Monthly Archives: May 2012

The Quiet Before the Storm

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Here we go! 2500 athletes (including me) are heading to California to compete in the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. It’s like the 30 minutes before a skydiving jump where the plane climbs to 15,000 feet. You can look down and see the ground getting farther and farther away. And suddenly you realize that you are going to have to return back down but without the help of a plane. And when it’s time… You stand up, walk towards the open hatch, and suddenly there is no more ground to walk on and you’re off…

That’s pretty much how I feel. I have the technique to win. I have the cardio to win. I have the game plan to win. The rest is just heart. I’m going to give it everything I got, one match at a time. I have 126 guys in my division (see below), but I only have to beat 7 of them to win gold.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me financially. I’ll send out a couple cool videos to you guys (after I get back) and to anyone that still might chip in a few bucks. I didn’t quite reach my goal to cover the full trip cost but it definitely made my journey a lot easier.

I’m very fortunate to have been a part of the judo and jiu jitsu communities in these last few years. I’ve only been doing jiu jitsu two and a half years, but I feel like it has already changed my life.

  1. Absoluto BJJ Horatiu Balint
  2. Absoluto BJJ ion pinzaru
  3. Academia Atitude/Gracie Humaita Ricardo Vargas
  4. Akxe BJJ Tony Torrisi
  5. Aldo Batista’s Club BJJ greg west
  6. Alliance Raphael de Castro Vieira
  7. Alliance Rehan Muttalib
  8. Alliance Atlanta Kaice Reilly
  9. Alliance Atlanta William Edmondson
  10. Alliance Ecuador James Robert Saa Marin
  11. Alliance Ecuador luis alfredo Arboleda Subia
  12. Alliance International Gert-Jan Vergauwen
  13. Alliance International Lucas Jose Alves de Oliveira
  14. Alliance JiuJitsu San Francisco Toby Marroquin
  15. Alliance JJ James Blake Hansen
  16. Alliance JJ Shane Adam Sorensen
  17. Alliance Los Angeles Samuel Christian Rice
  18. Alliance Marcelo Garcia Taylor Wayne Bright
  19. Alliance RJ Ryan Shackleton
  20. Alliance SP Ramzi Farzad Abdulwahab Ahmed
  21. Alliance USA Richard Pinto
  22. Alliance USA Wanderson Cardoso
  23. Atos Jiu-Jitsu Fabio Rodrigo Bortolon dos Santos
  24. Atos Jiu-Jitsu Julio Cesar Figueiredo Ferraz
  25. Barbosa JJ Alef Felipe da Silva
  26. Barbosa JJ Ygor de Arruda F. Y. de Souza
  27. BJJ Revolution Team Dominique Hoskins
  28. Brasa Warrior International Jim Barrett
  29. Carlson Gracie Canada Joele Cuenca
  30. Carlson Gracie Las Vegas Ricardo Cavalcanti JR
  31. Cesar Pereira Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – CTMMA Sean Quigley
  32. Charles Gracie Academy Steven White
  33. CheckMat Andrew Detwiler
  34. CheckMat Michael Anthony Torres
  35. CheckMat International Murat Yesildal
  36. CheckMat International Ryan Bustamante
  37. CheckMat USA Luis Morales
  38. CheckMat USA Omi Iwasaki
  39. Clockwork Jiu-Jitsu Josh Macin
  40. Clube de Jiu-Jitsu Pit Bull – San Diego ryan reed
  41. Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu Vincent Inoncillo
  42. Combat Sports Boston Jonathan Leung
  43. Drysdale BJJ Dio Alfonze Buan
  44. Easton BJJ John Combs
  45. Easton BJJ Juan J Segnini
  46. Fight Club Jonathan Greek
  47. Fight Sports Hunter Xavier Kainalu Ewald
  48. Frontline Academy Joachim Sveinson
  49. GF Team Lucas Laet Mattos Moutinho
  50. GF Team Renan De Amorim
  51. GF Team Sergipe Richard Hopper
  52. Gracie Barra Luiz Gustavo Rocha Fernandes Neto
  53. Gracie Barra Marverk Vinicius da Silva Santos
  54. Gracie Barra America Antonio Santiago
  55. Gracie Barra America Ben Dowling
  56. Gracie Barra Brasil huerre
  57. Gracie Barra California Carlos Mena
  58. Gracie Barra California erick a leon garcia
  59. Gracie Barra International Anatoliy Aksanov
  60. Gracie Barra International jeffrey milton
  61. Gracie Barra Irvine Ali Magomedov
  62. Gracie Barra Irvine Maxen Antenor
  63. Gracie Barra JJ Oleg Ryaboy
  64. Gracie Barra JJ Sergio Daza Suarez
  65. Gracie Barra Orlando Johnatas Da Silva
  66. Gracie Barra Rio de Janeiro Josh Ramirez
  67. Gracie Barra Rio de Janeiro patrick ryan
  68. Gracie Barra USA Lionel Gomez
  69. Gracie Elite Team Joel Hadden
  70. Gracie Elite Team Pedro L Migliano
  71. Gracie Elite Team America Vasili Nikolaev
  72. Gracie Fighter Justin Nero
  73. Gracie Morumbi Kai Ellison
  74. Gracie Morumbi Steve Barahona
  75. Heroes Martial Arts Michael Greco
  76. Hilti BJJ Jyvaskyla Tommi Pohjola
  77. Icon Jiu-Jitsu Team Gabriel Salles Muniz Almeida
  78. Kron Gracie Jiu Jitsu Ryan Barber
  79. Lloyd Irvin Martial Arts Joseph Formica
  80. Lotus Club Jiu-Jitsu Clifford Anderson-Bergman
  81. Lovato Jiu-Jitsu Devin Roan
  82. Marcelo Alonso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Doohyun “D.H.” Im
  83. Nova União Cooper Cardinale
  84. Nova União Thiago Bracks Oliveira
  85. Nova União USA Jordan Shepler
  86. NYMAG Jiu-Jitsu USA Julian Hermosillo
  87. Paragon BJJ Academy gregorio santiago
  88. Peter de Been JJ Grant Cooper
  89. Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Berkeley BOLDERDENE ODSUREN
  90. Renzo Gracie LA Robert Lewis Grober
  91. Rey Diogo/Carlson KEVIN MARQUINA
  92. Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Aaron Jerel Eberhart
  93. Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Justin Jones
  94. Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu International Kenny Steeve Haunui Otcenasek
  95. Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu International Patrick Davis
  96. Roberto Traven BJJ Alexander McIntyre
  97. Roberto Traven BJJ tom pennington
  98. Rodrigo Vaghi BJJ Drew Dober
  99. Ryan Gracie Team Rafael Rosa
  100. SBG International (SBGI) david walker
  101. Serao Mixed Martial Arts Benjamin Silva IV
  102. Serao Mixed Martial Arts Lucas Fernandes Oliveira
  103. Socal Fight Factory Alex Jose Alfaro
  104. Soul Fighters BJJ Igor Matosinho de Paiva
  105. South Valley Jiu Jitsu matt buren owens
  106. SPMA Aydin Mrouki
  107. Team Lloyd Irvin Joseph Ruggiero
  108. Team Lloyd Irvin Matt Rihani
  109. Texas Punishment Crew Kevin Johnson
  110. The Avengers Jason Kaoud
  111. The Avengers Jordan Meister
  112. Toronto BJJ Pema Dorji
  113. Training Ground Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Tim Park
  114. Tribe Jiu-Jitsu Roma Luigi Di Francia
  115. Undisputed Daniel Carlson
  116. Unit Maf Ludwig Michael Muller Vizcaino
  117. University of Jiu-Jitsu Laurenz Pakter
  118. Urban Jungle Self-Defense john saldana
  119. Victory BJJ Nam Huy Dinh
  120. West Coast BJJ Brendan Kiley
  121. West Coast BJJ David Kennedy
  122. WinnerJJ Anderson Costa da Silva
  123. Yemaso Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Richard Bothun
  124. Z1 Angola Helder Alves Cardoso
  125. Z1 Angola Walter Faustino

Four Hundred Pages on One Technique

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There is something very appealing about a big book that focuses on a single technique. That’s the reason I’ve really enjoyed Marcelo Gartcia’s X Guard book (that’s been out since 2008, before I started jiu jitsu). And that’s also the reason I’m really curious about an upcoming book from Steve Scott exclusive focused on the armbar: Juji Gatame Encyclopedia.

I always felt that the judo community has a very interesting approach to the armbar. The rules of sports judo require that you progress toward a successful submission much faster than in jiu jitsu. Therefore, judo folks can find the armbar from a lot of positions and finish it very effectively. The problem of course, from the perspective of a jiu jitsu player, is that sports judo players are not concerned about “losing position”. By that I mean, they are not worried of giving up their back if the arm bar fails.

Either way, I’m sure there is a lot I can learn from this, and I’ll be sure to buy it when it comes out in a few weeks.

I hope that more people will release authoritarianism books like this that focus on one technique. That allows the student to immerse himself in the system that integrates everything necessary to make the technique part of an effective game. Besides I’ve always believed in exploring different variations of a technique until I find one that I fall in love with. Sometimes a certain way of performing a technique just clicks. I’m always in search of that…

Training for Domination: The Frank Molinaro Approach

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I look to college wrestling for inspirational stories of athletes working harder than many believe is humanly possible. They train two or three times a day, at incredible intensity, while maintain a ridiculously low weight. Iowa wrestling represents that lifestyle completely, from Gable to Zalesky to Brands. But there are also wrestlers that pop in other programs that are shining icons of that hard working philosophy. A good example of that is Frank Molinaro of Penn State. Here’s him doing a nice circuit that’s designed to take his legs to exhaustion:

It’s clear that he has done this type of session many times before, and can effectively hit the wall and go past it pretty quickly. Workouts like that are just as much mental as they are physical.

As I see it, he is an example of a guy who is aware of his weaknesses, hates them, and works his ass off to eliminate them. I like that type of honesty in self-analysis in an athlete. This interview right after he won the NCAA title this year (after falling short the year before) is a great example of the honesty and toughness that he embodies:

He stepped up the training for his last college wrestling season and went from being good to being great, dominating most of his opponents, and going undefeated. He is definitely an inspiration.

And here is the finals match from the year before that Frank lost and arguably created the “Gorilla Hulk” of the 2011-12 season:

It’s painful to watch. Dake really stepped up for this match, and made a statement.

Major Competitions Help Me Ask Tough Questions

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I’m quickly realizing why competing at large events such as Worlds is great for my development as a jiu jitsu player. In the last month, I was often struck by the thought that “holy crap, I’m going to have to fight in a division of 120+ guys very soon” and “holy crap, is this guard pass going to work on everyone?” and “holy crap, am I doing the right things to improve my cardio?”

I’ve been asking a lot of tough questions of myself, both big and small. Everything from “why am I doing jiu jitsu” to “where do I most prefer to grip on a toreando pass”. Just like deadlines help me be more productive at work, major competitions help me ask the tough questions of my training, technique, and general approach.

You don’t have to be honest with yourself when you’re training, but when you’re competing, your opponents will force reality onto you. They will reveal the holes in your game, in your mental fortitude, in your strategy. There is no hiding from the truth on the competition mat.

So with the Worlds lurking in the near future, I’ve already become a much better and smarter jiu jitsu guy. I have a lot of changes planned for my training over the summer that will make me much better. Of course, I’m not changing anything in now in the weeks leading up to Worlds, but I’m planning a lot of things for afterwards.

Plus, all the big names in jiu jitsu are putting out interviews and videos of things they are doing to prepare for Worlds. All these resources make my planning for the future that much easier. For example, check out a fun and intense cardio session with some BJJ killers like Andre Galvao, Rafa Mendes, Gui Mendes, etc:

There are a bunch of little changes I am going to implement after Worlds. But the big one is definitely more drilling. I already drill a lot, but I’m planning to take it to another level over the summer. I want to have flawless fundamentals and that requires tens of thousands of reps.

Interval Jiu Jitsu

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To improve cardio, jiu jitsu athletes will often do interval training of going hard for 20 seconds and light for 10 seconds at whatever exercise like running, kettlebells, or bodyweight stuff over and over.

In theory that simulates a jiu jitsu match. In reality, it simulates a jiu jitsu match if your technique, confidence, and strategy are all solid. Most matches at the lower ranks seem to be balls-to-the-wall non-stop with a gradual decline in intensity as both guys become progressively more exhausted. The best guys know when to relax, so that they recover properly for the bursts of intense effort needed to improve position, finish a submission, or just win a scramble.

And I’m not talking about stalling. In fact, stalling can often take up a lot of energy as well. I’m talking about relaxing whatever body parts that are not needed in the current exchange. That sounds kind of weird, but it’s the way I think about it. For example, I try to maintain a dynamic side control where I’m very heavy but completely relaxed. If my opponent decides to go crazy, I will expend energy as well to maintain the position, moving around to north-south, knee-on-belly, or even back to a bad guard that I can pass again right away. But I always try to spend significantly less energy than my opponent.

Of course, all that is easier said than done. Relaxing requires an understanding of a lot of details involved in maintaining and improving the position. If my opponent does something that makes me nervous, I’ll tense up and use energy to hold on just like I did on the first day of training as a white belt. The more I learn, the more confident I become in the fundamentals of good base, grips, posture, etc. With this confidence comes that ability to relax amid chaos.

It’s a weird balance to try to strike between the competition intensity of “win at all costs” and the need to relax at any good opportunity.

Injuries Before Major Competitions

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It seems that jiu jitsu and judo athletes get injured at a higher rate closer to major competitions. Partly, this is just a matter of misperception, since what probably happens is that athletes complain about their injuries more publicly leading up to tournaments. This is because they are more disappointed at the possibility of their injury preventing them from competing. And in the modern day and age, when you’re disappointed, you turn to Facebook ;-)

However, there’s probably some reality to this observation as well. For example, in a  attempt to improve my cardio, I have started doing more sprints, hills, and steps than I would ever do before. I turned up the intensity on this cardio-training as well. As a result, a few slips ups here and there have led to little issues with my knees, lower back, ankles, and toes. Any of those little tweaks could’ve been major injuries with some small likelihood.

It seems that the solution is to be very smart about how I turn up the training. I don’t push myself into new things when I’m exhausted, and I don’t try stuff that my muscles are not ready for. For example, I haven’t been doing Olympic lifts, and while they are a great heart-rate-raising exercise, this is not a good time to get back into doing them.

Also, I should mention “mental injuries”. It’s important not to burn out. I have to work a lot every day (as most of us do), and turning up training in any way can certainly be destructive to my motivation to compete. There is about 9 days left before Worlds, and I have certainly felt a few moments where I’m sick of jiu jitsu. It’s a fine line to walk. I have to remember that I have no chance of winning unless I step on the mat on May 31 truly excited to compete. If I’m too stressed, dreading it (in a negative way), and just want it to be over with, I might win a couple matches, but I will not be able to beat the tougher guys.

To beat the best of a big division, I have to really want it, and for that I have to remain injury-free, both physically and mentally.

Now, back to work… I have so much left to finish today… Sigh.

Jordon Shultz and Alec Baulding: 500 Reps Per Drilling Session

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I stumbled on the following video blog post from Jordon Shultz. He is training with Team Lloyd Irvin and one of his old teammates, Alec Baulding, visited to join in on the hard training.

I know very little about Jordon Shultz except that he is a huge proponent of drilling. In particular what caught my attention is his mention that he just got done with the morning session of drilling 500 reps of his favorite techniques.

That’s the general training pattern I see among many top level competitors, from the up-and-coming purple and brown belts such as Gianni Grippo to the well-accomplished black belts such as Rodolfo Vieira:

  • 3 sessions a day.
  • 1-2 of the sessions each day are focused on drilling.
  • 1 session is focused on hard training, probably because your body can only take so much hard training. Rodolfo Vieira for example doesn’t train hard every day. Some he goes lighter. Nonstop intensity works for many, but not for everyone.

Obviously, amateur jiu jitsu athletes such as myself can’t afford to train 3 times a day, but there is a lot to be learned from the emphasis these guys put on drilling. They are not screwing around either. A drilling session is 1-2 hours of hard drilling of your main techniques, especially as you get closer to competition. I drill a lot (just very basic moves), in fact, more than training, but I definitely don’t do 1-2 hour hard drilling sessions where I get 500 reps in. That’s definitely something I would love to work up to as I progress in the sport.

It takes the right kind of partner to make that happen. The more obsessed you are with drilling, the easier you are to drill with. I find that regular competitors make for the best drilling partners, because stuff they drill is what they have and will be using in competition. They have an urgency and obsession about the drilling process that makes it work smoothly. And it needs to work smoothly if you want to do many sessions of one hour or more a week.

If you want to get good faster, it’s your job to put the reps in somewhere, somehow, sometime.

Notes on the World Jiu Jitsu Expo Superfights

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The World Jiu Jitsu Expo brought together some exciting match-ups. There was Glover sporting a gi and goatee. There was the impossible-to-pass guard of Lovato Jr. And there was the confident-bordering-on-cocky top game of Kron. Anyway, here are my three favorite fights from that event along with some notes.

Kron Gracie vs Vitor Estima

Some interesting things from this match are:

  • Kron’s standing pass of Vitor’s closed guard at the beginning (maybe the 1 minute mark). It showed to me that confidence and good balance goes a long way.
  • The reverse body lock at 7:30. I’m pretty sure Kron has not seen this position too often, but he remained calm, keep good posture, and used grips to resume a dominant position.
  • Kron’s smash pass at 9:30 that went on forever. It was interesting to see the fact that Vitor was stopping it by simply holding on to Kron’s left ankle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHq5YjQBWNg

Lucas Leite vs Rafael Lovato Jr

Some interesting things from this match are:

  • Beautiful long step pass attemps at 1:30 by Lucas Leite.
  • The whole match is just guard passing by Lucas Leite. He almost passed a lot of times with the bull pass, but Lovato did not seem worried any of those times. The bull pass has that quality that it looks like you passed, but you really haven’t.
  • The break they get at 8:00 is awesome. I love those breaks. It gives both guys a breather for the final push in the match. It makes cardio a little less of a factor, and more about technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2GnQ5DCiSs

Jeff Glover vs Caio Terra

Some interesting things from this match are:

  • Glover is famously a goof ball. Some things he does I think are entertaining, but some (in my eyes) are disrespectful to the sport. In the beginning of the match he turned his back as he often does, and I was glad to see Caio immediate look to capitalize on it.
  • When Glover was on top in the match it was interesting to see him in a stance with his weight on his back foot, kind of like you are when on top of deep half guard. That created a lot of complicated footlock-type situations, but he seemed to be comfortable with it.
  • It was interesting to see left-sided de la riva guard from Caio (e.g. 7:40). Glover seemed to be comfortable with it, and Caio’s half guard, which is of course very impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7eixxm5CLI

Starting to Think About Worlds

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IBJJF Worlds is going to be the biggest tournament of my life (so far). I will be competing in the blue belt middleweight division that should have 100+ people. I’ve been thinking about it over the past several months but as it gets closer (less than 3 weeks away now), I’m finding it pop into my mind more and more.

I truly believe that I can beat every person in that division. But I also know that a lot of those people are hungry to win. This is not a fun roll back in the academy. To a lot of those guys this has been their dream for 3 or more years. Many of them have been training twice a day, doing nothing else, thinking about not much else. When I pass the guard of someone like that, I better put everything I have behind it.

There are a couple “suboptimal” aspects to this trip. I have a clear game plan, but it is not the game plan I am most successful with, it’s just the one I’ve been doing most. I believe in it, I’m sticking with it, but I know there is another game plan with which I can win easier and with higher probability right now. However, I haven’t been using it in competition, and so I’ll have to try switching after Worlds.

The second “suboptimal” aspect is my cardio preparation. I have not been able to hit the kind of cardio training on and off the mat that I was planning on. A lot of it has to do with the amount of work I have, and the lack of sleep. I’ve thoroughly discovered that I simply can’t turn up the intensity on days were I don’t get enough sleep or have spent many hours working behind the computer before the training session. Hard training requires the kind of mental dedication that I couldn’t afford on most days due to other commitments and priorities in my life.

But I know what needs to be done. I know I can win. I am mentally preparing myself for the following situations:

  • I’m behind by 3 points with my opponent on top in side control, I’m exhausted, he is stalling, and I have 2 minutes to (1) reguard, sweep and pass, or (2) reverse and mount or take the back.
  • I’m exhausted, tied in points, down by an advantage and have 1 minute to pass the guard.
  • I’m winning by 5 points, on top in side control, with 3 minutes left against a very strong and aggressive opponent (who may be tough to finish without matching his aggression).

Anyway, I just wanted to lay down some thoughts about it. I’m definitely nervous, but in a good productive way. That’s just part of my personality. No matter what happens out there, I know it will be a day I’ll never forget. I don’t want to put pressure on myself to “win no matter what”. I have an easier time thinking of it as I will be first to impose my game, I will never quit, I will make the job of my refs easy, and I will have a lot of fun. The easiest way to have fun is to win every match ;-)

Three New Blue Belts

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Peter, Lee, and Dave got promoted to blue belt at Osagame yesterday. All three of them are good competitors, and all three are good people. Congrats!

There’s something about a promotion of a friend that makes me look back with a kind of melancholy pride. Their old belt is a reminder that time flies and that all those months and years of training, competing, or just hanging out on the mat are behind us.

On my way back home, I started thinking of all the times I watched Dave and the others competing, on the edge of my seat, yelling stupid random advice. I know I’m just a blue belt and I’m talking about other blue belts. What the hell do I know? But the experience is still real, and it is certainly exciting knowing that this is just the beginning! I look forward to moving through the ranks and watching the others do the same as Ray and the other instructors grow the club and the competition team.

On a side note, I gave Dave some advice today on a couple of techniques, and then felt like one of those annoying white belts or blue belts that are always correcting people on their technique. Clearly, 2 years of training is enough to make anyone an expert ;-)

I thought that dealing with that whole ego problem would get easier as I progress, but it’s actually getting harder. It makes me appreciate (what I imagine to be) the immense mental barriers that brown and black belts must overcome in order to learn new techniques in the gym and to test new strategies on the competition mat.