I heard the podcast “A Fistful of Collars” with Keenan Cornelius the other day.

I’ve had the opportunity to compete against Keenan twice in my jiujitsu career. Both times I felt he was very calculated and systematic in our match. His efficient use of energy is very practical and I noticed he was figuring me out as we settled into positions. These types of players are fun to be matched up with because you feel like you are in a chess match, laying out the board and figuring out your opponent.

This was a nice opportunity to gain some insight into Keenan’s thoughts on competition and training strategies. I thought it was very fun to hear his take on the current progression of nogi jiujitsu and submission grappling. Keenan talks about the conundrum of nogi jiujitsu as it has entered into a different game of wrestling and leg attacks. When comparing gi and nogi jiujitsu, Keenan talks about an implosion of nogi jiujitsu. The big flaw Keenan cites with the nogi game is how easy it is to avoid leg submission and disengage when you are on top. A good example Keenan cites from the 2019 NoGi World Championships are the two matches between Yuri Simoes and Gordon Ryan. While Yuri feel into Gordon’s strategy in their earlier match, getting his leg tangled up to lose the sweep. Yuri made simple technical adjustments in their second match of the tournament which resulted in shutting down Gordon’s guard game unlike the previous match.

There are other good points of conversation in this jiujitsu podcast. I highly recommend it to everyone!