John Smith's Set-ups & Tie-ups: Being Effective from Your Feet

If there was one tie-up Oklahoma State Wrestlers are known for, it would have to be elbow control. This DVD is basically a systematic breakdown of elbow control. No matter what the situation, John Smith always finds a way to get to the elbow and execute some type of an offence from it. He also goes through a series on how to clear collar ties which will come in handy for high school wrestlers and coaches, as everyone seems to love grabbing onto the head at that level.

There are a lot of instructional material out there on underhooks and inside ties, if you're hoping to get a series on either of those two ties this DVD isn't for you. Conversely there are not ANY DVDs I can think of at the top of my head that goes through elbow control in such detail as this one, if offense from elbow control is what you want to learn, then this is the perfect DVD.

This is another great John Smith DVD.

1) I'd say about 60% of the DVD is dedicated to elbow/outside control. This part is extremely detailed and very, very good. He shows many, many setups if the guy is on your head, or if he has inside control. I'd like to have seen a little bit more about what he thinks to do if you can't get inside control with the other arm, though.

2) Covers a little bit about inside control, although not too much. Adds some stuff with inside control + wrist as well.

3) He covers defending overhooks and defending 2-on-1s as well, in a short but very detailed and useful section.

Overall: Another great Smith DVD. This is mostly an elbow control DVD, with a few moves from inside control, and defending and against underhooks and russians thrown in. I'd love to see a little more about his hand-fighting philosophy and some drills for that. It'd also be great to someday get a comprehensive set-up DVD or series of DVDs - covering all the positions - outside, inside, wrists, 2-on-1, baseball bat, overhooks, underhooks, etc.

Great technique here, very detailed. This probably won't help you tremendously if you're learning to wrestle for MMA (though it could, if you aren't afraid of slipping punches and getting in tight), but for those of you looking to find ways to get in on take downs or set-up your opponent for whatever it is you have in mind, this DVD will certainly benefit you.

This DVD might have been over my head. I'm not saying it isn't good, I just didn't gain much from it. Again, it might just be it was over my head in terms of the level.

I have a bunch of Smith's DVD's and I love them. However this is my least favorite.

This is a great DVD if you want to learn setups. He doesn't show underhooks or banging on the head. Smith says the elbow tie is the hardest to learn but the best to use. Most of the technique is from an elbow. He shows multiple setups and how to use them for single, double, low singles.
Smith shows more setups than any other tape I've seen and it has the usual John Smith detail.

This is a great DVD. John isnt a big fan of pulling on the head and such so he doesnt cover that much. But he covers inside control, elbow control, and counters.