“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

Grip Fighting!

Grip fighting is one of the most under looked aspects of Brazilian jiu jitsu.

The grips on the gi can give one opponent a huge advantage not only on the feet, but the ground as well. Its well known that grip fighting is important for judo throws but the same control can be used on the ground as well.

One of the key concepts in wrestling/Judo/or jiu jitsu is hip control. Controlling your opponent’s grips will give him a hard time getting inside and being able to dominate your hips. In addition to this defensive advantage, your opponent being dominated by your grips will not be able to prevent you from attacking his hips.

This is especially relevant when dealing with the guard. When playing the guard position open or closed one needs dominate grips. If you’re able to control your opponent’s sleeves and arms and maintain inside control he will have a very hard time passing. Also, by controlling my partner’s body I can then set up all my sweeps and submission attacks. One of the most critical areas for this is the seated guard. It is in this guard that you must control grips or your opponent will quickly pass. A good grip in this situation is a deep lapel grip and a same side sleeve grip.

If on the other hand you’re passing your training partners guard it is also critical to have dominate grips. A good example of dominant control for the passing man is a lapel grip and an inside the knee pant grip on the opposite leg. This grip combination on the inside allows one to pin an opponent’s leg to the mat and set up the knee through the middle pass or the bull-fighting pass. Even if the pass attempt fails this grip combo places the passing man in a dominant position safe from most sweeps and submissions.

If you take the time to work on little overlooked areas like grip fighting, you will see drastic improvements in your jiu jitsu game.

Halfguard

The focus of this article will be to explore the many uses of the half guard position and why it’s so critical to know.

The key idea with the half guard position is to think of it as a transition position. The half guard is the key link between the closed and open guard, side control, mount, the back, and even the turtle and front headlock position. Thinking of it as a key link means that if your half guard is weak, then ones transitions between all these fundamental positions will also be weak.

This is especially true when it comes to the fundamental escapes. For instance, when one escapes the mount position the first step leads to the half guard, from there one typically looks to attack or transition further to the full guard. Now, if one has a weak understanding of the half guard the escape would be halted right then and there, and the attacking opponent would move back to the dominate mount position. The same would also be true of the side control position, the back, the turtle, and the front headlock position.

The half guard position has also been a staple for the smaller fighter with shorter legs. For some BJJ players with short powerful legs, the closed guard has been an important aspect of their bottom game. Not that small legs are a disadvantage to the bottom man, but for someone having difficulty keeping their legs locked in the full guard, locking only one leg seems to be much easier. There is one note of caution in regards to the half guard position. Do not sit and wait in this position! It is very easy for the bottom man to lock on to the leg of his opponent and rest. This is a terrible habit to get in and is not what the half guard is designed for. Like every position on the bottom it is important to keep moving and attack always on your back, don’t be lazy in the guard! The take home message being devote considerable time to the half guard position, as it will greatly enhance your bottom game.

An interesting read and some advice for 2011!

This was an article I came across recently that I felt had some great advice for facing the new year, all the best for 2011, thanks for reading and TRAIN HARD!
Micah





Undefeated, having won by submission in all his eleven official MMA matches, Rickson Gracie is victorious as an icon living a life of dedication to Jiu-Jitsu. But even the samurai, who exhudes confidence and seems to be unbreakable, nurses wounds slow in healing.

In an interview with Brazilian, Ragga magazine, the Gracie comments on the loss that turned his world upside down. Never before has Rickson spoken so candidly about the death of his son Rockson, found dead in a New York hotel in December 2000. This is how he replied to the question “What’s the worst beating you’ve ever taken?”

“Without a doubt, the loss of my son, ten years ago,” he admits.

“I feel that his passing represented a lot, because I managed to deal with this loss. Nothing is more significant than losing someone you truly love. When you talk about a loss, you may think of strength, perseverance, praying, the belief that there will be a tomorrow, all these factors, when a friend perhaps comes over and puts his arm on your shoulder. All these opinions are relevant, but the truth is that I came to the conclusion that none of that matters. When you lose something truly profound, you have to sit, cry, and accept that you’ve hit rock bottom,” he vents.

“Deep down, you see a reason to shoot yourself in the head, to stop doing the right thing, to stop being a happy person. You may want to fools yourself, thinking “it’s bad, but I can take it,” and that’s the kind of lack of honesty that will never cure the wound. I hit rock bottom and decided, deep down, whether I would come back to the surface or not,” he adds.

The Gracie took many years in coming to terms with the tragedy, and changed the course of his life and the way he leads it. Part of his plan was to return to Brazil. Other foundations were family, the gentle art, and learning, even if through suffering.


“I went through the healing process with my family. For practically three years I was focused on recuperating this energy and seeking some reason for me to be happy again. And that reason is my three beautiful kids, my family, Jiu-Jitsu. To put the issue to rest in my head, I spent a long time looking for a bright side to this loss, something I could take away from this tragedy as an advantage. After much meditation, withdrawing to the woods, without feeling any desire to surf, play, train, I reached the conclusion that there was an advantage, a positive side. Up until that moment, I had never really valued time, I always thought I controlled my time, that I could put off talking to my son until tomorrow, that I could put off that trip or class until later, that time was just a question of reworking my agenda. I put off doing a lot of things thinking I’d be able to do them later. With my son’s departure, I understood that there is no tomorrow. We have to do everything as though there were no tomorrow.”

And again Rickson affirms that he is retired, he will not fight again. Indeed, the black belt hasn’t fought since Rockson’s death.

The Man In The Arena...

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Losing To Win...

One of the most intriguing concepts I have learned over my study of jiu jitsu is the idea of losing to win.

When starting jiu jitsu lessons I used and depended on my natural attributes to ease the ego blow of being smashed daily. Its never fun to lose over and over again so it is very natural for people to overemphasize strength and athleticism while learning the sport. My first 3 years of jiu jitsu training, I exclusively tried to smash everyone I trained with and avoided any dangerous positions. I would as soon die than let someone sweep and pass my guard. I would panic in any dangerous positions and my defensive skills were far behind my offensive assault. Regardless I still competed well and won many tournaments but I could tell my potential had been reached.
I came to a cross roads in my training when I decided to break down all my weaknesses and focus on the mental side of the game. I used to hate being on bottom in side control where I felt claustrophobic and weak. My new goal was to force myself to deal with this apparent fear and force my self to deal with it. From this mindset I realized how bad my submission and pinning escapes just were. My game sank to new lows and I became very depressed with my training to the point where I wanted to quit.
As bad as things were I started to relax and focus on exactly what was happening to me in those bad positions. I was able to gain valuable insight into the deeper realms of the sport and my game flourished like never before. I was in tune mentally with everything I did on the mat and feel I learned at an incredible rate.

The key to growth I believe in this sport is a selfish training mindset. You can’t worry about what other people think of your training sessions or how you perform. The focus must be on your specific training goals and your long-term goals. In order to develop flawless technique you must turn off your ego and any other natural attribute that can hinder its growth.
Hope this has been helpful and good luck with your training.

BASICS!

Basics are the key to success in any endeavor and jiu jitsu is no exception!

With thousands of techniques out there its hard to know which ones to incorporate into your game. More is not better in this game, a strong foundation in basic skills is key to advancing in our sport. So what then should you work on first??

THE GUARD! The guard position is what uniquely separated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from the likes of Judo and the other grappling arts. A clean understanding of the guard position should be the first skill developed in BJJ. From your back it is possible to submit or sweep an opponent. The key concepts of this position are the following: breaking posture, learning the "attacking zone concept", armlock, triangle, cross choke, omaplata, and basic reversals.

In the same umbrella idea the bottom game is essential to know. This means you must understand the concepts of the half guard, all the pin and basic submission escapes, dealing with getting out of the mount and escaping the hooks. Once you have learned these basic skills it is possible to train freely without getting stuck and being confused.

The top game is much easier conceptually and can be learned second. The most important aspect of top control is breaking and passing the guard!! You must learn proper posture, how to stand up, how to open the guard, how to pass around the legs, and how to pin your opponent in cross side. From cross side the skills required are the following: basic movement and control, transitioning to the mount and attacking the back control, and basic submission skills.

After learning the basic concepts of the sport it is then possible to start adding content to your training. From a strong fundamental base it is then helpful to start focusing on positional strategy and more advanced submission skills. Here is also a good time to start developing your own style. For example different body types perform different techniques with varying effectiveness. If you would like to know what type of game is best for your body type give me a shout about a 1-1 lesson or chat to me or one of the Purple or Blue belts in class. Private instruction and game plan development Ive always believed is a good investment in your developement!! Good luck guys.