SBG Articles And News

If I were to break down how I distribute the emphasis of my coaching, on average it would look very close to the fractal nature of the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule). When it comes to submissions in Jiu-Jitsu, there are three primary components: 1. Control2. Isolation3. Finishing mechanics About 80% of my time and attention […]

Let’s talk about mechanical inefficiency, aka “energy leakage.” These are inefficiencies in the kinetic chain that often go unnoticed but have very real costs in terms of our ability to optimize our movements. When a technique fails in Jiu-Jitsu, the common tendency is to look for another technical solution (for example, a counter to the […]

This is a follow up to The Truth About Resistance Training for Longevity in

Below is a class I did a while back picking one position / submission, the mounted arm triangle choke, to illustrate first principles deductive reasoning at work. (Even if you’ve seen this before, I recommend watching it again because it might resonate more at different stages of your development.) Here’s some additional background on it… […]

Here’s a beautiful answer to another frustrating situation from mount top. Have you ever

The threat of getting rolled is one of the main reasons people avoid playing

In the previous video, I showed you the most important and often overlooked details for your initial positioning when in Mount top. The next step is making sure that you can maintain the position. I highly recommend that you not only put in time defending against “technical” Jiu-Jitsu escapes that a skilled practitioner will give […]

You hear me talk quite a lot about the First Principles of Jiu-Jitsu pertaining to skill development, but First Principles exist in everything, not just grappling. It’s no different in exercise. Specifically resistance training for longevity and injury prevention in grappling. Here are a few important things to understand: 1) In every area, there are […]

Body lock passing has been all the rage for a number of years now.

Learning Jiu-Jitsu “move by move” is limiting and inefficient. That’s because grappling is not a linear system. It’s nonlinear and dynamic. Of course you need to understand the proper mechanics of the technique, but this video is a perfect example of how to take a concept –– preferably rooted in first principles –– and apply […]

Before you can even think about passing the guard, first you have to do this… In this 8 min. class (video below) I’m going to show you how to survive and build superior base & posture inside an opponent’s closed guard… Here what I can pretty much guarantee… If you develop the tips in this […]