We ARE Jiu-Jitsu.
Just a quick one here for you guys. Yoga was a big reason I was able to rehab my injuries enough to train again. And, as we all know, it’s better to be proactive than reactive. So, check out this video and see if you can incorporate it into your own pre-training warm up.
For myself, most of my training partners, and most people I’ve encountered online, the competition jitters is a phenomena that can greatly impact performance. In fact, I’ll let you guys in on a little secret that few people know. I competed for the first time ever as a fresh blue belt. I was so nervous before my first match that I could not breathe well, my heart rate was through the roof, and I went to great lengths to avoid talking to people. All of this was happening even HOURS before my first match.
It was HORRIBLE.
I haven’t personally thought about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu white belt tips that can be helpful for beginners in a long time because I am no longer a white belt myself. These days my mind is completely enthralled in emulating the Miyao’s inverted game, passing like Andre Galvao, and taking the back like my instructor.
But, now, I’m starting to recount things that helped me out when I was first starting because my girlfriend has decided to start learning judo and jiu-jitsu. I am BEYOND ecstatic about that, but we’ll talk about that later.
On Halloween most of the guys from the academy were either taking their kids out to trick or treat or out having a night on the town. This meant that I could have a private drilling session with her where I could cover things needed for self defense and getting her first stripe. It went well despite my ridiculous expectations of her advancement; she is a good sport and knows how to deal with my crazy.
Afterwards, we rolled for half an hour or so with sporadic breaks to discuss what was going on. I wasn’t able to answer some of her questions easily, because I just didn’t understand what she was talking about.
[Read more…] about The First Thing You Can Do to Learn Jiu-Jitsu Fast: Learn The TerminologyHey guys, just a quick one here. I had the pleasure to interview Dan Faggella the author of “BJJ Techniques to Defeat Bigger & Stronger Opponents.” I read his ebook, and wrote a review that you can read here.
Let me explain…
Leading up to NoGi worlds, I started feeling burnt out. My body had taken enough punishment for the year, but I was not going to stop. I worked all the way up to NoGi worlds, and did my thing at the tournament. Afterwards the tournament, I decided I wanted a break from competing. The preparation for competition is very monotonous, grueling, and sometimes not fun. I have to kill myself to try and make two sessions a day whenever my job allows. Usually after a tournament, I take it easy for a week skipping some sessions. However, this time I wanted to stay close to the mats to continue progressing. Training at the academy after this tournament becomes very relaxed. We are encouraged to play with our Jiu-Jitsu. This is a very fun time, and a period, if used correctly, to grow as a grappler in an exponential manner.
Allow me to explain…
Yesterday I was able to get four training sessions in preparations for NoGi worlds (training more than once a day rarely ever happens for me) all of them in a fasted training state. I got in a little less than an hour of drilling in the morning followed by the morning Jiu Jitsu class. By then, I was hungry enough to eat a horse, or a pony… or at least a small chicken. I quickly rushed home and had a monstrous breakfast (btw may have discovered my absolute post training breakfast.. more on that later) I rushed to work and took care of all my errands etc.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to have another meal before my next training session the evening bjj class. I was only able to have two apples, a banana, and a mandarin between breakfast and the evening training session which is 8 hours! On the drive to jits I started to feel the hunger in my stomach, but it was too late to get something to eat. I decided to train in my fasted state. The evening bjj class went very well for me. I was a little more focused than usual and my energy levels were higher than normal. It seemed my performance got better as the training went on. We ended the evening class and began our NoGi competition class, and I felt INCREDIBLE.
In theory, no not really. But, in practice and actual application there can definitely be some differences in the judo throws & bjj takedowns. The reason for these differences mainly come about due to the way these two martial arts are expressed in sport. The sport of BJJ has many rules to keep its competitors safe. In addition, the rules of sport JUDO also has its own set of rules for safety concerns. In order to be a successful competitor, you must know these rules and operate within them soundly during your attempts to throw a competitor.
So, many BJJ fighters will not use certain judo throws that you would see in JUDO because it may put them at risk for “giving up the back.” Other BJJ fighters will make adjustments to judo throw techniques in order to make it work for their specific game. Sometimes, these adjustments are frowned upon by JUDO traditionalists because they feel that it’s a sacrifice of judo throw technical soundness.