Mikey Musumeci is one of the greatest gi grapplers of his generation and the multiple-time IBJJF world champion is known for his mastery of the straight ankle lock, berimbolos, and his phenomenal collar grips. In a recent video, Musumeci has taken the time to explain one of the smallest details imaginable that he makes great use of when he takes any collar grip, and it makes his grip significantly harder to break. It’s an incredibly versatile concept because it’s something that people can bear in mind when working from a wide variety of different guards. Not only can it be used in close-range guards like Closed guard or Butterfly, but it can be incredibly useful in longer-range guards like De La Riva or one of John Danaher’s personal favourites, Collar and Sleeve.
Musumeci is most definitely a grappler that’s worth listening to, no matter what input he’s trying to give. Not only is he one of the few men on the planet who’ve managed to win the IBJJF world championships several times over, but he’s also the world record holder for the fastest submission in an adult black belt finals match. He’s achieved so much in the world of BJJ in the gi that he’s even decided to diversify recently and develop his heelhook proficiency as well. This has led to Musumeci becoming even more of a well-rounded grappler than he was already and has no doubt contributed to his ability to conquer the ONE Championship Flyweight division as the promotion’s first world champion.
The detail that Musumeci offers is very simple and it’s something that anybody can start adding to their game virtually immediately. All Musumeci shows is that he tilts his wrist at a specific angle in order to spread the tension of the grip across his entire hand, including the use of every finger and his thumb, which makes it a much stronger grip as a result.
The video where Mikey Musumeci explains the intricate details behind keeping collar grips was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of BJJ Fanatics:
