The YouTube Grappler

Turns out you probably can’t rely solely on YouTube for your martial arts education.  You have to actually train with other (real) people.  Undoubtedly, soon, you’ll be able to wrestle with holograms in the privacy of your own living room BUT until then you’re stuck with the truth that you must actually show up and put time in on the mat to become better.

However, this does not mean that YouTube is a useless resource!  Quite the contrary, watching videos about technique and theory is a great idea.  As always, though, you must put things to the test and see if they work for you.

Today we plugged in the above video to our grappling class.  Kesting is one of the better YouTube teachers I’ve found.  In the above piece he gives the “3 most common errors” made when attempting to close the Americana arm lock (AKA key lock).  Those errors are:

1. Not putting your weight on your partner
2. Having the arm up too high (humerus above the clavicle)
3. Having the thumb separate from the four fingers

He’s spot on.  These are all beginner mistakes that (if you make them) make closing the submission way more difficult.  Check out his other two videos in this same vein on the Kimura and the armbar