Did/do videos and online training is a big part of your BJJ game?

I pay, like the dumbass I'm

Last time I ''streamed'' was on napster

I always pay too. Lots of people in the BJJ community try to pay because these guys aren't getting rich, and their content is a big source of income. I have maybe 2-3 instructionals that people loaned me a decade ago that I ripped at the time, and I've pirated exactly one DVD because I literally could not find a place to buy it (it was older and out of print). But in general, I always try to put a little money in peoples' pockets if I really want to see their shit.
 
I watch Mendes Bros (AOJ). They have very good tips and many variations of techniques.

However, watching by itself is not sufficient if you are not trying those techniques in practice and drilling them with training partners.

Because I typically can't find people willing to meet outside the classes to try out and drill new techniques, these tutorials haven't been nearly as useful as they could have.
 
i used to watch a lot of stuff, but now i barely do anymore.

i feel like i don't really need new techniques anymore, i just need to get a lot better at the stuff that i have already.
 
i used to watch a lot of stuff, but now i barely do anymore.

i feel like i don't really need new techniques anymore, i just need to get a lot better at the stuff that i have already.

The better I get, the more obsessed I get with the minutiae of finishing mechanics and controlling positions. I have no real interest in learning any wholly new positions, outside of leg lock stuff that I'm still skilling up on.
 
The better I get, the more obsessed I get with the minutiae of finishing mechanics and controlling positions. I have no real interest in learning any wholly new positions, outside of leg lock stuff that I'm still skilling up on.

this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about, insturctionals rarely fill this void. This is where having my instructor help me out is like gold
 
You're an accomplished grappler and teacher, is it good for beginners, to start learning high level stuff or more complicated stuff on their own?

Would you be pleased to see one of your white belts trying to worm guard everybody?

I'm only a purple myself, but I teach some of the fundamentals classes at our academy, as well as some stand-up classes (I have a Judo background and our school really focuses a lot on takedowns). We tell everyone the same thing. At white belt, stick to what we learn inside the academy. That's your foundation. The basics. If you MUST go online in the beginning, we always try to push people to look at videos that cover some of the techniques we covered in class.

Once you hit blue belt and up, anything is fair game. I'm a massive fan of MGinAction. It's amazing and has been instrumental in helping form my over-all game plan. Once you start hitting purple and up our coach actually even encourages us to seek out things that are different than what we do in the academy and bring those back to class so that as a school, we are always being introduced to new techniques and ideas.
 
I don't have the attention span or desire to watch instructional videos. I feel a lot of them do not apply to live scenarios are only for flash.

I do watch today's elite and upcoming elite to see what movements are being completed successfully and the frequency at which the occur to determine which tech is worth pursuing.
 
I find that watching videos is useful to my game; however these videos go out the window and quickly get forgotten unless I have a partner to practice on. Although I sometimes watch technique videos before I sleep to get the most out of them and process them in my sleep.
 
The better I get, the more obsessed I get with the minutiae of finishing mechanics and controlling positions. I have no real interest in learning any wholly new positions, outside of leg lock stuff that I'm still skilling up on.

I'm not nearly as good as you but I agree 100% with this.


The AOJ website is really strong in this regard with some positions - the knee slide, leg drag, DLR maintenance, and berimbolo. IMO There is no way your instructor will be better or have more details.

The bar is a lot higher these days. Twelve random moves in a seminar is useless and even "move plus two counters" doesn't quite cut it anymore.
 
Every time i see this thread title while browsing the forum i keep reading it as 'Dildo training for BJJ game'.
 
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I'm not nearly as good as you but I agree 100% with this.


The AOJ website is really strong in this regard with some positions - the knee slide, leg drag, DLR maintenance, and berimbolo. IMO There is no way your instructor will be better or have more details.

The bar is a lot higher these days. Twelve random moves in a seminar is useless and even "move plus two counters" doesn't quite cut it anymore.

I think the Mendes bros, whatever else you want to say about them, are really excellent teachers. Much like Danaher, they have a special talent for identifying the specific few details that make moves work and conveying those in a clear manner. You can tell that they've both spent a great deal of time trying to find the best way to do everything in their games.
 
Every time i see the thread title while browsing this forum i keep reading it as 'Dildo training for BJJ game'.

I can change it to:

How many technique from videos do you put in your arsenal
 
I've watched hundreds of videos and would constantly study and try to break them down, I never got bored in class but when I first started training I had that BJJ bug where my mind was 100% always thinking "I wonder if I could do this from this" "Is there a video that shows this from that" when I got to class I would follow my professor's instructions till I got the basic idea of it, then like an idiot would tell my training partner, "Hey man I saw a cool variation online that we could do from this"

I regret that attitude I had and understand how disruptive and disrespectful it can be to your professor.

The way I go about it now is I'll still watch and study videos and if I show up to class early or stay late, that's when I ask someone if they want to roll and practice. Never during class. Watching videos helped me find my game for sure, but I really had to break the mindset of I've done this 1000 times in class already, I'll do this move instead.

If you talk to your professor before class and ask them, any idea what we might be working on tonight. They might tell you, might not, but if it's something you saw online, show them what you watched. They might incorporate it into the lesson or show you straight up why you might not be ready for it.
 
1000%

Back in "the day" it was Mario sperry on VHS for the vale tudo series.

Now 1 - 2 days a week I drill my own selected curriculum that I take from various grapple Arts vids. 2 hours with a friend each session (I teach them basics). I also do some extra drilling on my own when I have time. I watch, take notes, watch again, drill with a dummy (or air) if I can, drill with a friend. Try it in class.

You can't just watch though, it needs to be a study.

That allows me to choose what I want to focus on. The 3 or 4 classes a week just add to that.

For example a month ago I was not sure what a "single leg x" was, now I sweeping lots of people and even showing some brown belts how to do stuff. I love it. It has replaced video games for me.
 
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My best submission is probably my triangle. I am pretty sure it is because of the Ryan Hall DVDs I have. I think watching videos on things you are interested in is fine. Just make sure the person in the video knows what they are doing.
 
The difference between watching instructionals and doing BJJ is like the difference between watching pr0n and having s3x. There's no comparison.
 
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