Metamoris

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This weekend the Metamoris Pro Jiu-jitsu Invitational is going on in San Diego, California. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this event! I love the idea of jiujitsu matches done in a way that showcases them much like an mma or boxing event. The organizers have been building up to the hype with videos and showcasing their grapplers leading up to the event just like you would see in the UFC or some Boxing pay per view. The best part of course, is the match ups! You have so many big names from the BJJ community competing, and with a submission only format its going to be insane!

Below is a list of the match ups and a little prediction on them.

Roger Gracie vs Buchecha
This is a great match up. Roger was a dominant world champion with an incredibly basic and brutally efficient game. Next you have Buchecha who is a very tough and incredibly active big guy. He was able to dethrone Rodolfo this year and took the absolute black belt division in a match that is regarded as one of the best of all time at a time when Rodolfo looked nearly invincible.
Prediction:I am going to take Roger. I think if it was a standard tournament with rules that it would favor Buchecha who I consider to be the more athletic of the two. Roger loses from time to time but he doesn’t get submitted and his game is very submission oriented, as seen with his numerous wins at high level tournaments. That being said I think Roger will need to watch for his legs because Buchecha has shown some nice leg locks.
Andre Galvao vs Ryron Gracie
This is an interesting match up. You are taking Galvao who is in the upper crust of BJJ competitors and then you match him up with Ryron who doesn’t compete yet is known as a very skilled BJJ fighter.
Prediction: I am going with Galvao. This match is hard to give an accurate prediction because we know what Galvao can do but we don’t have a great idea as to what Ryron can do. I have seen a few matches of Ryron competing and he always looked very skilled but those were years ago and against people who are not the caliber of Galvao.
Kron Gracie vs Otavio Sousa
I think this has the potential to be one of the most exciting matches of the event. You are taking two guys that are both top level competitors, both incredibly active and you’re tossing aside points and letting them go for the submission.
Prediction: I am going to take Kron in this one. I think the match will be back and forth but I am going to take him simply because the guy is always hunting for the submission even in point based tournaments.
Dean Lister vs Xande Ribeiro
You’re taking two of the old school guys that are still tearing it up. Dean Lister just tore up the Abu Dahbi and Xande is Xande who is always tough.
Prediction: I am going to take Dean in this one. Xande showed some hiccups against guys like Joao Assis with their leg lock attacks and I think that plays right into Dean’s game. We will see if Xande has made the adjustments because Xande has always continued to improved his game and is one of the reasons why he has been at such a high level of competition for so long.
Jeff Glover vs Caio Terra
RE-MATCH! Their first one was an excellent match with Glover pulling ahead at the end of the match. Now what happens with no points? I think it will change the dynamic of the match completely and provide for an exciting roll with two ultra talented grapplers.
Prediction: I’m taking Glover. Caio Terra is a monster on the mat but I think the crafty Glover will pull away with the victory.
Kayron Gracie vs Rafael Lovato
This match is a little hard for me to put a spin on. I have watched Lovato for years but I haven’t always watched Kayron as closely. I went back to watch some of Kayron’s matches to get a better idea of who he is and what kind of style he plays.
Prediction: I’m going with Lovato. The most decorated American BJJ competitor is always a force on the mat and I think his game will give Kayron some issues. That being said, after watching more of Kayron’s matches and catching up with his style I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls out the submission.
So Sunday, go out and support Metamoris! Watch some great matches and help support this idea of having more events like it.
Here are the links to their website and youtube.
Their website is www.metamoris.com  and you can check out their videos on their youtube channel. – Give your students your undivided attention during class. Period!

Training Rest Relaxation

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Hey everyone, I just got back from vacationing with friends in the Smokey Mountains, after recently competing in the Chicago Open. While there I thought it might be a good opportunity to reflect on the importance of rest and relaxation, and their effect on training. It’s been a few weeks since I wrote this post, so you’ll have to excuse me for being busy and slow to post it. Anyways…

After having just finished training hard for several tournaments, I’m now getting ready to start training for another set of grappling matches and an MMA fight. Something that helps keep me hungry and refreshed for training is taking a short time off. In this case, I went on a two-day hike with my girlfriend in Georgia, and then met up with friends from the gym near Gatlinburg to finish off the weekend. While this isn’t a long time to take off, it’s plenty of time to allow my body to restore itself, and more importantly, clear my mind so that I can turn up the intensity for training the following week.

After a hard training camp leading up to a tournament or fight, I am so anxious and excited that by the end of the camp, I’m “ready to go.” Moreover, after the match or competition is over, I have the relief of completing something I had trained so hard for. This leaves me mentally exhausted and also begins to negatively affect my training and teaching. This also holds true for anyone that is training hard to simply improve their game, getting ready to go for a new belt, or anytime someone is keeping a very hard training schedule for a prolonged period of time. Either way, being exhausted is not a good catalyst for improvement and will only lead to frustration.

Rest, is something not all us athletes is fundamental our training, however, rest is absolutely crucial when it comes to making progress in our training. That being said, instead of only placing importance on how many rounds of rolling we can get in or how many reps we can drill, we should also allow our bodies the time they needs to repair, so that we can continue with an intense training regime. On top of that, you want to be well rested and able to stay on top of the other aspects of your life, such as family and work. There are numerous studies showing these positive effects of adequate rest and its correlation with improved athletic performance, and I encourage you to research more for yourself in your spare time.

All in all, the next time you feel drained and exhausted or mentally and physically wiped, try taking a few days off or even a week. I personally enjoy getting out in nature and doing things like hiking and camping. Hikes, and generally being away from everything, help to clear my head and allows me to re focus and get ready to train hard, and be the best teacher I can be for my students. You can do whatever you want though. Just do something that relaxes you and allows you to come back refreshed and ready to perform at your best on the mat. Just don’t take too long off!

View on the Springer Mountain hike

Having a bad day?

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BJJ has so many benefits. Everything from physical fitness to mental well being. I think it’s one of the reasons it’s so popular and why people often get “bit by the bug” after training for just a very short time. I noticed these benefits when I first started training, and have noticed them with my students as well. They vary from person to person, but typically have a very positive effect on everyone’s physical and mental health.

One of the benefits that has always had an overall positive impact on my life is the stress relief that comes from a great training session.

On many occasions, I find myself troubled by all sorts of problems as I head to the gym. At times I feel overwhelmed and as if the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” is nowhere to be found, but nevertheless, as I walk through the doors of my gym, I am greeted by the contagious smiles of my friends and students. Almost immediately my body queues itself up for training, and seems to turn the tide on the bad mood I walked in with. I then take in the distinct smell of the gym — depending on the time of day, it may smell like bleach and cleaning supplies, or a sort of misty sweat. There is also the sensation of putting the gi on, as the kimono’s thick cotton construction brushes along my, and ends with tying the belt around my waist.

Likewise, the feeling of the firm, yet slightly giving mat below my feet, coupled with the unique sound of my feet touching the mat as I walk to greet my training partners and students. Finally comes the sound of a gi scraping across the mat as we perform warm up drills.  That sound. . . gives me a strange feeling of comfort. I know it may sound silly, but even when I watch an instructional or techniques demonstration from the seat of a chair at home, and I hear the sound of kimono moving along the mat, I instantly have a slight feeling of comfort. 

My body and mind is conditioned by these smells, sounds, and feelings since they are always followed by a training session. A good workout always leaves me more mentally relaxed and happier in general, but it also allows me to clear my head of negative thoughts and feelings that once seemed unbearable and to think more rationally. This side effect of training has been invaluable to me over the years. When I was 18, one of my old lifting mentors said to me, “Nicky, I never make a tough decision until after a good lift”.  Although he was referring to lifting weights, the same endorphin boosting properties of a good lift with friends, are fully present in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training.

I like post relatable personal experiences, so I will do the same in this post. In August 2010 my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Over the next year I would experience the hardest thing I’d ever had to deal with in my life. I moved in with my mom to help provide better care and make sure she always had someone around. I would take her to treatments, cook her meals, talk to her, etc. Things that I know we would all do or have already done.  Without my students, gym and training, I am not sure what kind of mental state I would have been in. The whole ordeal was incredibly taxing and broke me down mentally more than people probably knew. Hell, more than I knew at the time. When you are in the middle of something like that you have no idea just how much of a toll it’s taking on you until it is over. Those hours that I spent on the mat teaching and training provided me with a release and a few hours for my brain to turn off. When it was over I would go back to reality to face the stressors, but I could face them with a renewed sense of strength and resolve that came from the stress relief of the training. Over the course of the year the cancer did what cancer does, and my mother passed away in July of 2012. The release provided from training allowed me to be there for my mother in any way I could be, and helped me to be happy and perky around her, even if deep down I wasn’t. Along with this, the support from my friends at the gym was amazing and it made things so much easier to bear.

So, next time you’re  feeling a little crummy, depressed, frustrated, overwhelmed, upset or just down right terrible, be sure to make it in to your BJJ Academy. Converse with your friends, perform the drills and techniques, roll and let your brain turn off for a while so that you can be clear headed for yourself and your loved ones.

Thanks for reading and as always be free to share your thoughts or experiences.

—Chewy

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BJJ is for Everyone!

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Hey guys, this being my first post and all I wasn’t really sure where to take it. I decided to go ahead and post something for beginners in our sport that may be getting a bit discouraged. This post is inspired from the experiences I’ve had with different students and friends who I have met over the years, and who at one point or another in their BJJ journey thought that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu was just not for them. I hope this proves useful to anyone who is at a rough patch in their BJJ and that it may provide a little encouragement to keep going . . . because believe me BJJ is for EVERYONE!

Having trained in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu since 2003 I have had the pleasure to train and interact with hundreds of people. With that said, I can say with full confidence that anyone can be proficient at Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and I think this is one of the great things about the sport. You do not have to be the biggest, tallest, or most athletic guy out there to be a good BJJ player.  I will use my gym for example for much of this post. Currently we have members who come from every walk of life and it is amazing to see just how diverse a class can be from day to day. Kids, adults. . . men, women, children. . .construction workers, accountants, students, lawyers. . . huge guys, small guys. . .  you get the idea.  Being their instructor I have had the pleasure to guide these members along and watch them grow over the years and its really interesting to watch. Each person’s body type or athletic ability poses different advantages and obstacles. 

Some of my most accomplished students at first were not your ideal candidates for any sort of athletic endeavors. Here are a few examples. . .

* One of my students started off at 270lbs and after a year and a half was a blue belt who had won numerous competitions and had his first MMA fight at 170lbs. Along with becoming a a great athlete he has changed his whole life around.

*The student at my gym who has competed more than any of us started off as a young  11 year old who didn’t have a muscle to his body. Now he is 17 years old, has won numerous IBJJF tournaments and is a fantastic blue belt who uses his lanky frame to his advantage.

*A female student who started with me in 2011 took third at the IBJJF Worlds in 2012. Not too shabby for under a year of training.

*Another one of my students started with his older brother. His older brother had wrestled in high school and in the beginning would routinely beat his younger sibling on the mat. Fast forward 4 years and the younger brother is able to dominate  his older brother  and is one of the best purple belts in the gym.

This is just to name a few. Even I cannot claim to be a whiz at jiu-jitsu right off the bat! When I first started I was not exactly destroying guys on the mat. I had wrestled in high school and could take down many of my peers in class, but I was helpless once it hit the mat. I would often consider it a successful training session if I was able to get a takedown and sit in guard without getting submitted.  BJJ didn’t click for me until about 5 months later. . . and 5 months seemed like an eternity! Once things clicked though, my skills grew exponentially and I’ve never looked back.  

 

The reason for this post is because it is easy to get discouraged when you first start training and maybe feel like it’s simply not for you.  You may feel like you are training and not getting anywhere, but I promise if you stick with it and endure the rough start that it only gets better. A saying used in all sorts of sports is “if it was easy, everyone would do it” and this is the truth!  Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is not easy. . . you may have to make sacrifices such as cleaning your diet and staying away from junk food or giving up leisure time that you might normally use for tv watching.  The payoff is well worth it because BJJ is an amazing sport and if you continue to train and remain mentally and physically focused things will eventually click.  You will form bonds with your gym mates and make lasting friendships, have a fun way to exercise and stay in shape, and have a sanctuary to relieve you of all the stresses of day to day life.  Heck, someday you may find yourself in the position of your trainers encouraging the new guys to stick with it and helping them achieve their goals.

Some great books that I would suggest reading that dive into the ideas of deliberate practice, talent vs hard work and the “ten thousand hour rule” are Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin and Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. Both are great reads and offer very helpful and motivating insights into the world of athletics as well as into aspects of careers and our daily lives.

I hope you this post is useful and feel free to post with your own experiences, thoughts, etc.

Thanks guys!

–Chewy

 

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