BJJ Profiles Archives

Priit Mihkelson – The Mother of All Stack Passes

Priit Mihkelson is a black belt from Estonia who trained under SBG found Matt Thornton, and a member of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Globetrotters. I just found out about him last week when a friend that I train with sent me one of his videos. Since then I’ve traveled down the rabbit hole with Mihkelson’s material. His approach to jiu jitsu is very scientific, and from the videos I’ve seen he challenges some of the conventions that we’ve come to know in jiu jitsu.

The video below is a perfect example of challenging conventions. The guard break that he shows is essentially a stack pass. He says that we should sit in guard with “active toes” rather than flat feet (I think he’s calling flat feet “seal feet” in the video). His contention is that we should be on our toes, and pressuring down towards our partner so that we can react to things better. He’s not against posturing back, or standing up, but says we should also explore posturing into our opponent when we’re stuck in closed guard.

I’ve tried this pass a couple of times at class this week, I was able to put some pressure on my partners that they weren’t expecting, but I couldn’t quite get the legs to open to pass the closed guard. I’ve since re-watched this video and noticed that I didn’t have the correct angle. I took better notes, and will give this a try in the next class.

He’s also got a few videos for sale at BJJ Fanatics, which I’m looking forward to getting as some point. This one in particular I’m interested in:

Kama Jiu Jitsu Vlog

I’ve been spending some time watching videos on the Kama Jiu Jitsu YouTube channel. This channel is run and maintained by Professor Ryan Young. Young is a 2nd degree black belt under Dave Kama (who is one of the original “Dirty Dozen” black belts). He has also trained under Relson Gracie, Rickson Gracie, and many other prominent black belts. He was active in the competition scene for many years but now focuses on teaching.

The videos on the Kama Jiu Jitsu YouTube channel focus on old-school, self-defense based jiu jitsu. Many of the videos reference Rickson Gracie’s style of teaching and try to convey that to the viewer. Topics covered vary from technique, to fitness and diet, to self-defense philosophy.

I really enjoy this channel. Young seems to be a natural vlogger, and has lots of great insights to offer. Check out the video below on how to get better faster in jiu jitsu to see what I mean.

4 Fighting Styles Every Fighter Should Know

“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” – Robert E. Howard

“How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” – Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Most of us will never be put in a situation to have to defend ourselves in our adult life. Fights are typically relegated to the school yard, or the college bar, but at a certain point life changes and the appeal of throwing fists in polite society loses it’s luster.

Still, this doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility of knowing how to defend ourselves, our loved ones, and those who can’t defend themselves. The chances of needing to get into a physical altercation are generally pretty slim, but it’s better to be a “warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war”.

Learning how to fight is a great way to boost confidence. Knowing you can throw a punch, and take a punch if necessary, can take the anxiety out of any adversarial exchange. There’s evidence that people who know how to fight tend to avoid confrontation just on the basis that they know they don’t need to prove themselves.

There’s also evidence that the more confidence you exude, the less likely you are to be a target of violent crime. Most criminals commit crimes of opportunity. They want the most return on their efforts with the least amount of resistance and risk . How you carry yourself could very well make the difference when a criminal is looking for their next mark.

With the plethora of fighting styles available to learn, which ones should you choose to dive into? There are traditional martial arts such as Karate and Kung Fu, grappling styles, striking styles, and subdivisions in each.

Here are the four fighting styles I think are the most important and effective. Each of these fighting styles has proven themselves to be invaluable in mixed martial arts events. Their effectiveness has been battle tested by their practitioners through countless hours of sparring and refinement.

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Jorge Pereira Seminar

Jorge Pereira Seminar Yesterday I attended a seminar with Jorge Pereira at GriffonRawl MMA Academy. Jorge Pereira is a coral belt under Rickson Gracie, is the subject of the TV Series “Rio Heroes” and has a long history fighting in Vale Tudo. During the seminar he told stories of how he would fight sometimes three times a day while surfing, and discussed the importance of honor in jiu jitsu. Pereira believes that when training you should find the school/person you want to train under and stick with them, as opposed to the way some fighters (in MMA in particular) move from coach to coach if they think a new coach offers something different than the current one. He also mentioned that he’s bringing back Vale Tudo in a new promotion company with a very limited ruleset so the fights are as realistic as possible. I can’t find any links related to this but I’m going to keep an eye out for it, from what Pereira said the limited ruleset should lead to some exciting fights.

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Profile: Chris Haueter

Chris Haueter is a dynamic Jiu Jitsu fighter, instructor, referee and illustrative artist. He is one of the first Americans to earn a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, cementing his place among the BJJ Dirty Dozen under the tutelage of the great Rigan Machado.

Haueter has been an avid competitor for many years, where his aggressive style can be seen on YouTube, and has also worked as a referee for Metamoris. In addition to Jiu Jitsu he has practiced karate, wrestling, Muay Thai, JKD (under Dan Inosanto) and Boxing. He is accredited with coining the term “Combat Base” in reference to the seated, one knee up position used when in someone’s guard, and his Californian school is also called “Combat Base“.

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Profile: Henry Akins

Henry Akins is a Jiu Jitsu black belt under Rickson Gracie. He has the distinct honor of being the 3rd American to receive a black belt under Rickson. While training at the Rickson Gracie Academy he worked as a secretary, instructor and even as a training partner for Gracie to help him prepare for his fights in Japan. He earned his black belt in 2004 and was the main instructor at Rickson’s place until a back injury forced him to stop.

In 2010 he founded Dynamix Martial Arts with Antoni Hardonk. Henry maintains an active schedule not only teaching at Dynamix, but also travels the world teaching seminars, and has created an online site of paid video courses at HiddenJiuJitsu.com. A sub section of the Hidden Jiu Jitsu site houses a members only area, the Mind Blown Jiu Jitsu club, which features exclusive content, and gives members access to a Facebook Group where they have direct access to ask Henry questions, and discuss technique with other members of the group. Being a member myself I can attest to the availability of Henry to the members, and of his deep knowledge of jiu jitsu. He has stated that he wants his legacy to be to make Rickson’s style of effective jiu jitsu accessible to everyone, and the content that he is publishing is serving him well to this end.

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Neil Melanson Closed Guard Techniques

Neil Melanson is a grappling coach who has trained under “Judo” Gene LeBell and has taught Chael Sonnen, Rand Couture, Frank Trigg, Vitor Belfort and many others. He specializes in catch wrestling and is known for his closed guard technique, which focuses on an MMA style guard, always protecting the head from strikes.

Luckily Neil has posted numerous videos available on YouTube, which provide insight into his unique grappling style. Spending some time studying these videos will give you a new perspective on how to use the closed guard. Particularly interesting is how he uses grapevines when he has someone in guard to control them.

Closed Guard: Getting off the Center Line

Another technique of interest is his way of controlling your opponent by locking your knee behind their shoulder for a shoulder pin. This gives excellent control and opens up numerous opportunities for attacks.

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Maynard James Keenan and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Revolver Magazine has released a 4 episode video series with Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan. In the 4th installment of the series Maynard discusses why he does jiu jitsu, his wrestling background, and the importance of doing what your heart tells you to. You can view the video in the link below.

Revolver Magazine – Maynard James Keenan Interview

Maynard has been doing Jiu Jitsu since the 90’s, when he first saw the UFC and decided to start training. In the video he says that he found Rickson’s school and began attending class there. In various other interviews he talks about the difficulties with training while on tour, and how that has slowed his progress as a jiu jitsu practitioner. I find it encouraging to hear that he worked through his delays and is still training. In my training I sometimes have breaks due to illness, injury or just responsibilities getting in the way, which can be frustrating. It’s always helpful to hear stories about sticking people with it, and moving ahead at whatever pace life allows them.

And if there is any doubt about Maynard’s abilities, check out this beautifully executed Judo throw on stage:

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Profile: Stephan Kesting – Jiujiteiro and Educator

For anybody that has been around Jiu Jitsu for any length of time, chances are that they’ve stumbled across Stephan Kesting’s site GrappleArts.com. On his site, Stephan hosts a wealth of grappling information. He has established himself as top-notch educator in the art of Jiu Jitsu.

A little bit about Stephan, in his own words:

“I’m a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and have been doing martial arts for over 30 years. I am also a certified instructor in Erik Paulson’s Combat Submission Wrestling, a black belt in Kajukenbo Karate, an instructor in Dan Inosanto’s Jun Fan JKD, Maphalindo Silat and Filipino Martial Arts program. I’ve also studied Japanese Judo, Russian Sambo, various Chinese Kung Fu systems, Brazilian Capoeira, Muay Thai Kickboxing, and many other martial arts.” – Stephan Kesting – grapplearts.com

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