“A black belt only covers two inches of your butt.  You have to cover the rest.” Royce Gracie

I became a bit obsessed with finding a belt made out of gi material a few months ago.  You’d think they’d be everywhere, right?  Unfortunately that’s not the case.  During my overly involved research I found the Ligustica belt by Killer Bee.  This belt is made from the same gi material as their Mark II kimono and available for $19.00.  I was familiar with Killer Bee from their recent focus on custom gis and also because several of my training partners wear their gis.  Everyone I know had good things to say about Jesse and Killer Bee so I decided to take a closer look at their belts.

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Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy Owner, No Gi Pan Am Champion at 130 pounds, and recognized expert in the area of light weight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Dan writes or Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style, MMA Sports Mag, and more - find more of his techniques by checking out his academy Black Diamond MMA.

Fighting Off Of Your Back In A Self Defense Scenario

Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy Owner, No Gi Pan Am Champion at 130 pounds, and recognized expert in the area of light weight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Dan writes or Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style, MMA Sports Mag, and more - find more of his techniques by checking out his academy Black Diamond MMA.

Let’s be honest, in a situation where someone is attacking you either in the streets or a social setting, chances are extremely high that you’ll end up going to the ground at some point.  There’s a chance your attack blind sides you, tackles you, trips you, etc., and now you’re stuck on your back.

As they jump into mount and begin to do their best schoolyard bully impersonation, it’s vital to know how you get out of this.

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Grappling 101: Escaping Mount

I recall my early days of Jiu Jitsu; learning to escape bottom mount was one of the first techniques ever taught to me by my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu RI instructor. This is exactly what I’ll be touching upon, but we aren’t just trying to get out of from under our opponent on a mat in a sanctioned event; this could be a life or death situation.

Knowing that they can cause some serious damage, the urgency to execute this move properly shoulder be a maximum level.

• Our opponent has taken us to the ground and is looking to pound away.
• The first thing we want to do is bring our knees up into their butt.
• As they go to strike us, try and control the wrist.  This will stifle any potential attack they can offer.
• You want him to place a hand on the ground; taking your knees, buck them over your head.  This will cause him to post on the ground.
• As you return your hips to the ground, isolate one of his arms.
• Lace your foot over the top of his, ending out the outside of his ankle.
• Bridge once more, this time roll over your shoulder.  The momentum will carry them with you, and you will end up in their closed guard.

Don’t Fight Fire With Fire

In this case, it’s best to stick to your grappling instincts!  The reason being, if you’re in bottom mount, you do NOT want to try and go punch-for-punch with your attacker.  It is not the same as the back mount, because gravity is NOT on your side. Simply because you have nowhere to go, if he hits you, the only way you absorb the impact is if your head snap backs onto the concrete. To learn more about escaping the back mount, check out an article that I just sent to my Rhode Island MMA students.

Seeing that he is also in your mount, they can posture up and really add extra force to their punches with a downward motion.  So not only can they land power shots, they can land more shots in general than you can.  Don’t try to be a hero, just do what you have to do in order to stay safe!

Again, this is a basic technique you learn early on in grappling.  However, when you frame it in a situation such as self defense, it becomes fare more than basic; it could become the most important technique you’ve ever learned.

-Dan Faggella

Tom Barlow, Braulio Estima blackbelt, decided to work with a strength and conditioning coach to prepare for the 2012 British Open.  Enter Will Badenoch of Plymouth Performance Gym.  Will designed a strength and conditioning program specifically for Tom that took into account that Tom had other responsibilities outside of BJJ, didn’t want to sacrifice mat time and was coming off a long layoff due to injury.  Tom went on to win his division in the British Open and said, “I can honestly say that I’ve never felt in such good shape during a competition.”  Will decided to use his work with Tom to create an e-book outlining a 12 week strength and conditioning program for other grapplers.  The manual, The Complete Strength and Conditioning Blueprint for Grappling Sports, is a succinct treatise on how to incorporate Will’s program into your training.

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