Tom Barlow

How To Stay Safe When Training Submissions

There are two things that are more likely to cause injury than anything else in Jiu Jitsu and you’re actually in control of both them.

The first one is very simple it’s falling weight. Falling weight happens during takedowns, passing, pulling guard, or simply tripping over another group. Anytime that you’re falling on your partner or other people are falling you, you risk getting injured.

The second one is when you’re in a submissions, particularly when you don’t treat them with respect. That’s pretty obvious as submissions are designed to cause injury when applied at full force.

However, there is a simple way you can prevent most injuries during submissions. In this video, BJJ Black Belt, Tom Barlow how to train and apply submissions safely.

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How To Analyse BJJ Competition Footage

Watch BJJ matches can be an incredibly valuable tool in developing your BJJ. In competition, you get to see what works (and what doesn’t) under the realist of situations.

But how do you go about analysing a BJJ match and learning from BJJ competition footage? In this video, BJJ Black Belt, Tom Barlow shares the process he uses to break down and analysing BJJ matches.

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WRIST LOCK MASTERCLASS

There’s one submission above all others that’s looked down upon by a lot of BJJ players. In Portuguese, it’s known as Mão de Vaca (or cow paw). You probably know it as the wrist lock.

Wrist locks can be a brutal submission. Just take a look at this 13 second wrist lock submission of Jacare’s:

The wonderful thing about wrist locks is they’re one of the few submissions you can catch from almost anywhere. You can snag a wrist lock from the top, bottom, guard, passing, leg entanglements, and just about anywhere you can think of.

On top of that, because people often fear the wrist lock, you can use them as a way to set up other submissions or transitions. As a result, they’re an incredible tool to add to your BJJ arsenal.

On Sunday 6th July at 10 AM, Escapology BJJ head instructor, Chelsea Leah and wrist lock machine with be teaching a masterclass all about the deadly art of wrist locking.

Take a look at the video below to see Chelsea working her wrist lock magic (make sure you watch until the end for the aftermath of her wrist locking frenzy):

The seminar will take place at 10 AM at Escapology BJJ in Cambridge, U.K. and is open to anyone of any level. The is cost PWYW (Pay What You Want) for Escapology BJJ students and affiliates and £30 for people from other gyms.

Escapology Students

Admission to the Wrist Lock For Realsies masterclass.

PWYW

Outside Students

Admission to the Wrist Lock For Realsies masterclass.

£30

(Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the seminar. Escapology BJJ operates a uniform policy of white Gi only policy and no outside team patches.)

Dominyka Obelenyte Seminar 2025

On Saturday 14th June 2024, Escapology BJJ will be holding a seminar with 4x World Champion Dominyka Obelenyte.

In case you never heard of Dominyka, she’s a black belt under Marcelo Garcia and won double gold as a black belt in 2015 and 2016. Get this… at the time she was only 20 years old!

The match below is a great example of how dominant in competition and her signature move the Domoplata.

The seminar will take place at 1 PM at Escapology BJJ in Cambridge, U.K. and is open to anyone of any level. The is cost PWYW (Pay What You Want) for Escapology BJJ students and affiliates and £30 for people from other gym’s.

Escapology Students

Admission to Dominyka’s seminar.

PWYW

Outside Students

Admission to Dominyka’s seminar.

£30

(Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the seminar. Escapology BJJ operates a uniform policy of white Gi only policy and no outside team patches.)

Kairos Pro 02 Highlight: Libby Genge

Checkout the highlight Kairos Pro 02 winner Libby Genge’s run to get the gold medal.

Kairos Pro 02 took place on Sunday 27th April 2025 at Escapology BJJ in Cambridge. During the event Libby fought five times in the space of 2 and a half hours submitting four out of her five opponents.

Check out the highlight of Libby’s incredible run below:

You can watch the full event here:

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