Category Archives: Fun

Best Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Forums

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First, the list of top jiu jitsu forums, then some philosophizing by me. If I’m missing a good one or the order is “wrong”, let me know.

  1. Sherdog Grappling Forum
  2. Underground Atama BJJ Forum
  3. Jiu Jitsu Forums
  4. Lockflow BJJ and Submission Forums

Other promising new non-forum forums:

Also, in case you’re interested in judo, hands down (as far as I know) the best forum for judo is JudoForum.com.

Forums are the oldest form of communication known to man. A bunch of people sign up under a real or fake identity, and can say (almost) whatever they want. There are two defining characteristics of a forum:

  1. Everyone’s comment has equal value. Meaning, you can’t up-vote a good comment or down-vote a bad comment.
  2. The design and navigation of the forum has to have the look and feel of a website that was create in the mid 90′s.

internet-tough-guyMiraculously, such flat structure produces some remarkably valuable content amid a sea of unremarkable chatter. The bits of good advice and commentary is extracted by Google for posterity. Say you’re looking for “cutting weight for BJJ competition”. Google is your friend. Type that into the search box and you’ll get some blogs and some forum links. Both will be full of advice from white belt to black belt in a one sentence or multi-paragraph form. It might be from a post made in 2003 or 2013, and either way you’ll probably get some good food for thought.

I try to avoid forums precisely because of point #1 above. It’s easy to get pulled into comments that fuel drama and never get to the comments that have good thought-provoking advice. But still, I think it’s important to regularly go to the forums to get ideas on how to improve your game and also to stay in touch with the jiu jitsu community.

Force Yourself To Do Stuff That’s Fun

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rubiks-cube-whats-upI recently heard Joe Rogan say that everything he does he really enjoys but sometimes he has to force himself to do it regularly. That resonated with me, because I’ve often had to try to explain this concept, and it sounds like a contradiction when I try to explain it. For me, “fun” is something that happens while I’m struggling to overcome a challenge.

This especially applies to training. I often don’t feel like going in to train, but I’ve learned that even though it doesn’t sound like fun right now, it will end up being fun once I get on the mat. Or if I’m really dragging, I still know that the benefit of building the habit of coming in to drill and train far outweighs the costs of struggling through a gloomy training session.

Also, positive attitude is definitely contagious. It helps me to see people like Sam Oropeza on the mat always smiling, joking around, and still working harder than anyone else. By the way, he has a fight coming up on April 4th, 2013 in Bellator.

Specialization and Mastery: Massage the Octopus for 40 to 50 Minutes

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I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi while I was sick and found it to be full of simple wisdom on how to get good at anything:

  1. Do it every day.
  2. Do the same very select set of tasks.
  3. Keep trying different ways of accomplishing those tasks with the goal of finding a better way.

octopus_by_leovilelaJiro is a chef who narrowed his attention on just sushi. No soup, no salad, no noodles, no fish not in sushi form. For that matter, rice has to be part of it. And actually I think he only makes nigirizushi and not makizushi and temaki. Whatever. The point is he does very few “dishes”, has done it for 70+ years, every day, obsessed with always improving.

In jiu jitsu world, I would equate this approach to only working on closed guard bottom and submitting everyone from there. If you end up on top, you let the person sweep you right into your closed guard.

One of the most memorable, and perhaps absurd, moments of the film is when Jiro explains that he used to massage the octopus meat for 20 to 30 minutes in order to make it less tough, but now he does it for 40 to 50 minutes. Then, there was footage of an assistant hand-massaging octopus meat. I know very little about cooking, but that just seemed a bit insane.

Perhaps, that’s one of the best ways to know you’re on the way to mastery: you should be doing stuff that will seem insane to others. So, ask a friend: “Hey bro, are there things you see me doing that you think are insane?” If his answer is “No” then you need to step up your game and massage the f’ing octopus for at least an hour.

Train Your Armbars by Breaking Broomsticks

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I have not yet run up against a situation where I put on an armbar in competition and my opponent did not  tap. However, it does seem that some people don’t like to tap to armbars. An example of this happened twice in Metamoris last weekend with Xande against Dean Lister and Buchecha against Roger Gracie.

This led to the usual discussion full of absurd quirkiness between Josh and I about ineffectiveness of an armbar for breaking arms, unless… an idea was brought up on how to remedy this obvious “flaw” in our approach to jiu jitsu training…

One of the things that makes BJJ such an effective martial art is that we can train daily at close to 100% intensity. We can do everything including chokes at 100%. The only thing we can’t do is the “breaking” submissions. When I put on an armbar, the person will tap from the first feeling of pain or tension in his arm. So we never get to feel the amount of force required to actually break an arm. The solution, my friends, is obvious… It comes from two YouTube clips below of (1) Karate board breaking and (2) Jeff Glover training with a broomstick. Combining these two, the idea is to practice breaking arms by breaking broomsticks. And eventually, you might even graduate up to breaking 2-by-4′s. This could be a new exercise fad to take over Kettlebells and Bulgarians bags.

PS: Not that it needs to be said, but I’m just joking about the broomsticks. Be careful when putting on armbars in training. In competition, it’s a different story, it’s up to you how far you decide to take it when a medal is on the line.

 

 

Buchecha Is Not Happy with the Referee Decision

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I’m a big Green Bay Packers fan. So it was heartbreaking to see the refs make a bad call on the last play of the game that gave the win to the Seahawks. Since the NFL referees are on strike, the IBJJF refs stepped up to take their place. Luckily, the 2012 black belt world champion Marcus Almeida Buchecha was on the scene to voice his opinion:

The Most Effective Martial Art for Self Defense

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People often debate what martial art is most effective on the street in a self defense situation, and I just saw someone on the forums say the “100m dash”, and I would have to agree. Perhaps also with some additional training in the use of pepper spray.

I’ve always believe that what you need for self defense in a mugging-type situation is:

  • No ego.
  • Common sense.
  • Zero hesitation.

That all sounds simple enough but actually is hard to develop because you have to put yourself in training as close to the real situation as possible, in order to develop the confidence and instinct needed to respond quickly and without hesitation.

But really, you have to be careful in thinking of whatever martial art you do as good for self defense. Maybe my experience is not representative, but all the fights I’ve been in involved lots of ego and lots of alcohol. So, really, for me, the best self defense system involves removing one of those or preferably both.

So, in conclusion, the best martial art for self defense in a world of guns is a mix of:

  • 100 meter sprint
  • Common sense
  • Minimum ego
  • Moderation in the consumption of alcohol

By the way, this post is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, because I do think that practicing grappling martial arts like brazilian jiu jitsu or striking martial arts like muay thai is great for gaining confidence and improving your chances in an altercations (everything from a serious assault to a friendly bar brawl).

Fearless Russians

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I have a fear of heights. From a certain cynical perspective, most of my life is just a mild form of pretending, but it’s the rare moments of intense fear that wake me up to the reality of it all.

All such fear I’ve every experience has been artificial in that I volunteered for it. Sky diving was one example. The satisfaction of overcoming fear, letting it inspire me instead of paralyze me is a great feeling.

That said, there are things that I could not volunteer for. The following video is an example:

The line between the degree of artificial fear I can and cannot overcome is well defined, but  it’s not fixed. It moves. In a way, competing often has moved that line further and further out.

Maybe one day you will see me doing something equally as stupid as these Russians. Until then I’ll remain grounded in my fear-chasing endeavors.

Those Who Can’t Do, Write Blogs About It

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The title of this post is a variation on a common adage “Those who can’t do, teach”. I always disliked this statement as it disrespected one of the most valuable (in my view) professions in our society.

I don’t agree with the “those who can’t do, write blogs about it” either, obviously, since I’m a “blogger”. But I have made an observation that athletes, especially at the top of their game, seem to not have much of a presence on the social networks, especially in terms of writing blogs about their training and competition experience. There are a lot of exceptions of course, but in general it seems that these guys and girls are focused on one goal and don’t let much get in the way of that. It’s certainly true that blogging, facebook, twitter, etc can be a time sink.

So… I write this blog post in defense of why I do write blogs. I’m trying to answer the question: “You say you’re so busy. Wouldn’t you get more out of your time if instead of finished up your work and went to bed earlier? Or better yet, go and train on the mat some more?”

After some introspection throughout the day today (limping around on an injured leg), I came to the conclusion that if the devil came to me and said: “I’ll give you double gold at Worlds (at blue belt) this year but you can’t write blogs (or anything else) about judo or jiu jitsu for a year”, I wouldn’t take that. It surprised me to think this, but it’s true. I want to win badly, but what I value even more is the experience of wanting to win and fighting to win. And for me, the experience is greatly heightened through writing about it, even if just in a notebook for myself.

Back to hard training tomorrow, but in the mean time I have many hours of work to do today, and so do you, so stop reading this crap and get to it.

Kill Face vs Kitten Face

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This is the first time I came across “Enter the Dojo” which is an online mocumentary-style show about martial arts. I am thoroughly entertained by it. First the funny stuff and then I’ll write a couple of related but more serious comments that this video reminded me of.

“Having a good ‘kill face’ is like walking around with a loaded gun in your pocket, only it’s not in your pocket… it’s on your face.”

That pretty much says it all right there. My favorite part of the above video is the one guy who is completely unaffected by the “kill face” and the girl that says she “likes kittens”.

In all seriousness, I think facial expressions and general attitude are very important in competition. I believe there isn’t one correct way to carry yourself. What’s important is that you maximize the focus, minimize distractions.

For me, the most effective “face” is a relaxed one. No matter how tired, angry, or excited I get in competition, I try to maintain a calm expression. This isn’t so much for anyone else, but for myself to help relax and ride out the storm. I’m not sure why but it helps me to almost meditate when I’m doing something streneous like grappling, sprinting, etc. It lets me watch the “pain” and let is pass over me. That’s sounds like hippie crap, but it helps.

One problem I have is that I get too friendly before the match. I think being friendly (for me) is a distraction (if it’s right before a match). I’ll shake hands. I’ll nod. I’ll even say “good luck”. But having a conversation is just not a good idea for me, at least not at this stage. I’ve seen high level black belts that are casually joking around right before their fights, and that shows me that being ultra serious is not essential for everyone. So you have to figure out what works for you. I think ultimately you have to get serious when the match starts, and if you’re the type of person that can go from smiling and joking to serious and focused in just a few seconds, then by all means, do it! Joking around will probably make the time pass faster.

Visualization Before a Tournament

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One of the reason I compete as often as I do, and why I recommend that all people new to jiu jitsu and judo compete as often as possible, is that I slowly pick up all the little things needed for a fun, productive competition experience with every tournament I go to. That’s a long confusing sentence, but I’m not re-writing it because I have to go to bed. Why? Because I’m competing tomorrow. One of those little things you learn is that sleep is very important before a tournament, not so much because you need energy for the matches but because you need mental energy to sit on your a** all day waiting for your matches.

Alright, so lesson #1 of many is get enough sleep. I’ve learned this well. But am I actually going to do it? Probably not this time, but at least I’m aware of the fact that I will have to suffer the consequences of this failure. It will take many more tournament for to actually “learn” this sufficiently to do it.

Speaking of lessons I’ve learned and still don’t follow: visualize your matches. I’ve heard a lot of high-level competitors talk about the fact that they visualize their matches in the hours and days leading up to a competition. You visualize applying your game plan (including plan B and plan C) to the point of victory and defeat. Some people focus exclusively on positive outcomes, and some focus on difficult situations and negative outcomes. Both have their benefits. Both can build confidence depending on your personality.

Whenever I do this kind of visualization, it first stresses me out almost like a real competition match and then it relaxes me. In the end, it always boosts my confidence and focus me through the fog of nerves. So overall it’s a very positive and productive thing to do. However, much like the sleep thing, I don’t do it nearly as much as I plan to.

For example, I’m competing tomorrow, and I haven’t done any visualization. Part of the reason is because the tournament is not very important, and I’m just going there to learn and have fun. But that’s really no excuse. Again, it will take me many more tournaments to really “learn” this lesson so that I actually do it.

To summarize, two of the things you should do is (1) get enough sleep and (2) visualize your matches. I will do neither tonight, but at least I wrote a blog post about it, and that means I am a little more likely to do it next time.

Good luck to everyone competing tomorrow and Sunday at the Grapplers Quest in Wayne, NJ.