Tag Archives: russian

Pulling Guard Like a Boss

Posted on by
Reply

The title of this post is how I think about yoko tomoe nage in the context of BJJ. Joel Gerson explains it best:

It’s a throw that I very much like to do in jiu jitsu when my opponent stiff arms me with a bent over defensive posture. The version I prefer is the more on-the-move one that I first saw Justin Flores do, kind of like in this video:

And a very interesting variation again from Joel Gerson, starting out with just one grip:

In judo tournaments, I avoid this throw because it easy for to become just a way to enter into ground work (which I’m trying to avoid when I’m looking to get stand-up experience). But in jiu jitsu, it’s a nice option to keep in the bag against a defensive opponent.

“The God Damn Russians Are the Last Men on the Planet”

Posted on by
Reply

The following is a public service announcement for all you American “pansies”. You didn’t hear it from me, you heard it from a man wearing an American flag and just about the most badass mustache on the face of the Earth:

I think I’m going to request that Shoyoroll release a red gi with a giant yellow hammer and sickle on the back. By the way Ivan Drago is not the face of Russia to the world:

Aleksandr Karelin, on the other hand, is:

The Jiu Jitsu Academy Brings Together an Interesting Bunch

Posted on by
Reply

CustomProgrammingGood training at BJJ United as always today. Much like Ivan Drago (the Russian in Rocky IV), I had big plans for tonight. I brought two gi’s, because I was going to do the 6pm class, the 7:30 class, and the 8:30 one. However, much like the aforementioned Russian I failed in my plans. There are several reasons for this, but they boil down to the same thing… I need to grow a pair. I’ll have to fix this problem in the coming days.

Anyway, a guy in the locker room mentioned that he was impressed that I was staying for the next class given how hard the first one was. He mistakenly thought I was Rocky and not Ivan Drago… That led to a conversation about what we do outside of jiu jitsu. And it turns out that he is one of the original developers of Qt, which is a brilliant software system that I use in my daily programming work. This guy is the real deal. Program by day, kick ass by night. Now that’s the jiu jitsu lifestyle…

It’s amazing how many interesting, talented, and unique people the jiu jitsu academy brings together. And more than that, I noticed that people don’t really bring their work and off-the-mat life with them onto the mat. In a way, a jiu jitsu class is the great equalizer. I mean Al Bundy is a jiu jitsu black belt for f’s sake.

Now back to business… Jared showed the sprawl to the all-important back take. Good stuff. In the beginning he made everyone run backwards without looking back. I think that’s part of his twisted sense of humor, given that the room was packed. I thought it was pretty funny.

Jared always pushes the pace. That’s part of what makes BJJ United a great place to prepare for competition. But it was cool to see him stop the class and emphasize that we should not sacrifice technique for speed in drilling. Especially for stand-up (wrestling or judo) I find that people too often rush the technique or tense-up which breaks the crisp flow of the drilling.

Alright this post is already too long. If you read this far, you are probably my mom, in which case, I’m sorry about not calling more often.