BJJ 101

The Submission Transition Game

One of the first instructionals I got was Erik Paulson’s Game Development. This short instructional covers 8 ways of training to develop your grappling.

One of those ‘games’ was attacking by transitioning from submission to submission. The idea being if you master this you’ll create an inescapable web of destruction for your opponent.

Throughout my Jiu Jitsu career, I’ve regularly practiced this game (and the other 7) when sparring, and it’s greatly helped my understanding of submission and how to connect them.

Along with improving my understanding of submissions, there is another benefit to developing this skill.

If your opponent refuses to tap you can transition to another submission without causing injury.

This is incredibly important in training, as you get to develop your technique safely even if your opponent is being an idiot or doesn’t realise the danger. To give you an example of how this looks, check out this short video.

In the video, you’ll see I catch my opponent in a triangle, he defends and I transition to an arm bar.

That arm bar is on, but as my opponent doesn’t tap, which leaves me with two options: push harder and risk injury or transition to a tighter submission.

I chose option two and switch to a K-Arm Bar. At that moment my opponent knows there is no escape and taps.

This is a great example of training smart and training safely. Give this training method a try next time your sparring and let me know how you get on.

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Performance Drilling

Killing Frames

The start of any escape in BJJ or submission grappling comes from your opponent making (or maintain) their frames. If you can kill those frames, your ability to control your partner and submit them will become much easier.

This short video covers three ways you can neutralise your opponent’s frames from side control. Although the video is taken from a No Gi class, the same principles work just as well in the Gi too.

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Performance Drilling is Tom’s first eBook that outlines his drilling method for faster development of skill.

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Jiu Jitsu Abs

Check out this killer ab workout that was specifically designed for BJJ or MMA.

Here’s the full list of ab exercises:

Knees together, toes together
Butterfly
Elevated Knees together, toes together
Elevated Butterfly
Legs straight up
Crunch
Crunch
De La Riva
De La Riva
Legs out straight
Dorsal Raise
Super-mans

Each exercise is performed for 10 reps with no rest between exercises. The full workout should take about less than 3 min to complete and will leave your abs crying for mercy!

The credit to this workout goes to Mark Hatmaker, who I first saw use this workout.

To get your FREE copy of Performance Drilling and discover how to train like a world champion click the button below.

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How To Develop Smooth Transitions In Your Jiu Jitsu

Jiu Jitsu is a dynamic art. You’re continually adjusting position and transitioning between different techniques. Your ability to connect techniques together can have a big impact on your performance.

The difference between skill levels is not the number techniques you know. Instead, it’s how well you know those techniques and your ability to recognise what’s happening and respond accordingly.

This is the reason a blue belt can submit a black belt. The blue belt may not know as much Jiu Jitsu, but if they are better in a particular transition they will catch the black belt.

And it’s pretty easy to develop this technical proficiency and transitional speed. You just need to practice transitioning into your game a lot.

In recent months, I’ve been using a simple concept to help my students develop their transitional speed and their Jiu Jitsu. I’m calling it Free Flow Drilling. It’s based on the Flow Drilling I talked about in Performance Drilling.

In case you’ve forgotten, Flow Drilling is simply connecting a sequence of techniques to create a continuous flow of technique. The difference in Free Flow Drilling is I don’t dictate the sequence. The students complete the technique they’re working, then add the next logical step based on their game.

For example, let’s say I’m teaching a sweep. I’ll demonstrate the technique, then have my students drill it but adding on whatever pass and submission they like to use.

This means they learn to transition instantly from a sweep to guard pass to submission and they get to practice their game. To give you a better idea of how Free Flow Drilling works watch the below.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

The Round The World Drill

Love it or hate it, you will spend a large part of your time on the mats trying to pass the guard. So it’s worth investing some time getting good at passing.

However, like the mythical one-punch KO, it’s rarely the first pass that gets the job done.

You need to create combinations of passes and transition based on your opponent’s reactions. Each movement should take you one step closer to your goal, and you keep linking techniques until you’re in a position where your opponent can’t defend.

So, how do you learn to transition between passes?

One way is to train combinations of passes with your partner providing the correct counter-response. Drilling like this will help you start to understand what to do in specific situations and begin to improve your reaction time.

To help illustrate the concept, and give you something to practice, here is a flow drill I call the “Round The World Drill”. This sequence of passes is a great way to warm up, but will also improve your guard passing transition speed. Check out the drill below:

Here’s the sequence with each technique being performed on both sides:

– Leg Drag
– Duck Under
– Jump Over
– Windshield Wiper Over Top
– Knee On Belly Switch
– Top Spin
– Chair Sit

Don’t have access to a training partner? Try the solo version of the Round The World Drill.

Here’s a 15-minute solo drilling training plan to help you practice the sequence.

Minute 1: One are leg drag
Minute 2: Jump over
Minute 3: Windshield Wiper Over Top
Minute 4: Knee On Belly Switch
Minute 5: Top Spin
Minute 6: Arm Bars
Minute 7: Leg Drag -> Jump Over
Minute 8: Jump Over -> Windshield Wiper Over Top
Minute 8: Windshield Wiper Over Top -> Knee On Belly Switch
Minute 9: Knee On Belly Switch -> Top Spin
Minute 10: Leg Drag -> Jump Over -> Windshield Wiper Over Top
Minute 11: Knee On Belly Switch -> Top Spin -> Arm Bar
Minute 12-15: Leg Drag -> Jump Over -> Windshield Wiper Over Top -> Knee On Belly Switch -> Top Spin -> Arm Bar

These drills are just two of many included in Escapology Online. To learn more about how Escapology Online and get your free trial visit:

https://escapologybjj.com/online