People ask me all the time what changed when I got my black belt. Truth is... not much. I still get caught. I still have bad rounds. I still leave training thinking, "I should've done that better." The belt didn't make me better overnight. It was just a reminder that I didn't quit. After all these years I've realised BJJ doesn't reward the most talented people. It rewards the people who keep turning up. Week after week. Year after year. Through injuries, work, family, setbacks and all the other excuses life throws at you. Everyone wants the black belt. Not everyone wants to live like a black belt. Just keep showing up. It solves more problems than people think.

Belt. Years training. Biggest weakness you're working on right now.

For a lot of people, closed guard is just somewhere they end up. For high-level grapplers, it's somewhere they choose to be. This week, stop chasing submissions and focus on building a guard people hate being in. Ask yourself: ✅ Can you consistently break posture? ✅ Can you control their head and elbows? ✅ Can you create angles without opening your guard? ✅ Can you keep them carrying your weight? ✅ Can you make them react before you attack? The best closed guard players don't win because they know more submissions. They win because they make every second inside their guard uncomfortable until the opportunity appears. Challenge: In your next few rounds, don't hunt the finish. See how long you can keep someone trapped in your closed guard while controlling the pace of the roll. Control first. Attacks second. What's the biggest problem you're having with your closed guard right now?

I have found myself lately talking a lot with my students about solid game plans and the importance of finding pathways back to their "A" games. This flowchart is a simple model for how you should think about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a continuous cycle rather than isolated techniques. Instead of memorizing hundreds of moves, you're solving one problem at a time until you reach a submission. What makes this flowchart powerful is that it gives every student a decision tree instead of a list of techniques. Ask yourself one question at all times: What's the next problem I need to solve? - They passed? → Recover guard. - Guard recovered? → Retain it. - Guard established? → Sweep or submit. - Swept them? → Pass. - Passed? → Control. - Controlled? → Submit. That mindset keeps training focused and prevents students from chasing random techniques. It also aligns well with different styles of training, because every drill can be built around solving the current problem rather than rehearsing isolated moves. In your next training session when you are rolling start thinking of the one task you need to perform in relation to where you are in the flow chart, rather than specific techniques to get to where you want to be. Let me know your thoughts and/or results below.

This week at Taurus is half guard, so let's talk about the piece most people skip. Everyone gets taught the underhook. Get the underhook, you're good, right? Wrong. Underhook without hip position just means you're comfortable while they still pass. Here's what actually matters: 1. Underhook is step one, not the finish. It stops the immediate pressure but does nothing on its own. You need it to create the next step, not as the whole plan. 2. Get your hips off the mat, not just your shoulders. Most people fight the underhook lying flat. You need to be on your side, hips angled toward them — flat on your back in half guard is a losing position no matter how good your underhook is. 3. Knee shield or lockdown? Pick one, commit. Trying to half-do both leaves you with neither. Knee shield if you want to work back to guard or get up. Lockdown if you want to control and set up sweeps. Different games, don't mix them. 4. Your bottom leg is doing more work than people realise. It's not just there. It's fighting for the underhook on their leg, controlling their base, setting up every sweep you'll actually hit from here. 5. Head position kills or saves you. Head up and away from their far-side crossface, always. Get your head crossfaced flat on the mat and none of the above matters — you're getting passed no matter what your legs are doing. Most people stay stuck in half guard because they're only doing step 1 and hoping the rest sorts itself out. When you're training this week drill getting to the underhook, THEN immediately checking: hips on side, leg engaged, head safe. That combo is what turns half guard into a good position instead of a place you get stuck. What's everyone's go-to sweep from half guard? Drop it below 👇