Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Class Times Updates
From the 3rd March there will be Gi training for the first and second class on Tuesday nite. This will give competitors getting ready for the Vics in early April a chance to prepare for the comp. The first class will be basics as normal and the second class will be focused on comp preparation. Other BJJ classes during the week will remain no-gi for now. Also MMA classes will run on Thursday and Saturday during March as listed, I will start the class at quarter past the hour and run for 45min. This will give the previous class adequate free training time and MMA will be a continuation after the first session has finished. That is, anyone wishing to do MMA must do the first session as well and have at least six months BJJ training experience. Please bring MMA gloves, 16oz boxing gloves and a mouth guard as a minimum. There is some extra gear that can be borrowed. Anyone wishing not to do MMA is welcome to stay on the mat for free training. Jason will be teaching the class this Saturday as I have commitments at my practice and Dave will be teaching on the following Saturday as Jason and I are flying to Sydney for the ADCC qualification tournament. Cheers.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Renzo and Relson Gracie telling stories....
The culture in Brasil which lead to the development of BJJ during the 1980's is one of challenge matches and street fights to defend ones honour. Watching these two tell stories of the old days is entertaining and informative, Renzo has always been a character in a family full of them. Relson is in the tank top and is one of Helio's older son's, brother to Rickson and Royler, and teaches in Hawaii. Renzo is in the white, and is Relsons nephew, and teaches in New York.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thoughts on Training in BJJ
Training in BJJ is hard and tough. Progress can be slow at times and your confidence easily lost. Up one minute and down the next. Sometimes its one good session and one bad but sometimes slumps last a month or two or even more. There are always cross roads to test your commitment, things like, tournaments, gradings, injuries, work and family commitments.
Every training session is about struggle and knowing that makes getting in the car to get to training even harder. Every session you miss the further you fall behind those who are training regularly. Every week that passes your mat fitness drops. Even more struggle to get back. Compared to most other types of martial arts training you wonder why we bother at all, learn some dead patterns every 3 months and get another coloured belt for your trouble. Plus you get to train with someone who knows exactly what you are going to do and doesnt resist at all. Your magic works every time.
But BJJ is different. You proof your technique, timing and willpower every class. Just when you think you have an escape, submission or position solid it slips away. Evolution is a bitch. Real training hurts. I have always compared actual training to pushing a broken down car uphill, you are either making slow and painful progress or sliding backwards. Personally, in the last twelve months I began to question whether I was making progress at all or at very slow rate at the most. I am told this is not uncommon for a purple belt. Only now in the last few weeks can I see the fruits of my labours. Things are starting to fall into place again. During this prolonged slump I thought to myself just get time on the mat, every week consistently. No excuses. The best way is not around but through. There were times there that my confidence was very low. So to now see guys going through the 3 month drop out phase, getting frustrated, or gearing up to be blue belts, or being blue and realising how big the jump to purple actually is kinda makes me reflect on my own journey so far. Because when I finally got to purple I realised only then how much more work needed to be done. I am grateful for a great training partner who keeps me honest and that now again, at least for a short time, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. A black belt is just a white belt who never stopped training.
Every training session is about struggle and knowing that makes getting in the car to get to training even harder. Every session you miss the further you fall behind those who are training regularly. Every week that passes your mat fitness drops. Even more struggle to get back. Compared to most other types of martial arts training you wonder why we bother at all, learn some dead patterns every 3 months and get another coloured belt for your trouble. Plus you get to train with someone who knows exactly what you are going to do and doesnt resist at all. Your magic works every time.
But BJJ is different. You proof your technique, timing and willpower every class. Just when you think you have an escape, submission or position solid it slips away. Evolution is a bitch. Real training hurts. I have always compared actual training to pushing a broken down car uphill, you are either making slow and painful progress or sliding backwards. Personally, in the last twelve months I began to question whether I was making progress at all or at very slow rate at the most. I am told this is not uncommon for a purple belt. Only now in the last few weeks can I see the fruits of my labours. Things are starting to fall into place again. During this prolonged slump I thought to myself just get time on the mat, every week consistently. No excuses. The best way is not around but through. There were times there that my confidence was very low. So to now see guys going through the 3 month drop out phase, getting frustrated, or gearing up to be blue belts, or being blue and realising how big the jump to purple actually is kinda makes me reflect on my own journey so far. Because when I finally got to purple I realised only then how much more work needed to be done. I am grateful for a great training partner who keeps me honest and that now again, at least for a short time, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. A black belt is just a white belt who never stopped training.
Jeff Glover Comp footage (t-shirt)
Taken from the realgezza on youtube. Lots of cool submission vids.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
AFBJJ Comp Dates and Information
Please mark the following dates in your diary if you wish to compete this year. The new format will require some advance planning with your personal work schedules. The Vic champs is the most immediate comp on the 3rd and 4th April, 7 weeks away today to be precise. I wont be competing this year but will help and support anyone that wishes to enter these competitions as this is invaluable to your growth and development in BJJ. I will gauge interest in the team and see if we go to Adelaide this year as Hobart was a great success last year. There is some upside in that electronic score boards will be used and a computerised fight schedule also employed to avoid long delays. Just one question though, why are none of the AFBJJ events listed on the IFBJJ website? Does the world governing body not recognise the AFBJJ events? Hmmmm. Europe, USA, Asia, but no Australia. The following then is taken directly from the AFBJJ website. I am happy someone thinks the sport is becoming more professional (sarcasm intended.)
2009 AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS CUP
Place: ESTA Park, 155 Railway Terrace, Mile End, Adelaide 5031. 10 minutes from airport on the way to the city and just 5 minutes to the heart of the city.
Date: Sunday the 23rd of August 2009
Entry Details: Online by the 20th July 2009
NEW COMPETITION FORMAT FOR 2009
The new format will see two complete days for both the Victorian Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Both events will have the following format:
Friday: All Adult heats
Saturday: All Junior heats and finals; All Adult finals
This format will allow for a very accurate fight schedule and also avoid late running days.
It is anticipated that as the sport grows we shall move to a Thursday, Friday and Saturday in 2010.
Finally Jiu Jitsu is moving away from the weekend sport to a professional organisation.
2009 COMPETITION DATES CONFIRMED
Victorian Championships - Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre - Friday the 3rd April and Saturday the 4th of April.
Pan Pacific Championships - Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre - Friday the 16th October and Saturday the 17th October.
2009 AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS CUP
Place: ESTA Park, 155 Railway Terrace, Mile End, Adelaide 5031. 10 minutes from airport on the way to the city and just 5 minutes to the heart of the city.
Date: Sunday the 23rd of August 2009
Entry Details: Online by the 20th July 2009
NEW COMPETITION FORMAT FOR 2009
The new format will see two complete days for both the Victorian Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Both events will have the following format:
Friday: All Adult heats
Saturday: All Junior heats and finals; All Adult finals
This format will allow for a very accurate fight schedule and also avoid late running days.
It is anticipated that as the sport grows we shall move to a Thursday, Friday and Saturday in 2010.
Finally Jiu Jitsu is moving away from the weekend sport to a professional organisation.
2009 COMPETITION DATES CONFIRMED
Victorian Championships - Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre - Friday the 3rd April and Saturday the 4th of April.
Pan Pacific Championships - Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre - Friday the 16th October and Saturday the 17th October.
Pro Gi Qualifier Newcastle v Sinosic
I met Big G at the Pan Pacs after he beat me in the final of the purple belt super heavy, really nice guy and very technical competitor. Have since hooked up on Facebook. These two fights against Elvis, a seasoned black belt and Big Mick Wilson (above) occured at the recent Pro gi qualifier in Sydney last weekend. Matches are 5min in duration.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
More Brabo
Also take the time to review Jeff Rockwell's brilliant No Gi choke Series here. This is part one of a three part video that covers lots of no gi choke variations, including the Brabo. I have posted links to these clips here previously. Great set ups and transitions.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Rico wrasslin a Russian
This was way back in 1988, Rico Chiapparelli now runs the R1 Gym in LA and is a long time friend and training partner of our head coach, John Donehue, Rico is considered some what of a grappling wizard and started the move for many wrestlers in to MMA, including the likes of Randy, Trigg, Henderson and Vlady with his RAW team. It took me a long time to realise how great an art wrestling is and how valuable it is to incorporate it into your game. Wrestling is all about getting the takedown and pinning your opponents to the mat. Points are awarded accordingly and warnings or point deductions are given for stalling. Here is a link to an interview conducted with Rico in 2007.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Leave your ego at the door by Jason Scully
www.GrapplersGuide.com
It’s very important that you make sure you check your ego at the door from your first day grappling. If you don’t control your ego, you may not realize it, but it’ll slow down your learning progress and improvement substantially.
Here are some things that you may experience if you don’t learn how to control your ego.
You’ll get frustrated and angry. Many times this happens with people who feel they should “already” do well in grappling and not get submitted or controlled. If that were the case then you wouldn’t need to take any classes.
You’ll think you’re not learning anything because every time your ego gets in the way you’ll get frustrated, lose focus, and not pick up what is being taught as well.
You won’t enjoy your training. The more you get mad at yourself or your partners due to your ego, the less and less you’ll have fun training. This usually leads to individuals quitting something they may have really enjoyed and benefited from in the future.
You’ll get injured. Having an ego is one of the most common ways to get injured. Why is that, you may ask? This is because you’re stubborn. You refuse to tap and you don’t want to accept a “loss” in training. This type of thinking is very chaotic and will lead to injuries very fast.
You’ll injure you’re training partners. The same goes for you injuring your training partners. The worst-case scenario you can have, is two people grappling together who don’t have their egos in check. This is a disaster waiting to happen. One person may refuse to tap, while the other may refuse to release a submission that they know they have applied correctly. What’s the result? An injured training partner whether it’s you or the other person.
You’re training partners may not want to train with you. People who have egos on the mat are usually the ones that most grappling members avoid. The reason for this is because they don’t want to get injured or deal with rolling in a competitive manner when they just want to get some good relaxed training in for the day.
There are many ways that you can control your ego and enjoy your training from the beginning. The sooner you do, the better off you’ll be.
Ways you can control your ego are:
Accept that you will get submitted. It’s going to happen. If you don’t ever get submitted then you probably don’t need to train in grappling. You’re already good. The chances of this really happening are slim to none, but that would be the case. Know that you will get submitted eventually and do the best you can to learn from it and try to ensure that you will make it much harder for your training partner to get you again in the same thing. This way you’ll actually be learning.
Make sure you tap to avoid injury. The other end of the spectrum is actually tapping when someone has a submission sunk in correctly. Not tapping only leads to you getting injured or you possibly looking silly because you are left unconscious in front of everyone. Just tap if they have it, and improve from there.
Accept that there are people who are better then you. Once again if there aren’t people who are better then you when you first start grappling, you either need to find another gym to train at or you’re a special type of person who already is good at grappling (probably not going to happen though). The sooner you realize that many of your training partners have put the time in and have more technical knowledge then you, the quicker you’ll improve and will be able to feed off of the knowledge they can provide.
Accept that if you are new you won’t know anything about grappling and the more you train, the more you’ll learn. Most new students start with a clean slate. The more you train and the less you have an ego the quicker you’ll fill up your database of techniques and your grappling will improve every training session.
Don’t get mad or frustrated. This will only hold you back and decrease your learning rate. The more you get frustrated the less time you will actually spend on learning. You are focusing more on being upset that you “lost” then actually being excited that you have something to learn and improve upon. You have many more days to train in the future, so try not to spend any of those training session aggravated with yourself or your partner because it’ll only end up making that current training session a waste.
Take every situation as a learning experience because that’s just what it is. When an instructor show’s you a move or concept, learn from it. When you get submitted learn from it. When you submit someone, learn from it. When you escape, learn from it. When you compete, learn from it.
Don’t be vengeful. Just because someone got the best of you or tapped you doesn’t mean that you have to get revenge on them. Training isn’t a competition or a battle; it’s a learning tool.
Don’t sulk. Don’t go home with your head down and upset that you didn’t do well or you got tapped out. Sulking isn’t a healthy attitude. It doesn’t lead to anything good or productive. There isn’t any need to feel down about your training and then bring it home with you. Training is supposed to be fun and a stress reliever. You shouldn’t feel any pressure when you train. You shouldn’t feel nervous when you train. You should be excited about going to class because you know you’re going to get a great workout, learn some great things, and have fun. Regardless of how you performed in class, know that you still did something and still got something out of it in some way.
Don’t repeat your actions. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, chances are you’re going to experience the same result. If you keep experiencing the same result then it’s going to lead to the ego kicking in and then frustration and anger begins. Try your best to change your actions. That way you can experience different things related to the same situation. By doing that, you’ll eventually figure out an answer to the problem and then you’re well on your way to improving your grappling.
The benefits of training in an ego-free manner are:
It’ll keep you from getting injured.
You’ll learn much faster.
You’ll have training partners that will like training with you.
You’ll ensure that you train in a safe and comfortable environment.
People will be comfortable asking you questions and answering your questions.
You’ll want to train more and you’re instructor will be even more willing to help you.
As you can see from reading this section, it doesn’t pay to have an ego in grappling. Having an ego will only lead to negative effects in the long run and will hinder both your learning and it will crush the positive experiences you can gain from participating in grappling. Remember to have fun, relax your shoulders, and be calm when training. Everyone including yourself will benefit from it.
Thanks for reading,
Jason
It’s very important that you make sure you check your ego at the door from your first day grappling. If you don’t control your ego, you may not realize it, but it’ll slow down your learning progress and improvement substantially.
Here are some things that you may experience if you don’t learn how to control your ego.
You’ll get frustrated and angry. Many times this happens with people who feel they should “already” do well in grappling and not get submitted or controlled. If that were the case then you wouldn’t need to take any classes.
You’ll think you’re not learning anything because every time your ego gets in the way you’ll get frustrated, lose focus, and not pick up what is being taught as well.
You won’t enjoy your training. The more you get mad at yourself or your partners due to your ego, the less and less you’ll have fun training. This usually leads to individuals quitting something they may have really enjoyed and benefited from in the future.
You’ll get injured. Having an ego is one of the most common ways to get injured. Why is that, you may ask? This is because you’re stubborn. You refuse to tap and you don’t want to accept a “loss” in training. This type of thinking is very chaotic and will lead to injuries very fast.
You’ll injure you’re training partners. The same goes for you injuring your training partners. The worst-case scenario you can have, is two people grappling together who don’t have their egos in check. This is a disaster waiting to happen. One person may refuse to tap, while the other may refuse to release a submission that they know they have applied correctly. What’s the result? An injured training partner whether it’s you or the other person.
You’re training partners may not want to train with you. People who have egos on the mat are usually the ones that most grappling members avoid. The reason for this is because they don’t want to get injured or deal with rolling in a competitive manner when they just want to get some good relaxed training in for the day.
There are many ways that you can control your ego and enjoy your training from the beginning. The sooner you do, the better off you’ll be.
Ways you can control your ego are:
Accept that you will get submitted. It’s going to happen. If you don’t ever get submitted then you probably don’t need to train in grappling. You’re already good. The chances of this really happening are slim to none, but that would be the case. Know that you will get submitted eventually and do the best you can to learn from it and try to ensure that you will make it much harder for your training partner to get you again in the same thing. This way you’ll actually be learning.
Make sure you tap to avoid injury. The other end of the spectrum is actually tapping when someone has a submission sunk in correctly. Not tapping only leads to you getting injured or you possibly looking silly because you are left unconscious in front of everyone. Just tap if they have it, and improve from there.
Accept that there are people who are better then you. Once again if there aren’t people who are better then you when you first start grappling, you either need to find another gym to train at or you’re a special type of person who already is good at grappling (probably not going to happen though). The sooner you realize that many of your training partners have put the time in and have more technical knowledge then you, the quicker you’ll improve and will be able to feed off of the knowledge they can provide.
Accept that if you are new you won’t know anything about grappling and the more you train, the more you’ll learn. Most new students start with a clean slate. The more you train and the less you have an ego the quicker you’ll fill up your database of techniques and your grappling will improve every training session.
Don’t get mad or frustrated. This will only hold you back and decrease your learning rate. The more you get frustrated the less time you will actually spend on learning. You are focusing more on being upset that you “lost” then actually being excited that you have something to learn and improve upon. You have many more days to train in the future, so try not to spend any of those training session aggravated with yourself or your partner because it’ll only end up making that current training session a waste.
Take every situation as a learning experience because that’s just what it is. When an instructor show’s you a move or concept, learn from it. When you get submitted learn from it. When you submit someone, learn from it. When you escape, learn from it. When you compete, learn from it.
Don’t be vengeful. Just because someone got the best of you or tapped you doesn’t mean that you have to get revenge on them. Training isn’t a competition or a battle; it’s a learning tool.
Don’t sulk. Don’t go home with your head down and upset that you didn’t do well or you got tapped out. Sulking isn’t a healthy attitude. It doesn’t lead to anything good or productive. There isn’t any need to feel down about your training and then bring it home with you. Training is supposed to be fun and a stress reliever. You shouldn’t feel any pressure when you train. You shouldn’t feel nervous when you train. You should be excited about going to class because you know you’re going to get a great workout, learn some great things, and have fun. Regardless of how you performed in class, know that you still did something and still got something out of it in some way.
Don’t repeat your actions. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, chances are you’re going to experience the same result. If you keep experiencing the same result then it’s going to lead to the ego kicking in and then frustration and anger begins. Try your best to change your actions. That way you can experience different things related to the same situation. By doing that, you’ll eventually figure out an answer to the problem and then you’re well on your way to improving your grappling.
The benefits of training in an ego-free manner are:
It’ll keep you from getting injured.
You’ll learn much faster.
You’ll have training partners that will like training with you.
You’ll ensure that you train in a safe and comfortable environment.
People will be comfortable asking you questions and answering your questions.
You’ll want to train more and you’re instructor will be even more willing to help you.
As you can see from reading this section, it doesn’t pay to have an ego in grappling. Having an ego will only lead to negative effects in the long run and will hinder both your learning and it will crush the positive experiences you can gain from participating in grappling. Remember to have fun, relax your shoulders, and be calm when training. Everyone including yourself will benefit from it.
Thanks for reading,
Jason
Monday, February 2, 2009
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