7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 2)

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So I personally categorize drilling into two different types, active and passive. I consider practicing any sort of drilling where my partner offers no resistance as passive style drilling.  In my last post I talked about performing repetitions of a new move to get introduced to them. Now, let’s move on to our first method of active drilling which will help make new moves usable against resisting opponents.

Fear   

It can be hard to break a new move out into a full rolling session. Sometimes you don’t get into the proper positions to use it and sometimes personal fear can prevent you from using it. For example, if you are too worried about being trapped under a tough guy’s side mount after a pass, then using a new guard technique can be difficult mentally. You’ll be too worried about using the new technique for fear of having your guard passed and being squashed under the person’s top pressure.

 

Remove the fear with Situational Rolling

This is where we will get into Situational Rolling. Now I am sure you have done this before in class with your team mates, but I’ll explain my idea of it so that there isn’t any confusion.

I consider situational rolling to be where you put yourself into a position that you are working on and having clear ideas of what you plan to accomplish. Then roll somewhere between 50-100% and actively attempting to achieve your goal in the position. For instance if you are trying to add a new half guard sweep, then start in half guard. From there do pass/defend and sweep/submit. Meaning if you sweep from half guard then you restart back in the same position. Meanwhile your partner will try to defend against your attacks and try to pass your guard. If they pass, restart back into the half guard.

I know it has personally helped me a lot over the years. One example is that I used to be very susceptible to triangle chokes. To fix this I would passively drill triangle escapes and I would also drill prevention techniques to stop the triangle before it starts.  After the drilling I would do situational rolling. Starting in a loose triangle I would try to escape using the techniques I had been drilling and my partner would try to lock it up and finish me. If I escaped the triangle we would restart back in the same position. If my partner finished me then we would restart again.  This was brutal but it really paid off. Within a few weeks of doing this I was able to relax a bit in the bad situation of being caught in a triangle and I became much better at escaping the submission.

 Tip: When doing situational drilling, make the rounds short. Shorter rounds will make you and your partner push the pace and go after the techniques you are practicing.

So give it a try. The next time you are at an open mat or have some free mat time with a partner. Try and do some rounds of situational rolling from a position you are working on. Again the idea that I am trying to get you to think about in these posts is not just training hard, but training with focus and purpose, and situational rolling is a fantastic way of doing this.

I hope this post proves helpful to you. To recap I put a list of benefits below.

Thanks for reading!

 

Benefits of situational rolling

  • Will remove some of the mental anxiety from rolling in new and uncomfortable positions.
  • Helps build the sensitivity necessary for proper control of the position.
  • Works as a great continuation of your repetition drilling.
  • Can help build up weak areas of your game.

7 methods to drilling and adding new techniques to your BJJ (Part 1)

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So you are a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner and you are looking for some ways to nail down different techniques and movements. Well there is no secret to improving in BJJ, its hard work. However there are different methods of training deliberately and with a purpose, which can yield results more efficiently.  Now I am not saying that these are the only effective techniques to drilling and incorporating new moves into your arsenal but they are some that have helped me.

So lets get started!

Method 1 : Doing Reps

This is the most common form of adding a new technique to your repertoire and this is pretty much always the starting point for a new technique. Your teacher shows you something or you see a video and start performing reps of the new technique. Doing reps is a corner stone to training that cannot be ignored but keep in mind you need to perform massive amounts of reps before the technique is effective. So 20-30 during a class typically doesn’t cut it. Unless you’re very adept at the position already the move will be a bit shaky

During my private lessons when students want to implement a new game plan I track down the amount of reps we perform during our lessons and then I have them report back to me if they are executing the techniques successfully during rolling.  100-350 reps of a move will make that movement comfortable for drilling while 700-1000 seems to increase mat effectiveness during rolling and tournaments. Anything above that is only going to continue to build the speed and timing of the movement.  Don’t perform all these reps in one sitting. Instead do them in spurts over time, meanwhile attempting them during rolling sessions

  • Tips when adding techniques to your game.
  1. Drill new moves slowly so that you hit every important detail and don’t slop up the technique. Speed will come over time but every time you perform a sloppy rep your body is building bad muscle memory.
  2. Drill the new techniques in segments broken up over weeks. Squeeze out 40 reps after class or come to an open mat and warm up with a 100 reps with a partner before rolling.  Doing the techniques over a longer period of time will give the moves time to “simmer” and be absorbed by your body.
  3. Try to execute the new techniques during your rolls. This will only further enhance the learning process of the techniques.
  4. Always consult your instructor!

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Palma De Mallorca! (Part 1)

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So, I am sitting inside the airport at Barcelona waiting for my last flight which will take me to Palma. This is my first time outside of the country and while I obviously knew that life existed outside of my “bubble”. I have never been to a place, where, I didn’t speak the language, wasn’t familiar with the customs and felt . . . not out of place, but rather, completely foreign. The experience is really interesting. I am finding it enjoyable to see what life outside of the “American Way” is like. Little subtleties make it interesting and new, while as a whole everything is essentially the same thing as back home.  For example . . . we drink coffee in the U.S and they drink coffee here as well. However, they call it café and its espresso. When we meet someone new in the states we introduce ourselves and make friendly gestures. They do the same here, but add in kisses to the sides of the face.

The main reason for my trip is to see my girlfriend, whom is teaching English in Palma. However, this blog is about BJJ and my experiences with it so I will focus on that, instead of my girlfriend or caffeine addiction abroad.

Training on my travels

I believe at some point I told my girlfriend that whenever I take trips or vacations I always like to get some training in, if possible. Being the super cool chick that she is, she contacted a local BJJ gym for me and helped me set everything up so that I could train while I am in Palma.  I spoke with Javi and Issac from ABAMMA over Facebook and they both seem really nice and enthusiastic about training, which is good. Another plus is that their gym is a competition gym and is currently preparing for the European Open which will be taking place next month. I say this is a plus because competition gyms are where I feel the most comfortable because I can train hard without offending someone and I can get a great workout. Another bonus is that they are allowing me to train for free! While I believe that letting a traveling black belt train for free is beneficial for the gym and should be common practice, sometimes it isn’t. Since they have been so gracious to open their gym doors and take the time to speak to me I offered to teach a class or two while I am in Palma, and they accepted. I will go over some of the tried-and-true tournament techniques and drilling that work so well for my guys back home. Hopefully the techniques will serve them well next month.

The language barrier

The teaching aspect will be fun and while they do speak some English I am sure there will be a bit of a language barrier. When I am teaching I will definitely have to focus on excellent visual demonstration of the technique to help make up for it. However, this is my first time teaching a group of people whose primary language is not English so who knows. Maybe the language barrier won’t pose much of a challenge as I presume.  One thing that is certain is that once rolling starts . . . the language barrier is gone. After we engage in a roll we will essentially be using the same language. Not our verbal language, but rather our body language, the expression of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. At this point, it doesn’t matter what we call the techniques or how we pronounce letters and words. All that matters is that we are fighting for guard passes, sweeps, dominant positions and an eventual submission. This isn’t something that is in need of understanding one another’s speech.

Anyways, my flight is about to board so I have to cut this off. I will post this on the blog later on once I get settled in Palma. I’ll post about the experience I have at ABAMMA.

How Bloodsport shaped my BJJ journey (yeah I know. . . Bloodsport)

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The Martial Arts Movie Factor and rather amusing analogy

So before you start reading this post I want you to think back to all the different martial arts movies you may have watched over the course of your life. My favorite martial arts movie when I was a kid was Bloodsport. That movie probably had more impact on me than any other movie I’ve ever watched. I remember being so impressed with the martial arts skills of Jean Claude Van Damme and I would ohh and awe at the sight of Bolo Yeung’s massive physique.  Now when you are thinking about your martial art movie, I want you to think about the training montage that it inevitably had at some point.  The main character of the film more than likely had been beaten or wronged earlier in the movie and at the time their skills were not sufficient to tackle the obstacle. After this is when the montage typically started. The wronged martial artist then goes into training with a feverous pace, pushing their body and mind to the breaking point. Once the adequate skills were acquired they go to accomplish their goal and make themselves and their teacher proud. In the case of Bloodsport, Jean Claude Van Damme trains with his instructor in seclusion. When the montage begins he is beaten up and thrown all over the place. Over the course of the few minutes (accompanied by music from Stan Bush. . .hell yea) you see Jean Claude progress and he begins to slowly get the better of his teacher. Eventually he exceeds the skills of his master and is ready to take on anything that stands in front him. Whether it be a 80s arcade game or an evil muscle bound martial artist in the Kumite.

The Headhunter Mentality

Throughout my time in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu I have always sought to better myself and push my body and my skill to their limits. An effect of this ambition is that I became a sort of head hunter when I would rolled. I wanted to beat higher belts and my instructors, and I wanted to attack them all out in order to prove that I could push them.  Even if I couldn’t submit them I might be able to pass their guard or get a close sweep. When I was a white belt I would roll with a purple or brown belt with the same “I want to win” mindset. While I knew my attempts would be futile, if I could just make them adjust or scramble then in my mind, I had won. I believed that if I could catch them off balance or execute a move on them then I was progressing.  Just like in the martial art movie montages.

Passing the mentality on to my students

Recently I was asked from a few of my less experienced students if it was ok to go after the higher ranking belts when rolling. After reading the previous paragraph you should know my answer was yes.  I feel like the atmosphere of everyone pushing one another to new levels is the best.  Another student asked if he visited another gym if it was ok to roll hard with their students just like he does with his training partners at our gym. I told him that as long as everyone was in agreement that it would be a full on roll, then sure.  I personally would encourage students from other gyms who are visiting to go after my students and try to beat them so that they could learn from one another.

Recently I was told by one of my students who switched to our gym from another; that his old gym frowned upon hard rolling. I thought this to be silly and irrational. Then I have also recently seen an influx of talk recently about flowing more than hard training. When I read things denouncing the benefits of hard rolling I couldn’t help but sit back and shake my head.  I mean there is a time and a place for flowing and lighter rolling, like when you are injured, working a new position, drilling, rolling with newer students, etc.  Even when I roll easier with less experienced students I expect them to attack me with their full effort.  Flow rolling can never teach the practical application of a technique like hard rolling, or teach a student how to deal with the natural stresses that a physical engagement brings.

What is hard rolling in my opinion?

When I say “hard rolling”, understand I don’t mean being a spaz or recklessly aggressive. Instead I mean pushing yourself and your partner with the full brunt of your technique fueled by your body’s athletic threshold in relation to grappling. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is about technique first and foremost, and then the body enters the equation.

Is this mentality correct?

With all this said, I’m an open minded person and believe we can always improve, so I began to do a little introspection and see if my mentality was negative or disrespectful.  I thought pretty hard about this, talked to several of my students at all levels, and consulted my instructors as well as read interviews with successful BJJ practitioners.  The questions I was trying to answer for myself were. . .

1. Is the mentality of my training disrespectful?

2. Is this style of training productive and conducive to growth and skill?

3. Are my students happy?

4. Am I happy with what I have helped create?

Below are my answers and the thought process that went into them.

  • Is the mentality of my training disrespectful?

No, it is not disrespectful to train very hard and attempt to best your training partners and opponents. In the end this is a one on one sport and while we do belong to teams and affiliations, its all about personal growth.  How can you expect to push yourself and your friends if you never open up? I also looked around at my students after a hard training session where everyone had tried their best to submit one another and everyone is smiling, laughing and happy.  I also thought about my own journey. Did I ever attempt to beat my friends and training partners out of ill feelings or disrespect? Not even close, in fact it was the direct opposite! I respected their games so much that I felt forced to go hard and use my best techniques in order to best theirs.  Honestly I would find it disrespectful or out of place if the person did not roll hard with me, assuming this was that kind of training we engaged in at the time.  I was also always trying to show my instructors that I was a good student and that I was getting better, just like in the martial arts movies!

  • Is this style of training productive and conducive to growth and skill?

I believe the answer is an easy yes. By pushing one another we continually sharpen our skills and grow together. The old phrase “iron sharpens iron” would not be out of place to help explain my theory. We are also a competition school and have to continually test our game against other gyms and we consistently do very well.  Next , I read through interviews of well-respected and highly decorated BJJ players to see what they may have said on the subject of hard training. All the interviews revealed that they thought hard training was not an option but rather a necessity for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu to be effective and to learn how to apply it properly.  Lastly, training hard doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with your game. Mistakes and losing are necessary parts of growth and by having your techniques beaten you can see what sort of flaws are in your game.  Experimenting with new moves and techniques essentially allows you to plug holes in your game or to expose gaps that you may have not even noticed!

  • Are my students happy?

As stated earlier after hard training sessions my students all have smiles on their faces. Granted they are breathing heavily and pools of sweat lay at their feet, but they are all happy that they pushed themselves and their partners that day. Sure sometimes they will have ups and downs which are a common occurrence. Maybe a lower belt caught them in a submission or maybe they were just off that day or perhaps they’re hitting a plateau.  All this doesn’t matter because all in all the experience is positive. Also my competitors and fighters are happy with the results of their hard training when they return with medals, belts, prize money, bragging rights, etc.  My non competitors are happy with the weight loss, improvement of themselves and being a part of a successful team which they helped create.  Many of my students will train at other gyms from time to time, whether because of travel or because of curiosity. They always return very happy with the results and are excited to tell me how their styled fair against others. I would safely say that yes my students are happy.

  • Am I happy with what I have helped create?

I am incredibly happy with the gym and with my students. Our gym has produced champions and medalists in the Worlds, Pans, numerous IBJJF tournaments, Grapplers Quest, N.A.G.A, E.G.O, O.G.C, and the list goes on. Along with these impressive competition results we have help people of all walks of life achieve weight loss and fitness goals. More than this though, is the community we’ve built. When I see the brotherhood and unity between my students I can’t help but be ecstatic about the atmosphere we have created. A bond built with blood and sweat.

 Conclusion

After going through this and trying to examine the situation at all angles I have decided that for myself and my students that we will continue to train hard, push each other all in the confines of mutual respect and brotherhood for the betterment of ourselves. While some instructors may not agree or choose to take this approach I feel that it is the best way to train and the best way to build proper effectiveness in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Also, I believe my job as a BJJ teacher is to make my students better than I am. When I eventually have one my students submit me when I am giving them my all then I have achieved, in my eyes, one of the ultimate accomplishments as an instructor. The only way this accomplishment is possible is through hard training and pushing one another. My student has to become like Jean Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport (or the main character of any martial arts movie) and go after his instructor with their full effort.

P.S. Sorry for the silly movie analogy, but I figured it would be a good way to relate to all the martial arts geeks out there.

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Don’t let sinusitis take you off the mats

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Don’t let sinusitis take you off the mats

Yep, it’s that time of year again, and no I’m not talking about the holiday season. I’m talking about the weather changing and getting sick season. Different illnesses seem to plague would be mat rats and leave them side lined frustratingly from training. One of the most common ailments that hit the guys here in Louisville and in the Ohio Valley is sinus issues.  I feel like every year between November and December our class size shrinks temporarily due to people getting deep chest coughs, congestion, sinus pressure headaches, etc.

Below is a recipe that I stumbled upon a little over a week ago. When I found the recipe I was experiencing a pressure headache and I was coughing up green and yellow junk! I looked online for natural treatments and found this. Now I am not going to say it will cure everything instantly or that it will work for everyone. What I will say is that after only drinking this concoction once, I was instantly relieved of my pressure headache. Then the following morning I found that my phlegm went from thick green to thin and clear and that deep pressure in my chest was gone. I still had a bit of congestion but I didn’t feel sick and it was no longer affecting my training. I’ve continued to drink this mixture once a day over the last week and I definitely feel much better. I’ve also given this recipe to a few of my students and it helped them out.

Anyways, if your being affected with sinusitis then give it a try!

Ok, enough talking here is the recipe. . .

Tomato Tea

2 cups of tomato / veggie juice (v8 or anything like that)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 Lemon

Cayenne Pepper

How to make it

*Crush the cloves of garlic.

*Put the 2 cups of tomato juice into a saucepan.

*Slice the lemon and squeeze the juice into the saucepan.

*Add as much cayenne pepper to the mix as you can tolerate. . . the more the better.

*Throw in the crushed garlic.

*Heat everything up in the sauce pan till it gets close to a boil, and then pour it into a big cup or mug.

*Drink the mixture slowly being sure to let each gulp sort of sit on your tongue for a second before swallowing.

Also. . .

While researching natural treatments to the sinus related stuff I also came across the use of apple cider vinegar to help thin the mucus. When your mucus is thin it makes it easier for your body to cough it up and get it out of your system before it sits and becomes infected. I ended up taking a teaspoon a day along with the tomato tea. If you do end up buying some apple cider vinegar, be sure that it has the “mother” in it.  This can be determined by looking at the bottom of the bottle. When you look, you should see a sort of sediment lying on the bottom that moves once you shake the bottle.

Lastly

If you are not already doing so, make sure you are drinking lots and lots of water!

Hope this helps someone who is currently feeling a little crummy! It’s cheap, natural and effective.

Failure, the price of ambition/in , , , /by

Failure strikes again. . .

I can’t breathe, and I begin to feel my consciousness slip. My opponents’ legs are locked tightly around my neck like a vice, and my arm is sticking through the lock dangling.  My body feels frozen in place, petrified that I am in a submission and that I am about to lose a match or pass out. I try to think of how to counter this attack as my opponent grips the back of my head to apply more pressure on the lock. My peripheral vision fades and blackness is beginning to close in to the center of my view.  My mind is clouded by a state of panic. I begin to slap the legs that are wrapped around my neck and shoulder to signal surrender, and the lock is released. I slump back to my butt then quickly fall to my back staring up at the ceiling lights. With a deep breath my vision is restored, my body calms and I begin to grasp what just happened. Out of the corner of my eye I see my opponent standing with his hands raised above his head in victory walking the mats while his team cheers. Then the feeling of losing sets in and I realize that I’ve been bested and I am the defeated grappler. I stand and walk towards the referee who then grabs both of our wrists and raises my opponents arm.  We shake hands and walk off the mat . . . head hung low knowing that I put myself into this position, and that this failure is simply the price of ambition.

Rough times as a purple belt

Failure is the price of ambition . . . what an interesting thing to think about. In order to succeed we must fail at some point? Seems kind of contradictory to what we might think, doesn’t it? However, this is the truth! In order to succeed we must fail. Whether this occurs in the gym during our training sessions or in tournaments and competition, it is a vital for progress. The story you just read was a description of a match I had years ago. I was being triangle choked in a purple belt tournament, and this would be the first of many losses I had as a purple belt. During my time as a purple belt I found my dedication to this sport tested but the failures that came worked as a catalyst for improvement and learning.

I clearly state I had no idea what to do, yet I was a purple belt? How can this be, surely a purple belt would have some idea as to what to do? My years spent as a purple belt were rough at times. I had been a constant competitor as a white and blue belt and I quickly climbed to my purple belt which was given to me by my instructor in just around 2 years. 2 years to purple belt, pretty good progress right? Well maybe not as much as you would think. With the new rank I had very mediocre results at first. I would win some tournaments after hard fought battles only to go to another tournament where I would be outclassed by a much more skilled opponent.  My game was very narrow and efficient and if you played into it I would win, but if you made me play a different game I was typically ill equipped for it. I ended up moving to another gym because my current instructor was not dedicated to helping me grow and get to the level I know I needed to get to. When I came to the gym that I would come to call home my new instructors Colin and Kyle Cannon instantly picked apart my weakness.

What was my biggest weakness you might ask?

Well, it was the reluctance to try new things, the fear to fail. I had been so competition oriented with my training even in the gym that it caused me never to open up. Even with lower belts my old instructor taught me not to give them an inch and continually grapple just to win.  This caused me to have a very narrow style that could be exploited easily if someone was to engage with me in a way I wasn’t prepared for.  I would see this happen numerous times as a purple belt. Skilled opponents would use techniques that I was unable to combat at the time. My new instructors made me try and explore positions that I was absolutely terrible from, and in the beginning I struggled a great deal! I was finding it tough being one of the “top” guys in the gym and getting my guard passed by a white belt as I clumsily fumbled with my de la riva or half guard. This continued for about 7 long and at times exhausting months and then it was as if a light bulb had been turned on. Suddenly I found myself was able to work proficiently from what were once my worst positions, and I was soon able to apply this newly developed group of techniques to high level guys in the gym and in tournaments. This came as a result of constant drilling and rolling from these positions that were lacking.

I cannot stress how amazing this felt.  I had finally emerged out of this long rebuilding phase of my Brazilian Jiu-jitsu journey, a time which was filled with a lot frustration.

Explore and open your game

The idea of this blog post is to understand that failure is a necessary part to progress. If you are not losing and aren’t being beaten then how do you know your weak points or where you need to improve? Even if you are a high ranking belt at a gym you can still play positions you are weak from to make yourself better.  My problem was that I never allowed to play with any position that wasn’t my “bread and butter” and this hindered my growth. I was stuck in the same old moves and techniques and my skills never grew to combat the new problems and evolving jiu-jitsu of the higher level of competition and skill I was now facing.

Now we must never accept failure as inevitable but simply as a possible consequence of us expanding our games and testing new techniques. You should never walk onto the mat with the mindset that you are going to lose but be prepared to make the adjustments if you do.  Think of an inventor or scientist. They rarely discover what they are looking for right off the bat, but with persistence and a bit of trial and error they will find what they are looking for.

3 important things to learn

So I know I did a lot of rambling in this blog, but here are the ideas I would like for you to take away from it.

  1. Don’t be afraid of failure and embrace new challenges and obstacles.
  2. Take every defeat in stride and dissect it to find the reason you lost so that you can correct them. Whether in the gym or competition.
  3. Be persistent, even when things get tough.

Btw here is a cool quote a friend sent me when I talked to him about this subject of failure relating to BJJ.  .  .

“I am not judged by the number of times I fail but by the number of times I succeed, the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion with the number of times I fail and keep trying.”

 

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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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