Thinking Outside the Box...

For those of you looking for different tactics you can use for catching your opponents off guard, I've got a recommendation that will interest you.

Hopefully you are thinking outside the box when it comes to strategies you can implement in your game.

The recommendation I'd like to make is a DVD called The Art Of The Wristlock, by BJJ Black Belt, Roy Dean.
What's so different about this 2 DVD set is that it incorporates wrist locks taken from Japanese Jujitsu and Aikido and demonstrates their effectiveness against resisting opponents in a BJJ setting.
It gives a clear framework for adapting and using these wristlocks to surprise your opponents and take them off guard.

The beauty of these techniques is that many grapplers don't expect them therefore they aren't usually prepared to defend them.

There is also an excellent segment on footlocks and lower body submissions on the second DVD.

I can highly recommend this DVD set to all Grapplers who are constantly seeking to improve their game as well as add unconventional approaches to their skills.

The BJJ Notebook Coming Soon... FREE For Subscribers

Hi, just a quick note to let everyone know I'll be sending out my newest product called the BJJ Notebook to all my subscribers for FREE in PDF. format.

So keep a lookout in your email over the next week.

It will features several interviews including such BJJ greats like Dave Camarillo and more, a biographical article on Rickson Gracie, called The Flowing Wave Of Jiujitsu, and many other articles.

Also, feel free to send in any questions or comments.

To Gi Or Not To Gi?

This seems to be the age old question in Jiujitsu.

The funny thing is that there are proponents of either method that are often very convinced that their way is the ONLY way.

The truth is that both methods have their pros and cons.

For the record I train in BOTH methods and although I do train primarily in no-gi Jiujitsu, I feel that the gi is VERY important to training.

The pros to no-gi training are that the lack of a gi forces you to use grips that don't depend on clothing.
Underhooks, overhooks, and neck/head control allow you to control your opponent regardless of what he's wearing.
To me this is a little more realistic in terms of habits and skills to develop.

Now yes it is true that people often wear jackets and that developing gripping skills with the jacket allows for more chokes and points of control than training without the gi does. This is why I feel that Jiujitsu practitioners should at least have some gi experience if they choose to train without the gi.

The cons to training only with the gi are that if the gi is taken out of the equation, the gi fighter will have to adapt his skills on the fly to the lack of grips he has available and if he has no experience at all without the gi he could have serious problems adapting.

In the end, regardless of what method you choose to train in, I can sincerely advise you to train in the other side as well. This can only be beneficial for you in the long run and will make your game more complete.

Your Reason For Training...

I would like to address something that I feel is critical to your success in BJJ, it is so important, it's probably the one thing the makes the biggest impact on your training in the long term.
Quite simply, it's your reason for training.
In general, most people train in Jiujitsu for either sport, self defense, or to stay fit and have fun.
Some train for a combination of these reasons.

The point is that by understanding the deeper reason for your training you can tailor the focus of your training to better acheive your goals.
If you're training exclusively for self defense then the focus of your game will look very differently than someone who is training for competition.
Sport competiton training will be the most grueling not to mention the most prone to your getting injured.
Self defense training will have you focus your game on a more practical high percentage move strategy that takes into account variables you can encounter on the street as well as harder surfaces and different tactics.

The faster you can identify and tie your training into your goals then the faster and more effectively you will reach those goals.

A Solid Training Aid For Beginners?

I get asked all the time by beginners on what I can recommend as a training supplement to accelerate their development.

Over the next few weeks I'll be covering a few of the best DVDs out there for beginners to develop their game at a faster pace.

On a side note I just want to address the topic of DVDs and state that although I do not feel that a person can adequately learn a martial art, especially one as sophisticated as Jiujitsu from DVDs. I DO feel that in proper perspective, they are an excellent training aid and supplement that can definetely help improve ones skills at a faster rate.

That said the first DVD set I would like to discuss is by BJJ Black Belt Roy Dean, called The Blue Belt Requirements.

One of the greatest things about this set is the precise detail that Mr. Dean goes into in explaining the techniques.
The demonstrations of techniques are so detailed that I can easily recommend anyone at the White Belt level to those testing for their Blue Belt to view these DVDs first as they are sure to help you focus on the details of each required technique.

Furthermore the organized approach of the DVDs helps beginners keep track of and build upon the skills they develop, further increasing their understanding of Jiujitsu and preventing confusion. Mr. Dean's skills as an instructor really shine through here as well, as he clearly and concisely articulates all the main points and keeps the viewer's focus on the important steps involved in each technique.

This two DVD set goes over all the basic positions, submissions and strategies that will allow those beginning in BJJ to help clarify all the information they get in class, helping them not only memorise but also implement the techniques and their precise details to develop a solid base in BJJ.

Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements should be required viewing for White Belts at all BJJ Academies.

The two DVD set can be purchased here:
http://www.roydeanacademy.com/dvds

What's Going On In The Back Of Your Mind?

This is a very important question I want you to ask yourself.

When you're training and sparring, what's going on in the back of your mind?

I mean, more than just what you're thinking, how are you thinking about it?
Are you telling yourself that you're just trying to survive?
Are you telling yourself to force through your techniques because you're not sure about them?

These two examples will tell you alot about flaws in your approach.

Whatever it is you're thinking, it's a great idea to be aware of it and write it down after your training.
This is one of the fastest ways that you can get out of whatever problems you have in your training.

For example, let's say you keep getting caught in a certain submission and can't figure out what you're doing wrong or what to do to counter or escape.
I can guarantee you that if you're telling yourself, "I always get stuck here." or "what am I doing wrong?" then you will keep doing that same thing and repeating the same pattern and getting the same results.
By becoming aware of this and writing it down you can start to get out of that habit and answer the question.

If you always get caught in a certain submission and say I always get stuck here, then obviously the next step is to find out why and what you should be doing to prevent or counter it.

If you find yourself repeatedly asking what you are doing wrong, then you are uncertain about something that you are doing before getting caught and need to figure out what that is.

Asking your instructor or training partner for help here in finding the solution is very useful.

You'll also want to change what you are saying to yourself.

Again with the two above examples, if you're "always getting stuck" or asking "what are you doing wrong?" Then you need to replace those with "I'll never get stuck here again" or "what am I going to do instead?"
By finding out what you are doing wrong and replacing that with what you should be doing and replacing what you're saying to yourself in those moments, you'll be changing your thinking and actions and getting new results instead.

There is a reason why Jiujitsu is called the thinking man's martial art.

Match Analysis; Blue Belts

This week let's take things down a notch and look at these blue belts in competition.
Pay specific attention to the attempted Guard Pass by white and how blue maintains his composure and uses the open guard (more specifically his feet and grips) to keep control of white and eventually set up the submission.




I'll be discussing the open guard further in an upcoming post.

Schwan's Foodservice for Grapplers?

Later this week, I'll be back with more match analysis but today I'd like to address a growing trend that all grappling athletes should steer clear of!

As an athlete who's always on the go, I look for ways to get my meals and workouts in even if it means cutting corners sometimes.
My philosophy is a few minutes of productive training is better than none at all. Even if that training consists of going over strategies or technical points because I don't have the time or there are too many other things to do to train physically.
My point is that as life can sometimes get in the way of training, it helps to have backup plans to get as much as you can in when there just isn't enough time.

So for many people this extends into getting less sleep or sacrificing on their nutrition and meals.

I decided to mention this today because there are some common trends that initially might seem like good ideas but in the longrun will only hurt your training.

Most people can clearly see that cutting down on sleep is a bad idea as sleep is one of the most important factors in recuperation not to mention how important it is for keeping you sharp, quick-thinking and helping to prevent and heal injuries.

But when it comes to nutrition, I've seen many athletes neglect their nutritious intake only to later see it seriously affect their performance. The thing is that because diet plays mostly a longterm role on your performance as opposed to a short term. Many don't realize it's negative effects before they've occured.
I once knew of someone who ate 5 chocolate bars after training just because they didn't have time to eat a quality meal. We'll you can just imagine the crash they later felt when the sugar rush wore out.

The real trend that I want to address today is actually frozen food.

More and more, we see people eating frozen food because of the convenience. But if you are a regularly training athlete then you'll want to stay away from this as much as possible. Why?
Regardless of what many companies say, frozen food does lack important nutrients that are vital for athletes, especially hard training athletes like grapplers.
The antioxidants in fresh fruits and vegetables are VITAL for recovery and will make a difference in your fitness and health in the long run. Nothing beats fresh fruit and vegetables for the antioxidants that you need, especially after hard training.
Although frozen foods still contain antioxidants the truth is that athletes need ALOT of these nutrients to fight off the damage that free radicals cause after hard training. These free radicals can damage your health and 6-10 servings of FRESH fruits and vegetables (more like 10 for hard training athletes) are the best way to prevent the damage these free radicals can do and help improve your recuperation after training.

Right now there is a huge marketing campaign being put out by companies like Schwan's Foodservice for frozen food. They claim that their food is frozen quickly and the nutrients are intact. The best advice you can get is to stay away from marketing hype and stick to common sense.

Think about it.

Science has only discovered phytonutrients and bioflavinoids that are in fruits and vegetables in the past 20 years. There are millions of these nutrients in fresh foods and most of them haven't even been identified yet, not to mention that scientists still aren't sure how they work together for added benefits.

Use common sense and stick to nature. Our ancestors have been eating fresh foods for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. This is the way we've been eating for the longest time.

My point is simply to make sure you're not neglecting the fuel you put in your body to ensure you're getting the most out of your training and optimizing your performance.
Eat a balanced diet that includes at least 10 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables. Don't forget the general guidelines for nutritional servings are not for hard training athletes but for the general population.

Which we all know we aren't a part of!

Match Analysis

Let's take a look at this match from the Naga competition.
After working for grip we see Rodrigo execute a beautiful set up as he drops like he's going to pull guard and using that to outpace his opponent to side control after that his opponent manages to get half guard though Rodrigo escapes and regains side control.
After using an excellent combination to escape at 1:22, his opponent reverses the position and almost ends up with side control yet Rodrigo does a great job of thinking ahead and escaping and eventually regaining side control this time calmly working and gaining the mount position and maintaining it despite his opponents escape attempt.
From there we see Rodrigo set up a choke at 2:52 by forcing his opponent to turn and then taking the back.
He then attempts to set up an armlock and though he loses that, attempts an omoplata from the guard right near the end of the match.

Now, before watching this match several times ask yourself, what can you learn from this match?





You'll notice there are two main reasons why Rodrigo dominates this match.

First off, he always attempts to set his opponent up using a combination of moves.
From the beginning attempt at dropping into guard to attempting to control his opponents side/back to gaining side control.
Then when he gets reversed he doesn't panic but immediately goes for an escape to his opponent getting side control on him by thinking ahead and escaping to his half guard where he reverses his opponent.
This is the second reason, he stays focused, doesn't panic and thinks ahead of his opponent.
For beginners, this is a great demonstration of the two technique principle, although Rodrigo is obviously more advanced and uses three or more technique combinations at times.
You can easily see the effectiveness of combining techniques and using them to set up other techniques.

Furthermore, developing the ability to think ahead of your opponent by developing immediate responses and escapes to positions that you can perform in the moment as they are occurring is a critical skill to develop.

Now, go back and study this match several times looking for the details discussed.

Again focus on the question, what can you learn from this match and apply to your game?

Finding Pool Leaks and Jiujitsu

This week I want to tell you about a friend of mine's problem and how it relates to BJJ and all martial arts for that matter.
My friend was having a problem with his pool since the end of last summer. He figured he would wait until this year to fix it.
His inground pool had a leak in it and he couldn't find it.
He brought over some other friends to check it out and no one could find a crack, but as soon as he put some water in the pool it would slowly empty out.
Finally he did some digging and found a pool cleaning company who said they guaranteed they could find and seal all cracks and leaks.
So my friend called them up, a guy came over and sure enough within 10 minutes he found the leak and sealed it.
My friend couldn't believe it when he saw the crack.
He never would have noticed it in a million years if someone hadn't told him and he was shocked that such a small little inconspicuous crack could leak out so much water.

Ok.
So what does this have to do with BJJ???

Everything.

You see many times what we aren't trained to see will get right past us without us realizing it. It can seem like it's invisible.
My friend had surely looked over the crack many times but never really "noticed" it.
That is his eye wasn't trained to look for it and so it passed him by.
The exact same thing is true of BJJ.
The difference between many skilled players and unskilled ones is often down to what they "notice".
So if you want to be better you must learn to notice more subtleties during your rolling as well as when watching others roll.
The best way to do this is to study grappling matches and pay close attention to what's happening.
This is why I'm going to be featuring analysis of several classic grappling matches in the upcoming weeks.
Another thing you can do if you're a beginner is to pick up The Brazilian Jiujitsu Formula DVD.

You can get it by clicking the link or visiting the products page at www.jiujitsuuniverse.com

Until next week.