Stephan Kesting – Bigger Stronger Series 2

The Bigger Stronger Opponent…

Let’s say that you’ve been training for a while, maybe even for years, and you’re finally beginning to develop some skills. You can hold your own against people your own size. But then some guy who outweighs you by 20, 50, or even 100 pounds steps onto the mat. Your heart goes pitter patter, you start sweating a little bit and your first thought is “A w man… I hope I don’t have to roll with that guy…”

The truth is that almost everybody is worried about facing someone a lot bigger than themselves.
Bigger people can get away with a LOT more on the mat. A big guy’s size can compensate for shoddy technique, he can use his weight to smother you, and his strength allows him to power out of techniques that ‘should’ have worked.

Not to mention that if a big guy freaks out, then his muscle mass and explosiveness can lead to you getting injured.

My name is Stephan Kesting and I’ve been doing martial arts for over 30 years. I’m a BJJ black belt and I’ve run Grapplearts.com since 2002. I’ve published over 500 articles online, and created more than 30 training DVDs and instructional apps.

During this time I’ve corresponded with literally thousands of people and been asked thousands of questions. And, hands down, the most common question I get asked is something like “how can I get technique xyz to work on my bigger sparring partners.”

I do the best that I can to answer these questions, but the truth is that at 6’2″ and 215 lbs I’m one of those big guys myself. And although I too run into people bigger than me on the mats, I’m scarcely the poster-boy for lightweight, smaller grapplers.

This led me to team up with some of the best lightweight grapplers in the world. Those grapplers with impeccable skills on the mat, awesome tournament credentials, and – most importantly – an ability to teach their material clearly in an easy-to-learn manner.

And this quest led me to Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins…

About Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins

Brandon Mullins is a BJJ black belt based in Houston Texas. He’s one of the most active North Americans on the competition circuit today, with a phenomenal record, both with and without the gi.

Over the past 13 years he’s tested himself in well over 200 competition matches at BJJ, no-gi submission grappling, and Judo tournaments.

And we’re talking about big tournaments here: he’s proved his skills by winning multiple gold medals at the Black Belt division at the No-Gi World Championships… And multiple gold medals in the Advanced division at Grappler’s Quest… And medals at the Mundials, the Pan-Ams, the US Open, and the Gracie World’s.

Seriously, this guy competes ALL the time. This keeps him on the cutting edge of Jiu-jitsu, and if anyone has developed a new tweak or variation of an old technique Brandon knows about it. And it also means that his techniques have been tested in ways that most of us can only imagine.

Now Brandon is a small guy – he competes at 118 lbs against some of the best people in the world. And when he’s training at the school he’s usually the smallest person on the mats – even the women and children are bigger than he is – so his jiu-jitsu HAS to work against bigger people.

There are lots of great competitors, but the sad fact is that not every great competitor is a great teacher. For example, what would having Mike Tyson as your boxing coach would be like…

So, from my perspective, the ability to teach is even more important than a great competition record.

Brandon is one of the main instructors for Vinicius ‘Draculino’ Magalhães, who has churned out an incredible number of BJJ champions. Draculino could literally have his pick of the litter when it comes to people to teach at his school, but he’s chosen Brandon to be his main instructor for a reason – this guy can teach!!

So the thing that specifically made me want to work with Brandon wasn’t his incredible tournament record. I wanted to work with him because of his ability to teach and convey information.

The bottom line is that Brandon is a rare combination of a super-skilled competitor, a very good teacher, and a funny, engaging guy!

What’s Included in this Instructional Set?

‘How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent, Series 2’ includes 5 DVDs contain over 10 hours of instruction with absolutely no filler. This is hard-hitting material which you can watch one day and use on the mats the next day.

The mission of this instructional series is to give you the techniques and strategies you need to handle yourself when you’re grappling with a larger, stronger opponent. Everything is geared towards keeping you safe, and having a high-percentage game that you can rely on, even when the person you’re facing outweighs you by many pounds.

In this set Brandon teaches you his ‘go-to’ techniques in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step manner. These are the techniques he’s used on bigger people over and over and over, and at the highest levels of competition.

Brandon also takes you through the critical details – the hand positioning, the little hip movements, the adjustments – that make these techniques work against bigger, stronger opponents AND against his competitors at the highest levels of grappling competition in the world.

In addition to all this detail, every technique also includes full speed demos. And we also added in a TON of clips from tournaments, so you can see Brandon applying the very same techniques being taught in real life against resisting opponents.

But these instructional DVDs go way beyond just being a collection of random techniques…

What connects the techniques is a series of ‘Gameplans.’ These are Brandon’s personal sequences and strategies that take you from a starting point to a match-ending submission.

Part of having an effective gameplan is knowing how your opponent is likely to react, and then knowing what you need to do to counter that reaction. And that’s exactly what you’ll get! Drawing on his experience accumulated during hundreds of high-level matches and thousands of training hours, Brandon prepares you for what to expect and then gives you the very best responses to every kind of resistance you might run into.

It’s like having a black belt world champion by your side for your entire match, telling you exactly what to do…

By having gameplans for the top position, the bottom position, and for bad positions you’ll always know what to do next. Not feeling lost on the mats is a wonderful feeling, and having gameplans that you can follow and adapt is a very powerful approach to grappling.

Is the Material for Gi or No-Gi?

Brandon wears a gi for most of the instructional segments on these 5 DVDs. And yes, he does occasionally grab it to set up a technique, or to finish off a submission…

But the key thing is that Brandon has done amazingly well in competition both with and without the gi. And these are the exact techniques Brandon practices WITH the gi which have allowed him to dominate the competition even WITHOUT the gi. So there is a huge-carry-over factor…

Another interesting thing is that most of the competition clips used to illustrate these techniques in action actually come from no-gi tournaments. Which, again, just goes to show that Brandon’s game is highly transferrable from gi-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu to no-gi submission grappling.

Now obviously you’re not going to be able to pull off a Bow-and Arrow choke without the gi, but you should be able to hit the Rear Naked Choke (aka the Mata L eão) from that very same position. Getting to the position is the tough part – once there you can choose to finish with or without the gi!

And, as always, the bottom line is that if you only do no-gi, and you get the set and don’t think you got enough out of it to justify your investment, you can always return it to me for a polite, no-hassle, 100% refund.

“How much overlap is there between this set with Brandon Mullins and the first set you did with Emily Kwok?”

The short answer is that there is virtually no overlap between Series 1 with Emily Kwok, and Series 2 with Brandon Mullins.

Also, you DON’T need to own the first series in order to understand or benefit from this series with Brandon.

I didn’t want Series 2 to be an irrelevant rehash of Series 1. I wanted a completely different slant on the topic of successfully handling bigger, stronger opponents. And boy, did Brandon ever deliver! Brandon’s lineage is different, his body is different, and his training experiences have been different. All of which makes for a unique instructional set that both stands on its own, or can be combined with any other Grapplearts instructional set.

The bottom line is that Emily and Brandon are both fanatical BJJ practitioners, but their games are very different. I’ve learned a lot from both Emily AND Brandon, and have fused different aspects of what they’ve taught me into my game. And if you own both series then I’m sure you’ll find that you learn a lot from both of them.

DVD 1: Takedowns and Top Position Gameplan
(2 hours, 30 minutes)

In this DVD Brandon gives you a complete gameplan for getting your grips, taking your opponent down, passing his guard, getting to a dominant position, and submitting him. Even if he outweighs you by 80 to 100 pounds, which is approximately the size difference between Brandon and I.

1. The Power of Gameplans
2. Gripping and First Move Stategy
3. Gripping vs Matched Lead
4. Drop Sode Tsurikomigoshi
5. Sode to Kouchi Gari
6. Arm Drag to Kouchi Gake
7. Gripping vs Unmatched Lead
8. Cross Grip to Kouchi Gari
9. Cross Grip to Sumi Gaeshi
10. Safety Position in Closed Guard
11. Knee in Middle Pass
12. Passing the Half Guard
13. Debugging the Half Guard Pass
14. Kneecut vs Half Butterfly
15. Cartwheel Pass vs Half Butterfly
16. The ‘Psych’ Pass vs Half Butterfly
17. Kneeswitch Pass vs Half Guard
18. Passing the Z Guard Part 1
19. Passing the Z Guard Part 2
20. Finalizing the Guardpass vs Explosive Bridging
21. Stabilizing the Sidemount, & Best Submissions from Sidemount
22. Kneeslide from Sidemount to Mount
23. Legswing from Sidemount to Mount
24. Maintaining the Mount
25. Rolling Armbar Attack vs Bridge and Push
26. Triangle vs Hip Wrap and Bump
27. Rear Mount Attacks

DVD 2: Guard and Bottom Position Gameplan
(2 hours, 19 minutes)

Here Brandon takes you through the sweeps, submissions, and transitions of his sophisticated closed guard game. Since filming this material I’ve started using a lot of it in my own personal training (even though I’m bigger than a lot of my training partners) and have found that it works incredibly well.

1. Guard Game / Bottom Strategy Intro
2. Stripping Lapel Grips
3. Stripping Belt Grips
4. Stripping Sleeve Grips
5. Dealing with Bicep Control
6. Breaking Posture from Closed Guard
7. Intro to Triangle Chokes
8. Gringo Grip to Triangle Choke
9. Gringo Grip to Omoplata
10. Hip Bump Sweep
11. Hip Bump Sweep Variation
12. Whizzer to Triangle Choke
13. Wrist Pin Triangle Choke
14. Whizzer to Omoplata
15. Omoplata as Sprawl Counter
16. Whizzer to Straight Armbar
17. Double Arm Trap to Triangle Choke
18. Double Arm Trap to Sweep
19. Advanced Pendulum Sweep
20. Pendulum Sweep Recounters
21. Double Underhook and Leg Bind
22. Kimura vs Defensive Posture
23. Belt Drag vs Defensive Posture
24. Guillotine/Triangle vs Defensive Posture
25. Defending the Barbosa/San Paulo Pass

DVD 3: Defense and Escape Gameplan

(1 hour and 53 minutes)

Sometimes things just don’t go to plan, and you end up pinned, mounted, and fighting off attacks. On DVD 3 Brandon takes you through his best escapes from the mount, technical mount, the quarter guard, rear mount, rear mount with figure 4’d legs, side mount and the turtle. Get out of trouble and get back in the game!

1. Defense and Escape Gameplan
2. Advanced Elbow-Knee Escape vs Mount
3. Foot Drag Escape
4. Double-Unders Escape vs Technical Mount
5. Shrimp and Lift vs Technical Mount
6. Reguarding from the Quarter Guard
7. Following the Hand Escape vs Rear Mount
8. Slow Motion Seoi Nage vs Rear Mount
9. Escaping Rear Mount in Transition
10. Somersault Escape vs Rear Body Triangle
11. Scarola Roll vs Rear Body Triangle
12. Crossing the Arm Escape vs Rear Body Triangle
13. Transitional Foot Drag vs Side Mount
14. Granby Roll vs Side Mount
15. Other Transitional Escapes vs Side Mount
16. Bumping to an Armbar vs Side Mount
17. Pummel Escape vs Side Mount
18. Turtle Escapes
19. Escaping in Transition vs North-South
20. Defending Big Guy Attacks

DVD 4: Instant BJJ Gamechangers
(2 hours and 2 minutes)

This is one of the coolest instructionals I’ve ever seen. In it Brandon takes you through more than 20 ‘game changers.’ These are techniques, concepts, tricks, and strategies that changed his game OVERNIGHT. Incorporate them into your own game, and watch your own level jump up too.

1. Instant BJJ Gamechangers
2. MMA Kickpass
3. Carlos Machado Repummel vs Half Guard
4. Submission-Proof Guard Passing & Taking the Back
5. Draculino Double Grip Pass
6. The Step Out Defense
7. Best Mount Attacks
8. Total Control Rearmount
9. The Kimura Backtake
10. Knee on Belly Arm Trap
11. The Draculino Bump
12. Roger Sweep Guard Defense
13. Leg Scissor Omoplata Finish
14. Rolling Omoplata Finish
15. Defeating the Over-Under Pass 1
16. Defeating the Over-Under Pass 2
17. Russian Roll Armbar
18. Defeating Double Underhooks
19. Clock Choke Defense
20. Bow and Arrow Choke Defense
21. Sperry Choke Defense
22. Brabo/Anaconda Choke Defense
23. Kneebar Defense
24. Wrapup

DVD 5: Strategies and Tactics for No-Gi
(1 hour and 15 minutes)

Brandon competes at the highest level both in traditional BJJ and in no-gi competitions. These two areas are similar but different, and a lot of people get confused here and would like some guidance. That’s why we’ve included this bonus Q&A DVD answering many of the most common questions about how to modify your BJJ game so it works both with and without the gi.

1. Introduction
2. Transitioning From Gi to No-Gi
3. No-Gi Gripping Strategy
4. Gripping Details
5. Taking Advantage of Slipperiness
6. Taking the Back
7. Z Guard Offense and Defense
8. D’Arce, Anaconda and Guillotine Chokes
9. Arm Triangle Finishes
10. Training Outside of Class
11. Defending the Knee Cut / Margarida Pass No-Gi
12. Open Guard Offense
13. Finishing from North-South
14. Opening the Stubborn Closed Guard
15. Advice for New Competitors
16. Wrapup