Let's Try Something New...

I would like to thank all the subscribers who write in to let me know how they have improved over the months and years because of my DVDs and blog posts.
As many subscribers to my blog are actively involved in competition, I'd like to invite everyone to write me with questions or comments about their matches as well as their training and sparring.

I'd like to help more people to improve their skills and as I do get questions that I answer through my blog posts I'd like to encourage more participation so we can help more subscribers with their training.

So whether it's a training question you have or you would like to share some ideas, feel free to send them in.

What Can We learn From Jake Shields The New Strikeforce Champion?

I just finished watching the latest Strikeforce event and although it was a good MMA event as well as a great step forward for MMA being featured on prime time TV again.
(Remember EliteXC?)

There was one thing that bothered me.

Jake Shields' match against Jason Miller.

Although the match was at times exciting and Shields did demonstrate some great skill and earn his win, the problem was that his approach to applying his skills was "too safe" and shed a lame light on grappling.

I say this in light of Shields' incredible grappling abilities not despite them.

It's safe to say that he earned his victory over Miller by controlling him for the majority of the match.
The problematic part comes in that although controlling him and taking a few chances, he rarely did much else and did not display finishing skills. Especially when it comes to ground and pound or setting up submissions, two critical aspects of grappling and Jiujitsu in MMA.

I think this demonstrates an important lesson that needs to be learned from MMA, that is that superior grappling skills are only a part of the equation.
Without the essential set ups for submissions as well as powerful ground and pound, what you're left with is an incomplete fighter that I find very hard to call a champion in MMA.

Now everyone knows that I am primarily a grappler, but this is also why I find it important to point out the limitations involved in our approach especially when it comes to being a complete fighter.

If Jake Shields hopes to defend his title successfully and keep being a champion for the long haul, then rounding out his game in necessary.
If he doesn't do this, then I predict that he will lose his title within his next 2-3 fights.

Now although this depends on your goals as a grappler, ask yourself how "complete" your game is especialy if your goals include MMA.

The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue to Purple Curriculum DVD series

In the past few months many subscribers have wondered about advanced level training DVDs that can help them improve their game.

Now although there are several DVD sets that move past the basics and are excellent supplements to help add more advanced concepts and ideas to a blue belt's game, I would like to suggest Marcello Monteiro's The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue to Purple Curriculum DVD series as the first DVD set to help you in moving past the blue belt level.

This set of four DVDs takes you into a VERY complete overview of the techniques and concepts necessary to move beyond the basics once you have a solid grasp of them.

I would say it is THE most complete overview of the Blue to Purple level techniques available today.

Like it's predecessor, this series breaks down all the techniques by top, bottom, submissions, escapes and takedowns, and each DVD progresses into more complex techniques.

Just some of what is covered includes, control positions from the bottom, transitions, sweeps and reversals, counters and set ups.

The De La Riva guard is looked at in great detail as well as many concepts and strategies from the open and half guard to the spider, butterfly and X-guard.
The triple attack from the mount and side control, as well as the advanced counters and set ups are sure to make your game more dangerous.

Mr. Monteiro's attention to detail on the series stands out, making this a great series for going over precise details to solidify your competency with the moves.
The DVDs are also easy to navigate through and find specific moves for viewing over and over again as well as helping you focus on the specific move you are viewing.

Check out www.bjjcoach.com for more info on the series and to order.

NEW DVD SAMPLER AVAILABLE FREE!

My newest DVD is now available and I'm offering it to all my subscribers for free.

Just be aware that this is for a VERY limited time as I only have 200 copies available.

When they're gone this offer will be over. (Which should be in a couple of days.)

If you are interested in receiving a copy you just have to send $6.00 for shipping and handling, through paypal to info@jiujitsuuniverse.com
and include a note stating that it's for the Free BJJ DVD offer.

If you'd like some more info on the DVD you can check it out here:
http://www.jujitsuuniverse.com/13.html

Also let me know what you think.

Next week I'll be back with an awesome review that should interest everyone.

New DVD to be released! (FREE for subscribers)

Hey everyone, I've been hard at work on my latest DVD and will be offering it FREE to all my subscribers for their feedback before I release it publicly.
I'll be posting more info on that next week so be on the lookout as I have a very limited amount of copies and will likely run out fast.

In the meantime, Stephan's Free DVD offer is still up for grabs but ends this Thursday so if anyone is still interested and hasn't gotten it yet, you'd better hurry!

It's available at:
13 Techniques You Can Use On The Mat Today

Keep a lookout for next week's post.

UPDATES ON FREE OFFERS!

Hi everybody,

I've been busy at work on some new projects that I know everyone is going to absolutely love including my FREE DVD offer, which I will be letting everyone know about within the next few weeks.

Before that I want to let you all know about an amazing and FREE video tutorial on the X guard position, that my friend and BJJ Black Belt Stephan Kesting just released.

The 'X Guard' is a hybrid position that combines aspects of both the open guard and the half guard. It's a VERY powerful sweeping position (as proved by Marcelo Garcia who has used it to cut larger and stronger opponents down to size at the very highest levels of competition).

Stephan is an amazing BJJ instructor and his free tutorial even includes a whole bunch of tweaks to make the X Guard MUCH more powerful.

Learning how to use the X Guard position is critical if you intend to develop your grappling skills to the best they can be and applying the info in this free tutorial is sure to make a HUGE difference in your game fast.

And you can check it out just by going to the link below:







Even better Stephan is also offering a FREE DVD Entitled:
13 Techniques You Can Use On The Mat Today
This phenomenal DVD is sure to make a huge difference in your game!
Just click on the DVD title to check out his amazing offer.

PS: If you do want to order his FREE DVD I would suggest you do it quick as quantities are very limited.
You'll hear from me soon with some more great news and some more FREEBIES.

Subscriber ONLY Offers!!!

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be making several offers available ONLY to subscribers of the Jiujitsu Universe Blog.

One of these offers will be for a FREE DVD that I will be releasing for subscribers only!
There will be limited quantities only available for my subscribers and the offer will only be available for a limited time.
I will then be releasing the public version of the DVD for $14.99.
Subscribers will have it FREE (only a small shipping and handling charge will apply).

All I ask is you let me know what you thought of the techniques demonstrated on the DVD.

Also a friend of mine is putting out a phenomenal offer that I will also let you in on. The only reason I would share this with my subscribers is because of the incredible value I know it will bring to all BJJ athletes.

Keep an eye out for the next few posts which will feature more details, I know you'll be thrilled and amazed with what I have in store for you!

The 2 Technique Principle Revisited.

Since we're on the topic of strategy I'll be revisiting an invaluable strategy for developing your game efficiently and effectively.
Keep in mind that although this is an efficient learning approach it is not and shouldn't be considered a short cut.
For the simple reason that it takes work, focus and time. Yet it is faster than training haphazardly hoping for results, the key here is staying focused and organized.

OK, with that out of the way here is the gist of this principle.

The 2 technique principle allows for a more efficient and organized approach to training and developing your BJJ skills simply because you focus the techniques you learn around 2 responses to a position or situation.

So you start by writing down the most likely positions you will find yourself.

For instance let's take a look at positions.

Simply:
-In your opponents guard
-With your opponent in your guard
-In opponent's half guard
-Half guard on your opponent
-Mounted
-Mounted on your opponent
-Side control bottom
-Side control top.

Now there are many more positions and variations of them (such as turtle, open guard, etc,...,) but beginners should start with the most basic and build from there.

So you focus exclusively on 2 guard passes, 2 attacks or sweeps from your guard, half guard passes, half guard attacks, 2 mount escapes, 2 attacks from the mount, 2 side control escapes and 2 side control attacks or transitions and work to make those techniques and their combinations second nature.

You then apply this principle to other positions and situations.

Now by no means does this mean that your game should never evolve past this point.

You will never develop a complete understanding of the grappling game by limiting yourself, BUT, this is the optimal way to begin as well as develop a working knowledge and ability in sparring.

It is an ideal way to develop your foundation and I feel all white belts should use this principle in their training.

Now this is just a basic overview of the 2 technique principle as it has several different approaches, strategies and specific ways that you can implement it in your game.

After much thought, I decided that putting together a DVD on this approach wouldn't do it or the people watching it justice.

Why?

Because I have always felt that it is important to be cautious when introducing techniques through DVDs. I decided against putting out a DVD demoing the principle while showing techniques.

I have always been of the belief that martial arts are best taught by a live instructor. Scratch that, it's more than a belief I'm convinced that it is a fact as I've seen the results of people who tried to learn martial arts skills from DVDs too many times.

DVDs are great for introducing techniques, refreshing your memory and reviewing but trying to learn from them will develop holes and bad habits in your training that will take longer to correct.

That's why I only released a coaching CD where I cover all the necessary aspects of applying the 2 Technique Principle to your game.

As for the techniques themselves, you'll have to get those from your instructor. ;)

Next week I'll be back with more on strategy.

Why It's Critical To Develop Strategy In Your BJJ Training...

Regardless of how many techniques you know or how well you know them, the biggest factor in your using them successfully is your application of them and this ties in directly to strategy.

This is probably one of the most important areas of your training.

Yes the physical side is critical as well but the mental side really seperates the great from the average.

As a matter of fact this is what seperates the top acheivers from the average in almost any field.

So how do you go about working on your strategy?

You begin by knowing your strengths and weaknesses and also by studying the strategies of the top fighters.

By becoming aware of your strengths you can maximize your use of them. As for your weaknesses, you can prioritize your training on them to minimize them and develop those areas further.

Also by studying the best, you can learn how they implement the same techniques to outperform their competition.

The faster you focus on this area of your training the faster you will see progress in your ability to implement the techniques you learn into your game.

Over the next few weeks I'll be going deeper into strategy and the development of a solid game.

A Complete Overview Of The Blue Belt Curriculum

This week I will feature a review of yet another Blue Belt curriculum series that is incredibly detailed and complete in it's scope of the basics involved in developing a solid BJJ game.

This DVD series is by Marcello Monteiro and is called Brazilian Jiujitsu Curriculum: White To Blue.

As expected all the main areas for developing into a solid Blue Belt are covered;
positional skills, attacking and defending, counters, escapes, guard passes, sweeps, set-ups and submissions.

Most impressively Mr. Monteiro leaves no stone unturned as he covers all the secret tricks, movements and crucial details to allow for the optimal performance of the techniques.
To say that Marcello Monteiro merely teaches techniques would be an understatement as his approach delves much deeper than the learning of a technique into fully understanding and mastering the full scope of the skills presented.

The first of the DVDs is seperated into the four sections of Bottom Game, Top Game, Submissions and Takedowns. It is very easy to navigate through the selections to view each of them individually or you can view them all together consecutively.

The second DVD introduces Escapes as well.

The third and fourth DVDs further build on these five sections and take the student into the more complex techniques required for Blue Belt proficiency.
The approach is seemless as the first DVD introduces the fundamental basics and the following DVDs progress logically into more difficult skills to ensure the development of a solid Blue Belt game.

One aspect of the 4 DVD series that some viewers may question is the way that techniques are seperated. Personally I find that this helps with focusing on the individual material being taught without overwhelming the student. Also, it makes it easier for finding footage you want to review over again without having to search through an extended part of the DVD.

Finally I would like to add that the techniques on the DVD are very current and up to date featuring a thorough introduction to open guard techniques as well as the Butterfly Guard and De La Riva Guard.

I believe the information presented in this series more than justifies the price and makes it well worth it as a well presented and complete encyclopedia of techniques for developing a rock solid foundation for your BJJ game.

For more info go to www.bjjcoach.com