August 26, 2009
BJJ & Submission Grappling Competition: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know!
"Everything you ever wanted to know about Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competition but were afraid to ask!"
That's a strong statement, but it's almost even true. In my latest podcast I talk extensively with David Meyer, author of Training for Competition: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Submission Grappling.
We cover a TON of ground in this interview, ranging from why you might want to compete at all, to physical conditioning for competition, to specific strategies you can use against certain types of opponents.
This is one of the best interviews I've ever done. There is so much good information here that it'll be very useful for anyone who trains in BJJ or another grappling art, even if they don't compete.
And you can listen to the whole interview right here using the player embedded at the bottom of this post.
If you want to download future episodes of my podcasts and interviews automatically then click here to sign up for Grapplearts Radio in iTunes - it's completely free and totally simple.
Click the player below to listen to the whole 1 hour, 20 minute interview on BJJ and Submission Grappling Competition (or right click this link: http://media.libsyn.com/media/kesting/BJJ_Competition.mp3 and select "Save Link As..." to save the mp3 file to your computer)
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That's a strong statement, but it's almost even true. In my latest podcast I talk extensively with David Meyer, author of Training for Competition: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Submission Grappling.
We cover a TON of ground in this interview, ranging from why you might want to compete at all, to physical conditioning for competition, to specific strategies you can use against certain types of opponents.
This is one of the best interviews I've ever done. There is so much good information here that it'll be very useful for anyone who trains in BJJ or another grappling art, even if they don't compete.
And you can listen to the whole interview right here using the player embedded at the bottom of this post.
If you want to download future episodes of my podcasts and interviews automatically then click here to sign up for Grapplearts Radio in iTunes - it's completely free and totally simple.
Click the player below to listen to the whole 1 hour, 20 minute interview on BJJ and Submission Grappling Competition (or right click this link: http://media.libsyn.com/media/kesting/BJJ_Competition.mp3 and select "Save Link As..." to save the mp3 file to your computer)
Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, competition, podcasts, self defense, submission grappling, the mental aspect, training
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August 23, 2009
Combining the Thai Clinch With The Double Leg Takedown
Today's goodie is a report written by my online friend John Will, discussing how to combine the deadly Muay Thai clinch position with the double leg takedown (arguably the highest percentage takedown in MMA).
Mixed martial arts is all about mixing different fighing styles. Think of building a fight game that mixes Wanderlei Silva's deadly clinch 'em and knee 'em game with the super fast takedowns of Georges St. Pierre. That would be a TOUGH game to beat, wouldn't it?
Anyway, you can download that 5 page report on combining the Thai clinch with double leg takedown, completely for free, just by right-clicking and selecting "save" on the following link:
http://www.grapplearts.com/Clinch&MMATakedowns.pdf
And if you still want more material from John then check out what he has to say about the most important aspects of the double leg takedown.
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Mixed martial arts is all about mixing different fighing styles. Think of building a fight game that mixes Wanderlei Silva's deadly clinch 'em and knee 'em game with the super fast takedowns of Georges St. Pierre. That would be a TOUGH game to beat, wouldn't it?
Anyway, you can download that 5 page report on combining the Thai clinch with double leg takedown, completely for free, just by right-clicking and selecting "save" on the following link:
http://www.grapplearts.com/Clinch&MMATakedowns.pdf
And if you still want more material from John then check out what he has to say about the most important aspects of the double leg takedown.
Labels: clinching, MMA, takedowns
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August 20, 2009
I'm a BJJ Lab Rat Now!
It's been a while since I was part of the University scene. I finished up with that aspect of my life in 1992 and I've never seriously considered going back. But now I'm feeling a bit like Al Pacino in the Godfather movies: "just when I thought I was out, they DRAG me back in!"
Except I'm actually sort of enjoying it this time...
You see, I've been in touch with Dr. Bryan Hogeveen from the University of Alberta who is doing the first study on Brazilian Jiu-jitsu culture in North America. And he's picking my brain in a series of hour-long interviews, getting my views on grappling as a sport, a recreational activity and a martial art.
If I don't say anything too embarrassing I may eventually put those interviews out as a series of podcasts...
The cool thing is that Bryan (the guy who is doing the research) is not only a tenured professor of sociology, but he's also a BJJ practitioner himself. Heck, he even worked as a doorman at a bar in his undergraduate days, so he can't be all bad, right?
Well Bryan has also invited YOU to fill out a short online survey about your training and training philosophy. And it doesn't matter how long you've been training - he wants to hear from everybody.
If you're reading this then I assume that you agree that BJJ and grappling are pretty great. But compared to other combat sports like Judo, wrestling and boxing, there's been a lot LESS research into grappling. The better we understand our sport the more efficiently we can train and the faster we can improve.
I'm all about mixing physical training with a cerebral approach to grappling. If you have the time and inclination, then completing this short survey might get you thinking about aspects of your sport that you haven't thought about before.
Male grappler survey:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/104006/bjjsurvey
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Except I'm actually sort of enjoying it this time...
You see, I've been in touch with Dr. Bryan Hogeveen from the University of Alberta who is doing the first study on Brazilian Jiu-jitsu culture in North America. And he's picking my brain in a series of hour-long interviews, getting my views on grappling as a sport, a recreational activity and a martial art.
If I don't say anything too embarrassing I may eventually put those interviews out as a series of podcasts...
The cool thing is that Bryan (the guy who is doing the research) is not only a tenured professor of sociology, but he's also a BJJ practitioner himself. Heck, he even worked as a doorman at a bar in his undergraduate days, so he can't be all bad, right?
Well Bryan has also invited YOU to fill out a short online survey about your training and training philosophy. And it doesn't matter how long you've been training - he wants to hear from everybody.
If you're reading this then I assume that you agree that BJJ and grappling are pretty great. But compared to other combat sports like Judo, wrestling and boxing, there's been a lot LESS research into grappling. The better we understand our sport the more efficiently we can train and the faster we can improve.
I'm all about mixing physical training with a cerebral approach to grappling. If you have the time and inclination, then completing this short survey might get you thinking about aspects of your sport that you haven't thought about before.
Male grappler survey:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/104006/bjjsurvey
Female grappler survey
OK, that's enough for now. The electrodes taped to my bald head are beginning to get itchy and I've got some levers to push...
Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, interviews, research, the mental aspect
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August 16, 2009
Why I'm Training Like A (Strikeforce) Girl
I had a great conditioning workout today, motivated by two entirely different things.
The first thing firing me up was watching a Christiane Cyborg conditioning session on Youtube. She was preparing for her recent fight in Strikeforce against Gina Carano. Love her or hate her, Ithink you'll agree that she's incredibly fit!
The second reason was that I've recently had less mat time than I would like (that's because I've been working day and night on a brand new, top secret, grappling-related project). It's ironic that when I'm focusing on creating material to help other people with their grappling, then I get too busy to concentrate on my own training...
But I know that soon I'll be able to start training a lot more, and I don't want to be completely out of shape when that happens! That's why, whenever I'm grappling less often than my normal routine, then I try to do some additional conditioning to
compensate.
Anyway, here was today's workout:
I started out with a brief jog, and then did four circuits of the following Cyborg-inspired exercises:
This was followed by one warmup set and three working sets of the bench press
Next I knelt down in front of the cable machine, and did 20 kneeling one-handed cable pulldowns (2 sets per arm). This roughly resembles the motion of a one-armed chinup, but is a lot easier than that elite-level exercise.
Coming close to the end of the workout, I picked up some dumbells and did two sets of curl-and-press movements.
At the end of most of my workouts I usually do some abdominal, lower back and neck strengthening. Today was no different, so I did one set (not to failure) of each of the following exercises:
Whenever I post something like this I usually get emails from people honestly trying to help me and concerned that I'm doing everything wrong... Either my workouts are "too long", or "too short," or have too much aerobic endurance stuff, or I need to do more sprints, or I need to add Olympic lifting or start doing isometric holds...
Am I doing the 100% optimal workout for grappling? Honestly, everybody has an opinion but nobody knows for sure.
My mantra when it comes to conditioning is that doing something is better than doing nothing!
So was this workout session better than sitting on my duff, watching TV and eating potato chips?
You bet!
Until next time...
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The first thing firing me up was watching a Christiane Cyborg conditioning session on Youtube. She was preparing for her recent fight in Strikeforce against Gina Carano. Love her or hate her, Ithink you'll agree that she's incredibly fit!
The second reason was that I've recently had less mat time than I would like (that's because I've been working day and night on a brand new, top secret, grappling-related project). It's ironic that when I'm focusing on creating material to help other people with their grappling, then I get too busy to concentrate on my own training...
But I know that soon I'll be able to start training a lot more, and I don't want to be completely out of shape when that happens! That's why, whenever I'm grappling less often than my normal routine, then I try to do some additional conditioning to
compensate.
Anyway, here was today's workout:
I started out with a brief jog, and then did four circuits of the following Cyborg-inspired exercises:
- Tractor Tire Flips x 10 (this sucker weighs at least 300 lbs)
- Plyo jumps up and down onto the tire x 10
- Bodyweight squats x 20
- Sledgehammer swings (hitting the tire) x 20\
- Brief rest to catch my breath
This was followed by one warmup set and three working sets of the bench press
Next I knelt down in front of the cable machine, and did 20 kneeling one-handed cable pulldowns (2 sets per arm). This roughly resembles the motion of a one-armed chinup, but is a lot easier than that elite-level exercise.
Coming close to the end of the workout, I picked up some dumbells and did two sets of curl-and-press movements.
At the end of most of my workouts I usually do some abdominal, lower back and neck strengthening. Today was no different, so I did one set (not to failure) of each of the following exercises:
- Back hyperextensions
- Abdominal crunches
- Neck harness work
Whenever I post something like this I usually get emails from people honestly trying to help me and concerned that I'm doing everything wrong... Either my workouts are "too long", or "too short," or have too much aerobic endurance stuff, or I need to do more sprints, or I need to add Olympic lifting or start doing isometric holds...
Am I doing the 100% optimal workout for grappling? Honestly, everybody has an opinion but nobody knows for sure.
My mantra when it comes to conditioning is that doing something is better than doing nothing!
So was this workout session better than sitting on my duff, watching TV and eating potato chips?
You bet!
Until next time...
Labels: conditioning, MMA, Strikeforce, women
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August 05, 2009
Finishing the Rear Naked Choke
Grappling is usually a refined and elegant martial art. But you can't always use sophistication and leverage to get what you want...
Let's look at question that was recently forwarded to me, and see why sometimes you need to go lowbrow!
Q: "I have a quick question on the Rear Naked Choke (RNC). I have come across a few guys who are excellent at tucking their chin well into the crook of my elbow when I'm trying to give them the RNC, and obviously it's not choking them because their chin is in the way. What's an effective way to get their chin up somehow after they have blocked my choke attempt."
A: When it comes to attacking from rear mount, the RNC is definitely one of your pieces of heavy artillery! Anytime you're on someone's back, you should be ready to slap it on. (Click here for a technical step-by-step breakdown of the Rear Naked Choke).
But dealing with the tucked chin defense can be difficult, particularly if your opponent is both strong and stubborn. Here are some answers to use in just that situation:
- Head Push. Get the rear mount and push their head forward. They react by pushing back into you, so release the pressure and slip in the choke. This only works on beginners, but it's still a handy trick to know about!
- Forehead Pull. Place your palm on his forehead and pull it straight backwards, exposing the neck. Then, maintaining the pull, shoot your OTHER hand across his throat and start working for the choke. (This works best when you're in belly-down rear mount).
- Crossfacing. Say you're rear mounted and his chin is down. Drive your right fist and forearm across his face, forcing him to look to the left, and then drive your left arm into position across his throat. Sometimes you have to do this two or three times (left, right, left...) before you get the opening you need to attack the neck.
- Nose Pressure. Some people advocate using putting the forearm just under the nose, and then raking it upwards to open up the space at the neck (ouch!).
- Choke the Jaw. Maybe my favorite option is simply apply the RNC directly over the chin and squeeze. If you do this with consistent and sustained pressure you can pull his jaw back into his windpipe and choke him that way (it just takes a little longer). It's also painful, and often he'll lift his chin up to get the pressure off his jaw, giving you perfect access to his neck.
Just remember to save the pain-based stuff for competition. Or on people you really don't like. Or on really good friends (who'll forgive you). Please DON'T use it on the brand new guy who'll quit and never come back, or on someone who'll really take offense.
But even if you don't want to use the 'grinding' options yourself, you still need to know about them. Someone might try them on you, and if you've seen it before then you'll be prepared to deal with it.
Happy Rear Naked Choking!
Labels: chokes, rear mount, rear naked choke, RNC
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