Grappling Tips Newsletter

September 28, 2009

The Most Important Thing For Improving Your Grappling

You know, I used to think that if I just learned enough ways to pass the guard, mastered enough submissions, memorized enough pin escapes, pick up enough guard sweeps, received enough tactics and just had enough techniques at my fingertips, then... someday... I would master the art of grappling.

Techniques, techniques, techniques! I was pretty sure that these were the critical things to learn. Well, guess what? When I look back on my grappling journey it's obvious that my greatest successes and most exciting breakthroughs all had one thing in common.

And it was never about learning a new technique.

Instead the biggest leaps forward were those suddent insights when, all of a sudden, you see that a whole bunch of different and seemingly unconnected techniques are just different expressions of the same underlying principle.

Some people call these 'ah ha' moments. The light goes on, something falls into place, and you can never look at something in quite the same way ever again.

Breakthrough moments like these have been on my mind a lot recently. (In fact this is the main reason I put together my online Grappling Concepts course. What I'm doing in that course is distilling my most important 'ah ha' moments in grappling, and passing them on to you.)

But regardless of whether you sign up for that course or not, today I want to talk to you about the power of concepts.

By the end of this email I want you to be convinced that concepts and principles are FAR more powerful than individual techniques. And that figuring out these concepts is the single best thing you can do to become a better grappler.

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, then

A concept is worth a thousand techniques.
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Why is concept-based learning so great when it comes to submission grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Here are five good reasons:

REASON #1: There are LOTS of techniques in grappling. Hundreds and hundreds of techniques.

You've got your bread and butter techniques. Then there are the techniques that are you use once in a while. And then there are the techniques that you'll never use yourself but that your opponents will try to use on you. There's no getting around it: you've GOT to learn a lot of techniques to get good at this grappling stuff. And that can seem overwhelming at times - memorizing all this can be hard work.

But guess what? Those hundreds and hundreds of techniques I was talking about - they're made up of thousands of little steps that make the difference between success and failure for each technique

But the good news is that there are a lot fewer concepts than techniques in grappling.

And it's much easier to remember a few core concepts than it is to remember hundreds of techniques with thousands of steps and details. Techniques are just applied concepts. A single concept can be applied to many different techniques, in different situations, and using different parts of your body.

REASON #2: A concept makes you understand WHY you have to do certain things in a specific order for a given technique to work properly. Concepts make sense of a technique, and it's a million times easier to remember things that makes sense.

A concept also makes the techniques you already know more powerful. Once you understand the underlying principles of the armbar, for example, then you'll also know how to tweak and adjust that submission for maximum effectiveness.

REASON #3: Another limitation of technique-based learning is that a specific technique applies only to a specific situation. And it's completely unreasonable to expect to know a different technique to deal with each and every situation you might end up in on the mats.

If you've done any sparring at all, then you know that two determined grapplers can end up in some downright weird situations. In these tangled positions each grappler will be wondering what the heck they should do next.

Unfortunately the 'dial-a-friend' option ISN'T available when you're in the middle of a grappling match. But most of the time you can figure out the right thing to do by apply the correct concepts. I know this, because going back to 'first principles' has saved my butt many times in sparring.

REASON #4: You can use the same concept in many different grappling arts.

Rules can change from art to art, but the laws of physics, anatomy and psychology stay the same. That means that the concepts you'll discover when you did a little deeper are much more universal than the techniques of any given art.

The same concept can apply in Brazilian jiu-jitsu AND submission grappling, With the gi AND in no-gi. In mixed martial arts AND in self defense. In Judo AND Sambo AND wrestling

REASON #5: Understanding the concepts of grappling allows you to adapt and even invent techniques on the fly.

Just think about music for a second. Understanding the principles and underlying rules of music allows a musician to improvise and create great sounding music. In exactly the same way, knowing the principles and underlying concepts of grappling allows you to adapt and innovate new techniques as needed, and even 'on the fly.'

This approach to the martial arts also frees you up to continue learning when your instructor isn't around. The most important thing my instructors did was TEACH ME HOW TO LEARN!

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Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him HOW to fish and you feed him for his whole life.

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You can probably tell that I really believe the number one thing you can do to improve your overall grappling is develop a 'conceptual' game.

So take a look at the vast number of grappling techniques and get serious about finding the universal themes, the underlying principles and the most important concepts that make those techniques 'tick'.

Eventually I hope you'll agree that a concept is worth a thousand techniques.

P.S. For a few more days only, a two week free trial of the Grappling Concepts course, plus a free DVD for all signups, is available at

===> http://www.grapplearts.tv

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, concepts, submission grappling, techniques, the mental aspect, training

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 8:55 PM

September 20, 2009

Killer Grip, and How To Get It!

Stephan's note: this post is one of over 50 lessons in the Beginning BJJ eCourse. Sign up here to get your hands on the rest of the lessons for free.

My BJJ coach Marcus Soares believes that a really strong grip is one of the most important physical attributes for a BJJ fighter. Not surprisingly, Marcus's grip is crushingly strong. In fact, this is one of the first things his old training partners remember about him. One Brazilian coach told me "Oh my God, when he grabbed you that was it! At that point you just wanted to go do something else..."

Now wouldn't that be a nice attribute to have?

Obviously a strong grip helps with gi chokes, however it's also a huge asset even if you mostly do no-gi. There's nothing like clamping a vice-like mitt onto an opponent's wrist to get his attention in a hurry! But what if you've naturally got a weak grip? Should you give up the sport and take up ping-pong?

By now you've probably already guessed what I'm going to say here. Just because you suck at something doesn't mean that you shouldn't work on it. In this specific area I speak from personal experience here, because my own grip is decidedly non-superhuman...

If you suck at something you should probably double your efforts in that area. As Marc Denny told me, often your fastest progress comes from working your weakest areas.

There's a real art and science behind serious grip training. But what if you've decided to spend your few precious hours of spare time on the mat training BJJ rather than cranking out reps of forearm twists and other exercises in a gym ?

In that case check out my Youtube video with five grip training exercises I use while I'm on-the-go. Here's to the time when YOUR opponents will fear the power of your grip!

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, conditioning, grip training, teachers

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 4:19 PM

September 18, 2009

The Grappling Concepts Online Course

I've been hard at work in 'the lab' cooking something up something new...

And now it's finally ready: the online 'Grappling Concepts' course.

This is a 26 week web-based course. Every week I'm sending participants a 15 minute to 30 minute video lesson tackling a fundamental grappling concept. The motto of the course is "If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a concept is worth a thousand techniques." (I toyed with the idea of calling the course '26,000 Techniques" but then came to my senses...)

The course material is very different from the regular old deluge-of-techniques type of DVD. And I'm also doing the marketing very differently as well.

In this era of over-hyped products I think the next evolution might be seeing exactly what you're getting, BEFORE you pay for it. I don't want to 'trick' anybody into joining the course - I'd much rather you try it out and see if it's for you.

If you like the material - great, I'll be glad to have you onboard! There's a very cool 'ethical bribe' waiting for you at the end of the course.

If you don't like it then that's also cool. Just let me know and I'll cancel your subscription right away. That's why the course billing doesn't start for 14 days (i.e. there's a free trial) and everybody gets a free DVD just for signing up. If you cancel, no problem, you still get to keep the DVD as my gift.

Here's the initial free DVD:

And here's the 'ethical bribe' you get if you complete the 26 weeks: the "Advanced Techniques and Tactics" 4 DVD Set.

For more information about the free DVD and the 14 day free trial please visit www.grapplearts.tv

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, concepts, grapplearts, Grapplearts DVDs, submission grappling, the mental aspect

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:43 PM

September 16, 2009

A Video Tutorial on the X Guard

I'm just drowning in email right now, because my new Grappling Concepts course has just launched. I've never seen a response this intense (maybe it's because of the limited number of DVDs available).

But before I get back to taking orders and answering emails, here's a link to an online video X Guard tutorial that I'm using to promote the Grappling Concepts Course

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, butterfly guard, drills, sweeps, teaching, the guard, x guard

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 10:37 AM

September 13, 2009

The Two WORST Martial Arts Techniques of All Time!

Disclaimer: I've trained with some great teachers, getting tons of top-notch information from them. But my teachers are NOT AT ALL RESPONSIBLE for today's video!

You see, I've just posted a video about the two absolute WORST techniques that I've ever seen in almost 30 years of martial arts training!

Hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it. Please rate and comment on the video if you get the chance!

Labels: martial arts, self defense, weapons

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 8:45 PM

The 'Fundamental Five Guard Sweeps' from the de la Riva Guard

Ricardo de la Riva is an incredibly nice and humble man, but don't let that fool you - this man is a BJJ legend. (I mean, how many people have a popular guard position named after them?)

De la Riva started training with Marcus Soares, and then continued under Carlson Gracie at the legendary Carlson Gracie Academy in Rio. He taught Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, and has had a long and illustrious competition career himself.

He is on the cutting edge of BJJ technology, and could show you fancy techniques until your brain ached and you begged for mercy.

So when I trained with him a while ago I had a seemingly strange question. I asked "what are the five most techniques techniques from the de la Riva Guard?" (I figured that this would be a great starting point for dissecting his elaborate and effective guard game.)

So he showed me his fundamental 5 moves. Then he let me photograph these techniques, step by step... And then he agreed to let me put them online for you guys.

So here are CLICK HERE for the five most important de la Riva Guard Sweeps, as taught by the man himself!

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, de la Riva, sweeps, the guard

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 11:43 AM

September 08, 2009

A Great Half Guard Resource!

If you haven't seen this video yet then you're in for a treat!

Here Indrek Reiland and Jorgen Matsi take you through the Half Guard Position, covering the basics of both the top and the bottom position.

Not only do they show techniques, but they also share drills and, most importantly the underlying concepts of the half guard. Once you understand these concepts it will put the techniques into perspective and also make it much easier to remember them.
Production values aren't quite up to 'Speilbergian' standards, but the information they show you is top notch.

By the end of this video you should have a real solid head start on the Half Guard.

Since it's on Google Video, you can either watch the video on the site or download it to your computer for free. In fact, I'd recommend that you go and download it right away, just because you never know when a gem like this is going to disappear from the internet forever!

(If you want to download it to your computer first click here to go to the page on Google video, and then click on the "download video - iPod/PSP" link to the right of the video.)

Till later!

Stephan Kesting

P.S. Word's gotten out that I'm working on something new. I don't want to jinx things by talking about too early, but it's a BIG thing with some very exciting give-aways. Hopefully I'll be able to make a big announcement soon, and then things are going to get VERY interesting around here...

Labels: drills, half guard

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 1:02 PM

ESPN, I'm Sorry!

I think I owe ESPN an official apology!

2 weeks ago I released my second-ever podcast and it shot up the charts, eventually making the Grapplearts Radio podcast the number four podcast for the entire sports section of iTunes.

The only podcasts ahead of me were three ESPN shows. For a few days I'm sure that the top executives at ESPN were getting a bit worried that I was going to knock them out of top place.

I mean they probably spend tens of thousands of dollars producing these podcasts. Then along comes some little upstart, talking about pajama wrestling of all things, and threatens to upset their apple cart!

I'm very sorry, I never meant to cause the upper level management of ESPN this much stress ;-)

(If you missed it the podcast can be accessed at
www.grapplearts.com/2009/08/bjj-submission-grappling-competition.htm)

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, competition, podcasts

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 12:56 PM