Guard Pulling is not a problem!

[@HumanOpinions-bz9ky]

Guard pulling is sometimes a great strategy. Why spend tons of energy with a takedown if you are deadly in the guard and can immediately put the guy in danger of a submission. PLUS ... some people forget how impressive guard fighting is. When I watched Royce Gracie pull Keith into guard in the UFC I was AMAZED because Keith was SO MUCH bigger than him and I was like .... "WOW ....... this guy is so confident in his grappling game he is willing to pull a much bigger guy ON TOP OF HIM!" ..... It was unheard of and made America fall in love with Jiu Jitsu.

[@MasonStritzel]

@@HumanOpinions-bz9ky I agree Royce was a great starting example to show what jiu jitsu really can do!

[@chippinicki]

I've been working towards being able to do both. I started as a guard puller. Now I work with wrestlers and judokas to make my game as well rounded as possible. It's helped tremendously. Also, could you talk about how you prepare for your matches, both mentally and physically? Your an amazing competitor, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.

[@MasonStritzel]

@@chippinicki That is great! Glad to see your exposing yourself to both sides of grappling. And yes I can that’s a great topic and I will have that as not my next video but the one after that! Thanks for the comment!

[@romanfalvo4124]

Hey man, I see all of the belts and trophies behind you, they seem like they're from striking competitions. I'm curious, what other martial arts have you competed in?

[@MasonStritzel]

When I was younger I competed in taekwondo and then I went on to compete in kickboxing and recently I won a youth mma national title but 98% of it is jiu jitsu

[@dirtygeazer9266]

It's tough bc everyone says the best base for MMA is wrestling 2nd by BJJ it's difficult to convince myself some BJJ stuff is worth it like I might have a unique opinion probably not but your guard is just there if you can't stand up you have your sweeps then you have your bottom submissions idk if it's worth to invest in subs in bottom when if you put time into sweeps and stand ups you'd not win but tire them out more I do value leg locks though if you are going to sub on the ground leg locks

[@MasonStritzel]

I am more talking about strictly jiu jitsu but in MMA think of Charles Oliveira he has the most subs in the ufc and is one of the best lightweights ever and a lot of his subs come from his back!

[@Grappling_Teamster]

I look at it pretty simply… Guard pulling is part of Sports Jiu Jitsu. You know not to pull guard in a self defense situation, because you’re training in a program that understands that. Now I’m a little spoiled in the fact that I’ve trained with you and also know the people you are training with. Your Professors are some of the best in the world. For both competition and self defense. You have an extremely active guard. You don’t pull and wait. You work for submissions from initial contact. I know I’ve tapped to you a bunch 🤣🤣

[@MasonStritzel]

@@Grappling_Teamster Thank you! And yes that’s the one thing I try to get everyone to understand!

[@starveandwork2]

strategy is everything, why would I wrestle with a world class wrestler in a BJJ match and basically give up a free two points? I'm gonna pull and try to sweep/sub

[@knyghtkrawlr]

Hey mason, just randomly came across your channel. We've competed together. Hope you're doing well

[@MasonStritzel]

@@knyghtkrawlr Thank you! You too!