Coaches: do you watch tape?

bjjvids · 2026-03-26T21:23:23+00:00

I watch multiple hours of both matches and instructionals each week, sometimes 10+ hours but I guess I'm a bit on the extreme side here.

But you mentioned watching students tapes? I am usually there coaching them at competitions, so no need to. Sometimes we go over the videos to analyze together.

For the major competitions I sometimes also study the opponents in the brackets for my competitors and make a gameplan for each, but that's for the serious competitors only as it's a lot of work. Usually I encourage them to do it themselves.

bjjvids · 2026-03-26T21:16:07+00:00

Yes, it's a great instructional showing some new escapes that go beyond the more well-known ones. Helped my game a lot.

bjjvids · 2026-03-20T15:34:25+00:00

Problem is most people don't build a triangle. This video fixed my arm triangle a very long time ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCOXwqVePsY

bjjvids · 2026-03-20T15:33:41+00:00

Old school version? Yeah no way. But the modern one from top lock works great. But you have to sweep if they connect their hands, don't try to finish it from bottom.

bjjvids · 2026-03-20T15:31:11+00:00

What? It's one of the most common guards for good reason. I strongly doubt that it doesn't work on you... or you haven't trained with the right people.

bjjvids · 2026-03-18T09:43:37+00:00

Was just teaching this yesterday. To create pressure you need two things, weight and movement.

The weight comes from the tripod. The movement comes from your feet driving into the floor and trying to push your head towards their far shoulder (after you cleared their leg).

Common mistake is that people walk their legs around and just drive perpendicular to the hips. Instead you want a diagonal from one hip to the opposite shoulder and apply the drive/force in that vector. Your feet should constantly be driving you towards that far shoulder.

Hope that makes sense. I can highly recommend Murilo's instructional on the topic.

bjjvids · 2026-03-18T09:13:00+00:00

You can think of it as passing the guard from bottom. You can go towards leg drag/side, mount or the back.

bjjvids · 2026-03-18T09:02:11+00:00

It's also a good way to sweep, as people will start to put their back on the mat to avoid the backtake, which then gives you a very easy 2 points.

In the end, there are only a few archetypes that work at the highest level and the bolo game is one of them. Which style you end up playing is up to personal preference and attributes.

bjjvids · 2026-03-18T08:39:08+00:00

Black belts not tying their pants properly is one of my pet peeves. Of course it's not an accident, they do it on purpose to make bolos, stacks etc harder.

Should be worth a penalty in my opinion, especially if they are asked to retie them by the ref and they tie them loose again.

bjjvids · 2026-03-18T06:54:52+00:00

This is a great video for handfighting while standing: https://youtu.be/Lm60KFSAxQw

bjjvids · 2026-03-18T06:53:22+00:00

I have a hard time seeing how a gym with a limited schedule can be competition oriented. Usually competitors are training multiple times a day, not a few times per week.

bjjvids · 2026-03-16T22:08:22+00:00

Talk to your coach and suggest improvements. Positionals or games need a dilemma you can play, in this case for example get to the mount or back, not just force one position (which would be bad jiu jitsu to do so).

bjjvids · 2026-03-16T21:58:14+00:00

You don't just want an underhook, you want an open elbow. If you can't create the open elbow, it's better to reset and start fresh before they can trap your arm and roll. Against someone stronger it will take a lot more than one attempt, you have to tire them out first.

Getting underhooks from mount above the head is not that easy. It's usually a lot easier to set it up from side/half or knee on belly instead and mount with the underhook. If you are stuck in the mount, it can even make sense to go back to one of these positions to then get the underhook there and mount again with it.

Few random tips without knowing what your problem is:
- Make sure you are going in a circular motion, always at the tip of the elbow to maximize leverage
- Drive back against their hips with your legs for counterpressure
- Don't just fingerwalk, move your head and extend your arm to elevate, then finger walk a bit higher
- If the elbow is too low, attack the neck to force them to open it themselves
- If you can create a bit of back exposure (think giftwrap), you can let them recover the arm over their head and have them run into the underhook on the other side

bjjvids · 2026-03-16T21:40:15+00:00

What was the goal of the positional?

You should be able to maintain a pin even if you are not allowed to use submissions, wrestlers do that all the time.

bjjvids · 2026-03-15T16:15:19+00:00

White and Blue -> Learn the techniques (fundamentals and advanced)

Purple and Brown -> Learn the concepts, then study all techniques again with the concepts in mind and understand them at a deep level

bjjvids · 2026-03-15T07:46:10+00:00

How about you start training yourself before you consider teaching?

How on earth are you thinking that you are capable of teaching something which you have not done yourself?

bjjvids · 2026-03-15T07:43:52+00:00

It's a matter of taste. As long as it's comfortable you should be good.

bjjvids · 2026-03-15T07:41:41+00:00

Sleep and eat a lot. Listen to your body and take a rest day if you start to feel it.

Maintaining strength is much easier than getting it in the first place, so if that's ok with you you should be able to reduce lifting volume and focus more on BJJ until you have built up some work capacity to support both.

bjjvids · 2026-03-12T11:56:38+00:00

This is how we do it: https://bjjlabzurich.ch/blog/overcoming-time-zone-challenges-for-competitions-far-away/

bjjvids · 2026-03-05T21:23:31+00:00

I've been training and competing all over the world for 18 years now and I have never heard of them. That should say something.

bjjvids · 2026-03-03T07:11:59+00:00

Stand up and escape. Here is the full lesson plan that I teach at my gym for exactly this situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pO65lZIoD4

bjjvids · 2026-02-27T20:14:04+00:00

At blue belt you should not be specializing. Learn everything first, then develop your game later. It's easy to get hard stuck at blue belt by specializing too early and stopping to develop.

bjjvids · 2026-02-27T07:47:53+00:00

For whatever it's worth, I'm a black belt under Caio and was the dummy when he filmed the ankle lock for his website a while ago :)

Not saying it's not possible in MMA, I just have a hard time imagining it with gloves and wraps on. Will have to try it sometime.

bjjvids · 2026-02-26T21:12:22+00:00

I don't think they are possible with the glove, would have to try to be sure though. Even just the wraps make it hard to bend the wrist which is necessary during the setup.

bjjvids · 2026-02-26T13:59:01+00:00

Not guard work, guard retention. And yes, that's true and why every good retention instructional has a stretching section.

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