Jan 2017
“A NEW DAWN”
ISSUE 004
Letter from the Publisher Dear Readers, Happy New Year! You’re about to read our first issue of 2017! Hope you’re excited because this is our largest issue yet. We jammed packed it with amazing articles, beautiful photos and tons of heart. Please enjoy Episode IV, “A New Dawn.” Ringing in a new year means a fresh start to things. Whether or not you completed everything you set out to accomplish last year, you now have another 365 days to make your actions count. Set your goals, make a plan, and be determined to see them through. One of the first articles you’ll read in this issue is about being S.M.A.R.T. with your goal setting. This concept, along with the readiness scale mentioned in the article can be used to help identify, measure, and gain a clearer picture of what you should really be focusing on. As with anything else in life, you won’t make it to the finish line without putting in the work to get there. In Jiu-Jitsu you can’t gain efficiency with a technique without practice, nor would you enter a competition without training and expect to win. So take the same approach you use in Jiu-Jitsu and apply it towards your other aspirations. Expect setbacks and the occasional “disaster” to occur, but never lose sight of the “what.” What your reasons are, what the outcome will be, and what will happen if you allow yourself to quit. Whatever you pursue this year, I wish you much success and happiness. Make every minute count, all 525,600 of them!
-Clinton “Sapinho” Dela Cruz
Design | Operations Clinton Dela Cruz Publisher / Designer E: clintondlc@freerollmag.com IG: @clintondlc
Eddie Rodrigues Lead Designer E: eddie@freerollmag.com IG: @roxt_eddie
Tiannah DLC-Diaz Customer Representive E: tiannah@freerollmag.com IG: @tiannahko
Jason Walter Managing Editor E: menamejmaw@gmail.com IG: @menamejmaw
Romana Miah Media Coordinator E: mana@freerollmag.com IG @anamormiah
Jeffrey Huang Brand Ambassador E: Huang.JeffC@gmail.com IG @ajmataz
Photo | Eddie Rodrigues Subject | Dustin Harraway Spot | Sandy Beach, Oahu Time | 6:30am Sunrise
Storytellers Ayesha Kamal
Chris Baumbardner
“Gripping your Goals in the New Year” E: williamtorres.spn@gmail.com IG: @willtorres.spn
“Get a Grip - on the Closeness of Jiu-Jitsu” E: fiercefitfight@gmail.com IG: @plumpetalsfit
“4 Life Lessons Taken from the Mats” E:chriswarriorartsblog@yahoo.com
IG: @chris_firststatebjj
Bernice Aurellano
Dr. Steven Shaffer
David Greer
William Torres
Elevated Push-Up w/ Knee Tuck E: bernicefitcpt@gmail.com IG: @bernicefitcpt
“Hey Stupid, Quit Training Hurt” “Rolling Through Drama” E: Drsteve@optimumhealthrehab.com E: dgreer13@gmail.com IG: @shakeandbake155 IG: @whitepinapple
Jordan Gomez BJJ Black Belt
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06
JANUARY 2017
CONTENTS
10
06 Gripping your Goals in the New Year
10 Get a Grip on the Closeness of Jiu-Jitsu
16 Hey Stupid, Quit Training Hurt
24 Rolling Through Drama
16
28 TRX Workout Routine w/ Bernice Aurellano
36 4 Life Lessons Taken from the Mats
40 Interview w/ Robert Drysdale 36
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Gripping your Goals in the New Year by Will Torres
We all have an idea of what we want to achieve with our nutrition goals for the new year, but can’t quite seem to stay the course aft er a couple days, or weeks, of the goals that we set. A great way to aid in the process is through using a readiness scale and setting S.M.A.R.T . goals to ensure that goals are being met. Change doesn’t happen overnight, it’s an ongoing process that constantly needs to be modified and adjusted as time passes . Your diet is no exception. Suddenly adopting a new diet from what you and your body are accustomed to is the reason individuals fall back o t old ways of eating so easily. 8 |ISSUE 004 |JAN 2017
Readiness cSale A readiness scale is used in nutr itional assessments to identify how ready a person is to incorporate new nutritional habits or changes. When implementing new habits, or making changes to your diet, try using the readiness scaleot assess ho w ready you are to go forward with your plan. The numbered scale below shows the different levels of readiness. 1-2 – Not ready to change at all 3-4 – Hesitant to change 5-6 – On the ence f 7-8 – Willing to make a commitmen t 9-10 – Ready to change S.M.A.R.T . Goals S.M.A.R.T. Goals are used to help individuals have a clearer picture of their goals and what they can achieve. Trying to overachieve right out of the gate is where most people fail in what they want to achieve and what they can presently achieve. The breakdown of the S.M.A.R.T . acronym is explained below.
S
pecific: Be as detailed as possible. Identify an area or areas in your diet that you’re struggling with or that you may want to incorporate. Once you’ve identified that area, figure out what you can do to make the change happen. Whether it’s eating out less or eating fruits and vegetables once a week, knowing exactly what you want to change is more powerful than you think.
M
easurable: Set a way to measure whether your goals are being met or not. Something as simple as eating or not eating a specific food one to three days a week would be an example of this. Logging you progress throughout the week is another way of measuring your success or your struggles and will aid you throughout the process.
Once you’ve become accustomed to the new changes you’ve made, you won’t need to rely on the readiness scale or the S.M.A.R.T. goals. Achieving your nutritional goals will give you the confidence you need to continually challenge yourself without hesitation. The readiness scale and SM ART goal setting aren’t specific ot nutrition either; it is applicable ot any goal that you want to achieve. I hope these tips help oyu reach the goals you’ve set for yourself in the new year!
A
ttainable: Stay within the boundaries of what you know you can achieve. Do not try to exceed or overachieve. When trying to make or incorporate changes into your diet, baby steps are the key to success. If you’re easily achieving the initial goal that was set, then start building on it and challenge yourself.
R
ealistic: Be honest with yourself. As previously mentioned, set goals that you know you can easily achieve. Your new nutritional and diet habits are for YOU and no one else! When you feel that you can step it up, then step it up!
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imely: Give yourself a time frame. Whether it’s one month or one day. Set a time frame so that you won’t have any excuse not to achieve what you want. Setting a time frame is a way of holding yourself accountable of reaching your goals. JAN 2017 |ISSUE 004 |9
GET A GRIP: ON THE CLOSENESS OF JIU-JITSU
by Ayesha Kamal
Contact. Connections. Commitment. Physical. Psychological. Strategical. The usual image of self-defense is probably one that depicts warding off an attacker with fists raised to strike or leg extended to kick. Of course distance management is key to pro-tecting yourself, but contrary to popular depictions of self-defense, Jiu-Jitsu relies on closeness. In the beginning, this physical closeness can be difficult to get your mind 10 |ISSUE 004 |JAN 2017
around. How-ever, as you advance in your training, you start to look beyond the physical contact and delve deeper into the techniques and start to understand why making that connection is necessary. Even once you understand the purpose of the connection, you then need to commit to your moves, and this takes getting a grip on the closeness to a whole new level.
Contact For seasoned Jiu-Jitsu practitioners the issue of physical closeness and contact with your training partner may not be an issue. However, for those who are just starting out, establishing mount control or working with someone in your guard for the first time may feel foreign and perhaps a bit awkward. The fact of the matt er is, you cannot learn Jiu-Jitsu from a distance. No matt er how many classes you att end, videos you watch, books you read, or even solo drills you perform, you won’t be able to truly test the legitimacy of your moves unless you have a training partner and make that initial contact. As you continue to train, you will find that your perspective will begin to shift. You learn to look beyond your limbs and start to concentrate on the technique itself. Establishing a triangle choke is then no longer about seeing a person’s head in between your legs. Rather, your vision becomes focused on finding the precise angle so that your thigh is perfectly lined up with their carotid artery. This new perspective overrides any hesitations of physical contact. So, how do you get a grip on the closeness and deal with that initial awkwardness? First of all, you have to mentally accept that physical contact is a necessary component of your training. The sooner you can accept this fact, the easier it will be for you to focus on other elements of your practice. Second of all, trust your training partner. Remem-
ber, everyone on the mat is there for the same purpose. Once you realize that your training partners are there with the same intention and focus, your comfort on the mats will increase. Third, make sure you are someone who others enjoy training with. When you’re a good training partner, others make more of a conscious effort to reciprocate. Once you get used to being on the mats, do not forget what the initial awkwardness was like when you first began – keep that in mind as you work with newcomers and help adjust to being on the mats. Connections Physical contact is an obvious component of Jiu-Jitsu. However, getti ng a grip on the closeness also has to do with understanding the philosophy behind connections. Jiu-Jitsu techniques are based on principles of leverage. As such, the effectiveness of a move often relies on getti ng closer to your opponent. This practice in itself is counterintuitive. In a self-defense context, when you technically want to get away from your attacker, sometimes you will need to step closer in order to effectively break free. Understanding and accepting that there is a strategic element to closeness is necessary. Any space you leave is an opportunity for your opponent to modify their position, which means that you need to be close and stay connected for maximum control. Initially this concept of moving closer in order to get away takes some getti ng JAN 2017 |ISSUE 004 |11
used to. However, the idea of practice and training is to develop our reflexes so that when it matt ers most, we can act instinctively and without hesitation.
about showing up to classand being willing to work on a technique. Instead, it refers to being able to commit your weight and pressure in order to make a move effective.
Commitment
There are many moves in Jiu-Jitsu that will not work unless you truly commit to them. As mentioned above, leaving distance means that you are giving your opponent an opportunity to shift their position. This means that you need to close the distance – but not just superficially. You really have to commit to your movement.
Even though you may get used to the idea of physical contact and understand how getti ng closer to your opponent can optimize your leverage and the effectiveness of certain moves, another aspect that you need to get a grip with is commitm ent. Commitm ent in this caseis not
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For example, being in the mount position is great, but it won’t be enough unless you get low with your hooks in and apply hip pressure. These extra elements will give you even more control and keep you even safer from a self-defense point of view. Moreover, when passing someone’s guard, you can’t simply break free from their control and step around their body. Instead you’ve got to maintain closeness and commit to your pass.
The most common hesitation with getting a grip on this type of closeness is a fear of hurting our training partner. Since staying connected and driving forward does apply pressure on your partner, the worry is understandable. That being said, your partner on the mats also knows what is involved. You can still practice in a slow, safe, controlled manner, but this does not mean oyu let go of a determined drive to keep close.
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COMMUNITY STORE GRAND OPENING
JANUARY 21
Hey Stupid, Quit Training Hurt by Dr. Steve Shaffer
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I say it just about every day to my athlet e patients: Training hurt is one is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Not only can it lead it ot a serious injury, but it will also slow down your progress. Not to mention, you will probably annoy everyone around you with the, “Ah, if this hammy wasn’t so tight you wouldn’t have passed my guard so easily,” routine. Hey Jim, we’ve heard that one before, but nice try… Plus, your guard has always sucked, unless you’ve had a tight ham-
string for the last tw o years… Thought not. So what are you supposed o t do when little issues like that do come up? First, you must determine if you are injured or just hurt . There is a little bit of a difference and sometimes it can be har d to tell the two apart. So proceed with caution. While there isn’t a definite ruling, it basically comes down to this: Being hurt is something that will slow you down, make you uncomfortable while you’re training, and could very easily lead ot an injury. An injury is something that requires some kind of medical att ention and requires at least a small break from training. Being hurt is a little different; it’s really kind of a grey area. You could have a pulled or tight muscle, you may have over-extended a joint or maybe just everything hurts or hurts to move. They are really just tw o issues at different points on the same spectrum, so you need to be careful. The question is, when you do get hurt, do you take some time off or do ou y chuck a ew f Tylenol down your throat and get back ot work? Before you go taking a lethal dose of baby aspirin ask yourself these questions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Is the pain severe? Doesit feel unstable? Doesit lock? Doesit snap, crackle or pop when it didn’t usedto? Doesthe pain radiate or shootto anotherpart of your body? 6. Is the muscleso tight that it drasticallychangesyour range of motion? 7. Doesit hurt to flex or extend the joint? 8. Did you heara snapor pop when you hurt it? 9. Are your handsor feet going numb or getting tingly? 10. Doesit feel like somethingis just wrong or unsettling? If you answered no to all of those questions, you’re not in the clear e yt and should still ease o yurself back into training or get it checked justot be safe. If you answered yes to any of the above, then you should definitely get it checked out. It may be nothing but you at least need to be evaluated by your local Chiropractor, PhysicalTherapist or Medical Doctor. It’s best to find someone local that has a great reputation AND either trains in some orm f of martial arts or at the very least understands them. I can promise you that if you tell a Doctor that you do Jiu-Jitsu and they have no background, they will likely think that you do karate with their 8-year-old son. JAN 2017 |ISSUE 004 |17
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It’s a red flag if they ask ou y how many boards you were trying to break when you hurt your arm. It is important that you find a good provider that you can trust, so if you can’t find one with a martial arts background, at least try to find one with a sports medicine background. What you do to avoid injury is just as important as what you do when you are actually injured. If you’re feeling great and want to avoid future injuries, find yourself a great mobility program. Static stretching is not enough. You need to challenge your joints with active movement to improve quality range of motion. Also, finding a trainer, chiro or PT that can perform a Functional Movement Screen (FMS) can be very helpful as well. The FMS is great at predicting risk of injury and is currently used by many collegiate and professional sports teams. Not only will the FMS help predict your risk of injury but it
will also help hone in on what you should be addressing. You can find a provider at www.functionalmo vement.com. The bottom line is that you need to take care of yourself on and off of the mats. There is nothing more frustrating than letting small injury become a huge and expensive problem that takes you away from the sport for a significant amount of time. I can promise you that no one will be impressed when you train hurt. When you train hurt or injured, you also affect the people you train with, as they have to be more careful around you and modify their game because of your injuries. Don’t hold yourself or others back ha ving too much pride, you may end up seriously regretting it .
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Rolli ng Through Drama by David Greer
Drama, it’s everywhere. We see it at home, we see it at work, we see it anywhere people gather and the Jiu-Jitsu mats are no exception. It makes perfect sense. The mats are where people from various backgrounds congregate in one place to roll around on the ground and learn multiple ways to injure one another. We get to know each other and we get very physically close to each other. Drama is going to happen here. I’ve watched a joke turn into a rumor, then build to gossip, and eventually
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just a rumor that the two were dating. In reality they’re simply friends, but the rumor was only getting started. The woman stopped training for a while and certain people noticed. The dating rumor evolved and whispers of the woman being pregnant with the guy’s child started going around. Think about it for a moment. A man and a woman become friends and in a short period of time people are led to believe she’s pregnant with his child. In reality, the woman stopped training because she started putting in extra hours at work in order to save up money to go toward buying a home.
become something that has an impact on somebody. I’ve also seen normal interactions between people turn into juicy soap opera gossip. Sometimes it’s hurtful, sometimes it’s no big deal, and sometimes it’s outright ridiculous. There was one time when a guy and a woman who met through training Jiu-Jitsu became friends and eventually a rumor got started that they were dating. The people who enjoy gossip paid extra attention to them. First of all, a single guy who’s physically fit and a single woman who is physically fit being interested in each other isn’t juicy news, it’s normal. However, in this case it was
Obviously this piece of gossip was ridiculous. Luckily the two people it was about had a good laugh about it and things didn’t get too dramatic. But imagine if one of them was married, or if both of them were married. Suddenly the gossip takes on a whole new shape. Just think of some of the things people might say about them… “I can’t believe she cheated on her husband.” “I can’t believe he cheated on his wife.” “Do you think he’ll stick around and raise the kid? ” “I bet one of them gets divorced.” “Do you think she’ll lie so her husband thinks it’s his kid? ”
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That’s the kind of talk that can ruin a person. It could make a person feel ashamed for something that didn’t happen, it can get a person to stop training, it could ruin a marriage that didn’t even have any problems. In my earlier days of training I was hanging out with a few Jiu-Jitsu guys and one of them was a black belt who recently moved here to Hawaii. We happened to overhear a nearby conversation that was basically gossip about co-workers. It made us realize we hear the same kind of talk every now and then during Jiu-Jitsu class, so we asked the black belt if there was a lot of drama where he trained at. His words stuck with me:
focused on training. Getting involved in gossip and drama is essentially wasted energy. I have kept this in mind when whispers about people began to surface at the various places I’ve trained. I’ll hear things from time to time, sometimes I hear rumors about friends, but that doesn’t mean I have to engage in it. I don’t have to go around asking if the thing about so-andso is true, or if thisand-that is actually happening.
“Drama is everywhere. It doesn’t matter where you train it just happens. What’s helped me stay above it is to remember why I’m training Jiu-Jitsu in the first place.”
“Drama is everywhere. It doesn’t matter where you train it just happens. What’s helped me stay above it is to remember why I’m training Jiu-Jitsu in the first place.” That made a lot of sense to me. If the goal is to become skilled in Jiu-Jitsu and one day earn a black belt, the most effective path to achieving that is to stay 26 | ISSUE 004 | JAN 2017
I’m there to train, and I know my friends better than a rumor does.
When I heard things being said about me, I’ll admit my initial reaction was to say something. It felt like I needed to defend myself. But then I realized that responding to the rumor gives it a degree of credibility. So I did nothing. One day I was rolling with a buddy of mine who said he heard this-and-that about me and asked if it was true. I simply said no, he said okay, and we got back to training and that was that. The people who knew me best didn’t buy into the rumor and I didn’t acknowledge the rumor. As the days passed, the rumor went away.
It was then that I realized something about rumors and gossip. It doesn’t matter what the gossip is about. It’s the way people respond to gossip that stirs up drama. As time went on, I also realized that most rumors originate from small cliques. It’s not always the same people, but it seems to be the same process. A small clique forms, and for whatever reason a story gets made up, or something gets misinterpreted, or somebody gets targeted, and a rumor is born.
Drama surfaces in the workplace all the time. And family just isn’t family without a little craziness going on. Staying above it helps me stay focused on the projects I have in the office, and it helps me realize that no matter how crazy family can get, family still comes first. Staying above the drama also clarified my sense of purpose for training Jiu-Jitsu. I train in order to get better at Jiu-Jitsu, there’s no room for drama there.
The question then becomes, does engaging in drama align with your purpose for being there?
The rumor needs to be given life in order to grow into fullfledged drama. If we do not engage in it, that’s less energy being fed to it and eventually the rumor will fade away. And if the rumor originated from a clique that enjoys drama, they’ll drop it once and move on to something else once they realize the rumor isn’t stirring up a commotion. I noticed this happened with the rumor about me and with rumors about friends. We either laughed it off or ignored it altogether.
So what’s your purpose for training Jiu-Jitsu?
Is drama something you enjoy or can you resist getting involved in it? We know drama is going to naturally happen when so many diverse people congregate in one place. And it’s fair to say that we all may have different reasons for training Jiu-Jitsu. The question then becomes, does engaging in drama align with your purpose for being there?
This approach to drama has been helpful both on and off the mats. JAN 2017 | ISSUE 004 | 27
Bernice Aurellano Bernice is the Owner, Personal Trainer and Coach of Mango Tree Fitness Center. In this issue she shows us how to use TRX Suspension Straps to perform a Feet Elevated Push-Up with Knee Tuck. This exercise primarily focuses on upper body and core strengthening.
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What You’ll Need Before you perform this exercise make sure straps are securely fastened to a stable Door, Bar, or Frame.
TRX Suspension Straps
Stay off this exercise if you have any shoulder problems or nagging injuries that may be aggravated with the movements involved.
To begin, strap your feet into the suspension system and move into a Plank position. Keep your arms shoulder width apart and hook your feet firmly into the straps. Your heels should be pushing against the straps as you remain in the starting position.
1
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Go down into a push up, bending at the elbow until in line with your shoulders.
2
To keep your body from swaying, engage your core and keep your heels firm on the straps.
As you come up from the push up, elevate your hips slightly to allow room to bring your knees to your chest. Keep your elbows locked and core engaged.
3
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4 Bringing your knees in as close to your chest as is manageable. Hold the position momentarily before reversing the movement. Slowly extend your legs back out and lower your hips down into the starting position.
5
Back at the starting position you can now perform the same movements step by step.
As a workout, Bernice recommends performing this exercise at 10-15 reps per set for 3 sets. You may also perform these timed (1min) which can be used as a fitness test to compare results over time. She guarantees you’ll feel the burn!
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4 Life Lessons Taken from the Mats by Chris Bumgarner
T
he majority of our time at the academy is spent learning techniques, rolling, and hanging with our BJJ brothers and sisters. Over time Jiu-Jitsu begins to change most of us for the better and it can be hard for us to put a finger on why that is. As a black belt and instructor I often think about the subtle life lessons that BJJ teaches students. And also, how can these lessons be articulated in order to help take Jiu-Jitsu off of the mats and in to everyday life? These are four ways in which Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teaches us life lessons. If you’re an instructor, student, or thinking of starting, I hope you find these helpful. 1. If You Lose It’s Your Fault You know last time when you were rolling and you got caught in that arm bar? Yup that was probably your fault. Renzo Gracie Black Belt Jamie Cruze has said “If you lose nine times out ten it’s your fault” and he believes this to be a powerful life lesson. It’s true. When you get caught in a submission the reason is mostly likely you; you made the mistake. There was some36 | ISSUE 004 | JAN 2017
thing that you were doing that placed you in this position. Very often when people experience failure in life they tend to look outward for excuses. Many people can have the nasty habit of blaming everyone except for themselves for their short comings. People blame their boss, spouse, mom, dog, almost anyone, or anything but themselves. Your evolution in BJJ requires you to do the opposite. Your progress depends on looking inward to find your mistakes. We can take this attitude off the mats and use it to analyze our everyday problems. Whether it be at work or in your relationships,
stomach to escape mount, sure why not. Through the harsh reality of getting tapped out we come to know that these actions lead to bad consequences. Putting the hooks in for back mount is good. Learning that when someone escapes the armbar, the triangle is a good back plan, great. Now these are actions with good consequences. Part of getting good is getting really good at reading the future of our consequences.
first look at yourself to solve the problem. Why didn’t you get that promotion at work or why don’t you get along with so and so when everyone else does? Hmm? Start looking at these issues with yourself first. Whether it’s on or off the mats you can’t change others but you can change yourself. 2. Decisions Have Consequences, Good and Bad Being an adult starting Jiu-Jitsu is a lot like being a kid again. You just can’t seem to see in to the future and see the consequences of your actions. Trying to choke the guy from inside his guard seems like a great idea. Rolling to your
BJJ is often compared to chess for this reason. Like a good chess player, a black belt is able to think 3-4 steps ahead in to the future. A black belt will use a technique while knowing of the possible actions his opponent may take and will have a contingency plan for those actions. When trapped in a submission he or she will know how each individual movement plays in to the hands of the opponent and account for those while in motion. Off the mats do you say or act without thinking about its consequences? Do you plan for possibilities the future may bring? Are you prepared for changes good and bad? To become a black belt in life, business, or BJJ requires us to be forward thinking. Think 3-4 moves ahead. 3. Think Critically It seems like some people will believe anything. If it’s on Facebook, YouTube, or TV, it must be true. People are basing JAN 2017 | ISSUE 004 | 37
very important decisions on single source tions that get in the way. You may want to news, memes, and 30 second videos. quit. You will lose a lot. I have never met a black belt who hasn’t experienced these Let me ask you, do you know the armbar things on their journey. works because of someone in authority, like your instructor told you it does? Or There is no short cut, you just have to do you know because you have done it persevere. That is it. and felt it done to you? While we are at it, I will let you in on a secret. If you want Inside and outside martial arts many peoto get good, don’t just know that it works, ple promise the easy road. A recipe for know why it works. Investigate your BJJ short cut success. It could be a diet pill to its fullest. Find out what makes the or the promise to become a trained fightsubmission work. You should know the ing machine in just 3 DVD’s! timing, leverage, and anatomy behind your techniques. BJJ isn’t without people trying take advantage of this way of thinking. But no Investigating the inner workings of techmatter what it is, remember there are niques will allow you to deconstruct them no short cuts. If you want to get good at and rebuild them. This will lead to you Jiu-Jitsu, then you have to show up and creating escapes and your own variatrain. Learn to play guitar, well than you tions. Critically investigate everything off actually have to spend a lot of time learnthe mat and you will become a smarter, ing to play guitar. Want to improve your more knowledgeable person. Knowing marriage then spend the time with your the how and why of your chosen profesfamily and work on it. sion will lead to success in your work life. Knowing the facts of various topics It’s a simple equation; time+ effort= rewill make you a more informed voter and sults. citizen. Jiu- Jit su G oe s Be yond W inning and Don’t just believe, know the how and Losin g why? BJJ is a rigorous sport, effective martial 4. Perseverance arts, and a fantastic life style. The art of Jiu-Jitsu truly does have the power to “A black belt is a white belt that never change lives for the better. Sometimes quit”, most of us have heard this quote this change happens organically without before and believe me it’s true. It took me us even realizing it. But when you train 15 years to get my black belt. The setake a look around. Use Jiu-Jitsu as a cret to the faxia preta is simple, just keep tool to help you grow off the mats. showing up. There will be good days and bad. You might have an injury along the You may find it has the answer to your way. You will have life and family obligaproblem. JAN 2017 | ISSUE 004 | 39
Interview with:
ROBERT DRYSDALE
by Clinton Dela Cruz 40 | ISSUE 004 | JAN 2017
Robert Drysdale is one of the most well decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors of our time. He holds many victories in the sport’s most prestigious arenas such as the Abu Dhabi Championships and IBJJF World Championships. His Jiu-Jitsu journey has also led him to the Mixed Martial Arts stage where he’s found
much success, where he is currently the Light Heavyweight Champion of Legacy Fighting Championship. Robert owns and operates his Jiu-Jitsu academy in Las Vegas Nevada where he focuses on sharing his knowledge and guiding the newer generation of practitioners into the world of Martial Arts.
where he would stay for 2 years, earning his blue and purple belt. Moving back to Brazil in early 2001 he received his Brown Belt the following year, and his Black Belt in 2004 from Leo Viera. In 2007, he moved back to the Las Vegas, Nevada where he currently resides. Earliest Influences Robert recalls that in the early years of his training, he, like many at the time, did not spend as much time on the internet as they do today. His exposure to Jiu-Jitsu outside of his circle came from magazines such as Tatami and GracieMag. He never really had a “Jiu-Jitsu Hero,” but he recognizes figures in the sport such as Robson Moura, Leo Viera, Shaolin, Roleta, and Ze Mario as some of the best competitors at that time he began his training. Drysdale first started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 16 in Itu, a small city about an hour and a half outside Sao Paulo Brazil. Around 9 months into his training Robert finished High School in Brazil, and relocated back to the United States to pursue his college education. This led him to train with Lewis-Perderneiras
What did you first enjoy about jiu jitsu?
mind and body, paired with the sports highly competitive nature is a big part of his love for the art. “Physically, it’s more complex than Cross-Fit, intellectually, it’s more complex than chess…. Emotionally, since it’s a combat sport, it can very demanding. In combat sports, the movements you can apply to a fight are virtually limitless.” Strength & conditioning for example is most often seen as one in the same, he views those separately and makes further distinctions on various types of strength & levels of conditioning. The variables that play into a match are immeasurable but that’s what makes Jiu-Jitsu, especially for Robert, the toughest sport. How have you been able to achieve your level of excellence and pass it on to your students?
“There’s a blueprint, you Everyone who steps onto get a blueprint not only in the mat can agree, Jiu-Jitsu physical attributes but in demands full use of your personality…. a good coach physical abilities, requires can maximize those abilities, emotional durability, and whether it be physical or challenges an individual’s intellectual, but you can only mental toughness. For Rob- do so much.” ert, the requirements of the JAN 2017 | ISSUE 004 | 41
This lesson of shared responsibility is what he passes on to his students and says that a good coach is a person who tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. “In Martial arts at least, tough love is real love...I’m not a big fan of telling people what they want to hear just so they feel good. If you want that you can read a self-help book.” For some people, no matter how much they try to be a champion there may be something missing in them that will take them to that level. It’s a hard truth to hear but one that people should understand as a reality of the sport. In his eyes what stands out as a key factor in someone’s trajectory to success has less to do with that person’s talents but rather his attitude towards training. That’s a key factor in a successful practitioner. “I think talent is overrated, it’s real, but it’s overrated.” Through experience he’s developed an eye for such potential, spotting the people that have an inner drive that doesn’t allow them to lose. He calls this the “win42 | ISSUE 004 | JAN 2017
ning gene.” In his honesty, he points out that some people have it and some people don’t. His goal as a teacher is to be a good friend, sports psychologist, and technician in order to get his students to a level above where they are. “My goal is to improve on people...If they walk into the gym a 2, I want to bring them to a 4, 5, or 10 if possible.” Robert stresses that at the end of the day it really falls onto the individual. He’s seen people do really well with poor coaches, and people not do anything at all with amazing coaches. “As a coach I can show you the door, I cannot make you walk through it.”
What do you love about MMA in comparison to Jiu-Jitsu? He says the value he gets out of MMA is mirrored to the things he loves about Jiu-Jitsu, such as the technique required, the constant learning and being able to improve upon yourself. He’s less in love with the culture of MMA, especially the nature of it now due in part to the exponential growth of the sport in recent years. This view comes directly from that of the fighter, and for him personally, MMA has lost the appeal and charm it once held. Most fans of MMA see the fights purely from a spectators perspective, as a “bar-fight”
or “entertainment,” whereas for him, it’s his life. The art itself still holds great meaning to him and there’s something more ceremonious to Martial Arts than just fighting or what the average fan sees.
hard to think of our sport as and skill to be a well roundthe new “trendy” martial art, ed fighter is attainable, but but only time will tell. people have to be ambitious enough to work at it. Another factor is the separation in Jiu-Jitsu, a split “Learning is always good, it in the art as Robert put it. doesn’t matter who you’re This split has fractured the learning from, doesn’t matter art-form into smaller “spewhat piece of information it With the Growth of Jiu Jit- cialized” areas. Jiu-Jitsu is, learning is always a good su in recent years, where to him is much more than thing.” He adds to this by do you see the future of “butt-scooting” your way to saying, “even if it’s a negaJiu-Jitsu? an advantage win. tive experience, it’s an experience, you should absorb it “We do know from the histo- It’s not all about the tourna- and learn from it.” ry of martial arts that they’re ments, it’s not about MMA, very trendy… There was a it’s not even solely just Giving up because you’re moment there when Jiu-Jitsu self-defense, it’s everything not the best or can’t get was very popular then judo and more. He has seen something right off the bat came around, judo became those who are so desperis a poor excuse and leads the very popular martial art, ate for an edge that if they to an incomplete underJiu-Jitsu pretty much discan’t be the big fish in the standing of Jiu-Jitsu. appeared around the world pond, they’ll just start their except for Brazil…That’s why own pond instead of putting What are you most proud it’s called Brazilian Jiu-Jitin that extra effort. This is of? su… Now we’re watching so where he see’s the devimany guys leave Judo for ations, with practitioners For Robert it isn’t so much Jiu-Jitsu, we’re watching the solely focused on training about the titles he’s won, the opposite motion,” says what they’re good at, playthe wins, or even the sucDrysdale ing towards a specific set of cess of his school and rules and neglecting other association, for him it’s the Taking a look back into the aspects that make the art people. broad landscape of Martial whole. Arts, he pointed out that “Overall, when everything’s there were times when KaIn Robert’s view the primary said and done, I think I’ve rate, Taekwondo, and Kung rule of Jiu-Jitsu is to teach a been a good role model, Fu each had their moment person how to defend them- I think I’ve been a good in the sun. Very similar to selves in a real situation friend, a good teacher, a Jiu-Jitsu’s current rise in and to equip competitors good training partner.” popularity, so too did those with the skill set to be able art forms experience similar to compete with or without His energy and attention success only to plateau at the GI under any rule set. aren’t driven by the accoone point or another. It’s He adds that the knowledge lades, take his ADCC trophy JAN 2017 | ISSUE 004 | 43
which he had misplaced only to find it 3 years later in a box. Looking back he says his best memories aren’t the wins, even though winning is great, it’s the personal connections he’s made along the way that shine the brightest in his mind.
Our competitive nature leads to much focus on the reward that we don’t really get to enjoy the moment. He encourages us to live in the moment, have fun in every class, and enjoy Jiu-Jitsu for what it is.
“My best memories are not me having my hand raised, my best memories really are me traveling with friends to tournaments, laughing with them on the mats after class, those are the things I’m most proud of.”
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For him those are the best parts of Jiu-Jitsu.
Special t hank s goe s out to the ent ire Z ENI TH team!
Rapid Fire Questions
For more information on Professor Robert Drysdale or to contact his association please visit: drysdalejiujitsu.com
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