March 23, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
It is an exciting time at Grapplearts.com. After hundreds of hours in front of the computer I’m almost finished my latest instructional video mega-project. The next step involves waiting for one or two last bits of footage to arrive, and then to do about 5 final minutes of editing. After that, ‘High Percentage Leglocks’ will be ready for authoring and replication. It’s so close I can taste it…
In addition to video editing I’m doing a fair bit of writing, photographing and planning for some interesting tips and articles that will be appearing on the Grapplearts website in the next few months.
Finally I’m also doing a lot of sparring with friends and team-mates who’re heading off to compete at the Pan-Am’s next weekend. Good luck to everyone who is making the trip, whether they’re from our club or not!
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In addition to video editing I’m doing a fair bit of writing, photographing and planning for some interesting tips and articles that will be appearing on the Grapplearts website in the next few months.
Finally I’m also doing a lot of sparring with friends and team-mates who’re heading off to compete at the Pan-Am’s next weekend. Good luck to everyone who is making the trip, whether they’re from our club or not!
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The Art of the Tap
Stephan's note: The following tip is courtesy of Roy Dean, who is a black belt in BJJ under Roy Harris, as well as a third degree black belt in Seibukan Jujutsu. Today he shares with us a refreshingly different perspective from the ‘thug-jitsu’ that has become the norm at many schools.
There are many ways to view things, and the most popular viewpoints are not always correct.
Many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling students look down on tapping to your opponent. Surely, it signals submission. Some see that submission as losing- a loss of face, a diminishment of your stature in your academy hierarchy, proof that the person you just wrestled is "better than you."
In the beginning of your training, tapping others is the goal. Later, generally at purple, brown, and black belt levels, tapping other people (especially lower ranks) becomes easy. What was once so difficult to do, and took so much struggle to attain, becomes boring and routine. Just "doing it" no longer thrills you, and how you do it becomes much more important. The quality of experience takes precedence.
BJJ is a dance, a sophisticated martial interplay where warriors jockey for position and leadership. One person may lead, and in an even match, the dynamic will switch back and forth between the two partners. After dominating the dance a thousand times, allowing others to lead refreshes the dynamic of the game. And if you're really good, you can guide your partner into submitting you gracefully, without tipping them off on how you opened that door for them to walk through.
Every time I tap to my students, I share a little more of the art, and empower somebody else to experience success. During my blue belt tests, I am the last person to spar with the candidate. At that point they are exhausted, and although I may tap them once or twice in the last 5 minutes of their exam, the challenge is to have them dig deep and conjure that warrior within. I create a genuine struggle for them to not give up, to stay mentally strong, and seize the opportunity to finish the fight that will eventually present itself.
True martial arts is about service: to the art, to your students, and to your teacher. Part of my service is to teach those that train with me how to lead, and how to follow. This creates a much friendlier, safer, and open training environment, where experimentation is encouraged and another's success is equal to your own. Ultimately, this will accelerate the moral and technical development for all participants.
Roy Dean
www.jujutsujournal.com
www.roydeanacademy.com
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There are many ways to view things, and the most popular viewpoints are not always correct.Many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling students look down on tapping to your opponent. Surely, it signals submission. Some see that submission as losing- a loss of face, a diminishment of your stature in your academy hierarchy, proof that the person you just wrestled is "better than you."
In the beginning of your training, tapping others is the goal. Later, generally at purple, brown, and black belt levels, tapping other people (especially lower ranks) becomes easy. What was once so difficult to do, and took so much struggle to attain, becomes boring and routine. Just "doing it" no longer thrills you, and how you do it becomes much more important. The quality of experience takes precedence.
BJJ is a dance, a sophisticated martial interplay where warriors jockey for position and leadership. One person may lead, and in an even match, the dynamic will switch back and forth between the two partners. After dominating the dance a thousand times, allowing others to lead refreshes the dynamic of the game. And if you're really good, you can guide your partner into submitting you gracefully, without tipping them off on how you opened that door for them to walk through.
Every time I tap to my students, I share a little more of the art, and empower somebody else to experience success. During my blue belt tests, I am the last person to spar with the candidate. At that point they are exhausted, and although I may tap them once or twice in the last 5 minutes of their exam, the challenge is to have them dig deep and conjure that warrior within. I create a genuine struggle for them to not give up, to stay mentally strong, and seize the opportunity to finish the fight that will eventually present itself.
True martial arts is about service: to the art, to your students, and to your teacher. Part of my service is to teach those that train with me how to lead, and how to follow. This creates a much friendlier, safer, and open training environment, where experimentation is encouraged and another's success is equal to your own. Ultimately, this will accelerate the moral and technical development for all participants.
Roy Dean
www.jujutsujournal.com
www.roydeanacademy.com
Labels: teachers, the mental aspect
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March 16, 2008
A Pinch In Time
Grappling uses muscles that don't normally get a lot of attention in the gym. As evidence of this I'll point to the muscle soreness in unexpected places that otherwise fit people experience when they grapple hard for the first time.
Today I want to talk about the importance and role of your thigh adductors, the muscle groups that bring your knees towards each other when your legs are apart. The adductors (spelled with a double "dd") are not to be confused with the abductors (with a "bd") because they do opposite things; I always used to get the two confused until someone pointed out that adductors (with a "dd") ADD your legs together.
A friend of mine recently had the pleasure of grappling Kron Gracie, son of the famous Rickson Gracie. My friend (who is a very good grappler himself) was very impressed by the level of control that Kron was able to maintain in the mount position. Whenever my friend tried to escape or move, Kron would really, really squeeze his knees together; as soon as my friend relaxed, Kron would relax his own legs as well. This squeezing action, using the leg adductors, made the bottom person's movements to setup escapes like the elbow-knee escape much more difficult and energy-draining.
This fundamental counter to the elbow-knee mount escape makes sense if you think about it. How would you stay on a galloping horse if you couldn't use your hands: you'd squeeze your knees of course (if you don't know what an elbow-knee escape is you can see it here).
A good thigh squeeze can also help maintain other positions, including many half guard variations (both on the top and on the bottom). In addition to maintaining position, adductor squeezing can also really amplify the effectiveness of your submissions.
Try this experiment with the kneebar: place your partner in a kneebar, cross your ankles or triangle your legs but leave your lower body relaxed. Apply the lock and observe how much energy you have to exert to get your partner to tap. Also look at how far you have to hyper-extend his leg before he becomes uncomfortable. Now revert to your starting position and change only one thing: squeeze your thighs together as hard as you possibly can. Now see how much less energy you need to apply the lock and how much earlier he taps.
I originally made this point in my video and articles about the kneebar several years ago: in Kneebar Mastery I wrote "pinching the legs together as hard as you can is very important: this limits his movement and makes the lock come on faster." It was true then and it's still true now.
Using your adductors to pinch your legs and knees together is also important for finishing the armbar, the triangle choke, ankle locks, heel hooks and many other submissions.
Does this mean that you have to run out and buy an industrial strength thigh master? Not necessarily. If you have the time is IS possible to work the adductors specifically: most bigger gyms have several different machines for adductor and abductor strengthening, and if you don't have access to that you could always try something I heard about from Oleg Taktarov: doing two legged jumps across the gym while keeping a medicine ball between your knees, held there only by the squeeze of your knees.
The most important method to strengthen the thigh squeeze is to use it in its natural environment, on the mat doing grappling techniques. Try to be aware of maintaining leg adduction for appropriate techniques both while practicing them and using them in sparring, and your opponents will be sure to start noticing how much harder they have to work to escape.
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Today I want to talk about the importance and role of your thigh adductors, the muscle groups that bring your knees towards each other when your legs are apart. The adductors (spelled with a double "dd") are not to be confused with the abductors (with a "bd") because they do opposite things; I always used to get the two confused until someone pointed out that adductors (with a "dd") ADD your legs together.
A friend of mine recently had the pleasure of grappling Kron Gracie, son of the famous Rickson Gracie. My friend (who is a very good grappler himself) was very impressed by the level of control that Kron was able to maintain in the mount position. Whenever my friend tried to escape or move, Kron would really, really squeeze his knees together; as soon as my friend relaxed, Kron would relax his own legs as well. This squeezing action, using the leg adductors, made the bottom person's movements to setup escapes like the elbow-knee escape much more difficult and energy-draining.
This fundamental counter to the elbow-knee mount escape makes sense if you think about it. How would you stay on a galloping horse if you couldn't use your hands: you'd squeeze your knees of course (if you don't know what an elbow-knee escape is you can see it here).
A good thigh squeeze can also help maintain other positions, including many half guard variations (both on the top and on the bottom). In addition to maintaining position, adductor squeezing can also really amplify the effectiveness of your submissions.
Try this experiment with the kneebar: place your partner in a kneebar, cross your ankles or triangle your legs but leave your lower body relaxed. Apply the lock and observe how much energy you have to exert to get your partner to tap. Also look at how far you have to hyper-extend his leg before he becomes uncomfortable. Now revert to your starting position and change only one thing: squeeze your thighs together as hard as you possibly can. Now see how much less energy you need to apply the lock and how much earlier he taps.I originally made this point in my video and articles about the kneebar several years ago: in Kneebar Mastery I wrote "pinching the legs together as hard as you can is very important: this limits his movement and makes the lock come on faster." It was true then and it's still true now.
Using your adductors to pinch your legs and knees together is also important for finishing the armbar, the triangle choke, ankle locks, heel hooks and many other submissions.
Does this mean that you have to run out and buy an industrial strength thigh master? Not necessarily. If you have the time is IS possible to work the adductors specifically: most bigger gyms have several different machines for adductor and abductor strengthening, and if you don't have access to that you could always try something I heard about from Oleg Taktarov: doing two legged jumps across the gym while keeping a medicine ball between your knees, held there only by the squeeze of your knees.The most important method to strengthen the thigh squeeze is to use it in its natural environment, on the mat doing grappling techniques. Try to be aware of maintaining leg adduction for appropriate techniques both while practicing them and using them in sparring, and your opponents will be sure to start noticing how much harder they have to work to escape.
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March 09, 2008
Senior Jiu-jitsu
Stephan's note: todays's tip is brought to you a guest columnist, my friend Don Whitefield (www.jiujitsulife.com). Not only does he offer good advice for older BJJ players, but if young punks were to adopt some of the advice I guarantee they'd get better faster..I don't consider myself old at age fourty-two, but I know that my Jiu-Jitsu game differs a lot from the game of an eighteen year old. Anyone over thirty is considered either a Master or Senior in BJJ competition, and it is important for these students to understand the special rules that apply to them in order to make it to their black belt and beyond.
1. Rule: Roll Smart
Even if you feel like it don't take the young spaz by the horns and get tossed around. Give them a little space to protect yourself, even if it means giving up position. Another good strategy is to stay on the top for a while or keep them in your guard (if you can) and tire them out to equalize the playing field a bit.
The most important advice is to avoid unusual positions unless you are positive that you can trust your training partner to look out for you. Often injuries occur when senior students get into unfamiliar position and they and/or their partner make a wrong move in the heat of battle resulting in injury. You have to be able to completely rely on your partner before you can open up your game.
2. Rule: Protect your body
I see teens and kids in my BJJ classes sometimes bend their joints at angles that make me shiver, but after the initial squeal they usually are back on the mat within five minutes. Their tendons and bones are flexible, but we loose this luxury as we age. The problem is that this occurs slowly and unnoticed and we sometimes spar as if we were still teenagers.
We become only aware of our age when we have (painfully) gone beyond the flexibility of our body. Since our recovery time is a lot longer than five minutes try to follow this simple rule we have in my academy: "Tap today, train tomorrow". It reminds you to tap early even if you are not in a submission but just get caught awkwardly.
3. Rule: Recover smartly
It is sad that as teenagers we got away with 4 hours of sleep, eating only fried foods and sugary carbonated drinks. As you get older these sins will catch up with you, so change these habits if you still live that way. As a senior jiu-jitsu fighter you should get lots of sleep, water, protein, fruits, veggies and supplements; these will help you stay in the game (or get back into it if you get injured).
Be smart and recognize when you are injured: take the week off than have the injury turn chronic. Stretch every day to maintain your body's flexibility. It protects you while you roll and helps you to overcome injuries much faster. Once you return to the mats don't hesitate to point out your injury to your training partner so he can look out for you if necessary. Get medical advice early on if you get an unfamiliar injury, read up on it and educate yourself regarding recovery and prevention of these injuries.
Lastly, use your maturity and your ability to keep your cool as an advantage to prevent injuries, recover from them and protect yourself from future injuries. There is one good thing about not being a teenager anymore: You got a lot smarter since.
Labels: Injuries, older grapplers
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