Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting on escaping the rear naked choke itself: fighting the choking arm, tucking the chin and turning into the choke.

Stephan Kesting's rear triangle (ura sankaku) from the back when the opponent tucks their chin against the rear naked choke.

Jon Thomas on hitting the triangle from the overhook in closed guard, including the anti-stack motion that keeps your hips on the floor when they drive in. From his Grapplearts closed guard course.

Stephan Kesting on escaping the crucifix: freeing the trapped arm before they roll you over, and what to do if they already have.

Stephan Kesting on the leg drag pass: theory and practice, including why dragging the leg across the hip kills their recovery.

Stephan Kesting on countering the leg drag: frames, the granby and getting the leg back in front.

Stephan Kesting's step-by-step cartwheel pass: when the opponent's legs are too busy inverting to stop you, and how to land in side control instead of giving up your back.

Rob Biernacki shows the layered upper-body frames (hand, elbow, wrist, torso) that stop a top player getting chest to chest and crossfacing you, then how to convert that space into an underhook or knee shield.

Stephan Kesting on the roll-under sweep as a follow-up when the opponent drives you flat to stop your first underhook sweep. Clear on the timing and the hand on the knee.

Stephan Kesting's highest-percentage attacks from kesa gatame, including the far-arm trap over the thigh.

Stephan Kesting on IBJJF-legal leglocks and how to do them: which attacks are legal at which belt, and why heel hooks are treated differently.

Stephan Kesting breaks down the Estima lock so you can finish it without blowing your own ankle position.

Stephan Kesting's easier Imanari roll, aimed at people who keep landing on their head instead of in the entanglement.

Kesting from setup through the heel hook so the roll is not just a cool entry with no finish.

Stephan Kesting walks through the four mistakes that make the upa fail: not getting a hand to the floor, staying bridged, trapping the wrong side and rolling without bridging. Ideal for fixing a beginner's bridge-and-roll.

Rob Biernacki and Stephan Kesting build the tightest possible armbar from mount by breaking posture, wedging the arm off the body and taking out slack before the finish.

Stephan Kesting's north-south choke in under two minutes: the essential mechanics.

Stephan Kesting and Ritchie Yip on what to do when your arms are already trapped under a tight pin: recovering arm position first with a bridge-and-club motion before attempting the actual escape.

Stephan Kesting on the first side control escape to learn: rebuilding knee-elbow connection, framing, bridging and recovering to butterfly guard, plus how to stop the top player running round to the back.

Stephan Kesting on making the crossface genuinely uncomfortable: using the shoulder and hips rather than arm strength, and where to anchor the hand.

Stephan Kesting on the details of the knee slide from side control to mount, including how to deal with the bottom player's knee and elbow blocks.

Stephan Kesting's first SLX crash course lesson is all about positioning: where the hook, the hip foot and your hips need to be so the guard actually holds.

Stephan Kesting's simple approach to passing single-leg X guard, focusing on base and clearing the hook.

Stephan Kesting's five-step clock choke from turtle: the grips, the walk-around and the finish.

Stephan Kesting frames every X-guard sweep as one of four directions and shows how reading where the opponent's weight goes tells you which one to use.

Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro teaches his signature Shaolin sweep from half guard with the knee across the chest, including how to keep the knee alive as the top player tries to smash it.

The reliable headlock and kesa gatame escape: get the free elbow to the mat, turn onto the knees and rock the top player over, plus the common step-over counter and how to handle it.

Rodolfo Vieira via Stephan Kesting on passing worm guard.

Kesting's judo trick for better side control and north-south pins, including the hip switch.

Twelve guard retention concepts explained through alignment and frames, including when straight arms are fine and when they get you armbarred.

Stephan Kesting with a championship wrestler on getting the underhook from bottom side control and using it to turn in and come up, with wrestling details on how to make the underhook actually work.

Stephan Kesting shows two ways to take the back from side control when the bottom player turns into you, neither requiring much flexibility.

Rob Biernacki and Stephan Kesting close their spider guard series by shutting down the leg shuck pass: sit up on their push, shrimp, reloop the foot to the bicep and get the grips back.

Step-by-step RDLR tutorial: staying on your side so the hook bites, the arm under the leg that blocks the knee, blocking the shoulder before you grab the ankle, then spinning under to the back.

Escaping the broken scarf hold (kuzure kesa gatame) where the top player controls under the far arm instead of the head.

Why seated guard suits older or less flexible grapplers against a standing passer: match their lead leg, keep the arm in front and attack with simple sweeps rather than relying on retention.