This week Stephan gives us a little insight on Jiu-jitsu Secret from his years of experiences training with some of the top grapplers in the world. Like many of us who watched UFC 87 Seek and Destroy everyone has their opinion on the WWE turned mixed martial arts star Brock Lesner. Whether you like him or hate him Lesner has been the talk or the UFC and MMA and forum posts and discussions are all over the Internet. Read Stephan’s analysis on Lesner as one of Brock’s corner men was Erik Paulson who is also one of Stepahan’s mentors and training partners.

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A Jiu-jitsu Secret

OK, draw the curtains, turn down the lights, turn off your recording devices and come closer. I want to share a principle with you that Marc Laimon calls "one of the secrets of jiu-jitsu".

Are you ready? OK, here it is: "it is impossible for your opponent to stand up when you're holding one of his legs off of the floor".

What? Not impressed?? Well I use this principle almost every time I step onto mats, so maybe I'd better explain what I'm talking about.

Have you ever almost swept an opponent and almost secured the top position when they refused to remain swept and fought their way back to neutral position? Have you ever tried to take an opponent down only to have them scramble back to a standing position? For some opponents this is a huge problem, one that I discussed at length in my last newsletter post about refusing to concede the sweep:
www.grapplearts.com/2008/07/refusing-to-concede-sweep.htm

This very irritating problem can largely be solved if, at the end of your sweep, you stand up and hold one or both of his feet off of the floor. Once your opponent has his foot lifted to waist height he'd need amazing athleticism and balance to stand back up.

Some sweeps (and takedowns) are more suited for this style of finishing than others. For example, many sweeps that you might use on a standing opponent rely on grabbing behind an ankle with your hand. While doing these sweeps you can often convert from using your hand to effect the sweep, to using that hand to elevate his foot to stabilize your top position.

Finally, there is one guard position is particularly good for applying this principle: the X Guard. In the X Guard you already have your opponent's foot hoisted onto your shoulder. When you sweep him from there his leg will naturally be elevated (even if you don't stand up), and it will be very, very difficult for him to stand up or scramble away. The ease which which you can elevate his leg at the end of the sweep is yet another reason to love the X Guard (in addition to being a very powerful sweeping position, well suited to grapplers who lack long, flexible legs).

You can learn more about the X Guard here:
www.grapplearts.com/Glossary_BJJ_Half_Guard.htm#XGuard

and in this highly reviewed DVD:
www.grapplearts.com/Butterfly-Guard-Info.php

Have fun incorporating this very powerful principle into your training!

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Thoughts on Lesnar vs Herring

Like many of you, last Saturday night I sat transfixed, watching Brock Lesnar maul Heath Herring at UFC 87. I was so engrossed watching the fight that a friend leaned over and asked me if I'd injured myself recently: I was so tense from watching that my neck was all stiff and my shoulders were creeping up to somewhere around my ears.

My tension (and interest in the fight) arose for at least three reasons.

Firstly, as you've probably noticed, Brock Lesnar is a very large human. He actually has to cut weight to get under the 265 pound limit for heavyweights. The combination of huge size and great athleticism makes for such fascinating viewing that if one of those Pacific Northwest earthquakes had hit while I during that fight I probably wouldn't have noticed.

Secondly, my friend and mentor Erik Paulson was in Lesnar's corner. Brock Lesnar was very happy with the training he'd received from Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson for his debut fight against Frank Mir, and so, despite a disappointing initial loss, decided to stick with his coaching staff. From personal experience I know just how good an instructor Erik is, but it's always nice when someone famous agrees with you.

Thirdly, I was fascinated by how disciplined Brock Lesnar was. He didn't get greedy or overreach, he just stuck to his gameplan and methodically continued the beatdown. He paced himself and never used dipped too deep into his anaerobic reserves. Also, when Lesnar was in mount and Herring turned to his belly, Lesnar DIDN'T put the hooks in and move into rearmount as most MMA fighters would do. Instead he dismounted, leaving Herring turtled beneath him. Years of amateur wrestling have made Lesnar very comfortable in what is basically a modified referee's position, and it worked great for him.

The point here is NOT that you shouldn't take rear mount if your opponent gives it to you - I love the rear mount and always take it if given the chance. The point is that you shouldn't change horses in midstream, especially if the horse you're on is taking you the right way anyhow. Lesnar had a strategy that had worked for him in wrestling and had worked for him in MMA training, and now it worked for him in the UFC.

Here are some links and resources relevant to some of the topics I discussed today:

Brock Lesnar on his coaches and training to prepare for Heath Herring www.mmamemories.com/interviews/talkin-mma-with-brock-lesnar/

How to cut weight for MMA
www.grapplearts.com/How-to-Cut-Weight.html

How to apply the Rear Naked Choke, my favorite choke from rear mount www.grapplearts.com/2006/11/roadmap-for-rear-naked-choke.htm

Whether it involves putting in the hooks or not, I hope you're enjoying your training!

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

Bet at SportInteraction for MMA and UFC Fighting Today