BJJ / Grappling tips: Jiu-jitsu works, always!

Positional sparring is a fantastic way to sharpen your execution of a technique. Way more important than Free Rolling and that's not just my opinion. It's the opinion of practically every single world champ or Gracie family member I have ever interviewed.

For those not familiar with the term positional sparring: The instructor introduces three triangle fundamental escapes (for instance) then you drilled them in isolation (against progressive resistance) and then you roll, but every roll started from inside your partner's triangle set-up position. This is an excellent way to learn fast and learn well!

BJJ / Grappling Discussion: Is Your Jiu Jitsu Pure?

A discussion about “Pure Jiu Jitsu” was brought to my attention yesterday. I must admit that the discussion itself didn’t really teach me anything I didn’t already know but it made me think.

The central question raised was: What defines Pure Jiu Jitsu? This situation is not unique if you look at many traditional martial arts. A family member(s) (usually the eldest son or brother or even most senior student) ends up "inheriting" responsibility for the art and feels, in a lot of cases, rightly passionate about preserving what they learnt and inherited. You see this in Karate (Wadokai v wado ryu or even ITF Taekowndo vs the WTF version), Jujutsu (Iwama ryu v Aikikai) and even weapon arts (family-based ryu or schools vs curriculums by the Budokai. I'm not agreeing with it, I'm just saying that it's a natural thing.

If I was to create a system (of any kind) and spent a very long time teaching the ins and outs of it to someone (especially blood related), then they will see my passion for it and may develop a feeling that they need to preserve it after my death, rather than open it up and develop/expand it. That is human. This is not even to mention the perceived financial advantageous of a monopoly!

On the other hand, you will often have a group of people who are more passionate about the art itself and how it can enrich people's lives. They respect what those who created it/discovered it/formulated it did but are more excited by the prospects that the future holds and they realise that for the art/system to thrive and expand, it needs to evolve and stay up-to-date. They form committees and they created federations and they bring in democratic regulations. That too is human and of course welcome.

Which way to go then? Well the beauty of it is that it's up to the instructor, as long as he or she is honest, it all adds to the art and by being honest, I mean honest in all your communication with your students and the public. If you focus on preserving techniques that were meant to deal with a set of circumstances (be it sword attacks, BJJ competition or Vale Tudo) and you tell everyone that that’s your focus then great. If they like it, who’s to stop them/you.

The original question (What defines Pure Jiu Jitsu?) is really just a trap. A trap of attachment and measurement. “Pure” simply implies that something/everything else is “impure” which we have come to feel is something negative, turning the question into, in essence, marketing. The word is not the thing. If you want to know the thing, go roll. Don’t power your way thru, leave your ego outside and flow with the go and you will experience the thing and no one will be able to take it away from you or make it “impure”, whatever the hell that means.

 

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: Training When Ill...

A week ago, I thought I was falling ill with something. I felt at worst in my throat on Friday and am on the re-bound now. But it all got me thinking.

Grapplers are obsessed with training that it is not uncommon to see individuals putting in long workouts the day before a competition or when they are ill.

I believe the reason is that athletes fear losing the benefits of long periods of training by taking time off, no matter how brief. Professional athletes from all sports go through periods where they train more or less intensely but the recreational, part-time grappler always feel that if he misses one session then the next time he hits the mat he will be light years behind. The fact of the matter is if you have been training regularly for a year or so then a brief break (*) from exercise because of illness will result in minimal, if any, performance set backs!

Do you want more good news, the (*) period mentioned here is further extended if you, instead of going cold turkey, reduce your sessions to a lower frequency. So if you used to train 2-3 times a week and went thru a period where you could only do 1 session per week, the universe will not stop revolving!

Should I or Shouldn't I?
The main questions you need to ask yourself are:

Judo & BJJ in central London

Tokei Martial Arts is my judo spiritual home here in London. I occasionally nip into the Budokwai, the world's oldest martial arts dojo outside Japan, but my home is Tokei.

Recently, after much badgering, I convinced my friend and fellow jiujitsu black belt Mr Simon Tutton to get back into judo which had practiced a lot a few years back and thoroghly enjoyed. He soon became a regular face at Tokei Martial Arts and is progressing through the ranks within judo at a great rate.

What's more, when the interest was made known that Tokei Martial Arts students would like to learn jiujitsu, Simon was quickly nominated both due to being an experienced teacher (you can catch him teaching jiujitsu twice a week at New School BJJ down in Battersea) but also a very nice and caring instructor who looks after his students.

Someone didn't get the gi-colour memo!

BJJ / Grappling in Namibia: Always pack a gi, or at least a friendly smile.

I’ve been to South West Africa, the country of Namibia where my wife’s from, countless times over the years and other than an Okinawa Goju ryu session I attended back in 2005, my exercise regimen when I’m there usually consists of daily yoga and the odd jog or swim. This year, I was greeted at the airport by my father-in-law with a warm smile and a picture they’d taken of the back of a truck: “you’ll never guess what your mother in law found for you in Namibia? Brazilian jiu-jitsu!”

Learning Jiujitsu is a challenging endeavour

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is not easy, nor is it meant to be. Sure you can learn and teach it in a variety of ways, some of which will make it easier, but it will never be easy. BJJ will always be a challenging endeavour. An example of this surfaced yesterday when two white belts asked if posting on the neck was a legitimate tactic, which I feel it is, or at least can be.

The Paper Cutter choke (espinha de peixe in Portuguese:
The Fish Bone) is an example of forearm pressure

Before you bite my head off, please hear me out. I feel pressure against the neck is a cautious subject, a bit like heel hooks. If done properly, it is simply another tool in the arsenal.


Let of set a couple of parameters first: by posting against the neck I don't mean squeezing the throat but rather creating a frame with you arm/hand the connects against the neck or near it.


The objective of this is, and herein lies the detail, to:

1. Govern the distance
2. Elicit a reaction.
3. A bit of both.

An example from side control top is threatening with a paper cutter choke-type pressure to clear the path for the knee on belly or enticing the opponent to open their closed guard and go for an armbar by posting against their neck with a straight arm, a risky albeit advanced tactic to facilitate the pass. The question is not whether it's legit or not, but rather "do you know why you are doing it?" But this post is about the challenges of BJJ/Grappling, not sneaky tactics. The reason I brought this up is because I feel such a tactic can freeze a jiu jitsu player up, at least the first time they are inflicted, and therefore it is important to learn how to handle it.


The villain behind this is usually the ego. Rather than deal with this obstacle, your ego starts whispering: "Boo! Dirty tactics! That's not allowed / legal / nice...etc." and you freeze. I'll tell you what it is. It's an opportunity to learn, nothing else. It causes no damage*, permanent or otherwise, and you should be able to deal with it technically and intelligently once you get over the voice of ego.



Hmmm...maybe a video to illustrate? I'll get back to you.


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BJJ Gi Review: Alavanca Combat Gi

The AV COMBAT GI is the flagship product from Alavanca (transl. Leverage), a recent addition to the ever-growing jiujitsu scene. Alavanca.com is the 2017 brainchild of the two head instructors at the world famous Gracie University HQ, Rener and Ryron Gracie out of Torrance, California where I recently spent a week training.

How to Afford A BJJ Holiday: Jiujitsu in LA - Travel report of my 2018 visit

“How can you afford your BJJ trips?!” Is one of the most common questions I get asked, right after “did you train with any big names out there?” and “when and where are you going next?”

The reason these questions stuck in my mind and why I am sharing this is because it used to be me asking the questions. Like many Jiujitsu practitioners I used to enviously listen to or read about Jiujitsu vagabonding stories and wonder how the person made it happen, often dismissing it as an anomaly or at least something that I thought was beyond my control: “they have more money / time / connections / luck than I do”.

And who knows. Maybe I was right. Maybe I needed the post Social Media era to finally realise my (fairly modest) travel plans and dreams. All I know is that when I ask my friends about their Jiujitsu travel dreams, they all sound so...achievable.

To start off, let me outline the major obstacles to just picking up your gi or rash guard & shorts and just hitting the proverbial road and then offer a few suggestions as to how you can work around them.
After that I’ll give you my modest advice for travelling for Jiujitsu and I’ll finish with a breakdown of my most recent trip to the Gracie Academy HQ in Torrance, LA (aka Gracie University or Jiujitsu Heaven.)

Budget:

You need an outline. You need to be good at planning and sticking to the plan. I can give you my numbers and figures, but ultimately you need to plan around your own time and budget and you (have I mentioned this before?) need to stick to your plan. Here are my figures for my experience for a week in a major jiujitsu mecca in California such as San Diego or LA:

BJJ / Grappling Tips: Avoiding injuries by training jiujitsu without an ego

Squad: Training triangle chokes against a striking opponent.
Myself, Professor Kone and my friend Mr Shukie Lok.
Shukie, myself and Shaun got our black belt together.

My jiujitsu teacher, Professor Eddie Kone, recently wrote a piece titled: "Separate your ego from your training. Train hard, but not like an a**hole."

Not only did I like the sentiment, I also liked the way he put his message across so I thought I'd share it here with you.


As most of you know a few weeks back I received an injury, The severity of the injury although not as bad as first thought was still a hindrance and rendered me unable to teach which the effect resulted in cancelling privates and having time away from the mat.

I just want to reiterate that injuries although are far and few between can happen, so how do we prevent or at least understand how they happen ?

I compiled some information for you to read at your own leisure, but one thing is for sure :-

BJJ gi review: NVM: Non Violent Movement - Order & Progress and Death of the ego

NVMJJ or Non Violent Movement Jiujitsu - A Gi review.

I met Nathan, the man behind NVM at a seminar by my friend and EGJJF co-founder Mr Michel Verhoeven down in Kent. He came across very genuine and passionate about Jiujitsu so when the opportunity presented itself to interview him and share his story plus review a couple of their products I welcomed it. As it is often the case with Jiujitsu, when a gi brand is founded by a practitioner of the art, you see models of that gi all around the founder's parent academy and so was the case down at Fluxo BJJ. I liked the general look and feel of the gis and was excited to get started. 

BJJ Interview: NVM Jiujitsu Founder Nathan Spain

I recently had the chance to have a conversation with Mr Nathan Spain, founder of one of the youngest and most exciting brands on the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gi market: NVM Jiujitsu. I met Nathan a few times at my friend Michel Verhoeven's seminars down in Kent and I could really sense his dedication to the art, the community and was so impressed by his uncompromising attitude towards quality, I thought it'd be cool to have a chat about his background and how the Non-Violent-Movement Brand came about (how cool is that name?!)

Nathan was kind enough to answer my interview questions and I'm currently in the process of reviewing two of his lines: "Death of the Ego" & "Order & Progress" so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming reviews. In the meantime, Mr Nathan Spain.

Hello. Why don’t we start by you telling us a little about yourself?

BJJ: Reaching the black belt

I recently, on Sunday the 26th of Novemebr 2017, received my black belt in Gracie Jiujitsu from my teacher, Mr Eddie Kone and his panel of black belts.

Myself, Mr Shaun Escoffery, Mr Eddie Kone, Mr Shukie Lok and Mr James Gregory

The 5 hour long test consisted of:

1. Teaching 4 mini-privates to a group of 3-5 students
2. Performing every technique from GM Helio Gracie's book "The Master Text".
3. Defending ourselves against random attacks in the centre of a "Self Defence Circle"
4. Defending ourselves against random attacks from an attacker surprising from behind

Why Learn Jiujitsu?

Why Learn Jiujitsu indeed? 

I started practicing martial arts back in the mid-90s. I started with, believe it or not, Kung Fu which was taught by a man who came to our high-school and taught us every Wednesday after school.d I felt invincible. I learnt very little of combative use, but even then I recognised that what I was learning was healthy and logical. Putting a lot of emphasis on body weight distribution and correct alignment gave me a great frame of learning which I then used to deconstruct and learn many martial arts over the years. Soon after leaving high-school and joining university I started WTF - Taekwondo and soon thereafter I fell in love with Karate and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Fast forward to today, many lessons, belts, seminars and competitions later, I am just as in love with the martial arts as I was back then. In fact, I'd say that love affair has now blossomed into an incurable infatuation. I no longer see problems and differences between the styles of martial arts. I only see similarities and opportunities for growth.

With that in mind I thought I'd share a few reasons here why I feel my main art, Gracie Jiujitsu, would form the perfect compliment to any other martial art, be it my first loves of Kung Fu, Taekwondo or indeed Okinawan and Japanese Karate or my more recent focus on Kodokan Judo. I hope it encourages you to venture outside the confines of your own limitations and try jiujitsu or, indeed if you are already a jiujitsu practitioner, try another one of the above mentioned arts to compliment your jiujitsu practice,

12 reasons why Jiujitsu is the perfect compliment to any martial art

EGJJF Grappling / BJJ seminar(s): Mr Michel ‘Babytank’ Verhoeven

With Mr Michel ‘Babytank’ Verhoeven

I recently joined the European Gracie Ju-jitsu Federation (EGJJF) which is the European arm of Master Rickson Gracie's JJGF. The reason I joined this federation, other than what they stand for which is re-aligning Jiujitsu with combat effectiveness, is because I saw that they hold regular seminars on British soil and because I somewhat already knew and trusted the guys heading it. Harold Harder is an old school legend when it comes to bringing the Gracie Jiujitsu brand of fighting to Europe. He's currently the highest graded black belt under Rickson in Europe and has been flying that flag since 1995. I also knew Michel and Raoul from attending Rickson's seminars and visiting and training in Amsterdam, Holland but it goes a little deeper than that. 

The Part Time Grappler PODCAST?!

The clue is indeed in the name. After years of resisting, I've finally realised that I have been using the blog as a catch-all for everything I do: Articles, Interviews, Discussions, Product Reviews...etc. In reality, a blog should be mainly that: a daily (or at least regular) log so while I am by no means closing it, I am simply going to transfer all non-day-to-day articles to an audio format in the shape of:

The Part Time Grappler Podcast

This blog will remain my platform to share product reviews, written interviews and a log of fun and interesting jiujitsu (and other martial arts) related things that happen (seminars, camps, competitions, trips and academy visits, graduations and belt promotions...etc.)

As podcasting is a brand new world to me, I'm hoping to receive a bunch of feedback from people on how to improve various aspects of the podcast. It'll be available on iTunes and Stitcher (or simply through the website below) and episodes shouldn't be any longer than 15-20 minutes.

My aims for the podcast? To learn, just like I learnt with the blog, how to best put ideas and concepts across. Not to mention, to have fun and mess about with new (to me) technology.

https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-part-time-grappler-podcast

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BJJ / Grappling Interview: Roger Gracie

Interviewing jiujitsu legends is a huge honor and privilege. Interviewing Mr Roger Gracie, is doubly so, simply because he's such a gentleman and a warrior. I cannot think of anyone in the jiujitsu world who can question his class. In this interview below (shot and edited by Mr Sam Wandi and Mr Lee Skillet, at RGA HQ in London months before Roger's victory against Buchecha), Roger talks about the pivotal forces that drive him. I hope you enjoy it.

Many thanks for the team at RGA HQ, Sam, Lee and www.fighermag.se for making this happen.
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Learning and training with Roger Gracie at RGA HQ, London.

I recently had the pleasure of training at Roger Gracie Academy HQ here in London. While this isn't the first time I've been there or trained there, it was the first time I'd had the honour and pleasure to receive instruction directly from Professor Roger and the first time I'd had a chance to "roll" with him and I use the term "roll" very loosely!

There ar no easy rounds at RGA HQ

BJJ / NoGi grappling seminarium hos Berserk MMA- Stockholm, Sweden

Jiujitsu / grappling resan fortsätter. Nästa destination: Stockholm, Sverige hos Berserk MMA.

Min resa till Stockholm var mycket lättare och enklare än till Sicilien på många sätt:

• Jag flög vid 9
• Jag flög från London Gatwick som är båda enklare och billigare att komma till och ifrån
• Jag skulle bara stanna i ett dygn
• Målflygplatsen (i detta fall, Arlanda) är endast 45minuter ifrån Stockholm city med flygbuss
• Flygbussarna går var tionde minut, har AC och t.o.m. Wifi!
• Seminariet jag skulle hålla i var nogi, så jag behövde knappt packa med något
• Ingen vidare språkbarriär som i Italien

Sagt och gjort, dagen efter att jag landade från Sicilien befann jag mig i Stockholm och, tack vare världens snällaste och trevligaste polisgubbe, gick genom passkontroll på mindre än hälften av tiden jag hade avsett till det så jag gick lite runt i Stockholm och fyllde mina lungor med den friska nordiska luften. 

BJJ Globetrotting - Sicily

BJJ Globetrotting - Sicily 

A few years back, Danish jiujitsu practitioner Christian Graugart took us on a journey around the world through his blog and subsequent book the BJJ Globetrotter (Download here for free). Beyond doing the around-the-world journey himslef, Christian set about creating something much greater than himself when he came back: a community of jiujitsu enthusiasts who just want to meet, train and be groovy. Membership is easy and always free. These are the BJJ Globetrotters.

The BJJ Globetrotters evolved, and continues to evolve, into many things over the years. One such facet that has really picked up speed is an alternative to couch-surfing, with a BJJ twist: Matsurfing. Knowing I had the Easter Break coming up soon, I contacted a few Globetrotters who, on Matsuring, had said they'd be prepared to have someone crash their couch (or mat, I wasn't fussy) and I was lucky to hear back from a couple. Even luckier, that I ended up picking up the contact and flying to see Mr Ruben Stabile (From Matside BJJ - Palermo) in Palermo, Sicily. To fit other commitments, I needed to fly on Friday the 7th of April and, unfortunately, there were no flights to Palermo from London that day, but I could fly to Catania, also on Sicily, and take a connecting bus. I thought to myself, "It's a Mediterranean island. How big could it possibly be?! It'll be fine".

Hmmm. The only reasonably priced flight is from Luton. But, it's at a reasonable hour. "How hard could it be?! It'll be fine"

Surviving Bad Positions in grappling / jiujitsu - Seminar at Union BJJ, Manchester

Jiujitsu hands

Having lived in Manchester for over 12 years, I've formed many friendships, a huge majority of which are in the Jiujitsu community. I recently travelled back to Manchester to teach my second seminar at my friend John Dang's gym UNION BJJ near the city centre.

This was a special visit. Not only had this seminar attracted attention from students of the art from multiple local Jiujitsu gyms and academies, it was also the first time I'd visit UNION BJJ's new location. Previously, Union used to be at another, very iconic, city centre location in Manchester: the Van Dang Building. That building had been an unquestionable part of North England martial arts heritage. Not to mention, I trained and taught privates in their for the last 6-7 months before moving from Manchester and got to know the team at UNION BJJ quite well.

Speaking to John before the seminar about its contents, he expressed a strong wish for the focus to be on the topic of Survival. As an avid traveler and visitor of Jiujitsu gyms and academies everywhere I go, this topic is very close to my heart. I cannot guarantee that you will win every match or sparring round, but I can show you mechanical principles that will make you feel far more comfortable than usual while surviving bad positions. Heck, I'd even venture to say, if you drilled this principles properly and enough, positions will cease to be "bad" or "good" they will just be "grappling positions".