tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45226351301767827582024-02-27T07:09:31.134+00:00My thoughts on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu... and probably other stuffMy thoughts on various aspects of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and stuff that comes up during training. Plus I'll no doubt end up ranting about other stuff... I don't get angry but I do like a rant :)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-46876521125895591812014-07-16T16:51:00.000+01:002014-07-16T16:51:20.595+01:00Ok, so I haven't been posting... but I'm not done with blogging and I'm not dead either!Basically, every time my laptop has been on for the last few months I have been researching foam, tarpaulin, wood, banners, signs, and a huge number of other things which I will need to open my own academy :)<br /><br />So there still won't be very regular posts for a bit, but once the new place is up and running I will be posting as much as possible and also plan on starting to put out some video content as well.<br />
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In the meantime, I will get a review I meant to do a long time ago written up, so maybe three posts in a week! (although 2 in a day is cheating, especially as this one is so short)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-14374398088513967052014-07-16T16:44:00.001+01:002014-07-16T16:44:47.644+01:00I love competition, but it isn't all that jiu-jitsu has to offerI've posted quite a few times about competitions from various perspectives, but I think a lot of people get too hung up on all training being solely about competition (and sometimes even specifically IBJJF rules). I look at jiu-jitsu as much more...<br />
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It includes sporting competition for sure... gi and nogi grappling competitions under various rulesets... but also MMA & vale tudo. The most important thing about jiu-jitsu is that it gets tested. Doing that in training is one thing, but doing it in competition helps you develop in different ways. Testing yourself in whatever form of competition you want to is definitely something I think everyone should do.<br />
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Beyond competition, it's also a martial art which should give people skills they can use in a real life fight... physical and mental skills. Training jiu-jitsu gives you techniques and the ability to perform them on fully resisting opponents, that's always the case. But it should be teaching you to do that in a tough environment, there should always be lots of high intensity sparring. That level of intensity also improves mental toughness... you get used to dealing with being in terrible positions, unable to move with tons of pressure on you. Toughness is another aspect which effects a fight... along with technique, strength, size, cardio, flexibility etc.<br />
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Then it's also a hobby (activity?? hobby doesn't seem to do it justice) or even a way of life as some people describe it. The vast majority of jiu-jitsu you do is going to be in training, so really your only things to consider when rolling are to not get injured and not to injure anyone else... it doesn't matter if you leg reap someone in training, just don't smash your leg into it and twist your partner's knee. It doesn't matter if you grip inside the trouser leg either, or use a wrist lock on a white belt. Just do your best to not hurt people.<br />
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So yeah, competition is a massive part of jiu-jitsu, but I see competition as a place to test your jiu-jitsu skills not solely the aim of training. Now, if some people want to train just for competition, that's cool with me too, but I think they're missing out.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-45668891773328562662014-05-20T11:51:00.000+01:002014-05-20T11:51:26.922+01:00Random bits about the British OpenFirst off, it was a great competition. A huge number of competitors and ran on schedule. Maybe it's going to need to be bigger next year... more mats... more days??? Awesome to see how much UK BJJ is growing.<br />
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There are loads of people competing now, and the standard is going up so quickly. It's amazing to start to see lots of purple belt divisions where people are having 4-5 fights to win, and loads of brown and black categories with 2-3 fights to win. Can't wait until the current crop of purple belts are all black belts, will be fun to watch :) There is also a big rise in the number of competitors who are really serious about their jiu-jitsu training at lower levels... white and blue belt divisions are really tough to win.<br /><br />Nothing makes me happier than seeing students winning in competition. Especially seeing them submitting people and dominating fights. It makes me able to be confident that I am doing the right thing when I am teaching.<br />
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I reffed a little kid who had been allowed to go up an age category as otherwise he had nobody to fight. He was giving up a lot of strength, the fight was basically a child (nervous and at his first comp) against a 15 yr old who was basically a young juvenile. The little kid got smashed around and the fight finished 17-0 but at no point did the older kid get close to a submission, and he was really trying hard for it. That little kid had amazing defence, t-rex arms like a champion. He didn't show any emotion during the fight either, really tough. Just shows what jiu-jitsu can do for people, especially kids.<br />
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It's amazing how many act like idiots at comps... and those people probably do it the rest of the time too. I didn't see it but heard people were kicking off because they got DQ'd for not making weight, what did they expect would happen? There are weight classes and to fight in them you must be within the weight class, pretty simple stuff. Also, it's sad to see a lot of black belts who think the rules don't apply to them, walking across a matted warm up area in shoes, not wearing shoes when walking off the mats... really bad to see.<br />
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I love going to competitions. The whole experience is great and I do even enjoy reffing so it's all good... I get to see friends I have known through jiu-jitsu since I started, I see my students smashing people up, I see lots of entertaining jiu-jitsu and I get to compete myself... all amazing. Give competing a go if you haven't already, you might just love it :)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-55665609066118253802014-05-19T15:19:00.003+01:002014-05-19T15:19:25.041+01:00British Open 2014This weekend was the British Open, the biggest competition in the country and considered to be the most prestigious to win. My team, the Chris Rees Academy, took a big team of around 30 fighters up to fight and although I was confident that many would have success, I never expected the results we got.<br />
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As a team we took an unbelievable TWENTY ONE medals!! Eight of those were gold and one of my students took double gold at purple belt, then got promoted to brown belt on the podium by Braulio Estima. An amazing day for him, congratulations to the man-gorilla Wayne Samways.<br />
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The weekend was a long one for me as I was up at 5.45am to drive 3 hours to Birmingham on Saturday and then reffed for the whole day (a couple of short breaks). I started off reffing kids in the morning and the standard of some of their jiu-jitsu was amazing, great to see the future of UK jiu-jitsu being developed. As a referee for kids there is a responsibility to protect them from getting slammed and injured from submissions. This means I have to position myself behind any kid who gets lifted off the ground and make sure that submissions can't be cranked beyond the point they will cause injuries as well as stopping the fight if the submission is fully locked in. I had only reffed kids a little bit before but wow, those responsibilities add so much more stress on to reffing!! It also makes it pretty tiring, having to drop down to knees and then get back up again all the time... my legs were tired by the end of the day. It's also pretty crazy that many coaches didn't seem to realise that the ref will stop a kids fight when a submission gets locked on, I could hear a lot of "he didn't tap" type complaints. Read the rules.<br />
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After the kids I then reffed some adult divisions. Yet again I was amazed at the number of competitors and coaches who don't know basic rules/point scoring. People asking why no points were given for a bridge out of mount, why didn't they get points for a takedown where they ended up on the bottom, not knowing what the verbal commands meant (there are only three... now four under new rules) and more. I also heard a lot of competitors didn't make the weight because they didn't realise the weigh in was with the gi on, or thought there was an allowance. Really amazes me every time that people make such basic errors.<br />
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So after the whole day reffing I then drove 3 hours home again, hoping to get a good night's sleep before I fought on the Sunday. That didn't happen too well as my son has chickenpox so I ended up being woken up every half hour... grim. At least I wasn't driving up the next day.<br />
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So on Sunday I had a lie in until 8am then jumped in the car of a CRA student and headed back to Birmingham. All the travelling was definitely worth it as after falling short with silver last year in the brown belt division, this year I managed to become British Open champion at black belt, beating two tough opponents. My first fight went as well as I could hope; I pulled guard, swept quickly... started passing and he turtled allowing me to land an inverted triangle and then from there finish with a hamstring stretch/kneebar. The final was an ultra tough opponent, 1st degree black belt from Checkmat. I pulled guard and attacked with a collar choke, triangle, a few wrist locks, omoplata, toehold... all defended and none really coming that close. He escaped the omoplata and almost passed but I turtled, he attacked the back but I defended and managed to come up to the top and start passing. I almost got it a few times but he managed to recover guard, and then with the scores at 1-1 on advantages and about 30 seconds left I passed to half guard to put me 2-1 up on advantages. He attacked with some strong sweep attempts which I was able to prevent but then caught me in the halfguard kneebar aka the dogbar. It was tight but there was only 10 seconds left so I rode it out and was happy that no advantage was given for it. Only two fights but I felt like I'd had about ten, so was insanely happy to pick up the gold.<br />
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This was my first competition at black belt so to get that result was unbelievable. Having missed the English Open due to knee surgery, I hadn't competed for a year so thought I would suffer with adrenaline but it was actually the most relaxed I'd ever felt in competition. I came off the mat after the first fight feeling totally fine and ready to go again. Not quite so good after the second fight, but I guess that happens if you go the full time against a really tough opponent.<br />
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Looking forward, I guess it could be seen that I have put pressure on myself to continue to perform at the same level but my attitude towards competition has always been to just jump in and test myself. I never really train specifically for competitions, never change my diet or anything... I train all the time so I just look at competition as a chance to test my jiu-jitsu against others. I don't think that is going to change for me in the future.<br /><br />Massive thanks to my instructors since I started jiu-jitsu over 9 years ago, Braulio Estima and Chris Rees. They have given me the skills and perspective on jiu-jitsu to get to this point. Thanks to my awesome sponsors Faixa Rua and Roll Supreme for the continued support. Thanks to all my students who always try to destroy me every time we roll and never let me rest. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to my awesome wife who always supports me in everything I do and convinced me to compete when I was ready to stay home with my son, I love you xTattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-50830700603541518982014-04-29T00:37:00.002+01:002014-04-29T00:37:17.669+01:00I don't teach submissions very oftenIt's a strange thing, because all my students are good at getting submissions... but most of my lessons I just teach something about control or passing, sweeping, defending, fundamentals of a position etc. Then in the odd class I will throw a submission on the end.<br /><br />My thinking is that if position before submission is so important, why ignore that when teaching? If people can get to dominant positions easily, they'll quickly be able to learn how to submit people easily whether you show a new technique every lesson or not. There are lots of movements and positions and transitions in jiu-jitsu, but there aren't that many different ways to submit someone... there are lots of variations, but not many fundamentally different ways mechanically. There are definitely lots of minor details which will make a difference to whether you finish a submission or not, but in the overall scheme of things, knowing the minor details of a sweep or pass is always gonna be more useful and more likely to help more students overall. Everyone body shape and size can use butterfly guard well, every one can use pressure passing... but not everyone will benefit from another triangle lesson... nor arm-triangle lesson. Everybody ends up in half guard, no matter shape, size or game, but not everybody ends up going inverted to a toe-hold (although all that stuff is effective and does have it's place :) ).<br /><br />Actually, submissions are probably the easiest thing to learn from instructional videos. If you can get regularly get dominant position on training partners you can easily practice stuff you've seen in a video. It's much harder to learn how to control and move in a certain position from just watching a video and not having instant correction from an instructor.<br /><br />My instructor, Chris Rees, taught me the same way... he used to show me how submissions worked by wrecking me with them all the time haha. The vast majority of my wins in competition are by quick submission.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-9685980840855006052014-04-11T23:19:00.002+01:002014-04-11T23:19:42.295+01:00Thoughts on Metamoris 3Well, first up I absolutely loved the show... pretty much every fight was interesting to watch and the fighters all went for it with lots of aggressive attacking. So specific fights...<br />
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<b>Zak Maxwell vs. Sean Roberts</b><br />
Thought Maxwell looked awesome. His style is pretty much what I try to do, solid ultra tight basics... slow and steady progress to a dominant position. Sean Roberts flexibility is ridiculous, what a guard to try to pass. Loved the fight.<br />
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<b>Gui Mends vs. Samir Chantre</b><br />
As expected, an easy submission for Gui. I thought this was the most pointless fight on the card but it was still great to watch.<br />
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<b>Dean Lister vs. Babalu</b><br />
I was hugely impressed with Babalu, not only being able to defend against everything Lister offered but also attacking flat out whenever he got the chance. For two big guys and a 20 minute fight the pace was amazing. Probably my favourite fight of the night.<br />
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<b>Keenan Cornelius vs. Kevin Casey</b><br />
So Casey was in for Magalhaes. I thought Keenan would get the submission much quicker than he did so fair do's to Casey, he showed he definitely has great jiu-jitsu. A pretty boring fight at times, but then it can't be easy to do much but defend against a guard like Keenan's.<br />
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<b>Rafael Mendes vs. Clark Gracie</b><br />
I was very surprised that this turned out to be the worst fight of the night. Nothing but repeated failed attempts to take the back from berimbolo. I have seen people criticising Clark for just defending, but what else was he meant to do when Rafa is attacking with his best guard attack? I just wish Rafa had chosen to go to the top and tried to pass rather than falling to his guard again every time... or at least tried something other than berimbolo.<br />
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<b>Royler Gracie vs. Eddie Bravo</b><br />
So surely it's gonna be hard for a 48 and 43 year old to keep up the level of action which had been seen in the rest of the fights? That's what I thought, but man these two gave an awesome performance. An amazing ending to a great event!<br />
It's easy to be critical of people in fights, and I've seen many people doing just that, so all I'll say is that I was surprised it seemed Royler hadn't really studied Bravo's game and just stuck to the same plan of attack even after being repeatedly swept with the same thing.<br />
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Wow, I really enjoyed this event and I hope Metamoris goes from strength to strength. It was a bit sad to see that loads of people were getting free streams of it, it's one of a very small number of options for professional competitors to get paid to fight. Support the event!!<br /><br />I've read an unbelievable amount of nonsense written about Gracie/Bravo... people saying Eddie Bravo "won" it. No, it was a draw... the only way to win was to submit and he didn't do that. Obviously he had the better of the match, but it was a draw. Then I read people saying how Bravo was sick after and was totally gassed but Royler was ok, so if they'd kept fighting... NO, it was a 20min fight, they knew that going in. Being tired after is a good thing cos it means Eddie had gone as hard as he could over the distance. There's no point having anything in reserve. "Eddie would have won on points"... but there were no points, this is meaningless... they weren't fighting with points in mind. Man, it was a great fight and people should just be happy with that. Unreal showing from a 43 and 48 year old, congratulations to them!!<br />
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A point above ties in with my only big criticism... the commentators talking about "under IBJJF" rules all the time. What other sport does this?? Commentate on how things would work under a different ruleset? I found it really annoying and off-putting. They should just stick to describing the techniques being used/tried, talk about how an attack or counter worked etc<br /><br />Regardless, I'll definitely be buying the next event :)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-30635191759055289042014-04-06T23:00:00.001+01:002014-04-06T23:00:33.687+01:00The mental aspect of a jiu-jitsu fightThis is a subject which I have been discussing with my students a lot recently, due to a lot of recent competitions. I think it can be almost as important as the physical side of things, but is often neglected by people as it's something they just don't think about.<br />
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Now I'm not talking about mental preparation for fights. I know some people spend a lot of time on that but I find it quite difficult to understand. I never step on the mat without thinking I am going to win and have never felt doubts about my own ability before a competition. What I am talking about is the mental ebb and flow during a fight. So many times I have seen students win fights, or lose very close fights (or even fights they have overall dominated) and they come off the mat with the feeling that they performed poorly or almost lost when in reality they won easily.<br />
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Why does this happen? First, I think adrenaline is a big factor, it numbs the mind and means that memories of a fight can be very foggy... I have had fights which I couldn't remember until watching a video! There is also a natural tendency for most people to be critical/negative of themselves and, lastly, people often only think about the last thing which happened during a fight.<br />
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What does this mean? Well, there are two fights going on during a match... the physical fight and the mental fight, and they are both vitally important. I have seen people winning fights easily who then make one mistake and suddenly panic, causing them to lose the fight. Or people who have been getting smashed but are so strong mentally they never give up and manage to win by submission.<br />
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So how does this all relate to aspects of a fight? The easiest way to explain is looking at the situations this stuff most often applies...<br />
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1. If you're in a bad spot and you escape then realise you are winning the fight at that point. Ok, you might be losing on points, but the ebb and flow of the fight is going in your favour, so when you get back to a good or neutral position don't stop, keep moving forward, it's the best time to attack. Your opponent has just lost a strong position and could be disheartened. The same for escaping a submission attempt... it may have been their best attack, they might have been sure they would submit you and now you've escaped... attack!<br />
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2. The opposite of the first point; you had a strong position and your opponent escaped. Relax, you got ahead of them once so can do it again. Don't freak out and do something silly, just control the position they have escaped to and go back to attacking.<br />
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3. You get reversed from side control. This is a classic that I've seen totally change a fight. Not only were you in a good position which your opponent has escaped, they've put you straight into a bad position. You need to stay calm, if you freak out and desperately try to escape you may end up in an even worse position or get submitted. This is another reason to learn the rules and points system... side control reversal, or being put in side control from top turtle doesn't score your opponent anything. In these circumstances you need to be strong enough mentally to relax, defend and take your time, your chance to escape will come.<br />
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4. The fight starts and you end up exactly where you didn't want to be... they took you down, or they pulled guard first. So what? You can panic or you can back yourself to win the fight. Stuff goes wrong in a fight and you have to be ready for it.<br />
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There are obviously other ways that show how mental strength during a fight is important, but from my experience they are the most common. Just like learning techniques I believe you can learn methods to improve your mental game. First of, as mentioned earlier, learn the rules and points system back to front... if you know exactly what is happening in a fight it makes it much easier to cope with adverse situations. Also, try to have someone coaching you from the sidelines they can help you by telling you the points and time. Think more deeply about what is happening when you're training, don't just live totally in the moment. Try to think about the overall round and what is happening at each point; you might have been getting smashed for 4 minutes but if you then get the upper hand... go, go, go, push forward hard and work to get the submission or enough points to turn it around. If you're winning the fight at a specific point, whatever came before doesn't matter.<br />
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Fight hard, be strong mentally and never give up no matter what has happened!!Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-39729083323377948372014-03-28T23:26:00.003+00:002014-03-28T23:26:56.095+00:00Metamoris 3The third submission only all-star fight card is on tomorrow and I love watching grappling matches of any sort... although the problem with this one is it starts at midnight so I doubt I'll much if any of it live.<br />
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My thoughts on the fights...<br />
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Zak Maxwell vs. Sean Roberts<br />
From memory Maxwell has the better results overall but it's a tough one to call under Metamoris rules really.<br />
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Gui Mendes vs. Samir Chantre<br />
A three time world champion vs. a guy around the same size who hasn't won anything really major. Mendes submission.<br />
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Dean Lister vs. Babalu<br />
Tough to know what sort of size/shape Babalu is... his MMA career went off quickly after he'd spent a long time as a top contender. Can't see Babalu tapping Lister and he'll have a tough time not getting caught in something.<br />
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Keenan Cornelius vs. Vinny Magalhaes<br />
Really tough fight to call. Keenan has showed he can mix with the top level of black belts but Magalhaes is an ADCC champion and could be much bigger. Maybe Keenan catches a tired Magalhaes late in the fight.<br />
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Rafael Mendes vs. Clark Gracie<br />
Clark is good but Mendes is a different class. I don't think the weight difference will matter, both Mendes brothers get submissions.<br />
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Royler Gracie vs. Eddie Bravo<br />
The sort of fight that has been discussed so much I don't care. Pretty much impossible to call, when was the last time either fought? I think the most likely options are either Royler wins quickly or it's a pretty boring match.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-83260471325528515832014-03-28T23:04:00.000+00:002014-03-28T23:04:01.985+00:00Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shutOk, that's a bit drastic, but it's basically true when you're starting jiu-jitsu. As far as learning goes, try to speak as little as possible about technique and listen to every single thing your instructor says and watch every tiny detail of their movement.<br />
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The biggest issue around talking a lot is people who ask "what if" questions. It's understandable to want to know as much as possible straight away but it's impossible, you can't learn every variation of every option in every position straight away. If you don't understand something, or can't do a movement properly, ask your instructor... but if you immediately want to know every "but what if they do this?" then you'll slow down your learning. Trust your instructor (well, pick a good one then trust them!) to teach you well.<br /><br />Much rarer, but I've also encountered people who have to talk a lot to act like they understand more than they do... and it never works anyway. Don't try to impress instructors by explaining how well you understand something just listen to what everyone more experienced says and remember it all.<br />
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As you get more experienced you'll learn to be able to ask better questions :)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-31332241304639105562014-03-18T14:44:00.001+00:002014-03-18T14:44:19.014+00:00Techniques vs. TacticsJiu-jitsu is a complicated sport with a lot of techniques, and although being technically good is the key to good jiu-jitsu, it's just as important to know what techniques to use against a specific opponent and also when to use them. You have to be tactically aware as well as technically proficient.<br />
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Being tactically aware is basically the same thing as having a game plan. A simple example is that if your opponent is very good on top, you want to put them on the bottom, and vice-versa, for the best chance of success. Then within each position you have to understand what are the best options for you to use. If you are fighting a much larger opponent then closed guard and triangles are probably not going to be the best idea, keeping distance and keeping the weight off you by using feet on hips or butterfly guard should work out better. Then on the opposite end, closed guard will be strong against a much smaller opponent who will struggle to put enough pressure on to open it. If your opponent is big and strong, use movement and speed... if your opponent is small and agile, use pressure and tight control.<br />
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Outside of that general aspect of tactics, you also have to consider each position you end up in. If you have a really good guard pass but your opponent is positioned in a way to easily defend it, you should try something different. If you try to force a technique to work in a bad position you will probably come off worse. Thinking tactically means you also have to bail out of things at times... you might be halfway through a sweep, but if completing it means you will end up in a triangle it's time to give it up and accept you may fail on the sweep.<br />
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Another part of the tactical aspect is trying to pick up on things your opponent does during a fight. If you've tried your favourite submission attack twice and they've defended the same way twice, you can pretty much guarantee they'll do the same thing again... so be ready for it and plan your follow up attack accordingly. Similarly, whatever attack your opponent used in a position before, they will probably try the same, or something like it again. People will tend to go for the same techniques again and again as jiu-jitsu becomes an instinctual thing when you are fighting hard... so try to take advantage of this.<br />
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Competition also has a further angle on the whole tactical thing. You might have an awesome open guard, but if you are winning on points, have 1 minute of a match left and have 3, 4 or more potential matches to win gold... why open your guard? At that point you just need to try closed guard attacks, give yourself the easy win. Or a more extreme situation, maybe you are winning on points but are under your opponent's mount... you might know plenty of techniques to escape, but in this situation it's more tactically sound to just defend. If you escape you give your opponent a chance to score more points and while escaping there is much more chance of being submitted.<br />
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So, try to think on two levels all the time; what you need to do technically and what you need to do tactically. When you're in the heat of the moment you will react naturally, but by considering these things throughout your training you will make good tactical decisions naturally.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-54551570001130905312014-03-01T00:31:00.001+00:002014-03-01T00:31:36.693+00:00Who should teach jiu-jitsu?As with any subject, there are a broad range of people teaching jiu-jitsu and it's often discussed who should teach and what qualifies them to do so. Well, you know the deal, here's my thoughts...<br />
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It should go without saying that to teach somebody should have approval from their instructor. This ensures their instructor believes them to be capable of doing so and also legitimises the teaching as being part of their lineage. It also means that the instructor should still be training as a student and continuing their own training.<br />
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The most obvious question about teaching qualification is what belt level someone should be. Except for in certain circumstances (no higher level guys teaching in the area) there is no need for white or blue belts to be teaching (and if they are teaching, they should have regular contact with a black belt instructor). Yes, they might be excellent teachers but they will not have enough technical knowledge. An experienced purple belt and any brown/black belt should definitely have the required technical knowledge, but this is still no guarantee of teaching ability. The environment someone is teaching in also matters here; a black belt can certainly run a large academy themselves... a brown or purple might be able to, and they could definitely run a smaller affiliate. Lower level belts are also much better placed to be teaching if they are doing it at an academy run by a black belt.<br />
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Judging teaching skills is a tricky thing to do. People learn in different ways and someone might be good at teaching one sort of person but not another. There is also always a human factor, as an instructor you don't just show jiu-jitsu techniques but also have to deal with the various personalities and attitudes of students. You have to make sure the class as a whole works well; people actually drilling, avoiding subdivision into groups/cliques and various other things. Some people are definitely bad teachers; they don't plan lessons at all, they don't have a clear idea of what to teach, they don't teach connected techniques, they favour certain students... and many other potential problems.<br />
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I think the best way to learn to teach jiu-jitsu is to learn from someone good at teaching it. People shouldn't just decide to start teaching, they should spend time studying a good instructor teaching classes and ask them questions about how and why they do things. The perfect scenario for someone to start teaching is that they train with their instructor until black belt and then open an affiliate academy, but there will definitely be times when people start teaching sooner (in a country without much jiu-jitsu). The worst option for someone to start teaching is the desperate-to-be-an-instructor types who leave their instructor at white or blue belt and start their own club. These people will use any type of excuse for it... they want to have a "different philosophy" within their club or they "see themselves more as an instructor than a student", maybe they see it as a fast track method to get a promotion via a long-distance affiliate relationship or they are just the sort who rate themselves much higher than their actual skill level. The worst of them will develop their "own style" and wear a black belt... whatever it is, they are idiots.<br />
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There are no official qualifications to teach jiu-jitsu, so it's always going to be the case that anyone can go out and set up an academy, but there will also always be people willing to tell others they shouldn't be teaching... and I'm one of them, haha.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-37504499145432646712014-02-21T22:58:00.001+00:002014-02-21T23:00:19.327+00:00Interview on a friend's blogA friend and old student of mine interviewed me for his blog. You can find it <a href="http://www.attacktheback.com/british-black-belts-interview-rob-taylor/">HERE</a> :-)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-81229731550030747292014-02-20T23:48:00.001+00:002014-02-20T23:48:06.232+00:00Don't use strength!This is probably one of the most common things you will hear from some people training jiu-jitsu but I think the idea of it has become confused.<br />
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Straight off... you have to use strength in jiu-jitsu. What is strength? A measure of how work your muscles can do. What do you use to move your limbs? Muscles = strength. And to go further, the entire basis of jiu-jitsu technique is to use leverage in order to multiply your strength and maximise your advantage over your opponent.<br />
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So what people really need to say is "Don't prevent yourself from learning technique by relying on strength"... I dunno, maybe it's not as catchy though. You should try to make any movement or control of your opponent be as easy as possible for you; if you're straining to do something then you're probably not doing it right. If your muscles are dead after every roll, you're probably using too much strength and not enough technique.<br />
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That said... there is nothing wrong with using your strength flat out at times. At the end of the day, jiu-jitsu is about learning to fight. Part of fighting is using your physical attributes and strength is an attribute just as much as speed, flexibility, cardio, long legs or whatever... and how many times have you heard people saying not to use those things to your advantage? Exactly. It makes me laugh when I hear a little guy telling an ultra heavy "Don't use so much strength" and then they hit a blink-of-the-eye armdrag to back take.<br />
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Basically, what it comes down to is that any physical attribute can be a bad thing in your training, but a good thing in your ability to fight. So you have to judge those things for yourself...<br />
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- when you're training in general try to maximise your use of clean technique and minimise your use of physical attributes.<br />
- make sure you also do use physical attributes at times. You need to learn how to use these well; using an attribute correctly is a technical aspect of jiu-jitsu.<br />
- pick your partners wisely when you want to go flat out. If you're really strong then there is little point in putting it to full use against a rooster weight.<br />
- realise you also need to learn to deal with your opponents having superior physical attributes. It's no use just complaining when someone is really strong... it's a fact of life that some people are massive/strong. You might have to fight one in a competition or in a real fight, so get yourself prepared for it.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-13854113079647662612014-02-10T00:15:00.003+00:002014-02-10T10:19:29.558+00:00How and why I promote...So I did a couple of posts about promotions but didn't mention anything about my own basis for promoting people. As this varies between every instructor it's definitely worth a mention.<br />
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First off, I have only given out two purple belts so far and nothing higher. I can't promote anyone to black belt for another 6 years and don't plan on promoting anyone to brown belt any time soon either, so I'll just look at blue and purple...<br />
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For both blue and purple, the most important aspect is always grappling performance; how does someone perform against their peers and a wider range of opposition? I judge this in a variety of situations... sparring in training, jiu-jitsu competition and even MMA. My judgement of performance isn't only based on results though, no doubt it's important to be able to get the better of someone in any sort of fight but I would never promote someone just because they can beat people using strength, they have to be using technique.<br />
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With that in mind, performance against peers is what I look at most closely. How somebody does against people of similar size, age and experience is a great indicator of ability. But also important is how they do against bigger/stronger opponents... and for that I definitely just differently depending on belt. For purple belt I would expect to see not only better technical ability but also a broader understanding of different tactical approaches to take against different opponents. If someone can beat similar sized opponents but then get smashed by anyone bigger because they are trying to triangle 130kg monsters, they are not due a purple belt imo.<br />
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Within the performance aspect there are also other factors... does someone just use the same techniques all the time? A limited range of techniques could get someone a blue belt, but for a purple I would definitely expect to see them using and experimenting with a wide variety of options, especially when rolling with white belts. For a blue belt someone might be good at triangles but not have that many options off it, that's cool... but if I am considering someone for purple belt I would expect them to have options for every triangle escape or defence. Can someone fight from every position? Being able to pass guard and tap every white belt is great, but if they end up on the bottom and are lost they are not ready to be promoted. For blue belt I would expect someone to have options from every position, for purple belt I would expect them to have a range of high percentage options from every position. Cardio is another issue of performance... being able to go flat out and smash any white belt in one round is no good if that person is then gassed and unable to roll the next round. No belt is going to be given to someone who doesn't roll every round.<br />
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There are then factors outside of performance... how does someone behave towards other students? I have no problem with people smashing in sparring, but if someone takes it to the level of bullying they show they are not mature enough to be given a higher grade. If they are the sort of person who tries to teach every new student an americana from mount during drilling/rolling then they are not going to be promoted. If they ignore advice and always think they know better, no promotion. If they are lazy and skip drilling, no promotion. If they have a generally bad attitude (talking while I'm teaching, whinging about stuff or whatever), no promotion.<br />
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I always consider time spent training in promoting too. I don't really have any minimums, and I definitely don't have timescales where I automatically start to consider promotion. But, if someone is performing to a standard I consider worthy of blue or purple, and they've got their in a short amount of time, I would expect them to have a history of competition success. If not there is no need to get promoted quickly.<br />
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And that takes us back to competition... I see competition success as an indicator I need to evaluate that student for promotion, but by no means is it a guarantee of promotion. Someone might win numerous competitions but not qualify for promotion due to any other reasons I've covered above.<br />
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Other people promote based on different factors though, or give different weighting to the factors I have spoken about... and after posting this I'll probably think of something I've forgotten about. Whatever, it's a bit of insight as to how someone promotes people... just keep training, keep trying to learn new techniques, compete, think about your training and how to train better... promotions will come in time.<br /><br /><br />EDIT: something I forgot to mention originally is what happens when people have time off, or haven't been training regularly. Again, in these instances I will not promote anyone. If someone has been off for months injured, it sucks for them but I will not promote them (not even a stripe) as soon as they get back. They will need to get back into regular training for at least a few months before any promotion. People may think this is harsh, but people I promote represent me from that point on. I don't want to give a belt to someone the first day they come back from a lay off, no matter why, in case I never see them again.<br /><br />A similar thing applies to anyone who joins me from a different team or with existing grappling ability. No matter what their level I would not promote them until they have trained with me for a long time. I know instructors out there who promote people within weeks or months of them joining their team (or even at the first session!!). All this does is encourage people to "belt shop" moving from one instructor to another, often getting them in for high cost seminars, in order to quickly gain belt ranks. Nobody will ever achieve that through me.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-86117404337903774652014-01-25T23:47:00.002+00:002014-01-25T23:47:32.211+00:00Training both sidesThis is something that comes up a lot when I'm teaching, and it's an important issue for drilling. Should you train everything both sides or not?<br />
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I definitely believe not.<br />
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Now, some things you do have to train both sides. If you can't bridge and shrimp escape both sides you are in big trouble. Same goes for any escape, especially when it comes to submissions. Generally, escape options are highly limited from any position (because so much of your body/movement is being controlled) so you should know them all well from both sides.<br />
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...but in attacking positions you always have a wide range of options and variations on them all. So if you're in a position where you're in control you should do what feels natural. That might mean you do drill something both sides, but if you find you really suck at something on one side, or you know you would never do it that side, spend the time drilling it on the good side. Why waste 50% of your time training below par?<br />
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If you're novice enough that when you drill something one side you just can't get it, but the other side you're ok, then getting really good on one side and rubbish on the other is definitely going to benefit you more than being ok on one side and still rubbish on the other.<br />
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If you're more experienced, so you can do a movement both sides but it feels much more natural on one, then as long as you have good attacking options from each position both sides, it doesn't have to be the same one. When you are fighting hard you will attack with what is natural to you.<br />
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By the time you get to an advanced level, you will pretty much be able to do everything both sides with relative ease as far as drilling goes, or at worst not take long to get the hang of it... but you'll still attack what is natural when fighting hard :)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-35853633333607937472014-01-21T00:39:00.000+00:002014-01-21T00:39:42.994+00:00Tough timesWhat's happening dudes? So I've had a long time between blogs again, apologies! My training has been terrible for the last two months; I had my knee surgery (3 weeks out) then it was the quieter xmas/ny period and I also had a cold so barely trained, then as soon as I got back to full training I had an infection in an ingrowing hair... nightmare. It's over with now though, so all good.<br />
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I stayed off blogging during this time because I get really frustrated easily when I can't train properly (ask my wife, haha). As it's my job I have to teach no matter what, but just teaching isn't enough to replace the desire to roll, and can make things worse. So I avoided writing about jiu-jitsu as it would have only increased the frustration at having been off proper training for so long... 3 weeks off after surgery I could just about cope with (as I knew it was coming up ahead of time) but almost 2 months is unbearable.<br />
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Tough times are really what jiu-jitsu is all about though, if it's not tough something isn't right. If you leave training feeling fresh then you probably haven't improved much; you either haven't done enough training, you haven't rolled with the right people, you haven't put yourself in bad positions during sparring... or maybe all three. You always have to try to push yourself, both physically and mentally, every session. If you always pick sparring partners who you know you can dominate you'll gain nothing, if you sit out rounds you're limiting your growth, if it's the last round and you're tired, your grip is dead and the only partner left is a higher belt the last thing you should do is not roll.<br />
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Competition is probably the toughest part of jiu-jitsu, because everything is magnified. If you tap you do it in front of potentially hundreds of people. When you lose you don't just restart and try again or move on to the next opponent, you go home. You might have trained specifically for the comp for weeks or months, dieted to make weight, driven hundreds of miles or more to the competition... and you face the prospect of losing in 10 or 20 seconds. It's a tough thing to do, so why do it? Because it's tough! It makes you stronger mentally, dealing with the nerves in the build up, having to face unknown opponents, dealing with the losses and disappointments.<br />
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Overcoming adversity will only improve your jiu-jitsu, and in life in general will make you a much stronger person. So the next time you feel like taking the easy option in something, take a moment to reconsider and think about which choice will really be the best in the long term.<br />
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Back to more regular blogs now, so check back soon :)Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-69683381480082212662014-01-02T23:42:00.001+00:002014-01-02T23:42:23.068+00:00So it's the new year and all thatI guess this is the time for looking back at the year which has just finished and planning for the new one yeah? Well, ok then...<br />
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So to review 2013, it was pretty awesome all round really. Two big things happened in my jiu-jitsu life; I got promoted to black belt and found out I would be running my own academy in 2014. The black belt was obviously a good feeling, but not due to the belt... just because it means Braulio is happy for me to represent him as a black belt, and I now get to fight the toughest guys in competition. Getting to run my own academy is awesome and something I have always hoped for since I started teaching full-time. I've always enjoyed the teaching side of jiu-jitsu and put more effort into it than my own competitive career, so to take charge of an academy is something I can't wait to do.<br />
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My own competition success was as minimal as it gets, just one silver medal, but I was sidelined a lot of the time through injury and hope to make amends for this in the coming year. However, as an academy, our competition success was absolutely immense. Our students won a total of 212 medals (74 gold) and we had 111 different medal winners (52 champions!) - only including adult grappling competitions. Most amazingly was that our overall top medal winner was a 16 year old girl who won 5 adult competitions, plus took 2 silvers and a bronze. Unreal performance for someone who is only barely in the juvenile division.<br />
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I've also seen a lot of my most committed students win medals and my classes have all grown and developed amazingly throughout the year. As much as the style I teach (a small amount of techniques each class with lots of tough sparring, as I was taught) must definitely put some people off, it is working well in the long-term... producing medal winners, tough fighters and breeding a great sense of team spirit and pride.<br />
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On the issue of not competing much due to injury, I had surgery on my knee a few months ago and it seems to have healed fairly well (although I have had some soreness the last few days). Hopefully it's all good long-term and my training won't be as fractured going forward.<br />
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Outside my jiu-jitsu life I had many great moments... I have seen my son grow and develop at a great rate, starting school and getting on really well. He's also done his first jiu-jitsu lesson which I hope will be something he will love as much as I do. I also celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary and 10th year of knowing my wife... still loving every day too. I feel lucky that all I do with my time is spend it with my family or train jiu-jitsu, it surely doesn't get better?<br />
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So, the year ahead... straight away I can tell you I don't do new year's resolutions. Goals can be set at any time, and setting goals means nothing, achieving goals is what is important. I made some of these a while back <a href="http://thetattooedchimp.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/surgery.html" target="_blank">before my surgery</a> and that's still my current set of goals, with the addition now of some involving running my own academy (usual stuff; produce good fighters, have students win a lot of medals, grow the student base etc).<br /><br />But about goals/resolutions in general... I have a few which I always live by;<br /><br />- don't be an asshole, unless it's necessary<br />- treat people kindly, unless they don't deserve it<br />- improve myself in everything I do<br />- always look to learn and experience new things<br />
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And that's it.<br />
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Now, there's nothing wrong with setting goals, but if you want to then make sure you do the important part and actually try to achieve them. Setting goals accomplishes nothing.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-82827117859095859082013-12-31T12:14:00.002+00:002013-12-31T12:14:51.663+00:00Other stuff on promotions...I've seen a few discussions on forums/facebook etc recently, all about who should give out belt promotions.<br />
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To start, black belt is the most important promotion no doubt. So who should promote someone to black belt? Ideally it should be someone who has seen that person develop from the start of their training and given them every belt... but that can be impossible for a huge number of reasons. It should definitely be someone who has been teaching that person for at least a few years, otherwise what meaning does the belt have other than an arbitrary indicator of ability? A black belt is a sign that the instructor is happy for the student to represent them in competition and teaching at that level. An instructor who has just met someone can't know enough about a person to make that decision in good conscience.<br />
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The most official reckoning on who should promote to black belt is <a href="http://ibjjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130201_GraduacaoIBJJF_EN_vs1.pdf" target="_blank">the IBJJF who say 2nd degree black belt</a> and I think that's a good rule to follow. For someone to be getting promoted to black belt they should really have a direct relationship with or one step removed to a 2nd degree black belt... otherwise what sort of set-up is an academy which doesn't have a link to a 2nd degree at all?<br />
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As for belts below that, I don't think it matters too much as long as a 2nd degree is happy with it under their name or the person promoting is a black belt. What is important is that someone who regularly teaches someone and is able to judge their ability is involved in awarding the promotion. Ideally this will be a black belt, but if it's a lower belt who has been authorised to do so then so be it. The only dodgy stuff is when people promote someone to a higher or equal grade than themselves, they promote without having legitimate lineage themselves, promotion is done during a seminar outside your instructor's lineage or money has to change hands for it to happen.<br /><br />Giving out and receiving a promotion should be part of an instructor-student relationship. Within that, as long as promotions are being done for honest reasons then it should be all good.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-11815044185909681512013-12-27T22:29:00.001+00:002013-12-27T22:29:13.111+00:00It's been a while...It's been two weeks since I last blogged due to preparation for Christmas and the big day itself (which is awesome with a three year old!) but I'm back teaching and training full-time following on from my surgery. Recovery has been great and since rolling I've had no problems whatsover... except seriously bad cardio haha<br />
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So that's what I want to talk about, returning from injury. I know a lot of people do this badly. Most important thing is, you have to rest and rehab some injuries, you CANNOT train. It could be due to severity or injury but there are plenty of things which are best given total rest. The more you train the more you'll understand what injuries you can train with, but if in doubt speak to your instructor.<br />
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I had a fairly minor op on my knee so the main thing blocking me from training after it was swelling in and around the knee. I could straighten it immediately after the op, but I had nowhere near full range of motion bending it. This meant that sitting in posture or doing butterfly guard would have put a lot of pressure on the joint and put it at risk of getting reinjured. So I waited until I could touch my heel to my ass (should I say bum? Too much American TV haha) before I started training... and that took about 3 weeks.<br />
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I know a lot of people have quite a lot of trepidation about restarting after injury, but I think if you are sensible about it there is no need for this. Think about what movements/positions the injured body part will have to deal with and what sort of range of movement and/or weight bearing you're able to do. How much can you protect the injury and the type of injury matters a lot too... you can usually train with ankle and wrist injuries without too much trouble, but anything in or around upper leg/hips/abs is difficult to avoid worsening. Muscle tears and really easy to make worse whereas tendon and ligament damage can be protected by training smart.<br />
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Training smart with an injury means you are going to have an ego check... there are a few ways you can lose to it here; one, you've just had time off and you're not 100%... that means some people might have improved enough to tap you and plenty will definitely be able to give you a tougher fight than before. Cardio is also going to be an issue, so tough sparring sessions are going to be really hard, especially the last few rounds. Make sure you don't sit out or avoid people because of this, yes you might get tapped more, or by people who couldn't before, but if you avoid any sparring for fear of losing you've lost to ego. The second way to lose is by using the injury as an excuse... you only got tapped because of the injury, you keep having to stop in the middle of a round because you're sore. Maybe you tell other people these things, or just tell it to yourself, it doesn't matter... just don't do it. Then probably the least common but most dangerous issue is not being prepared to tap due to an awkward position or when you feel damage to the injury. This is just silly... if you need to tap, tap.<br />
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Finally, when rolling after or with an injury I think you also have to be fair to your partners. I don't like it when people tell their sparring partner stuff like "Don't grab my arm cos..." or "Take it easy because...", if you want to roll you just roll, if you need to tap then tap. If something is bad enough to need to avoid someone touching it at all then you shouldn't be rolling and if you do choose to roll it's your problem, you shouldn't expect your sparring partners to have to avoid doing things which will be natural reactions. All I ever tell people before I roll is that I may have to tap unexpectedly so they should be ready to stop if I do.<br />
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As for me... I've done about 6 or 7 sessions of rolling since I started back and my knee feels great. I'm able to roll fairly hard without any issue, although I'm still avoiding any big pressure on the knee and it does feel slightly sore after training (but the soreness is decreasing). Absolutely chuffed with how the surgery and rehab have gone, I reckon I'll be back to a full schedule of training in the first two weeks of the new year... going to start seeing how triangles feel on the knee then.<br />
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I've had a big change to my teaching situation over the holidays and want to have a look back at what's happened this year, so the next few posts should be much more frequent!Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-20480234591934421052013-12-13T23:57:00.003+00:002013-12-13T23:57:30.105+00:00PromotionsThis is probably the part of jiu-jitsu which people concern themselves with way too much. People want to know when they're going to be promoted, why they haven't been promoted, what they need to do to be promoted, why other people have or haven't been promoted etc...<br />
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Most importantly here is that you shouldn't be concerned about any of these things. The only person who needs to think about these issues is your instructor, all you should concentrate on is training and improving. If you keep training you will eventually get promoted, whether it takes 6 months or 6 years doesn't matter.<br />
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But what does a belt represent? It's certainly no guarantee of anything, it's totally subjective and individual to your own instructor. So that's what it really means... it's a sign of your instructor's faith in your jiu-jitsu ability and most likely a judgement of your character. Each instructor will have their own reasons and requirements for promotion to each belt (training ability and attitude, competition record, personality etc); so just keep training and be happy whenever they do choose to promote you. Although one thing that will probably slow down your promotions, universal to all instructors, is asking about when you're going to get promoted.<br />
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I know that a lot of people get disappointed when they attend a seminar and don't get promoted, or when they see others get promoted who they feel they are equal to... maybe they have 4 stripes on their current belt, or they've just dominated at a competition or two, perhaps they've just been at their current belt level for a long time, or they have tapped a few people the belt above them in training. Whatever the reason, it's silly to be disappointed about not getting promoted because there are going to be many more times when you don't get promoted than when you do over the entire course of your jiu-jitsu training. It's not a criticism or negative judgement of your ability, it just means your instructor doesn't think it's the right time for you. Another step on from being disappointed is people who quit because they don't get promoted... now that is crazy. Someone doesn't get promoted so they quit, ensuring they will never get promoted!<br />
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So, what happens when you do get promoted? Why are some people so obsessed with it?<br /><br />For the first question, pretty much nothing major! The only changes are... competition gets harder and under certain rulesets (IBJJF being the main one) you can do some different submissions. Really, that's it. Maybe some people in training will roll a bit harder with you, but really, in the grand scheme of things, nothing changes. You will still tap the people you tapped the day before, the people who tapped you the day before still will and the people who were tough, fairly even rolls still will be. So don't feel pressure to perform, if your instructor didn't believe you to be the level you've been promoted to, they wouldn't have promoted you (ignoring those instructors who promote for money!).<br />
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Now why do people obsessed with it? I guess it's a common human trait to like to be rewarded/congratulated, and there is nothing bad about this. I am sure some people enjoy a feeling of power or elevated status and this certainly is bad. Everyone should be equal in training, apart from the fact that the level of jiu-jitsu ability will vary. I do not believe any other sort of hierarchy is conducive to a good training environment... don't think that your belt means anything more than an indication of your jiu-jitsu ability.<br />
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Finally, if you do place a lot of importance on your belt colour, be prepared to be brought down to earth whenever you speak to people who don't know about jiu-jitsu. You will have conversations like these...<br />
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"So what belt are you now?"<br />
"Blue"<br />
"Is that a high grade?"<br />
"No, one after white"<br />
"So how long have you been training?"<br />
"3 years"<br />
"Oh"... cue awkwardness as they don't know how to ask you whether you suck.<br />
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and...<br />
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"So are you still doing that jiu-jitsu thing?" (possibly accompanied by a karate chop motion)<br />
"Yeah, I'm a black belt now"<br />
"Oh cool, my 8 year old cousin has a black belt in Taekwondo"<br />
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My advice, just enjoy training and don't worry about your belt. I've never asked my instructor about my belt, chances of promotion, how long until the next belt or anything like that. I've just trained and always tried to improve, whenever I've been promoted I've been proud that my instructor feels confident enough for me to represent him at that level.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-87209607586596511452013-12-07T20:46:00.004+00:002013-12-07T20:46:56.995+00:00Things that make you go "grrrrr"As an instructor, there are plenty of things which students do which really annoy me. So try to avoid this stuff...<br />
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Not drilling...<br />
This is a common one. Sometimes, it's not so bad; drilling for a bit but then stopping to talk, but some people don't even really start drilling, or just drill a technique once. Either they think they just need to see a technique and then they "know" it or a few times people have told me they don't want to drill something because they'll never use it! Simple fact is, you should drill as much as possible; every technique, every class.<br />
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Talking about who you tap or what you think of other people's skill...<br />
Your instructor already knows who you can tap, they watch you roll all the time. They are also much better placed than you to judge the ability of others, so I guarantee they aren't going to be impressed overhearing you saying "I'm surprised so-and-so got promoted" etc.<br />
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Looking at your instructor during rolling...<br />
This is something which really bugs me, mainly because I feel like laughing when I notice it. Is your main goal in training to impress your instructor, or do you only feel like you've accomplished something if your instructor is watching? Trust me, your instructor has seen a white belt mounting or tapping a white belt a million times... and yes, they've seen white belts tapping blue belts to, it's nothing special. Just get on with rolling, your instructor will be watching you anyway.<br />
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White belts teaching...<br />
If I had a pound for every time I'd seen a white belt showing a really bad version of an americana from mount to someone on their first lesson I'd have somewhere in the region of £50, maybe even more. I can understand the desire to help someone less experienced but when you're a novice yourself you are more than likely to be showing poor technique and also have no real judgement as to what someone needs to learn (new students certainly don't need to know submissions straight away). Leave the teaching to the instructors and the higher grades.<br />
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Always picking weak sparring partners...<br />
You get better by challenging yourself and sparring with high level students, not by always picking the smallest and lowest ranked students. Jiu-jitsu is about fighting and toughness, not about only picking fights you can win.<br />
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Ignoring advice...<br />
If your instructor gives you advice, it's based on their years and years of experience; going through training as a student and training their own students. I guarantee you don't know best, you're not a special case which they don't understand. When your instructor gives you advice take it onboard and act on it.<br />
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Second-guessing your instructor...<br />
This ties into the last point, but when your instructor is trying to give you advice don't interrupt them and guess what they're trying to tell you. You're probably wrong, and best option it's just rude.<br />
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Acting like you know more than you do...<br />
Another similar point again. There is nothing wrong with being inexperienced, everyone starts out not knowing anything. The people who learn quickly are those who accept their position of not knowing anything and strive to take in as much knowledge from their instructor as possible.<br />
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There are no doubt other things which could go on this list, but they're the most common things which happen that I really dislike. Anyone doing them is just putting themselves in a position where I don't want to bother helping them out and certainly won't go out of my way to do so. They're also going to make me much less inclined to promote them.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-27524088826028238652013-12-03T16:17:00.001+00:002013-12-03T16:17:33.822+00:00Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!I'm mega excited as I'm taking my son to try his first jiu-jitsu class tonight. He's only three but I'm gonna give him a go and see how he handles it. Hopefully he'll enjoy because I'd love him to be involved in jiu-jitsu with me.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-27252407983439554322013-11-30T00:00:00.000+00:002013-11-30T00:00:08.845+00:00"Let's just flow roll"I shudder when I hear people say it... a new round is starting and two students go to slap hands when one of them says "Let's just flow roll", urgh.<br />
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Why is flow rolling bad? Well, it isn't all bad but it certainly isn't rolling. During the full sparring part of a class, that's what you should do, full resistance sparring. Jiu-jitsu is fighting, that means you try to tap your partner and stop them tapping you. Now, there are different intensities to rolling, it shouldn't be flat out all the time, you are trying to learn and improve... but it should always be realistic, so that means you both resist each other's movements. Don't waste rolling time by doing anything other than full resistance sparring. It's the whole reason why jiu-jitsu really works in a fight and what keeps it from becoming just another nonsense martial art.<br />
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So, does flow rolling have a use? Definitely yes, but like most things there are right and wrong ways to do it...<br />
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I've already said that it's not a replacement for full sparring. It should be seen as a type of drilling, a time to improve your technique, reactions and "feel" for movements. Except for maybe in an advanced class, it's unlikely time is gonna be set aside for this in a regular lesson, so if you're going to do it then it's probably best before or after a lesson.<br />
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It's also important to flow roll correctly, and it's something that most people can't do... at all. I don't think it's worth finishing submissions at all when flow rolling, but you definitely shouldn't be trying to tap or control each other (that's full resistance sparring again). You and your partner have to be able to engage in a natural ebb & flow of one person taking control for a bit then switching over. So at any point one person is the attacker and one person is defending. The person attacking shouldn't be controlling any position ultra tight and the person defending shouldn't be trying to shut them down but should offer up different movements/options to be attacked. Then at some point the attacker should back off, which signals to their partner that they should now take on the role of attacker.<br />
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Your aim in these flows should be to improve your transitional attacks and learn what options you have during them. However, you can't start doing unrealistic stuff or get loose and sloppy with technique. This means that, like good technique drilling, you both have to judge the level of control you are using well at all times. You can't be too tight so that it just turns into normal sparring but neither can you be too loose that things become unrealistic... basically you need to work in the same was as when drilling technique; you don't try to stop each other but you don't let each other do stuff which wouldn't work under full resistance. This balance of realism should also be maintained beyond just a technique perspective... so if you try to hit a rolling armbar as your partner turtles, and you fail miserably, you should switch to defending while your partner starts to attack.<br /><br />Due to all this stuff, I think flow rolling is something that white belts will struggle to do properly. I'm not saying it's impossible for them but to flow correctly you need a good knowledge of techniques from all positions, good movement and no ego at all. Most white belts don't hit all those marks, neither will some coloured belts though!<br />
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Flow rolling has it's place, but see it as a type of drilling not sparring and hopefully it will be another training method you can use to improve your jiu-jitsu!Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-25444611918381937932013-11-27T15:49:00.001+00:002013-11-27T15:49:50.954+00:00Can jiu-jitsu be just a hobby?Undeniable there are a lot of people who train jiu-jitsu all the time, and not only do they do maybe 5 or more jiu-jitsu sessions a week but they do strength & conditioning work and maybe cross-train in judo or wrestling as well. This is great and I love that jiu-jitsu means so much to so many people that they want to train this much, but it does lead to some people thinking that anything less than this level of commitment is worthless. I couldn't disagree more.<br />
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I think people should train as much or as little as they want. For some people it's a massive part of their life and they want to compete, win medals and progress quickly. But many people just do it because they enjoy it and it keeps them fit and healthy. Maybe they just train once or twice a week, that doesn't mean they should be seen as less committed or less a part of the team, they just have different circumstances, different reasons for training or different goals.<br /><br />
People talk about "jiu-jitsu lifestyle" (and really, I'm not even sure what that is meant to mean) but need to realise some people don't care about doing stuff to help their jiu-jitsu. Lots of people are happy training once a week, or even less frequently, and that's fine by me. I think everyone should be made to feel at home in the academy, no matter how rarely I see them. Not everyone is young with plenty of free time to train, plenty of people who love jiu-jitsu also work long hours, have a family and already have other commitments (taking kids to do activities is a common one which I know stops a lot of people training more)... I would hate for people like this to feel they are less important to an academy, or worse that they are a hindrance, just because they don't train a lot.<br />
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So yes, jiu-jitsu can be just a casual hobby for many people, even if it's a major part of a lot of people's lives. Some see it as a sport, some as a martial art, some just as a fun way to keep in shape... however people look at jiu-jitsu, I think they should all be welcome into an academy.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522635130176782758.post-52766004603881714322013-11-22T22:40:00.003+00:002013-11-22T22:40:40.519+00:00What's not ok to do in training?Ok, so I'm gonna assume that everyone knows it's not ok to do stuff like fake tap, wear a smelly gi, purposely hurt someone etc... and I'll just concentrate on stuff I know has come up regularly in questions people have asked me over the years. The most important rule to remember is that you should try not to injure anyone in training, so it's always better to miss a submission than to crank something on. This really does fall into the obvious category though, I think.<br />
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So, what things do people think might be not ok in training? I've heard people consider stuff like shoulder pressure/head control, knee-on-belly, hip pressure from mount and similar all things which shouldn't be used much in training. Straight up, I find this CRAZY. All those things are good jiu-jitsu, they are the proper way to control people, you should definitely use them and learn to get good at using them. Just think about why you use those techniques; to allow you to advance position or secure a submission. If you just want to pin someone for a round (to get better at control, which is a fair goal at times) then pick someone tough... a 90kg purple belt pinning a 70kg white belt for a round with brutal shoulder pressure is uncalled for, but if they can do it to another purple belt it's fair enough. Similarly, if you have position on a higher belt then any amount of pressure is fine, if they don't like it they shouldn't have let you get the position or should be able to escape. The only thing I've ever told someone applying shoulder pressure to me is that they should apply more pressure!<br />
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That covers off applying pressure/discomfort. I just think, if it's legal under IBJJF rules it's definitely ok in training. Consider the difference in ability and strength/size when you roll as normal and you should be fine.<br />
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What about other stuff? "Illegal" submissions is a big one... most people consider the IBJJF rules to be the standard for what submissions are legal at each belt level. Personally, in training, I don't mind people doing any submission at all as long as they control it and always give their partner time to tap. If you can't control it enough to give them time, don't do it. If your partner doesn't seem to want to tap, tell them they need to because they are caught, don't just slam it on. If it's a submission they might not be familiar with it's always better to let it go than hurt someone. For heelhooks I would suggest only ever training them with a catch and release method, they are too dangerous to go for the finish in training unless you're rolling with experienced training partners who will recognise and tap to them.<br />
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Then there are submissions which are applied slightly "wrong". Stuff like having a gi lapel wrapped across the mouth not throat/neck. As long as you give due consideration to the level of your partner, I have no problem in submissions like this. At the end of the day, if someone has to tap they have to tap. These things can happen in competition so everyone needs to get used to it in training.<br />
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Beyond that I don't think there is much else which falls into this category. The only other things I've come across are a very small number of people who try to gain an advantage in training... wearing a really tight gi, or resting every other round etc... this isn't stuff which is that bad for other people, but it does show very weak character and a poor mentality of seeing training as competition.<br />
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So really, it's easy. As always, you should consider the level of your partner and any size/strength difference, and remember that above all else you should try to avoid injuring anyone. If you think like that, you can't really go wrong.Tattooed Chimphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11965324499213738722noreply@blogger.com2