In part 1 I went over the stats in 2021, but now I want to talk about trends this year. Let's take a look at what specific techniques were used this year that weren't seen often 2 or 3 years ago. Of course there was still the classic grappling you always see, but this year there were a few things that people changed. There seems to be 2 factors that influenced this rapid change. The first being the change in rules for IBJJF no-gi competitions and the rise of professional grappling. The second factor is the quarantine rules that limited training for many competitors. During the quarantine period many people spent their time working on new areas of their grappling. In some cases it was very apparent that they've added new things to their game and it has really helped some people bring their game to the next level. Let's take a look at some of these new trends.
This sparring session was better than 95% of the matches I've seen.
Technique Trends
There have been a number of changes to no-gi since the last ADCC event in terms of the techniques used. During the quarantine period many people have worked on new things and we are starting to see some new sides to people's games. This might have been a blessing in disguise for some that allowed them to expand their game into new areas and plug up holes they had been putting off fixing. Anyway, let's get into it The links below will take you directly to examples of the technique.
Leglocks
Leglocks are also being more widely practiced and are becoming less of a niche and more of a normal part of the game. Not only heelhooks, but kneebars, ankle locks, etc. are being seen in high level competition. It seems lots people have picked up Lachlan Giles' DVD because many people have been using his K-guard entry into 50/50. Also be on the look out for more ankle locks and false reap entries to heel hooks in the near future. in the Here are some examples of the leglocks from 2021.
Bodylock Passing
The tides are turning and it looked like the top players were edging ahead of guard players a bit this year. One of their passes of choice was the bodylock pass. This has become all the rage in no-gi passing. For years now people have been looking for a pass that works in no-gi and keeps you safe from leg locks. The bodylock pass might be the answer. It offers great control and a way to slowly grind your opponents out with pressure.
Wrestling
Pinning
Chokes
The Winds of Change
We have seen quite a few new techniques starting to be used and I think we might be on the verge of a shift in the way people play no-gi grappling. I've seen more and more people using leg stomp passing(not to the same effectiveness as the Ruotolos though), and bodylocks. These are relatively new now, but may become commonplace in a few years. Leglocks and wrestling don't seem optional anymore. A lack of skill in these areas is costing many competitors wins and many people who are thought of as guard pullers have started practicing their stand up. On top of that people you'd never think of as leg lockers, such as Tim Spriggs, are going after people's feet.
Overall there seems to be a change in attitude around no-gi. There are quite a few people saying they're training only no-gi or mostly no-gi. Gone are the days of taking off the gi 2 weeks away from ADCC. People are training seriously for ADCC and doing no-gi regularly instead of as an after-thought they do when they have some extra time. I don't know how this will effect the hobbyists, but it has definitely had a big effect on the pros. This shift seems to have mostly been driven by promotions who seem to prefer no-gi matches. Professional grappling is seemingly becoming more popular and it has been mostly no-gi driven.
Also, so many new grappling events aren't using points. Personally I like points, but I have to admit these new "no point" rules are producing good matches. However this maybe due to their competitor selection rather than the rules themselves. The Ruotolos for example, have had amazingly entertaining matches in almost every rule set this year.
Changing of the Guard
Not only have techniques changed over the last few years, but this year I feel like it has been a coming out party for quite a few competitors on the no-gi scene. Many of them are young such as the Ruotolos, Mica Galvao, Cole Abate, etc. Others such as Andrew Wiltse and Jacob Couch are just starting to make names for themselves. Mikey Mucumeci has one of the most respected names in the IBJJF circuit, but this year he has dove into no-gi and had a lot of success. The names people have been talking about this year are largely different from who was popular before 2020.
Time will tell if this is just because some of the older names haven't been able to compete or if the young guns have succeeded in pushing them out. I was a bit skeptical of all of these newer people, but they each made me a believer in their skills and talent. I thought the Ruotolos needed a few more years before they could compete against the best, but in retrospect it was more like a few months. They've looked dominant this whole year and their only losses are to people outside of their weight class. Mica Galvao has also looked almost unstoppable with quite a few good wins. I thought Cole Abate was too young to compete at the top level, but his dominant ADCC trials performance let the world know he's ready to go against anyone. Mikey I was a little more confident about, but I thought he might have trouble with heel hooks. It turns out other people had problems with his leglocks instead.
I guess we will see how this turns out, but right now it looks like the submission grappling era might be changing. Every few years something happens that completely changes how people approach no-gi grappling and 2021 might have been one of those years. Hopefully this is just the beginning and this new more exciting submission oriented no-gi BJJ continues and pushes the sport to new places.
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