Tutorials
BJJ tutorials
One tutorial for each unit of the Path, in order. Each one takes about 5 minutes to read. Start with Foundations if you are new.
Foundations
- Before you rollThe tap, chokes and locks, what a class looks like, mat rules, and what a white belt may do.
- The map of positionsBack, mount, knee on belly, side control, half guard, guard, standing. Who is winning where, and why.
- Movements you needBridge, shrimp, technical stand-up, frames, base and grips. The vocabulary of every escape.
- What a guard isLegs between you and them. Closed, open and half guard, what passing means, and how you keep or recover the guard.
- The language of controlBase, posture, frames, grips, hooks, underhooks, the crossface and the seatbelt. Escapes, sweeps, passes, takedowns and submissions.
- How a match worksWhat scores and what does not, the 3-second rule, advantages, penalties, match time, and what is legal at your belt.
White belt
- Back survivalThe most dangerous position. Chin down, hands on the choking arm, elbows tight, back off their chest.
- All-fours survivalWhen they're on your back and you're on your knees. Protect the neck and the hooks, roll to back survival.
- Mount survivalEarly posture, elbows in, hands guarding the collar. Stop the choke before it closes.
- Side control survivalOn your side, frames in, never flat. Block the crossface, release the hand, survive kesa gatame.
- Knee on belly survivalPrevention first, then the running survival posture. Turning without it leaves your back open.
- Inside the guardPosture, base and hand position inside a closed guard. Block the collar grips, see the triangle early.
Blue belt
- Back escapesShoulders to the mat on the safe side, clear the hook, come up. Escape the body triangle and double underhooks.
- Mount escapesThe elbow escape, the seated mount escape, and the upa. Choose by where their weight and arms are.
- Side control escapesGuard recovery, escape to the knees, the running escape, and getting out of kesa gatame and the wrestler's pin.
- Knee on belly escapesThe running escape, pushing the knee to recover guard, and turning in for the leg.
- Escaping armbars and trianglesArmbar escapes to the pass and from the bottom; triangle escape to the pass. Posture and angle, not strength.
- Escaping chokes and locksGuillotine, footlock and kimura escapes, plus the rear naked choke and collar choke hand fight.
Purple belt
- Closed guard: kneeling opponentBreak their posture and keep it broken. Arm wraps and overwraps, the armbar, triangle and cross choke chain, the hip bump and flower sweeps.
- Closed guard: standing opponentWhen they stand to open, their base is the target. Hip push and underhook sweeps, the rollout, and the guillotine and kimura traps they walk into.
- Guard retentionHips, frames and knees between you and the pass. Defend under-the-leg, over-the-leg and toreando passes, and attack straight off the defence.
- Butterfly guardHooks in, chest to chest, elbows past their hips. The butterfly sweep, the arm drag, the straight armlock and the chokes from the hooks.
- Spider and cross-grip guardSleeve and foot-on-bicep control, the cross grip, the tripod and backroll sweeps. No-gi: wrist and collar-tie control with the same sweeps.
- De la Riva and reverse De la RivaDe la Riva hooks the outside of their lead leg; reverse De la Riva hooks the inside of that same lead leg. Rollover and tomoe-nage sweeps, the knee push, and when to switch between the two.
- Sit-up guardSitting up with a collar or wrist grip and a post behind you. The classic and reverse roll sweeps, and the links to butterfly and standing up.
- Half guardGet off your back and on your side, win the underhook, go deep. The backdoor to the back, the kimura, the knee shield and the old-school sweep.
Train it on the Path
Short lessons that ask one thing: you are in this position, what is the best move? Free, in your browser.