Part of your journey in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the transition from surviving, to defending, to getting to a dominant position. Position before submission is crucial for getting a successful submission on our opponent. But what happens when we first…

This is a special event for women. Holly (our first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt), will be running an open mat session for women/girls/teens to come in and train BJJ.

Trapping the elbow as our opponent shoots for the underhook. They go for the position under the arm to try and set up a variety of throws, or gain positional control. What we have lying in wait for them…

An Essay on my Early Years in Chinese Boxing Dance

Martial arts forms (kata, tào lù) are more plentiful today than in any time in the history. They are widely disseminated in a variety of martial arts schools/styles across the United States, and around the world. A majority of ‘traditional martial arts’ competitions today, are centered around stylists competing with their form of choice. One is hard pressed to enter a school of karate, kung fu; kempo, tae kwon do; or tang soo do, etc. that isn’t consumed by a curricula filled with form after form. Once you complete one form, you’ve earned the ‘privilege’ to learn another...and another...and another.

Years into my training, I went on to scorn these empty shells. For quite some time actually. One reason I held such admonishment toward ‘forms’, was having…

Yang's Cotton Boxing has innumerable combinations of moves that transition from one to another. Here, Vincent and I will show the use of 'Needle to Sea Bottom', to setup 'Embrace Tiger Return to…

The closed guard is considered a dominant position in BJJ. Unfortunately, for most of us as we progress in the art, it devolves into nothing more than holding someone in place. We try the basic attacks we learn, but someone with very little knowledge can…

Grasp Sparrow Tail, the one and only. Yang Lu Chan's masterpiece sequence from Qing dynasty Chinese Boxing. This is Yang's Cotton Boxing (miánquán 棉拳), or more widely known as Taijiquan (Tai Chi). The Yang style long form is riddled with this move. I have spent years trying to figure out how this move worked, and it is one of the handful of Cotton Boxing techniques that has continued to elude me. Until now…

Mantis Boxers, I am stoked to release this next video. The application of the Grasp Sparrow Tail move from Yang Lu Chan's Cotton Boxing (known more commonly as Tai Chi). This is AMAZING stuff!!! Can't wait to show you all. A Qing dynasty masterpiece for sure!

The first event was a hit, so we’re offering another one in February for those who want to try again,or if you missed the first one.

This is a special event for women. Holly (our first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt), will be running an open mat session for women/girls/teens to come in and train BJJ.

There are two variations of this move found in Yang's Cotton Boxing style (now known as Taijiquan). After another round of kick defense training, I recalled the hand pattern preceding the…

Change Moon is an alternate throw from the clinch. Sometimes our attempts at…

When grappling in the flank position, and tied up, Flying Diagonal showed up as a good counter to our opponent’s counter for Double Seal Hands, or in general -

It may not happen often, but when it does, it's good to have an answer for it. We're in the flank position, and our opponent is holding our wrists to shut down strikes. We're not in a good position for knees, elbows, or kicks. Many of the throws (Shuāi 摔) in our arsenal are shut down. What do we do?

I spent some time last year adding the clock choke into my game. It's an awesome submission and one I had never really used until early last year. It became quite useful when attacking people's turtle defense.

After using it repeatedly, I ended up in side control with…

Coming up in January we're having a special event for women. Holly (our first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt), will be running an open mat session for women/girls/teens to come in and train BJJ.

I absolutely love this heel kick defense. My favorite one to practice, as you'll see in the video; thank you Thomas! There are two variations of this depending on…

"If, if's and but's were candy and nuts, my what a fine Xmas we'd have."

Here's a great counter to the heel kick. This move is actually inside Tai Ji Quan forms, but I adopted into my Mantis Boxing system after seeing it in Muay Thai and realizing what it was. It's an awesome counter/defense against the heel kick, and definitely one I want in my arsenal.

There are some nuances to it, and inside this video I'll highlight 3 fail points that are common and how to avoid them. Check it out.

Here are some tips on how to deal with that opponent with a nasty spider guard. I use three S…words to remember these - Stuff, Stand, Step. Once we train them, we can bounce back and forth between them if the first one gets countered.

Lean (Kào 靠) - to lean against one’s opponent. Due to the heavy reliance upon grappling and clinchwork in Mantis Boxing, Kào is an important keyword when engaged close range with the enemy.

Postural Defense

Once we are entangled…

Adhere (Tiē 貼) - space management. Creating space when on the defense, and removing space from our opponent when on the offensive. If you want to reduce the level of control an enemy has on you - framing them, slipping the hooks, and increasing distance can help keep you from getting toppled.

On the inverse, when attacking the opponent, removing their…

Strike (Dǎ 打) - at it’s root, Mantis Boxing is a style of stand-up grappling. However, we need tools to get to the clinch and then throw; especially against an active and violent opponent. The style includes strikes and kicks to either...

MMA Gloves or Boxing Gloves? Which should you train with? This is a great question we are going to tackle today in this new Swamp Talks. The type of glove we use in training…

Crush (Bēng 崩) - to ‘collapse and fall into ruin’. Also known as 'crushing' in many Chinese Martial Arts usages. Bēng is used to attack the vital targets in the midsection of an opponent. Effective strike targets such as: the liver, stomach; ribs, and the real treasure - the solar plexus, or central palace in Taijiquan. All of these targets can…

Enter (Jìn 進) - or advance. This encapsulates a variety of ranges in a fight. Starting from the furthest range to the closest. Check out this article and video for details on how ‘Enter’ works with Mantis Boxing…