The Secret of All Champions

If there is one thing that all champions have in common it's that they all strive to see improvement with every training session they undertake.

The truth is that most champions will have many things about their training and personalities that they share in common. But by far the most important underlying factor in their commitment to being the best is making sure they never waste a single day of training without focusing on a specific goal or area they would improve.

This isn't just wishful thinking either. There is a world of difference between saying you would like to see improvement in an area of your training and committing one hundred percent of your effort to making sure that you don't leave the mats until you have realized that improvement. It's obvious that to do this you need to be crystal clear on what area needs improvement as well as how you will achieve that improvement.

To find out what needs improvement you need to do some introspection and be completely honest about your performance. You can also get some honest feedback from your training partners as well as keep notes on what needs to be accomplished. By staying organized in this fashion you are making sure you stay focused on your game with a realistic perspective.

As for how you will achieve improvement in your game, your instructor is your greatest resource. From there you have private lessons for areas where you might be having more difficulty as well you can ask higher. There is also an endless supply of DVDs that can help focus on specific topics and moves.

It is important to note that the drive to constantly improve has to come from inside yourself as no one else can give you that motivation. You can surround yourself with positive reinforcement by staying around positive people who support you as well as stay inspired by reading and viewing material that will give you a boost in motivation and hello you stay focused. In the end though you have to be your biggest motivator. The drive to succeed has to come from within yourself.

How do you develop this type of unshakable laser like focus. Well the good news is that it is a habit, and like all habits it needs to be cultivated. The more you practice the stronger and more habitual it becomes, that way you eventually don't have to think about it but will stay motivated because it has become a habit.

The downside it that it has to be practiced regularly so you'll have to keep motivating pushing and driving yourself in order for the habit to form.

Building a Killer Grappling Grip

When it comes to grip strength in Brazilian jiujitsu, not only is crushing strength important but so is endurance where you can hold on for a long time.

Here are some exercises proven to give you grips of steel.

To begin let's look at the most obvious one and that is the gripper.

Grippers are exercise tools of varying resistance that are small enough to be carried around. The great thing about these tools is that you can buy several of increasing resistance to build up your hand gripping strength, you can even close them and hold on to increase gripping endurance.

Pinching barbell plates. By starting off with one plate you can increase the duration you hold the plates to increase finger strength. The when one becomes easy you can always move up to two plates. This is a surefire way to increase gripping strength and endurance in a short amount of time.

Pull ups. This classic body weight exercise has been around for a long time, and for good reason, it works wonders not only on your back strength but your gripping strength as well. It's important to note that most movements and techniques in Brazilian jujitsu require pulling along with a superior grip. So pull ups are natural exercises that will help improve this movement. There are several variations, the most useful being the standard pull up with palms facing toward you and the parallel grip pull up with your palms facing each other. Remember to be pulling your elbows back when performing the movement to involve the back muscles and not focus too much on the arms. Of course the side effect of pull ups is that your grips will get much stronger.

Kettlebells; kettlebells are perfect for improving grip strength and endurance for the simple reason that the grips on standard kettlebells are very large and your hand will have to adapt to the grip with a heavy weight that will improve your gripping power. Another plus to kettlebells is that you can perform explosive movements which are very well suited and specific to the explosiveness needed in grappling movement.

Lastly, we have medicine ball catches. It's best to start off with a relatively heavy weight after you've properly warmed up. Start by throwing the medicine ball high up in the air, then catch it abruptly by using only your two hands. This will help with grip strength and also mimic the impact that occurs when someone is violently puling away from your grip. This impact training will definitely help condition your hands and fingers for that.

Another Great Video By Stephan Kesting.

This one features a great drill that is sure to have an impact, it applies to transitioning as well as setting up a submission. Stephan learned this from Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro so you know it's good!

Check it out here:

Shaolin Drill

The Grappling Concepts Course, One Of The Best Training Supplements Out There.

Stephan Kesting is known throughout the martial arts community for his top-notch grappling and BJJ resources. He's put together best-selling instructional DVDs, writes one of the mot popular newsletters on grappling available, and has published articles in many of the bigger magazines like Black Belt, Tap Out and Ultimate MMA.

He's just re-released his very best instructional product: The Grappling Concepts Course. And he's also giving away five bonus DVDs including the '13 Techniques You Can Use On The Mat Today' DVD and the "Advanced Techniques and Tactics" 4 DVD set.

I've put together a promotion with him that you're going to love!
It's available to the first 50 people only and I'm letting it go until wednesday, after that it's over. It will probably sell out in the first day.
The promotion includes 4 free dvds from www.jiujitsuuniverse.com when you order by wednesday. I'll even pay the shipping on the four free dvds.
All you have to do is order from the link below then one you receive a confirmation email with your payment receipt, forward that to me (you can remove any private info I just need the receipt number and I'll rush out any 4 dvds you choose from the Jiujitsu Universe catalog free.

So if you even think you might be interested, I'd rush over and at least check it out:

The Grappling Concepts Course


If you've had a chance to check out some of Stephan's videos then you know the quality of instruction you'll be getting will make a huge difference in your game.

New Video And An Unbeatable Offer!

Here's another great video from Stephan and a great offer that will be up for tomorrow only!

Stop Sweep


Check your email tomorrow for an unbeatable offer, order Stephan's Awesome course through the link I'll provide tomorrow only, and I'll include 4 FREE dvds (I'll even pay the shipping).

Check your email tomorrow for all the details.

Awesome Omoplata Video

I'll be coming up with some great news over the next couple of weeks, for now here is Stephan Kesting's latest video and this one is AWESOME!

A 10 minute long Omoplata video that is full of useful info.

Check it out here:
Omoplata

Enjoy.

Deep Half Guard Video

Here's another video by Stephan Kesting showing Deep Half Guard Positions.

Deep Half Guard

More Free Videos

I'll be adding more must see free videos over the next few days from Stephan Kesting, like I told everyone about.

This one is on the "Twitch pass".
Feel free to comment and let me know how these are working for you.

You can check it out at:

Twitch Pass

Update And A Free Video.

Sorry for keeping a low profile lately guys, I've been extremely busy putting together some new projects as well as free resources that I'll be offering all my subscribers in the coming weeks.

For now I'd like to share some free videos that my friend Stephan Kesting is putting out.

He's also going to be re-releasing his awesome Grappling Concepts DVD course which everyone should have. I know many people have written in to tell me of the great progress these DVDs have helped them make.

In the meantime I'll be posting several of Stephan's free videos. They're free for you with no obligation for anything on your part. Just to see the quality of what he's offering for yourself.

This one is called The "Robot Legs" Drill.

Check it out at:
Robot Legs Drill

More to come...

New Site Launch!

I've finally got the new Jujitsu Universe site launched at www.jiujitsuuniverse.com

I've been neglecting to post as I've been hard at work putting together the new site. Send me an email and let me know what you think.

There are alot of new additions being planned including many videos.

To celebrate I'm offering a free DVD with the purchase of any product through the Jiujitsu Universe site. Buy any DVD off of the site and I'll include any other DVD of your choice for free. This includes the Train Fight Win and Budovideos dvds as well, as long as they are purchased from the Jiujitsu Universe links. Just send me an email with the DVD you would like included and I'll send it free of charge.

This offer will only last a few weeks so get in on it now!