u/Poofyleek0510

What are the best must have tools for low voltage work that saves you a lot of time and that you can’t live without?

Right now, I only have the basic tools, like a drill, impact, and screwdrivers, and I’m looking to expand my tool collection

I’m looking for everything from obvious essentials to random niche tools, such as longer punch down tool blades, cable combs, right angle drills, claw grabbers, and anything else that makes the job more smooth

I do residential, industrial, construction, commercial and all that fun stuff so I’m just looking for tools to make my life easier

For each tool pls explain what it does and how it helps you🙏🏽🙏🏽

I wanna study the knee cut guard pass more and get as good as I possibly can at using the pass. I was wondering if anyone has any material they’d recommend I check out to get better at the pass and really dive deep into it

I’m on the lighter side, around 138 lbs, and I compete at 141 lbs. I’ve been working on my top game for a while now, and I’ve really been enjoying the passing aspect of it. Now I feel like it’s time to start focusing more on my side control and mount, so this instructional caught my attention since it covers both positions.

The only thing is that I train exclusively in the gi. I’m not too worried about that, though, because I feel like most of the concepts can be adapted to the gi, and I tend to learn more from the concepts than from copying techniques exactly.

With that in mind, would you recommend this instructional for someone like me a lighter, gi only grappler competing at 141 lbs? Or do you think there are better alternatives if I’m looking to take a really deep dive into top positions, especially side control and mount?

Please let me know your opinion and why you think this instructional can be a good purchase🙏🏽.

I’m starting to put a serious focus on my guard passing, and I want to build my game around outside passing in the gi.

I’m open to learning specific techniques, but I’m more interested in understanding the concepts behind passing. If you were teaching someone from scratch, what would you focus on first? Things like grip fighting, making your opponent uncomfortable, forcing predictable reactions, creating passing opportunities, and understanding how passing actually works.

What concepts, principles, and habits do you think are the foundation of a great outside passing system?

I’m a light weight blue belt who’s always been a guard player, so I haven’t put nearly as much time into developing my top game until recently. While doing that, I’ve noticed what seems like two different philosophies of pinning that people have explained/ taught to me (I could be wrong but this is what I’ve been taught)

Heavy pinning: Establish a strong side control, mount, etc. Apply constant pressure, and make it nearly impossible for the bottom player to create space to frame or escape.

Dynamic pinning: Constantly transitioning between positions such as side control, north-south, knee on belly, mount, back takes, etc. staying one step ahead of the bottom player’s reactions rather than holding one position for a long time.

My home gym teaches a very pressure oriented style. My coach is only about 153 lbs, but his side control feels crushing. Even the bigger guys say he feels like he weighs 300 pounds. He rarely moves unless there’s a reason to.

Recently I cross trained at another gym where the coach teaches a much more dynamic style. The upper belts were constantly switching pins, pinning arms, stacking me, using grips on the gi pants to attack and generally making everything feel a bit overwhelming.

So my questions are:

What are the biggest pros and cons of heavy pinning vs dynamic pinning?

Is one style generally better for lighter grapplers, or does it just come down to preference?

Are they actually two different philosophies, or are the best top players just blending both depending on the situation?

Which style do you personally prefer, and why?
I’d love to hear from people with strong top games, especially those who have experience with both approaches.

I’ve been training gi BJJ for around 3.5 years and have only ever done no-gi once. That was because I accidentally signed up for a no-gi division at a competition.

My main question is whether I should approach no gi the same way I approach gi, or if I should build a completely different game.

In the gi, I rely heavily on grips and use the gi in almost everything I do. Because of that, I’m not sure if I should focus on adapting my gi game to no-gi by replacing gi grips with appropriate no-gi controls, or if it’s better to develop an entirely separate style.

Part of me wants to make my no-gi game more leg lock focused since that’s a big part of what we train in no-gi. When I competed, I honestly felt completely lost. The only reason I won was because I practice leg locks in the gi and was able to finish one heel hook, two ankle locks, and a toe hold. I also realized I had a lot of fun hunting for the legs.

So now I’m trying to figure out the best long term approach. Should I try to keep my gi and no-gi games as similar as possible, making adjustments where necessary, or should I treat them as two different games and build separate systems for each?
I’d love to hear how people who train both approach this

Everyone at my gym keeps telling me to learn half guard, and I’ve been putting it off for a while because I’ve been focused on other parts of my game. After getting smashed today during situational sparring from half guard, I think it’s finally time to give it some love.

I’m a guard player who competes at 141 lbs, and I’m usually taller than most of my opponents, so I like using my length to my advantage when playing guard. I’ve always kind of ignored half guard and mainly used it as a way to recover back to closed guard or stall with a knee shield. But whenever a higher belt or heavier opponent passes my guard, I end up in half guard probably 80% of the time. At this point, it feels like it’s worth actually developing a real half guard game.

I know there are a lot of different styles of half guard, like knee shield, deep half, and underhook half guard, and I know they can lead into a lot of different areas like sweeps, back takes, wrestle-ups, guard retention, leg entries, etc. (I might not have everything 100% correct, so feel free to correct me.)
For someone with my body type and style of grappling, what half guard systems would you recommend investing the most time into, and why? I’d love to hear from all the nasty half guard players out there.

For some extra context, my game is heavily focused around back takes, bolos, and crab rides. I also really love leg locks and entering the saddle. I’m not sure how much this information helps, but I figured it’s better to give more context so people can point me in the right direction.

I’m one of those people who only trains in the gi, but my coach is adding a mandatory no gi class after our gi classes. I’ve always just worn a compression shirt and basketball shorts whenever I’ve done gi, but he said I need to wear an actual rashguard and proper grappling shorts instead of regular gym clothes. Does anyone have recommendations for some good rashguards and shorts that’re cheap?

So my BJJ coach doesn’t really help me when I ask for it, and it’s gotten to the point where I’m wondering if it’s because I didn’t build the game he wanted me to.

I’ve built my game around collar and sleeve and DLR, focusing on berimbolos, back takes, sweeps, and controlling positions until I can find a submission. There have been a lot of times where I’ve asked him questions after rolling, either with him or someone else, and he’d kind of brush me off or act busy. Because of that, I’ve had to learn almost everything from our other higher belts or online instructionals, even though I know he has the knowledge to help me.

For the past two years, he’s been trying to get me to play spider and lasso guard. I understand learning different guards is part of BJJ, but spider guard has never clicked for me. It always felt awkward, while collar and sleeve and DLR felt natural almost immediately. I stuck with those guards, developed them into the strongest parts of my game, and I’ve had good success with them in tournaments.

The problem is that whenever I lose, he almost always tells me I should’ve played spider guard instead and that it would’ve prevented whatever happened. I understand he’s trying to help, but after hearing that over and over, it’s getting frustrating. Whenever I tell him I’d rather keep improving my collar and sleeve or DLR, he just brushes it off.

What really makes me question things is that if I ask him about lasso guard, he’ll usually help me. But if I ask about the game I actually want to build, he doesn’t seem to care and doesn’t help. That’s what makes me wonder if he’s upset that I don’t listen to him and build my game around spider guard.

I could be completely wrong, but it honestly feels like because I chose a different style than the one he wanted me to play, he’s stopped putting effort into helping me improve. It almost feels like he’s being petty or trying to punish me for not following his advice.

At this point I’m genuinely considering switching gyms because I don’t feel like I’m getting the coaching I need. Am I overreacting, or am I valid for feeling like this?

I’m a 135 lb blue belt and I’ve been working on my berimbolos for about a year. I can hit them pretty consistently in training and have had success with them in competition.

A lot of people at my gym tell me I should start learning crab rides, but I’m not really sure where they fit into my game. Most of the time when I bolo, I either get to the back or lose the position entirely, so I don’t feel like I end up in crab ride situations very often.

For those of you who play a lot of berimbolo/crab ride, when did you realize it was time to start learning crab rides? What problems did they solve for you?

Also, when do you typically transition from a berimbolo to a crab ride? Is it something I should be actively trying to force, or does it naturally become a position that opens up when people try to defend a bolo?

Any advice is appreciated 😭🙏🏽

I’m 19 and have been doing low voltage work, mainly with data cabling and fiber, for about two years. The area I struggle with most is closets. Whenever I walk into an IDF and see cables bundled everywhere, I get overwhelmed and don’t know where to start when it comes to dressing everything and making it look clean and organized.

I work for a very small company, and during my first year I mostly pulled cable while someone else handled the closets. I’ve recently learned how to do fiber as well, which I actually enjoy, but closets are still the one thing I can’t seem to get the hang of, despite getting exposure to a little bit of everything.

I’m looking for advice from people with more experience. When you walk into a closet full of cables, what’s your process? How do you approach organizing, separating, and dressing everything so it ends up looking clean, professional?

Any tips, videos, or common mistakes to avoid would be greatly appreciated.🙏🏽🙏🏽

I’m looking into buying a 2015 Honda Civic EX automatic and was wondering how reliable these cars are long term. For owners or mechanics, what common problems or maintenance issues should I expect, and what should I specifically look out for before buying one?

Would you recommend buying one from a dealership or through Facebook Marketplace? Also, if I go check one out in person, what are the biggest red flags or things I should inspect before buying?

Sorry for all the questions 😭I’m very new to buying cars and just trying to learn and avoid making a bad purchase for my first car.

As the title says, I’m looking to buy a Honda Civic as a first car. My girlfriend has a 2007 Honda Civic with 270k miles on it, and that thing is bulletproof and still drives well with very few issues. After driving her car to LA and back (which was 8 hours to get there and 8 hours to get back), I decided I wanted a Honda Civic. 😂 They also look super cool modded, and I plan on maybe tuning my Civic up a bit when I get one. I was looking at 2015’s, 2014’s and 2011’s I heard those ones are super good and reliable

With just straight cash my budget is 8k if I can finance it I’ll spend much more. I wanna get at least 5-6 years out of the car if I can tho