A Short and Sweet podcast by yours truly

Hi everyone, I have come to you today via podcast... This is a short message I have brought to you regarding training strategies in regard to the amount of time can be committed to training. Hope you enjoy and if you have anything you'd like to add to the conversation just comment.
Until next time good day.

BJJ Seminar's... The great supplementation to regular class attendance!

Hi everyone, I just had the opportunity yesterday to attend a BJJ seminar hosted by Gracie Humaita KC and taught by the legendary Wellington "Megaton" Dias! I had a great time learning from such a renown practitioner.

It was a unique experience because it was the first time I did anything BJJ related without having any of my teammates alongside me. Which at first was slightly nerve wrecking at first, but, if jiu jitsu has helped me with anything it has helped me with dealing with the feeling of being uncomfortable. So I went and had great time breaking down my introverted nature even more.

Okay, for those of you who aren't familiar with what a BJJ seminar is and what it's like I'd be glad to fill you in.

It is extended length version of a regular class usually where people from various academies come together to learn BJJ from a high ranking practitioner who is not readily available from day to day. When I began practicing jiu jitsu there weren't many seminars in the area being done often, they are starting to pick up now. I like this, however, it can be hectic on the pocketbook. As they can cost anywhere from $75 to a couple hundred per session.

The great thing about seminars is, that like with competition you converge with people outside of your gym most of the time. In addition, at every seminar I have attended I have learned something that was not being taught at my academy. This gives growth to your playbook so to speak. Its nice and I can't wait to show a couple of things I learned at this seminar to my teammates.

Being from Topeka, KS, you don't get much access to well known practitioners unless you can travel, so every chance I get I make the most of it.

Here is a picture of myself and "Megaton."

Photo provided by Troy Russell

Until next time good day.

   

Hey, Let's Roll Light!!

Hi everyone, I came across this blog post that is really good and a pretty hot topic in the BJJ community so I thought I'd go ahead and share it with you.
What I find to be of value in this blog post is how it takes on and challenges the over-emphasis on turning jiu jitsu into a sport and leaving behind the very important martial art aspects. I really enjoy how this article calls out the jiu jitsu community for watering down training because it would be bad for business. I tend to side with those that are against this softening of our beloved martial art...

Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think...

http://www.bjjee.com/articles/hey-lets-roll-light-the-pussification-of-jiu-jitsu-and-how-to-counter-it/

It was written By Guillaume (Gile) Huni, BJJ black belt and head instructor of Kimura Academy in Belgrade, Serbia. 

The best BJJ supplemental activities

So, unless you have that unique passion that quells the possibility of burnout and/or a multiple class per day academy, you're going to have to consider activities other than BJJ that will supplement it. I think of them in the context of their ability to complement the physical attributes that are important in BJJ.

This topic is of consequence to me because well, I'm have to contend with the second issue. If I can't make it to the one class in the day then there are obviously no other options. But, if you can't make it to class the least you can do is try and make up for it by engaging in an activity that will help improve attributes important to BJJ practice. It also helps to keep things exciting and fresh.

One really great thing one can do to supplement their jiu jitsu is, yoga. Yoga increases muscle endurance, flexibility, and encourages proper breathing. Most yoga will do just fine, however, you can as a jiu jitsu practitioner, look into Yoga for BJJ by Sebastian Brosche. I gained flexibility just through jiu jitsu practice and a little bit of yoga but I will definitely be getting back into yoga asap.

Another really fun activity that I just began several months ago is rock climbing. At first glance it might not be real clear how rock climbing is useful to a jiu jitsu practitioner. So let me fill you in...
A very under-appreciated or over-looked part of jiu jitsu is grip strength. A person can implement their attack a defense only according to how well they are maintaining their grips.

For example, I cannot expect to finish a cross-collar choke without deep strong grips on my opponents collar, or I cannot expect to pass the guard without having solid grips that will allow for good top pressure and leverage. But unless you work with your hands frequently getting a strong grip can be challenging, and that is where rock climbing comes into play. Nothing else will work your grips like climbing and you'll be glad you've done it when you start being able to control your opponent's.

Then you have the long-time favorite alternative exercise's like bike riding, running, weight lifting, cross-fit, etc. My input on those are that they don't particularly implement any jiu jitsu specific attributes plus they get boring rather quickly. If anyone has any good ideas that I may have missed out on let me know, I love to try new things. Until next time and good day.

Hmmm what do you think?

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Being a Student, Instructor, and Being Both...

I have been a jiu jitsu practitioner for just a couple months shy of 4 years now. One thing I have noticed during this time is, that as time runs its course and the student gains his or her experience the line between being a student and teacher blurs.

You might be asking yourself, what does he mean by this?

Its clear for starters that once you begin your jiu jitsu journey that you are the student. However, once you've garnered enough experience, usually signified by getting your blue belt, you begin assisting in helping others gain an understanding of whats going on after the initial instruction given by the head instructor.

It personally helps improve my understanding of concepts and technical details, when I engage in practice with lower ranking students. When I think of how to do what my instructor has told us to do, but in my own words and critical rational it allows for a deeper and easier means of remembering what is being done. And then pass along that information to my training partners, giving them a couple different ways of verbalizing and eventually performing the required techniques.

Jiu Jitsu is complex and in a way never-ending. It is unlikely that anyone will ever truly learn every technique and combination of techniques. Another way of thinking about that concept is, there is so much to learn that one should always be a student.

So, if your always to be a student where does the instructor come into play?

Well that's just it, I'm of the mindset that once you are an instructor you are just balancing the giving and taking in of knowledge a different way than when you are just the student. This where the blurred line of differentiation is.

I will be starting a endeavor as the head jiu jitsu instructor at another martial arts school very soon. This made me realize that there is going to be a time when my main focus during training is solely on teaching versus learning. I will spend time outside that class specifically developing what I've learned and learning even more for an instructing purpose. This is the only separation between the two I see.

When training with others no matter the rank, you must continually be learning their styles and habits. Mixing up all the different training methods and working on making sure there is a well-rounded approach that involves being comfortable in all positions in the positional hierarchy. It is when you are doing this that I believe one has become both the instructor and the student.
Til next time and good day.

I just found this quote and I like
it.
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Kid Jitsu, What Kind of Training Should Kids Do?

So, recently I talked about the different elements involved with a well-rounded training session. If you have not read that, a quick reminder:

• A good warm-up
• Drilling of movements and submission techniques
• Detailed repetition of isolated techniques
• Sparring aka "Rolling"

 Alright, back to what I was saying. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and I would like to voice my perception of the optimal training experience for kids age 5-10. Now in the academy that I attend we have this mantra and it's known in the jiu jitsu community, it's "position before submission."

The reason I mention this in a post about kids training is because kids are still experiencing a lack of coordination and really short attention spans. So it's my theory that kids should be taught the positions with an emphasis on developing their motor skills and coordination before being taught any submission techniques.

I mean that would inherently follow the logic of the mantra previously stated, but sometimes I don't feel like its taken serious enough. Or that people say it, but don't really think critically about what that really means. I believe there's an initial emphasis on submissions that can be problematic, especially if you understand that in order to get the submission your must stabilize and implement superior control of your opponent's position.

Let me reiterate that this is just a theory of mine developed through some critical thought. I in no way am sure if a program like this would be good for business as learning submissions is what gets people in the door, but anyone with any experience knows it's at least viable from a practicing stand point.

Hope you enjoyed this Brazilian jiu jitsu insight, til next time good day!

BJJ Concepts: Drilling vs. Not Drilling

Hello everyone, I finished training today and had a very good conversation with my instructor as we were cleaning the mats and getting ready to leave. As those of you who are taking the time out of your days to follow my blog I hope that one thing is fairly clear... jiu jitsu is quite complex while being equally mental and physical at least. I'd even argue that it's more mental than physical.

So, if that's the case, then its a given that concepts of some kind are bound to come up. And now is that time...

I've read and watched video on the debate to whether or not drilling positional situations and submission techniques were necessary. First I will give insight into the difference for those of you who may not know the difference, then I will weigh the advantages and disadvantages only to leave you the reader to decide for yourself how, if deciding to train, will train.

Let's start with drilling, in my mind the word drilling implies breaking a sweat and intense repetition. It's usually timed like how circuit training is. A person might do positional transition drills where the objective is not to employ any finishing chokes or joint locks. The other way of drilling would implement some finishing techniques into it.

There are two things involved with jiu jitsu training that is not considered drilling, one is detailed technical instruction on any one movement or submission and the other is live sparring widely known as "rolling."

The advantages of drilling are that you will develop what I like to call "jiu jitsu cardio," and what I mean by that is, you can have really good running/weight room cardio and get completely gassed out (exhausted). The reason for this is the jiu jitsu specific bio-mechanics along with learning how to breath while doing such, and trust me breathing while running, riding a bike, or rowing is a piece of cake in comparison to breathing while doing jiu jitsu drills.

Other advantages to drilling are getting execution timing, and if you train with different body types it's even easier to figure out the timing differences per body type and getting used to successful body mechanics. You also get to pick and choose what part of the positional hierarchy to work on.The only disadvantages I can think of to only drilling is that it is not as fun as rolling and if you only drill and don't roll then you may miss out on some breakthroughs that are had through a great session of rolling. And most drilling encompasses a more lackadaisical approach to the fine "minute" details of the techniques.

The advantages to not drilling simply work on the disadvantages of drilling as far as how detail oriented the instruction is and it's just a whole lot of fun rolling. And rolling is just like competing only not quite as intense.The disadvantages to only doing repetition of techniques are that timing in relation to a more well-rounded movement is not quite there and you won't get much cardio improvement.

The disadvantages to rolling is that while it does work on cardio, it can take more of a toll on your body. It may be known as "The Gentle Art" but it's not hard to get injured rolling and if you're not careful you can run through a string of injuries and before you know it you've spent a year only able to work certain techniques and that's it.Some people prefer to pick and choose which of these training elements to partake in and others will actually implement drilling, repetition of detailed technique, and rolling into every class.

I'll be the first one to admit that there are several variables involved structuring a lesson plan that can get in the way of being able to do it all in one class. However, most of us living the jiu jitsu lifestyle have plans to do it well into old age so keeping these concepts in mind is pertinent and again it's all up to the individual on what they find important. Til next time..


“Man masters nature not by force but by understanding.” - Jacob Bronowski

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