BJJ Private Lessons : 5 Tips Get The Most From Them

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So you’re thinking about doing a BJJ private lesson with your coach? Cool.

BJJ private lessons can be an excellent way to get some one-on-one time with your coach and receive some tailor made adjustments for your game. But do it right so that you get the most out of them. Below are some things to consider when doing a private lesson in BJJ.

 

1. Come to your instructor with very specific questions. The more specific, the better. It helps us as instructors narrow down the actual problem and give you a solution.

An example of this would be, instead of telling your instructor, “ My guard gets passed too easy. Can you give me something to fix it?”

Come to them with,”I get passed with the double under stack a lot. Could you show me some counters to it or some ways to prevent them from getting the grips for the pass?

 

 

2. Be prepared to do more than 1 private lesson. While one private lesson could definitely be useful. Having multiple lessons is better.

The reason is that after you’re done with the private lesson, you’ll have some adjustments that you need to test. Once you get back on the mat and roll, you’ll be able to see if the adjustments made during the private worked.

If they did, fantastic. You can come back to your coach and inform them of the success and move on to a new problem or build off the original techniques from the 1st private lesson.

If they didn’t, even better. You can come back to your instructor with the snags your running into which will help narrow down the issue. Sometimes it takes more than 1 private lesson to identify and fix someones problem.

 

 

3. Implement! Don’t spend your time and money on BJJ private lessons if you’re not ready to actually use what you learned. You’d be better off to just save your money.  After receiving the techniques, movements or adjustments from your coach. Make sure you get back on the mat and immediately attempt to put them in action.

I give this piece of advice because I see people pay tons of money on seminars, private lessons and instructional videos, but they never drill or attempt to use the new techniques.

 

 

4. Ask your coach if you can bring a partner. This may just be my personal preference. But I prefer teaching private lessons in groups of 2 people who are close to the same skill level.

This way as soon as the private lesson is over and I’ve given techniques or adjustments to help fix the problem they were having. The two can drill and do rounds of situational rolling to work on the area while the information from the private lesson is fresh in their minds. The two can also split the cost of the private.

 

 

5. Don’t expect miracles. While a good coach can help you make the right adjustments, it’s up to you to implement them into your game.

 

 

 

Personally, I think there is nothing better for progress than the continual feedback we receive during rolling with the team or competitions. But private lessons have their place, and if you’re looking to add something new to add to your game or fix a specific issue they can be really valuable.

Just make sure to go into them with the right questions and right frame of mind. This way you get the most out of them and your instructor is able to help you more effectively.

4 Leg Locks From Half Guard: Countering the Underhook

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In this video I demonstrate how to do 4 different leg locks from Half Guard.

This is one of my favorite leg series. 1 because I love using the back step and 2 because it is a relatively safe position for my feet while being able to attack my opponent.

You can use it from Half Guard either as a counter to the person’s under hook, or you could even use it offensively by baiting the person by letting them get the under hook.

 

Chewy

 

Training BJJ After a Meniscus Tear

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Training BJJ After a Meniscus Tear

What’s it like training BJJ after a meniscus injury? How long after surgery before I’m back on the mats? Will my knee ever be 100% again? These are some the commonly asked questions that I get from my blog and some of my videos. If you’re reading this I’m sure you’re probably experiencing some sort of issue with your knee.

I’ve had the unfortunate luck to have experienced two tears. A lateral tear when I was 19 on my right knee, and a medial tear on the left last year. Both knees had arthroscopic surgery performed on them to shave down the meniscus. Rather than a repair.

I’m not a doctor and I can’t diagnose your issue. But I know that getting injured, being forced off the mats and getting ready for surgery is frustrating. So I’m going to share my experiences to give you an idea of what to expect in case you are currently experiencing a tear yourself.

The Symptoms I experienced

  • A general uneasiness with my knee
  • Knee locking out
  • Inability to fully straighten my leg
  • Inability to fully bend my leg
  • Pain ranging from a dull ache to sharp shooting pains when it locked up

*It’s worth noting that I didn’t have much swelling in either case. 

 

The Surgery 

The surgery itself was pretty easy pretty easy. In fact my most recent surgery was at 7:30 AM and I was home eating lunch by 12:30 PM. After both surgeries I was up moving around within the first day albeit with some discomfort. In both cases though I was up on my feet walking within the first week.

 

Training after surgery

When it came to getting back to BJJ after surgery. I competed exactly 6 weeks after the first surgery. Keep in mind I was a 19 year old kid and didn’t make the best decisions. I wouldn’t advise this.

After the surgery last year I was on the mat a week later. I wasn’t rolling. I was teaching people and helping run classes. I just like being in the gym with everyone. I tried to be a bit smarter this time and waited 4 weeks and then started to drill techniques lightly with absolutely no rolling.

Getting Back to Normal

When getting back to training like normal it’s best to side with caution. It was about 8 weeks for me till I felt like normal, and even then I still had some residual tenderness in my knee. For some of you junkies out there I know this time spent healing will be frustrating and you most likely feel it’s time wasted or time lost, but it’s important that you allow your body the necessary time to recover so that you don’t run into the same injury again. Even once I got back to normal training, if I felt something in my knee, regardless of how small, I would stop training that day. So be sure to listen to your body and put special attention towards your physical therapy work.

 

Your body is out of commission but not your mind is not. You’re never quite as hungry to train as when you physically can’t train. So harness that energy anyway you can by preparing for when you get back.

Things you can do while you’re waiting for your leg to heal.

  • Plot out BJJ tournaments for when you make your return
  • Watch videos to try and get ideas for new moves to work on for when you come back
  • Make a list of techniques you want to drill once you get back
  • PT work to make sure your knee is ready to go quicker and to prevent further injury
  • Address others issue you might have in your body
  • Light exercise for the upper body
  • In general become a student of BJJ if you aren’t already by reading, watching and taking in as much BJJ related info as possible while you physically take a back seat.

In my case, last year I used the time spent resting to formulate a game plan for me and my students once I got back. I also consumed countless hours of competition video trying to find some new techniques to play with. Because I had a clear game plan of what I wanted to drill and work on, this helped me hit the ground running with a direction once I was back.

 

Will your knees ever be the same?

The good news is that your knee will probably be fine. There are instances where the surgery has issues afterwards but in most cases everything heals well. The bad news however is that your knees will never quite be the same. They’ll feel great and you’ll most likely be able to resume the same level of activity as before. For me, unless there is some sort of other injury bothering them, I rarely notice my knees. For lack of a better way of explaining it, you’ll just “feel” the knee a little bit more than you use to. But whether by surgery or just age alone, this is going to happen.

I don’t want to paint too gruesome of a picture though. I’ve been able to tear it up on the mats and train at a very high-level with a scoped knee for over 10 years with almost no issues. So if you are going to have the surgery I’m optimistic that you’ll be fine.

PT is Important

I can’t stress enough how important your physical therapy work is and just taking care of your body afterwards. My recovery was much better the second time around and I believe it was because I was very serious about my PT work, whereas when I was 19, I didn’t care.

 

I also made a couple of videos talking about my experiences

 

 

 

So, yea, I think that’s about it. Good luck to you if you’re experiencing a knee related injury. I hope this helps and if you have any questions in particular that I did not help answer, feel free to contact me.

Chewy

Build Grip Strength With No New Equipment

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On the mats, one thing I pride myself on is having a particularly strong grip. Whether it’s gi or no gi I’ve always been able to get a death grip when I need it.

The funny thing to me is how people over complicate the process of developing a strong grip. There are literally hundreds of exercises and methods you could use to develop your grips. I’m going to share just several that you can easily incorporate into your lifting routines with things found in a conventional gym. I say conventional gym because in most big gyms you’re limited on the speciality equipment. In a gym like mine we have several axle bars, fat grip attachments, old gis and a ton of other fun toys lying around to use. In a conventional gym you’re usually limited to barbells, dumbbells and plates. Which is what we will use.

 

Deadlift grips

1.Double Overhand Grip on Deadlifts

By now, most people add deadlifts into their lifting routines. It’s such a fantastic exercise for building overall strength and is a great movement for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners. Standing guard breaks anyone?

Traditionally the deadlift is performed with an alternating overhand and supinated grip. This keeps the bar from rolling out of someone’s hands while they are pulling up. If you switch your grip to a double over hand you’ll be forced to squeeze tight to keep the bar from falling out of your hands.

When I first started doing this with my deadlifts my grips were weak and I couldn’t pull the mid 300s off the ground without alternating my grip or using straps. Over the years I’ve consistently used the double overhand grip. I’ve since been able to pull in the high 400s using double overhand grip with no straps.

Doing my deadlifts this way has probably had the biggest impact on my grips other than grip training on the mats.

 

Also, if you don’t have the option to deadlift at your gym because it’s too loud or something. . . change gyms.

2.Deadhangs

If you aren’t strong enough with your grips to get a good deadlift workout using the double overhand method. Don’t compromise your training because your grip can’t hold up. After you’ve done your regular sets. Try a couple of sets of dead hangs. Simply load the bar, stand to the top position of the deadlift and just hang till your grip gives out.

Take note of the weight and the time and work on increasing the weight and/or time held.

 

farmer carry

3. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Farmers Walk

My second favorite exercise for develop grip strength is the farmers carry. If you have the farmers carry bar, then great, if not you can make due with dumbbells and kettlebells.

To perform the exercise, pick up the weights and hold them at your side and walk. I prefer to use a moderate weight and do longer walks opposed to heavier weight and shorter walks.

Video about how to do a farmers walk

 

 

4. Dumbbell or Kettebell Deadhangs

If walking around with weights at your side isn’t an option. Then do dead hangs with the weights instead similar to the method described above.

Plate holds

5. Plate Holds

Another solid exercise to throw into the end of your routine to exhaust your grips are plate holds.

If you’ve got the type of plates that have a lip on the end, hold then with your finger tips for time.

If you have the type of plates with no lip, similar to bumper plates as shown above, then try holding them inside your hands for time.

 

BJJ Self Defense (Grab and Pull)

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In this video I demonstrate how to use the outside single leg from wrestling and BJJ and combine it with one of the most effective self defense techniques available. Again, this shows that even Sport BJJ techniques can be as BJJ Self Defense for unfortunate situations.

Also, keep in mind. This is a joke and all in good fun.

 

Scissor Sweep To Triangle Choke : Beginner Setup

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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

 

White Belt Takedown

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What’s up! So I  had someone email from the blog. They said that they are a white belt with no prior Wrestling or Judo experience. They’re going to compete soon and wanted an easy to use takedown.

Before I share the takedown, I’d like to just say this. Takedowns are an aspect of BJJ that we all need to focus on, so make sure that you’re always doing your best to improve in these areas. Whether it’s competition or self-defense. Being able to take someone to the ground is so important.

With that said, I do have a couple of takedowns that have worked really well for many of my young white belt competitors over the years.

The one below is one such takedown. It’s simple, effective and works pretty well even if you don’t have prior wrestling or judo experience.

Fun story about this takedown. I once had a college wrestler come in the gym during one of our takedown classes. I slapped a gi on him and during takedowns one of my students with no wrestling experience hit this very takedown on him.

Most white belts who compete typically don’t have a ton of takedown experience, sadly. Often times takedowns are overlooked and in some cases people are even scared of them. Like anything else in BJJ the more you practice them the easier they become. People often say that they always get hurt doing takedowns but this is most often due to inexperience. Many of us get injured by doing stuff on the ground too! As you get more comfortable and relaxed on the feet you will get injured less.

Anyways, if you’re a white belt and looking for a simple takedown to use, give it a try. If it works for you, I’d love to hear about it. Either comment below or comment on the video.

 

Good luck on your upcoming Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competitions!

 

3 ways to take the back with the kimura

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In this video I demonstrate 3 ways to take the back using the Kimura / figure four lock with the arms. This is definitely one of those moves that takes commitment since you’ll be putting yourself at a possible disadvantage. But there is something to be said about relaxing on the mat when you’re training and just being able to abandon position and go for something. I have plenty of students who are so stiff and find themselves unable to just “pull the trigger” and go for something. I know for myself personally I was very rigid and unable to just play around on the mat till I was a purple belt. I was always so worried about winning and losing and not giving up position. But I found that the more relaxed I stay and the more often I just rolled the dice and went for a submission (even the obscure ones) the better I got, and the more submissions I began to hit in competition. True story, most of my wins as a black belt have come by way of submission.

But with that said, if you’re able to maintain a strong lock with the arms you’ll probably find that even if you aren’t able to get to back mount, you’ll still be able to maintain some control or even snag another submission like an armor.

I love trying to find more uses for the kimura lock since you can find it in almost every position. Anyways, watch the video and give the technique a try.

Thanks!

Chewy

No Mat Fees

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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

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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