Why Do You Train Jiu-jitsu?
Whenever a new student comes into the academy I always like to ask a little about their history and reasons that they decided to start training bjj. I learned that you …
The 6 worst white belt rolling mistakes
Renzo Gracie, one of the most successful and respected black belts famously said “Sometimes you are the hammer, and sometimes you are the nail!” No where is that more true …
Do You Think You Are Ready For Your Blue Belt? An instructor's 4 Points checklist
Bjj students are generally a pretty high energy, motivated lot. It takes a certain type of mind set to show up at the academy week after week and learn what …
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Gassing Out? – 3 Tips How To Not Get Exhausted During Training
How often have you heard this statement from a newer student of bjj, exhausted after a roll: “Oh man! I need to get better cardio!” The specific student may or may …
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Invisible Progress – You May Be Improving And Not Know It!
Following a roll with one of the white belt students at the end of class (white belt 3 stripes vs. black belt instructor) the student seemed slightly discouraged. Read also: 3 …
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How To Work With Your Partner During Technique Portion of Class
Last class while teaching the technique portion of the bjj class (attacks from side control and overcoming a defensive opponent) I was observing two of the more serious students drilling …
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Is Your Jiu-jitsu Universal? How to adapt your bjj game.
I was listening to an interview with a top MMA coach (who is also a bjj black belt) in which he was discussing the differences between bjj with the kimono …
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Self defense vs. sports bjj : How Important is Self Defense Training in BJJ?
Visit any bjj internet forum and there most certainly will be a debate on learning jiu-jitsu for the street / self defence vs. learning pure sports jiu-jitsu. Grandmaster Helio Gracie himself …
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Concepts vs. Techniques – Two Ways of Learning BJJ
When a student first begins to study bjj, they discover that there are an enormous number of moves that must be learned! Not only are there an overwhelming number of individual …
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Details! – The Idea of Advanced Basics
More and more, when I have conversations with advanced belts who have been training for several years, they say that they have returned their training focus to the “basic” techniques. Hip …