I really like this way of getting the armbar from the guard.  I could never hit the more traditional way where you skip the "pit stop" over the shoulder.  Enjoy!

I really liked this short video starring Andre Galvao.  He is a genuinely funny guy with some great technique.  If I remember, he got his black belt in something like 5 years, starting in 2000, and is now a 7x World Champion.  Incredible.  He also has a new dvd set.

Also check out the above video of him on a balance ball.

And this video of his Ginastica Natural style warm-up.

I have never trained with Erik Paulson, but it is on my list for someday.  I have only heard great things about him from some people I really respect.  In this clip he shows a few ways to defeat the lockdown made popular by Eddie Bravo.  Very cool counters.

I was recently reading the requirements for Brown Belt that Roy Harris puts on his website.  Roy has always done a great job laying out a clear and complete curriculum for his students.  One of the lines that struck me was this one:

I want the student to be able to effectively and efficiently use their feet, shins, knees and thighs for MOST of the control.

I found it interesting since over the last month our club has been working a lot on using the lower body much more from every position.  In my experience, when people realize they can work with more than their hands and arms it is a big day for their game.  Everything gets better for them, and much harder for their opponent.

Using the lower body can come into play in a ton of positions, but I used to just think about it for passing the guard, sweeping my opponent or performing some escapes.  We have been finding a good amount of success with using the legs to create attacking advantages as well.  In this case, I mean advantages in the sense that you can gain a superior attacking position by eliminating some defenses of your opponent. 

Here are two examples:

First is finishing from the back position.  My inspiration on the back has been the Demian Maia set.  He shows a simple way to use your overhooking arm (assume a harness grip) to control the opponents wrist just long enough to trap it with your leg.  This is pure gold and sets up an immediate attacking advantage.  You can now work your armlocks, chokes, etc with both your hands while the opponent has just one to defend.   This is now what I do immediately when taking the back.

Second is finishing from side control.  My inspiration here has been the Robson Moura set.  Robson gives a few ways to trap the opponents near side arm with your knee/shin.  From there you begin your attacks.  I can tell you attacking and controlling gets a lot easier when you have this type of control.  Becoming proficient at this is a bit harder than the back control discussed above, but when you get it you become a nightmare.

Obviously, the ideas of using your whole body or removing opponents defenses are not new ideas, just something we have been doing with good success recently at the gym.

I want to give a special thank you to Alicia of AliciaPhotos for letting me use this image.  She takes the best BJJ and Submission Wrestling photographs, so check out her site for some fantastic images!

Over the last few weeks we have been working Half Guard.  One of the tough passes to deal with is when your opponent turns their back to you.  Here is Stephan Kesting showing some counters.  Enjoy!

Collin sent me this clip with Robson Moura teaching a new perspective on the butterfly sweep.  It's very interesting since Robson teaches it very differently from pretty much everyone else I have seen.  I am reading Saulo's new book and Saulo teaches is the more traditional way with a couple really good details.

After watching this I went back and watched one of the Robson videos from his new set.  That guy is inspiring.  I really like his Fusion 2 dvds - I think if you want an attacking game you're hard pressed to beat his style.  You can get them at GroundFighter.

Christian Montes runs Ronin Athletics.  A felllow SGB location.  This is one of his top game attacking progressions.  Check it out.

This video was posted today on Roy Dean's website.  It's valuable just to watch him move.  He is very deliberate and very technical.  I am the uke in this video.  Man I need to work on my defense.  ;)

These are two great counters to the scissors sweep from Roy Dean, a BJJ Black Belt who teaches up in Bend, Oregon.  Roy has a varied background in traditional martial arts with black belts in Judo and Aikido as well as bjj.  This gives him a  broader perspective which is very rare in bjj circles, but I find his views to be a nice balance of old and new.

In the video, the first counter I remember feeling during the seminar and thinking how cool it was as he did it (I had never seen it before).  I am glad he posted this video or I would have forgotten forever.  The second technique  also sparked a memory since he hit it against me when we were rolling about 6 months ago.  I remember being suprised to find him on my side when I thought for sure I was going to hit the sweep.  Both great moves.

If you like Roy's stuff, check out his YouTube channel, or better yet, buy his videos.

I have always thought Eddie was one of the best instructors around.  He has taken the time to create a system and explains it very, very well.  Here is a really cool clip of him explaining the entry to the what Matt Thornton calls "Pit Stop Position".  Great stuff!  This is about the only way I ever hit armbars from the guard.