Video Review - Precise Pressure Passing (Paul Schreiner)

Short Review: A densely packed instructional from Digitsu, featuring Paul Schreiner's famously detailed instruction. The teaching flows through from the first technique, presenting a narrative sequence of the kind of things that could happen when you try and pass the guard.

Schreiner begins by opening closed guard, progressing into passing half guard. He then presents a scenario where they have managed to insert a single butterfly hook, before dealing with full butterfly guard. The bulk of the passing is done from those three positions. Available from Digitsu for a very reasonable $25, or slightly more if you want a DVD version.

Full Review: Paul Schreiner is a highly regarded instructor teaching at the Marcelo Garcia Academy in New York. In this app from Digitsu, he focuses on guard passing, mostly built around the situations that can arise from butterfly guard. Each video finishes with a replay from multiple angles. Schreiner always wears a white gi, his drilling partner stays in black. It surprises me how many instructionals don't do that: it's important to be able to distinguish between limbs and grips. Another big plus point to Digitsu instructionals is that they can be downloaded for later viewing, either on your phone or from the website version.

I encountered some minor technical issues with that, as if I don't first log into the Digitsu app on my phone with an internet connection, then I get an error message. Still, as long as I log in first, I can access videos I've previously downloaded (it is also entirely possible this is an issue specific to my phone: checking with Digitsu, they should be there for around a month before you need to refresh with the server). There is a chapter list detailing each technique, enabling you to jump straight to the one you're looking for. To see that menu, rotate your phone to portrait, then for a maximised view of the video, rotate to landscape. There is a browser version too, meaning you can view the videos on a larger screen. Any purchases you make through Digitsu will be sat in your library, so you can access them anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

The instructional begins with a two minute introduction. Schreiner quickly fills in his background, then emphasises his concept that pressure passing can connect to all the other elements of your passing game. Precise Pressure Passing starts where you might expect, in the closed guard (a little under five minutes). This is somewhat different to what I've been shown in the past in terms of opening, as Schreiner's head remains forward (I'm more familiar with a more upright position, as if you're weightlifting, avoiding eye contact to maintain posture).

Apart from that, it's a relatively standard motion where you shove their leg down and immediately bring your knee over the top of their shin. I am used to then kicking back and going to side control, but Schreiner prefers to drive straight through into mount. He secures a solid grip on the head, then his other leg comes back and pushes through. When I tried teaching it earlier this year, it looked as though most of the students got the motion down ok.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 3, 2017 at 9:46pm PST

There is a clear progression through the passes, so closed guard is followed by a half guard knee slice (five and a half minutes), providing a plan B if that drive for mount is thwarted. I taught this one just before christmas last year, finding that it provided an intriguing new option for passing. Rather than worrying too much about an underhook, the focus here is on dominating the near side arm. With enough control, that can be the basis of a pass, crushing it into the mat so they cannot spin to your back. An underhook is still useful, but as Schreiner points out, you could theoretically pass with just that arm control. A key point is getting the hips to stay over the mat, which initially feels counter-intuitive. I'm not sure if I'll be using this regularly, but I found what I'm calling the 'arm squash pass' useful because it feels quite different to what I would normally do to pass half guard, without being overly complicated.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Dec 19, 2016 at 4:33am PST

Schreiner then moves into a general discussion of the layers of half guard defence (a little over seven minutes). I would have expected this to come before the previous video, but presumably that was still treated as part of the passing closed guard section that kicked off the instructional. Either way, the layers video was the highlight of the instructional for me. Schreiners gives the viewer a broad approach to getting past the half guard, discussing the obstacles you might encounter, especially how to prevent them making space. Getting head control is a major part of that, pummelling in. If you can't use your arms, you have to use your hip instead.

It might mean you have to step over to the other side and pass from there. If that still isn't working, Schreiner suggests moving back around to the other side. Another possibility is that your opponent is trying to get underneath, into deep half. Schreiner explains his deep half passing at around the five and a half minute mark into the video (which I taught last December, a handily simple way to pass the deep half). That all combines into a flowing sequence, which Schreiner suggests you could do as a drill. This time, there is no replay: it felt as if all the good info in here could have been split into multiple videos, but I can see the argument for keeping it as a single flowing sequence too. That fits with the style of the MGinAction videos I watched when I review that site a while back.

Up next, Schreiner delves into shoulder pressure principles (four minutes). He switches gears in order to describe those principles, showing how they apply from side control rather than when passing half guard. Schreiner demonstrates how you can generate so much pressure that it can be used as a submission, all his weight pressing into the neck (a similar principle to some breadcutter type chokes, where you're relying a lot on driving your forearm into the side of their neck). Schreiner emphasises that while it can be a submission, often your opponent will lift their hips instead to relieve pressure, giving you a route to mount.

Returning to half guard, the twisting half guard pass (slightly more than seven minutes) replays the sequence from the beginning, where they manage to snatch half guard after you open the closed guard. Schreiner applies that same shoulder pressure to progress into a twisting half guard pass. Having a powerful control of their head provides options for passing, though as Schreiner warns, be careful of their bump (my class just before we closed for christmas focused on this pass, hence all the cheesy snowmen and holly in the video ;D). Schreiner does not grab the leg and pull, instead he uses his elbow to wriggle their leg off, prying his knee free while maintaining his pressure. He then drives the knee through, secures an underhook, using that to squeeze his way into mount.

The next video adds in some details, using neck control (six minutes). This time, the aim is to drive their knee to the mat, getting your head next to theirs, lots of shoulder pressure. The knee drives through from that position, either progressing into the previous pass. The twist in this case is having the knees in one direction, the head in the other. Schreiners comments that this pass is best suited to nogi, reaching under the head and grabbing their neck. He rolls the head across and drives the shoulder, which Schreiner states can be used in lots of other passing sequences. He emphasises the importance of discomfort, something which is significant in that supine twist.

Just under five minutes is then devoted to passing versus deep half. If you know they like deep half, you'll need to be wary of them digging space underneath. Blocking their arm is an initial option, putting your arm in the way so they can no longer reach. Schreiner rolls his hip across, other arm out for base. His leg kicks back and hooks to secure his position. At this point, you could do the previous technique, or kick your non hooking leg to free it. That then sweeps back, progressing to mount. There is a lot of fine detail to most of these passes, meaning that it could be difficult for a beginner decipher.

Next up, Schreiner talks about passing versus lockdown (five and a half minutes). He highlights the importance of getting a nearside underhook so they can't reach under your legs. Roll your trapped leg hip to the floor, slapping your leg to the mat. Your other foot lifts their heel up, in order to bring your previously trapped leg underneath. Alternatively, your free leg slides all the way down and hooks their leg, lifting it up and away to prevent the lockdown being secured.

The rest of the instructional is heavily focused on butterfly and its variations. There are six half butterfly passes, then four full butterfly passes. If you are not regularly dealing with butterfly, that's a lot of content. However, if you are - as I assume is the case at the Marcelo Garcia Academy and other schools/competitions - this is exactly what you're looking for. The first pass (six minutes) talks initially about controlling an arm, but only if you can keep their shoulders flat. If you don't have sufficient control of the arm, then you need to remove their ability to lift by grabbing the non-hooking leg. Balancing on your head and leg, when they try to sweep, you just pull that leg, then if they try to recover guard, push it. The grip is important here, so in my case, I'd need to make sure my fingers were well-taped before using that one. ;)

Another six minutes explores a different perspective on dealing with the half butterfly. It could be you shoot into the previous passing position against a standard butterfly, as you're confident with that pass. Schreiner highlights the position he wants with his shoulder and head, then how you can slide through from that tripod structure to beat their leg. Getting control of their arm is important for the finish, securing side control. The third option against half butterfly is a folding pass (three and a half minutes). When you try to kick of their hook this time, they follow you, meaning their knee has to follow too. In that situation, Schreiner brings his knee into the back of their leg, tucking your other toes under. The end goal here is to move up into mount.

The classic knee slice can apply against half butterfly too, which Schreiner shows for three and a half minutes. His leg drives forward then cuts in, sliding across into a knee slide style motion. However, he doesn't continue to slide into side control, instead adjusting to drive into mount instead. I wasn't sure what to expect from half butterfly reverse underhook (a little under five minutes), as I wasn't sure what the non-reverse version would look like, but that's just a matter of terminology.

The jumping leg drag (four and a half minutes) is what Schreiner calls this a 'rescue move', such as when you're against somebody with very long legs. They also might manage to get some kind of x-guard, pushing you back and removing your strong shoulder control. Schreiner suggests an acrobatic kick, flinging your body over to the other side. If that introduces too much space for an adept guard player, he tries to land directly into a leg drag, his thigh tight against the back of their leg. That provides a little more security than attempting to drop right into side control.

Getting to full butterfly (six and a half minutes), he starts with a body lock, elbows to knees and everything tight. He kicks a hook free by bringing his leg back, then brings the other leg over their knee. A quick push with the knees shoves their legs across, whereupon you release the body lock and progress to side control. Unlike the half butterfly material, this is something I'm familiar with. If they underhook, sag your arm down to be heavy, then do the same pass again. You might even be able to do a big step to beat his knee, then wriggle through into mount. Should they get double underhooks, get your head to their chest, dropping your armpits to flop heavily down. The other passes are then viable, or even just walking around because their arms are occupied.

Butterfly pass number two (slightly over six and a half minutes) starts by getting their back flat on the mat. This time, you're stepping over the knee, hooking it, then wriggling forwards into mount. The third pass (four and a half minutes) is from the same situation, again clearing their knee and hooking it. However, this time they manage to keep their other hook high, releasing to establish a half guard. Schreiner rolls his hip down and pushes the leg down, connecting back to some of the earlier passes. The section finishes with a particularly long video on a butterfly folding pass (almost ten minutes).

This is one of the other passes I've tried teaching several times now, as I liked the principle. You squat on their shins in a butterfly type position, squashing their legs, while securing your position by grabbing their lapels. You're still upright, using gravity to your advantage. If they mess up, you might be able to slide directly to mount. Normally they'll be wise to that, so you're waiting to get a knee to cross the centre line. As soon as it does, collapse your weight on top, pinning their legs together. The basic concept is straightforward enough, which Schreiner then connects with previous passes.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 13, 2017 at 4:34am PST

Preventing one leg x takes slightly over five minutes. This can happen from what I call the leg sit pass, which Schreiner refers to as a folding pass. With too much space, they might be able to enter into single-leg x. That's another position I rarely encounter, so my frame of reference for it is hazy. However, what Schreiner said about having multiple gripping patterns for upper body control in passes made sense. He gave the example that if you can't get shoulder pressure, you could instead drive your head under their chin, holding the back of their collar.

The penultimate technique is passing shin-to-shin guard. Schreiner's scenario is that you've stood up from butterfly guard to gain mobility and speed. They respond by moving into shin to shin guard. As with butterfly guard, the response is to drive their back flat on the mat, then getting that powerful shoulder pressure like before. There is some similarity with half butterfly here, trying to kick the leg off in order to slide through.

Finally, unable to prevent one leg x, Schreiner spends five and a half minutes passing one-leg x. He turns his knee in, pushes their hooking foot, then puts his hand behind his leg. It looks unusual, but the idea is to block their hip with that arm. They have control of your foot, so you can't mount until you get that back. Sometimes it is a matter of waiting, such as if they try and push into your chest.

This instructional is dense with information, requiring a lot of study and unpacking: I've spent over a year going through the techniques and have still only scraped the surface of what Schreiner is sharing. There is a heavy focus on butterfly guard, which I don't encounter as much in my own training (the leg sit pass is the one that has made the biggest impact on my game so far, a pass I try regularly now in sparring). From that selfish perspective, I would have therefore preferred to see details about passing positions like the knee shield and a standard open guard. It would be very interesting to see Schreiner teach material that I come across more often, so hopefully he will do further instructionals for Digitsu in the future.

Precise Pressure Passing is available from Digitsu for a very reasonable $25 for the on-demand version, working out at roughly $1 per technique. There is also the option of a DVD if you prefer, which is $40: an on-demand version is included in that price.

Video Review - Flow Jitsu (Mike Bidwell & Nic Gregoriades)

Short Review: For Nic Gregoriades' latest instructional, Mike Bidwell of 'BJJ After 40' fame runs through some solid attacks from guard and the mount. Unlike what you may have seen on his popular channel, the techniques here don't require you to backflip around the mat and do the splits, sticking with more human levels of athleticism. It's well taught, clearly explained and the camerawork carefully follows the important details. Available to download here for £40, which gets you a hour of content.

Full Review: The concept of BJJ aimed at people over forty appeals to me. Although I'm not (quite) there yet at 35, training for longevity is something I've focused on more and more over the years. My thinking has been that as it takes me so long to get good at anything in BJJ, I don't want to have to relearn a whole new game a few decades down the line, as my body (especially joints) get older. Hence why I was curious when Nic Gregoriades asked me if I'd be interested in reviewing a new product he's produced with Mike Bidwell, a 47 year old black belt who runs the popular BJJ After 40 page on Facebook (not to be confused with several other sites called BJJ Over 40, like this one, or the product I reviewed a while back by Roy Harris).

I've been shown videos by Bidwell before and discounted them, because it looked far too flashy and acrobatic for my interests. He may be over a decade older than me, but wow, he certainly doesn't move like it! Therefore when Nic mentioned that the product was by Bidwell I was concerned it would be overly ninja. Fortunately on Flow Jitsu (apart from one example at the end), Bidwell keeps his impressive flexibility and movement skills simmering rather than to the boil.

Bidwell teaches at Tai Kai Jiu Jitsu in New York. He produced this instructional in collaboration with Nic Gregoriades. Having said that, Nic doesn't appear to have much involvement in the actual content: he appears briefly at the start to introduce it, but does not take part in the drilling. That introduction is around four minutes, where Nic raises the same concern I had, given Bidwell's unusual attributes. However, Nic was convinced after training with Bidwell that the material would be "adaptable, versatile and effective: guys can take this stuff and use it straight away." As Bidwell himself puts it, when asked about the name 'Flow Jitsu':

"I believe in the idea of flowing, I believe in the idea of movement. What I've done with this video is I've created techniques that I believe are very adaptable, because I believe that jiu jitsu itself is incredibly adaptable. Jiu jitsu will take you exactly as you are, your physical abilities and limitations etc. What I've done with this video is create techniques that I feel can work for anybody."

The first technique is what I would call a sit up sweep or hip bump: Bidwell refers to it as the 'outside kimura sweep' (three minutes), not a term I've seen before. His explanation for the name does make sense, as he points out that this sweep often ends up with an opportunity for a kimura. He goes for an unusual grip in the video, essentially getting a figure four grip on their belt (if they don't have a belt, Bidwell suggests grabbing your shin instead).

That's followed by the inside kimura sweep (eight minutes). This time when he sits up, he slides his hand inside their opposite arm, then continues the sweep. Bidwell says this stops them knocking you back down, as well as being explosive. That grip also means you can swivel your hand to move their arm across when you get to the mount, right into the gift wrap (or I guess armbars from the usual s mount). Continuing that much vaunted flow element he spoke about earlier, from that gift wrap, Bidwell shows how to switch right into a bow and arrow choke.

He then finishes with some details on what he calls the 'baby restraint' grip, similar to what I'd call the seatbelt from the back. After a few kimura sweep counters (slightly under four minutes), Bidwell has a section entitled chaining sweeps and setups (three minutes). I probably wouldn't use the term 'chain' for this (which I'd assume would be a sequence going from one sweep to another), but either way it's useful. Bidwell packs in plenty of different variations on grips and posture-breaks for the sit-up sweep.

It's then time to move on from the sit-up sweep to where it lands you in the mount, with Americana setups (six minutes). I rarely get an americana from mount, as everybody is expecting it and their arms are normally much too defensive. Bidwell's approach was interesting. He began by talking a bit about mount in general, sitting on their stomach rather than on the bones of their hips. He goes under the head to set up his attack, rather than attempting to push straight into the figure-four. That then allows him to go for a number of follow-ups, particularly the head and arm choke.

He's got some sneaky ways to make them give that to you, baiting it with more americana attacks and wristlocks. I played around with this over October, as that's been mount month at Artemis BJJ, particularly at one of the women's classes. This section also highlighted the helpful use of close-ups and reverse angles on Flow Jitsu. The camera zooms right in to show you the finer details of grips, often hard to see with a technique like this. With a mounted americana close to the head, there is lots of anatomy bunched together, which the camerawork manages to untangle.

Bidwell progresses with what he calls Americana to peek-a-boo (five minutes). If they push back firmly into your americana attempt, you can bounce off the first arm to the second. For this particular variation, Bidwell gives them some space to put their head under the arm, which again goes right to that gift wrap. Also as before, he can use that gift wrap to set up a bow and arrow choke.

This was the version with a knee behind the head (which I think some people call the crossbow choke? As ever, BJJ terminology is not consistent, so who knows ;D). He also fits in a nifty detail on armbars. Grip higher on the hand as you drop back, above the wrist. That will make their resistance weaker, compared to wrapping under the arm. Bidwell quickly shifts to a bicep slicer after that.

Seatbelt Counters (five minutes) is not about the back, which is what I had initially assumed from the name. By seatbelt, Bidwell is talking about them reaching around your waist from under the mount. This isn't something you'll see much beyond white belt, but it does happen sometimes. The mounted triangle is waiting for you here, which Bidwell finishes by twisting into a corkscrew. If you can't lock your legs, you can armbar them from that upright position. If they wrap with both arms, push down into them, then lock your leg next to their hand. Whether or not you can bring your leg over their head, that flows beautifully into an omoplata, justifying the name of the instructional.

There is bit of a jump after that, as he goes into around three minutes of triangle choke details from the guard (although that submission does of course combine well with the omoplata). Bidwell talks about using a very different set up to the triangle, by which he means the angled version Ryan Hall teaches, where you're looking at their ear. Personally I use the orthodox square-on approach so rarely that this angled approach is the one that now feels standard to me. Bidwell progresses mostly in the same way as Hall, except that Bidwell likes to finish by reaching underneath them and locking his hands. If you don't have limbs that long, he suggests cupping their far ribs with one hand and closing it off that way: the leverage is similar.

Next up, various ways to get into the gift wrap from mount (three minutes). Bidwell calls this the 'face wrap': I've said it many times before, but BJJ terminology is almost never consistent. I'm used to 'gift wrap', but 'face wrap' is arguably more accurate. The set up is they try to block your attempt to choke them once your hand is in their collar, by bringing their hand inside your arm. To counter, you can drop your elbow over to the other side.

That traps their arm underneath, helping you to then get behind their head with your other arm and move into the gift wrap. If they grab your sleeve, re-grip their sleeve and pull it across. If they are being really tight on defence with no arm to grab, that can make it easier to move them sideways by hooking under an elbow (the go-to option for me if somebody clams up tight is to use that to take the back).

At this point, Bidwell spends two minutes on a technique in his inimitable style, a flashiness familiar to viewers of BJJ After 40. It's one of two times he gets a little elaborate. This first one is a wristlock that starts by grabbing their fingers. I'm wary of small joint manipulation like that, plus the finish of wrapping around behind your head looks tricky. Still, if it's safer than it looks, certainly worth a try as the tap looks powerful. I'd be worried about mashing somebody's figures, but then I err on the side of caution when it comes to injuring my training partners (which is the main reason I pretty much never go for leglocks).

We're back in familiar territory for guard lapel attacks (four minutes). I often go for the gi tail ezequiel, although I rarely use it from the guard. This is therefore a handy demonstration of how to hit it from there, similar to how you would do it from mount (which is where I would normally try it, along with top half and side control). Bidwell adds in the detail of thrusting your knee into them for extra leverage.

Moving on to mount lapel attacks (three minutes), it starts with the same thing but from the top. Another detail where Bidwell varies slightly is that he doesn't chop into the neck, instead using a hammerfist. He's also got another tweak on the set up, wrapping their gi tail around his wrist to help get into position.

Still on lapel attacks, Bidwell then goes full ninja for five minutes. This the second time he gets right into the flashy material, with some crazy spinning chokes: e.g., something he calls the 'seppuku choke', which is just as fancy as that suggestst. This is way too complicated for me, but along with that wristlock, it's the only time he really gets into his standard BJJ After 40 fanciness.

If you're looking for some well taught attacks from closed guard and the mount, there is plenty for you in the hour of material Bidwell covers. Apart from that last sequence, it is not going to involve anything crazy, living up to my hope that these techniques had some longevity. It wasn't quite what I expected from the title 'Flow Jitsu', but then 'A Few Good Sequences From Mount and Closed Guard' is considerably less catchy. ;)

Available to download here for £40. I'd say that price is a bit high for an hour of content, but it's decent material, well presented.

Video Review - The Crucifix Building Blocks (Dave Jacobs)

Short Review: An excellent introduction to the crucifix, running through several entries, maintenance and dealing with your opponent's escape attempts, as well as a relatively comprehensive selection of submissions. This is all the more impressive given it is packed into thirty minutes. Each video is trimmed of any fat, leaving the essential details. Jacobs doesn't give you any guff: the longest section is barely two and a half minutes.

If you're looking to expand your repertoire from the back, look no further. Jacobs is a superb instructor (who I can vouch for, having been to his seminar on the same topic). Thanks to this clearly structured and skillfully shot instructional from Digitsu, you can now experience that top notch teaching yourself, for a very affordable $16 (either on your phone or via the website, here). Be aware that it may not be live until a bit later today: I had access to a review version.

Full Review: The growth of online instruction has continued at pace in the BJJ community. For the last seven years, that has mainly been subscription websites headed up by big-name instructors, relying on a rapidly expanding technique database to keep customers paying their $25 each month. Digitsu has been around for a while, kicking off in late 2010 with an Abmar Barbosa DVD series, before living up to their name with several downloadable instructionals a few months later (headed by Stephen 'sambosteve' Koepfer, though as his online moniker indicates, those videos covered sambo rather than BJJ). Since then, they have gradually carved out a different space to the other major online BJJ hubs. Rather than relying on subscription, Digitsu has built up a selection of videos from a wide variety of instructors, offered on demand.

Some of them are famous names, others are not as well known, but the diversity of positions, prices and styles makes for a compelling content library. Digitsu is also becoming the publisher of choice for instructors who aren't looking to set up a online instructional site themselves, but still have knowledge they want to share. For example, teachers like Karel Pravec, a veteran of BJJ forums for many years, has a product called 'Fluid BJJ' on Digitsu. A similarly stalwart forum goer can also be found in the Digitsu archives, or will be shortly after this review is posted: Dave Jacobs.

I had the pleasure of attending a great seminar with with Jacobs two years ago in Virginia, covering the crucifix. Since then, thanks to Jacobs lighting that spark, the crucifix has become my main focus from the turtle position. That was intensified by two crucifix instructionals I was asked to review, both again featuring instructors who are arguably best known because of their internet presence: Matt 'Aesopian' Kirtley and Nathan 'Levo' Leverton.

Yesterday, Jacobs sent me a message asking if I wanted to review an instructional he was releasing via Digitsu. I jumped at the chance (deadlines are always good too: it needed to be up before Wednesday, so that got my lazy arse in gear ;D). Unusually for me, this is an instructional where I've essentially seen the material before, as almost all the techniques were covered during that 2014 seminar. In my case, this was therefore a refresher rather than lots of completely new stuff to play with.

Jacobs style is concise, structured and clear, enhanced by the refreshingly pragmatic camerawork and editing by Digitsu. Although the entire instructional is only around 30 mins, Jacobs packs in 21 sections, each ranging from between one to two and a half minutes. There is absolutely no guff: every move and word is calibrated to be of use to you rather than filling in space. After the introduction (01:32), Jacobs gets into crucifix entrances, starting with the turtle (at 02:28, the longest video). The camera angle changes when Jacobs discusses different ways of grabbing the wrist, with a quick replay from a different perspective to show the leg positioning on their arm.

Next up, there is an entry from deep half guard (02:11), one of the techniques which wasn't covered at the seminar. This looked interesting, especially as I don't do a whole lot from the top of deep half guard except try to underhook their arm. That's exactly where this entry starts, very handily. Drop your hip, move around, scoot under, then free your leg to get into the crucifix. I'm looking forward to trying this out: it should fit well with my scheduled lessons over the next couple of months, as I was thinking of looking at the back followed by half guard.

Jacobs appears to have read my mind, because his next two entries (both a minute) are from positions I frequently use: first butterfly guard, then off the knee cut, my favourite pass. Finally, you can move into the crucifix after stuffing their single leg (01:05), varying slightly depending on how high they get their head as they shoot in. There is then a quick mobility drill (01:03), which I'll add in to the crucifix classes I'm planning to teach this month.

Having shown the entry, Jacobs progresses to some positional pointers. A section on maintaining (01:21) emphasises the importance of head control, followed by what to do if you need to regain your grips (01:47). Jacobs also examines escape prevention (01:07), before he gets into methods for entering the standard face up crucifix (once you've secured the necessary grips from turtle). You can do a somersault to roll your opponent over (01:38), or the less acrobatic version I prefer, where you basically just walk backwards (01:17). This is the option that stuck with me from the seminar, which I've used ever since.

The rest of Jacobs' instruction is dedicated to attacks, beginning with submissions from the kneeling crucifix (i.e., you haven't rolled them over yet). It is possible to lock (01:37) the arm you've secured, though I've always found finding the right point on the arm tricky. Jacobs has some additional tips he goes over in a 'fine tuning' segment (00:55), then it's into my favourite attack from the kneeling crucifix, a shoulder lock (02:06). I've taught this one as the 'dog pee' lock a few times now, for want of a better name. Looking at how Jacobs does it, I might be emphasising the dog peeing motion too much, as he seemed to bring his leg back a bit more rather than just straight out.

Leslie 'BJJ Grrl' Dove drilling the shoulder lock with me at that 2014 seminar

I was expecting the clock choke (01:18) to be the standard version, as that's something I'll often try when I can't lock on the crucifix. However, it was instead a cool variation you can do once you've already got the arm secured for the crucifix, sprawling your hips down to apply the submission when combined with your collar grip. Naturally you also have the two classic crucifix attacks from the face up position too: the collar choke (01:21) and the armbar, listed as arm lock 2 (02:20) to differentiate it from the kneeling crucifix version.

The kimura trap (02:01) is a useful what-if when they have managed to free their arm, or perhaps they've just gotten low enough that they could go for the back roll escape. Switch to a kimura on the arm you have underhooked, extending your arms out. This should prevent them from turning (but note it isn't impossible, the grip just gives you time). Walk your legs around behind them, then you can either go for the kimura as normal, or potentially re-establish your crucifix. From there, you could also slap on a wristlock (01:19).

To conclude the instructional, Jacobs demonstrates what he calls a judo triangle (01:26). The finish looks similar to what I refer to as the step over triangle (although that starts from side control), particularly the version I saw in Scramble head honcho Matt Benyon's awesome video. Due to the angle and tightness of that triangle, it also gives you the option of applying a kimura simply by pushing on their arm, which is often stuck out vulnerably in front of you.

Digitsu instructionals are available both through the website and their app, an important feature for me as I frequently watch instructionals on my phone. In either format, you can download them too, in case you want to watch them offline. There's a menu next to the video on the website, so you can skip to the segment you want.

On the app, that menu appears below the video in portrait view, with an option to download next to each of the chapter headings (you can then view them in the app whether or not you've got a data connection). If you rotate your phone to landscape, the video automatically follows your lead, switching to fullscreen.

For a mere $16 (available via Digitsu, here), this is more than worth it. That's currently discounted from $20 (about £13.50 at current exchange rates), but even at full price you're only paying a dollar per technique. If you've just started BJJ you might want to wait a while before jumping into this (though that's true of any instructional: I'd recommend beginners don't look into supplemental material for at least a few months), but the instruction on this is so clear that you're unlikely to run into any major problems. I've taught the crucifix to relative beginners before and they've all picked it up ok: it isn't necessarily as complex as it might look.

This instructional is only thirty minutes long, but efficiently packs in all the material you need to add the crucifix to your back attack game. That brevity coupled with precision is perfect for an introduction. You're not going to be overwhelmed with material and this won't be sitting on your digital shelf collecting dust. Long, detailed instructionals are great when you're ready to dive into a topic and spend some quality time luxuriating in all the small tweaks, but sometimes you just want the meat. Dave Jacobs serves up a frugal but satisfying meal of jiu jitsu: I'd recommend his cooking, to continue stretching that metaphor. ;)

DVD Review - Beyond Technique (Nic Gregoriades & Kit Dale)

Short Review: In a praiseworthy attempt to try something different, Dale and Gregoriades have set out to produce an instructional DVD based purely on concepts. They are both articulate teachers and adept in front of a camera. Their choice of examples to illustrate the concepts are also sensible and the editing is skilfully done. Most of the concepts are also solid, like the importance of post, posture and leverage for sweeps.

However, while I respect and support innovation, I remain unconvinced that pure concepts is an effective way to teach BJJ (I should note, each concept on this DVD does have two brief examples). To make an analogy, it feels like trying to learn a language by throwing away your vocabulary books in favour of some pointers on grammar. Having said that, perhaps I just don't have enough words in my personal BJJ dictionary to appreciate those overlying connections. Available here for either $49.99 for a digital download or $59.99 for the DVD.

Long Review: Since I first met him at the Roger Gracie Academy back in 2006, Nic Gregoriades has successfully built a brand identity. Through a combination of podcasts, videos and savvy social media engagement, along with extensive seminar tours, Gregoriades is now a relatively well-known figure in the small BJJ community. In the last year, he has leveraged that growing profile to launch instructional products, beginning with The Black Belt Blueprint, a book I reviewed a few months ago.

Kit Dale has also transformed himself into a brand through clever use of social media, but in a markedly different approach to Gregoriades. Whereas the South African black belt is known for his philosophical and even 'spiritual' angle, Dale has been making a name for himself as a comedian (in the limited sense of the BJJ world, at least). Together with his brother, Dale has unleashed a steady stream of videos from his base in Australia, well-received by his target audience. BJJ comedy is a small field at present and most of Dale's competition isn't to my taste, such as Rhasaan Orange's 'take the mick out of Brazilians' schtick. Admittedly I have followed very little of the videos that make up this nascent BJJ humour scene and none at all of Kit Dale's, until I came to write this review.

Like Orange's material, Dale's comedy stylings aren't to my personal taste either, but they've proved to be a big hit with plenty of others. Due to his adept understanding of the online world (I can think of only one mis-step, when he threw his support behind the TLI-tainted spammy marketing of David Avellan), Dale has considerably enhanced his name, meaning that like Gregoriades, his visibility does not depend on his competition success. To be fair to both of them, especially Dale, their competition success is not negligible, but it would not be enough to make their name. The same is true of several other major BJJ instructional producers, perhaps most notably Roy Dean.

Dale has made regular statements (like this) criticising the orthodox method of teaching and learning in jiu jitsu. Essentially, Dale has led a 'no drilling' campaign. At face value, I and many others would view 'no drilling' in particular as a deeply flawed methodology. However, from what I've read (and this may be a misinterpretation on my part), it isn't really 'no drilling'. More accurately it appears to be 'no dead drilling', a far more sensible position. This is an idea Matt Thornton from Straight Blast Gym popularised under the name 'aliveness' well over a decade ago. I've been a fan of the SBG methodology for a long time and more recently, it has guided my approach to teaching since my first class as an instructor in 2011.

Either way, that 'no drilling' marketing has fed into a new DVD collaboration between Dale and Gregoriades, dovetailing with Gregoriades' efforts to teach concepts. Hence the title of this new release, Beyond Technique. As with The Black Belt Blueprint, that's a laudable idea, but difficult to put into practice. I'm not convinced it is possible to teach purely through concepts with any kind of efficacy: concepts are valuable and were put to good use in Demian Maia's popular set, but that was still a 'traditional' instructional with a catalogue of techniques. Ryan Hall is another example of someone that uses a lot of theory, but not pure theory. Adam Adshead's old DVD is perhaps the closest to Beyond Technique, though again that was still more a collection of techniques, if heavy on the conceptual side.

Beyond Technique seeks to prove the pure conceptual model can work. The idea of an overarching concept that can unlock a large set of techniques is appealing. Like the old saying goes, it's much better to teach someone how to fish than to simply give them a fish. If an instructional can provide the student with broadly applicable concepts that apply to many situations, compared to techniques that might only apply to a handful of scenarios at best, that's clearly valuable. Can it be done, and if so, have Dale and Gregoriades cracked it?

'Teach them to fish' is echoed by the exhortation in the introduction by Gregoriades and Dale, who state, "Your job is to look at our examples and then find examples of your own." Gregoriades then claims that this DVD will 'turbo charge' your jiu jitsu, thanks to that focus on concepts. They are presented as a short-cut to instant improvement: that's a tried-and-tested way of marketing your product to students hungry to progress in anything that takes time and considerable effort to master.

The instruction begins with transitional pressure (two minutes), essentially describing the importance of maintaining pressure as you switch between positions. It immediately highlights a problem I've observed with just about every BJJ DVD I've ever watched: 'talking heads'. In other words, an instructor sits on the floor and lectures to the camera (in this section, that explanation takes up roughly half of the two minutes total of instruction). I can understand why talking heads get used so often, as it's a natural way to teach, but I have always felt it is a waste of the visual medium. The same is true of documentaries on TV, where the camera has an irritating habit of following the presenter around as opposed to focusing on the subject matter. If I have sat down to learn about Artemisia Gentileschi, then I want to see her paintings, not Andrew Graham-Dixon's flowing locks.

Rather than staring at somebody's head, it would be far more useful to have that Gregoriades lecture in voiceover, while some relevant footage plays underneath it. To be fair, this isn't just an issue with Beyond Technique, it happens on virtually every instructional DVD I've watched (e.g., I made a similar criticism of Purple Belt Requirements five years ago). However, it is perhaps more obvious on Beyond Technique, because the conceptual approach leads to a lot more sitting and explaining, compared to a typical BJJ DVD. Gregoriades' teaching style also lends itself to extended soliloquies. After that lecture, the teaching progresses into a couple of examples, showing how the concept can be applied.

Next up is the Fisherman, switching from Gregoriades to Dale: this alternation continues for the rest of the DVD (I should note that for review, I was sent a download link to a video, but the commercial version is additionally sold as a DVD). Dale spends about a minute describing the ideal way to reel your arms back in when your posture has been broken. Gregoriades returns with the Quadrant (longer this time, at around four minutes), a new name for the old concept of the four chair legs. I've most often seen this with the upa/trap and roll, where the students are told they need to control two of the chair legs (i.e., an arm and a leg on the same side), as that makes it very easy to knock the chair over.

Gregoriades expands that idea to multiple positions. He talks about each leg of the table defending a quadrant, so when that table leg is missing, you can then sweep them into that quadrant. After a minute of explanation, Gregoriades illustrates his point with an x guard sweep, noting that when his opponent commits a hand, that opens up a route to sweep them. Similarly if they're in combat base, because they're sitting on a leg, you can push them in the direction of the foot they're sitting on. There's some more talking at the end, where Gregoriades tells you how he came up with the idea.

Dale then takes over with Post, Posture and Leverage (two minutes). Both he and his partner are wearing the same colour gi, making it a bit harder to distinguish limb from limb, but apart from that error, this concept is one of the highlights of the DVD. This follows on from the quadrant, using that concept to feed into sweeps. Like most of the best concepts, it's simple. Wherever you are, Dale argues that if you can get control of their ability to post and control their posture, adding in some leverage will result in a sweep (if you can only get two, that can still function if you have them especially secure). The standard example is from butterfly guard: it can also work when you're in a less advantageous position.

Dale uses his principle to sweep despite his opponent securing double underhooks. He takes away their post by grabbing a wrist, then he uses his legs to break their posture. Finally, the leverage comes from reaching under the leg with his arm and lifting. When it comes to 'broadly applicable' this is tough to beat, as you'll have a wealth of opportunities to practice in a typical sparring round. I can't say thinking 'post, posture, leverage' has notably upped my success rate with sweeps, but it has been a handy goal to keep in mind over the last month or so.

I was much less keen on Gregoriades' next concept, the Porcupine, but that's due to my own personal hang-ups rather than anything ineffective about the idea. In short, Gregoriades advises making yourself 'spiky', so that it becomes painful for your opponent to try and control you. It's a nastier extension of framing your arm into their neck under side control, where if they press forward, they drive your forearm into their own throat. On a production note, there is good use of the zoom here, highlighting important details.

You can create those 'porcupine spines' from various positions, like jamming your forearm into their neck when you're setting up butterfly guard. Even less pleasant, you can dig your elbow into their sternum as they try to apply scarf hold. It certainly works, but I don't want a game that relies in any significant way on pain. Of course, you could argue that the whole point of jiu jitsu is causing pain, in order to make them quit. I'd counter that there is a distinction between 'checkmating' somebody based on leverage and control rather than something like digging your chin into their eye socket (a la Mark Kerr back in the day), but I can see the argument.

Dale and Gregoriades introduce the next concept, nullifying the guard pull (a minute and a half). This is quite specific and like the previous technique, not especially connected to what has gone before. The organisation of Beyond Technique is somewhat scattershot, rather than the cohesive set of techniques you would find in something like Saulo's first set broken down by position, or the meticulously organised Ed Beneville books. On the other hand, it is more difficult to organise concepts than positions, especially if those concepts are broadly applicable and therefore don't fit comfortably into any one box.

Gregoriades then spends four minutes discussing the Corkscrew. Instead of pushing straight out with an arm, he likes to rotate, corkscrewing the arm. For example, corkscrewing when performing a stiff arm escape, or in the opposite direction, rotating your arm as you pull it in towards you. Dale's weight distribution (two minutes) is not on the topic of controlling them in mount or side control, like you might expect, but more about your balance when they have de la Riva. The central idea is adjusting your weight to make it harder for them to sweep you.

Next up is four minutes on another concept I find applicable to my own training (though I'd just refer to it as framing), collapsing and inserting structures. Gregoriades uses the example of shoving his elbows inside his knees, to stop people collapsing them together when in butterfly. The opposite applies too, such as when he is stiff with his arm, then suddenly collapses it in order to move around and pass. There's almost an element of aikido here, using your opponent's pressure against them .

Dale is generally better at coming up with memorable names, though they aren't as descriptive. His double-barrel shotgun (a bit under two minutes) relates to maintaining guard. If you imagine your legs are bullets, don't fire them both at once. If you shoot one bullet, make sure you have another in the chamber. That makes good sense for guard retention, as long as a beginner doesn't misinterpret it as only ever using one leg. A key principle for open guard, I would argue, is making sure you have all of your limbs engaged. You don't want to be in a situation where a foot that could be pushing into their hip, pulling behind their knee or pressing against a biceps is instead just lying on the floor.

The open and closed chain (three minutes) is illustrated by two submission defences. First, hiding your arm in the crook of your other elbow to scupper an armbar. Here the arm is the 'chain' you want to hide: if it is open (as in, not attached), then it's vulnerable. The second example is driving your foot to the floor if they are trying a lower body attack, 'closing' the chain. I'm not sure I fully understood what Gregoriades was trying to explain here, as it seemed to boil down to "hide your limb if they're attacking it." I'm sure that's an over-simplification on my part, but either way, the idea of not exposing your limbs to attack is eminently practical.

Slightly under two minutes follow on removing leverage, exemplified by jamming their hooks in butterfly with your arm. That forces their legs together and negates the sweep. Gregoriades then gets into a principle I recognised from the Dave Jacobs seminar, though Gregoriades has a different name for it, spinal torque (four minutes). This is comparable to what Jacobs calls the 'supine twist'. In short, get their head to face away from their hips, an awkward position that considerably reduces their mobility. The examples are clear and helpful, looking at spinal torque in side control and when passing the quarter guard.

I felt it was a bit of a stretch to call size specific strategy a concept, as to me that's in a different category altogether, tactics. Still, the advice is reasonable, Dale suggesting that against taller people, 'attaching guards' like sitting, de la Riva and x guard are going to be more effective that long range open guards. The reverse is true if you're taller, to make the most of your size advantage. Dale takes the example of passing, saying that a taller person might go for something like the bullfighter, whereas a shorter grappler is better suited to getting in close.

Gregoriades offers up border patrol as his next concept, spending three mnutes discussing how you can treat your torso as a border. To prevent your opponent securing control, block their entry through your borders. Should they manage to slip through, make sure you get something in the way, be that an elbow or a knee (he points back to the 'double barrel shotgun' idea here). If you're the one on top, then you're looking to get past those borders. It reminded me a little of John Palmer's 'control point framework', which I've frequently used since he explained it to me a couple of years ago.

Loading the spring (a bit over two minutes) felt very specific, but that's probably because I mainly associate that kind of tension manipulation with one technique, a bullfighter pass variation where you redirect their leg power out of the way at the moment they push back into you. Dale also takes the example of a scissor sweep as they try to pass your de la Riva, a guard I almost never use so it wasn't as immediately recognisable for me.

Although not ground-breaking, the Pendulum is a powerful concept that applies to lots of different techniques. Gregoriades takes the classic example of using a leg swing to sit-up from guard. He then shows how you can also use your head in a similar way, swinging it through when you're switching from a tripod sweep into a sickle sweep (he calls it the tomahawk) if they step back.

Dale spends a couple of minutes of takedown postures, where again, I'm not sure I understood it fully. The examples included "if they're upright, go for their legs", which again felt more like a tactic to me than a concept, but that's getting into semantics. Gregoriades then comes in with another basic but important concept, hip-centric movement (slightly over two minutes). You might think that would be all about moving your hips side to side in the guard and escapes, but he actually means thrusting them forwards when coming up after sweeps.

The last concept on the set is dubbed the Misdirection, related to grips. This is another old school tip you'll see in numerous other sports, combat sports in particular. If they're looking at your eyes, stare away from what you're actually going to grab/punch/kick. I learned something similar back when I did a stand-up style, in relation to faking them out when punching.

After watching the DVD, I would conclude that concepts are extremely useful, but only if you have the techniques to flesh out a workable frame of reference. Showing a couple of possibilities to illustrate a concept is helpful, but in my view it's not enough to drive the concept home, especially for beginners. I think that Beyond Technique points the way to what could be achieved with a conceptually-drive DVD, but it isn't quite there yet. In my opinion, a better use of concepts would be as a framing device, stringing together a series of techniques.

For example, Gregoriades could have a section on passing introduced with some of the concepts he puts forward here (e.g., removing leverage, transitional pressure, hip-centric movement). He could then progress to detail a series of passes, referring back to those concepts each time, with a summary at the end bringing it all together. There's an element of that in Beyond Technique, but each concept is covered too briefly to really delve into those examples. The somewhat haphazard organisation also takes away from building connections between the concepts, or at least that was my experience.

Now, I understand why this DVD is not laid out like that, as the express purpose is to move away from the orthodox style of teaching, where techniques are broken down step by step. I should also note that there are some techniques to give context, if only brief. Yet after watching the DVD, I'm still of the same opinion I discussed at the start: pure concept lacks a frame of reference. Without a solid and carefully detailed set of techniques to give the concepts substance, they float away.

Of course, I'm speaking as a purple belt and from the perspective of my particular learning style. Others may well disagree with me. Indeed, Matt Jardine has an article in an upcoming issue of Jiu Jitsu Style that talks about concept-led teaching and specifically name-checks Beyond Technique as an exemplar. Seymour also got a lot out of the DVD, so for a different (and brown belt level) opinion, take a look at his review here.

For an instructional that is less than an hour long, the asking price of $49.99 for a digital download (or $59.99 - around £38 - for the DVD) is in my opinion rather high. To draw a comparison, Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements is $44.95, which gets you two DVDs (eighty-eight and sixty-nine minutes respectively) crammed with technique. Then again, you could argue that concepts which apply to a broad set of moves are inherently more valuable than individual techniques. I'll be curious to see if I come back to this in future and realise it has grown in usefulness or not.

You can buy Beyond Technique from this squeeze page, which promises 'secrets', which will allegedly "make your jiu jitsu much better, much more quickly than anything else out there." Gregoriades used similar marketing for his last release and Dale has been getting into the '90s style too. I'm not a fan of that kind of marketing, but to each their own. Now, I am a fan of innovation and trying something different: I therefore applaud what Dale and Gregoriades are trying to do with their conceptual approach and I'll be looking with interest to see how they develop that product line further.

Video Review - Ninja Turtle ('Grappling for MMA' Super Seminar with Nathan Leverton)

Short Review: Veteran UK grappling instructor Nathan Leverton covers the basics of attacking the turtle in the course of this 69 minute video. The context is grappling for MMA, so that includes strikes, but most of the material remains relevant to pure grapplers as well. As this is seminar footage, the production quality is not as high as purpose-built instructionals, though it does include elements like zooming in on details. If you struggle against the turtle, then this will provide you with a useful game plan. Available to buy here for £9.99.

Full Review: Nathan 'Levo' Leverton has been making instructional videos for a long time. Back when he was first teaching people how to grapple on video, that meant VHS tapes. From his TotalGrappling.com website, Levo sold acclaimed grappling material over ten years ago. In that time, VHS has been consigned to charity shops and attics. DVDs are not quite at that stage just yet, but there is a growing shift to online material. In the BJJ world, sites like MGinAction and BJJ Library are becoming the norm, with innovations like Mastering the Crucifix showing another possible format.

While this sadly isn't a review of LevoInAction.com (though that's a site I'd be interested in seeing), he does have some material available to download. As part of the annual 'Super Seminar' event (which took place in May of this year, at Masters Martial Arts in Loughton, Essex), Leverton taught a session on Grappling for MMA, opting for a catchier title of 'Ninja Turtle'. In total, your ten pounds gets you an hour and nine minutes of grappling instruction, edited directly from the seminar footage.

That means that the quality is not as high as you would find on an instructional filmed in a studio with multiple angles, slow motion and the like. It also often means there isn't that clear distinction between Leverton and his uke, because the uke is just somebody pulled from the people attending. For many of the techniques, both Leverton and the guy he's demonstrating on are wearing black. You also generally just see it from one angle.

Having said that, it isn't a major problem, especially as I know from first-hand experience that Levo teaches a fantastic seminar: he's a detailed and very capable instructor. The camera also tends to zoom in when greater detail is required. I did not come across more than one or two instances when the relevant limbs weren't clearly in view, and even when they weren't it was easy enough to work out what was happening. The footage kicks off with the organiser introducing Leverton (while Bob Breen stands in the background: pretty cool, as although I've never trained with him, he's a legend on the UK martial arts scene and the man who first taught my old training partner Howard how to grapple, IIRC). Nathan then gives his own introduction, before getting into the first technique (at this point, roughly four minutes into the video).

As you would expect with a seminar about the turtle, Leverton starts by showing how to maintain the top position (the whole video is about attacking: there is no coverage of escapes or defence). This part of the video looked fairly familiar, as he taught the side ride at the LSG seminar I attended last year. Interestingly, Leverton's version differs a little from how Aesopian does it on Mastering the Crucifix, in terms of knee positioning. Aesopian (at least in some of the gifs) raises his knee a little, putting it into their thigh and leaning into them. In this video, Leverton has that knee on the floor, directly next to their knee.

When I taught a class on maintaining the position myself last month, I had the knee off the floor. However, I was heavily drawing on what I'd learned from Levo: as the theme at Artemis BJJ was turtle all of September, it was the perfect opportunity to test what I'd gained from both the video I'm reviewing here and Aesopian's instructional. Using your hands as hooks is a particularly useful concept: I've been using it ever since I learned the technique from Levo at that Leverage Submission Grappling seminar.

Leverton spends about two minutes teaching this position, then there is another minute and a half or so of drilling. As an instructor, I liked that the camera didn't immediately cut away when it got to drilling. Instead, the camera followed Leverton around the room as he answered questions and made technical connections (on most of the other techniques in this video, it cuts straight to the next technique). It was also interesting that he uses the John Will teaching method: in other words, having everyone face the same way. That makes it easier to quickly scan the room to see where people might be making mistakes. I've been using that for reviewing technique at the end of class, but recently I've brought it in earlier to see if that helps technical retention.

Leverton notes that he likes to grab the wrist from the side ride, which he says is due to seeing Nick Diaz versus GSP in an MMA fight. That leads into the major difference in this video to a jiu jitsu instructional: as it is geared towards MMA, strikes are covered as well. Leverton spends about three minutes discussing how to punch your opponent from the side ride, though there is still material here relevant to BJJ. For example, right before he gets into hitting his uke, he adds a useful little detail on keeping your basing leg bent. If you have it straight, that limits your mobility.

That's followed by some pointers on weight distribution. If you're at the front, you'll be maintaining the position differently than if you're at the back. Misjudge it and you can find yourself getting lifted into the air, straight into an inferior position. Your posture when right behind them - which Levo says has occasionally been dubbed 'prison jitsu', tongue firmly in cheek - does look odd at first. I'm used to it due to the LSG seminar, but previously I would have thought sprawling out and turning your hip was the way to go. Staying tight provides a different kind of control, with no gaps they can exploit.

Rather than sprawling, Leverton has his knees tight around them, squeezing into their hips. This is the same way Dónal (co-founder of Artemis BJJ) does it as well, so I guess that his instructor Braulio Estima (or possibly Norbi) teach that method too. After a couple of minutes on that, Leverton emphasises how shallow the hand 'hooks' are reaching inside their thighs, in order to prevent your opponent from wrapping your elbow and rolling you over. He then progresses to the spiral ride, a wrestling technique (in keeping with Leverton's approach to the back, much of it is informed by wrestling, from what I can gather after his LSG seminar).

This is useful if they try to raise up. Reach for their shoulder, while lifting up into their hip with your other hand. That enables you to run around and knock them back to the mat. The force you're creating spirals them down, hence the name. You're pushing the hip up and the shoulder down. Four minutes later, Leverton adds in some more punches, plus a brief recap of some of what he's taught up to this point (in total another two and half minutes or so).

Next up is a little over three minutes on a useful principle: stay behind your opponent if you can. Again, this is something Dónal likes too, teaching a similar drill last month. If they turn to one side, you run away from their legs to stay behind them. Any time you feel them rolling to one side, you're always looking to move away from their legs. If you run towards their legs, that gives them an easy route to recover their guard.

Leverton then covers something a bit nastier, the three quarter nelson, a grip around their neck. Typically for nastier grappling techniques, this is from catch-wrestling, a style memorably referred to by its (currently) most high profile practitioner Josh Barnett as 'the violent art'. That's exactly why I shy away from catch-wrestling techniques: they're often about pain compliance, adding in elbow grinds, neck cranks and the like wherever possible.

Of course, just because I don't want to hurt my training partners doesn't mean that doing so isn't effective (and I have to admit that a few techniques I do regularly use are sometimes seen as 'nastier', like heavy cross-facing and various chokes from side control). Leverton first shows how the three quarter nelson can be used to drive a stronger opponent back down to the mat, circling around on your toes after you've established the grip.

The nastiness comes in from the considerable strain this can put on the neck. That's also true of the d'arce choke Leverton adds at the end a few minutes later. He points out that distinction between catch wrestling and BJJ when he compares two black belts who he's had the chance to roll with a few times. Ryan Hall was disappointed when Leverton told him that the d'arce choke he'd just landed was verging towards a neck crank.

Roli Delgado by contrast was pleased: in his opinion, if you tap, that's what counts. I would fall firmly on Ryan Hall's side there, but Delgado has a point. It's also worth keeping in mind that this is a grappling seminar geared towards MMA. Illustrating that point, Leverton suggests punching them if they try to lift their head up, in an effort to avoid your application of the quarter nelson. When you're used to getting entangled in the Goridan Knot of jiu jitsu, it's easy to forget that in an MMA context, a punch to the face can often cut through all that complexity.

In regards to the d'arce choke (around five minutes of instruction), Levo advises that you don't whack it on fully to start with. Begin with about 80% pressure, then gradually increase until they tap. If you begin at 100%, you've got nowhere to go. Your arms will tire faster and you may have to loosen up. That can give them the impression that they can tough it out and escape. If you never loosen up, then psychologically they are only ever feeling a growing pressure so are more likely to tap. This tactical interjection is typical of Leverton's instructional style, with many other examples throughout the video.

There are several great little tweaks here, such as the 'halfway' option if you're facing somebody who has a strong neck. After you've got your choking arm in position by the neck, reaching deep, post your other arm on the floor directly behind their neck. Grab that wrist, creating a solid bar to lock your grip in place, ready to adjust into a d'arce.

Leverton has an additional four minutes of details to share, such as a tip for those who think their arms are too short. Finally on the d'arce, he covers a variation for another four minutes, the sit through d'arce. Rather than getting them on their side and attacking, you sit-through in front of them, finish the d'arce underneath them. The motion is a little like the step you do for a clock choke, but you then swivel underneath their head rather than keeping your weight on their shoulders.

Forty three minutes into Ninja Turtle is the technique I most wanted to see when Leverton sent me this for review: the crucifix. As I had recently reviewed Matt 'Aesopian' Kirtley's Mastering the Crucifix and was about to embark on a month of teaching the turtle, I knew that I wanted to make the crucifix a big part of it. Leverton's take was therefore handy when I came to teach my first class on the crucifix last month, especially as I needed both gi and nogi versions (as a number of students didn't have a gi yet).

Before he gets to the crucifix, Leverton has a quick note on trapping their leg under your shin, as this stops them rolling back to guard. If they try and swing through anyway, you're in a good spot to move into a leg drag and back step to pass. For the crucifix, you want to drive your knee in behind their arm, then flare the knee out to help secure their limb. Leverton's side ride means you're already grasping their bicep, making it simple to pull that arm out in order to trap it between your legs.

Normally, they will curl their arm back at this point, according to Levo. If they don't, then there is a simple keylock you can do by sitting back on their shoulder and pulling up on their wrist (this is also one of those rare points where it is a bit hard to see exactly what's going on, because Leverton and his uke are both in black).

Should they try to trap your elbow and roll you over - a common escape from the turtle when somebody reaches too far under with their arm - that puts you into the face-up crucifix you wanted in the first place. This is what Aesopian sees as the standard crucifix. Leverton maintains the position slightly differently, as can be seen when he's discussing what to do if they are slipping down.

On Mastering the Crucifix and I think also the Dave Jacobs seminar, the response is to scoot underneath their head. That results in the back of their head resting your chest. Leverton pulls them up onto him much more and turns his knees away. He then also very briefly comments that there are two submissions you can apply, a north-south choke and a kimura (literally a couple of seconds, putting his arm in the relevant configuration). I've not seen either of those attacks from the crucifix taught before (unsurprising, as I've only had a few lessons on it, along with the seminar and Aesopian book), so it would be interesting to explore those submissions in greater depth.

The next three minutes are on the single arm choke, informing (along with Aesopian's version) the class I taught on that technique in September. Leverton includes a principle I've found repeatedly applicable since first seeing it on an Andre Galvao instructional, about getting under the chin of somebody stubbornly using it to defend against your choke. Rather than some brutal jaw destroying option (I'm looking at you, catch wrestling ;D), you just need to get your thumb underneath their chin. Galvao does it from the standard back control, pointing his thumb down, then swivelling the thumb up as he slides the choking hand towards the head.

Leverton does much the same thing from the crucifix (and looks really happy about it too, judging by the screenshot). He contextualises this detail by showing how it's tough to get your forearm under the chin, because that's a large slab of your body. A thumb is much smaller, capable of wriggling into the gap and prying the chin away from that vulnerable neck. If they bridge into you, he additionally demonstrates how you can now insert your hooks, finishing the choke from standard back control.

That's followed by five minutes on what to do if they turn and begin to escape the crucifix. The MMA solution is to punch them in the face, then if you lose control of their arm, you can turn and lock in a guillotine from guard. Another five minutes or so looks into another technique I remember from the LSG seminar, this time tilting them from turtle into a standard back control. There's a good principle espoused again here, explaining how they might be strong on the horizontal and vertical lines of their defensive turtle 'box', but they are not able to resist so well on the corners.

The seminar closes with a few minutes on bringing all those techniques together, before another couple of minutes on MMA strategy. As Leverton puts it, "Wrestle the jits guys, jits the wrestlers." If they are wrestlers with a solid base, wrap around them with your arms for a choke, or your legs to get your hooks. If they are jiu jitsu players who want to sit to guard, grind their face into the mat and dominate them with positional control.

If you have trouble attacking the turtle, then Leverton's Ninja Turtle will provide you with some useful tools, taught by an excellent instructor. He shows you how to position yourself on top, maintain your dominance, strike from there (if you're interested in the MMA context), launch a variety of attacks and also how to achieve the standard back control. He doesn't show you what to do defensively, so you'll need to look elsewhere for that.

The value for money is not bad at £10 for slightly over an hour of instruction. If I compare it to my favourite no gi instructional, Roy Dean's No Gi Essentials, that costs around £28 and is roughly twice as long as Leverton's video (although there are quite a few trailers and artistic videos on Dean's DVD). Having said that, if you're not interested in striking, it does cut down the amount of useful material on Ninja Turtle. Available to buy (as a download) from here.