Grip training is a subject I wanted to touch on for some time now. I definitely have some serious opinions on it. As you already may know, I have been training in martial arts for over 30 years. I am also a competitive Brazilian Jiu JItsu fighter. I have won and lost many BJJ matches. I have never thought to myself after one of my losses that my grip strength cost me the match. I also have a lot of friends that train with kettlebells, but also do macebell and clubbell work. Which to me, doesnt make sense. I believe macebells and clubbells are not nearly as efficient as kettlebells. I have even asked my friends why the include those implements as well. They always say, “well its really good for grip strength.” Which brings me to my next question. “Why does an average person need grip strength?” I honestly dont even think BJJ fighters need extra grip strength. Isnt the whole point of jiu jitsu to not use strength. If you are dependent on grip strength in you bjj matches your technique must be off. By training BJJ regularly, you will develop the conditioning needed in your forearms needed in training, If you do extra strength and conditioning, then you should be good to go.
The 2 types of strength and conditioning I do are body weight and kettlebell. I dont really feel I need anything else. Although I do not do any extra specific grip training. Every kettlebell workout challenges your grip to an extent. Some more than others. Which brings me to this basic double kettlebell workout that will have your forearms firing off like you just finished a BJJ match in a tournament! First let me say this is an example and not meant to be an instructional. Next, before any kettlebell workout I do a good 20 minute body weight and mobility workout. This insures that Im thoroughly warmed up and prevents injury.
The double kettlebell workout consists of 5 different exercises. 1.double dead cleans 2. double overhead presses 3. double swings 4. double rows 5. burpees
What challenges your grip is that fact that you do not put the bells down until the burpees. This workout is put into what I call a pyramid. You want to do 5 reps of each exercise. then move up to 10 reps. Last you go back down the pyramid to 5 reps. By the time you are working up to 10 you should feel that burn in your forearms! So be careful! Enjoy!
To learn more workouts like this, check out the Kettlejitsu 8 week kettlebell and body weight dvd here! http://kjrevolution.com/?page_id=19
The “Technical stand up” is an essential body weight movement that all BJJ practitioners should master. It has a multitude of uses in Jiu-Jitsu. First and foremost, it is the movement that should be used to safely regain the standing position in a street, or MMA fight. You see mixed martial art fighters using it in the cage all of the time. You will also find the technical stand up in a lot of BJJ sweeps and transitions. It is important to master this movement until it is second nature. In this video, I break it down into a few different steps. Then I show you how to drill it in a full body conditioning exercise. Enjoy!