I only have 80 minutes a week to improve wrestling in my academy, so I have changed how I ran my wrestling classes. My goal is not only help my students improve their takedowns, but also the gas tank and instill the mindset wrestlers are known for: being relentless no matter how tired they are. What's important to know, that is not just as simple as train hard and you will build your gas tank. There is a mindset element to it, and you want to be more deliberate with it. Drop some questions if you want to lean more about the mental side of becoming more resilient and relentless grappler.

Cradle is one of the first moves you learn as a wrestler. Once you get it, the pin is almost guaranteed. In BJJ, we don't pin to finish the match, but we control to progress the position, and to force our opponent to make a mistake. I use cradles a lot from bottom side control, closed guard and especially after defending leg attack and in turtle. Few wrestling moves can be used in BJJ effectively and are versatile without the risk of being caught. The cradle is definitely one of them, and I haven't seen BJJ coaches yet adding them to BJJ classes as a part of the curriculum. I think it's a shame, because they are super effective! If you want a head and arm and cradle seminar in your academy, just let me know😁 Disclaimer: There is one variation of a cradle that will get you into a triangle against a good bottom player, If you don't know what to watch out for.

This might sound obvious, but it's not a common practice when people work on their stand up game: There is no pressure on you to learn cool takedowns and have a wrestling-like style on your feet. Yesterday I coached a young athlete, and I told her that you don't need to work on a lot of takedowns. Whats more important for her as a bottom player is not to be scored on, feel confident on her feet and take the match to the ground on her terms. That does not mean, you have to score a takedown. Yes, eventually you want to have 1 or to go to takedowns, should you need points, but this is not where you have to start. So what we are working one? Getting into wrestling clinches and grips, and then pull the guard. On her terms! What you need is to know what kind of game you want to play, and use your wrestling skills to the advantageous position. An example of that would be: Underhook and collar tie-pull the guard straight into butterfly guard(and of course immediately start outbalancing). As opposed to: double wrist control, pull the guard and then work towards your butterfly guard. I will record some vids on it, but meanwhile, just keep that inn mind and think where do you want to go once you pull the guard, and then use your stand-up to shortcut your way there.

I am going to create a whole course with neck exercises, but for now, check out one of my favourite ones. I actually realise I don't do it as often as I should. You can do it 30 secs, up to a minute, but be mindful that a minute is a killer if you don't do much neck exercises already. What's great about it is that the other grappler works on snapdowns.