TIPS, GUIDES &amp; REAL TALK

BJJ Basics7 min

Your First Year in BJJ: A Realistic Timeline of What to Expect

Nobody tells you the truth about your first year on the mats. Here's what actually happens, month by month, and why most people quit right before it gets good.

Sep 9

Drilling vs Rolling: The Ratio That Actually Builds Skill Fastest

Everyone has an opinion on how much to drill versus how much to roll. Most of them are wrong, and your progress is paying the price.

8 min

Mental Game

Your First BJJ Competition Will Break You. Here's What Nobody Says.

Everyone talks about drilling takedowns before your first tournament. Nobody talks about standing at the edge of the mat, legs shaking, wondering why you ever thought this was a good idea.

4 min

Why Training Six Days a Week Is Probably Making You Worse

More mat time feels like progress. It isn't always. Here's what actually happens to your game when you never let yourself recover.

8 min

How to Structure Your Training Week With Only 3-4 Classes

Three classes a week feels like nothing. But most people who train five days are wasting two of them. Here's how to actually get better with limited mat time.

7 min

Half Guard Is Not a Stalling Position: Build an Offensive System from the Bottom

Every time someone plays half guard and gets flattened out, their coach yells 'stop stalling.' That coach is wrong. Half guard is one of the most dangerous offensive positions in BJJ if you actually know what you're doing with it.

8 min

Community

Open Mats Build the BJJ Community You Never Knew You Needed

Your home gym is your foundation. But the BJJ community you actually belong to is bigger than one set of mats, one instructor, and one group of training partners who all roll the same way.

8 min

Training Through Minor Injuries: When to Push and When to Sit Out

Most grapplers are either training through things they absolutely shouldn't, or sitting out things they easily could train through. Here's how to actually tell the difference.

8 min

Closed Guard in 2025: Dead Position or Are You Just Playing It Wrong?

Everyone says closed guard is obsolete. Meanwhile, Gordon Ryan just got submitted from it at ADCC. Let's have an honest conversation about what's actually happening.

8 min

Community

Open Mats Are Where BJJ's Real Culture Lives

You can learn a lot about a gym from its scheduled classes. You learn everything about its people at open mat. Here's why showing up somewhere other than your own gym might be the best training decision you make this year.

8 min

Mental Game

Training to Win vs. Training to Not Lose: The Mindset Gap Killing Your Game

Most competitors think they're training to win. They're not. There's a difference, and it's costing them matches they should be taking.

7 min

Why Your Gym Is Producing Terrible Wrestlers (And How to Fix It)

Most BJJ gyms treat takedowns like a warm-up drill. That's why their students get slammed at their first competition and never understand why.

8 min

Community

Gym Loyalty vs Cross-Training: The Politics Nobody Talks About

Your coach hasn't said it out loud, but he noticed when you showed up with a different gym's rashguard. The unwritten rules of loyalty and cross-training are costing good grapplers training time they can't afford to lose.

7 min

BJJ Basics

Your First Year in BJJ: A Brutally Honest Month-by-Month Breakdown

Everyone tells you the first year is hard. Nobody tells you exactly why, or what's actually happening to you. Here's the real timeline.

8 min

Why Your Guard Passing Sucks: The 3 Concepts Most People Skip

You've drilled the torreando a hundred times. You know the leg drag exists. So why does every decent guard player still make you look lost? It's not the techniques. It's three things nobody talks about.

7 min

The Most Underrated Submissions Nobody's Talking About at Each Belt

Everyone drills the same armbars and rear naked chokes. Meanwhile, these submissions are finishing matches at every level while most grapplers completely ignore them.

8 min

3-4 Classes a Week Is Enough. But Only If You're Smart About It.

Most part-time grapplers waste half their mat time because nobody told them how to structure it. Here's how to actually get better on a limited schedule.

6 min

Competition Prep

Why You Keep Losing in the First 30 Seconds and How to Fix It

Most grapplers lose their matches before they even break a sweat. The first 30 seconds aren't a coin flip — they're a skill set, and yours might be costing you everything.

8 min

Gym Guide

How to Pick a BJJ Gym That Will Actually Develop Your Game

Most people pick a gym based on location and price. Then they wonder why they're still getting smashed the same way two years later. Here's what actually matters.

8 min

Mental Game

BJJ Social Media: Useful Tool or the Ego Trap Killing Your Game?

You've watched 47 leg lock tutorials this week. You've rolled exactly zero times. We need to talk about what BJJ social media is actually doing to your development.

9 min

Fuel the Fight: Nutrition Secrets Every Serious Grappler Needs Now

You've drilled the armbar a thousand times. But if you're gassing out in round three or feeling like death the morning after hard training, your diet is tapping before you do.

8 min

Why Training Every Day Is Slowly Killing Your BJJ Progress

You're not tired because you're weak. You're tired because you've confused punishment with progress — and your game is stalling because of it.

8 min