The Neon Belly Podcast Drew Darce

After a frustrating training day for myself, as well as one of my students, I thought it'd be great to talk about plateaus. We talk about how to deal with them in your training, as well as how to deal with them mentally, and when it's time to take a break. We also talk about how to introduce more fun into your training, and how live games can help make your training more fun! 

I spent the weekend in Dallas and Austin, coaching two athletes at the ADCC Open, and then visiting 10th Planet Austin and B-Team. 

NOTE: Slight background noise in the first couple minutes will clear up. Keith also has an incredibly affordable and great Patreon, linked below. 
- This week we're looking at a few key details for improving RNCs that don't rely on the straitjacket system, namely from Keith Krikorian and Ethan Crelinsten. Some of the matches referenced in the episode are linked below:
FREE VIDEOS:
- Ethan Crelinsten vs Fabricio Andrey
- Ethan shows a 'go-to' arm switching RNC finish
- Ethan showing his 'long arm' technique
- Instructional Finish on the Back by Ethan
PAYWALL VIDEOS:
- Keith Krikorian Patreon
- Keith Krikorian vs Tom Halpin
- Eddie Bravo's JiuJitsu OT (feat. Keith & Ethan)

We're back! It's been a long time. Life has been wild this past year, and things are starting to get easier--I didn't want to upload until things could be consistent. Thanks for being patient, and for the kind messages! In this episode I talk about my love/hate relationship with deep half guard, and why I'm currently staying away from it as a primary guard. I also talk a little bit about the instructional that I'll be filming this July. I think it'll be unique, something new to the table, and I hope that folks are able to enjoy it! 

Much love!!!

We're back! On this episode we're talking about Rafa Mendes, his protege Cole Abate, and Rafa's contributions to the NoGi world. Below are some links from some of the techniques and rolling moments discussed in the episode. Thanks for bearing with me. I've had a summer filled with a lot of loss and illness; life goes on, and I'll continue to strive to make the best of life! I appreciate everyone's support so much! Shouts to Less Impressed More Involved's BJJ's Rafa Mendes video this week: 

Rafa Mendes vids: 
Anaconda Choke LessonGuillotine Choke LessonRafa anaconda vs Andre GalvaoRafa armlock from arm saddle vs Andre GalvaoRafa darce vs Keenan Cornelius false reapRafa anaconda vs Cole Abate false reapNoGi Leg Drag lessonRafa guard retention studyRafa NoGi FlowRafa NoGi Highlight Some things I didn't cover in the episode were tempo shifts--moments of speeding up and slowing down. Rafa told us that was a critical element of his JiuJitsu. A massive thing that I didn't discuss is Rafa was one of the first people to really seek out the bottom arm seatbelt (weak side) back control position, and strongly advocated body triangles over hooks. Rafa and his brother Gui also notoriously avoided playing half guard, and they thought it was a poor position for smaller grapplers on bottom position. They were also huge proponents of 'active toes' and not playing top positions on the tops of the feet. 

In the aftermath of Tye Ruotolo vs Garry Tonon, I expect to see Tye being a strong favorite to make the 88kg finals at ADCC, and I see Garry Tonon going into ADCC potentially looking better than ever at 77kg. People not looking at Tye as one of the best pound-for-pound guys on the planet are insane, and people writing Garry off after this loss are also insane.