Still Suck At BJJ

Devolution Of My Game

2011-10-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

So lately one of my purple belt training partners has been telling me that my game just keeps devolving. He is not saying that it's getting worse, just saying that I'm starting to resort to things that aren't considered real techniques. For example, it's common to place a forearm on the neck to pin your opponent, try and improve position, etc... I use it and attempt to get a tap from it or put as much pressure as I can to force my opponent to move otherwise he/she would HAVE to tap. I have always done uncomfortable things to my training partners to try and see what works and doesn't work in terms of setups. Just like in wrestling, setups are so important to the success of a technique. So while some of my training partners think I'm just being a jerk by doing things like putting the point of my elbow on their face, I'm actually using that to create an opportunity to attack.

It's funny, one of my friends went to a seminar with Marcelo Garcia a couple years ago and said that Marcelo was one of the roughest guys he has ever rolled against. That not only was he technically amazing (my friend at the time was a 1 or 2 stripe black belt, no slouch), but also he would do things that just hurt in order to improve his position, attack for submissions, etc... He was very astute on elbow on face, forearm in the throat, even a thumb in the armpit. He would use one of these various "dirty" techniques and within a second he would have a submission locked up. I believe there is a tremendous amount of untapped value in "dirty techniques" like this and it is only a matter of time before more people figure out the potential it carries.

I used to do all sorts of "mean" or "dirty" moves when I wrestled, and it wasn't until I had a buddy of mine do a seminar for my BJJ club at school where I began to see that there were a myriad of other "dirty" moves I could do and see how applicable they are for BJJ as well. David Jacobs showed that a little elbow to the ribs was a fantastic way of attacking a kimura. I loved it then, have used it in competition, and later found out that many people used that same move. People get so caught up on the idea of wanting to be extremely "technically sound", they want to mimic their "bjj heroes" and complain when they get tapped because their opponent did a "dirty" move like a chin to the temple to open their neck. I can guarantee that a lot of the top guys, multiple time world champs are guilty of using "dirty" moves regularly, it's just impossible to tell by watching a video, the art of these moves is about being subtle so the ref can't see what happened, do a move just hard enough, quick enough to accomplish your technical objective whether it's a pass, sweep, submission or whatnot.

Don't close your mind to things you possibly morally object to when it comes to training. I'm not the type of guy that's going to do knee on face to my training partners, I'm not that big of a jerk, but an extra tough forearm on the neck to get that pass is something I'm not opposed to. You need to at least expose yourself to this side of BJJ otherwise you are limiting your overall potential.

Technique is Alive

2011-10-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

So I've been asked a few times why I don't do what most every other bjj blog does and post videos demonstrating technique. The simple answer is that by the time I finish a video, edit it, write an explanation, and post it online, I'll be doing the technique differently than what I demonstrated. BJJ remains stagnant when people are too stubborn to allow techniques to evolve. I believe that techniques are like living organisms, forever changing. The more you develop your game and understand when to use a technique the more ways you see to perform the technique and refine how you do it. There are very few if any techniques at all that I do the same way now as I did a year ago. If you are not doing things differently, then you are not evolving. If you hold onto every word that an instructor says and believe it to be written in stone, you inhibit your growth. So many schools that I have visited I have heard an instructor say "you must never do " when there are times when you can. I always tell my students about what works for me, I never try to use absolute words like "always" and "never" because there can be times that disprove the "always" or "never". Realize that your techniques are alive, the more attention you give to them the more you will cultivate them, refine them, and change them to make them more efficient. I'm not saying that a move will look different when you perform it, to somebody watching it might look like you didn't do anything differently, when in actuality, you found a new place to push off of, or a different angle of attack, something very subtle that makes vast improvements in the execution. Keep an open mind.

Don't Wait! Tournaments

2011-09-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I was coaching some of my students this weekend and some things that need to be emphasized. When the referee stops the action and resets you, you have to be careful and be ready. First off, do not let the referee restart you with different grips than you had before. If you had a lapel grip and the referee tries to make you grab his sleeve, don't let him. Or if your opponent tries to get a grip he didn't have don't let him, do not engage until the proper grips are established. Get the grips you had, do not let the referee dictate. Second off, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, when the referee says "go" you need to GO. Don't wait like it's training at the school where you slap hands and just slowly go. When the referee says "go" you have a split second opportunity where your opponent may not be 100% ready for an explosive move, you need to take advantage of that. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a "controlled fight" and needs to be treated as such. If you want a good idea of what I mean, watch from NCAA wrestling videos, look how fast, hard, and explosive the wrestlers move when the referee blows the whistle (top and bottom position). That same mindset needs to be implemented in BJJ.

Keep An Open Mind

2011-08-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have trained at so many places that I have heard it all (in a sense). A lot of instructors like to use absolutes, the most common one that people hear is "never cross your legs when doing an armbar." Statements like these are not only wrong but inhibit growth among students. I rarely tell my students that they should never do something. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is extremely open ended, people are constantly finding new ways to do things that shatter the old ideas. I encourage my students to continue to do techniques that they have success with (unless it could be detrimental to their development). Here is a list of techniques your instructor has probably told you to never or always do which you can actually go against the grain:

1. (stated earlier) Never cross your legs when doing an armbar - I found out it's almost always better to cross your legs doing an armbar.
2. Never try to sub your opponent from inside their closed guard - I was submitted from inside my closed guard when I was a purple belt by a black belt of my own size.
3. Never cross your ankles when you have somebody's back - It should be never cross your ankles low enough to get footlocked when you have somebody's back. I've been crossing my ankles a lot these days with a great amount of success.
4. Never have 1 arm in/1 arm out inside your opponent's guard - It can be seen as playing with fire, but if you have a lot of posture and really explode one of those legs over your body you can get away with that pass.
5. Always fight for the underhook when in half-guard for both top and bottom - There are quite a few ways to pass without the underhook that are highly successful, and there are also a lot of great sweeps you can do without the underhook, hell even with an overhook there are a lot of options.
6. Always break your opponent down when they are in your guard - I believe one of the most overlooked portions of a guard game is pushing your opponent away to off-balance them, to get back to your feet, or to even sweep.
7. Never fall to the side where the arm is over your shoulder when your opponent has taken your back - Not true, a lot of great competitors escape from that position. I know of one that is excellent and somewhat sneaky.

These are just a few to think about. Restricting your game just because somebody says so may not always be the best thing. Don't be afraid to be creative.

Break Some Bad Habits

2011-07-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

When you first start rolling in BJJ, you quickly find moves that work against other novice guys like yourself and add them to your arsenal. While they may give you a sense of accomplishment, they are actual detrimental to your growth if you hold onto them and give them worth. Here are a few moves that should be removed from your library of moves if you wish to increase your rate of improvement.

#1. The run around. You learn the pass where your grab the pants of your opponent's at the knees then run around your opponent (it's what white belts and even some blue belts believe the Toreando pass to be). The only part you really remember is running around, sometimes you grab something, but the faster you run the more guards you pass. I see this all the time, even at the blue belt level. Unfortunately it's very effective against beginners, but advanced guys will easily follow and counter. Learn how to properly do the Toreando pass and remove the running out of your repertoire.

#2. The bench press escape. This is one that people who are strong and spend lots of time in the gym working their pecs have a lot of success with. It works great at lower levels because novices haven't developed the skills on where and how to put their weight down, or how to move against resistance. What it is is just a waste of energy. Trash it.

#3. On the knees dogfight. I see so many guys fighting so hard from the knees for position, both guys look like they want to be on top. The afterward, ask higher belts for techniques from the knees to get on top. That's just silly, you have to learn how to play guard. If you are DEADSET on working on top ask your training partner if you can work on your top game. Stop wasting time training in a deadlock on your knees.

#4. Submissions on top from inside the guard. I can't say there aren't submissions you can do, but in general they are low percentage, and new guys to the game are not going to be pulling them off. Going for key locks or collar chokes in your opponent's guard puts you in some very bad positions, when you get to purple or brown belt level, then you can start playing around with some.

#5. Tapping to exhaustion. Unless you're about to puke, don't tap from being tired. Roll until there's a tap, whether you get submitted or you submit your opponent. When you've got no gas left, all you have left to rely on is technique. When I used to teach a club class at my university, we would have days where we would roll until we all tapped out. I was the instructor, I had at least 2-3 years of experience on everybody, I would just roll and roll until I was dead tired and somebody was able to capitalize on that and catch me. Everybody gets submitted, get over it.

I hope you guys can take these few pieces of advice and break these awful habits and improve your game.

Best Gym Possible

2011-05-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

Whether you're completely inexperienced or you're a seasoned veteran, when looking for a gym you should seek out the best gym possible. The first thing I look at is the instructor. I typically look for the highest ranking instructor in the area, reason being it's usually best to learn from somebody who is the most experienced. However, sometimes there are some very gifted instructors that may not have achieved the black belt level. I recommend trying each school out, especially since most schools offer at least a 1 day free class, sometimes a free week. See how the instructor teaches, see how the students in the class are. It's important to learn their demeanor, are they friendly, are they reserved, are they any good, etc... just some things to look for. For the most part, I've always felt welcome when visiting academies all over the US. People have been friendly, the instruction has been excellent, and the environment is great. Another thing to keep an eye out for is whether or not the said instructor of a school actually teaches there. More often than not, schools have senior students teach the white belts while the main instructor teaches the advanced. I find this situation very ideal in that the instructor doesn't burn himself out on teaching everybody, it also gives white belt students a goal to achieve the blue belt in order to be able to take the advanced class with the main instructor.

I have been to academies all over the US and can give anybody advice on places to train based on where I have visited, so if you are interested feel free to pm me and I will give you my input.

I currently live in Boston, MA and train at Florian Martial Arts Center. There are several great academies in the area, but my choice by far is FloMAC. I don't go to this academy simply because UFC fighter Kenny Florian is an instructor or that it's his academy, I go because his brother Keith Florian is the most gifted instructor I have ever come across. I have learned a mount escape from at least 20 other black belt instructors, some of which are world champions, ADCC champions, etc... and none of them have been as simple and effective as Keith's way of escaping. It's not only his attention to detail on how to perform a technique, it's also the efficiency and his way to convey how the technique is done. He make understanding a complex technique very easy. Not to discredit any other instructor I have had, especially if any read this blog, but it just is something to be said of how talented Keith is (Keith don't let your ego get too big). Aside from the instruction, the academy has accumulated some of the best people I know. It truly is like an extended family. So if you're in the Boston area and are looking to start BJJ, change academies, or are visiting I highly recommend coming by the academy to check it out.

Short BJJ Thoughts Outside of Class

2011-02-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

From the casual practitioner to the seasoned veteran competitor, thinking about BJJ should not stop when you leave the academy. Mental practice is extremely beneficial and important for the development in your jiu-jitsu. Nobody goes to train for the sake of just training, everybody trains to get better in some aspect of their life, whether it be for physical health, confidence, self-defense, etc... It's important that the light bulb does not turn off when you leave the school. BJJ for me is many things, one important aspect for me is, if I'm stressed about my day to day life and I need to keep my mind occupied by something else, I just need to think about a position or technique I need work and right away my stresses begin to dissipate. It's a helpful technique, try it out.

I know I've touched on this before, but it seems to tie in here as well. It's the focus about getting belts over learning solid technique. I have seen a trend where people get so focused on obtaining belts that improving technique is no longer an important goal, the belt is. Thinking about the technique when you leave class rather than the belt will allow you to reach that promotion more quickly than worrying about the color of your belt. At the end of the day, the time you put in on the mat AND outside the academy will get you to obtain your goals.

My wrestling coach from high school always said "If you stay, you will be a champion" and I believe that is true for at least my academy and for many others. If you stick around long enough, put in the time and effort, things will pay off. I'm not saying that you will one day be a black belt mundial champion, but you will obtain benefits far beyond what you believed was possible, and that's the "championship" you will obtain.

Mind Games For Competition

2010-11-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a few quick little tips for ways to get inside your opponent's head before the match starts. I like to have some rituals, doing some sort of ritual relaxes me, the worst thing you can do or have happen is be overly nervous before or during a match. If you're super amped up for a match, you will have an adrenaline dump and wonder why you're so tired 30 seconds into the match. You need to learn how to relax. Devise a ritual that calms you, I like to breathe in through my nose and breathe out my mouth, long deep breaths. Have a set way you warm up for a match each and every time. Don't change up your ritual, do the same thing each time. In warming up, I do a little jog in place, but I have a particular rhythm it gets my blood going, gets my body warm, my muscles loose without making my heart race. It's really important to get a sweat going before a match starts. That way you are less likely to have an adrenaline dump due to your heart pumping and endorphins releasing from the warmup. Last off, you need to have a ritual when you step on the mat. When I finally take the mat, I like to walk around the whole competition area. I'll walk right past my opponent, the ref, everything. Just a normal pace claiming my territory. It gives you a sense of confidence that you own the mat and gives your opponent a sense of uneasiness as he/she can see your confidence.

Ego - Bitter/Sweet

2010-10-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

I know this topic has been done to death, but I'll keep beating that dead horse. I've probably scratched the surface in previous posts, but here are my true thoughts on it. I believe it is a necessary evil in terms of one's progression in BJJ. Too much of it will get you hurt, too little will slow your progress. The old saying "leave your ego at the door" is what we say to new guys, but once you've been around I absolutely believe you need to have some.

Why is ego a bad thing in BJJ? If you are so full of yourself and too damn proud to tap to anybody you will get hurt, it is inevitable. No matter how long, how hard, how experienced, how strong, etc... you are or you think you are, if a 1st day white belt or anybody that you believe you are better than you puts you in a submission that you cannot escape you need to tap. It happens to everybody, everybody gets submitted. At the end of the day, you need to put your ego aside and admit to getting caught, admit to not being able to escape. You can grow so much from your mistakes. Getting caught in a submission means you have a hole in your game or you made a mistake. You need to learn why you were put into that position, why you left a hole in your defense and learn how to not make that same mistake again. Having an ego and fighting to the point where something pops is stupid. You could possibly still learn from what you did to get caught in a submission, but you will learn that your first mistake was not tapping. And you will have learned it the hard way. Getting hurt and having to take time off due to not tapping is stupid and unnecessary.

Why is ego a good thing? A little ego is needed to progress your training, I think the correct word would be confidence, but there is a very fine line between the two. Again having too much may make you feel safe in positions you should not feel safe at all and too little will keep your mindset on the defensive. I wouldn't go so far as to think like Rickson Gracie, he once said "I'm afraid of everything," I think that is too extreme, but you do need to know where and when to feel confident. If you have no ego, you will likely be stuck at the same level you are at. Not to say you won't learn anything, but it will make it tougher on you as an individual to push yourself. For example, if you are going to roll with somebody that always beats you and submits you in 1 minute and you believe that it will always be that way, then it probably will. You need to learn how to tell yourself that you are confident enough to survive for 2 minutes! Tell yourself that he/she can't possibly submit you in 1 minute today. If it happens, it happens. However, if you fought hard to avoid getting submitted for 2 minutes then you have broken a barrier of yours and made a step towards your progression in the art. Keep in mind too that BJJ is a two way street, when you push yourself you also push your training partner, your teammate. So when you get better, you also make your training partners better, no matter who submitted who more.

It is difficult to find the right balance of ego when you train. I know I struggle with it from time to time and I've been training for over 8 1/2 years. Just keep in mind that it isn't always a bad thing, but that also too much of it can be a very bad thing.

Supplementing Your Training via Books or Video

2010-05-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

This is a topic I go back and forth with. Obviously NOTHING substitutes a real class with an instructor there to correct your technique. However if you are like me, you are always trying to find ways outside of class that will improve your game. The biggest sources out there for inspiration and knowledge are books and videos. There are probably around 100 or so bjj instructional books (probably more, but ones that you could randomly find at a bookstore). I own a number of them and I would say that a lot of the techniques from the ones I own are great solid techniques. Unfortunately, not all of the techniques are great. Generally the earlier bjj books were better because they focused on the basics, something for the beginner. Each one would have the same sweeps, guardpasses, submissions, etc... one book slightly differing from another. That's not a huge problem, but it is kind of annoying having overlap in technique, the problem lies in the "advanced" sections of these same books where some instructors flourish while others fail. Some of the advanced techniques I learned in books, I still use today, some of them I have never even been able to execute on a 1st day white belt that weighs 30 lbs less than me. There is a lot of garbage technique that can look fancy that some instructors put in books in order to sell more copies. Instead of showing something that is advanced, tried and true, a technique that somebody consistently hits at the highest level, they will show a very obscure sweep that more likely than not throws your opponent over your head so it seems really "cool."

Instructional videos give the illusion that techniques work. They show a technique from a number of different angles and even have variations included due to the way your opponent would defend against the particular technique. Like the books though, you can run into the same issues of learning some bogus techniques. There are guys out there putting out instructional videos on youtube that don't even hold a blue belt. It is absolutely ridiculous. Again, just because a big name grappler has an instructional video doesn't mean it is gold. I have seen some multiple world champions show a fancy technique that I have never seen them use in competition nor have I been able to emulate. So you definitely need to be careful.

What has helped my game immensely has been competition footage. I recently competed at the Mundials for the first time and did horribly. I did however get a chance to watch a lot of high level competition and learn what they are doing. You get to see what the top guys rely on against the toughest competition. My mind has opened up a lot from the experience. I really encourage my students to do a lot of mental training, but also to watch a lot of competition footage. While at a lower level, it may prove difficult to learn or emulate techniques that the top black belts are doing, but at least they can see what techniques are being used and can always ask how to perform those techniques.

Short Realization About Passing

2010-04-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

I was training the other day and I came to a realization on passing the guard. Maybe I'm an amateur because I just realized this, but in case you haven't yet, here you go.

The guard is a position where you use each of your limbs, gravity, hip movement, etc... to create angles and get into different position where you can sweep or submit your opponent. In order to pass the guard you need to either take advantage of a mistake a guardplayer makes or create an opportunity to pass. The realization I made is that you need to really isolate the hips, prevent them from moving and turning. Doing this will make your opponent's legs less effective and reduce the chance of being swept or submitted. I know this is something that I do regularly but I never realized exactly what the purpose of me pinning my opponent's hip to the mat was other than simply allowing me to pass.

Beating BJJ Plateaus

2010-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

BJJ plateaus are a common problem. Generally they manifest themselves most commonly when you're a blue belt or a purple belt, though they affect individuals at every level. There are different reasons why this happens and different ways to defeat this. Sometimes the plateaus last for as little as a few weeks or as long as a few months.

One common plateau happens due to over training. If you're training 4-5 days/week sometimes twice/day, it's not uncommon to get a sense of feeling that things aren't improving. You need to take a break. Your mind gets tired and doesn't retain as much as you would like to. Sleeping and eating patterns too can help or hurt depending on if you're sleeping enough or eating correctly. My recommendation for beating this is taking a week off. Your mind and body both need a break.

Another common plateau is the feeling of not improving. I feel this one is most attributed to the fact that it is VERY difficult to gauge your own improvements. You are in a training environment with at least a dozen other people and generally everybody improves. One day you might be "beating" Joe then a week later Joe is tapping you left and right and it makes you feel like you hit a plateau. Generally, Joe is just improving faster than you are, but you are still improving. Sometimes you need to take a step back, analyze what your mistakes are, where you need improvement and work on one or two aspects the next couple of weeks.

I feel that the best way I break plateaus is by working on something new or working on something I haven't done in a very long time. I get bored easily doing the same techniques over and over again, I have a "go to" guardpass that I can get on just about anybody, but I feel like it becomes too easy so I start playing around with new things. You need to find new reasons to motivate your learning. The motivation is key, if you've been training a while and you go to class not knowing what you want to or need to work on, then I feel that's the start of a problem that can end up as a plateau, already your mind has reverted to a state that it just wants to attend, but not excel. My professor Keith sometimes asks what techniques we want to work on, when nobody says anything, his response is "What? Are you all experts? You don't need to work on anything or learn anything in particular?" Fortunately for me, I always have questions, there's something I always want to work on. It's good to think about things in that sense.

Bottom line is, first you need to diagnose your problem. Are you having issues due to overtraining, are you having issues due to motivation, are people around you getting better than you, etc... There are other reasons you might start plateauing but generally they aren't as relevant. Once you figure out why you feel no improvement, then see which way best suits you to find the motivation to improve (and I really don't mean saying "I just want to get better", SPECIFICS are the key). Hope this helps you get over your BJJ humps.

Being a Good Student and Training Partner

2010-03-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

This topic was requested by one of my students, and I believe it's very relevant. I would say that the majority of people fall into the "good training partner" category, however there are some that fall outside at one extreme or another. I'm taking this a step further into what it means to be a good student. First we need to establish what a good training partner is. Everybody who goes to a bjj class receives some kind of instructions, the first step in being a good student is really listening and watching the instructor, if you don't understand something then ask. So to be a good training partner you need to be a good student. As an instructor, there have been cases where I show a technique then ask my students to drill it and see some of my students trying to do it, but it looks nothing like the way I showed the technique. Now if it was difficult to understand and interpret, then that is my fault as an instructor, but if it was straightforward and the student wasn't really paying attention, then he wasn't being a good student. So first off and most importantly be a good student and pay attention. Pay attention to what the instructor is doing, listen to what he has to say.

A good student is somebody that treats a BJJ academy like they would any other school. While there is no assigned homework, thinking about bjj shouldn't end when class ends. When you're bored, go over the techniques you learned in your head, the more you think about it and analyze it the better chance it has to be ingrained into your memory and hopefully your game. Also being a good student means being proactive about the techniques, if you have a question about the execution of the current technique, ask ask ask away, it's better to ask and receive an answer than to not ask and continue to question yourself. At the same time, students like to ask questions irrelevant to the current technique. While it's great to see your enthusiasm, wait until after class to ask questions on other techniques.

When drilling with your partner you don't want to be a dead fish. I see people practicing a sweep with enough holes in it that you couldn't sweep your grandmother with it, but their training partners fall over none the less. I look at it this way, I give very little resistance when my training partner is doing the technique, as he becomes comfortable with it I increase the resistance just ever so slightly. I never get to a point where I'm actually fighting to be swept, but I do want my partner to know what it feels like to have a little resistance. If my training partner botches a technique, I don't let him execute it. If somebody goes for a sweep and it doesn't sweep me, then it doesn't sweep me. You need to look at it this way, make it seem realistic without the resistance. There are some guys within a minute of showing a technique, one guy is trying to sweep with 100% strength and the other guy is trying to resist the sweep 100% and neither guy gets better because of it. Something some people need to understand is that instructors teach techniques in a particular way with attention to detail because that's how the students need to learn it. I see it every day, students just WANT to skip steps they want to get from A-Z in 1 step instead of going from A to B to C etc... Do the techniques RIGHT.

Tournament Strategy

2010-03-24T23:09:00.001-07:00

Here is an important one that many beginners and even higher belts don't really follow. When you go compete have in mind what you want to do. The most frustrating part of watching people compete is watching the standup, where the two competitors don't know how to wrestle. First off, if your wrestling sucks, don't try to wrestle, you have 2 main options. Option #1, if your top game is your strong point, be patient, your opponent WILL EVENTUALLY shoot so be ready to sprawl and fight for the top position, option #2, if your bottom game is solid, pull guard, but please learn HOW to pull guard before you go into a tournament, I have seen one too many people pull side mount rather than guard. Once you progress you will have other choices, if your wrestling sucks, and you want to end up on top, work on a "go to" sweep. Have one sweep in your arsenal that you KNOW you can hit every time and learn how to pull guard into the exact position you like to execute that sweep. This is so crucial in sport bjj. You have 5, 6, 7, 8, or 10 min to either submit your opponent or score more points than him. It is much to your advantage to always play into your strengths. The obvious thing is to learn how to wrestle, but that takes years to really make effective, but if you do, then you can have the confidence to be either up 2-0 in every match or start on top from opponents who just pull guard.

When you are training in class, you know what you are good at, what positions you are comfortable in, what attacks are effective for you, etc... Classtime is where you work on your weaknesses, try to add more techniques to your arsenal, etc... So many times I see a classmate or student of mine try something in a tournament they don't EVER do regularly, nor do they ever really practice. That is not the time nor place for that. The really frustrating part is they come and sit next to you and sulk about it. Sorry, no sympathy for you, you did something stupid and you got punished for it, don't cry to me about it. Losing sucks, if you give it your best shot, tried to stick to your gameplan, listened to your coaches and you lost, then you get my respect 100%. Even if you made a few simple mistakes, or situation was out of your control, you still deserve 100% respect. However, if you go out there and try a flying triangle (you don't even do regular triangles in class, you saw it on youtube and wanted to do it), get your guard passed then choked in 30 seconds, when our strategy was "pull butterfly guard, sweep, then work your top game" then you need to slap yourself in the face.

While it's always good to picture in your head what you're going to do in a tournament, and have a strategy going in, don't have the strategy be SO straight-forward that if it veers off path, you're screwed. For example, a student of mine thought he was just going to run in and guillotine everybody to a gold medal. He ended up losing to a tough guy in his first match because he missed the guillotine then didn't know exactly what he should be doing the rest of the match. You need to create a tree of techniques and situations you go through in your head for every position, know what you need to do at X to get to Y. If you plan on passing the guard, but get swept in the process, what technique are you going to do? How are you going to get back to where you want to be? You need to know these things before you step on the mat.

General competition mindset is one of the most overlooked aspects of tournament strategy. I've spoken to a bunch of people about what they like to do in tournaments, and the majority say "I just go in there and do what I can, if I win great, if not, well at least I tested myself." That honestly boggles my mind. While tournaments aren't gonna break your wallet, I feel like that type of mindset is like tossing out the tournament fee. You pay sometimes $100+ to compete. I don't compete for the sake of competing, I compete to win. I absolutely hate losing. I go in there knowing what I want to do and wanting to win. I feel like it's a absolute waste if anybody competing thinks otherwise.

The last bit is learning to study your opponent. If you're a lower belt, chances are your opponent isn't going to be a recognized name, so you go into the first match blind, however, you do get an opportunity to see who your next opponent is and what his game looks like. Watch all the matches in your division, know who you're going to compete against, figure out his strengths and weaknesses so you can try to exploit them. I've been fortunate enough to see some of my opponents on youtube to study them before having to compete with them, but that's not always the case. If I see somebody that's got a REALLY strong guard game, maybe I'll pull guard and go for a quick sweep, don't allow him to pull guard on me so I can find a way to still end up on top with a score of 2-0. With that scenario, it forces my opponent to become desperate, especially if time on the clock is ticking down, desperate grapplers often go for techniques and open up holes in their game that allows for passing or submission opportunities.

Hope this post was helpful, and hopefully you guys think about your bjj differently especially when it comes to competing.

Physical Attributes vs. Technique, Importance?

2010-03-21T23:03:00.001-07:00

This topic for the most part is a no brainer, but seemingly comes up all the time. I wrote in an earlier post that if all technique were equal between two opponents, the one who has some sort of physical attribute advantage over the other will most likely be the victor. I made this topic a little bit more general since people always complain to me about "what do I do against somebody that weighs 100 lbs more than me," "what do I do against somebody that is stronger than me," or some sort of similar complaint. Really the bottom line is to get better. There is no magic, no secret technique that nullifies any opponent. If you are an individual not gifted with size, strength, speed, stamina, etc... there are ways to improve your body and make you excel in each. Some people focus so much on certain aspects believing there is so much importance to being more physically imposing that they end up hurting themselves in the long-run because of the lack of focus on technique.

Generally, I consider myself a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu addict. I want to train all the time, I enjoy everything about it, but I'm not obsessive to the point where I go lift tons of weights because I want to be stronger and have better technique. I believe there is SOOO much one can gain just by doing BJJ itself, not to discount the fact that doing other things above and beyond to improve your stamina, strength, etc... is awesome, but I feel that you can do so much of that simply by practicing alone. I won't use professionals as an example here because it is their JOB to be in peak physical form for when they have to perform. I'm talking about the every day joe. If you feel like your cardio is terrible, chances are 1 of 2 things is happening. Most of the time it's because you are simply out of shape, you haven't trained in a while, haven't done any physical activity, your body isn't used to using the muscles you use in BJJ, etc... Whatever the reason is, you can gain more stamina by simply doing more BJJ. Roll as long as you can. Take a few breathers, go back out there, if you're too tired to go hard, find a partner to drill moves. Without resistance, you're still getting a workout AND you're working on your technique, it's a win/win situation. The other reason people gas is because they are going too hard. Everybody knows somebody like this, they treat every roll like it's the black belt finals of the Mundials. Honestly, you need to have goals in mind when training with your partner and that goal shouldn't be "tap him out." I believe it's important to REALLY emphasize this with new students. New students usually come into the gym wanting to learn how to "KICK ASS." No matter what the reason they tell you is, their inner reason is to be a walking bad ass. They feel the need to go as hard as possible every single time, try to never lose. If they don't break that habit early on, they are going to have a very rough time excelling. Of course the scariest guys are the ones that go hard all the time and really learn how to use the techniques, but guys like that are 1/1000, chances are you aren't one of them.

So to wrap things up, train as much as you can, but be productive with it. Did you learn a cool technique in class? Try to use it when you roll, or work on your weak spots if you're training with people weaker than yourself. I'm in a situation where I have no peers, I have 2 AMAZING black belt instructors, a purple or two, and a bunch of blue belts to train with. I'm constantly putting myself in bad situations, trying out new techniques, tightening up little things, etc... It wouldn't benefit me to ONLY work on my strengths, to have a NEVER lose mentality, if I get tapped, just figure out why and fix it. It's kind of frustrating almost irritating when people get really upset in class to being tapped, especially when I see them do some really great things. It shouldn't bring you down, it should make you think in a different way, should open your eyes to your weaknesses. What you should focus on in training is just improving, who taps who doesn't matter nearly as much as how much you are improving.

Gi vs. No Gi: The Neverending Debate

2010-03-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

One topic that comes up quite often is the debate about gi vs no gi. One argument is about whether the gi helps people with their no gi or their no gi helps people with their gi. I'm going to take the stance that no gi helps the gi game MUCH MUCH MUCH more than the other way around. There are things that help each other obviously, but at the end of the day I don't care what Marcello Garcia or Demian Maia say, but it's like this: would you be running marathons in order to compete in the 100m? Sure you're running in both, but they're very different.

The first thing people need to realize is how different they are. To the untrained eye, it's still guardpassing, submissions, sweeps, etc... How you execute the techniques are extremely different. There is a plethora of moves you can't do without a gi on, and there are a bunch of techniques that wouldn't work if you have a gi on. Example: there is no real no gi version of the cross collar choke, on the other side, it's very difficult to rear naked choke people with a gi.

People have a misconception that no gi is not as technical, that you can get away with more because there are no grips, it can get slippery, and that speed can make up for a lot. I think it's important to note that no gi is incredibly technical BECAUSE you have very few grips (underhooks, headties, etc...), you need to learn how to use them. I have always believed in using speed and strength, but when it's appropriate. At the end of the day when all technique and cardio are equal, the faster/stronger opponent is going to win 9 times out of 10. Training without the gi needs to be treated like a different animal than gi training. You need to learn how to use the grips properly and you need to really learn how to use your weight and pressure your opponent. With a gi you can grab a handful of it and pin a part of your opponent down, with no gi you have to learn where to put your body, how to hold your opponent, and how and where to put your weight on your opponent to accomplish various techniques.

When debating about whether gi helps no gi or no gi helps gi more, I truly believe no gi helps gi much more. First off, like I said previously about the pressure you need to learn with no gi, you can translate that to gi, where if you only trained gi, you may not have had the opportunity or need to learn how to put that extra bit of pressure. Techniques translate from no gi to gi very regularly, but don't necessarily go the other way. It's not always the case, but it's true on a large scale. My game works very well for both gi and no gi, it translates well back and forth. I know for my guard game, I'm actually much more dangerous with a gi on because I have many more grips to play with, but that doesn't mean I don't find a good deal of success without the gi on. I feel that my gi game got much stronger because I spent nearly 2 years training no gi and mma rather than sport bjj. Obviously my no gi game excelled, but adding all those techniques also taught me how to use underhooks, overhooks, etc... and I also really learned how to put pressure on my opponents so they can't weasel out of positions. No gi has made my gi game MUCH tighter. I always say that my instructors weigh a metric ton when they pass my guard, I hope to gain that ability some day. When Keith or Kenny get mount, it feels like I'm drowning and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm eventually going to get submitted, if I try to escape, I get my back taken then choked. It's a very helpless feeling, he's so heavy there, and simply doesn't allow you any space to try and escape. While I can't measure it, I really believe their mount is so incredible due to training without a gi on.

I'm sure this debate will go on forever, but I've taken my stance on it. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, these are my opinions on the debate and I'm pretty sure I'll always believe that no gi improves the gi game much more than vice versa.

The Evolution of Desiring, Perceiving, and Receiving Belts Part 2

2010-03-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

The time it takes to go from belt to belt is interesting to me. I try to think about how the sport has evolved, how online resources, and print resources are widely available compared to when I started, and I wrestle with the question "Are people progressing faster now than before? Or are the belts getting watered down?" I believe it is a combination of both. Back in the day, even when I started BJJ was a very unknown martial art. Aside from my belt, belts did not come easy. The average blue belt took 2 years at least, blue to purple took 3, purple to brown took 3, then brown to black took 2. 10 years of hard dedicated training, the average has definitely lowered since then.

Looking at blue belts back then vs. the blue belts of today, on average they are the same skills, however the blue belts of today seem to have a much wider disparity in skill levels. Actually, I believe you can attribute that to every belt level aside from white (yes there are undeserving black belts out there). BJJ is no longer what it was, at least not across the board. The standards at some schools are lowered to "keep their students motivated and excited about the belts." While other schools are holding back belts to get more recognition increasing the sandbagging problem. Classes used to be very casual, warm-ups were rare, and generally was light rolling, there was no bowing to your sensei, nothing that screamed "Traditional Martial Arts." Fortunately or unfortunately, BJJ is now much more business oriented. There's a reason why the "bow to your sensei" model was working, look at a tae kwon do school, some have 1000s students. You're lucky to see 100 students at a bjj school. The general public, the every day man wanted to see a structured environment. He wanted to see his progress in real time, so what used to be a casual subjective decision by the instructor for promotion has now evolved into a structured "know exactly what you need to know" system that people focus their energies on. I believe this is a good thing to a point. When you have a school where white to blue belt is a curriculum that people follow and know exactly what they need, it works beautifully, beyond that... it fails miserably.

I remembering being in Dallas a random weekend and going to the Carlos Machado Academy and seeing 70 people in there for what I thought was a class. I found out it was a promotion day and everybody there was testing for one thing or another. Each person was vigorously studying a packet of techniques. 15-20 techniques per stripe or belt promotion. What really got to me were 2 4 stripe blue belts were walking around asking higher belts to teach them moves from the packet that they should have known being 4 stripe blue belts. Not only did they barely learn the moves, but they passed and got their purple belts. It's a disgrace in my eyes. I was already a 4th stripe purple, but one stripe had come off in training months before so I was "testing" for a 4th stripe again, I thought it was funny. What irritated me was I found out there was a testing fee involved. If I had known beforehand, I would not have even shown up. After I got my 4th stripe for a 2nd time, I had to pay for it. Is that fair? Really? Anyways, I digress...

There are 2 main types of promotions (there's a 3rd, but it's the one where everybody knows that the guy didn't deserve the promotion. I'll write a politics post and discuss this topic and others later). One where there is no doubt in anybody's mind that an individual deserved the belt; he's the guy that's been in every class, you can see his progress, he took gold at the past 3 tournaments, etc... He's 100% ready for the promotion. The other type is the guy that's been casually training, making baby steps in his progress, but always exhibiting steady progress and potential. The first one jumps right in with his new belt and is right on par with everybody at his belt level. The second one is a guy that is still having trouble rolling with guys of his new belt color, but he will grow into it. Within a month he's starting to really catch up and after 2 months he's right there with the rest of them. If somebody doesn't feel ready to be promoted and their instructor has them take the test or promotes them, then generally they fall under the 2nd category and will "grow into" their belt. Either that, or the student is too humble and too hard on himself.

There is a popular outlook amongst some BJJ practitioners that the belt isn't very important, or isn't important at all, it's all about the technique. In a purist point of view, that's absolutely correct, but with no belts there are no measuring sticks other than what you see on the mat, and there is also a lack in accomplishment. Most people NEED belts and stripes to feel good about themselves and their BJJ. I'm one of them. Like I said before, my perspective on belts has changed, one thing that hasn't changed is that I have wanted to be a black belt since day 1. When I was a blue belt, I beat a few black belts in no gi competitions, though I'm fairly humble on the outside, on the inside I was thinking "I'm the shit! I can hang with black belts!" Little by little, I stepped away from the philosophy that it's all about who you beat and how you beat them and moved towards thinking it's about the techniques you know, the quality and quantity, the ability to use them on various skilled opponents, and now at the higher level, the ability to break down these techniques and teach them to others. Going back to the desire for belts, I want to get a black belt, I want to be at that level, but I don't want it until I'm ready.

I don't believe individuals have the capacity to decide what belt level they are when they attempt to objectively look at themselves. I have always and will always trust my instructors to make that decision for me. My current instructors are Keith and Kenny Florian at the Florian Martial Arts Center in Brookline, MA (www.florianmartialartscenter.com), I have been blessed to have met them, to be able to call them my friends, and to have them as instructors. I met Keith at a turning point in my BJJ career, I had a falling out with my previous instructor and I asked Keith to be my main instructor and decide when I am ready for promotions. I was ecstatic when I heard they were opening a school and even more excited when they asked me to teach some classes there (though I did bug them about wanting to). I was a 4 stripe purple then (funny thing, one of my stripes had fallen off again, so I got "promoted" by Keith to 4 stripes also) and I knew he has a high standard and a respect for what each belt level means. November of 2008, I was promoted to brown belt (twice in the same day! I seem to get the same promotions over and over. Reason for this was Kenny couldn't be there at night to see it, and my girlfriend couldn't come at noon to see it, so Keith had 2 ceremonies for it. I was also previously promoted to 3rd stripe blue and 4th stripe blue twice). I was a purple belt for a very long time, but never did I really say or feel that I deserved or wanted my brown belt, it was as if Keith knew the exact moment I was ready, and when I got promoted, I felt like I deserved it. I will trust him when he decides I'm ready for a black belt, I know I'm not ready now, but I'll know that I'm ready when he promotes me.

Final thoughts:

Each belt level should represent what kind of BJJ you have and what your goals are. I feel like it is fairly standard across the board no matter what school you attend. White belts should focus on simply getting a feel for what the martial art is. Slowly building on their technique knowledge. They should only be taught the basics. Nothing fancy, just techniques that focus on hip movement, solid tried and true techniques for a good foundation. It's hard for white belts to truly understand the concepts taught to them, but they should be ingrained in them and they should absolutely be taught these different concepts as a foundation for their learning (concepts like position before submission). The blue belt is mainly where you begin to learn what you like and don't like, it's also where you amass the most amount of techniques. You want to learn as many techniques as possible, whether or not you think you would or could ever use them, because down the line you never know when you will begin to like certain techniques and be able to use them. Purple belt is a difficult one because it's where you find your identity. This is where you begin to define your game. You already know where your strengths and weaknesses are and thus build them in ways to make people play into your game and at the same time finding ways to improve on the areas you are weakest. As a brown belt, I feel like this is where I have been focusing on becoming well rounded. I know my game, I know how (for the most part) to make people fall into my game, but this is the time for me to improve on everything from everywhere. I need to learn how to be good at everything, I need to be confident in my techniques from everywhere. I also believe it's important that at the brown belt level there is some instructing that needs to occur, whether it is teaching classes themselves or whether it is watching other students and being able to convey corrections and improvements to their technique. I feel it's very important to not only know how to do the techniques but also how to teach them, which gives you insight and understanding for yourself. Then there's the black belt. Though I'm not there yet, I feel that it is quite true about what people say about it; it's where the martial art really begins. You trained so hard to achieve that rank, but once you get there you realize there is still so much to learn and know. I feel that my outlook will be one where I focus on amassing much more technique with a lot of detail on the little intricacies that a purple belt can't catch. Maybe I've been groomed to think this way being so blessed to have gifted instructors. I can't remember a week where Keith didn't come in and show me something he discovered that turned out to be amazing. His mind is so open and he's so brilliant in finding out exactly why things work, how to make them work, and how to make them easy to implement. He is truly a genius of the art. I hope to have 1/1000th of his ability to invent and interpret techniques.

The Evolution of Desiring, Perceiving, and Receiving Belts Part 1

2010-03-16T14:55:00.001-07:00

The belt progression of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is as follows: White, Blue, Purple, Brown, Black, then the unobtainable Red reserved only for the founders of the art. I always think back when I first started, I had leaps and bounds more grappling experience than my fellow beginner classmates, but in terms of BJJ techniques, I was far behind. However, within a month I was positionally dominating all the blue belts. Higher belts were still destroying me, having their way with me. I looked up to them as some sort of geniuses, admired them then and still admire them now. I didn't understand the concept of belts in the beginning, and maybe the conception of belts is subjective based on the individuals thinking about them. Either way, my perception has changed much and is continuing to change now. I received my blue belt after only training 3.5 months. People who weren't from my school, people who never trained with me said I was "full of shit." Looking back now, in terms of getting promoted, I don't know what I would have done if I were in Carlos Machado's shoes. I was training 6 days/week and often twice/day. So the mat time was there, but this was during a time that people would get their blue belts after 2 years of 4 days/week training. I was competing every chance I got and won every white belt match I had, even beating blue belts in mixed white and blue tournaments. After about 3 months I could submit every blue belt in class and a number of the lower ranking purple belts. I wasn't a prodigy, I wasn't on the BJ Penn path, I just had a lot more experience than a lot of these guys. Technique-wise, I knew about the same number of techniques as a 2-stripe white belts, but when it came to rolling I was right up there with the purple belts. I was given my blue belt right before I went back to JHU for my sophomore year, I could argue today either way whether or not I was deserving of it, but when I was a white belt, that's all I wanted.

Desire for belts is a really funny thing. I remember being a white belt and wanting a blue belt SOOO bad. I didn't have to wait long relative to my classmates. I talked about it constantly, not to Carlos, but to other students. I would be like "man, I tapped today, I wonder when I'll get my blue belt." It's funny, I see that same desire I had when I was a white belt in my students now. It's hard to distinguish desire for the belt for the sake of having the belt and desire to have the adequate technique in order to be deserving of the belt, at least when you're trying to objectively think about your personal progression. Maybe the desire for the belt itself is more important than the technique for the individuals, I don't know their thought process, but it seems very likely. I remember when I was wanting the blue belt, it was more for the challenge, and also the fact that white belts to me were like training with rag dolls. I had competed in 4 tournaments in about 3 months time beating white and blue belts with relative ease. My only close match was at my very first tournament against a very skilled white belt (Danny Alvarez, now a black belt in Arlington, TX with his own school). I beat him 4-0 in overtime. Every other match I won by submission or by a decent margin of points (one of which I won 27-0, not knowing there wasn't a technical fall type rule in BJJ, it was actually my very first bjj match). Going back to what I was saying earlier, did I deserve the belt? Honestly, I couldn't do an armbar from the guard, I knew 2 sweeps, took a private on triangles, but still couldn't do one to save my life... I was a mess off of my back, I usually would turtle up, escape the back then end up on top via takedown or a guard pull, that was my bottom game. My top game I knew about 4 good passes and a number of submissions from side control, I was just very good at doing them.

It wasn't until I was a blue belt when I began to realize how important a complete game was. I completely changed my mindset and began working extensively on building my knowledge base of techniques, especially from the guard. At my university, it was very rare for me to be able to train at a formal school. When I did train, it was with the Yamasaki School in Rockville, MD. I went MAYBE once a month. So during my time at my university I started a club, I taught the classes, which forced me to learn and understand the techniques. Looking back, I definitely taught some of the techniques wrong, but I did what I could and I didn't know the difference so my students didn't either. It was hard for me to see progress from week to week, and while I won't say I regressed, I was not improving as fast as my teammates who were living in Dallas and getting top notch instruction daily.

I can't remember ever wanting my purple belt, ever saying I deserve it. I do remember a friend of mine asking me when I would get it. I remember saying, I don't know, but when I get it, I'll know I was ready for it. My senior year 2nd semester, I got a phone call from Carlos Machado telling me that if I compete anytime soon, to enter the purple belt division. A very backwards, odd way for a promotion, but I accepted it. I came home for the summer and didn't actually receive a physical purple belt until a month later. I thought about the belt and what it meant. I saw the purple belt as a badge saying "I'm well-rounded." I noticed that almost every purple belt I trained with was good everywhere, and I for the most part was. I still lacked in a ton of areas, but I was comfortable from all positions. What I perceive a purple belt to really mean is the development of a game along with knowing not only how and what to do from most positions, but being able to execute the proper techniques as well.

How I got started in BJJ

2010-03-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

December of 2001, I was a freshman at Johns Hopkins University. I spent the beginning half of the month feeling overwhelmed and a bit depressed. Finals were consuming my life, I was in a long distance relationship, and worst of all... wrestling wasn't fun anymore. I was a guy that always had it together, no matter how much stuff piled up, I felt like I could handle anything; this was the first time in my life that things felt really hard. Wrestling had been a humongous part of my life for the past 7.5 years and for the first time in my life, it just wasn't fun. Unfortunately, the primary reason was the program and not the sport itself, and I was left with two choices... Leave the school or quit the program. I chose to quit, my education was far more important than the sport. What was I going to do? Leave JHU and go to Iowa and be JV while getting a lesser education (no offense to anybody who went to Iowa and got an amazing education)?

Thinking about it now, it was definitely one of the best decisions of my life. I would be lying if I said that I didn't think about it and wonder what would have happened if I stuck with it, but I would never say I regret the decision. Deciding not to wrestle gave me a lot of free time. When wrestling season started at JHU, I never had free time. I would wake up early, go for a run, go to class, do homework, go to wrestling practice, study, go to the gym, study, then go to bed. A lot of workouts crammed into a day. I was never a fan of working out for the sake of working out and being in shape, and I'm still not. I am not the type of person that goes to the gym to get ripped and look good. I always had the purpose of going to the gym to get in shape for competition, to be in better shape than my opponents. Like Dan Gable said "when I picture my opponent working, I work hard, when I picture my opponent stop working, I work even harder." That's the mindset I had, but with wrestling gone, I really had a lot of free time on my hands, there was no longer an opponent to work against.

I had been a fan of the UFC from very early on. I remember going to Blockbuster and somehow renting the UFC videos. I was 13 yrs old, they had that red and yellow mature sticker on there, and my dad would never look or question it. I saw the first few in order and saw how Royce Gracie dismantled his opponents. I always thought about how a good wrestler would beat Royce. Along came Dan Severn, and 16 minutes or so into the fight, there went Dan Severn. Throughout the years I would rent a UFC here and there, was very excited to see guys like Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman, both excellent wrestlers, guys I would always root for. I didn't follow the sport like I do now, there simply weren't enough resources then. The only news you would ever hear, see, or read about was how it was "human cockfighting." I didn't even have internet at home until I was 16 (mind you this was 1998, not everybody had internet then), and even then, the thought never crossed my mind to Alta-Vista search the UFC.

Back to December of 2001, with all my free time, I decided to look up the UFC on the internet and found out that UFC wasn't the only free for all fighting organization, first off, it was a humongous sport called Mixed Martial Arts and the popularity in Japan DWARFED the popularity in America. Things had changed a bit though, there were some rules now, and people wore gloves. The Pride organization had all the great fighters from the UFC that I remembered and then some. I started downloading highlight reels and ordered VHS copies of the fights on eBay. I noticed a trend, the guys that were winning, weren't winning with the wrestling style of ground and pound. Guys were winning with submissions. I don't know the exact point at which I decided that I wanted to learn how to submit people, but I do remember that I researched schools shortly before my Christmas break and found a place 10 minutes from my home in Dallas, TX run by one of the greatest BJJ practitioners and instructors in the world, Carlos Machado.

Sometime in early January of 2002, I went to the introductory class which had 4 people in it. A purple belt, James Brown, was going to teach the class, he asked me if I had wrestled or anything before, I told him I had for quite some time, he then responded "Oh, you don't need the intro class, go roll with some of the guys over there." I walked over to the other side of the mat, was very warmly greeted by the man himself, Carlos Machado. He asked me about my experience, then told me to go train with one of his other purple belts, Roberto Kaelin. We started on the feet, I took him down with ease, only to be getting choked about 10 seconds later. This happened about 5 times, I didn't know what was going on, but I later learned he kept putting me in a triangle choke. I was addicted, I wanted to learn how to do what he was doing to me. I signed up that night, and for the month I was home on break, I went to about 10 classes/week.

It has been over 8 years and my interest and love for the art continues to grow.