kying418 - Marcelo has a secret to his grip strength- well, not really a secret as he talks about it all the time.
He says when you grip, you should grip with 100% of your strength.
Sounds intuitive, but I guarantee that 99% of people gripping out there use way less than that.
Give it a try today- it will do wonders to your gripping game- especially no gi.
I’ve been trying to start doing this, but I gas out my forearms lol. It’s a fun challenge to try to do jiujitsu with dead forearms. I’ll keep doing it and hope my grips and endurance improve.
Marcelo taught us a method of regaining the underhook when your opponent is playing (standard) half guard and has the underhook first.
Without posting your hands on the mat, turn your shoulders, and plant your hands on their underhooked arm. Then grab ahold of the gi and press down until you get enough space to regain the underhook.
Then link a half guard pass once you get the underhook- in this instance, Marcelo's over/under pass (which is much different than the other similarly named over/under pass that Bernardo Faria does).
kying418 - Marcelo has a secret to his grip strength- well, not really a secret as he talks about it all the time.
He says when you grip, you should grip with 100% of your strength.
Sounds intuitive, but I guarantee that 99% of people gripping out there use way less than that.
Give it a try today- it will do wonders to your gripping game- especially no gi.
I’ve been trying this for the past week and have been surprised at the difference it makes. My hands still are getting used to it but there’s been a noticeable difference in some of my controls especially from guard.
Thank you for all the insight, Kying. Does Marcelo like the “new” leg lock game, as seen in the submission only tournaments? Or is he Strictly an old school IBJJF guy? I don’t think I’ve ever eeen him go for heel hooks or other leg locks.
After technique time (which he walks around and answers questions), students do situational training for 10 minutes or so from that position.
It's pretty rigorous as you switch positions every 45 seconds or so, and keep working to sweep or hold the top position.
Marcelo then taught one more technique from that position,and the students rolled for the remainder of the class (for about 30 more minutes)- the rounds were 7 minutes each:
Thank you for all the insight, Kying. Does Marcelo like the “new” leg lock game, as seen in the submission only tournaments? Or is he Strictly an old school IBJJF guy? I don’t think I’ve ever eeen him go for heel hooks or other leg locks.
Marcelo’s philosophy with BJJ is to submit your opponent. If you do that, then you don’t have to worry what rule set you are in - points or submissions only.
Similarly, he has told his students in the past that if they concentrate on that aspect (submissions), they will be ready for upcoming tournaments, superfights, etc- because you never know what opportunities are presented to you, so you can’t be too picky with ruleset or even gi or no gi.
I haven’t asked him in awhile about the new leg lock game, but I have asked in the past- as his single leg x works so nicely with the lower body attacks.
At that time, he said (and I bet he still believes this), he would much rather try to submit an opponent while he is on top- with the gravity/leverage advantage if he misses the submission, than going for a submission from the bottom.
That’s why in the single leg x position, he will attempt the sweep, and then finish from top.
Thank you for all the insight, Kying. Does Marcelo like the “new” leg lock game, as seen in the submission only tournaments? Or is he Strictly an old school IBJJF guy? I don’t think I’ve ever eeen him go for heel hooks or other leg locks.
Marcelo’s philosophy with BJJ is to submit your opponent. If you do that, then you don’t have to worry what rule set you are in - points or submissions only.
Similarly, he has told his students in the past that if they concentrate on that aspect (submissions), they will be ready for upcoming tournaments, superfights, etc- because you never know what opportunities are presented to you, so you can’t be too picky with ruleset or even gi or no gi.
I haven’t asked him in awhile about the new leg lock game, but I have asked in the past- as his single leg x works so nicely with the lower body attacks.
At that time, he said (and I bet he still believes this), he would much rather try to submit an opponent while he is on top- with the gravity/leverage advantage if he misses the submission, than going for a submission from the bottom.
That’s why in the single leg x position, he will attempt the sweep, and then finish from top.
Red Stuff - I've gotta remind myself sometimes that a regular class at a superstar's gym is really just that - a regular class.
That’s really cool, kying.
I totally agree- I think it is wrong to look up to a teacher just because they are great competitors.
If you’ve been in this game long enough, we’ve all seen so many champs that were terrible human beings, or just lousy disinterested teachers (playing on their phones during class, coming late to class, not paying attention to students while they are rolling).
With Marcelo, I’m super fortunate that he is a genuinely good guy, and as a teacher- he is super attentive and caring- he always begins on time, walks around during technique time to answer questions, and stays after to answer more.
Heck, during this no gi class that I took pictures of, I asked him a question while the students were just jogging and warming up, and he told me he had to concentrate and couldn’t talk right now
Glad this post got bumped. I’m a huge MG fan both for his jj and humility. Thx to Kying for all the stories. Question For Kying or anyone who may know…has Marcelo incorporated any of the footlock/heel hook game? Back in the day, he seemed totally disinterested in lower body submissions. Curious if that’s changed at all since the leg lock game has evolved.
