Christmas Gifts for All

This is an interactive post, inspired by my lovely wife.

I'm asking the blog readers for ideas and suggestions for the great wonderful holiday soon upon us. Basically, I want you to send me a quick message with what BJJ/ Grappling/ MMA related gifts you fancy for Christmas.

Don't be shy now. Do you lie in add dreaming of a new Gameness Gi? Would BJ Penn's latest book make the little child inside you jump with happiness?

Whatever it is that tickles your fancy, please drop me a line by clicking on the envelope to the right. I will create a list of products with links and if and when you see the gift of your dreams you can just, discretely, pass the blog address in casual conversation to your significant other / friends / work colleagues / family members and they will, discretely and in their own time, check it out and, if you’ve been good, get it for you! Everybody wins!

PS. I will make things easier and create a permalink to the list of wishes here on the right so don’t procrastinate…start wishing!

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An Excellent Article Full of Tips on the Basics of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

http://meerkat69.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-are-basics-of-bjj.html

There is a whole host of good BJJ / Grappling blogs out there and I'm always excited to run into one because, let's be honest, there is also a lot of drivel.

Anywho, I thought I'd big it up.

http://meerkat69.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-are-basics-of-bjj.html

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tips: The Importance of Attributes in BJJ / Grappling

Tori, the crazy gym manager at the onsite gym at work had the great idea to have a sponsored row on the two ConceptII rowers we have. Participants were to do half an hour each and they would be paired up. I showed up on time, did a quick warm up and then jumped on the rower. I pulled and pulled and maintained a good pace. Being a little competitive, I kept glancing at my colleague’s pace (strokes / second) and was very happy that I was maintaining a higher one.

At the end of the row our screens flashed with the total distance covered and my jaw just dropped. He had covered a considerable distance further than me. I turned to Tori with a dropped jaw and a big “Quoi?” on my forehead. She was quick to explain that because he was 4 inches taller or so, he would row further. For every stroke, even if his pace was slower.

How unfair. Beaten by simple attributes!

It reminded me that you can’t ignore the importance of attributes in BJJ / Grappling and of an excellent article by Roy Harris. I hope you enjoy reading it.

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The BJJ / Grappling Community

Yesterday at SBG I rolled with a very interesting visitor from a neighbouring BJJ / Grappling gym and we soon found out about each other's blogs and that we both had a mutual acquaintance. What a small world eh?! I just had a look at his blog and it's really awesome and worth adding to any decent Blogroll so...check it out!

http://www.artofjits.com/

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BJJ Interview with Ryan Hall. Great BJJ Tips and Advice.

Every now and again an article, review or interview will come out and change my perception of the BJJ / Grappling game. This is one of such piece.

http://twurl.nl/v2s0u8

It's kinda taking things back full circle to Fight-ready BJJ.

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If you want to ready more about Ryan Hall and the Fifty/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy please click here

BJJ Attitude: Give Yourself Some Credit!

Ast last night's BJJ / Grappling session I had the pleasure of rolling with one of our female fighters. The girl is an SBGi purple belt and a highly ranked competitor in a number of disciplines so no easy cookie (and a full-time scientist. Possible future interview idea!). We were mostly working guard passing. We worked together for about 40 minutes and I said to her "your guard passing is awesome!". She replied " Thanks! Would have been better if I'd actually passed you guard"*. That's when it hit me how unique our perception of the roll is, but only always.

The way I saw it, I was working my butt off trying to sweep or submit someone who was approximately 40-50 pounds lighter than me and failing miserably. I could barely manage to keep her in my guards (yeah! Plural! I threw everything at her including 2 Jedi squirrels I had in my gi jacket!)

She, however, saw it completely differently. She saw it as her not passing**. It made me think about all the times I've left the gym and gone home disappointed that I couldn't submit/ pass/ sweep...etc someone, not thinking much about how hard the other player must have worked to do the same to me and how I must've done something right to have thwarted all or at least most of their attempts. The world is suddenly a happier place.

It’s easy to forget how hard we work sometimes on the BJJ / Grappling mats, especially so when we’re being choked and armbarred left right and centre. We sometimes over-criticise our progress and performance and overlook how much we may have improved. We (of course by we I mean I) moan that so and so always manages to pass our guard or perhaps submit us, maybe not noticing that it’s now taking them twice as long to do so. The end result may seem the same, but it’s not. We are getting a little better, but only always.

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*She may have said that tongue-in-cheek, but the point is still there.
**At least that’s what I conclude from her comment.

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BJJ Attitude: Nobody Cares About Your Training

It’s a little harsh, I know, but it caught your attention.

What I am trying to say here is two things really:

1. No one in your immediate circle cares if you train less.
2. That’s OK or even healthy

Now before you start sending me fury-mail about how you have, or at least envy those who have, a support system, hear me out a little.

Here is the scenario that lead me to this post. The gym I train at recently changed its session timetable. The previous one would finish on the hour while the new one finishes at half past. This is not a biggie but it effected my routine as I used to do the 7-8 session and then half the 8-9 session, leaving just in time to catch the 8.52 train home. The new timetable, however, perfectly allows me to start earlier and do the whole two hours before taking the same train home and getting home at the same time. Everybody is a winner, right? Oh so naïve!

As you may know, I finish work at 5pm, which puts me in town (where my gym is) at 5.45pm. This has in the past given me at least an hour to either study or, when not in term, have a long coffee with my wonderful wife, on the weeks she finishes at 5pm too. The new timetable kind of negates that.

She too got excited when I told her about the new timetable, but for reasons completely different to mine. While I was excited at the opportunity of getting an extra 4-5 more hours of higher level sparring per month, she saw the changes as an opportunity to have her husband home earlier two nights of the week. That’s so sweet. I think I’ll go buy her some flowers tonight!

And that’s when it hit me. She doesn’t want me to get better at BJJ / Grappling. She wants me to be happy, of course she does, but my Grappling prowess, or lack thereof, means nothing to her. If I decided to burn my gi and sell my groin guard on eBay she wouldn’t shed a single tear, as long as I did it because I wanted to and not had to for whatever reason. She wants me to be happy.

But let’s recount the other people in this equation. My parents? They don’t care either way. They sometimes think I’m still doing Karate. My sister, brother, best friends, not-so-close-friends, high school teachers, my boss, my colleagues, the staff at Starbucks…None of them would be any happier nor sadder if I trained more, less or any Grappling / BJJ at all.

How about the peeps at SBGi Manchester? My mat-buddies? The Double-weave Warriors? Well, I’d like to think that they’d miss me, at least for a couple of weeks, but I don’t think they’d be too bummed up about it. Sure I help with their development by dragging my fat behind to the mat week in and week out. Sure I entertain them with the odd off-the-mark joke, but they’ll get over it.

My coach? I’m one of his headaches. He’d fully support my decision to stay out of his gym! Kidding aside, he’d happy that I’m happy, I guess.

So whom does that leave? No one really, except of course me.

You see, I love training. I love rolling. I love the position game, the magic that is submissions. I love everything about BJJ / Grappling. Hell, I even like getting tapped, especially if it’s with something I’ve never seen before! And I have no plans of quitting grappling. But I do it for me.

The second thing I wrote at the top is that this is indeed OK or even healthy. The world has too many people living their lives thru others. No one should have a vested interest in me doing more or less training. I shouldn’t be doing this or any other activity to please or intentionally displease anyone else, and in my opinion neither should you.

The disappointment only arises when we set unrealistic expectations on the people we care about rather than buy them flowers.

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More on Yoga and BJJ / Grappling

At the request of fellow blogger and honorary Part Time Grappler Georgette Oden, here are some more thoughts on the Yoga-BJJ / Grappling connection.

Let me start by saying that Yoga will not make your BJJ / Grappling techniques better per se.

What it will do, is improve your body awareness and sensitivity. Please take the time to watch the following 6-minute video

The Alexis Brothers from the world famous Cirque Du Soleil

I saw the Alexis Brothers on a CDS dvd two years ago and again live when the show came to town and I could immediately see that what they were doing was not merely an act of extreme strength.

Don't get me wrong, they are very very strong but they more importantly:

1. Know exactly how to handle their own body weight
2. Know exactly how to handle each others body weight

And what is guard passing, indeed what is BJJ / Grappling, if not exactly these two points!
By putting your body into positions and angles that teach your hands, feet, knees, elbows, spine...etc. how to handle your weight you are half way there. The reasons I choose Yoga are:

1. The added benefit of breath control, Pranayama
2. The flexibility you gain in the muscles
3. The agility you gain in the joints

and a few, more personal reasons that fit in with the Part Time Grappler mentality:

1. Yoga is, or at least can be, low impact. This means I can do lots and lots of Yoga without overtaxing my body.
2. Unlike Pilates, Yoga is very low-maintenance. All you need is a small space and off you go!
3. You don't have to sweat when doing Yoga. You can definitely push yourself and get a cardio workout out of it, but I aim for approximately 19 sessions per month, and that would result in an impractical amount of laundry. I'm sure this just put a smile on your face but it is indeed a factor that you have to take into account. I do my 45min yoga sessions up to three times per day and never push so hard to break a sweat! I could, but that's not why I do it.
4. Yoga is old and well studied. There is an ocean of information on it online, in books, DVDs, YouTube and other sources. You can get all the basics with a few clicks.
5. Yoga is quite popular and well spread-out in the world, and hence finding a teacher for the odd technical session here or there is not difficult. Good luck finding a Ginastica Natural qualified instructor within a 20km radius (that's 12.4 US miles :) )
6. It's easier to sell Yoga to other family members. My wife would rather join me in a few stretches than in a jog or...God forbid...a BJJ / Grappling roll.
7. Weight distribution: The Holy Grail of Efficiency. Like the great Bruce Lee once said: You wanna learn how to punch? Punch! You wanna learn how to kick? Kick! I'd like to add: You wanna learn how to transfer your body weight from the right hand to the left foot when guard passing? Play around in Downward dog!

I intend to do more, fuller posts on Yoga-postures v BJJ / Grappling Positions soon. I'm just weary of the fact that I'm not an expert in either and don't want people to think that I'm claiming that. These are just my own ideas that I have played with and developed over time and bits and bobs I have stolen from my years in Karate and Taiji. Weight distribution and anchoring are my favourite areas of BJJ / Grappling (even more so than submissions).

My favourite complement to receive after a roll is: Man have you picked up weight recently? :) ----Did You Like This Article?--- Drop me a line on parttimegrappler@ymail.com or explore some of the recommended past articles on the right...

Gunni Nelson Seminar

Seminar will be held at SBG Manchester on Sat 14th Nov 1-4pm
Non Members £30 Limited places.
Please email karltanswell@hotmail.com to book.

Some background on Gunni
For the last year Gunnar has proven himself in many of the toughest BJJ and Grappling tournaments in the world. About a year ago he won gold at the North American Grappling Championship (NAGA) beating "Macaco" Jorge Patino in the finals. This year (March) at the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2009 he beat fighters like Clark Gracie, Darren Robert and Bruno Alves among others to take the gold in his weight category.

In April he also won gold at his weight class at the New York Open and bronze in open weight. And in June he got silver at the Mundials beating among others last year’s World Champion Ryan Beauregard.

September 27th he took 4th place at the ADCC absolute division beating Jeff Monson on points and choking Dave Avellan to submission!

And October 3rd he won gold at the Pan Am No-Gi in his weight class (black belt) and silver in open weight (where the open weight was decided by coin toss-up).

Gunnar is also undefeated in his MMA career, winning 4 out of his 5 last fights in the 1st round and the 5th one with a KO in round 2.

http://www.gunnarnelson.info/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Nelson_(fighter)

For more seminar details and to book contact:

Karl Tanswell

SBGi

31 Spear St

City Centre

Manchester

M1 1JF

+44 (0) 7966 577306

http://www.sbgukproteam.com/

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How Often Do You Train? BJJ Tips on The Part Time Approach

The picture above is off the monthly attendance sheets our work-gym posts up. It shows that yours truly did 19 sessions in the month of October. My focus for October was Yoga so that’s 19 x 45 min sessions of yoga (over 14hrs). This is on top of the usual 10-12 x 1.5 hr BJJ / Grappling sessions I get down per month (15-18hrs). That's 19-22 hrs per month where my body gets to experience gravity and motion in alternative ways. Doing a Yoga downward-dog not only stretches your muscles but also subjects your hands and feet to your entire body's weight in a way that will add leaps and bounds to your guard passing. More on the links between Yoga and BJJ / Grappling that in future articles.

This is the amount of time I can fit around full-time work, university assignments and having a wife and family. How do I manage? I plan and I never waste time. I get up at 6 everyday Monday-Friday and I'll on the yoga mat by 7.55 for my 1st session. I get my second session at lunch time most days and use the time between 5 and 7 (end of work and start of BJJ) to do some studying or reading.

Why am I telling you this? Because I'm sick and tired of hearing people making excuses. Yes it's getting really dark very early. Yes it's cold, miserable and rainy outside. Yes it takes some effort and planning to get to the gym/mat. But it's worth it.

I don't believe in sacrifices. I love the things that I do and don't care for the things I don't. I don't care who's on the X-factor and who isn't. I don't feel a light Yoga session is too much to ask of my body at 8 in the morning and neither does my body for that matter.

Look around you and examine your life and work situation. What can you be without and what can you use more efficiently? The Part Time Opportunities are there and plenty too if you look for them.

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Grappling / BJJ Food and Nutrition Tips

Whata to eata?!

I personally have been massively enjoying the The Warrior Diet
for the past few months but I never stop updating my knowledge. I recently discovered this fantastic resource of recipes. Feel free to download it for free. It's not mine but rather belongs to a Mr Billy Ho. Why not check it out. It will definitely enrich your library.


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Success Secrets & Tips: Choosing Your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Techniques

I'm reading a fantastic book called Comedy Writing Secrets (best £10 I’ve ever spent!).

It's an awesome book for anyone who enjoys comedy in all its forms. In it, the author talks about the MAP theory of how to write:


It makes perfect sense. Jokes that could kill an audience of OAPs (excuse the pun) will probably bomb with college students and vice versa. And it hit me how this applies to all performance, not just comedy, writing or even just art.

This is perfectly applicable to BJJ / Grappling.

MAP: We (Performers) often try to force techniques (Material) on partners (Audience) and get so frustrated when they don’t work (but it worked yesterday on so and so!). The material suited the performer, but not the audience (or at least was not done within the right context).

MAP: Sometimes we see a technique being done effortlessly on person A by person B. Then we try to perform it on the same victim (I mean partner) and it doesn’t work or feels very awkward. That’s because although the material suits the audience, it doesn’t suit the performer’s style or attributes. (Just because Eddie Bravo pulls off the Rubber Guard
so smoothly doesn’t mean that Roger Gracie or Marcelo Garcia should switch to it!).

MAP: Finally, we may have an excellent guard pass or submission that has always worked against a particular partner (or style of BJJ player) when wearing a gi but we just can’t pull it off when grappling without a gi. In this case, the performer and the audience are the same, but the technique is no longer suitable.

Keep this in mind, as it will save you a lot of frustration. If you are trying to work this closed guard sweep with someone and all they are doing is hugging your hips and stalling, don’t give up on yourself or the sweep…just acknowledge that the audience wants something different and…reach inside his lapel and choke him!
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PS. The MAP theory can easily be applied to other fields too such as instructors choosing material for a special course (e.g. rape-prevention) or group of students (Children, military..etc.)
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