Month: October 2021

Posted on by

How To Do A Stage 1.5 Triangle Choke Variation

The triangle choke is an essential choke in BJJ. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a martial art is focused on using body mechanics to submit an opponent even if they might be larger and stronger than you and the triangle from guard is a perfect example of that. Using the geometry of your legs and your opponent’s neck and arm, the triangle allows you to choke them without relying on strength.

The BJJ Stage 1.5 position is an open guard position that uses a push-pull on your opponent’s arm to secure them in a spot that prevents them from punching (in MMA or on the street), passing your guard, or backing out of the position. Stage 1.5 in Jiu-Jitsu is achieved by gripping your opponent’s wrist while pushing your knee into their elbow, blocking any movement forward or back.

The triangle choke stage 1.5 variation is a part of the How To Get A Blue Belt guide by Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Start: Stage 1.5 position, side with knee trapping opponent’s arm will be attacking side

Step 1: Push knee forward and then use the space created to slip foot up and over opponent’s shoulder, cross ankles

Step 2: Pull opponent’s trapped arm across your body to the attacking side

Step 3: Grab back of opponent’s head to pull them in and drop your non-attacking side leg to their hip, adjust your position so that opponent’s trapped arm is 90 degrees

Step 4: Bring attacking-side leg over opponent’s neck so that your hamstring is against their neck and figure four your non-attacking leg over your shin

Step 5: Push your knees together, pull opponent’s head down and push your hips up

End: Submission via stage 1.5 triangle choke

Posted on by

How To Do a Giant Killer Triangle Choke Submission in BJJ

The triangle choke submission in BJJ is one of the defining submissions of the sport. Using the triangle choke a smaller or weaker person can use the mechanics of their legs to choke the neck of a larger, stronger opponent. The triangle perfectly illustrates the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu core belief that technique will beat strength. That belief is at the core of the name of this submission, the giant killer triangle choke. 

The giant killer triangle choke submission is a basic technique that is a part of the How To Get a BJJ Blue Belt guide for what the Gracie family expects every blue belt to know. 

The giant killer triangle submission is an option if your opponent is too large or too strong for you to secure the open guard 1.5 position and you are left without the push-pull necessary to fully control their upper body. 

Start: Closed guard with opponent hugging close to you

Step 1: Use legs to push opponent’s hips down and away from your head

Step 2: Use two hands to push opponent’s head to one side (this will be attacking side)

Step 3: Post non-attacking side foot on the ground and shrimp to that side

Step 4: Put both feet onto opponent’s hips and grab opponent’s non-attacking side arm with both hand

Step 5: Stretch opponent out with push-pull of hips and arm to create enough space for triangle setup

Step 6: Swim attacking side leg up and over opponent’s neck and lock ankles

Step 7: Push opponent’s trapped arm across their body

Step 8: Post non-attacking foot on opponent’s hip and rotate your body in line with their trapped arm

Step 9: Figure-four non-attacking side knee over attacking shin

Step 10: Pull down on opponent’s head and squeeze triangle choke 

Finish: Submission via giant killer triangle choke submission

Posted on by

How To Do A Soul Crusher Arm Bar in BJJ

The soul crusher position in BJJ is an absolutely vicious setup for the cross body arm bar from mount that will leave your opponent broken and defeated. Part of the goal in BJJ is to do the coolest stuff, and a big part of that is hitting the submission with the coolest name. Sure everyone knows the guillotine and anaconda choke, but while those are intimidating names, they aren’t quite as mean sounding as the soul crusher arm bar.

Part of what makes the soul crusher a cool submission is that it lives up to its name. The soul crusher puts your weight to work on your opponent’s chest, and then their shoulders while you force them into an awkward, uncomfortable position where they beg you to just submit them.

Start: Mount 

Step 1: Stretch your opponent into a pressure mount by hooking your heels around their legs and stretching them down and away from your body while arching your legs up and lifting your knees off the ground to drive your hips into your opponent’s body.

Step 2:  Get a cross face with your attacking arm and reach all the way through to opponent’s arm pit

Step 3: Drive opponent’s elbow to the ground with your attacking hand

Step 4: Circle non-attacking hand to the mat palm down below your opponent’s elbow

Step 5: Walk attacking hand up to above opponent’s head

Step 6: Grip across opponent’s head with at your non-attacking hand

Step 7: Give up crossface and repeat elbow drive and walk up above opponent’s head with that hand

Step 8: Squeeze both arms together

Step 9: Switch to high mount

Step 10: grip opponent’s elbow with attacking hand

Step 11: Kick non-attacking leg out away from opponent’s body

Step 12: Sit up onto opponent’s waist and post non-attacking hand on the mat for support

Step 13: Lean in and step attacking side foot over opponent’s head

Step 14: Sit back and bridge hips

Finish: Submission via soul crusher arm bar

Posted on by

How To Do a Kimura Takedown in BJJ

If you watched UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs Dumont, you might have caught Ramazan Emeev taking Danny Roberts to the mat with a Kimura takedown. At the time it was called creative by the commenting team but like Jim said “as we all know, the one thing that thousand-year-old martial arts do all the time is change.” This video from 2009 has Nick Diaz showing how he does the kimura takedown.

The kimura takedown uses the kimura arm submission that we all know and love (if you don’t know and love the kimura, check out How To Do a Kimura From Guard in BJJ – Forced Variation, How To Do A Kimura From Side Control Bottom in BJJ.

Start: Standing, opponent has back with double under hooks

Step 1: Target which we of opponent’s hands is on top, this will be the side you attack. Grab that wrist with your other side hand

Step 2: Push down on opponent’s wrist with both of your hands while you base down.

Step 3: Use the space created by basing down to weave your attacking side hand over opponent’s arm and through to grab your other wrist.

Step 4: Push down and base to break opponent’s grip

Step 5: Turn towards attacking side and push opponent’s arm up, causing them to follow the motion and go off balance

Finish: Side control via kimura takedown

Posted on by — 1 Comment

The Beginner BJJ Buyer’s Guide – All The BJJ Gear a White Belt Needs

So you’ve been bitten by the BJJ bug (or choked by the Jiu-Jitsu chicken? That one needs some work). You took your first BJJ class and loved it, now you’re ready to dive into the deep waters head first. So what should a white belt buy to get better at BJJ?

Here’s our guide to all of the BJJ gear a white belt should buy.

  1. Best Starting BJJ Gi for New White Belts

Your first BJJ gi shouldn’t cost too much. You don’t know if your body is going to change (some people gain or lose a lot of weight when they get into BJJ) and you don’t know what kind of gi you really want (a super light one if your gym is hot and you get uncomfortable rolling BJJ while feeling like you’re wearing a winter coat in a sauna or a super thick heavy competition gi that makes you hard for an opponent to grip)

  1. Best Starting BJJ Rash Guard for New White Belts

A BJJ rash guard is something you’ll want to have early in your BJJ career. A BJJ rash guard serves a few purposes. First, a rash guard guards you against rashes (look at that, it’s right in the name!). Even a really nice high end BJJ gi is a thick, rough, sturdy piece of equipment designed to have your two hundred pound friend hang off it while they try to pull you down, so you need something between you and your gi otherwise you’ll end up like Andy Bernard in the Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure. 

The second thing a rash guard does is keep your sweaty chest from dripping on your opponents and keeps anything gross on the mat from your skin. Like coming into class with fresh breath and a lack of body stank (as we mentioned in our What You Need For Your First BJJ Class post), you should think of what you can do to make your buddies want to roll with you. One of the easiest things you can do is not drench them with your chest sweat whenever you’re above them, and a decent rash guard can do that. Additionally, a BJJ gym can host a whole lot of nasty stuff like ringworm, staph, MRSA, and people who pull guard. Keep yourself from catching any of those gross conditions with a good rash guard.

The third thing a rash guard does is keep your options open. If your gym has a no gi BJJ class or an MMA class, you don’t want to be the guy who shows up in a muscle shirt and gets someone’s arm stuck in their shirt over and over so everyone has to watch out for your fashion faux pas to keep from breaking their arm. Show up in a rash guard and you can wear gym shorts or your gi bottoms and be ready to roll full speed. 

  1. Best Starting BJJ Book for New White Belts

BJJ is an immensely complicated sport that can seem really overwhelming at first (and once you get a hold of how much knowledge is out there, it turns into something really REALLY overwhelming, but that’s where the fun is). The best way to acclimate yourself with the basics of BJJ is to do like Levar Burton taught us and take a look, it’s in a book.

A good BJJ book will leave you with a basic understanding of terms, positions, and a few techniques (even if you just leave knowing the names and what the end goal of them are, it will set you up to not feel overwhelmed like everyone else in class is tapped into the matrix like keanu and knows kung fu after seeing a technique once.

We recommend Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribiero as the most comprehensive yet approachable starting point for a new BJJ white belt to learn the BJJ fundamentals.

  1. BJJ Belt for New White Belts

This one is probably unnecessary, but you will want to check it out. Most BJJ gis come with a white belt in the package for free when you buy them, but just in case yours doesn’t, you might want to buy one so you can fully get dressed at home before you head to the gym. Of course, because most BJJ gis have a white belt with them, your school might have some laying around or you can ask the folks you train with if they have a spare.

  1. Best BJJ Shorts for New White Belts

BJJ shorts are a good purchase if you plan to spend a lot of time doing no gi BJJ. A good pair of shorts will keep you covered during an intense roll better than gym shorts between the heavy ties designed for grappling and the legs that are designed to let you stretch farther than any normal gym shorts (the first time you get stacked in a triangle attempt, you’ll understand the importance), these shorts will be a great addition to your BJJ gear collection.

  1. Best BJJ Spats for New White Belts

Just like BJJ shorts, BJJ spats are a great option for no gi BJJ or wrestling. BJJ spats will keep you completely covered while rolling, avoiding anyone having to stick their head into your gross thighs when they take you down or you having to have someone’s gross head on your thighs when you get taken down. Spats can also keep you from getting gi burn on your knees and legs and can keep your legs clean and separated from the mat, keeping you healthy and ready to roll without even a day off for an infection.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

What You Need For Your First BJJ Class

So you’ve decided to take your first BJJ class.

Congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where you will learn how to drop people onto the ground, twist them like a pretzel, leave them completely helpless, disassemble their body, and choke the fight out of them. 

All by having those things done to you over and over.

BJJ is a fun sport, and teaches skills that are great for anyone to have, but your first Jiu-Jitsu class can be intimidating. You’re probably filled with questions:

How do I prepare for my first BJJ class?

What should I know for my first BJJ class? 

But most of all:

What do I need for my first BJJ class?

Here’s a list of what you need to get in order to have a good first BJJ class.

Soap

Show up to class clean. You’re going to be in close contact with your new friends, the last thing you want to do is smell bad. In addition to the embarrassment of smelling bad in front of people you just met, make sure you wash your feet before your first BJJ class. It’s an unpleasant reality that when rolling BJJ your face ends up on the same mat as your feet, so rolling with dirty feet can get someone sick.

Just like your friends, you want to protect yourself. We recommend anti fungal soaps that will prevent anything you come into contact with on the mat (and it can happen even in the cleanest gyms) from spreading to you.

Mouth Wash

Similar to soap, mouthwash is essential to making friends with all the people you meet in your first BJJ class. Having stank breath will make people not want to roll with you, and that’s how you learn what works and what doesn’t. So keep a bit of mouthwash with your gym bag or in your car to make sure you don’t advertise your garlic heavy lunch to all your Jiu-Jitsu friends.

Toenail Clippers

The first two items you need for your first BJJ class are pretty obvious (though we all need to be reminded, especially if we come after work) but this one isn’t: you need to cut your fingernails and toenails. When you roll BJJ, you end up grabbing your opponent’s limbs or head in a scramble and fingernails longer than the ends of your fingers can cut people. So before you go to your first BJJ class, make sure you cut your fingernails and toenails as close as you can.

That’s it, no reason to bring anything else to a first BJJ class than yourself, clean and ready to learn.

If you’re nervous about not understanding what’s going on, take a look through the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt Requirements for a good round up of the basics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Liked your first class? Check out our Beginner BJJ Buyer’s Guide – All The BJJ Gear a White Belt Needs

Posted on by

How To Do A Kimura From Side Control Bottom in BJJ

Side control bottom in BJJ sucks. You are stuck on the ground with someone pouring all of their weight right into your chest making it hard to breathe while they’re also trying to bend your body in impossible directions. Add in that, unlike being mounted, you don’t have the option to upa (or bridge quickly with) your hips to knock your opponent off balance and create some space to maybe recover to a better position and side control can be a very frustrating place to find yourself if you’re new to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But there is one trick that lets the BJJ fighter on side control bottom take back some of the power: The kimura from side control bottom.

The kimura from side control bottom is a simple submission that uses the same kimura mechanics you know from the kimura from guard, kimura from side control, kimura from mount, or kimura from half guard bottom. While you may not get a submission with the kimura from side control bottom, it can open up options for escaping side control bottom.

This particular kimura from side control bottom involves catching your opponent while they are transitioning past your guard into side control bottom. It can also be used if you are able to hip out enough to grab a grip on your opponent’s high-side arm with both of your hands.

Start: Opponent past your guard and transitioning to side control

Step 1: Grip opponent’s high-side hand (the side they are passing on) with your inside hand

Step 2: Drop to your inside hip

Step 3: Reach outside hand over opponent’s tricep and grab your own wrist

Step 4: Turn onto outside hip and shoulder, allowing opponent to follow their movement and fall over your body onto their back

Step 5: Switch your hips perpendicular to opponent’s body and push their arm back towards their head

Finish: Submission via kimura from side control bottom

Posted on by

How To Do A Double Under Pass in BJJ

Passing the guard can be frustrating for white belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Most rolls start on the knees and most experienced BJJ fighters will sit back and play an open guard, leaving the white belt stuck trying to get past their legs. Charging into an opponent’s open guard without a plan usually leads to sweeps that put you on the bottom in a bad situation. 

The double under guard pass in BJJ is a simple pass that drives your opponent back onto their shoulders and off their hips, taking away their power and giving you a path around their legs and into side control. 

The great Keenan Cornelius shows this double under guard pass that is simple enough for a white belt to learn but powerful enough to still be a part of his game at the highest level of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Start: Opponent’s open guard

Step 1: Push one of opponent’s knees to the ground

Step 2: Underhook opponent’s free leg and get their knee over your shoulder

Step 3: Give up pin and underhook that leg

Step 4: Reach your top side arm (with the knee on your shoulder) across opponent’s body to secure control of that leg

Step 5: Get cross-collar grip with top side hand

Step 6: Drive into opponent, forcing them off their hips and onto their shoulder (keep your head down to prevent opponent from untying the pass)

Step 7: Switch hips into opponent and shrug past their top side leg, letting it fall

Finish: Side Control

Posted on by

How To Escape The Half Guard Lockdown in BJJ – 3 Lockdown Escapes

The lockdown position in half guard is a very powerful way to secure your opponent when you are in half guard bottom. Getting the lockdown from half guard bottom opens up sweeps, submissions, and prevents your opponent from passing to mount or side control. Getting stuck in the lockdown can be frustrating and like many positions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, spazzing and trying to muscle your way out of lockdown can lead to injuries.

These are three great ways to use Jiu-Jitsu to escape the half guard lockdown safely.

Half Guard Lockdown Escape 1: Lift Off

Start: Half guard top, opponent has lockdown

Step 1: Shift weight as low onto opponent’s hips as possible

Step 2: Switch hips and face towards your trapped leg, posting free foot at an angle and pinching free knee in to trap opponent’s free leg

Step 3: Lift trapped heel up and towards your butt

Step 4: Post formerly trapped foot out away from opponent’s legs to prevent them from restoring lockdown

Finish: Half guard top

Half Guard Lockdown Escape 2: Knee Cut

Start Half guard top, opponent has lockdown

Step 1: Get arm underhook on lockdown side and overhook on other side

Step 2: Switch head to free side of opponent’s head and sprawl out, flattening yourself onto mat

Step 3: Use free foot to pry opponent’s inside leg down and away from lockdown

Step 4: Pull trapped knee forward past opponent’s knee into knee cut pass

Step 5: Slide knee over opponent’s thigh and past their half guard

Finish: Side control top

Half Guard Lockdown Escape 3: Donkey Kick

Start: Half guard top, opponent has lockdown

Step 1: Shift weight as low onto opponent’s hips as possible

Step 2: Tilt to free side and shoot free-side hand through underneath opponent’s thighs

Step 3: Grips hands together and pinch opponent’s knees together

Step 4: Move hips back and sprawl free leg out

Step 5: Sprawl or kick trapped leg back

Finish: Scramble

Curious about the lockdown? Check out How To Do the Half Guard Lockdown in BJJ, How To Do a Half Guard Lockdown Arm Triangle Choke in BJJ, and How To Do a Half Guard Lockdown Calf Slicer in BJJ.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

How To Do a Half Guard Lockdown Calf Slicer in BJJ

The half guard lockdown is a great BJJ position that secures half guard, preventing your opponent from passing while allowing you to work on submissions and sweeps. By simply wrapping your feet around your opponent’s shin, you can prevent their movement and they have to work on passing your lockdown before they can think about passing your half guard. That extra step gives you a chance to work on submissions from half guard lockdown. 

If you’re unsure of how to get the lockdown position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, check out our writeup How To Do the Half Guard Lockdown in BJJ.

A calf slicer is a brutally painful submission in BJJ that put the shin of your leg into the calf muscle of your opponent, causing immense pressure. This move is illegal to use in gi BJJ competitions but is legal in nogi BJJ and MMA, but this submission can do serious damage so be careful training it in your gym.

Start: Halfguard with lockdown

Step 1: Dive inside hand under opponent’s opposite armpit and sit up so that they are on all fours and your top half is clear of their body on the side of their trapped leg

Step 2: Grab opponent’s trapped shin with your inside hand

Step 3: Abandon the lockdown and figure four your legs with the outside foot on your inside knee

Step 4: With both hands, pull opponent’s foot towards you

Finish: Submission via half guard lockdown calf slicer