For years now BJJ Black Belt Stephen Whittier has been helping thousands of people from around the world to improve their Jiu-Jitsu, hang with the aggro young guys, reduce injuries and doing the most important thing of all – staying on the mats. Both his 40 Plus BJJ email lessons and DVD series have gotten great reviews and given even younger students a blueprint for how to build a lasting BJJ game. Even though forty is hardly old, he acknowledges for many that’s the age where the wear and tear really starts to catch up, and for the majority of us, the ability to rely on physical advantages in strength or explosiveness start to decline. (And even for the over-40 physical specimens out there who pride themselves on beating up their younger training partners, Stephen cautions that eventually time catches up to all of us; all the more reason to adopt “best practices” in training now so you never rely on physicality.) In his new ebook, The 3 Biggest Mistakes 40+ Grapplers Make in Their Training – And How To Fix Them Fast, instead of focusing on a particular area of Jiu-Jitsu or series of techniques, he focuses on something even more essential… how to develop your technique faster and how to avoid the most common “traps” most BJJ students fall into that slow down their skill development (and can even lead them to quit). Here’s a quick look at these key points: 1. Getting Caught Up In Accumulation & Complexity – think this is just a sermon about “stick with the basics”? Think again! In fact, Stephen makes a clear distinction between “basic technique” and “fundamentals,” and why it is important to devote training time specifically to developing what he calls position fluency and core fundamentals before jumping into specific techniques. Giving an example of one of his own successful “older” students who applied this methodology, he shows you the process of “defining your routes.” There’s also a very cool attack he shows to illustrate this called the “Arm Smash to Kimura.” 2. Don’t Be A Copycat! – Although there are times it makes sense to model your game – or parts of your game – after someone else, Stephen shows why most of the time it’s a huge mistake that can actually sabotage your progress. This chapter goes hand-in-hand with the first because so many students and athletes wind up being “technique chasers” (accumulation) because they want to emulate an instructor, fellow student, or big name competitor. 3. The last part is about Better Training Methods. Very good advice in here for anyone really, but in this section he goes into how training should be prioritized, including implementation advice, and why those fundamentals discussed earlier actually give you the flexibility to develop a style best suited to your body and way of thinking. He even talks about what to do if you’re training without an instructor or if your school’s training format doesn’t allow for this approach. As a really nice bonus, Stephen also sends out several video tutorials as companion pieces to the book. Each hits on a different aspect of the game, but all are examples of concepts and principles that could easily be applied to other parts of your BJJ game: -How to use what he terms “conceptual frameworks” to more deeply understand and build skill in a given area of Jiu-Jitsu (not just a beginner concept, either; it applies to all levels). -Developing “triggers” to improve your transitions and timing as well as make your technical combinations more effective. -And how to really lock down an opponent from top – even a younger, faster, heavier or stronger opponent – by simply shutting down half of his options and then tightening the screws to go for the submission. And did I mention that he’s giving it away for free? Not a bad deal for some great information from a coach with a lot to offer. To get your copy, visit https://paw89218.isrefer.com/go/40pbook/MSWN/ You’ll be glad you did.