Everything begins with grip: In all the grappling arts, every engagement, whether in training or competition, begins with grip. When I first grapple a stranger I can tell in the first few seconds all I need to know about his skill level by the manner in which he grips me. Sadly, gripping is usually taught as an attribute rather than a skill. It is usually understood in terms of strength and so usually trained in the same way. Most people think that increasing the strength of their grip will improve their gripping. Whilst this may have some small benefit, it will be insignificant compared with the gains possible by training it as a skill. Precise placement allied with a tactical sense of what you wish to achieve with the grip you are fighting for is the backbone of gripping skill. Often visitors to the academy are shocked at the gripping skills of my best students and claim they are extraordinarily strong, then when they see those same students do strength training they are shocked to see they have very modest strength. They failed to see the technical precision which creates the illusion of great strength. Here Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon go over gripping drills in standing position just prior to EBI 8
