Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy owner at Black Diamond Mixed Martial Arts in Wakefield, Rhode Island. In addition to being a writer for a number of MMA and BJJ publications such as Jiu Jitsu Magazine and MMA Sports Mag, Dan also speaks regionally on topics of Skill Development and Goal Setting.
One of the coolest things about running your own academy is that you get to decide what kinds of events you have. At my academy, almost every seminar that I’ve had has either been someone I’d very much admired and wanted to learn from, or a friend in the martial arts world. When Jimmy Quinlan first visited my academy for a previous seminar in 2011, I knew I’d want to run a separate event and have him for his own seminar.
In addition to showing some takedown techniques, we also did a good deal of guard passing work and interesting transitions into submission – such as the technique we’ll be breaking down below:
Jimmy Quinlan’s Knee-Cut to Guillotine
In this breakdown I wanted to cover not only the technical detials, but the bigger picture concepts that make the techniques themselves work.
Taking Initiative:
There are many parts of this technique that depend on the top player knowing where he’s going before he starts moving. First, as soon as Jimmy is threatened by the single leg, he immediately turns his hip in and uses the overhook. Second, as the opponent gets to his knees Jimmy is ahead of him my sitting his hip in and sliding out toward a front headlock. Third, when he GETS to front headlock, he’s already under the chin with the grip.
Especially at a higher level, THAT’S how this kind of technique has to be used. It’s very difficult to count on thinking in a completely reactive sense.
Details of the Finish:
When Jimmy gets teh guillotine finish, he does a few pretty cool "particulars" that are worth making note on:
1) He does not go for a head and arm choke, he only grabs the head. This allows him to wind his outside elbow over for the finish and apply more direct pressure on the neck.
2) In addition, he sits his hip very far our so that he can lean all of his pressure on the back of the opponent’s head and throw his far leg over the trap his hips as well – making for a powerful finish.
Hopefully watching this Ultimate Fighter star gives you some ideas for your own passing game – and I know I can’t wait until he makes it back down to Rhode Island!
For another technique breakdown you can also see this blog post by one of my students (includes funny photo).
-Daniel!