My thoughts on how to learn grappling efficiently/become a good grappler

[Lucas88]

In this section of the forum, we've seen threads by @WilliamSmith and @Cornfed about which martial art is the most effective for real fighting and the best techniques to learn for the streets. In this thread I want to talk about grappling in particular and what I think is the best way that a young man interested in becoming a good grappler should go about it.

Those of you who have been following William's martial arts thread will know that I don't have a particularly good opinion of Brazilian Jiujitsu despite being a BJJ purple belt myself. While it is undeniable that Brazilian Jiujitsu includes some of the most effective grappling techniques ever and has an almost limitless depth of innovation due to its prevalence and subsequent deeper talent pool in the modern world, I feel that the way in which many gyms teach the art is often somewhat inefficient and full of limitations and that there are better routes to take for the aspiring grappler. Grappling is more than just Jiujitsu.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Wrestling as our base

In the other thread I recommended wrestling as the best base for MMA. I recommend wrestling as the best base for grappling also. Wrestlers are generally better grapplers than Jiujitsu players. Right from the beginning of their training path, wrestlers learn how to control an opponent's body and smother him with pressure. They also learn how to move efficiently and win scrambles while maintaining top position. Jiujitsu players at the lower and intermediate belts are generally not good grapplers in the sense of body control. Sure, they have a good knowledge of submissions and submission defense, but when it comes to controlling an opponent, they are often quite lazy and a lot of Jiujitsu consists of stalling in positions. Jiujitsu players typically develop solid body control much later in their training path. Good knowledge of wrestling will definitely make you a better submission grappler once you make the transition, not to mention a high-level takedown artist to boot. In my view, an aspiring grappler should begin with wrestling and then apply the superior positional dominance, balance, top pressure and explosive scrambles that he has acquired from wrestling to submission grappling. Wrestlers often rise through the ranks of Jiujitsu and other submission grappling arts at an extremely fast pace.

2. Focus on no-gi grappling

Some BJJ practitioners will tell you that training in the gi is essential for progress in grappling, but that's just a crock of shit. The reality is that gi Jiujitsu makes extensive use of artificial grips such as lapels and sleeves, and is slow-paced and full of stalling. If you have no interest in the gi, then your time would be spent better focusing exclusively on no-gi training with its natural grips like overhooks, underhooks and head-and-arm control. Since no-gi tends to be more fast-paced, you'll get more techniques in during live rolling. You won't have many rolls where you remain static in somebody's closed guard for a full five minutes because they decided to hold onto cloth and stall (what a fcukin' waste of time). No-gi grappling has become much more popular in the last decade due to the meteoric rise of MMA. Some schools even exclusively teach no-gi. Find a good no-gi gym and make it your home. No-gi gyms might be marketed as "submission wrestling" rather than Jiujitsu.

3. Find a technique syllabus and use it as your guide

Most Jiujitsu/grappling schools don't have a syllabus. Students simply turn up and the instructor will teach them random techniques in a seemingly ad hoc sequence. No wonder many students progress slowly and require more than a decade to become a black belt. I personally believe that the technique part of BJJ class just becomes useless after a certain point due to its lack of structure. Find a syllabus or a well-organized course online and take charge of your own learning. As far as syllabuses are concerned, I would go with something like Erik Paulson's CSW curriculum which is divided into 10 levels and can be purchased on his website for a reasonable price in the form of excellent instructional videos. I feel that working through the core techniques in Erik's curriculum, for example, would be a much more systematic and efficient way of learning grappling techniques than what one would typically find at an average BJJ gym. Systematic training is superior to randomness. That should be obvious.

https://erikpaulson.com/my-courses/

4. Do plenty of independent training with some like-minded buddies

This point follows on from the last one. In order to practice the techniques that you've learned from systematic online instructionals, you'll need a buddy or a group of buddies to drill them with. Organize your own training sessions outside of class and recruit anybody who might be interested. Explain to them that you have some techniques that you want to work on and get them involved. Drill the techniques as much as possible. Practice them against live resistance. Defend against them too. Then, when you are in regular class, try the techniques against those who are outside of your private training group. See how many people you can catch off guard. Let's be honest: 90% of what you are taught in BJJ is just bloatware which isn't even applicable to your own game and is unusable due to a lack of drilling. Give priority to your own training group and usable core techniques from your chosen curriculum. This lonewolf approach to training is better than going along with the gym's herd.


These are my main points of advice for the novice grappler. If I were to do it all over again the above is how I would proceed.

[Lucas88]

A few more thoughts on how to develop a good grappling game:

1. Focus on a few high-percentage submissions that can serve as quick kills

Some guys hyperfocus on a handful of subs that commonly present themselves in grappling scenarios and have a high success rate. These specialists often become quite successful grapplers. What type of subs would be good to focus on? I personally believe that it is best to attack the neck. The neck presents itself in all kinds of grappling scenarios. No matter how big and strong a guy is, he is still vulnerable to chokes. Also attacking the neck cuts off an opponent's movement since we all lead with the head. Some good neck attacks to develop:

Rear-naked choke



Every grappler worth his salt should have a good rear-naked choke from the back position. This is the highest-percentage submission in competitive grappling.


Guillotines



Guillotines present themselves often and are extremely effective if the grappler learns the correct technique. This is one of the great Marcelo García's go-to submissions.


Anaconda Choke against Turtle





This is another excellent quick kill against an extremely common position.


Arm Triangles





Opportunities for arm triangles are frequent. Get good at these if you want to rack up more submission wins.


North South Choke



Another good submission from side control.



2. Learn some Judo to complement your wrestling

Everybody tends to use wrestling-based attacks like single and double leg takedowns but you can really throw off a wrestler by using some Judo-style throws (no-gi adaptations) which use an opponent's momentum against him. When I first started MMA training, I had some success with throws that I had learned in BJJ and even back in Traditional Jiujitsu. Fortunately for me my BJJ coach was also a Judoka and incorporated Judo techniques into our old-school Jiujitsu training. I soon figured out how to adapt some of those throws to no-gi and started to send people flying. It was a whole lot of fun!

Judo-style throws used in MMA:




3. Learn some unorthodox techniques which most people don't expect or don't know how to defend against

Solid fundamentals are a must but it is also good to incorporate into your own game some unorthodox techniques which few people understand in depth. I used to use the lockdown variation of half-guard from Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet system and totally wreck opponents' bases with it. I'd even infuriate higher grades with it. Nobody knew how to counter it!



10th Planet has a lot of excellent unorthodox no-gi techniques. I became a big fan of their stuff ever since I attended a seminar with Eddie Bravo in the mid 2000s.

[Cornfed]

I'd say catch wrestling would be the best grappling art. That is just from reading. I've never had the chance to try it myself. Also learning some of the main judo throws would be good. For ground fighting, some of the catch techniques would be good, but the best advice would be to get up as quickly as possible, which the catch techniques would facilitate.

[Lucas88]

I'd say catch wrestling would be the best grappling art. That is just from reading. I've never had the chance to try it myself. Also learning some of the main judo throws would be good. For ground fighting, some of the catch techniques would be good, but the best advice would be to get up as quickly as possible, which the catch techniques would facilitate.

Catch Wrestling is a brutal old-school grappling art which has some good points such as an emphasis on dominant top position and some nasty submissions which are uncommon in Brazilian Jiujitsu, but the art has largely remained stagnant due to its lack of popularity in modern times vs. the explosive expansion of BJJ, and it also lacks in certain important areas of grappling such as the guard game from bottom (wholly nonexistent in Catch Wrestling) which has made it vulnerable to a competent BJJ player.

BJJ and its no-gi variations have grown tremendously in popularity in recent decades while Catch Wrestling remains a tiny niche art limited to certain regions of the UK and the US. This means that the former has benefitted from a much deeper talent pool and enjoyed incredible levels of innovation of technique. Catch Wrestling has barely evolved at all due to its own insulation. The BJJ of today is on a completely different level from the BJJ of the 90s. Thousands upon thousands of high-level practitioners from around the world have been innovating new techniques, improving upon the basics, and fusing techniques from other styles of grappling. As a result of this, modern BJJ has surpassed more traditional grappling arts in terms of completeness.

As for the no-gi side of things, we are now in the age of fusional no-gi sub wrestling styles which draw inspiration from various different grappling arts such as Jiujitsu, wrestling, Judo, Sambo, etc. Everything is merging together and more traditional styles are being left in the dark. These fusional no-gi gyms are the kind that I favor as opposed to Brazilian Jiujitsu. However, sometimes we might have few training options in our area. A BJJ gym might be all that we have. In that case I would recommend taking the no-gi classes and fusing other grappling techniques through self-study and online tutorials (e.g., from Erik Paulson's CSW curriculum). But yeah, fusion is a big characteristic of modern grappling.

Judo's pretty cool when you already have a wrestling base, are competent with overhooks and underhooks, and learn how to adapt the throws to no-gi. I feel that Judo throws are underappreciated in sub wrestling and MMA.

[WilliamSmith]

Awesome thread, thanks @Lucas88.
Grappling is my weakest area, not due to disinterest, but I just need to work on it more, but it did occur to me freestyle wrestling (and possibly some Muay Thai clinch stuff or similar) is the most practical thing for me personally to work on, even though I'm not qualified to say what's the best overall. What you said in favor of wrestling in the No BS Martial Arts thread sounded very convincing to me though, so just makes me more enthusiastic to learn more of it.

In the BJJ training they did at my own school a long time ago, I never dissed it or questioned its efficacy if you went through a full program, yet many nights they'd want to do stuff where the guys would start lying on the ground with their legs spread while lying on the mats in their gi's (reminds me of Tone Def's line from "Fear of a Black Hat" when Ice Cold and Tasty-Taste are pulling off all their clothes prior to a brawl, and he asks "Are you n****z going to fight or f**k?!"?) from step 1 to practice specific techniques, and I wasn't saying it was useless but really didn't want to do that.

Wrestling seems way more practical for me personally to learn more grappling that'd start from a standing position and might involve clinching to control one opponents body, and hopefully throws, as though I was dealing with muggers or pirates who invited themselves aboard. (By all means laugh, but I'm not actually kidding about pirates, by the way: There has been a substantial uptick of piracy in various places, some around the Caribbean, especially around Venezuela and parts of the Colombian coast, and even more in certain areas like near Somalia or Indonesia. I haven't had any problems but have been researching and even picked up a book documenting encounters, so more on this later in my boating thread, LOL.)
But yeah, then if things do go to the ground, it seems like it'd still be highly practical to know the wrestling techniques...

[Lucas88]

In the BJJ training they did at my own school a long time ago, I never dissed it or questioned its efficacy if you went through a full program, yet many nights they'd want to do stuff where the guys would start lying on the ground with their legs spread while lying on the mats in their gi's (reminds me of Tone Def's line from "Fear of a Black Hat" when Ice Cold and Tasty-Taste are pulling off all their clothes prior to a brawl, and he asks "Are you n****z going to fight or f**k?!"?) from step 1 to practice specific techniques, and I wasn't saying it was useless but really didn't want to do that.

For sure. Jiujitsu is a grappling art with tons of extremely effective techniques and has undoubtedly proven its own worth in mixed grappling tournaments such as ADCC and in MMA. I just think that the BJJ world is at the same time pervaded by certain limiting practices such as adherence to gi training (I'm staunchly against the gi) and an unwillingness to learn takedowns as well as other limitations which I've already talked about such as lack of any structured curriculum in most schools. This is why I view Jiujitsu simply as one area of grappling out of many and seek to merge it with other grappling arts such as wrestling and Sambo. My philosophy is to aim at becoming a complete grappler and take what is useful from every art.

The guard from bottom is an essential part of grappling, even though it might look quite gay or homoerotic to an uninformed onlooker. It saves you from being mounted which is a much worse position to be under, it might save you from a beating if strikes are involved since you can use it to tie up an aggressive opponent's arms and control their hips with your legs, and there are plenty of effective attacks that a skilled Jiujitsu player can utilize despite being on his back. My problem with Jiujitsu guys though is that many of them are content to stall in that position or even pull guard at any given opportunity rather than using wrestling to secure top position and dominate. I hate all of that blatant butt flopping and butt scooting.

Many BJJ guys even misunderstand the concept of pulling guard. You're not supposed to flop onto your butt just so that you can be in the comfortable bottom position; you're actually supposed to use the act of pulling guard to immediately attack your opponent and put him on the defensive (e.g., to set up a scary leg lock from the bottom). With reference to the guard, MMA fighter and wrestler Chael Sonnen once said: "I'm a Republican and Republicans don't lie on their backs with other men between their legs"! Of course, even Chael himself has a good guard and can fight from the bottom. It's just that he only uses it when necessary and prefers to use other grappling skills to dominate his opponents.

For me, wrestling and Jiujitsu (no-gi) are the perfect basic fusion. That combination will make anybody a pretty complete grappler provided that they invest enough effort into their training.

My passion nowadays is more along the lines of wrestling and Muay Thai (I regard this particular combination as the best for real fights as I explained in your no BS martial arts thread) but for a while now I have considered the possibility of investing a bit more into no-gi Jiujitsu/sub wrestling and developing my own curriculum with the goal of opening my own school in some unchartered part of Latin America and making money with it. In Latin America the big cities are just like Europe and North America when it comes to options for martial arts with a single big city often having multiple BJJ and MMA gyms. However, if I were to go to a smaller city where grappling and MMA aren't yet established, I think that I could set up shop and become a pioneer in that part of the world. I remember when I was in Nuevo León, Mexico. The state capital of Monterrey had numerous martial arts schools but the town of Montemorelos with a population of 80,000 had almost no martial arts at all. I could have probably started my own school with just a few dozen local MMA fans and warrior souls thirsty for combat knowledge. Moreover, I think that grappling instructor is a line of work that would suit me. In all honesty, I'm too much of a testo-poisoned nutjob for normal forms of employment.

[Pixel--Dude]

In this section of the forum, we've seen threads by @WilliamSmith and @Cornfed about which martial art is the most effective for real fighting and the best techniques to learn for the streets. In this thread I want to talk about grappling in particular and what I think is the best way that a young man interested in becoming a good grappler should go about it.

Those of you who have been following William's martial arts thread will know that I don't have a particularly good opinion of Brazilian Jiujitsu despite being a BJJ purple belt myself. While it is undeniable that Brazilian Jiujitsu includes some of the most effective grappling techniques ever and has an almost limitless depth of innovation due to its prevalence and subsequent deeper talent pool in the modern world, I feel that the way in which many gyms teach the art is often somewhat inefficient and full of limitations and that there are better routes to take for the aspiring grappler. Grappling is more than just Jiujitsu.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Wrestling as our base

In the other thread I recommended wrestling as the best base for MMA. I recommend wrestling as the best base for grappling also. Wrestlers are generally better grapplers than Jiujitsu players. Right from the beginning of their training path, wrestlers learn how to control an opponent's body and smother him with pressure. They also learn how to move efficiently and win scrambles while maintaining top position. Jiujitsu players at the lower and intermediate belts are generally not good grapplers in the sense of body control. Sure, they have a good knowledge of submissions and submission defense, but when it comes to controlling an opponent, they are often quite lazy and a lot of Jiujitsu consists of stalling in positions. Jiujitsu players typically develop solid body control much later in their training path. Good knowledge of wrestling will definitely make you a better submission grappler once you make the transition, not to mention a high-level takedown artist to boot. In my view, an aspiring grappler should begin with wrestling and then apply the superior positional dominance, balance, top pressure and explosive scrambles that he has acquired from wrestling to submission grappling. Wrestlers often rise through the ranks of Jiujitsu and other submission grappling arts at an extremely fast pace.

2. Focus on no-gi grappling

Some BJJ practitioners will tell you that training in the gi is essential for progress in grappling, but that's just a crock of shit. The reality is that gi Jiujitsu makes extensive use of artificial grips such as lapels and sleeves, and is slow-paced and full of stalling. If you have no interest in the gi, then your time would be spent better focusing exclusively on no-gi training with its natural grips like overhooks, underhooks and head-and-arm control. Since no-gi tends to be more fast-paced, you'll get more techniques in during live rolling. You won't have many rolls where you remain static in somebody's closed guard for a full five minutes because they decided to hold onto cloth and stall (what a fcukin' waste of time). No-gi grappling has become much more popular in the last decade due to the meteoric rise of MMA. Some schools even exclusively teach no-gi. Find a good no-gi gym and make it your home. No-gi gyms might be marketed as "submission wrestling" rather than Jiujitsu.

3. Find a technique syllabus and use it as your guide

Most Jiujitsu/grappling schools don't have a syllabus. Students simply turn up and the instructor will teach them random techniques in a seemingly ad hoc sequence. No wonder many students progress slowly and require more than a decade to become a black belt. I personally believe that the technique part of BJJ class just becomes useless after a certain point due to its lack of structure. Find a syllabus or a well-organized course online and take charge of your own learning. As far as syllabuses are concerned, I would go with something like Erik Paulson's CSW curriculum which is divided into 10 levels and can be purchased on his website for a reasonable price in the form of excellent instructional videos. I feel that working through the core techniques in Erik's curriculum, for example, would be a much more systematic and efficient way of learning grappling techniques than what one would typically find at an average BJJ gym. Systematic training is superior to randomness. That should be obvious.

https://erikpaulson.com/my-courses/

4. Do plenty of independent training with some like-minded buddies

This point follows on from the last one. In order to practice the techniques that you've learned from systematic online instructionals, you'll need a buddy or a group of buddies to drill them with. Organize your own training sessions outside of class and recruit anybody who might be interested. Explain to them that you have some techniques that you want to work on and get them involved. Drill the techniques as much as possible. Practice them against live resistance. Defend against them too. Then, when you are in regular class, try the techniques against those who are outside of your private training group. See how many people you can catch off guard. Let's be honest: 90% of what you are taught in BJJ is just bloatware which isn't even applicable to your own game and is unusable due to a lack of drilling. Give priority to your own training group and usable core techniques from your chosen curriculum. This lonewolf approach to training is better than going along with the gym's herd.


These are my main points of advice for the novice grappler. If I were to do it all over again the above is how I would proceed.

I'm interested in improving my wrestling and grappling game. I've got some decent experience in Muay Thai, but I need to work on take downs, how to control a fight when it gets taken to the ground, and effective ways to finish a fight with submission finisher moves and things like that.

Did you say there is an online syllabus we could use dude? Then we can rent the room above our local pub and use the mats. I do have some basic take down moves I know, but would love to learn more. A combination of Muay Thai, wrestling and jew jitsu would make me a lethal combatant in a street fight!

When do you want to organise maybe going half each to purchase the syllabus and then rent out the room? Is there a specific date you want to start our training? I'd rather train from an online syllabus and train in private than join a gym.

[Lucas88]

Did you say there is an online syllabus we could use dude? Then we can rent the room above our local pub and use the mats. I do have some basic take down moves I know, but would love to learn more. A combination of Muay Thai, wrestling and jew jitsu would make me a lethal combatant in a street fight!

I've just had a look at the video courses on Erik Paulson's site. There are all kinds of seemingly very good courses including courses on submission wrestling (no-gi), Brazilian Jiujitsu (gi), throws and takedowns, and kickboxing/Muay Thai.

The submission wrestling course consists of two parts (levels 1-5 and 6-10). The two parts cost $170 each for the DVD set or $140 each for the downloadable version. So that's $340 or $280 in total.

If you want to learn grappling or Jiujitsu regular practice at a gym is essential since you need to drill techniques and do live rolling with a lot of different people, but I think that it is best to also organize your own training group with a few likeminded guys outside of class and focus on the techniques that you want to practice.

Some samples from Erik Paulson's course:

[Lucas88]

Hey @Cornfed, what are your thoughts on Greco-Roman wrestling training as an alternative to Judo?



I found this video today which shows a Greco clinch with an s-grip, two basic throws and how to chain them. Up until now I'd never really looked into the Greco-Roman style. It's almost non-existent in my part of the world and I've always been more interested in freestyle wrestling with its broader variety of shots, takedowns and throws (Greco on the other hand only allows upper-body clinching). However, I was impressed by the techniques in the video and think that Greco training might be a good alternative to Judo for no-gi grapplers.

Look how the coach finishes the headlock hip throw too. Rather than bringing his hips across his opponent's hips, he simply steps backwards between his opponent's legs and thereby breaks his balance.

I'm thinking of looking into Greco a bit more.

Here are some Greco-Roman competition highlights:



Man, those suplexes are awesome!

[Lucas88]

With regard to the famous gi vs. no-gi debate which continues to haunt the grappling world, I recently came across a post on the BJJ subreddit about how people who train gi are "more complete" grapplers than those who only train no-gi. The argument was that gi grapplers essentially learn two formats of grappling and therefore a more diverse range of grips as well as gi-based attacks like collar and lapel chokes.

My response is that if you truly want to be a more complete grappler, then learn some wrestling to complement your Jiujitsu. Develop an actual standing game.

For me, somebody who can both wrestle and submit people on the ground is far more of a complete grappler than somebody who can merely do ground fighting in pajamas and has no clue how to shoot a doubleleg takedown or stuff a takedown from an opponent, even if our wrestler-grappler only trains no-gi.

I hate BJJ guys with their gi supremacy bullshit when most of those motherfuckers can't wrestle for shit!

[Seeker]

The best and most complete MMA grapplers today seem to be coming from one tiny little part of Russia, Dagestan. They have that early training in Dagestani wrestling which cannot be replaced nor replicated anywhere else. To this they add combat Sambo with it's emphasis on submissions, and they often have a background in Judo as well. For example Khabib Nurmagomedov is both a black belt in Judo and a champion ins combat Sambo, as well being an outstanding wrestler. Put all this together and you have fighters who can dominate an MMA fight even without excellent striking.

So yeah I agree with Lucas you should put wrestling first, but outside of the FSU and American schools, it's pretty difficult to find a place to learn wrestling, and the older you are the harder it is to pick up. Once you can take someone down and maintain top control it's time to learn guard passing and submissions. When I started MMA I was a pure striker who only knew Karate, so I flocked to the Muay Thai and Boxing classes while I dreaded the wrestling and grappling classes. It wasn't until years later when I trained under Ramsey Dewey in Shanghai for a year that I actually developed a ground game and take down defence. These days I prefer to grapple, I just don't feel like hitting my training partners anymore but I like to impose my strength and weight upon them.

[Lucas88]

So yeah I agree with Lucas you should put wrestling first, but outside of the FSU and American schools, it's pretty difficult to find a place to learn wrestling, and the older you are the harder it is to pick up. Once you can take someone down and maintain top control it's time to learn guard passing and submissions. When I started MMA I was a pure striker who only knew Karate, so I flocked to the Muay Thai and Boxing classes while I dreaded the wrestling and grappling classes. It wasn't until years later when I trained under Ramsey Dewey in Shanghai for a year that I actually developed a ground game and take down defence. These days I prefer to grapple, I just don't feel like hitting my training partners anymore but I like to impose my strength and weight upon them.

I did things the opposite way; I started off with grappling in the form of Brazilian Jiujitsu and then learned striking later.

In my part of the world, wrestling was unheard of and BJJ was just beginning to take root. I was fortunate enough to have a decent BJJ school nearby and started when I was 15. Back when I first joined, even the coach was still only a blue belt yet at the same time a pioneer of the art in his territory. We absorbed knowledge from whatever sources we could and practiced in our humble little gym (originally a garage) and did whatever was necessary to advance. About 5 years later our coach was a black belt and many others among our ranks also achieved high grades. Our school was one of the best in the area and existed from a time when Jiujitsu was a relatively unknown martial art.

I got into MMA in my late 20s. My MMA training exposed me to both wrestling and striking and I improved significantly in those areas. Even after that gym closed down I continued to train in striking. I attended classes at various Muay Thai schools and become more intimate with the striking aspect.

When I first started learning MMA, the striking classes were awful. I'd get hit in the face and just panic and didn't know how to keep my composure. This is a common problem that many grapplers face when transitioning to MMA. However, I kept training and learned defense and how to deal with being hit and then advanced enough with my striking to hold my own in MMA standup. After the closure of the gym and my ventures into pure Muay Thai and kickboxing, I even began to fall in love with the striking and prioritized it since I saw it as more applicable to the streets.

I would love to have trained in wrestling when I was a kid but it's just not taught in my part of the world. I guess those who grow up in the US learning folkstyle in school from the age of 5 are blessed. Folkstyle is probably the best kind of wrestling for MMA as well as for transitioning to sub grappling because it places much greater emphasis on ground control than what freestyle does. The Dagestani style of wrestling and MMA grappling is also excellent. It will be interesting to see a future clash between those two styles in the UFC. Maybe we'll get to see some All-American like Bo Nickal go up against some of the elite Dagestani wrestlers.

I actually watch Ramsey Dewey's channel, by the way. He's an awesome coach and it's great that you trained with him.

[Lucas88]

I asked ChatGPT to create a no-gi submission grappling syllabus for me. This is what it came up with:

No-Gi Submission Grappling Syllabus

Beginner Level: Fundamentals

1. Positional Control and Escapes:

Side Control and Escapes
Mount and Escapes
Back Control and Escapes

2. Basic Submissions:

Armbar from Mount and Guard
Triangle Choke from Guard
Rear Naked Choke from Back Control
Americana Keylock from Side Control

3. Takedowns and Control:

Collar Tie and Snapdown
Single Leg Takedown
Double Leg Takedown
Sprawls and Counter Takedowns

4. Guard Play and Sweeps:

Closed Guard Attacks and Sweeps
Butterfly Guard Sweeps
Scissor Sweep from Open Guard


Intermediate Level: Advanced Techniques

1. Advanced Submissions:

Kimura Lock and Kimura Trap System
Guillotine Choke Variations
Arm Triangle Choke from Mount and Side Control
Darce Choke and Anaconda Choke

2. Leg Locks and Entries:

Straight Ankle Lock from Different Positions
Heel Hook Variations and Safety
Kneebar and Toe Hold

3. Back Attacks and Control:

Bow and Arrow Choke from Back Control
Crucifix Control and Submissions
Twister Control and Transitions

4. Advanced Guard Play:

X-Guard Sweeps and Entries
De La Riva Guard Attacks and Sweeps
Spider Guard Control and Submissions


Advanced Level: Competition and Strategy

1. Submission Chains and Transitions:

Linking Submissions and Counters
Flow Rolling and Chain Drilling

2. Submission Defense and Escapes:

Escaping Complex Leg Lock Positions
Defending Against Back Takes and Chokes

3. Strategic Positioning:

Maintaining Top Position and Control
Transitioning from Guard to Top Position

4. Competition Preparation:

Developing a Game Plan for Matches
Managing Energy and Nerves in Competitions

Interesting. I see that it includes at the intermediate level certain submissions that I asserted should be emphasized such as Guillotines (attack the neck!), Arm Triangles and Anaconda Chokes. I was surprised that the unorthodox "Twister Control" (i.e., Truck Position) was included. I guess it's getting more popular in no-gi sub wrestling.

I suppose that an instructor's task would be to flesh out each of the areas and choose the most effective techniques for each.

I'd personally place much more emphasis on guard passing paths right from the get-go.

[Lucas88]

Some awesome guillotines and other neck attacks from various positions:

[MrPeabody]

I was a wrestler in high school. It's a good sport. You don't learn any of the illegal stuff that would be more effective in a real fight, but it helps you develop upper body strength and coordination.