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The Technical Grappler

@thetechnicalgrappler

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⚔️ Helping grapplers become more dangerous through technical game design
🔥 BJJ analysis at the highest levels
⏳ 1:1 Coaching • Intake at Capacity

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BJJ is becoming mainstream.

As the sport professionalises, the overall quality of talent increases and the technical standard rises.
The gap between athletes narrows. At that point, marginal gains decide outcomes.

And this is where most athletes get stuck.

Often times you’re left repeating the same mistakes with no real guidance or oversight. You “learn or lose”… except you don’t need to keep doing that.

Because in jiu-jitsu, when you lose it looks like one mistake, but the real mistake usually isn’t the moment itself. It’s the underlying tendencies and habits scattered throughout your game that keep leaving you exposed.

When you train day in and day out, blind spots build quietly. Recurring mistakes start to feel normal. These errors don’t show themselves clearly until the stakes are high.

That’s the gap this solves.

This is personalised skill consultancy with ongoing Technical Game Design.

I study your footage and patterns under pressure, identify the primary constraint limiting your game, then redesign your pathways so opponents get funnelled into your strengths more consistently.

The goal is simple:
Turn you into a more technical, efficient, dangerous grappler.

DM “GAME”

#bjj #skilldevelopment #technicalgamedesign #technicalgrapplinglab by @thetechnicalgrappler

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8 months ago

The Mussolini Lock is a devastating foot lock that targets the shin and ankle. It can be attacked whenever the foot crosses the body, most commonly from 50/50 or 90/10.

What makes it unique is how accessible it is and how it punishes the most common defensive reaction to an ankle lock:

1. Unlike the Woj Lock, you do not need to slip the heel onto your ribs. You only need the ankle positioned against the side of your ribs.

2. When threatened with an ankle lock, most defenders will put on the boot. While this is usually one of the most reliable defences, the Mussolini Lock does not need to catch the very end of the ankle or require the foot to be unweighted.

This means the lock remains available even while the defender is actively putting on the boot.

If you want all the details - I heard @daniel_the_manchild is dropping a DVD on this, so be on a look out. I am eagerly waiting 🤓

#bjj #adcc #danielschuartd #MussoliniLock #leglock by @thetechnicalgrappler

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a month ago

One of my favourite scrambles from ADCC 2026.

Jozef Chen and Gabriel Brod’s bronze-medal match was absolute fireworks. Both guys were constantly attacking, countering and refusing to concede a position.

So many high-level technical exchanges, but what stood out most was the grit and heart they showed. Even after an exhausting weekend, with an ADCC medal on the line, neither man was willing to play it safe.

This is what high-level grappling should look like. Beautiful grappling by both.

#adcc #jozefchen #gabrielbrod #bjj by @thetechnicalgrappler

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a month ago

One lapse in judgement in the heat of the moment gave Mateusz everything he needed to hit his signature Aoki lock finish.

Julio decided to attack an inside heel hook from inside Mateusz’s butterfly ashi. To do so, he needed to rotate outwards.

Unfortunately, as he rotated, he allowed his toes to turn outwards and face away from Mateusz’s body, exposing his heel.

To punish this, Mateusz did two things:

1. Face-rolled to follow the rotation.
2. Slipped the exposed heel onto his rib.

As they completed the rotation, Mateusz was able to trap the heel on his rib, connect his shotgun grip and apply his devastating Aoki lock finish.

The biggest risk when defending against the Aoki or reverse Aoki lock is exposing your heel.

The most common way this happens is by rotating your toes or shin in a direction that makes your toes face away from the attacker’s body. The moment your toes turn away, your heel becomes exposed.

From there, all they need to do is hollow out their chest, trap your toes against their rib and secure the heel for the finish. by @thetechnicalgrappler

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a month ago

One of the most important skills for becoming a high-level guard passer is the ability to clear the feet.

As long as there is a foot pointed at you, the guard pass is impossible. You are stuck at the furthest-range frame.

In this clip, Luke is at the J-point, but both of Marcin’s feet are still obstructing him from the pass. Luke does three things to address this:

1. Clearing the low leg: Luke backsteps so that the bottom leg no longer points at his body. He stays on his knees to keep the low leg crammed and unable to repummel.
2. Clearing the high leg: Marcin had a lasso, so Luke limps his left arm out and reclaims the inside space between Marcin’s legs by repummelling for a hip post and driving his head into the hip pocket/stomach area.
3. With both legs TEMPORARILY cleared: Luke advances through the J-point aggresively. He commits his head to Marcin’s stomach to deny the high pummel and controls the bottom leg with a grip on the ankle and a knee post to clear the legs for the pass.

No matter what passing style you use, the ability to clear the feet and maintain that condition is a consistent skill required to become a complete passer and pass at the highest levels.

Without this skill, you will never be able to reliably pass the guard.

#bjj #lukegriffith #adcc #guardpassing #jpointpassing by @thetechnicalgrappler

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a month ago

The dilemma in butterfly ashi

Two of the most common ankle-lock defences are:
1. Putting weight through the primary foot
2. Turning the shin toward the attacker

From butterfly ashi, you can exploit both reactions using two threats that feed directly into each other:

1. Unweight the primary leg
Commit to your inside hip and use your shin as a frame. This forces the defender to base with their secondary leg and arm, removing weight from the primary leg and making it vulnerable to foot locks

1. Expose the heel
As the defender shifts their weight back from the secondary leg to the primary leg, they’ll often square up to face you

Doing so points their knee and toes toward the ceiling, which ultimately exposes the heel on the ribs and making the primary foot vulnerable to powerful ankle locks and Aoki locks

This is the dilemma:
Use butterfly ashi to shift their weight onto the secondary leg

If they stay based away, their primary foot remains unweighted and exposed

If they correct their weight distribution and turn back to face you, they expose the heel, giving you what's required for powerful Ankle and Aoki lock finishes

@mateusz_szczecinski has one of the best ankle locks in jiu-jitsu, if you're learning footlocks, I highly recommend you check out his DVDs

#bjj #nogi #footlocks #matueszszecinski #shotgunanklelock by @thetechnicalgrappler

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3 months ago

The 2 on 1 grip is one of the most reliable ways to create meaningful connection from the bottom. It does more than control an arm - it forces the passer to address it, limits their ability to disengage at will, and gives you a predictable response to build from

Getting a 2 on 1 grip is one of the most reliable ways to gain connection in nogi. Anytime a passer posts on your body, they have given you access to their hand

They will try to pull their arm back, as they do they will plant their feet into the mat for base and retract their arm, as such their feet will be "stuck in the mud" and commited, In these clips shown, Jozef, Gordon and Nikcy take advantage by connecting to butterfly hooks to establish further connection

A dangerous guard isn’t just about having a lot of attacks It’s about creating the connection, anticipating reactions and capitalising accordingly to drag them into your strongest positions

#bjj #nogi #jozefchen #gordonryan #nickyryan by @thetechnicalgrappler

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3 months ago

One of the biggest bottlenecks in no gi is gaining connection from guard and keeping it

You could have the best guard attacks in the world, but they mean nothing if you can’t consistently reach them

Without the gi, grips are far less robust so your first connection has to count It should establish connection, maintain it, and funnel your opponent into your strongest sequences

Most grapplers spend years collecting techniques

Very few build reliable ways to enter them

A dangerous guard doesn’t begin with great attacks

It begins with reliable entries

#bjj #technicalgamedesign #lucaskanard #paweljaworski #jozefchen by @thetechnicalgrappler

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3 months ago

Pawel has one of the best kill shots in jiu-jitsu right now

His ability to enter the false reap from anywhere is one of the biggest things that set him apart

He has a deep understanding of what's required for these entries and the precise mechanics to funnel to the finish. For Pawel, the false reap isn't just a position - it’s the direct entry point to his strongest finishing position: the outside heel hook from inside ashi

He is elite in 4 specific areas:
1) Unweighting the primary leg to open up the false reap entry
2) Clearing his bottom leg to transition straight into the saddle
3) Controlling the distance during the entire process to completely deny stacks
4) Maintaining connection allowing him to chain attacks or maintain his offensive cycle to the finish

All these elements combined make him elite in this style of guard play. His guard retention skills allows him to continuously chain attacks until he finds that false reap connection. And once he enters the legs, his ability to maintain connection and his finishing mechanics are what makes him so dangerous.

#bjj #leglocks #paweljaworski #falsereap #saddle by @thetechnicalgrappler

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4 months ago

Lucas Kanard's ADCC Trials Run (K Guard Entries)

@lucas_kanard had an impressive run at ADCC Trials over the weekend, submitting his way to the finals with 4 submissions in a combined time of just 1 minute and 40 seconds

What stood out most was how quickly he established connection and immediately implemented his game. His opening sequences often led directly to the finish

His primary objective is clear: enter K guard as efficiently as possible and use it as a platform to chase the submission

1) Knee Shield → Invert → Low Pummel to K Guard (Supine vs Kneeling)
Against a kneeling opponent, Lucas initially had his low leg cleared

To respond, he pummelled into a lasso and converted it into a knee shield. Maintaining the knee shield, he inverted underneath his opponent

The inversion allows him to low pummel directly into K guard, where he anticipates the defensive backstep and uses it to enter inside ashi

2) Double Tricep Pull (Seated vs Standing)
Beau posts on Lucas's legs. Lucas establishes double tricep grips and uses them to:
• Maintain elbow separation from Beau's body, exposing the hip pocket
• Pull himself underneath Beau's centre of mass

As he moves underneath, he connects to K guard, enters through the backside, and times the defensive backstep to enter inside ashi

3) Leg Drag Counter (Supine vs Standing)
Sousuke clears Lucas's feet and attempts to flank around his guard.
Lucas stiff-arms the far shoulder and inverts to free his hips

During the inversion, his opposite arm connects to K guard on Sousuke's right leg, the leg closest to Lucas

This allows him to immediately transition into his preferred leg entanglement sequences

4) Foot Post on Hip (Seated vs Kneeling)
Lucas posts his foot on Sousuke's right hip while controlling the opposite shoulder/armpit

This achieves two things:
• Brings Sousuke's weight forward
• Unweights the primary leg

As Sousuke's weight shifts forward, Lucas scoops the primary leg, shoots his foot past the hip, and inverts his knee to enter K guard. From there, he anticipates the defensive backstep and enters inside ashi for the finish

#bjj #lucaskanard #kguard #insideashi #adcc by @thetechnicalgrappler

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4 months ago

There are many types of grapplers in this world. Becoming a dangerous grappler is something everyone should aim to be

To be a dangerous grappler requires a complete game which includes:
1. Reliable defensive skills
2. Clearly defined A-game
3. Reliable funnels to draw the opponent into their game
4. A kill shot to finish

So many grapplers make the mistake of spending years adding more weapons to their arsenal, only to become average at all of them

The best grapplers in the world are specialists

This means that they have only a hand full of submissions that they trust

What makes the difference is their defence and the architecture of their game

Everything is designed to guide the match towards their best positions, where their highest percentage attacks become inevitable

This is what makes the difference between an opportunistic grappler vs a dangerous grappler who is methodical in their approach

#bjj #nogi #technicalgamedesign #gordonryan #grappling by @thetechnicalgrappler

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4 months ago

Understanding how to defend the wedge bolo

The wedge bolo is one of the most commonly used berimbolo variations in nogi

It's commonly used as a back take counter to leg entanglements, but it also serves as a linking position to crab ride and other bolo variations

To understand how to defend it, you first need to understand what makes it work

The wedge bolo requires 2 things:
1. Wedge: The attacker's knee must occupy the hip pocket. This wedges the defender's hips off the mat and begins exposing the back
2. Lever:The attacker must control the end of the femur (thigh bone). Combined with the knee wedge, this elevates the hips and exposes the lower back
When both conditions are present, the attacker can expose the back and begin climbing to the back

In this exchange, Tye looks to punish @xanadugod leg entanglement with a wedge bolo

As soon as Tye enters, Levi inverts and turns his knee towards the mat, freeing his knee line. He then uses that leg to hook the far leg

The moment Tye loses the knee line, he understands he can no longer elevate the hips to expose the back. He immediately starts building height to claim top position, but Levi beats him to the next position, inserting a short hook and entering X-guard

If you would like to learn more about this style of grappling I highly recommend you check out Levi's Patreon. I really do believe he's a very underrated instructor, his explanation of concepts has really stuck with me and helped improve my own jiu-jitsu especially in the bolo/crab ride/ back take department

#bjj #levijonesleary #berimbolo #wedgebolo #tyeroutolo by @thetechnicalgrappler

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4 months ago