For some people they have the perfect situation. They are trained by a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a former Muay Thai competitor, former collegiate wrestler or judo champions are teaching them takedowns and they have the time to train outside of class.

For others that’s not the case they don’t have that situation or they can’t afford to train at a regular academy, but they still love the sport and want to train all the time and improve. Here is a list of things to do to help you improve in grappling and mixed martial arts if you don’t have the ideal training situation. Here are some things that will help you stay focused and improve when you don’t have an instructor or a school to train at.

• Buy books, instructional videos, and check out the internet. Fortunately for us there is an extensive amount of material on the different martial arts of mixed martial arts, so you’re not completely left out in the dust.

• Do your best to find someone who is as interested in the sport as much as you are and wants to train just as hard as you. This is obviously really important. I’m sorry to say, but without a training partner your progress is going to be severely lacking.

• Constantly drill the moves you have learned through your resources over and over. This should even be the case with people who train at a good academy

• If you are the best one in the group. Many times put yourself in uncomfortable situations so you can improve on them. If you’re bad at escaping triangles (even though it may not happen a lot). Then let your partner triangle you (with out them knowing)

• Always teach your partners the techniques that work for you best and tell them to look out for them. This is one of the most important tips, because it makes everyone better. Your partner learns how to defend them, and when he does you now have to do something different. This results in everyone’s game improving.

• If you are better then your partner. Pick one or two things you are going to go for in sparring and let them know about it. Now it will make it much harder for you because they know what’s coming, so you may have to react different.

• Drill, Drill, Drill. I don’t mean just the dead pattern drilling. I mean practice the technique with your partner to get familiar with the mechanics then as you go have him/her add some movement so you have to react a little different. Then have them add more movement and resistance. Then when you roll, try to do the technique that you were drilling. To many people think drilling is partnering up with someone and just going through the technique. That is not the case, the best drilling in my opinion is trying it during your sparring/grappling session. That is what builds your timing, experience, and lets you know truly what will work for you. When you do this, try to execute that particular technique during your sparring/grappling sessions for at least 2 weeks, by then you should know if you should add it to your arsenal or not.

• Do conditioning out outside of your training sessions. As they say, “Conditioning is the strongest hold”. I’m not sure who first said this statement, but I agree with it 100%. If you are not conditioned you will never be on top. When you get tired and fatigued, your mind doesn’t work as fast and your reaction time is greatly hindered.

• Don’t skimp on the sparring. Just like you need to drill a lot, the same goes with sparring. Sparring is where you see what works and what doesn’t. It’s what tells you what you need work on and what techniques are actually working for you.

• Have a game plan. When you go to train you need to have a game plan. Know what it is each training session you want to work on and work on it. This way you don’t go in there and sit around thinking hey what should I work on today. If you do have an instructor and he teaches the class you still should have a game plan for your sparring/rolling session. The goal is to always learn and improve.

• Training isn’t a competition. Too many people don’t know what it means to not want to win during a sparring/grappling session. They are always looking to be the best and get ahead. While it is not a bad thing to want to win. It is bad to always want to win in training. These are the people who don’t improve and they have no clue why. There are times during your training week that you should dedicate to competition type sparring/grappling. If you train four days a week, then at least three of those days should be dedicated to 100% learning and the other should be a more intense training session.

• Always go to other places to train, and try to train/spar/grapple with different people. This is especially important for the people who don’t have access to an instructor or better training. While you may do well with your training partners, you may not do well with others. It will also keep your mind healthy when you’re the one learning new ideas from new people.

• Always keep a positive mindset. Remember you’re on the mat and doing something about it, while someone else is home, sitting on their couch and wishing they were even close to where you are now.

• Don’t be afraid to give up positions and go for stuff in training. That is the time you need to mess up. If your afraid of messing up in training and don’t take any chances, you are going to slow your improvement down a lot.

• Your imagination is one of the greatest tools you can ever have. If you have an imagination then you always have an option. The reason I say this is because you will always be able to come up with some idea on what to do in any situation. Even if it is a situation you’ve never experienced before. If you see something hanging out there and you think you can do something with it, then try it. Your not going to get anywhere by just thinking about it. If you think about it, all of the new techniques that have come along and even the development of all martial arts was developed first through someone’s imagination. Never be afraid to be creative. When you are imaginative and you can make things happen, that is when your opponent will not know what to do with you.

• Always try to meet new people who are interested in grappling/mma. This way you can build up the amount of training partners you have. Go on internet sites and try to meet people who are in your area who would like to train. Go to schools that are not to far every once in the while and pay their mat fee to train with them for at least the one class.

• Don’t get discouraged if you feel like you’re in a rut. Even people who train with the best teams in the world go through ruts. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with you not having a formal instructor/coach. That is the time you need your imagination most. Like stated before the imagination is important. It keeps you interested and it is one of the greatest teachers.

If you have the will to learn, nothing can stop you. You will get it done and succeed. Don’t give up and make sure you keep training. Many people have started out being self-trained, and training in little clubs and have done well. It is always good to have good instruction, but it is important to always train right when that good instruction is not around at the moment.“Often times the roughest road may be the best way to get where you want to go” - Anonymous

Thanks for reading!

These are some important aspects to focus on and remember when it comes to being on the bottom in half guard

• Don’t just hold on. Gone are the days when someone moves into your half guard and then you try to hold onto them for dear life. The half guard game is a more active, offensive, and aggressive position then it once was. So if someone ends up in your half guard because they were working a pass, you should know that you have plenty of offensive options from this position and you should work just as hard from the half guard as you would if you were in any other guard.
• When you’re in the half guard on the bottom, you never want to be flat on your back. The main reason for this is because when you’re flat on your back you greatly decrease your mobility. You should be facing your opponent on your side in a position that looks similar to a fetal position. If you were to let your opponent get your back flat on the mat then he will have a much better chance of stopping your movement on the bottom and you will also feel much more of his weight on top of you.
• It’s extremely important to make sure you stop your opponent from crossing facing around your head and gaining head control. The reason for this, is because when your opponent gets control of your head and starts to place shoulder pressure on your face this does a very good job of getting your shoulders and back flat on the mat, which in turn decreases your mobility on the bottom.
• Use the paw grip to stop your opponent from gaining head control on you. Your opponent is mainly going to try to gain head control on you most of the time by starting first to hook around your head with his arm that is further away from your body so you need to at least take the hand of your bottom arm and control his arm that is attacking your head. A very effective way to do this is by having all of your fingers close together forming something similar to a paw and controlling at your opponent’s bicep. Many times stopping your opponent from getting head control is so important that you may have to use a double paw grip to prevent your opponent from getting head control. This is where you will use both of your hands on his arm that he’s using to establish control.
• Ideally you want to tuck your head deep under your opponent. This makes it much harder for him to gain head control on you. It also gives you a better opportunity to get deeper under your opponent so you can start working more offensive movements.
• Getting an underhook with your top arm is a good position because it assist with helping you stay on your side, but you also need to be aware of certain attacks your opponent can do to you. As the development of the half guard started to get more offensive the underhook was said to be extremely important in establishing an offense from this position. While this is still the case, there have been developments to counter the underhook positions. The use of movements such as brabo chokes and wizzers have been added to effectively work against your underhook position from half guard so you need to be aware that these counters exist.
• Be ready for your opponent to turn his hip down and work passes facing towards your legs similar to a reverse scarf hold position but while in half guard. This position in my personal opinion and experience is one of the hardest positions to deal with when you are on the bottom in half guard. The main reason this position poses such a problem is because when your opponent establishes this reverse top half guard position they gain a lot of control of your hips making it much harder for you to be as mobile as you’d like to be. I focus on making sure my opponent doesn’t get this position just as much as I focus on them not establishing head control. One way that I use to stop my opponent from establishing this position is I post directly on the side of the hip they are trying to turn down. As soon as I see them turn their hips I place one (and many times two) of my hands right on their hip bone and I stiff arm their hip. This makes it much harder for them to turn their hip down and also many times creates some space. Doing this requires a great deal of timing and practice so it’s a good idea to start working on it now, because once your opponent settles in that position it can be very hard to deal with.
• Another thing to focus on is preventing your opponent from crossing their ankles while in your half guard. The simple act of them crossing their ankles makes certain movements much more difficult and it also makes them feel much heavier. Usually when I establish a half guard one of the first things I do is I take my outside foot and I hook it over my opponent’s leg that I have trapped. I then drag his leg closer to me with my leg which brings his leg further away from his other one. When you do this it makes it much harder for your opponent to cross his ankles early on.
• Don’t get lazy with your legs, keep them active. Many times when the half guard position is new to someone they forget to keep their legs active and they let their legs that have their opponent’s leg trapped open up or just let their legs go flat without even knowing it. When this happens it becomes much easier for your opponent to just pull his leg out and work a pass. You should be aware of the position of your legs and the position of your opponent’s trapped leg at all times.
• Get low under your opponent. When you’re able to get low under your opponent you increase your opportunities to take your opponent’s base out and mess with your opponent’s balance.
• Work on always compromising your opponents balance and do not let them settle on you. As with tip number 1, you always want to stay active. Whenever they get a chance to settle it becomes much harder to reestablish your position.
• Constantly threaten to work back to full guard by doing so it makes it much harder for them to start working to pass.
• Be aware of the pressure your opponent is putting on you. Is he pushing into you? Is his weight back more? If you know how your opponent is distributing his weight, it will help you determine which direction you may want to attack towards especially if you are working for a sweep or to transfer to full guard.
• Always look for your opponent’s arm that is closer to your top arm to be across your body/chest. There may be times where your opponent’s arm that is closer to you ends up going past the front of your body. This is a perfect opportunity for you to work attacks towards your opponent’s back.
• To get their chest off of you and to gain some distance between the both of you make a frame across your opponent’s neck with your top arm. Many times in a no-gi situation I place my hand right no their neck. When you do this it’s very uncomfortable for your opponent and many times creates distance because they have trouble dealing with the pressure on their neck.
• Become familiar with the different half guard positions not only for an offensive approach but also for a defensive approach when you are on top of someone’s half guard.
  • Regular Half Guard - This is your basic half guard where you have one of your opponent’s legs between your legs. It’s recommended that you use your outside foot to hook over his trapped leg and drag it out to stop him from crossing his ankes.
  • Z-Half Guard - In this half guard position you will have your top shin across your opponent’s body. This position is good for creating distance from your opponent. It is also easier to work an overhook game from this position.
  • Deep Half Guard - In this half guard you are very low under your opponent’s leg that is trapped. Your whole body should be pretty much under that leg. This position is very good for compromising your opponent’s base and balance.
  • Lock Down Half Guard - In this position you establish strong control of your opponents trapped leg by lacing it in a particular way with your legs. This position is very effective when you also combine it with double underhooks.
  • Butterfly Half Guard - In this half guard you have one of your opponent’s legs trapped and with your outside foot you tuck it under your opponent’s thigh that’s trapped very similar to how you would get a butterfly hook. This position is good for raising your opponent’s body up, working sweeps, and transitioning into other positions.
• Be aware of the other different positions you can transition to from the half guard such as Full Guard, Butterfly Guard/Sitting, X-Guard, etc…

The half guard has come a very long way. In the past it was a position to hold onto with very little options. It was a survival position, but now it’s as active as any other grappling position out there with its own set of sub positions. Don’t fall into the old school trap that the half guard was once in where people would just hold on for dear life in hopes they wouldn’t get passed. If you end up in the half guard there is still hope and there are many opportunities. When you take the time to learn the effective positions and movements of the half guard it will become a great tool to have in your grappling arsenal.

Thanks for reading!

Here’s a list of things that I feel helps make a good instructor.

• Patience
• The ability to break down the techniques in very small details
• The ability to analyze any individuals game and add and subtract things as necessary
• The ability to see mistakes that students make as they happen and help correct them
• Someone who doesn’t just focus on single techniques but places a large emphasis on transitions, set-ups, and combinations.
• Someone who focuses on the concepts and doesn’t just show the movements but also explains why they are doing them and what might happen.
• Someone who encourages students to ask questions
• Someone who doesn’t mind a student who asks a lot of questions, because they want to get better.
• Someone who doesn’t just show flashy techniques just for the heck of it. They focus the best they can on higher percentage movements and techniques
• Someone with a strong sense of the fundamentals
• Someone who speaks clearly and in a manner where it is easy for the students to understands.
• Someone who has the ability to show something from and answer questions from all areas. He/she does not have to be an expert in all areas, but they should be aware of the fundamental positions and concepts of most areas.
• The ability to create a relaxed environment where everyone feels comfortable.
• The ability to make sure everyone is safe while training and the surroundings are safe.
• The ability to play a leadership role, but at the same time not act like they are above everyone else. It nice to go to a place and train where you can get great guidance and not feel like someone is looking down at you at the same time.
• Someone who takes the time to plan out a good curriculum to teach. They are prepared before they walk into class and there is a sense of continuity. Classes aren’t ran sporadically with many different things being taught in back to back days.
• Someone who doesn’t avoid trying to help you learn how to deal with a situation just because they might not know the exact answer. Many instructors just tell their students “Just don’t get put there” as an answer when they can actually be going through the motions and feel what their student is talking about to help them figure out what they can do. This will not only help the student get better and find the answer, but it will also improve the instructors game and possibly teaching at the same time.

Also I feel for someone to be a good instructor they do not have to be a great competitor. In the sport of grappling though in my opinion you can’t really understand the game if you don’t train live, which includes rolling. They do not have to compete though.

I for one myself love to compete and I think it improves every aspect of my grappling including my teaching.

Thanks for reading!

I would like to talk about what makes a good training partner. This is something that really isn’t discussed to often, but I feel it is also important. If your training partners aren’t that good it can really effect your results.

I mean you can’t train this stuff by yourself unfortunately. Below are some things that I feel make a good training partner First we have to think in terms of how you’re drilling, as there are different ways and I’ll talk about this more in-depth in another thread.

Then after that, is a list of general things a good partner should have or do.

1. Dead Pattern Training - No resistance from your partner. Usually done when you are learning a brand new move.
2. Progressive Resistance Drilling - Gradual resistance given by your partner. Added once you start feeling more comfortable with the movements
3. Semi-Live/Flow/Slow Rolling - Rolling live with your partner at a pace that is not usually more then 50% of your max effort and you both match each others pace without muscling movements and exploding out of things
4. Live Rolling - This is where you both go with 75% to 100% of you max effort and you are both trying to get the best of each other. You are trying to time your movements correctly to catch your partner off guard and he is defending with full resistance and visa versa.

Ok, now onto what makes a good partner in my opinion in each area. Now when you read this and you think of it.

Think of it not only in a manner of what or how your partner should be reacting when he is working with you, but also how YOU should be reacting when you are a partner yourself.

In dead pattern training a good partner:

• Will be cooperative in their movements. They will not give resistance or a ton of resistance as to where it will hinder your training and restrict you from trying the new movements.
• Will not be a dead body. Meaning they won’t just go limp on you and lay their body to where you feel every single bit of their weight. If they do this it will restrict your movements and it will nowhere near mimic what it would be like if you were actually rolling live. You will get frustrated with them because they aren’t making it at all practical for you.
• Will not resist your movements as your drilling them. Dead pattern drilling is a time for you to be able to practice the movements of the technique without having to worry about someone fighting you. It’s the time that you go through the motions and get a small grasp on the initial concepts of the movements. If someone just starts resisting you right off the bat it may mess up your initial try of the move and discourage you from doing it in the future because you may think your doing it wrong.
• Will not just lose their base and balance. Many times when people train with others, especially new students they tend to lose their balance very easily. They do this even when they would probably never do that when they are rolling. Lets say your practicing a sweep and you know that when you do it in a live situation a person will probably not just lose their balance right away because their reflexes will kick in and they will try to stay up because they don’t want to get swept. What happens though when you train with a new person or someone who isn’t a very good training partner is they will just tip over. They’ll do this even if you hardly even do anything. It’s like a rag doll. This is not a good training partner. This in my opinion is probably the most frustrating part of a bad training partner when it comes to dead pattern drilling. So when you’re a training partner and someone is drilling a sweep or something, don’t just fall over like you have no stability sense in your body. React a bit to keep your balance because if your partner does the move correctly they should sweep you. I’m not saying you should resist their movements but don’t just fall without them having to do the technique correctly.

When drilling with progressive resistance a good partner:

• Should be aware of what progressive resistance is. It’s not where all of a sudden they go from dead pattern drilling to all out 100% resistance. It’s where you add a bit of resistance a little bit at a time. Some people have a hard time getting this concept. It is up to you, being their partner to tell them just how much resistance you might want also.
• Should be adding the resistance gradually and at the same time paying attention to what it is you are doing. The purpose of this is because if you are not getting the movements for some reason they will be able to give you feedback on their end of what they think you might be doing wrong. Then from there you can adjust your movements accordingly.
• You both should discuss when more resistance should be added. When you just rely on your partner to add the resistance progressively on their own it tends to be difficult to gauge what each other wants during the drilling as far as the resistance goes.

When semi-live/flow/slow rolling:

• In this type of training it is once again important for your partner and yourself to make sure that you do not confuse it with “Live Rolling”, which is at a much higher pace. You need to focus on moving at no more then 50% and feeling your partners movements. This helps for you both to see things while you are moving and counter acting each other.
• It is important for you and your partner to understand that you need to be creative and feed each other thing. By doing this it will possibly open up your eyes to different openings and situations. It may help you see your game in a new light.
• It is important for you to get your partner in bad positions and then let him escape and for you to pay attention to how he is escaping so you can figure out how to stop him when you do “Live Rolling”
• Make sure you explore many areas and both you and your partner should be cooperative.
• You and your partner should not be competitive during this type of training.

When doing live rolling a good partner will:

• Leave there ego at the door and not get frustrated if he is caught in a position or submission. A good partner will learn from that situation.
• Never apply a submission hold in a extremely fast or malicious manner. This is what leads to injuries.
• Always do their submission with control and safety in mind. You want to make sure you do not hurt your partner because you want to keep training with them.
• Listen to their training partner in regards to any injuries their partner might have to ensure they do not go for those areas and hurt their partner even more.
• Will not be malicious in there rolling with their partner for example they will not dig their chin in their partners eyes, or anything similar of that matter.
• Will be competitive at times. Your partners and your rolling doesn’t always need to be competitive, but it’s good to have the competitive nature once in a while to help really get you going and test your limits. A good partner is someone who can help you do this.

I know a lot of these in the categories sound similar and come down to communication and not being competitive, but I feel it is also good to see the little points in between.General things a good partner should be aware of:

• Always communicate with their partners. Tell them your injuries and ask them if they have any injuries.
• Always keep safety in mind. Make sure you try to avoid any unnecessary accidents, such as over applying submissions or hitting your partner on accident with your limbs.
• Will be aware of their surroundings. Make sure when they roll that no one is really close to them so they do not cause an accident around them.
• Will not be tense. Make sure you are not extremely tense as it may lead to injury and reduce the effectiveness of the training.
• Will be open minded to learn from there training partners
• Will not stop drilling until the instructor says so or moves onto another technique. They will make use out of their time and they would want you to do the same.
• Will listen to you. When you tell them you do not want to go hard they should listen and not just do whatever they want, and you should do the same. If he wants to roll light, and you agree that means you roll light, not 100% percent.
• Will let go as soon as someone taps them and will not hold on too long.
• Will not have an ego and will submit always on time.
• Will adapt their game according to theirs and your experience level. If you are a white belt and they are a brown belt they should adjust their game accordingly and not always go all out. This also applies to size differences.
• Will make sure they have clean hygiene. Their gi will be clean. They will have clean breath, shower, and wear deodorant.
• Will be someone who has a positive outlook on training and enjoys it as much as you do.
• Will be someone you enjoy drilling with. You never want to leave anyone out, but you also want to make sure you enjoy training with someone and they will help to elevate your game.
• Will be someone who supports you and tries to help motivate you. This is important to develop the “Team” aspect and to help everyone move one step forward in their training. You want someone who will help push you when you are tired and help get you past that mental barrier of wanting to give up and stop.

I try to compete in grappling tournaments as much as I possibly can. Why is that you might ask? Well it’s for many different reasons:

• The love of competition - The first reason is that I love to test myself and compete. I love the challenge that competitions present and after a good match win or lose I am glad I stepped on the mat against someone I didn’t even know. Competitions are fun for me and that is what really motivates me.

• It’s a true test - Competition is a true test of how all of your grappling skills come together. Under the stress of competition the true nature of your skills come out. There isn’t any lying to yourself or anyone else about your abilities. It is just you, your opponent, and your mind and it’s up to you during that time and in the environment to decide what you’re going to do with it.

• How are you going to handle the crowd?
• How are you going to handle the butterflies in your stomach?
• How are you going to face the person across from you that you don’t even know anything about?
• Are you going to remember your techniques?
• Are you going to freeze up, or are you going to stay calm and do everything you do in the gym and win?

Those are just a few of the tests that you have to face in competition and it is great to see how you would do. Competition helps to let you know where you stand in the larger scheme of things by giving you a realistic look at where you stand against other guys with the same experience level as yourself.

• The experience and learning - While competition is a test of your skill against an opponent you aren’t used to and in an environment you aren’t used to there is no such thing as passing or failing in competition. The one thing that does always happen after competition is growth.

I have never participated in a competition and not learned something or gained a greater experience of grappling, whether I was to win or lose. Every time I step off of the competition mat I step off a better grappler, a better person, and someone who wants to work harder.

Now you may not feel exactly the way I feel, but I guarantee you will feel something. You may be angry because you lost, you may feel satisfied because you did better than you thought, or you may be pumped up because you won. Either way you are walking off with a feeling, and with those feelings you will analyze. You’ll analyze what you did right, and what you did wrong. You’ll analyze what you could have done, and what you should have done. You’ll analyze the way you felt, your conditioning, how the crowd made you feel, and so on.

With all of that analyzing you will grow. Sometimes it just isn’t the same as practice. With practice you do learn but you don’t really analyze that much because it is something that you do on a regular basis. You warm-up, you do some drills, learn some techniques, and you roll. You may think about it after, but with not much analyzing. After a competition though you won’t be able to help but to analyze what you did. This will make you so much better then you can imagine.You will be pumped up for the next training session and to drill the things that you feel you need to work on as a result of your match and you will grow. You will have gained an experience that you just can’t mimic in practice.

You may want to compete even more, or you may not want to compete any more, but you will not be able to walk away from that competition without learning something.

Here are some things that I’ve learned from competition whether I won or I lost:

• I have learned that it’s ok to be nervous and I’m not the only one.
• I have learned how to test myself in uncomfortable situations.
• I have gained confidence.
• I have learned many things that I need to work on and trust me I have worked on those areas.
• I learned what it’s like to step out of my comfort zone and to know its ok.
• I learned that I am better than others.
• I learned that others are better than me.
• I learned that it’s ok to lose.
• I learned that if feels great to win.
• I learned that I will learn more every time I compete.

That’s not even a complete list, but I’m sure you get the point. If you are worried about competing and if you’re not sure if it’s for you, you’ll never know unless you try. The people who become champions and who succeed in life didn’t do so because they thought about trying it’s because they did try.

• The people I meet - As with your classes and training, competitions are a great place to meet people who love doing what you do. I have been fortunate to meet many great people from going to competitions. I have made friends, been invited to other training facilities, and got to know many great people from going to competitions.

Not many people think of competitions in this manner, but you never know as far as the people you meet and how they might affect your life. I try to not live mine as a hermit and I take advantage of the different people I can meet, because they just might help me become a better person and help me lead a life that I might not have been able to lead if I didn’t meet them.

Here are some tips to help you make your first competition go smoother:

• Try to think of it as an extension of your training. Think about it as if you’re going to class to train during an open mat but you get to roll even harder. This helps me to relax and realize that it isn’t the end of the world. It really is only a grappling competition. In the whole scheme of life the only person who really is worried about if you win or lose is you and not anyone else.
• Try your hardest to win, but if you don’t, keep your head up and make sure you learn something from it because if you don’t and you just let your ego get in the way then you pretty much just wasted $70 to $90. Know that when you leave that building, that one day really didn’t affect your future in anyway and that you will always be able to get better and test yourself again.
• What I like to do to help me from getting tunnel vision and zoning out while I’m grappling is when I first step on the mat. I look around in the bleachers and turn my body 360 degrees and I take in the spectators and the environment. This helps my mind adjust to the open environment and helps me focus on my opponent during the match. This also helps me relax.
• Practice breathing. Practicing my breathing helps me to relax and focus. It helps me keep a clear mind and it also helps me control the adrenaline that is kicking in. By doing this it keeps me from getting gassed out quickly even though I probably had the conditioning. You’d be surprised on what your adrenaline can do to you and if you don’t control it. You’ll gas out fast and feel like you’re hyperventilating. So take the time before your matches to close your eyes, visualize, and breathe. Many times right when I step onto the mat I take in two or three deep breathes in though my nose and out of my mouth. This helps slow my heart rate.
• Remember to breathe when you’re out there, don’t breathe in with your mouth. Please, I repeat PLEASE do not hold your breath when you’re out there. First of all if you have high blood pressure it’s not good for you and second of all you’ll gas out in a second.
• Also breathe in through your nose. Don’t breathe in through your mouth. Breathing in through your mouth takes more energy and also gives the feeling of hyperventilation which in turn leads to you losing your wind and not even being able to move your own arms. Trust me, I know. Breathing is a big part of the game that many people lack. If you get this down it’s going to bring you one step closer to not ever having to worry about gassing out when you roll.
• It’s usually a good idea to watch your opponents who compete before you. The reason is because it gives you a good perspective on what type of game they might play. This will help get you ready for them if you were to meet up in later matches. You may see someone who pulls guard right away, and this may help you go for the takedown quicker because you know they’re going to pull guard anyone. Or you may see someone with a really good guard and you might be able to pull guard on them to stop them from playing their game.
• Either way by watching your opponent’s it usually helps you get a little understanding about what it is that they day do.
• Try to have your instructor or someone from your team be there on the sidelines with you to help coach you. This is a great resource because your coach can usually see many things and opportunities that you can’t see yourself. This will give you the ability to open up your game a bit more.
• One important thing however is to not forget that your coach is out there trying to help you when you’re actually competing. Many people get out on the mat and they lose perspective of everything around them. This makes it much harder for someone to coach you because when you are in this situation you probably don’t even know your coach is there anymore. So do your best to stay focused. Anytime you have the chance to listen to your coach or if you have great control and you can even look at him (just pay attention to what you’re doing also) then do so. It will help.
• Do not drink orange juice or any acidic type of drink the day of your match. You don’t want to be the only person in the gym throwing up on the mat do you?
• Bring water but don’t over drink the water. You’ll be surprised on how dry your mouth will get just because of your nerves. Take in little sips here and there to keep your mouth moist. Also make sure you don’t drink too much water to where you’re full because you’ll definitely feel it.
• Do some sort of yoga or meditation exercises the night before. By doing this it helps you relax the night before and clear your mind. Keeping you from getting nervous the night before and losing sleep. Doing some relaxation yoga or meditation exercise before you go to sleep will help you get a better nights sleep.
• Make sure you bring your mouthpiece. I know a lot of people don’t where mouth guards when they compete even though the competitions say that you have to where one, but the one day you get smashed in your mouth and lose a tooth then you’ll definitely wish you wore a mouth piece. Trust me I know from experience when I chipped one of my teeth from not wearing a mouth piece.
• Bring flip flops or sandals. Please do not be one of those people who walk in those disgusting bathrooms without any shoes or socks on and then steps on the mats. I really don’t understand it and it’s not the most sanitary thing in the world. Do help the grappling community be clean and bring a pair of flip-flops or sandals to where when you walk around the gym. They are easy to take on and off before you compete and it helps prevent the spread of disease.
• Expect a long day. Unfortunately 95% of all grappling tournaments last forever so if you know what to expect right in the beginning it will help you get mentally prepared. So if you read this you now know that there is a big chance you will be waiting around for a while to compete. Make sure you stay focused and tell yourself that you knew it was going to be like this.
• It’s a good idea to bring something to pass the time. You can bring a book to read, a portable DVD player, some cards, an iPod, a portable video game console or something, but whatever you bring it will help the day go by much better without having anything at all.

Out of all of these the biggest tip I can give you is to have FUN. If you’re not having fun then whatever you went through for the competition really isn’t worth it. You need to have fun even when you’re trying your hardest to win. You should be in there not only to win, but to have a good time and a great learning experience. Activities without fun turn into work. Do you really want to work anymore then you already do? I know I don’t.

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached as by the obstacles that one has overcome while trying to succeed.” ~ Mark Twain

I don’t know anyone who has been training in the sport of grappling for an extensive period of time that hasn’t experienced a slump or been in some sort of rut. When you are in a training slump you may experience the following:

• You don’t feel like your improving and have the feeling that you no longer will.
• You’re starting to feel frustrated.
• You feel unmotivated.
• You feel like you want to quit training all together.
• You feel nothing is going right.

Being able to get through your slump in grappling could be the determining factor of whether you continue in your training or not. If you do continue and get through your first slump, then getting through other slumps will get easier. If you don’t get through your slump, then chances are that you probably won’t be grappling much longer. I’ve seen training slumps make and break many people.

There are many reasons why you may experience a slump and not everyone experiences the same thing. The first important step is to figure out what exactly is causing you to be in a slump in the first place. Once you figure that out, then you can work on dealing with the problem and you can get back on track with your training.

Below you will find a list of reasons why many people experience slumps. You may not be experiencing all of them, but I’m sure if you’re in a slump you are experiencing some of them. If you’re experiencing multiple things I recommend that you focus on each one you’re dealing with one at a time. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm yourself anymore then you already are. That will just counter act what you’re trying to do. Even if you’re not experiencing one of the causes below or if you’re not in a slump, it’s a great idea to read all of them anyway so you can have an idea of how you can avoid the situation all together.

Things that can result in you being in a slump:

1. Injury or Illness

- The first thing you should always rule out is having an injury or an illness. If you have become injured this can be a big burden for some people and it can not only affect you physically, but it can also affect you mentally. I know many people who got injured in training and they took time off to heal. While they were taking time off they decided that they didn’t want to do much involving grappling because it got them depressed thinking about not being able to train, but what starts to happen is they begin totally clearing grappling out of their mind while they were injured. They were building a slump for themselves and a habit of not training. When they finally got back on the mat it was much harder for them to get back into it and motivated to train because they already formed a habit of not wanting to train.

2. Overtraining

- This is another big factor for many who are in slumps. When you are overtraining your body doesn’t react as well as it could. You feel tired, get sick easier, you’re body is aching, lose sleep, and so on. This all leads to you being less motivated and possibly depressed about your training and then you’re definitely going to be in a slump.

3. You Have a Win Only Mentality

- Having a “win only” mentally is a trait that I see in many people who train in the sport of grappling. I see it more in those who haven’t been training for an extensive period of time, but those who do have this attitude in the beginning of their grappling career may have a chance of suffering mental burnout. When you have a win only mentality, all you focus on is winning and nothing else. When you’re grappling with your training partners you want to get the tap every time and you really don’t care how you get it. The more you don’t win the more frustrated you get. The more frustrated you get, the less you want to train because you feel like you’re a loser and you’re not getting any better. While you’re starting to get these feelings you never realize that it could be because you’re focusing more on winning then actually learning.

4. Closed Minded

- Being a grappling instructor I have come across many students that like doing their own thing no matter what. You can tell them that a specific technique is perfect for them, but for some reason they don’t think so and they never even try to use it. They just shut it out and do their own thing. These people are very closed minded in their training. They act like they already know the answers when chances are they don’t. As time goes on they don’t improve and they don’t understand why. As they keep doing the same things over and over, their other training partners that are more open minded towards their training and who are experimenting with new things are the ones getting better.

5. Personal Issues

- It’s not just things in your training environment and how you train that can cause you to be in a slump. Your outside life can also have a huge impact on the way you train. I know this from personal experience. There have been times in my grappling career where I have experienced personal difficulties and it was almost impossible keeping those issues from affecting my training. No matter how much your grappling is suppose to be an outlet for you to get away from everyday life, it doesn’t always work out like that. I’ve had personal issues in my outside life that I just couldn’t put on the side when I was training and I’m sure many of you have also. No matter how hard I tried, I kept thinking about them in class. This would lead to me feeling down, unmotivated, and sometimes very close to being injured. This is something that can lead to a slump because your priorities in your personal life outweigh your priorities in your grappling life.

6. Lack of Sleep

- Not getting enough sleep is a huge problem for most people. This not only affects your grappling and leads to slumps, it also can affect your everyday life. When you don’t get enough sleep you feel tired throughout the day. Your judgment is affected along with your reaction time. You don’t think as clearly and it leads to a big lack in motivation. This all contributes to one being in a slump.

7. Bad Experience Training Followed By Negative Thoughts

- In this situation you are feeling good about your training and everything is going well. Then you go to class one day and a new grappler or a lesser experience grappler gets the best of you. You can’t understand how this happened, or why. You start to feel disappointed in yourself and thinking negative thoughts. This rolls over to your other grappling sessions that day and you do even worse because you are filled with disappointment. This is a very common scenario that happens to many people who training in the sport of grappling. They have a bad experience and then they let it steam roll right over them by constantly thinking about it along with adding negative thoughts to the equations. This only leads to frustration, lack of motivation, and the beginning of a big slump.

8. Focus on Past Failures and Future Endeavors

- Many people are stuck in a slump and have negative thoughts because they can’t get past previous failures they may have encountered and/or they’re worried about how they’re going to perform in the future. They waste a lot of energy worrying about these situations they currently have no control over instead of focusing on what they’re going to do in the present. This can lead to someone being in a slump because they lose focus in their current training sessions and it hinders their learning.

9. Down on Yourself

- Another common scenario that usually leads to a slump is when you are constantly down on yourself. Instead of focusing on your successes in your training you only think and dwell upon the times you didn’t do so well and the times you got tapped out. This leads to you being constantly down on yourself. You start to feel that you’re not any good and that you keep “losing” so you’re probably not going to get any better. Having these thoughts and building upon them could lead to a major slump that can be hard to get out of.

10. Compare Yourself To Others

- If you constantly compare yourself to others and you don’t focus on just your training alone, then this can lead to you possibly falling into an area where you are in a slump. Many people focus a lot on what their training partners are doing. They pay attention to their partner’s successes and to their partner’s failures and they compare those situations to themselves. If you see one of your partners who has been training just as long as you have doing very well in grappling but you’re not, this can lead to you wondering why that person is excelling and you’re not. While for some, this situation can be a source of motivation. For many others it only leads to self-doubt and frustration. When you start to experience these negative feelings it hinders your learning and then next thing you know, you’re in a slump.

You have ignored this user.

11. You Achieved A Goal or Won Something and Then Became Unmotivated

- This is another common situation that can lead to being in a slump. What happens to some individuals is they work hard, test themselves in a competition setting, and do well. After they do well they feel they deserve some time to relax and take off. This is definitely ok for most people, but for some it is counterintuitive. During the relaxing off time they start to get comfortable with not doing much. Then as time goes on it becomes a habit. It becomes harder and harder to get into the gym which leads to them not getting better and improving since the last time they competed. This is a very common scenario for some people after their first competition.

12. Overanalyzing and Not Trusting Your Gut and Instincts

- Have you ever heard anyone say to you, “Don’t think too much”? Have they ever told you just to react and not overanalyze things. The reason you hear someone say this to you sometimes is because you’re constantly analyzing a situation and thinking about it while never actually getting started. You’re always trying to figure out the right thing to do before you even do it. Before you know it, time has flown by and you did nothing. This can definitely lead to a slump and a decrease in learning.

13. Your Practice Isn’t Suited Well For You

- Another reason why you might be experiencing a slump is because you may have come to a point where you practicing environment isn’t quite for you anymore. In the beginning you should always improve because you’re fresh and you don’t know much, but as you are training more you are going to need a training environment that can adapt to your adjustments. For example let’s say you’re someone who loves training and when you go to the gym to train you want to get as much drilling in as possible and as much rolling. Then after training you’re more than happy to talk with your peers. However the training environment doesn’t match. It’s more of a club environment where the students sit and talk just as much as they drill. This is an environment that isn’t good for your particular training style. You may also have an instructor who tries to motivate you by yelling, while you don’t particularly respond well to this type of coaching style. If this is also your case, then it can cause you to shut down and really slow down your learning.

14. Laziness and Haven’t Been Training Enough

- Some people want to do a grappling sport and be the best they can be, but at the same time they don’t want to put in the work to get there. They want to be good right away. They don’t really like hard workouts and they don’t drill as much as they could. These are the lazy people. They train once a week when they can train more and they drill 10 times max when they probably could have drilled the same technique 20 times. If you are this type of person there is going to be a chance of you being in a slump for the duration of your grappling career.

15. Your Partners Have Figured Out Your Game

- One of the most common reasons why you might fall into a slump is because your training partners have figured out your game. They know exactly what your favorite techniques are and how you react. This makes it much harder for you to do what you want when you’re rolling live. It’s very important that you realize that this is happening and you work on adjusting your game so you can keep moving forward. You can’t keep doing the same things over and over because you won’t get the results you used to. You have to vary up your game to make your training partners have to catch up again.

The big question to ask is, “Are these easy to fix?” Some may be easier to deal with than others and some will be very hard to deal with, but you should be able to correct all of them. While focusing on getting out of your slump you want to do your best to be patient, always thinking about the positives and never the negatives. The reason many people have trouble getting out of slumps is because they are constantly building a mountain of negative thoughts in their brain. Be happy that you have the opportunity to train and be in this world in the first place and that will be your first step to dealing with slumps that get in your way.

Thank you for reading!

Goal oriented training

Have a specific technique or area of focus for each rolling session. For example, I will come into training thinking “Today I am going to work on passing the butterfly guard”. You may even want to let your training partners know this and start in those positions.

Consistent Training

Make BJJ a priority in your life, training 3-5 times a week EVERY week. It’s no coincidence that the best guys in class also have the best attendance.

Set a schedule for yourself and don’t let anything that isn’t really major interrupt it. Some guys get good really quick, but the best guys have all put in countless hours to get there. You will never see your game improve as fast as it should if you are missing classes or weeks of training.

Take advantage of your training partners

Make a mental note of who has the best guard, takedowns, passing, pins, or escapes. Then work with them, allowing them to use their strengths. This will highlight your mistakes and help you monitor your progress. Once you can consistently overcome their strong points then you know you are seriously improving. I never pull guard against someone if I know they have a slick bottom game, I want to be on top.

Study everyone else’s game - When you aren’t sparring study your teammate’s games and try to pick up their effective moves. Go over it in your head as they spar. Think about when you would be able to use that move, or how you would counter it. Ask them what little adjustments they make so that the technique works better.

Ask your instructor questions

All too often I see brown and black belts teach class and ask, “Any questions or things you guys want to work on?” and everyone is SILENT. Always have a question in mind, unless you are an absolute phenom there will always be a position where you don’t feel 100% confident.

Try new things

I always use white belts for this. I will take a move or setup that I haven’t tried yet and try to pull it off on the beginners. This works well because if you are still unsure about parts of it, you most likely will not be able to pull it off at all on the more advanced guys. For example, I’m trying to learn the twister right now, so whenever I roll with white belts or new blues that is what I go for. It also helps because it makes rolling with those much less skilled than yourself challenging.

Work on a new area until you feel it is one of your strengths, then move on to another. Work on keeping your guard, for example, until it is almost impossible for any others close to your level to pass, and really difficult for someone advanced to get by. Then add your sweeps. Once you are sweeping blues easily and higher belts on occasion, move to subs from the guard, etc…

Individual attention

Privates with your instructor work wonders. Roll with them or have them watch you roll with someone who usually get the better of you, then have them point out areas you need to improve upon or blatant mistakes you are making.

Train at different gyms

I realized that having new perspectives helped me greatly. Also, the experience of rolling with guys you don’t know anything about will make your moves much sharper. This is especially true if you are the most technical one in your academy, don’t fall into the “big fish in a small pond syndrome”.

Compete as often as possible

Under the stress of competition the true nature of your skills come out. Also it helps to let you know where you stand in the larger scheme of things by giving you a realistic look at where you stand against other guys with the same belt level.

Teach new guys

If you can get a pure beginner to do a move 100% accurately then you know that you have it down. It is good practice to make sure you are aware of each little detail that makes a technique work.

Roll until you are exhausted at every training session

I see many guys pack their bags and go home when they have barely worked up a sweat. I always try to train until my instructors tell me they have to lock up and go home. Even if I’m so tired that I’m getting my ass kicked by someone of lower rank, the experience of training when you have no strength left will vastly improve your game both mentally and physically.

Your cardio is a technique. You may know a lot, but you won’t be able to express it well if you are worried that you are going to run out of air. You can really open up your game and keep pressure on your opponent if your lungs can handle the constant movement and explosiveness.

Train in inferior positions

Allow your training partners to get your back, pass your guard, or mount you. Don’t let them know that you are allowing them to have the position (I say this because if they think they got it legitimately they tend to get excited and really work for the finish, which is good for you). Stay in the inferior position and work on simply avoiding the submissions, then work your escapes. This will help you feel comfortable in even the worst situations, which in my opinion is a major difference between an inexperienced grappler and a experienced one.

Have a good balance between top and bottom

If I tap someone from my guard, then I will make it my goal to pass and tap them from side control during the next roll. If I tap someone from the top, I will pull guard the next time. When I was a new blue belt I had a decent guard and I would tend to neglect my top game while rolling because I could tap most people from the bottom, it was an ego thing I had to get over and it held me back some. Now when I roll I always alternate between top and bottom, not allowing myself to neglect either area.

Find someone who can manhandle you

Never back down from sparring the toughest guys in class. Each sparring session, put your ego aside and roll with the best guy you can find, also spar with heavy guys, quick guys, and guys with unlimited endurance. As a beginner or intermediate grappler, you are under no pressure to be brilliant, so use that time to open up your game and test the positions you know against guy who know what they are doing.

Drill things to death

Take about ten minutes before or after you roll to just work on the techniques you’ve been shown over the past few days of class. Also try to take one day a week and make it your drilling day. That day spend at least a half hour - 45 minutes just repeating techniques and sequences over, and over and over. It’s boring and I hate doing it, but it helps a great deal.

Although it is boring, many of the best guys I know devote a portion of every training session to drilling a basic movement with a partner.

Specialize

Find positions that fit your game and work them in sparring until you can rely on them against just about anyone. For example, there was a time when my all-around game was weak, but I knew that I had one sweep from my half-guard that I could catch just about anyone with. Didn’t matter what level they were, I knew I would sweep them if I got the underhook in the half-guard. You need a technique like that from every position to go to against tougher guys. You’ll start to learn set-up for those specialized techniques and areas and then it will keep branching off from there which will then lead to you developing a game/style for yourself.

Share your tricks

Share your tricks with anyone who asks. As they get better, they will be more competition for you. When you have tough competition, you will inevitably get tougher to beat yourself.

Use training sessions as a time to learn not win

Think of a move you want to pull off and the situation that would require it. When training, the sparring sessions should be more about pulling off that move/moves than winning the match. To me, it’s more important if you pull off a move you’ve been wanting to implement in your game then tapping your teammate in class. It’s a great feeling finally getting a move you’ve been wanting for a long time, even if the end result is you getting tapped. Tourneys are about playing your best game and playing to win; class is all about experimenting.

Visualization

Training isn’t just on the mat. It is also in the mind. When you learn a technique that you feel works for your game or you’ve been having trouble pulling off a certain move. Think about how you can make your technique better and practice in your head. Visualize your movements and try to feel and react in your mind what it is you can and will do to beat your opponent. I also recommend a book called “The Mind Gym” to aid in your mental training.

Be Technical

Just like stated before practice isn’t the time to go full force and try to maul your partners. It is a time to learn and improve. True there are times in class where you do want to play to win. I would say maybe 1 out of every 5 classes, but for the most part you want to improve and become as technical as possible. It is important to focus on good technique first and then add your attributes. It will make things much easier in the long run. If you feel your self muscling out of position or using your speed instead take a moment to stop and thing what the proper technique it is you can use to accomplish your goal. If your not sure you can always “ASK QUESTIONS”. Remember this the more technique you use the less energy you waste.

Don’t Ever Forget The Basics

A lot of people get wrapped up in the newest techniques that are coming out. While some are very good and some are not. It is also extremely important that you don’t forget about the basics. If you watch any major tournament you will see that most matches are won by using mostly the basics. If you are not proficient at the basics you will never be able to properly expand upon your skills and add any new techniques and make them work easily for you.

Train Takedowns

I know BJJ is a ground fighting art but too many schools neglect the importance of the stand-up game. Most altercations start from the feet and ALL tournaments start on the feet. Especially when you start to move up the ranks and as time goes on you will see that more and more people are getting comfortable with there takedown abilities.

When you are the one that dictates where the fight is going to be and when and how it will go to the ground that is a big confidence booster. If you are the one to take your opponent down chances are you not only physically gave yourself an advantage but you did mentally to, because you felt confident on your feet and you startled your opponent because you just dictated the fight from the beginning. It is always nice to be able to stand in front of your opponent and not be afraid of getting taken down and resorting to pulling guard.

Thanks for reading!

These are very important aspects to practice and remember with the closed guard. These tips are especially helpful with no-gi.

• When having your opponent in closed guard you don’t want to give him any space. Space for him means more opportunities to work a pass.
• As with space you do not want to let your opponent get his posture. When he has his posture he is now able to get his elbows in and head up to work out of your guard.
• You want to get control of your opponent’s hips, head, and upper body.
• Always have your legs higher up on your opponent’s waist, closer to his upper back. When they are higher up it is much harder for him to sit back and get his elbows in. You also have your hips off the ground, which allows for better movement on the bottom.
• Knock his hand off your body. When he has his hand flat on your body he has the opportunity to push off of you. Like stated before though, if your legs are higher up his waist/closer to his upper back, it is much harder for him to push on your body and regain his posture.
• Pull him in with your legs. Do not rely on using just your hands to pull your opponent in close to you. It will not work. Your hands against his whole body are not an even battle. You want to close your legs tightly around your opponent and bring your knees into you, which will cause your opponent to lunge forward.
• Control his head. This is a really important point. Where ever the head goes the body goes. So you want to try to control your opponent’s head most of the time at least until you have moved onto something better. If you have ever experienced someone constantly pulling down on your head while you were in their guard, you would probably agree that it is very frustrating at times. Also when you pull down on their head you want to pull down on the upper back of their head because that is where you get the most leverage. It is much harder to pull down on your opponent’s head once you get closer to his neck area. Don’t control directly on the neck
• Try to control his arms/shoulders. Immediately when you gain control of your opponent’s head and bring him close to you, you want to get control of at least one of his shoulders or arms. This gives you a lot of control. You can either overhook one if his arms or underhook one of his arms, but always remember to keep control of his head.
• After you gain control of your opponent you want to start moving your hips out so you can start working some attacks. Most attacks are going to come from the side or with your hips out. So you need to be a step ahead of your opponent and start moving your hips out right away. The more you stall the more he has to work. Many people make the mistake of not angling out while having a closed guard. It is very possible to have tight control with a closed guard and work angles at the same time.
• Any movements you make, you want to stay tight at the same time. An example would be to place one of your feet on the ground to aid in scooting your hips out, but as you do this you will always keep control of your opponent’s head and shoulder/arm. This way he can’t sit up. Once you get your hips out you want to immediately get your legs tight around your opponent’s body again. Think of yourself as a Boa Constrictor, always on the move but staying tight at the same time.
• If you feel you can’t stop your opponent from getting his posture and opening your legs. You need to always open your leg voluntarily before he does. Remember you want to always be a step ahead. If he forces your legs open, he will have the upper hand and will most likely be able to control your legs and hips. Always be ready to react and go into a position if you feel your opponent is going to open your legs.
• When he sits back, try to sit up with him. Remember you always want to be tight. When he goes to push you back, lots of times he will open up an opportunity to gain control.
• Always practice regaining guard control. During your practice sessions work on letting your partners open your guard and work passes. Then fight your way back into guard. First off, always practice your hip scapes (shrimps), this is a really important fundamental movement that is used in a ton of techniques involved in grappling. Secondly, do not let your opponent get control of your legs above your knees, close to your waist. You are in a bad spot if your opponent gains control of your legs close to your hips, or even worse gains control of your hips all together.
• Remember a lot of the grappling game especially on the bottom is in the hips.
• Always practice your backward rolls. These are very important in getting back to your knees if your opponent stacks you up and there is no way for you to stop him from passing your guard. If you can roll back to your knees, you’re in a much better position. Also work on getting back to your knees during your grappling sessions so you can increase your reaction time.
• Always practice your shoulder bridges. These are very important for you if your opponent does pass your guard. You can develop the right mechanics and reaction time to bridge into your opponent and back on your knees, or make at least enough space too scoot back into guard.

Also remember that the closed guard can be a great tool and many attacks and advantages can come from it. Remember to work with it. Too many people use the closed guard to just hold their opponent and stall.