This is a half guard sweep that I’ve used and watched my students use both in the gym and in competition. Its a great option when you have an underhook but the opponent has a tight overhook and is forcing you into the mat. I see this a lot with wrestlers who will instinctively overhook in this position.
Last night was our 2nd annual suit rolling session. Once a year around Halloween we don suits that we bought at a Goodwill or any thrift store and . . . we roll. During this style of rolling it is important to submit your partner, but just as important is to rip their clothing. This is just a silly thing to do together and we had a blast. It is a lot of fun to see hard core competitors laughing till it hurt during a “rolling” session. If you ever want something stupid to do with your gym mates, try suit rolling, and if you do, please send me pictures! Enjoy the photos from the students and myself here at Derby City MMA in Louisville, KY! 😀
Before rolling
After rolling
I’ll leave you with a mustachioed version of myself. Enjoy
1
So something I was thinking about today, is the lack of effort some BJJ gyms put towards their children’s programs. I’ve seen many instances where a black belt will refuse to teach kids or will just grab a random blue belt to teach with no guidance whatsoever. They often cite their lack of patience or time as the reasons. I honestly think many people are afraid to teach kids.
This is unfortunate because I personally find teaching kids Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as an amazing opportunity. Being able to have such a direct impact on these youngster’s life is incredible feeling for me. Sure it requires more patience and sure it’s tough sometimes. But when a kid comes up to you and says they stood up to their bullies, that they’re not scared at school, that they don’t hate to look in the mirror anymore or that they finally feel good at something, none of that matters. All that matters at that point is that you changed a young child’s life. Knowing that I have a beneficial influence on my children’s lives is incredibly powerful and fulfilling. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t gotten a little teary eyed after some of the comments from my kid students. Maybe I’m just a little over emotional?
I think of the positive effects my youth leaders and coaches had on me while I was growing up. I hope that I’ll have a similar effect on my students. Also, truth be told. I’m kind of an overgrown kid, so my students and I get along just swell.
Let me add this. Should you ever get a chance to teach kids BJJ. . . Do it! Not only will it test your ability to simplify a movement and further develop your teaching. . . and patience. But it really is an interesting and awesome experience.
When I first started competing as a black belt I had this funny problem. I would go into the match flat, and it wasn’t till being swept to mount that I would “wake” up. In fact, my first 3 wins as a black belt in competition started with me 6 points in the hole after a sweep to the mount. Here’s a mount escape that I, unfortunately, got pretty good with.
“The greatest wealth is health.” – Virgil
“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha
“Prevention is better than cure.” – Desiderius Erasmus
“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” – Plato
Mobility – One thing that I’ve learned just within the past year that I wish I would have focused on more in the past is mobility. Most of us focus so much on how many hard rolls we get in a training session, how many reps we’ve performed of a particular technique or if our lifts are improving in the weight room. However many of us also fail to focus on mobility. I’m talking about keeping our joints, muscles, and our body’s movement patterns healthy. By no means am I pointing the finger at anyone because up until this last year I gave mobility little to no thought. Sure I would stretch a little here and there, but this is much different than old school stretching. Let me give you a brief explanation of how I stumbled upon the idea of focusing on mobility and how it’s improved my BJJ and at the end I’ll give you some takeaways and resources for your own use. Alternatively, you can skip my story telling and fast forward to the bottom to get the resources and links.
How I found out about mobility work
Well first off, I was never blessed with ample amounts of flexibility. My muscles have always been a bit tight and wound up and in the last couple of years I’ve also began to “feel” my body much more after hard training sessions. I wrongly attributed this to getting older. I mean I’m nearing 30 which seems to be that magical number that people fixate on when they talk about their body breaking down and becoming more injury prone.
So . . . about a year ago my friend, student, training partner and fellow coach here at the gym, Brent Weedman, turned me onto the idea. He started weight training with a very competent trainer here in Louisville and would rave about the results. What struck me as different was that he didn’t just tell me about his PR’s(personal record) in the gym but he also made it a point to share the improvements he was making in his mobility. When he first started talking about mobility improvements I was pretty ignorant to the idea but as he explained more, it made sense. Brent, like any other high level athlete, had experienced his fair share of wear and tear on his body provided to him by long hours of training and fights. Couple this with a lack of concentration on his body’s movement health and you have tight muscles and joints and poor range of motion. I remember Brent telling me that before he revamped his conditioning program he wasn’t sure how much longer his body could take the rigors of fighting professional. If you were to ask him now he would tell you he feels like a new man. He fights like one too. By using the different techniques he was learning from his conditioning coach he was able to rid himself of problems like tight shoulders, hips and back all while making great gains in strength and power.
I hold a great deal of respect for Brent so I began using a few different techniques he shared with me and started looking deeper into the whole mobility thing. When you type in “mobility” into an internet search or Youtube you will be bombarded with information from a guy named Kelly Starret or MobilityWOD, and for good reason. Kelly Starret is the leader of a mobility movement that is gaining momentum in the athletic world. He works most closely with the CrossFit community and uses his mobility techniques to keep athletes who are doing tons of volume healthy and in the gym instead of being sidelined due to injury. He is also helping tons of people, including myself; restore proper movement in their body. After watching videos and reading through some of his literature I found myself buying his book, Becoming a Supple Leopard which in my opinion is fantastic. The book literally goes through and shows the proper movement mechanics to many basic and advanced lifts. The book also goes through helping its readers identify what problems they may have based on some easy to follow tests. Then the best part! The last chunk of the book is loaded with tons of corrective exercises, stretches and techniques that will help you improve range of motion, get rid of tightness and help you alleviate pain you may be experiencing. I was also lucky enough to meet with a woman who was an FMS trainer as well as a physical therapy student and she helped me identify specific areas of my body I needed to focus my attention towards. After a month of solid effort and focus on improving the mobility of my rust bucket body I began to feel some noticeable differences.
Alright so let’s get to the part you are actually interested in hearing about, How it improved my BJJ and training.
1. My range of motion improved. My squats were getting deeper, I was able to maintain better thoracic extension when doing particular exercises, and my shoulders were moving smoother during overhead presses. I was also less sore after hard lifting sessions.
2. Tight areas that were chronically in pain began to feel much better. Most notably my hip flexors. I remember constantly struggling and having issues with them. Which as you can imagine hindered my ability to train or compete at 100%. In addition injuries have since become less common.
3. I was able to warm up quicker. As I’ve gotten older it seems like it takes longer and longer to get my body adequately warm for BJJ training and competitions. One of the most noticeable changes after the mobility work was how fast I was able to get my body loosened up and ready to compete. What used to be nearly a 20-25 minute ritual was now condensed into about 5-10 minutes. While this may not seem like a big deal to some. Being able to get warmed up quickly on the fly is a valuable. If you’re a competitor. I want you to think about an experience you may have had where you had a tournament match and were not properly warmed up. Either due to a screw up on the tournament coordinators end or your own. Competing without having your body revved up is not a good thing, so it’s nice to be able to get warmed up on the fly.
4. I could train harder and at higher volumes without being utterly destroyed the next day. Doing a heavy lifting workout, multiple hard rolling sessions and being active during my 4 hours of teaching classes a day can definitely take its toll. What a great feeling it is to be able to maintain that kind of training load and still feel physically able to do it again the next day. The mobility work enables me to keep up high volumes of training and still not “feel” it like I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I still get sore and fatigued but I don’t find my body being completely shot.
After reading above the takeaways for you, and why you should consider investing your energy towards mobility should be clear.
1. It will improve flexibility and range of motion
2. You can decrease frequency of injury. Yes injuries will still happen but you can still decrease the amount, especially those that would be a result of muscle tightness and imbalance.
3. You will be able to warm up faster for class or competitions.
4. It will improve rehabilitation after hard training and you can maintain a high level of training for a long duration of time.
If you’re interested in learning more check out http://www.mobilitywod.com/about/faq/ or go look up Kelly Starrett on Youtube. Checking out the supple leopard book that I mentioned earlier wouldn’t be a bad idea as well. Lastly, if you’re able, get in touch with a competent conditioning coach who knows about mobility. If this is not available then use what resources you can gather to help identify areas of your body that need help. Heck, it may not be that hard in some cases. I mean after all, you are probably aware that your shoulder range of motion sucks or that you can’t get into a deep squat to save your life.
Good luck on improving your body and your training! I hope it helps you preserve your body and helps reduce the damage caused by training.
As always, thanks for reading!
Chewy
Oh and be sure to check out the podcast on my other site at http://www.matwind.com
“Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It’s a state of mind – you could call it character in action.” – Vince Lombardi
“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.” – Napoleon Bonaparte”
(I like to think to interpret this quote with “courage” replaced with “mental toughness.”)
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Fun video of Cary Kolat sharing a story of mental toughenss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzVVT8JTeM
10. Mental Toughness- I often talk to my students about the pesky voices that will present themselves when they find them in bad positions, when they become tired, or when they are nervous. Do you know what I am talking about? Have you ever been exhausted and stuck under someone’s crushingly heavy top pressure, having a conversation inside your head about whether or not to give up the fight? I have. The situation reminds me of the old cartoons where you would see a devil and angel sitting on top of the character’s shoulders. Except instead of urging me to do something nefarious or kind, part of me says “keep fighting” and the other side says “He’s so heavy. Just give up position, its ok”. If you’ve never experienced these sort of thoughts, then you are tougher than most. Over the years of training I’ve been able to minimize and for the most part extinguish that voice that tells me I should give up. Early on it was very tough for me and required a lot of mental focus not to succumb to those mental suggestions caused by frustration and fatigue.
One of my favorite aspects of competitions or extremely competitive rolls is that they can definitely help bring out the best in us. They can also bring the worst out. If I may, I’d like to share a story of a tournament match I had years ago.
One very insightful competition match that I experienced came from the days when I was a blue belt. I had finished finals for school and came down to a tournament in Tennessee. I did not cut weight nor did I pay much attention to my weight. I had been busy with school, barely trained for the tournament and just figured, “what the hell, I’ll just compete.” I ended up winning my division fairly easily, but the real fun came in the open division. As luck would have it, I fell right at the weight cut off. The weight divisions were 193.9lbs and under and 194lbs and over. I weighed in at 194.5lbs. . . go figure.
My first match pitted me up against a bruiser wrestler. His name escapes me but I do remember that he weighed around 225lbs with a substantial amount of that being lean muscle. I also remember that he had wrestled in college for 4 years. I also recall being a bit intimidated by his much larger physique. Once our match began the first few minutes went very poorly for me. I was taken down several times and the point spread was up to 12-0 in his favor. Then he mounted me, and this is where things got interesting. See, this tournament had a skunk rule. Meaning if he was up 15 to my 0 then he would receive a technical win. The mount being a 4 point move, meant that he was 3 seconds away from securing the win and thus making me look like I didn’t belong on the mat with him.
This is a moment where I personally had this conversation with myself. I remember this moment vividly. I was so angry for letting him get so far ahead on points. He was strong and had used his wrestling to deny me my usual comfortable top game position. I was just frustrated. Somehow I dusted away the frustration and turned it into determination. I thought to myself “I can’t give up this easy! I need to at least make him work for his win.” Fun Fact, when I compete I am not always worried solely about winning. Yes, winning is high on the priority list, but win or lose I want it to be a good competitive match. Anyways, after having these thoughts rush through my head I manage to escape mount and rally back. Once I made it out of mount he never scored another takedown or a single point for that matter and I was able to rack up 10 points. With about a minute of the match left and the end closing, he shot in for the takedown, I sprawled and attempted a guillotine choke and pulled guard. The choke didn’t stick and my arm slipped off his sweaty neck. Then I attempted a kimura sweep. He stuffed the sweep but I caught a snag on his arm, transitioning to the kimura, I desperately tried to crank the arm to finish. This moment in the match was kind of neat because it was only a few seconds but I remember noticing everyone in the crowd around us, minus his teammates of course, cheering for me. I was the smaller BJJ guy trying to topple the larger wrestler. I also remember looking of my shoulder as I held onto the kimura lock. I could see his face getting redder by the second as he flexed his arm, keeping it stiff and denying me the finish. Lastly I remember looking at my arms shaking as they were fully flex and fatigued from the long match and a voice in my head encouraging me, “Come on!”.
Sadly I was not able to finish the lock and the bruiser wrestler had his hand raised in victory. I suppose the silver lining was that I wore him out during our match. Because in his next match he was finished in 30 seconds via armbar by a guy we all called Brazilian Mike. Strangely enough Brazilian Mike wasn’t from Brazil or Brazilian. If I was able to wear him down that much, in my mind, meant that it was a good match. The best part about this particular match was that it gave me a clear example of how powerful the mental side of things can be. After reflecting on this match, I realized how valuable it is to have the ability to deal with frustration and uncomfortable feelings while being under heavy physical and mental pressure.
There is an interesting feeling that happens during a tournament match or competitive roll in the gym. That feeling is when you feel someone’s body relax and give up, even if it is just for a second. Think back to your own experiences. Have you ever had a good roll with someone and were trying to secure a pass, sweep or submission, and eventually after a struggle you felt their defensive hand positioning and body positioning give way to your attempts? You may even know this sensation from being the one who mentally broke and allowed the person to pass, sweep or submit. During this match I was almost the one that mentally broke. I was fortunate enough to have the resolve to wipe away the defeatist mindset and come back strong in the match. This was a result of hard training and preparation.
The Take Away
After reading this I want you to think for a second. Have you ever let your own personal demon get the better of you during your training? Have you ever found yourself rolling in the gym or in a competition having a conversation inside your head contemplating giving up when things get a little tough? Have you ever been training and just got frustrated because you were in a tough spot and ended up making tons of mistakes as a result of your own frustration? Maybe you just find yourself not pushing through a little discomfort caused by fatigue and sitting out a round during training. If you do any of these things, like most of do, then I have a simple challenge for you. Push through it. Developing mental toughness is very much a personal thing. I can’t develop mental toughness for you and you can’t develop it for me. Your coaches and training partners can help assist, but ultimately, it is up to you to push yourself past your perceived limitations.
5 Tips
*Note that training hard and pushing yourself past your limits is not necessary day to day, all year round. However, if you are experiencing hangups anywhere or are preparing for competitions, its definitely worth doing.
As always, thanks for reading!
I feel like it was yesterday that I took my first BJJ class. Sadly, that was over 10 years ago. That’s right; I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for over 10 years! Just being able to say this makes me feel proud and super old. In honor of my landmark I came up with 10 solid lessons and experiences I’ve personally learned and share them. Each lesson will have a personal story to accompany it and then I’ll give a take-away. I will share highs and lows as well as some embarrassing moments in my BJJ career. I hope that you get something out of the stories and the lessons that go with them.
“Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.” – William Temple
“There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.” – Henri-Frederic Amiel
“Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.” – John Madden
“Arrogance invites ruin; humility receives benefits.” – Chinese Proverb
1.Be a humble person to those around you – When I started training BJJ I was 18 years old. After about 6 months of constant training and competing I received my blue belt. At the time of receiving the belt, there were not many high ranking belts in the area. Most of the “higher” belts were purple belts. My streak of tournament wins combined with how quickly I acquired my blue belt as well as my 19 year old immaturity made me feel like a total “bad ass”. In addition to this, my instructor at the time wasn’t the best for putting a lid on this disrespectful attitude, instead he encouraged it. When I competed, especially at local tournaments, I felt like I was some sort of fighting animal that he could brag about after a win. Sadly, I kind of enjoyed it when I was in my “bad ass” phase. I was still a nice person, but I definitely had an obnoxious streak especially when it came down to winning, losing and competing.
3 examples of my antics
1. After being submitted I would smack the mat and drop the F Bomb.
2. I would gloat about winning constantly.
3. I would talk down about others and their BJJ.
Fast forward to early 2007 I had a conversation with my friend who would eventually become one of my BJJ coaches. He and I met up for lunch and he informed me that I could no longer train at his gym because of the negative associations that came along with my current instructor. At this point I had trained with Colin here and there for a while and considered him a friend. I didn’t want to be unable to hang out and train with my buddy! That moment made me realize the path I was on, and if I continued my path I would end up being like my instructor. He was someone who was isolated in the local BJJ community because of their brashness and poor attitude towards others. I knew deep down that I was not that kind of person, so soon after I separated from my instructor and began the “humblization” process under my new coaches. I am a confident person but I’ve done my best to rid myself of that my previous cocky, egotistical edge. I don’t think I would be a successful instructor, competitor or even liked in the community if I hadn’t done that. This was one of the best lessons I ever learned through BJJ and has definitely carried over into other aspects in my life.
The take away
No one wants to be around a cocky jerk that is full of him or herself. One of the best parts about this sport is the amazing communities, and you cannot be a part of these communities if you don’t lose your ego! If you do not lose these negative traits you will find yourself more and more isolated. People will shy away from training with you. You won’t fit in with your academy because you will be “that guy” everyone loves to tap because he has a big ego. If you somehow manage to retain this nasty quality into your higher ranks you will most certainly be shunned by many of your peers and will have a hard time finding people to cross train with and share knowledge. To top it off, it will severely hinder your ability to learn and grow in skill. Trust me, you don’t want this. Take it from someone who was once “that guy” in the gym. Just be humble to the people around you.
Today was a bruiser. I didn’t have any interviews for the podcast or private lessons and I am waiting for the hosting issues to get resolved before I can finish the work on the actual website. This freed up my day so I decided to take advantage of it and work hard!
When I weighed in this morning I was 207lbs which is good considering I had a pretty relaxed diet this weekend. I went on a camping trip this weekend and ate food that I normally don’t consume in great quantities like breads so honestly I expected my weight to be up a bit. This means I need to lose about 5lbs so that I will be 207lbs or under in the kimono. Whenever I am getting ready for an IBJJF style tournament, which has you weigh in right before your match, I aim to be a couple of pounds lighter than I need to be. This lets me enjoy a good breakfast on the day of competition. I am kind of a fat kid at heart and going without a sizable breakfast isn’t an option and when the day of competitions comes I want to focus on the match not having to lose a few extra pounds.
Here is what my day looked like. . .
11am-12:15pm: BJJ Takedowns. 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling starting from the knees
12:30pm-1:30pm: Heavy deadlifts. Did work with 80% of my one rep max. Then some stretching.
7pm-8:10pm: More gi takedowns. Again 10 minutes total of takedown rounds and then 15 minutes of rolling from the knees.
8:15pm-8:50pm: Did the “Filthy Fifty” workout. If you’ve never done the workout before it’s a lot of fun. Here’s what it is . . .
For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders
This work out is considered a chipper workout. Meaning it’s long and tough, and you have to simply chip away at it.
8:55pm-9:20pm: Live wrestling for takedowns. Going to wrestling straight after that workout was rough, but I did well and was happy I pushed through my fatigue.
I felt great today. The camping trip this weekend helped me clear my head a bit and I felt really refreshed on the mats today. That being said, it was still rough and required a lot of focus.
Whenever I have rough days like this when I am leading up to a tournament I try to use visualization as a motivation. When I am drilling my takedowns I am not taking down my partner, I am taking down an unnamed opponent in the competition. When my grip starts to fade during a heavy set of deadlifts I think about my opponent finishing their rep and clinch the bar tighter. When I am exhausted after a hard workout I think about my opponents training past discomfort and head back to the mats for wrestling.
This may sound silly but visualization is such a powerful technique that comes in handy when I am training for a competition and need an extra boost of motivation during hard sessions. Even if I am not preparing for a competition, if I have a goal I want to achieve, then visualization is something I use. During the hard work that is necessary to achieve any worthwhile goal (BJJ or otherwise) if I find my motivation waning, I start to visualize. Visualize overcoming the obstacles that stand in my way. Visualize how my hard work will aid in my road to attainment, and visualize the satisfaction of achieving my goal. No matter how tired I might be. When I think about these three things I get fired up to get after whatever it is I need to do.
I am tired so if this post came across as poorly thrown together I do apologize. I am a bit wipe so I am going to head to bed and get ready for another tough day tomorrow!
As always, thanks for reading.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send an email to chewjitsu@gmail.com
(That’s me on the right at my first tournament in 2003!)
It’s Monday and that means it’s a post about leading up to the competitions. I figured I would share what a typical Monday looks like for me and then talk about planning your days to get the most out of them.
Since starting the podcast, Monday, has become my lightest day of training and probably my busiest actual day of the week. I’ll give an idea of what it looks like.
7-8:30AM: Wake up. I know this is going to sound silly but I’ve actually found that a side benefit of drinking lots of water is that I wake up to use the restroom earlier than the time my alarm clock is set. The benefit of this is that I don’t wake up to a nasty alarm clock sound and feel much better when I open my eyes. During this time period I eat breakfast, goof around on the computer for a bit, maybe watch BJJ videos or something. If the weather is pleasant, which is has been, I’ll sit out on the deck and drink my morning cup of coffee and relax. This is my “holy hour”, a little chunk of time to just be alive without having to worry about anything and do whatever I want. If you currently don’t have a holy hour, you should find a little bit of time in your day to schedule one. Doing this does wonders for me personally.
8:30-9:40AM: Answer emails and social media messages I have, glance over my to-do list, review over the techniques I’m showing that day, and then work on any projects I might have going. I will usually head to the gym around 9:40am and get there at 10am.
10:00-10:45AM: Lifting or Metcon
10:45-12:30PM: Stretching followed by my morning class. Mondays are always takedown days. After class I will chat with everyone, get a couple extra rolls in or help students with questions they might have.
12:30-3:00PM: Protein shake with a snack followed by working on my podcast website. Then around 1:30 I start interviews for the show.
3:00-4:00PM: Lunch with a coffee/tea break then I pick up one of my students and bring him to the gym.
4:00-6:45PM: Blog and website stuff, customer service work for the gym.
6:45-9:30PM: A light warm up then BJJ class from 7-8 with wrestling starting at 8. Wrestling is always fun and I love the analogy of calling it “fighting without punches” because it is such a rough sport. If you’re gym offers wrestling you should definitely take advantage of that opportunity!
9:30-12:00ishAM: Head home to relax, eat a light dinner and finish any small work I might have. Then I try to always read for an hour before I head to bed. More often than not it’s something history or non fiction. I just finished a book called Mastery and another called The Last Lion.
Now I am not sharing the schedule because I am gloating about being busy or because I am trying to show you how much I train. Rather the reason is because everything I did today was scheduled. I’ve found that for me personally when I am well rested and relaxed I am in a much better state of mind about planning out what I should do with my time. However, if I am run down by a long day or consumed by work I need to get done. Having to make the conscious decision to train becomes more difficult and I tend to slack a little.
Routine and accountability to the rescue
Sitting down on a Sunday night and making out a schedule helps me get the things I need to get done. . . DONE! Now most people aren’t as fortunate as me to teach and train for a living, but mapping out a schedule still applies. I remember working 60 hours a week in IT and being exhausted after work. After leaving work following a 10+ hour day, training didn’t seem quite as attractive as normal. I’m sure you’ve felt this way before, right?
This is where the schedule comes into play! You must take the choice away from your weary self and place it into the hands of your well rested self. With a written schedule you don’t have to weigh the options of either exerting yourself in training or just taking it easy for the night after work. Instead you can look down and see what you planned for yourself and follow the guide. Now there is something to be said about listening to your body, and if you are feeling absolutely terrible then maybe you should take a night off. But, have you ever skipped a work out only to get home and regret the choice, or have you ever went to the gym a little groggy only to leave pumped up about your training? I know I’ve personally done both.
The reason I put this “schedule talk” into this competition post is because getting ready for a competition can sometimes be tough, and it’s easy to get side tracked by life and skip a workout. The problem with this is, each day you skip a workout a day of preparation is lost, and when you’re getting yourself ready for a competition you have a fix amount of time to get ready. A wasted day of training is simply something you cannot afford. By giving yourself a schedule to follow you make sure that you’re getting your training, work, and other responsibilities and obligations taken care of, as well as finding time for yourself. Plus, there is a bit of accountability. It’s a little more difficult to skip out on things when you look down and see the goals you set for yourself staring back at you.
You may not experience the same problems I have and this may not be necessary for you. But if you are having issues training on some days, or find yourself slacking sometimes because of laziness. Then try giving yourself a schedule so that you make sure you get done, what it is, you want done. Make the schedule realistic and focused around the goals you have. If the goal is competition then it better consist of lots of hard training and drilling!
As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments feel free to send them to chewjitsu@gmail.com
Hows the men to women ratio at your gym? I’m sure it’s similar to most gyms and significantly more men train. However I can say that right now, there are more women training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at my gym than ever before and I think its fantastic! With all the new women in the gym I asked them if there is anything that they were particularly interested in regarding BJJ. Many of them shared the same desire to hear from high level females in the BJJ community. I decided to reach out to a few of the women I know and ask them some questions.
We will start with Katie’s responses first. First off big thanks to Katie at http://skirtonthemat.wordpress.com/ for her insights on what its like to be a woman in BJJ. The responses are genuine and detailed. I hope you enjoy the question and answers listed below!
1. Tell me about yourself (Name, rank, years training, your line of work, any other info you’d like to share)
Katie, brown belt, 7 years this August, marketing coordinator for a real estate company, writer of SkirtontheMat, bookworm, klutz, etc. I currently train at Maxercise Academy in Philadelphia. http://www.maxercise.com/Home.html
2. What got you started in training?
The simple answer to that is I was working at the front desk of the academy at the time, and it was suggested I try out the class. It wasn’t my first encounter with grappling or even jiu jitsu: I have an older brother who wrestled in highschool and college, so being unexpectedly put into a clinch wasn’t really that foreign of a concept. Additionally, I can be pretty clumsy-so falling to the ground is not a terribly foreign concept either. Also while in college I was a part of the school’s radio station, and became friends with some of my co-hosts who were big fans of MMA: we would get together at someone’s house and watch UFC (back when it was once every 3 months or so) or Pride fights. I was interested in it, but also back then I was a lot more shy and it took someone encouraging me to try the sport. I took my first class, and it actually wasn’t until I took a second and third class that I really started to get a hang of it and started to enjoy myself.
3. Did you have any initial fears about training, if so how/when did you get over those?
Um, there was an initial anxiety, partially because everyone is naturally anxious in new situations. Additionally I think women are often encouraged to avoid full contact sports, which is really the biggest objection I hear when I talk to other women about trying jiu jitsu. Third, I had gained a lot of weight when I was in school which made me feel insecure. Not that I’ve ever been described as tiny, but the college lifestyle had definitely taken its toll. I would be partnered with someone to train, and especially in the beginning when you could obviously tell the weight discrepancy, and there were times I almost felt the need to apologize to my partner for being so…big. There’s no better way I can describe it. There were a variety of initial fears, including competition, which is completely natural: it’s not often you’re asked to get up in front of a bunch of people and try your hardest to choke someone or manipulate their joints in a way that could potentially injure them. But I find that facing those competition fears can lend to facing other anxieties, etc. in everyday life. You have already proven you can be anxious or scared of something, still “put your big girl pants on” and try your best, which I feel is an invaluable experience.
As what got me past anxiety about training, I think part of it had to do with the fact that I started to see results, belt changes, weight loss, a boost in confidence. For the most part the other students and instructors were patient and helpful, and it was pretty fun. I’m also goal oriented, and jiu jitsu became something I wanted to get better at, which kept me motivate to press on. Hooray for being stubborn and stuff. 🙂
4. What drives you to continue training?
A variety of reasons: I love puzzle/problem solving, and each training session has the potential to present a puzzle that needs to be solved. Also, personally it’s a great way to relieve stress. We all worry and sometimes over-think a situation, over-analyze conversations throughout the day, and a good hard training session is a great way to see “the forest for the trees” again- a way to kind of reset your perspective. The community is also a big aspect for me as well: we are very fortunate to have a great team with people from all walks of life coming through the door and welcomed onto the mats. We train hard, respect and support one another, even if that means pushing a fellow student to help them reach their goal.
5. What has been the biggest challenge of your BJJ career?
Ha, I have the same challenge as a lot of people- myself. Well, not me specifically. I think a lot of people, are hard on themselves and how well they do: in competition and sometimes even sparring. While a lot of this sport is physical and muscle memory, there is a lot of thinking, and particularly believing in yourself and your technique, and there is a tendency to lose sight of that. We toil, day in and out on these myriad of minute details- put your hand here, place your foot there, make sure you have just the right angle, match after match during training sessions that I think it’s easy to get lost and not really see the big picture. We beat ourselves up over a submission we didn’t get, all the while completely ignoring the beautiful sweep that was executed in the very same match. It’s a bit funny, and frustrating at times.
6. Are you a competitor, if so why do you compete?
Er, by technical definition, I guess I would say yes, I am a competitor: I train a lot, work out, diet, attend competitions and I enjoy competing in the fact that I feel accomplished win or lose if I step off the mat and really feel I put my skills to the test. I don’t really keep track of how many matches I have won, I’ve given most of my medals to the gym (I couldn’t even tell you which ones were mine), and instead I think about what I could have done better, and have even taken notes after a competition on things that I need to work on, using that opportunity to grow and advance as a jiu jitsu player (jiu jitsuka, whatever we’re calling ourselves these days).
7. Are there any resources or helpful tools that you use or would recommend to someone who trains?
Instructor, really would be my answer. I dabble here and there looking at Youtube videos, particularly if there is something I want to work on and I need to brush up on. There’s no one video channel I’m particularly attached to, though I like what I have seen so far from the BJJ Library. There are some cool things someone at an equal or higher rank will show that I’ll play around with to see if it will fit into my game, but the main thing is I’m a visual and kinesthetic learner: I have to see the technique being done to someone else, and then I need to do it myself to fully understand it. I am more concerned about what I learn during class or on the mats that I can drill, reference with a higher rank and drill again, rather than some crazy video I watched maybe once or twice.
8. Any funny story you’d like to share?
One of the fun things about traveling for competitions is there’s at least one good story, one memory you’ll take with you, regardless of winning or losing. We all went out together to this past year’s Pans: one of our blue belt guys competed, lost his first match, and came back to where we were sitting in the stadium to share with us,
“So, I went up to the acai stand the the guy was telling me how this stuff on top is good for memory, and this [topping] was great for athletes…I asked if he had anything for shame. He didn’t say anything.”
There are tons of moments you’ll gather throughout the years: if you have the time and means, one of the great things about jiu jitsu is the opportunity to travel for (usually for competition) to new places and meet new people, and you’ll have the opportunity to create a lifetime of memories.
9. Have you ever had to use your BJJ to protect yourself?
Fortunately, no. I am glad to know the self defense stuff and some judo, but also immensely glad that I have never had a need to use either: I am a big believer in being aware of your surroundings, and listening to your instinct when it’s telling you something’s not right.
10. How do you deal with training in a predominantly male sport?
When it comes to being a woman in jiu jitsu, there are some things that are great and then some elements that just suck. And, there are some decisions that are made when it comes to women, particularly divisions in tournaments where you think “who the hell thought that was a good idea?” And don’t even get me started about some of the gi choices. Yikes. Thankfully I think they stopped making the pink camouflage gi’s. Also, fortunately as the years go on and more women become involved in the sport, I think there will be less issues. There are some that will still persist however, particularly on a more local level. You’ll have men who enter an academy and doubt a woman’s ability due to their gender, there’s still a good chance when a woman will be the only female in a class- which being the token member of the opposite gender can be just as awkward the other way around. The sport in general has a high rate of attrition, and it’s extremely noticeable when it comes to women, which leads to a lot of competing against the same women in tournaments, even at national levels. We take these things in stride for the love of the sport. There is hope though: while our voice is still a small one in the jiu jitsu community, it is growing especially as more females become black belts.
11. Anything you’d like to share with females out there?
Um. nothing that I can think of- if anyone has a question for me I’ll be happy to answer; they can email me at thatclassybroad at gmail, go through you, whatever, but there’s nothing in particular that comes to mind.
As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to share any comments or thoughts in the section below or by email at chewjitsu@gmail.com .