Craig Jones has put together a unique instructional entitled Power Ride, and we’ve gone through the content to write a full review. Jones is one of the more prolific instructors in the BJJ world but this specific release contains concepts and techniques that very few grapplers have covered elsewhere. That’s because Power Ride is where Jones focuses primarily on other ways of controlling and pinning an opponent outside of traditional BJJ techniques. Where other competitors will teach how to pass the guard and score points in line with the most common Jiu-Jitsu rulesets, Jones instead looks at the best ways to limit an opponent’s movement and offense.
Click here to purchase Craig Jones: Power Ride instructional on BJJ Fanatics.
Craig Jones: Power Ride Review
Power Ride is split into a total of 6 volumes, where Craig Jones spends over three and a half hours blending wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu into a complete approach to top control. This instructional encourages anyone watching it to rethink the way that they actually move and what they do to win matches. The very first volume actually breaks down why Jones is advocating for a different approach, and he explains why this works so well too. How people move and where their ability to generate power comes from are actually very useful to keep in mind as general concepts when grappling.
Controlling Opponents
This is the main focus of the instructional and Jones spends two whole sections covering pretty small changes that will massively improve your ability to limit an opponent’s movement. The two sections are split into lower-body and upper-body control and learning both aspects of this will immediately allow someone to become a formidable grappler from the top position. Both borrow heavily from wrestling, where there’s much more attention paid to the small details of pinning an opponent rather than chasing specific positions. There’s no magic technique or sequence here, it’s all about different grips and body-positioning that combines to prevent an opponent from turning or getting up.
The lower-body section introduces concepts that aren’t used in BJJ all that much, like splitting and riding an opponent’s legs or using a turk to shut them down. The upper-body section is slightly longer and Jones goes through grips that are just as easy to incorporate into your game as the lower-body section. Some will be more familiar than others, like the Dagestani handcuff and Half-nelson; both of which are used pretty often in MMA. Jones finishes both sections off by breaking down rear-mount control and hierarchy, a position that could easily be described as the most dominant in grappling.
Turtle
Craig Jones then moves on to look at turtle in the next section of Power Ride, the next logical step after learning to control an opponent from top position. The goal of the first three sections is to learn how to go from passing guard to pinning an opponent, but one of the most common scenarios encountered in BJJ is turtling. This is very common under most rulesets as it usually denies your ability to score points for passing, and it increases the opponent’s ability to stand up. Many BJJ competitors would try to take the back immediately in this situation but Jones actually demonstrates a slightly different approach.
Rather than trying to take an opponent’s back while they’re kneeling, Jones instead links his methods of attacking turtle back to the start of the instructional. He shows how to use the diagonal and spiral ride to keep an opponent stuck in turtle before breaking them down, along with plenty of other techniques. Jones goes through a few different methods but they are all done in search of the same goal, which is putting the opponent flat on their stomach and taking up rear-mount control. By this point, anyone following this instructional has a complete system to force an opponent into that situation once they’ve passed guard.
Other Pins
Although Craig Jones has made it clear throughout the course of Power Ride that he thinks side control is overrated, he still spends some time looking at this too. His focus here is how to transition from side control in to the methods of pinning and riding the legs that he’s taught earlier on. He then moves on to looking at mount in a similar fashion as well, explaining how to flow from mount into pinning and riding the legs when an opponent tries to escape. This links back in to the earlier sections too, as it leads directly into controlling the opponent and forcing them into rear-mount again.
Jones goes through the same approach for both knee-on belly and traditional back control too, demonstrating how to enter the pinning system he uses when your opponent escapes from anywhere. Jones also takes things back a step at the end of this section, by showing how you can enter that pinning system to begin with. Jones covers three of the most common passing styles here; the leg drag, smash passing, and bodylock passing. He shows how to move from those passing situations immediately into his pinning system, along with adding in another entry from the dope mount position as well.
Submissions
The final section of Power Ride is where Craig Jones demonstrates the ultimate goal of his pinning system. The main difference between BJJ and wrestling is that the two sports have different natural end-points, and submission is the only way to finish a BJJ match early. Jones starts with the arm-triangle choke and because of the way his pinning system works, this is also the submission that will be used the most. By constantly looking to turn opponent’s over to their stomach, it naturally opens up opportunities for arm-triangle chokes. Jones then moves on to options for when that first line of attack fails for one reason or another.
Jones demonstrates a pair of strong submissions from rear-mount control, which is the rear arm-in Ezekiel choke and the belly-down rear-naked choke. These are two submissions that aren’t taught all that often but they will become more available for someone using Jones’ pinning system. Jones also goes through a pair of entries into the D’arce choke from his system as well, along with a very strong pathway to kimuras as well. Collectively these submissions work together to give you the ability to be a constant threat and work towards a patient finish, all while effectively controlling and pinning an opponent.
Craig Jones: Power Ride Conclusion
Although Craig Jones does have several different instructionals available, Power Ride is one of his best. He has created a whole system of pinning and controlling an opponent from the top that borrows the best elements of wrestling and adapts them for use in BJJ. Beginners will find it useful to have a simplified and conceptual approach to being on top, while more advanced practitioners should get good use out of the unique approach to that aspect of the sport. Everyone can learn something here, and even experienced wrestlers will probably benefit from the ability to quickly adapt what they do to deal with unique Jiu-Jitsu threats and incorporate submissions along the way.
Click here to purchase Craig Jones: Power Ride instructional on BJJ Fanatics.
