ltl9G9C1VNu-N

https://youtube.com/shorts/g7ou_51bJlE?si=hTOxvfnF03Joitg0

SLX- push far side foot out and near side knee down

https://youtube.com/shorts/UNu8D_WG7sw?si=wOzIatYlJU2rwGrh

X guard- the hardest- lean weight forward, pull near side foot out, often involves a back step

https://youtu.be/kyFWQz3jlYw?si=LATUzcP16WHTyjvq 

K guard-tricky- fight the far side leg and remove the k hook 

https://youtu.be/DobJjC2l8Sw?si=vjn3S3RIZLfueRBu

Gi Guards!

Obviously we need to address grips like spider, lasso, and worm guards. I'm going to give general ideas. Letting you struggle with gi grips is something that will encourage you to seek advanced tips and higher level concepts. Ideally you should be forcing favorable grips as the initiator. But it is all learned in time. 

Goal and positioning-

https://youtube.com/shorts/jXk_lK4af1c?si=Xrejf3RCQl2PpZyT

Grip breaks- apply more force to their grip example 2 hands on 1 or hand and a knee on one hand

https://youtu.be/n6EUwvCkWJ8?si=k-fa-dqtCGYkUZrF

Gi guard grip breaks-

https://youtu.be/lU5l-DZwHtU?si=0Au8BzSB1g2Yw619

Guard Passing!

With the preface of breaks so you can get to or untangle a passing scenario. We will dive into the creation of movement to make opportunities for passing. 

Overall goal and easiest sequence. https://youtu.be/xB7hra58b2k?si=HC4yAbKl-WKYqTmY

Enter HQ, move their top knee towards their bottom knee to smash pass, dig underhook and kneecut, x pass out of rdlr hook. 

Toreando!

Toreando aka bullfighter pass- This is the beginner pass EVERYONE should know. If you were not taught this pass you should find another school. It is the basics of basics.  

https://youtu.be/i9rA2rDb05k?si=0VD3_sFmkhbT3KP9

Toreando is kind of a mix of a pass, and a reaction. Against a good opponent you will probably not ever pass with this move. However, it will open up opportunities to pass based on how they defend it. 

No reaction or over-reaction- simply  pass the hip line and fall to neon belly

Bottom leg retention- kneecut or near side leg drag

Top leg retention- Far side toreando or smash pass. 

North south reaction- simply step around if they dont follow you with their feet or you beat them to it. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/jJ27nHLgfvg?si=yWQ5iW95EnqzyM7F

Leg Drag!

Near side leg drag-

https://youtu.be/1l5WTjjtrF4?si=j-7H1F0gVkZiY5U6

Far side leg drag- a response to the top leg retention

https://youtube.com/shorts/MhOJYMWahBk?si=9cWtQJ35BjFRYhh2

Diving/flying leg drag- 

https://youtu.be/q9G9t-z4MJ8?si=aXjaG8uPIuvZtioL

https://youtu.be/72Sn9CBYX90?si=TXfWnyDZAxJ3gfMt

Combining the leg drag with toreando opportunities. 

https://youtu.be/3DIS65Q-kH4?si=md6kJpt1vqXPXe5O

Now that you have guard breaks and basics of the move down, figure out how to pass from each of the following positions. 

DLR, RDLR, K guard, SLX, X guard, butterfly, shin to shin, and K guard

Kneecut!

All you really need. 

https://youtu.be/aqpikYqM198?si=QmoJ5f5j7L8q2L53

The Andrew Wiltse instructional is FANTASTIC

General Goal- The main goal of a kneecut is to get an underhook on the far side and kill the opponents attempt at underhook, RDLR hook and knee shield. 

Additional chaining to leg drag. One of my favorite moves. 

https://youtu.be/4c-v1OEPukc?si=HcyBhUZeW_ULUvQm

The goal of a kneecut from almost any position is to get your knee to the floor, clear the RDLR hook, strip grips, get a dominant underhook, force their hips the opposite direction you want to go, and shoot your knee to their head.

Now that you have guard breaks and basics of the move down, figure out how to pass from each of the following positions. 

DLR, RDLR, K guard, SLX, X guard, butterfly, shin to shin, and K guard

Please understand the brevity of this section does not relate to the importance. That instructional is like an hour. WATCH IT! The knee cut is the MAIN pass in almost any high level match. Kneecut will serve you from every belt level. If you want to specialize in any pass. Knee cut is the best. You will find that you will need to mix a few things in with kneecut to fully optimize its lethality. 

Inverted Guard!

This is a very simple way to shut down all the spinny stuff inverted players use. Simply pin their knees to the ground and lift their butt up with your outside knee.  

This position pops up all the time and I don't think I personally have ever seen a class around passing this position. I just figured it out over time. This position popped up around a decade ago with tornado guard being popularized. 

Inverted Guard aka plow passing- Pressure through-

https://youtu.be/jpmQ5_bbxRE?si=5svxNeNA39LU9yQM

Leg drag-

https://youtu.be/8WIRtTQxfy4?si=THagG0E4VXXz9AOF

Smash Pass!

Smash pass is the glue binding kneecuts and leg drags making these moves an effective system. 

This pass is most effective from HQ. But will pop up from time to time with kneecuts and leg drags. 

A very simple pass that even a full instructional was only 30 minutes. 

Smash Pass- simply collapse their top knee to their bottom, slide your hips down to their top knee, windshield wiper your feet to pin their feet to the mat to prevent butterfly and wing sweeps.

https://youtube.com/shorts/JAimwURs7nY?si=DTpE1pb5ViB6WyHq

Half Guard passing!

This is its own beast. I will not go into intense detail as the minutiae of this position is combinatorial explosion. 

Simple effective pass once you are chest to chest

https://youtube.com/shorts/PRO1YbwLKTs?si=l6g1fTUry_NTB778

More details- Once I am chest to chest I keep the underhook I fought for before passing, I apply shoulder pressure and make their face look away from me, I turn my hips down (this bases me from a roll over or sweep), I walk my top leg, heel to toe, until their hips are off the mat and my knee is finally freed (this step may take several minutes), and lastly I use my instep of my bottom foot to free my top side leg from guard. 

Example with other helpful hints

https://youtu.be/qggacmeH59U?si=u5XyMwff-tJvzuKh

Closing Notes

Every single move shown has been hit and is currently META at the highest level of all grappling sports ADCC, CJI, IBJJF, ONE, UFC, Pride, and more. These passes are all used in some combination to pass the best guards in the world. Right now with the popularization of high step passing and camping we are seeing even further advancements in passing. The moves above are used in combination to make passing guard effective. 

I highly recommend Submeta.io to explore these positions in depth and really develop your passing game. Specifically the Levi Leg Drag section is brilliant and changed my game instantly.  

Additional homework

Over under pass, Single stack pass, Double under pass, body lock pass, high step passing, float passing, leg weave pass, tripod passing, camping. 

Feel free to leave me questions you have and hopefully youtube will have a video that will answer your question.

I'll preface this by saying I'm totally capable of doing flow rolls, helping lower belts or just taking it easy because my opponent is also taking it easy - and like most people, these are most of the rolls I'd have in a regular class.

However, I don't really ENJOY these moments. The moments I enjoy the most in BJJ are when I can go all out against someone who can handle it and is willing to do it back to me.

The thing is: due to life circunstances I can't train as much as I'd like to, and when I do these rolls the next day gets REALLY hard for me with soreness and sometimes minor injuries. Had one major one as well, which doesn't help - although it has been getting better.

The actual question is: I'm afraid it could get to a point in which I cannot do what I enjoy the most about BJJ, but also won't really be fully satisfied just generally taking it easy. Have you guys ever gone trought something similar? How did you handle it? How was the process for you?

I'm reaching 38. I've been doing BJJ for about 5 years on and off. White belt, reason why is because It's a hobby for me and I take months off because of social life, work and being burnt out(I'm also depressed, but that's another topic).

I want to get back into it but I find myself being content in not having to deal with injuries you get from BJJ.

Not only that I have time to do other things, like hanging out with friends, other hobbies and just relaxing.

I want to give up but I have this nagging feeling that I'm making a big mistake and that I'm letting go an identity that I created for myself doing BJJ.

Like the title says, is the juice worth the squeeze?

Is it worth putting my body and mind through the grind just to get my knees blown when rolling with a 20 year old D3 wrestler?

My gut says yes, but my body is getting old and I have other things I want to prioritize.

I just want to know your perspective.

I am in the headgear. Recently had an absolute in house tournament and am looking for some advice to improve my game. My opponent was a mid tier blue belt who wrestled for a while. Take a look and let me know, thanks!

Title. I train 6 days a week.

Five of them I focus on the new technique and try to flowroll and be an easy roll. On the sixth day is an open mat where only the good guys go (except me lol) and that's where I try to apply pressure.

Not so much on the other guy but more so on myself. No takedowns unless they earn them, not taking rest rounds unless nobody is available, not tapping unless I'm in danger, etc. Is this a good way to go about things? Is it enough training? What else can I supplement it with?

I also train at a weightlifting gym once a week and focus on leg stuff, specifically the squeezing muscles you use when you are in mount or you have someone in a submission with your legs. What would you change or add to this weekly routine?

Going to make this short and sweet. With what I've seen in the past month for FUJI and IBJJF idk if any other organization is having this problem. We need better medical personnel at tournaments, IBJJF in Chicago we had someone DIE and and a ref (witch lucky was a nurse in Brazil) had to do CPR for 40 min and the medical staff there was not trained for AED that could have saved the person's life. And at FUJI in Fort Wayne there were no medical staff there, lucky some of the competitors were emts. Because they had a person there that couldn't breathe and later found out had a punctured lung. Idk if this is happening with NAGA, Grappling industries ADCC etc all I'm saying is we have to have better medical staff there so this stuff can be prevented from getting worse, because if it doesn't we are going to have a big flux of serious injuries or even deaths in competitions if there's nothing being done to better the medical staff.

I’ll sub a guy 7 times in a roll… and I try to be nice, and if they want constructive criticism, I’ll give it to them… but most of the time I can see the despair in their eyes. LOATHING for what I have just done to them…

But I am a nice fella… so… instead of just hitting the walk off… I just give em a friendly “good job! Thanks for the roll!”

Every time I say it, their face says it all… “F**k you.” 😂

How do yall close out your rolls?

https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/winknews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/6a/a6a260da-44c7-49a7-a602-2ffa64dfd792/68a7e9166d788.image.jpg

From this article:

https://www.winknews.com/sports/taekwondo-master-offers-self-defense-training-for-senior-citizens/article_1630923f-3855-476c-a6d1-40803044be30.html

Has anyone shipped Tatami rashguards to Canada BC? I’m curious what the tax and import/duties fees will be.

Hiya all,

I’d love some advice on lifting and other things I can do outside the gym to improve. (I’m talking weird or uncommon stuff, not the usual “watch instructionals” or “sleep more,” since I already do those. I’m looking for fun, off-the-wall ideas!)

So, yes, I know I’m a little insane, and yes, I’m ridiculously lucky to train as much as I do. I train 15–17 hours a week, lift twice a week with a personal trainer, eat and sleep like a responsible adult (most of the time), and balance life decently enough. I also ride horses and mountain bike in my spare time. I’m 24F so have lots of energy.

No need to worry about burnout or injuries. I work closely with my coach and I know how to listen to my body, so I’ve got that side covered.

Here’s the problem: work is relocating me for 9 months (likely in Europe, which means way more walking than usual). The gym I found there only runs classes Monday–Friday, and I’ll only be able to hit evening ones so maybe 7.5 hours a week max. I’m considering lifting more to make up for the lost mat time, since I can’t bring my mountain bike and won’t have riding as an option.

The issue is…I hate going to the gym just to lift. Like, I’ll do it, but I’m basically dragging myself there like it’s jury duty. How do you stay motivated for lifting? And what’s the weirdest or most random outside-the-gym thing you’ve done that surprisingly helped your training? (At this point, I’d try juggling kettlebells or medieval sword fighting if it meant progress.)

I have a 14 year old and a 10 year old. If it matters, they are 5'3" and 4'4". I want to buy gis for both, but they will outgrow them eventually. Can someone recommend gis for each? It might make sense to spend a bit more on the 14 year old's gi, since the younger will grow into it at some point.

Also, what weave do you suggest? I used to train years ago, and I believe I settled on pearl weave after trying many, but that was so long ago now that I don't really remember.

Edit:

For the 14 year old, I am leaning towards Hawk, which is 100% cotton with ripstop pants. Elite Sports has pretty well reviewed gi's too, but they are 50% cotton 50% polyester.

For the 10 year old, I am leaning towards Vector or Sanabul future legends.

Just graduated college in May and don’t think I can necessarily afford $200/month for the time being. Used to train for a little bit in high school and want to get back into it.

What Vegas gyms are hosting out-of-towners this weekend?

A one -trick pony is someone who knows how to do only one thing well and is dependent on that for success.
Are you guys OTP? whats your style?

I've been doing BJJ for 4 years and judo blue belt (yeah, I'm white 1 Stripe in BJJ, I don't promote but I'm bad anyway lol) and only thing I feel strong against >= browns is spider/ spider+DLR copying Langhi --> any sweep --> mount and cross collar choke learned from Roger techs videos.

Everything else only works in white belts or lucky day. Well, I'm pretty good at bottom mount control, my opponent never lose his positioning.

Hello,

I've been our gym's token leg locker for the better part of a year at this point - It got to the point where I couldn't finish anyone without using a leg lock and would crutch them pretty hard. I decided to change this and stop doing them for a while and am instead working on triangles and arm bars. I find decent success with both when I can get to closed guard, if the opponent is attempting to pass with a mid height posture or if the opponent is attempting to pressure pass me. What I am struggling with, however, is if I'm unable to pull directly into the guard I want to play. If my opponent is able to stand up and engage my seated guard from there. I'm not sure how to engage them first and usually end up defending a pass from the split squat position. I've tried shin on shin and sometimes use the double kouchi sweep or maybe I will enter the legs. I'm just wondering if there is a better way to funnel the opponent into my closed guard or clamp guard game.

thanks!

Which is the best instructional for a good standing game? Recently watched kill the collar tie by Dima and I liked it alot. Are there any good instructional on what to do when you have the collar tie?

I’m just starting out and find that I have a hard time consistently applying what is learned in class. We usually go over technique, drill it, expand on it, drill it again, expand one more time, drill again, go into situational’s revolving around the concepts drilled, then live rounds.

I feel like what would help me more is more drilling, however my time is very limited with work, kids, etc. I train 3-4 times a week and I think a grappling dummy may allow me to drill on the days I’m not able to attend class. Searching thru the subreddit I see most are against grappling dummies as they just go unused.

Any advice or specific grappling dummies you recommend?

Hello All,

I see some posts asking a similar question, but they're fairly old at this point and the coaches/atmospheres have likely changed over time.

I am moving to Atlanta for work and am looking to transition into No gi. I started my MMA career with Krav Maga and then shifted into boxing. I've always been fascinated by grappling and figured why not right now.

28yo/M/175lb

I'll be living in Edgewood.

ATT seems like a solid gym for me in terms of having access to different MMA disciplines and wouldn't be too far, but I'm open to hearing opinions on the quality of the other gyms.

Looking for early morning (6/6.30am) or after work (6.30-11pm) sessions.

Thanks in advance.