Where do I begin?

[Robert Robinson]

Hey everyone I just joined the website!

I trained gi traditional/competition BJJ for 2.5 years and want to learn the 10th planet style for no gi. Rubber guard, lockdown etc but I don't know where to begin, I see advanced techniques starting from rubber guard with a bunch of different names. I want to learn the very basics of it first and was wondering if you guys could point me in the direction. Thanks .

[Keith Kavanagh]

We live in weird times, youtubes a motherfucker. The DVD's and books would also be suuuper beneficial.

[Joshua Jarboe]

We would be remiss if we didn't recommend Mastering the System. You'll find details there you won't see on YouTube and a lot of the stuff on youtube seems to be out of date. MtS has been huge for me in improving my lockdown.

I would also recommend picking something to get good at (lockdown, rubber guard, twister side control, the truck) and being single minded about it. You've only got so much time to spend watching videos to figure out what you're doing wrong and it might be difficult for you to get reps outside of sparring. If you're anything like me, you won't be able to improve on all fronts.

If your flexibility makes rubber guard a non-starter for you, you can work on the flexibility and start training something else.

I love lockdown and I think it's crazy strong in the gi. If you are wearing a gi, your opponent can do some things to you that would not work no-gi, but you can do some things to him that wouldn't work no-gi.

My two cents.

[David Rosado]

In my opinion, I'd start with what you find most familiar with. So if your A game is closed guard, start with rubber guard. It will feel like familiar territory. If you prefer half guard, start with the lockdown series. If top game is your thing, work on twister side control. When you already have a base, I think it makes most sense to adopt 10th planet to your A game so it's an easier transition. Then work your way through the rest. But that's just my personal belief.

[David Rosado]

We would be remiss if we didn't recommend Mastering the System. You'll find details there you won't see on YouTube and a lot of the stuff on youtube seems to be out of date. MtS has been huge for me in improving my lockdown.

I would also recommend picking something to get good at (lockdown, rubber guard, twister side control, the truck) and being single minded about it. You've only got so much time to spend watching videos to figure out what you're doing wrong and it might be difficult for you to get reps outside of sparring. If you're anything like me, you won't be able to improve on all fronts.

If your flexibility makes rubber guard a non-starter for you, you can work on the flexibility and start training something else.

I love lockdown and I think it's crazy strong in the gi. If you are wearing a gi, your opponent can do some things to you that would not work no-gi, but you can do some things to him that wouldn't work no-gi.

My two cents.

I gotta give my two cents on the matter too. As a big guy who isn't made of rubber, I don't believe you need to be flexible to play rubber guard. It definitely makes it easier when you're flexible. It's certainly an advantage to be flexible. But you don't need to be flexible to play basic rubber guard. If you can cross your legs (like a man) knee to ankle, and you can reach down and get your wrist under your ankle, you are flexible enough to play RG. It's all about finding the angle. My RG is not pretty, but it works.

[Joshua Jarboe]

I gotta give my two cents on the matter too. As a big guy who isn't made of rubber, I don't believe you need to be flexible to play rubber guard. It definitely makes it easier when you're flexible. It's certainly an advantage to be flexible. But you don't need to be flexible to play basic rubber guard. If you can cross your legs (like a man) knee to ankle, and you can reach down and get your wrist under your ankle, you are flexible enough to play RG. It's all about finding the angle. My RG is not pretty, but it works.

Thanks for the tip. I think I read elsewhere on here to be careful of your knees and that if you're having to stretch pretty far to force rubber guard to happen, you might be putting strain on your knees. I am pretty close to single lotus flexibility, I can get rubber guard on some people. I don't think I can double bag and I think I would have trouble clearing the neck. If you have tips, maybe you can PM me. I'm VERY interested in playing RG and my lockdown is already pretty good, so I'm ready to try some new stuff.

[NameLikeNoOther]

Thanks for the tip. I think I read elsewhere on here to be careful of your knees and that if you're having to stretch pretty far to force rubber guard to happen, you might be putting strain on your knees. I am pretty close to single lotus flexibility, I can get rubber guard on some people. I don't think I can double bag and I think I would have trouble clearing the neck. If you have tips, maybe you can PM me. I'm VERY interested in playing RG and my lockdown is already pretty good, so I'm ready to try some new stuff.

I am finding angle is more important than flexibility for RG. Without the correct angle, good flexibility allows you to put your knee in the bad position. Also, when I throw my leg up I do so with the intention of the Omaplata, I seem to clear the neck consistently and obtain a good angle with this intention. Just my experience with it as a white belt.

[David Rosado]

Thanks for the tip. I think I read elsewhere on here to be careful of your knees and that if you're having to stretch pretty far to force rubber guard to happen, you might be putting strain on your knees. I am pretty close to single lotus flexibility, I can get rubber guard on some people. I don't think I can double bag and I think I would have trouble clearing the neck. If you have tips, maybe you can PM me. I'm VERY interested in playing RG and my lockdown is already pretty good, so I'm ready to try some new stuff.

My tip is to avoid having your shoulders square with your opponent. I would also recommend getting reps and drilling it before going live. If you don't know what you're doing, you CAN hurt yourself. It's very important to get a feel for the position and where it works best for your before using it in live rolls.

So far what's protected my knee is hugging the hell out of it. Eddie doesn't teach hug the knee just to prevent the cartweel. It's huge for keeping your knee from over flexing the wrong direction and getting injured. Hugging the knee and strong leg curling. When you have the right angle that accommodates your level of flexibility, you'll see how easy clearing the head is. If clearing the head is still a problem, use meathook paths. Meathook to triangle is so easy it's hard to screw up.