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Save Me A Choke, I Missed You BJJ!

On April 5th, 2011 I posted “Training at Home When You Have No Other Choice”.  I had to announce I was taking a leave from BJJ.  My family needed me and money was a issue.  But times have changed and my wife has given me the green light.  I’m going back!  Yahoooooooo!  Save me a choke or arm-bar, guys!  I will be back in class the first Tuesday in March!  I just finished talking with Mark and setting things up.

I have to admit I am excited and worried.  After no hard training after so long I think I’m going to get my wish of when it comes to chokes and arm-bars.  I have really missed my BJJ family.  Its going to be a great reunion.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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3 Things To Do In Winter To Keep Your BJJ Progressing

Its winter, cold, slick, and miserable outside.  The inversion has made the air quality poor.  You miss your activities you did outside last summer that helped you keep in shape and aided you in your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  You do not want to fall behind or lose what you have worked so hard for but what can you do in the winter beside going to the gym?  Here are some ideas that I hope will help.

  1. Get or make a grappling dummy.
    • As you know I love my grappling dummy.  It never complains.  It is always willing to train.  Its gives me a good work out just rolling with it.
    • So what if you do not have the cash to buy one?  DIY and make one from scratch.  Here is one example: How To build a grappling dummy.  It is a 4 part post by a friend of mine, Ben Olas.
  2. Work on increasing your lung capacity.
  3. Create drills that can be practiced at home. 

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Double Leg Takedown Bruce Lee Style

The other day I can across a book I had bought when I was a young lad called “Enter to Trapping to Grappling (Jeet Kune Do)”.   Before I even had heard of BJJ, I was thinking of following in Bruce Lee’s foot steps.  Now years later my one love is Jiu-Jitsu.  I immediately noticed the grappling in the title and wondered what Bruce considered grappling or what aspects of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu might overlap with the Jeet Kune Dosystem.

As I searched the book I came across my old friend the Double Leg Takedown.  It isn’t an easy thing to do.  In fact the best instruction I ever got was from Clint at the seminar held at West Side.  I blogged about it in 6 Steps of the Shot or Takedown.  I still do not feel I have the double leg takedown close to armature level.  So I broke into laughter when I saw the two pictures and accompanying text that teach it in this book.  The text reads:

“Bend forward and throw your opponent by picking up his legs as you shove forward with your right shoulder”

Followed by two pictures:

double-leg-takedown-bruce-lee-1double-leg-takedown-bruce-lee-2

Now I am not trying to knock Bruce or Jeet Kune Do.  As anyone knows who spends time looking at grappling books, they are not all created equal.  For this technique this book falls woefully short.  But it gave me a great laugh.  If only it was that simple that one sentence and two pictures could teach it.

I went on to find other interesting throws and locks in the book but none that were a direct one-to-one with BJJ or Judo.  But some came close.  Who knows maybe after some careful study and a lot more pictures I might be able to adapt a few.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Reevo “Kimura” Gi Review

MartialArtsSupplies.com asked me to do a gi review on the Reevo "Kimura" Gi.  Here is my review:

Reevo-kimura-gi-frontReevo-kimura-gi-backReevo-kimura-gi-side

Reevo-kimura-gi-rash-guard

Reevo-kimura-gi-crotch

Reevo-kimura-gi-sleeve

Reevo-kimura-gi-inner-arm

The Reevo “Kimura” Gi reminds me a lot of my Atama Mundial #5.  It is very thick and has some weight to it.  I knew right off I would want to use it for a winter gi.  One of the things that first caught my attention was the built in rash guard.  It is the black patch shown in the picture inside the gi.  I wear a rash guard and I wondered if this would be a good substitute.  I noticed that my rash guard gets its most wear on the back.  After working with this gi I do not think it takes the place of a rash guard but it extends the life of the one you have.  I was a little apprehensive about the fact the gi was made in Pakistan.  But after working with it I found it was well made and didn’t start to lose patches or have trouble with the first few rolls and washing like other gis I have had.  One big plus was it came with two pair of pants.  I thought that an extra special deal for the price.  The collar was a little stiff at first but after some use it formed better around my neck.  Overall I think this is an excellent starter gi.  It is not too pricey.  It gives you a feel for what you like and do not like about gis and it is going to last you a good long time.  I can say I would recommend picking one up from MartialArtsSupplies.com during the holidays while they have deals on.

Summary:

Pros:

  1. Built in rash guard extends life of your rash guard.
  2. Two pair of pants for the price.
  3. Economic price.
  4. Sturdy construction and stitching.
  5. Excellent starter gi.
  6. Good winter gi.

Cons:

  1. Needs some wearing in to be completely comfortable.
  2. Not made in the USA.
  3. Not a summer gi.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Where is Jiu-Jitsu Octopus Baby?!

Kung Fu Dragon Baby

How can you not love this!  They did an awesome job with this short video.  But what I want to know is where is Jiu-Jitsu Octopus Baby?  The octopus is my schools mascot and I think it accurately describes BJJ.  When you were a white belt and rolled with your first colored belt did you not feel like you were fighting an octopus?  We have all seen the Gracie videos of when they first started out and the BJJ vs. Kung Fu.  I want to see some Jiu-Jitsu Octopus Baby or at the least MMA Tiger Baby taking out the some hideous stuffed oversized toy.  But then again there is not a move in BJJ to rip a heart out.  We might have to settle for a Flying Triangle.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Increasing Your Lung Capacity and Breathing for Better BJJ

bjj-lungs

Your ability to breath in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu makes all the difference.  I know that when I cannot get enough oxygen I start feeling that claustrophobic feeling.  You know what I’m talking about.  You have been rolling for a while and you are breathing heavy.  The next thing you know you are on the bottom in North South  or some other position. Your face is covered or some big dude sitting on your stomach.  For those of us who cannot escape quick enough extra lung capacity sure comes in handy.  I have been thinking about how to expand or increase my lung capacity and I thought I would share my finding on my blog.

If anyone can get a huge lung full of air its got to be a Free Diver.  That is where I started by search.  I learned about breathing resistance exercisers.  They are simple devices that create resistance for you to breath against.  Swimming does this too.  Its like lifting weights for your lungs.  It helps increase your lung capacity as you flex those lungs. 

I had once seen a video with Rickson Gracie doing some Yoga.  He did some amazing things with his stomach in that video so I looked to Yoga next.  Can you think of a better exercise system that involves contortion and breathing?  I found a excellent article at GrappleArts.com – “Breath Control” about Yoga and how studies have been done at the University of California.  It not only increases your flexibility and endurance but lung capacity also.   Maybe I will even look into Stephen’s DVD “Yoga for Martial Arts DVD by Stephan Kesting”. But for now the wife has a good number of Yoga videos and it might be easier to start there.

I will record on my blog how it goes and what it does for me.  Stay tuned for updates.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Rigan Machado Utah Aug 2012 BJJ Seminar for Gi Players

I just heard that Rigan Machado is coming to Utah again.  I missed him last time.  You can find the details by clicking here: Rigan Machado Draper, UT Aug. 4th 2012 Seminar.  I hope to make it this time.

I’ve heard nothing but good about Rigan Machado. In my post, “Finding a First Sports Hero in BJJ”, I talked about what others had to say about him and how I was impressed him.  He in my opinion is one of the few that has not let fame go to his head.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Saulo Ribeiro

I got a e-mail today from UniJJ.com inviting me to RIO Camp!  What was my first response.  Where do I sign up!!!  Then reality hit me when I read “For 15 lucky people” . . . ahhhhhhhh man!  My balloon was deflated and I realized it was more then that sentence.  First of all I don’t have a visa.  Why would I?  I have never had a reason to leave the states until now.  Second, I would have to stay for more then a month before I could settle down and concentrate.  You know what I mean.  The white beaches, the tropical atmosphere, the sites to see and things to do.  Third, what would I tell the family?  “Dear, ahhhh I want to leave for say . . . 10+ days and go do BJJ in Rio.  Do you think you and the kids will mind staying here in Utah while I go have the time of my life?”  Nope, I could not sell that in a million years.  So Saulo, with great sadness I must decline and admit I can not be one of those lucky 15.  I’ll just keep dreaming and hoping.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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What Is Your Biggest Complaint About BJJ Tournaments?

As you might have seen in my post, Tournament Software for Jiu-Jitsu, I am working on a BJJ Tournament application.  I am a one-man-show and I still have my day job.  That means I am stuck with “Cheap, Fast, or Good  pick 2”.  I can’t be fast.  I do not have the finances to hire additional developers. I have to settle with cheap and good.  That means its not moving forward at record speeds.  But it is moving forward.

What I want to hear from you is, what is your biggest complaint about BJJ Tournaments?  Its no good to write something that doesn’t meet the need of the consumer.  So here is your chance to gripe, complain, cry, shout.  Just get it all out about your crappy experience at a BJJ Tournament and how you would have liked it to go.

No, I don’t want to hear about how, if only, you had remembered that simple escape you would not have got choked and had to tap out.  I need to know about the administration of the tournament and what went wrong or even right.  Share your experience with me and I promise to use it to make a better BJJ Tournament through my software.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu