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Scissor Sweep To Triangle Choke : Beginner Setup

 

Scissor Sweep To Triangle Choke : Beginner Triangle Choke Setup

This is one of my favorite techniques to show to my white belts. It’s a solid triangle choke setup using the scissor sweep. It utilizes the motion of the scissor sweep to setup the triangle choke. Because most white belts spend a ton of time drilling scissor sweeps. It makes it easy to use early on. That said, the move is still effective even at the higher levels and there are plenty of techniques that can be used from this position. I actually used this technique last week against a brown belt while we were doing situational rolling from inside the full guard. If you’re working from your full guard, give it a try and see if it fits into your game.

Also, just in case you’re curious. In one of my previous videos I showed a no gi style triangle choke (view it here No Gi Triangle Choke )

The biggest tip I can give for this particular triangle choke setup is to really punch that leg through. It throws the person off balance and makes finishing the triangle choke much easier.

 

Try it out and let me know if it works for you. Shoot me a message or leave a comment!

-Chewy

 

No Mat Fees

So last night a visitor came out to the gym. He had gotten information from Reddit about our gym and stopped by. Sadly, I wasn’t teaching a whole lot of technique that day. It was more of a drill what you know and then roll hard. We have a few guys getting ready for competition so these are good days to refresh and drill techniques they’re working on.

I wrote a blog recently and I shared that one of the business practices that irks me is charging visitors a mat fee. Especially if they are just in town visiting. I think it gets away from the brotherhood of the martial art. I  always encourage my students to buy a shirt to patch when they visit gyms to show support and as a way of saying thanks. But I dislike the outright mat fee.

I’m not trying to get on a soap box here. But after talking to him once we finished class. He said that one of the factors that drove him to stop by our gym opposed to competitors is that we didn’t charge a mat fee. Again, making a visitor feel welcome, meeting a new friend, letting my students feel a different style and allowing a visitor to feel ours is worth more to me than a one time mat fee.

Thanks again for stopping by Adrian! You’re always welcome to the gym whenever you’re in Louisville. Oh and thanks to Chris (Winky) for the shout out on Reddit.

-Chewy

 

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Standing Full Guard Sweep : Waiter Sweep

 

Standing Full Guard Sweep : Waiter Sweep

What’s up guys! In this video I show one of my favorite standing full guard sweeps. The sweep is used when an opponent attempts to stand and break the guard. While they stand you get the cross grip and then once they reach their feet you get the under hook on the leg and get your sweep.

I’ve personally used this full guard sweep a ton in training and competition as a black belt. I say that just to remind you that it’s a fantastic full guard sweep at any level of BJJ.

Give it a try. If the video helps let me know. Leave a comment or shoot me a message.

Chewy

 

 

Derby City MMA Highlight

It’s really hard to capture the awesomeness that goes on in our gym. And this video fails miserably at doing so. But it was fun filming the training and I have plenty to work with and make more in the future. Hopefully I’ll be able to piece together something more substantial in the future.

 

 

 

Triangle Choke Finish For Short Legs

In this video one of my students, Nate, shows a triangle choke setup and finish. Right after I show a little tip on finishing the triangle choke even if you have issues reaching the full shin to back of the knee depth. This can happen if you have shorter legs or your opponent is a little larger, or in the case of the video. Both!

I was shown this particular tip by a really solid BJJ instructor Robin Giesler out of Ohio when I was a brown belt. After seeing the adjustment my ability to hit a triangle choke shot through the roof.

Check it out. Hope the triangle choke tip helps!

-Chewy

 

Arm Drag Variation from Butterfly Guard Against Tight Grips

I love the arm drag. I have since the days when I wrestled and I’ve been using the technique from multiple positions since I was a white belt.

In this video I show a reverse arm drag / kimura position from butterfly guard. In this video I show it against someone with tight grips and how to crawl up the arm to set up an attack. The student who is doing the move with me, Adam, actually has a nasty double knee pass and this is something I have to use on him. I’ve also used it in competition vs bigger and stronger opponents.

 

Oh and the video starts after me and the students goof around for a bit.

Chewy

 

3 things that bugged me about the 2015 Pans

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So I’ve been blessed with a layover between flights and with nothing better to do. What better way to spend my time then reflecting on the 2015 Pans. Every year the IBJJF puts on the Pans and every year it’s filled with amazing displays of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at all levels. I’m amazed at the level of the blue and purple belts these days. They are like brown and black belts from a decade ago.It’s intense! Unfortunately, It’s also always filled with various controversies which originate from the rules in place and/or by the tactics use  the competitors during the competition. I’d like to take a moment to look at some of the problems I saw this year.

 

The first big issue I had was seeing a high level black belt match decided by a refs decision. Nothing is more anti climactic and controversial than leaving the decision of a hard fought battle into the hands of the ref. Every ref out there will have their own bias which will reflect their relationships with the competitors as well as the way they personally practice jiu-jitsu. I know the old saying is, “don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.” But when two grapplers match up so evenly with one another this is not easy. This was the case with Tim Spriggs vs Keenan Cornelius. Both of these monsters are professionals at what they do and when they met up saturday it was as close as a match could be. Keenan was continually tangling up Tim and attempting to catch him with something from the bottom. On top, Spriggs was working aggressively for the pass. In the end, neither man was able to do enough to warrant even an advantage(I hate advantages too). In the end the ref was forced to make a decision. It was a shame too, because it would have been fun to see that match decided with a clear cut point based victory. Matches, especially black belt matches, shouldn’t be decided with a persons opinion. It should be decided a victory that can’t contested. Whether that be a sudden death format, overtime period or something else. Letting the black belts decide their fate would be an improvement.

 

One thing that seemed more prominent this year was grapplers fleeing the mat. Maybe this has been a problem in the past, but this year it was bad. When I say fleeing the mat I’m talking about grapplers backing up to the line of bounds so that if their opponent comes in for a takedown, they won’t lose points. There were also some grapplers just hauling ass off the mat every time their opponent got anything on them. There was one match in particular I watched where a good half guard player was up against a competitor who was better with takedowns. After an exchange of sweeps the two ended up on their feet with the half guard stylist up 2 points. With 2 minutes left there were over 10 pauses in the match caused by the ref having to recenter the grapplers. This was a result of the half guard player backing up. There were 2 penalties given to him but I mean after 10 times something has to give. If the guy doesn’t want to grapple then DQ him and send him on his way. I’m not saying be stupid and squander the lead you have, and if the remainder of the match was less, than it would be acceptable. But this was a black belt masters 3 match. Meaning it is only 5 minutes. You shouldn’t spend almost half of the match running from your opponent and the ref shouldn’t allow it. I understand that people are just trying to do what they can to win, but that is no way of winning and doesn’t demonstrate the abilities of a grappler.

 

The last thing I’ll rant about is the use of 50/50. This position has been a thorn in the side of big grappling competitions for around 4 years now. It’s unfortunate too. There were some really good matches this weekend that devolved into teeter tottering. There was one example I saw of this where this super tough, and exciting, brown belt from Alliance got caught in it. During his earlier matches he was attacking from every position. He was going for takedowns, passing the guard and even showed some serious sweeping abilities. He was just fun to watch. Then he got stuck into 50/50. You could see the frustration in his movements and his face. He was trying to get out of the position but couldn’t. Luckily he was ahead by an advantage and managed to keep from being knocked back onto his butt and snagged the win. But it was a clear demonstration of the ability of the position to destroy excitement and the use of versatile BJJ. Instead people get tangled up and it often times ends in this position, and not with a submission finish either. Rodolfo Viera, easily one of the most exciting and fun to watch competitors shared his thoughts on the 50/50 dilemma as well (http://www.bjjee.com/featured/rodolfo-vieira-id-rather-lose-than-win-by-using-that-shtty-5050-guard/). I’m not sure what you would do with the 50/50. Maybe order a stand up after a period of inactivity? I mean you can’t simply ban the position altogether because a few people use it effectively and in no gi competitions where leg locks are legal, it’s a deadly weapon. But in gi competitions with limited options on leg locks, it’s often used as a mechanism to stall or win by advantage. Neither of which is what we are suppose to be doing out there. We are supposed to attempt to submit our opponents, right?

 

The IBJJF has adjusted the rules over and over to try and fix some of the problems BJJ sport competitions have. They’ve also worked to fix many of the inconsistencies in their reffing, and I applaud them for that. I hope they continue to address the issues that present themselves because in a competition it’s not necessarily the best grappler who wins but the one who exploits the rules the best. That said, the rules have to be used to coerce the grapplers to grapple the way they want. And I think we can all agree, nobody enjoys watching controversial ref’s decisions, stalling, fleeing the mat and two grapplers tangled up with almost no real activity.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Chewy

 

Floor Press for BJJ

Often I get students who ask what they should do to build strength for BJJ. The exercise shown in this video is one of my favorites for developing explosive upper body strength. One of my trainers turned me onto it. When I asked why he put it into my training program, he said it was to develop strong triceps but also because it would give me quick explosion from the positions I find myself on the mat.

After doing the floor press for 4 weeks I noticed a big difference. Again, as  I state in the video. You don’t want to rely on pure strength for BJJ. But a little strength goes a long way when it’s used properly.

So if you’re looking for a little extra power from your upper body. Give this exercise a try. It’s great!

 

A Sneaky Keylock Submission From Back Mount

A Sneaky Keylock Submission From Back Mount

So last week we had a terrible winter storm in Louisville. During the days I was trapped inside the house. My roommate, brown belt and little brother from another mother, Chad, drilled and filmed a couple of videos with me. The lighting is a little dark in the video so I apologize for that but the move is fun.

As I’ll explain in the video. This is a super sneaky move. It’s one of those moves that is like magic at first but can be easy to defend later on. It is useful for setting up other attacks though, which I’ve done for several years successfully in competition and gym training. If you’re already proficient at the Back Mount position. Give this Keylock variation a try.

 

Chewy

Want a Free T Shirt?

So I was cleaning my office yesterday and I found a few of my old black and red Chewjitsu shirts, never worn of course. I can’t promise size, but if you’d like one shoot me an email with your size and if I have it, I’ll send it your way.

chewjitsu @ gmail.com