19 December 2013

READY TO GET ON THE JUICE? pg22 NUTRITION, CONDITION, TECHNIQUE, SUBMIT

ABSOLUTELY TERMINATED

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu

9 GREAT ESCAPES BUILD ISOMETRIC STRENGTH BJJ TEACHING TECHNIQUES SLAY GIANTS

Brings Back ADCC Gold

Gracie Celebrated

k n a T A s A y v a e H Y AKINS SHOWS YOU

EIGHT HENR W R U O Y E S U HOW TO

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DECEMBER 2013 / ISSUE 19 JIUJITSUMAG.COM

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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2013 / ISSUE 19 MEET THE EXPERTS MATTHEW CORLEY

Matthew Corley is a blue belt and Registered Pharmasist and clinical phramacy manager who trains under Ezra Lenon. The best way to keep up with my articles and reviews is at www.facebook.com/ MappingMyBjjJourney

JEREMY REID

M.S.ED, CSCS, CISSN Jeremy is a nutritionist and strength coach who works with MMA and jiu-jitsu champions. He obtained his master’s degree in exercise physiology from Baylor University. He is a brown belt under Robert Drysdale.

REGULARS

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PRO MOTIONS Belts and stripes

22 GRUB Juice it up!

28 WARM-UP Belt Stretches 37

TECHNIQUES 36 ESCAPES 9 Great Escapes with Joe Comacho 54

COVER FEATURE Tornado Guard and More with Cyborg

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CONCEPTS IN PRACTICE Weight Management

THE LIFE Decisions

112 MIND GAMES How to Teach pt 1

DR. ETHAN KREISWIRTH

FEATURES

114 SUCCESS Life Reinvented

08 EDITORIAL Love, sweet love 12 CHECK-IN What’s News?

ON THE COVER: Cyborg fresh off his ADCC Absolute win.

COVER PHOTO: Jason Boulanger

76 TRAILBLAZERS Looking to Brazil for Discovery of Jiu-Jitsu 94

EVENT COVERAGE IBJJF Masters Seniors Worlds

100 HELIO 100 A diferent type of celebration.

GEAR LAB 50

GI REVIEW Fuji Sekai

22 GRUB The juice is loose!

PhD, ATC of “Kreiswirth Sports Medicine” is the Medical Director for the International/United States Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. Dr. Kreiswirth is a Black Belt in BJJ and has provided medical coverage for BJJ events since the mid-1990s. Ethan can be reached at ekreiswirth@gmail.com

LUCAS DYER

Is a licensed and certified Sports Nutritionist and works with many SoCal MMA athletes both pro and ameture. He’s also a licensed fighter under C.A.M.O. and Seargent in the United States Marine Corps.

LAB 50 GEAR Fuji Sekai Gi

IIU-JITSU 112 TEACHING Mind Games

76 TRAILBLAZERS Making A Name in Brazil

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NICOLAS GREGORIADES

Nic was the first person to be awarded a black belt by Roger Gracie. By combining deep conceptual and technical knowledge with a methodical, patient teaching style. More about Nic can be found at www.jiujitsubrotherhood.com

IBJJF MASTERS AND SENIORS

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Stop calling it the Old Man Worlds.

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100

54

Gracie Celebrated

0 0 1 o i l e H 78

k n a T A s A y v a He KINS HENRY A U HOW TO SHOWS YOWEIGHT USE YOUR

Henry might feel just as heavy as Roberto.

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Y L E T U L ABSO D E T A N I TERM u e r b A ” g r o b y C “ Roberto old

Brings Back ADCC G

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JJMEDITORIAL::::::::::::::

YOU’VE GOT TO LOVE IT

I

N LAST MONTH’S “THE LIFE” COLUMN BY KID PELIGRO, HE TALKS ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU REALLY SHOULD “LOVE” YOUR ACADEMY. Otherwise, you’ll find reasons not to train, and there’s really no reason for you not to love your academy. The relationship we have with our schools is sort of a strange thing. On the one hand, it’s a business contract. We pay our academy for a service, teaching us jiu-jitsu.

In exchange for that service we pay them a monthly due, usually pulled out of our checking. It doesn’t get more “business” than that. However, there’s definitely something about our relationship with our schools that’s not quite the same as the business contract you enter into with your utility company, or with the grocery store. Sure the particulars of the arrangement can be broken down into the same sort of transactional arrangement, but there’s no denying the bond that we build with our instructor and our training partners. So, what happens when we fall out of love with our school? Should we go straight to divorce? Well, with any postmortem of a relationship, the first signs of distress usually arise from the lack of communication. At the first sign that you’re falling out of love with your school, you must open up the lines of communication. If the troubles seem to be emanating from a training partner, talk to them, level with them, not in the middle of a roll, but when you’re both in a good place. If the problem comes from the top, your instructor, talk to them. Maybe one day after class stick around and let your concerns be known. If they show concern and make an effort to address your issues then great. Especially if it’s something that can be solved. If they can’t fix the issue, or refuse to acknowledge the situation then it might be time to look at it from more of a business perspective and take your business elsewhere. Break ups are never pretty, but staying in a bad relationship with your school can only lead to heartache in the long run.

The worst thing that can happen is losing your passion for jiu-jitsu because you’re not in love with your school. That would be a crying shame. So, don’t wait until you find yourself seeking some “strange” technique elsewhere. Love the one you’re with and fix things at your homeschool before you find it elsewhere.

Thank You for Reading,

MIKE VELEZ

EDITOR & PUBLISHER MIKEV@JIUJITSUMAG.COM

EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR & PUBLISHER Mike Velez ASSOCIATE EDITOR Deb Blyth CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Seymour Yang, Jeremy Reid, Lucas Dyer, Dr. John Park, Matthew Corley, Dr. Ethan Kreiswirth, Hywel Teague

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY ART DIRECTOR Dave Palacios CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jason Boulanger, John Cooper Kenny Jewel, Mike Lee, Mike Calimbas, Preston Smith, William Burkhradt

PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Paula Fountain ADVERTISING SALES Mike Velez CIRCULATION MANAGER Tom Ferruggia

ADDRESS CHANGE & SUBS Phone: 1.877.834.3552 ext. 221 Web: jiujitsumag.com

ADVERTISING & SALES INFO Available upon request, Contact: Jiu-Jitsu Magazine PO Box 2405 Chino Hills, CA 91709 ph: 1.877.834.3552 ext. 221 fax: 909.591.1251

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION The Curtis Circulation Company Jiu-Jitsu Magazine (ISSN 2157-6173) is a publication of Recon Media Inc., PO Box 2405 Chino Hills, CA 91709; Phone: 877.834.3552; Fax: 909.517.1601email: info@ jiujitsumag.com. Subscription rates are $37.99 for 10 issues (1 year), $57.99 per year Canada, and $87.99 per year for foreign airmail. All rights reserved, The entire contents are copyright 2013 Recon Media Inc, and may not be reproduced in any manner in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. The views and the opinions of the writers and advertisers are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Recon Media Inc., the Publisher, or the editorial staff. The Publisher assumes no responsibilities for advertising claims, errors, and omissions.

Some of the techniques described in this magazine can be dangerous. Always practice safe procedures and use common sense. Recon Media Inc., and the Publisher can not be held responsible from any injuries or damage caused by these techniques. Perform at your own risk.

Jiu-Jitsu magazine is published 10 times per year. Application to mail at Periodicals Postage rate is pending at Chino, CA and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Jiu-Jitsu Magazine PO Box 2405, Chino HIlls, CA 91709.

100% Recyclable.

Save the Planet.

Roll Frequently, Read Jiu-Jitsu Magazine Printed in the U.S.A

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What? No picture?

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I ROLL WITH

osvaldo “queixinho” agusto black belt and two-time brazilian national champion

See Free Videos of queiXinho and Other World Champions

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JIU-JITSU MEETS HIGH FASHION

Guys, get ready to rock some jiu-jitsu clothing on your next date without getting any guff for it.

The fall line-up of tee’s from The Jiujiteiro are really, really nice.

Seven designs available in nine total color combinations offer something for everyone’s tastes.

Each shirt is made from super soft ringspun cotton, tagless in the back and made in the USA. Each of the shirts shown is available for just $25 at WWW.THEJIUJITEIRO.COM

HOTEL CALIFORNIA

FIVE Grappling is about to give everyone a taste of what’s in store for 2014 with their first ever California Grappling Invitational to be held November 23rd at the Crown Plaza Anaheim Resort. Don’t live in So Cal or won’t be at Disneyland that weekend? No worries, the event will be streamed live on the FIVE Grappling website. A unique 5-Man Expert no gi round robin will take place featuring Keenan Cornelius, Jackson Sousa, Gary Tonon, Yuri Simoes, and an yet to be named combatant. Check out all the action along with the live stream at WWW.

HEREEEEEEEE’S

RENATO!

Move over the Arsenio, Renato is coming to the “you tubes.” That’s right, rumor has is that Renato Laranja is going to be hosting a regular web show on-line and his first guest will be none other than Kenny Florian. We’re not sure if Renato knows he’s going to be interviewing KenFlo, or maybe he’s expecting Ben Stiller, or could be Ken Primola. Another rumor has it that those three have never been seen in the same room together. Keep an eye out on WWW.RENATOLARANJABJJ.COM

FIVEGRAPPLING. COM

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Where’s Renato?

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100 Kilos from 93 Brand

Get A Grips

Who Doesn’t Need Pants?

Wondering what to get that special someone for the holidays? How about this killer rash guard along with these cool new shorts from 93 Brand? The rash guard is called the Anvil and features a 100 Kilo anvil design. In case you didn’t know, 100 Kilos is slang for side control, or “cem kilos” in Portuguese.

Also new from 93 Brand are these no gi Citizen Fight Shorts. They have a ton of cool features including a gripped elastic waistband, stretchable gusset, drawstring, deep side slits, and a Velcro front closure.

Both of these new designs are available now at WWW.MARTIALARTSSUPPLIES.COM

Ever look in the back seat of your ride only to find gi’s, rash guards, maybe some headgear and empty water bottles littering the back seat? Sure you do. You, my friend, need to get your junk together. But you can’t decide if you want a duffel or a backpack? How about this Duffel Backpack from Grips. It’s big enough to fit two large gi’s, has a separate laundry pocket for the really dirty stuff, and best of all, it features a zipper on the bottom that reveals shoulder straps to turn this duffel into a backpack.

How cool is that? It’s got some other cool features, but you’ll have to go to the Grips website to get the rest of the details.

For the guy who has everything, how about a new pair of gi pants? Where would you think you’d go to get something like that?

Who sells just gi pants? How about www. justgipants.com? Yup, they have them. We just got some samples in of all the different pants available from justgipants.com and we’re impressed. Nice stitching, popular colors, minimal graphics, and all styles are under $50. I’ve torn some pants before and it sucks. Now you don’t have buy a whole new gi, you can just get the pants. Practical and a great Christmas present.

WWW.JUSTGIPANTS.COM

WWW.GRIPSATHLETICS.COM

WHAT’S THAT YOU’RE SAYING? Middle-aged men and women are giving out a collective “thank you” to the IBJJF. What was known as the “Seniors” division just a few weeks ago is now being classified as the Masters divisions. What was Masters is now Masters 1, what was Seniors 1 is now Masters 2, Seniors 2 is now Masters 3, and so on. No longer will 30-somethings have to tell their friends they compete in the “Seniors” division. Good job IBJJF.

He was a Senior 1.

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BREAK TIME Hi guys, my name is Chris Neely, and I think I might qualify as having one of the worst BJJ injuries you’ve seen. I’m a blue belt, and was training at Brad Court’s gym, Paramount Jiu-Jitsu (great gym, great instructor) in Thorndale, Pa. I had not been training for very long, and finally worked myself back into shape where I felt comfortable getting back into things 100%. We were doing a live takedown drill where you start standing, and whoever scored points first stayed in. The guy I was going against attempted some sort of half guard pull/into a sweep deal, but as he shot his hips down and into me, I stepped forward at the same time and planted my foot.

The result was his butt meeting my knee, and my leg just imploded. I heard the crack, and was in incredible pain. They

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carried me to the physical therapist next door, who after playing around with my leg told me, “good news...you don’t need to go to the emergency room.” Thought I just strained something, when in reality I shattered my tibial plateau, which is your knee joint surface. I was happy with the news, but in incredible pain. I drove 40 minutes home, barely able to step on the gas pedal. Got home, drank a 6-pack, and went to bed. Woke up and my

knee was literally the size of a bowling ball. Went to the orthopedist, and got the diagnosis...rod and six screws, and no walking for 3 months. A year after that they reopened the thing, took all the metal out, and I also had a micro fracture in my cartilage that was not good. It’s been over 2 years, I’m still not training, and not even remotely close to being at all close to what I was.

He told me I’d probably be a candidate for a knee replacement as early as my 40’s (I’m 29). I’m still trying to get back...I just ordered a Bubba 2 grappling dummy, I plan on using it to aid my physical therapy. That and reading Jiu-Jitsu Magazine! Would love to train full out hopefully soon. I hope you’ve enjoyed my letter.

CHRIS NEELY

THINKER

TIGHTS

I don’t know about you, but I think grappling tights, or spats, as they’re sometimes known as should get a lot more popular. They’re comfortable, can be worn under a gi, or when no gi grappling. They help with mat burn, help prevent spreading germs, and look pretty cool. How about being the pacesetter at your school with these new Thinker Tights from Tatami. They’re cool looking, comfortable, made of ploy spandex material, feature rubber grip strips on the ankles and have an athletic compression fit. Most importantly they feature the unique Thinker Monkey design by Chris Burns.

WWW.TATAMIFIGHTWEAR.COM

Not sure a pair of Spats would have saved that.

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Going Down?

One often overlooked aspect of our jiu-jitsu training is takedowns. Plenty of schools around don’t start sparring matches on their feet. Instead, they start from their knees. When competitions roll around and your opponent was an all-star wrestler in high school now what? Well, hopefully you’ve been reading JJM for a while and you’ve gotten plenty of good takedown advice, but what if this is your first issue? Then what? Well, you could order some back issues, which you should be doing right now. You should also check out this new 3 DVD set called “The Takedown Blueprint” featuring Jimmy Pedro. In case you don’t know, Jimmy was a Division 1 collegiate wrestler at Brown University and is regarded by many as the greatest American Judo competitor ever. He’s a 4 time Olympian with two medals to show for it, as well as a Judo World Championship. He’s partnered up with Travis Stevens, the best American Judo competitor in the world, a 2-time Olympian, as well as a jiu-jitsu brown belt.

These two get in-depth and teach you all about Judo takedowns and how to apply them to your jiu-jitsu game. There are some sample videos on their website. The 3 DVD set sells for just $67 and comes with a 30Day no questions asked, money back guarantee. Sounds like a deal!

WWW.THETAKEDOWNBLUEPRINT.COM

BE PREPARED

Take a good look, these are some fresh new designs from a brand you’re going to be seeing a lot more of soon. The brand name is Painted Demons, and Pyro is their mascot and founder. Imagine whisky fueled fighting robots that routinely use jiu-jitsu to defeat their enemies. Here’s a sampling of some Paint Demons artwork you can wear now. Check out all the designs and find out more about Pyro at WWW.PAINTEDDEMONS.COM

Face It!

We’re always asking questions on our facebook page (facebook.com/jiujitsumag) and for this issue we asked a pretty simple question and were floored by how many inspiring and meaningful responses we got back. There were so many good ones it was really hard to choose. Thanks to everyone who commented.

“Which achievement in your jiujitsu would mean the most to you and why?”

HERE’S A LOOK AT SOME OF YOUR RESPONSES: MARCUS PEST Black belt for sure, but right now just focusing on receiving the blue belt. Every journey starts with a step forward.

MICHELLE POLOCKUS A proper hip throw.

DAVID CREW Awarding my first black belt student. Why...because completing the circle for the first time the student has truly become a teacher, giving back what I received from many generations of masters who helped to preserve and expose techniques, giving someone the tools to save their life.

PEDRO SIERRA Having the kids I teach grow up using the principles that jiu-jitsu has taught me. Be confident in yourself, be gentle with those who have less strength or are less fortunate and trust that hard work and repetition will get you farther than shortcuts.

DARRELL PEVOTEAUX Getting respect for my skills from my teammates, coaches, professors, and foes.

LARRY CRINER To inspire my son to take up the sport and take from it everything it has to offer both on and off the mat. I took it up a year ago at 52 my son is 16 and I live for the day that he asks to come to practice or says, “hey dad, can you show me that?”

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What’s your response?

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That’s How They Roll We asked the boys at CTRL Industries to send us some pictures of their latest designs. What do we get? Not simple shots on white, we get these killer shots that set the mood for their two newest designs. Gotta love it. CTRL is always dropping new designs so check out their site often. As Kenny Powers would say, “On The Reg.” WWW.CTRLINDUSTRIES.COM

Primo Shorts Yeah, they are pretty primo, these are the new Primo Grappling Shorts from Arte Suave. They made of 100% Polyester, feature a cool sublimated design paying homage to five ranks of jiujitsu, an internal drawstring, split side seam, Lycra inseam and a Velcro closure. Like all Arte Suave designs they’re shipped to you from the Hawaiian Islands. To order these shorts or to check out the rest of the Arte Suave collection go to their website.

WWW.ARTESUAVECLOTHING.COM

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Class Up The Joint You can turn any crusty dojo into an art gallery by hanging one of these beautiful hand signed limited run artist canvas prints in your school or mat area. It’s available in two sizes, either 30” wide by 60” tall or 20” by 43” wide. It’s a perfect gift for anyone as well. The print goes over the hierarchy of positions in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It also equates the positions and placements as the pieces in a chess match. The artwork is clean and timeless. We’re not affiliated with Fight Family, but for a limited time if you buy one of these prints from them they’ll hook you up with a free subscription or renewal to JJM. So, what better excuse than to check these out. For pricing and shipping information visit their website.

WWW.FIGHTFAMILY.COM

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MUNDIAL TAC PRO BACKPACK

Last month we teased you with a shot of a new backpack coming from Origin. Some of you might be wondering why we’re paying so much attention to a backpack. Well, it’s not just any backpack as more details have emerged. The complete bag is part of a modular three-part system designed for daily travel along with traveling and competing. The bags can detach from each other and become independent of each other.

The entire bag will be made available as a single unit, or separately. It’s designed for BJJ athletes, but can be utilized by anyone traveling for short periods of time. This product is patent pending and comes with a lifetime guarantee. Other features include 100% waterproof zipper, 500-denier Cordura material, and heavy duty buckles. No word yet on price but you’ll definitely see it tested here in the pages of JJM. WWW.ORIGINBJJ.COM

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CHECKIN:::::::::::::::::::::::

PRO MOTIONS Powered by www.atama-kimonos.com www.atama-kimonos.com www.atama-kimonos.com

S

END US YOUR PROMOTION PHOTOS! If you’re photographed in an Atama kimono you could win a free pair of Atama fight shorts (one winner per issue).

Send us your promotion photos along with your name, school, instructor, and a little back story.

Email us with the subject line, “Pro Motions” to feedback@jiujitsumag.com and keep an eye out for your Pro Motions in a future issue. School owners, please hold off on sending “group” promotions, and please keep it to specific individual students.

Josh Aldridge These photos were taken at the going away BJJ party my team threw for me. It’s very special because both of my BJJ instructors are in this photo, Phil Wyman (RBJJ black belt) and Flavio Da Silva (Nova Uniao black belt). Phil and I are both Marines and I left to go to Japan two years ago, at which time I linked up with Flavio. Phil came over a few months ago on deployment and has been training with us ever since.

To have both of the men responsible for my BJJ personality in one place, even though we are from worlds apart, has been an amazing experience. I received two stripes on my purple belt that night, and was made aware of how much I meant to these guys. I will miss this team, and hope to train with them again in the future.

Semper Fi

Kioto BJJ Here’s some group love from Kioto BJJ in New York submitted to us by Jon Terry.

Professor Fabricio Medici recently promoted four students to purple belt.

From Left: GM Francisco Mansor, Shihan Cabaza Ortiz, Jon Terry, Ariel Sepulveda, Jonathan Pabon, Prof. Fabricio Medici MORE PROMOTIONS

Kneeling: Jon Terry, Standing from Left: Prof. Fabricio Medici, Jonathan Pabon, Shihan Cabaza Ortiz, Ariel Sepulveda, GM Francisco Mansor, Philip Ganitis

Chris “Popo” Popowski

Chris is so thrilled to hav e received his purple belt afte r training 3 1/2 years, and what an honor to have Carlson Gra cie, Jr. there for the presentation of the promotion. He trains at Ca rlson Gracie CT! photo: l-r Professor Dominick Nusd eu, Professor Carlson Gracie, Jr., Chris “Popó” Popowski, Professor Fabio Arajuo photo credit: Eric Uss Photography

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What are you waiting for?

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David Petelo

Scratch Starting From (3rd Degree black

Gustavo Machado ordo” Correa) and belt under Roberto “G gree under Gustavo Chris Mahan (1st De the first black belts at Machado) promoted emy in Richmond, VA the Top Game Acad 13. Brothers Chuck on September 14, 20 and Dave Kenworthy and Brad Mayhugh, at the Top Game were the first students rats to all of them.

BJJ Academy. Cong ga” Machado, Yax, Gustavo “Gu From left to right - Jimmy e h, Brad Mayhugh, and Dav hug May ck Chu Chris Mahan, Kenworthy.

Dojo 1 Here are some recent promotions from Dojo1 Martial Arts Academy in Utica, NY. The instructor in the photos is Len Sonia, black belt under Tai Kai Jiu Jitsu & Balance Studios. The first pic top left is Daniel getting promoted, second is Kevin Lozano getting a belt whipping for his blue belt, and the third pic is Giovanni getting a hand shake from the coach on his promotion.

The last is Tom Creaser getting the belt whip for his purple belt.

David’s been training under 5-time World Master BJJ champion Rommel Dunbar at United Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Riverside, CA. Last October he won the 2012 Senior 3 featherweight blue belt master division at the IBJJF Master Seniors Worlds. He got to the podium at the same time as Prof. Dunbar, who had just won his division for the 5th time. He then placed first in the same division at the 2012 No Gi World Championships. The day before he competed in the 2013 Pan Ams, Prof. Dunbar told David that if he won, he would promote me to purple belt...talk about nerves...he took gold again and was promoted to the rank of purple belt. Great job, David!

Shawn Karst Here’s a couple of shots from Shawn’s 2nd stripe promotion (blue belt) at Carlson Gracie Team Canada. He’s been training for about 3 years under 8th degree black belt Marcus Soares.

Marcus is a wealth of knowledge and Shawn says it’s an honor to be a part of his team.

OJ Marcos OJ was recently promoted to blue belt along with Victor Opalia, who was promoted to purple belt. They both train at Relson Gracie Waterfront Jiu Jitsu - Honolulu, Hawaii under instructor Kayle Quinn.

Something special worth noting, both OJ Marcos and Victor Opalia took GOLD in their weight divisions at the NAGA Pacific in May 2013.

Congrats to them!

Michael and Brian These pics were submitted by Andis Gonzalez. He’s a student at the The Academy of MMA, Jiu-Jitsu & Judo in Pensacola, Florida; a joint training facility under Helio Soneca and Adriano Lucio. Recently, he had the privilege of watching his two very close friends and training partners reach a respective milestone in the never-ending journey that is Jiu-Jitsu. Michael Robert (purple belt) and Brian Smith (blue belt) have been training partners of Andis’ since 2009 and each hold a respectable record in the local MMA scene. Congrats to them and props to Andis for taking the time to send these pictures in. P.S. the pictures are courtesy of LAURAHENSONPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Come on, it’s not real unless it’s shirt off with wet belts.

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DECEMBER 2013

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JJMGRUB:::::::::::::::::::::::

GET ON THE JUICE! The Jiu-Jitsu Fighter’s Guide to Healthy Juicing words: LUCAS DYER

CERTIFIED AND LICENSED SPORTS NUTRITIONIST For more info on Lucas visit www.FITTnutrition.com, email him at lucasdyer@fittnutrition.com, and LIKE his page www.facebook.com/FITTnutrition

W

HEN ONE LOOKS BACK THROUGH HUMAN HISTORY, THE SEARCH FOR PERFORMANCE ENHANCING FOODS IS CLEARLY EVIDENT AND DATES BACK SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE EVEN THE EARLIEST CIVILIZATIONS HAD FORMED. In those primitive times, early humans searched for foods that increased strength and performance in order

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to be better hunters and win wars.

How else do you think Spartacus amassed an army of 90,000 and led the revolt against Rome during the Gladiatorial War? History is filled with tales of warriors who ate and drank various foods to boost their combat prowess. Now is the time to exit out of the dark ages of nutrition and enter into the scientifically-based renaissance of high-tech performance nutrition.

This is your chance to do things right and get the competitive edge

you need in order to add more medals to your trophy wall and be promoted to the next belt. To do this, you must know all the options out there, and by reading this issue, you will be well on your way. The next nutrition tool for your toolbox is the art of JUICING! Not the kind that shrinks your “manhood,” but the one designed to keep you alive until you’re 100 and bench pressing 20 times your body weight!

Yeah, that will be you thanks to the juice.

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IS IT HEALTH OR IS IT HYPE? The juicing craze is taking the world by storm. The days of cooking your vegetables and preparing fruit in the kitchen is coming to an end.

It’s easier to throw everything into a juicer and BAM! You have a full glass of liquid gold offering many life enhancing health benefits, including a more efficient way to absorb immune boosting nutrients. So is it health or is it hype? With most anything there will be pros and cons, but let’s first break down the difference between the terms, “nutrition” and “diet.”

The term “diet” is often associated with limiting or restricting a certain food in order to achieve a desired

outcome (typically to lose weight).

“Nutrition” is the process of eating and converting food into structural and functional body compounds like skin, muscle, and hair. It is required for muscle growth, performance, and health. So, ask yourself, “Why do I want to juice?

Do I need to go on a diet? Do I need better nutrition? Or do I want to gather an army of 90,000 and take down Rome?”

HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

So, you’ve decided that $2,400 was best spent on the Nutrifaster N450 Juicer (seriously, that’s the real price) and you are ready to start juicing (as a side note, keep in mind that there are a number of highly rated juicers available for less than $100. A simple search on Amazon will show you at least a half-dozen rated 4 stars and up products for less than a Benjamin.) Plugging in your juicer for the first time will set you on a journey of removing the insoluble fiber from your vegetables and fruits.

While fiber is an established and important part of an overall healthy diet, removing the insoluble fiber allows for increased absorption of specific healthpromoting phytonutrients including enzymes, while the soluble fiber persists into the juice. By removing the fibers and consuming vegetables and fruits in liquid form, you are providing a nutrient delivery system to your body. This allows individuals, who would otherwise have difficulty consuming whole vegetables, the opportunity to reap the numerous benefits vegetables and fruits have to offer.

But don’t go on the juice that will cause you to fail drug tests.

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Our juicer shown was found on Amazon for under $100 and had a 4-star rating.

DECEMBER 2013

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JUICING TIPS

Simple Jiu-Jitsu Math

The average age of JJM readers is 34 and 93% of you are male.

According to my calculations, you should be taking in 4 cups of vegetables and 2.5 cups of fruit A DAY!

THUMBS UP

Most commercial juices are processed and lacking in nutrition, while freshly juiced vegetables and fruits are loaded with an abundance of antioxidants. Juicing is an easy way to shower your body with concentrated amounts of nutrient-packed vegetables and fruits (hello vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants). Plus, these drinks are automatically low in ingredients you want to avoid like toxic fats, added sugars, and salt. A glass of freshly made juice provides a way to access digestive enzymes typically locked away in the fiber matrix of whole fruits; thus, helping to facilitate the chemical breakdown of food into smaller, more absorbable components for your body.

CONSIDER THIS: Drinking fresh juice can help you adopt healthier eating patterns. If you, or someone you roll with, does not traditionally consume their recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vegetables and fruits, incorporating fresh juice can be a fun and a different approach to increasing consumption of these important plant foods for improved health and wellness. It is safe to say that juicing is the easiest and fastest way to increase your vegetable and fruit intake. Compare drinking a glass of juice to eating 1 large cucumber, 2 apples, a lemon, 6 kale leaves, and a handful of spinach in one sitting.

If you have a hard time getting your daily servings of vegetables and fruit, juicing is a great way to get them in a glass.

Skip the bottled juice and go fresh.

If you can’t go fresh choose water instead.

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THUMBS DOWN

Now for the downsides: if you’re considering juicing to drop pounds fast, continue reading. While strictly following a juicing program for more than a few days can promote a downward trend on the scale because you’re slashing your collective daily calories, you pay a price.

Most plans leave gaping nutritional holes in your diet.

The majority of the calories in these juice beverages come from carbs, including high amounts of natural sugar from fruits. That means almost all commercial juice plans are grossly inadequate in protein, a key nutrient that helps you feel full and energized, while maintaining your lean muscle mass and boosting your metabolism. In fact, following a low protein diet, while simultaneously cutting calories, causes you to lose a higher proportion of weight as muscle tissue (as opposed to fat), which puts the brakes on your metabolism and reduces strength. Plus, most of the fiber in fruits and vegetables are lost during juicing if the pulp is not added back to the drink - a common (and ironic) issue with commercial juice blends on the market.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? It means that you’re basically following a highcarb, low-protein and lowfiber diet, which can cause

TIPS

If you want to try juicing, skip the full-on liquid diet and instead, enjoy a green juice (heavy on veggies and lighter on fruit to keep calories and sugar in check) with or in place of one of your meals.

If you’re picky, or not sure about flavor start with a higher fruit ratio and gradually lower by adding more veggies.

Use fresh fruits and veggies and fruits that are in season generally taste best.

It’s best to remove the seeds when juicing apples.

You might want to remove the stems, but if you don’t, that’s okay! You can juice all of it.

Anything with a tough exterior like oranges, bananas melons you should remove the rind before juicing.

Wash your fruit and veggies thoroughly and be sure to wash out your juicer after every use. Leaving any trace of raw material will stink quickly and could get you sick.

dramatic spikes in blood sugar and lead to headaches, mood swings, dizziness, and fatigue.

Another major drawback is that liquid calories do not have the same fill-power as whole, solid foods, which make them hard to stick to with a juice-only plan for longer than a few days without feeling irritable and

completely ravenous. Then there’s the cost. Commercial juice plans are prohibitively expensive for most people, with the most popular kits ranging from $65 to $85 a day. Even juicing at home can put a strain on your wallet since there is a low yield of juice per pound of produce.

TRY THIS FOR A GREAT SNACK:

Mix in several kale leaves, 2 large carrots, a spoonful of ginger, parsley, and 1 apple. And how cool is this…you then add the leftover pulp from the juicing machine into some muffins!

THE MORE YOU KNOW

With the information laid out as simple as it can be, make the right choices when it comes to your nutrition or choosing which diet to follow. Besides, nothing looks more intimidating to your opponent than you showing up to your match slamming down some juice from a sippy cup! As always my friends; eat healthy, eat clean and eat often.

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Dozens of carrots were harmed in the making of this article.

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WARMUP:::::::::::::::::::::::

STRETCHING WITH YOUR BELT words: TRAVIS

I

GUESNON

F YOU’RE THE TYPE WHO LOVES TO CONSTANTLY TRAIN AND COMPETE, THEN TAKING A BREAK FROM ROLLING OR WORKING OUT MAY NOT BE YOUR THING; HOWEVER, YOU CAN REAP SEVERAL BENEFITS BY TAKING TIME TO STRETCH. Stretching decreases muscle stiffness and the risk of low back pain. It improves posture, increases range of motion, may reduce your risk of injury, helps reduce or manage stress, reduces muscular tension, enhances muscular relaxation, promotes circulation, and helps relieve post-exercise aches and pains. “How does this relate to jiu-jitsu?” you ask. By reaping all the benefits I’ve already mentioned, stretching will also help improve your mechanical efficiency and overall functional performance.

The Right Time To Stretch Contrary to what your junior high PE teacher may have told you, the best time to stretch is not before, but after your workout or activity. When you stretch, protein filaments in the muscles expand, staying elongated for a short time, and making the muscle weaker for about 10 to 15 minutes. You’re actually weakening yourself and cooling down by doing a complete stretching routine

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beforehand. Before your activity you should warm up to increase blood flow, then stretch post-workout, when your muscles are more flexible.

Stretching for 20 to 30 minutes post-workout (and preferably every day) can significantly enhance an individual’s physical abilities in terms of agility, speed and power. I recommend stretching after a hot shower, as the heat and steam further assist your muscles to relax more.

PNF PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching uses static techniques to enhance both active and passive range of motion with the ultimate goal being to optimize motor performance.

PNF is an excellent stretching method when the aim is to increase range of motion. PNF stretching normally involves partner assistance in order to obtain the maximum amount

of stretch; however, your own jiu-jitsu belt(s) can be used as a partner when one is not available.

There are a variety of stretches that can be performed using your belt(s); however, knot tying would have to be introduced. To keep it simple, the five stretches listed in this article are easy and effective for a grappler at any level. A towel or yoga strap can also be used instead.

In case you were wondering about Anatomy Man, he’s a blue belt.

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HAMSTRINGS

One of the most common PNF stretches is the hamstring stretch.

01 02

Lie down on your back on the floor/ mat.

03

Slowly pull on the ends of the belt and use it to lift your legs into the air. Be sure to keep your knee straight. You can also do with one leg at a time.

Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and then slowly release the stretch. Switch legs and repeat this movement three times.

Loop your belt around your foot so you’re holding both ends of the belt.

04

Bring your legs up until a stretch is felt behind your thigh.

QUADS

Now that we’ve stretched out the hamstrings, let’s focus on the opposing muscle area, the quadriceps. It’s very important that both groups be stretched; otherwise you could be setting yourself up for muscular imbalance. This can cause injury or hamper your performance.

01 02 03

Lie on your stomach and loop your belt around your ankle.

Reach behind you and grab both ends of your belt with one hand.

Gently pull on it so your knee bends and a gentle stretch is felt in the front of your thigh.

Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and then slowly release the stretch. Switch legs and repeat this movement three times.

Oh yeah, that feels good.

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CALVES 1

01 02

2

Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you.

Wrap your belt around the ball of your foot, just below your toes.

03

Gently pull on your belt, allowing your foot to slowly bend up towards your knee while keeping your knee straight. You should feel a slight stretching feeling in the back of your lower leg.

You may feel the stretch behind your heel or behind your knee, depending on where the muscle or tendon is particularly tight.

3

SHOULDER ROTATION

01

Hold your belt in one hand; drape it over your shoulder, and down your back. If you are stretching your left shoulder, your belt should be placed over your right shoulder, and be held in your right hand.

Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and then slowly release the stretch. Switch legs and repeat this movement three times.

02

Reach behind your back with your other hand and grip your belt.

04

Once you feel a stretch in your shoulder, hold the position for 10 seconds and then slowly release the stretch.

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03

Gently pull your belt up, allowing your hand behind your back to move across, and up your back. A gentle stretch should be felt in the front or side of your shoulder.

Repeat 6 times for each shoulder, trying to pull your arm up your back a little further each time. Be sure to move slowly and avoid sudden or jerking motions.

We’ve got some more advance belt stretches in a future issue.

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WARMUP:::::::::::::::::::::: Relax and hold this position fo r 30 seconds.

Remember to breathe slowly and let the ch muscles stretch est gently. Perfor m one more tim e.

CHEST STRETCH

01

While standing and holding your belt at both ends, lift your arms overhead, and then allow your arms to fall behind your neck and back. You should feel some slight rotation in your shoulders. Be sure to keep your arms straight.

02

STRETCH YOUR WINGS AND FLY

With both arms holding your belt behind your back, you should feel a stretch in the front of your chest.

You can take your butterfly stretch to the next level with this slick trick. You’ll need two belts to perform it. Take one foot of the end of your belt, make a loop, and feed the other end of the belt through it to form an adjustable loop. Get into butterfly stretch position. Place the loop around your knee; wrap the rest of the belt around your back, and then underneath your feet. Do the same with your second belt.

Finally, pull up on the end of your belts.

01

End of belt tied in a knot with the other end pulled through.

Relax and hold this position for 30 seconds.

Remember to breathe slowly and let the chest muscles stretch gently. Perform one more time.

Tie your belt into a noose like loop as shown.

Assume butterfly position. Wrap belt around body as shown.

02

One belt around knee and back and underneath feet.

B

y implementing stretching into your everyday routine, you’ll improve your overall jiu-jitsu game tremendously.

It will enhance your strengths and lessen your weaknesses, regardless of the way you roll. Who doesn’t want that when dealing with a tough opponent?

You can do it while reading JiuJitsu Magazine or watching our videos on YouTube.

So, exercise your mind and body at the same time consistently, and the results will come.

Tension presses knees down and ankles in.

03

Pulling up on ends of belts.

SOURCE: SUBMISSIONS 101, WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=G3ZFYLBRIBE

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Too bad there’s not one single source for jiu-jitsu related videos.

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:::::::::::::::::::::::::THELIFE

DECISIONS

A

LL OUR LIVES WE ARE CONSTANTLY FACED WITH DECISIONS. What to eat, what to do, what to wear, who to see.

Decisions are a part of life alright, and those decisions are easy for most people.

As you grow older, you begin to develop a pattern of thinking that helps you make choices that best suit your life, some do better than others of course, but regardless, we all have some mechanism to help us make them.

The same thing occurs in jiu-jitsu. When you start as a newbie, you have too much on your mind to make any decisions. Your focus is, or at least should be, on learning each technique that your instructor presents you and repeating them until you have the mechanics, execution and the understanding of each technique down. Life is simple at that point, because when you have just a few options or a few techniques to choose from, your brain has an easy task in selecting what you are going to use. The downside is that most of the time, your limited arsenal will lead you to attempt the same solution to multiple situations, and the result will be that you fail much of the time. That time, however, illustrates a very important part of our growth because when you only know one sweep and one submission, you completely focus on using those, which speeds up your process of selection.

As you progress in Jiu-Jitsu and learn more and more techniques, you will reach a point where you will have great solutions for every situation that appears in front of you, like options to submit, sweep and threaten your opponent, along with the ability to escape from most submissions. Simple enough, or so it appears on the surface, that at some point your success ratio should be unlimited, but it isn’t! Why is that? The reason your success ratio isn’t 100% is because most of the time you are faced with another human being who has a similar arsenal and similar options to yours. At that point, assuming your technical skills are good, it is the person who makes the best choice in the fastest manner that will succeed most of the time.

Now that we know the decision making process is critical, how can we improve our own decision making abilities? Just as we do in life, we can develop patterns and train ourselves to make correct decisions quickly. How we do that is not that simple, but if we follow a few rules, we can achieve our goal.

What’s been the toughest decision you’ve made in life?

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First off, having too many options will hinder your decision making process. Remember, as a beginner, you had such few choices that you practically would always go for your “right” or only techniques you knew.

They may not have been the right option, but since you had such few options to choose from, you’d quickly go to them. So, if you have 100 techniques down you will be quicker at deciding which to use than if you have 1000 techniques to chose from. Unless you are a high level competitor, you are much better off knowing fewer techniques well than a myriad of techniques not as sharply.

Second, you should develop and practice a chain of connected techniques in sequence. For example, go for a choke to an arm-lock to a triangle to a sweep from the closed guard. By repeating these sequences, you’ll not only get the speed and the mechanics of the moves down, but your brain will get used to transitioning between the techniques quickly, cutting some precious milliseconds of decision time.

Finally, one of my favorite ways to improve my decision making time is to “direct” my opponent to the move that I want him to do and have my counter ready to go to before he or she even goes there. For example, in my side control attacks, sometimes I will show my opponent an escape route and even encourage him or her to use it by putting pressure towards that direction while I set up the next attack of choice as the opponent goes through that “door.”

By using this “directed” escape, you not only cut your decision making time, but you are also able to better prepare your attacks.

You will also start to understand your chain of options and which ones are best suited to you.

So, the next time you hit the mats, think about this and start focusing on sharpening your decision making skills, because at a certain level, it is the person who makes the best decision quickest who will eventually win.

KID PELIGRO

DECEMBER 2013

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THE GREAT ESCAPES 9

Simple Escapes You Can Use Immediately

with Joe Camacho & photos: MIKE VELEZ

N words

OBODY LIKES TO GET CAUGHT IN A BAD POSITION, BUT SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS. Maybe you didn’t see it coming, you were careless, or the other guy’s just good. Regardless, the reason it’s important to have some “go to” escapes in your arsenal to drill and practice is so that the next time you get caught in a bad spot, you have some options to choose from rather than relying on size and muscle. We’ve enlisted the help of our good friend and black belt Joe Camacho to show us some of his favorite escapes from some common bad spots.

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Joe’s a likable guy.

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THE FIRST RULE T

he first rule of any escape is to defend the finish. Being in a bad spot that warrants an escape means you’re in danger. So, first do your best to control that threat. If someone has your back and they’re attacking your neck, defend your neck first, and then work the escape. Same goes for armbars, joint locks, and anything else. Survive so you can free yourself and get into a better position. Now, onto the escapes…

ARMBAR ESCAPE FROM CLOSED GUARD From your first day as a white belt the words, “elbows in” or “protect your arms” should have been instilled in your vocabulary. However, even the best of us can get caught in a bad spot (caption: Ask Benson). Here’s a look at escaping an armbar while you’re in your opponent’s guard.

01

He’s gotten control of your arm and he’s rotating your hips to load up on your arm.

Quickly tuck your target hand into the crook of your other arm to create a figure-4 with your arms. Place your free hand underneath his thigh to prevent from him undoing your figure-4. This protects the arm and gives you time to work your escape.

KEY POINTS

These are sort of cardinal rules to any armbar defense or escape;

02

As soon as you have the arm secure, stack him and place your knee (same side as the target arm), behind his back. Pinch your knees together to “trap” him in that position.

03

Push his knee down to his face with your free arm and slowly begin to work your target arm out, inch-byinch if needed. As soon as you feel your elbow pass his crotch, you can be more deliberate and yank your arm out.

+ Keep your thumb pointed away from you. When the angles are right for him, your thumb is pointed toward you, so keep it pointed away. + Be conscientious of a wristlock.

When he has your arm trapped, but fears you may escape if he’s on top of things, he’ll quickly transition to another attack, wristlock or triangle that might be in his game plan. + Always feel that elbow of yours, if there’s something behind it, you’re trapped. As soon as nothing’s behind it or your triceps, you’re free.

04

This entire time maintain pressure on top of him, even after your arm is free. Grab onto something -his gi or his pants, and either dump him over to take the back, flatten him out to pass his guard, or work if he gives you a turtle.

Just don’t get him upset.

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Bringing your knee up to his back keeps him from sweeping you forward. If you omit this step you’re vulnerable to that sweep and probably won’t get the escape.

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ARMBAR ESCAPE FROM MOUNT

Your opponent’s on top of you, got you mounted and he’s going for it - the armbar from mount! Here’s a look at Joe’s escape from this vulnerable position.

01

First things first, as he’s making his move and it’s apparent that he’s going for the armbar, quickly get that figure-4 again. So, in this example Joe puts his right hand in the crook of his left elbow.

But rather than grabbing his opponent’s leg, Joe cups his head with his left hand.

03 02

The hand on the head allows Joe to block his opponent’s left leg from being effective, while letting Joe tuck his chin to his chest.

04

The space created by this movement lessens his opponent’s ability to anchor with his left leg. As soon as things feel loose, Joe pushes back on that left leg and bridges to clear his head over the leg.

As soon as the leg is cleared, Joe brings his right leg back underneath his body to step out to his right, turning into his opponent.

This alleviates the threat to the arm and places Joe in his opponent’s guard, but in a much safer position than before.

KEY POINTS

Putting your hand on your head is huge in this situation; it gives you a leverage point to curl your wrist to pry his leg off your head. If he attempts to push your hand off your head with his left arm, this opens up the possibility of posturing up and turning into him before you bridge.

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The hand on your head technique is usable in other defenses. You should play with hit.

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ARMBAR ROLL ESCAPE

This is a simpler escape from the mounted armbar that is a great option if you can’t get that figure-4 on your arm.

01

Your opponent has his leg over and he hasn’t yet pulled back on your arm, but is in the process.

03

Pulling down on the leg, look over your left shoulder, while at the same time bringing your right thumb pointed down toward the mat.

02

Quickly take your free left hand and grab onto his left pant leg, close to the cuff if possible. When you let go of your right arm, immediately keep your right arm curled and bring your thumb down toward the mat as if you’re striking a bicep pose like Ahnold.

04

Post your right foot to the mat and bridge over to your left shoulder.

This will drop your opponent to his left side.

05

Continue the roll bringing your left foot to the mat when you’re fully bridged and rolling to complete the roll until you’re facing the mat and your opponent’s backside.

06

Keep his leg pinned to the mat with your left hand and push your head and shoulder into his back to keep him facing forward.

07

Quickly step to your left and move into side control, your right arm is safe from the armbar, and has been since you completed the roll.

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KEY POINTS

As always, be aware of the wristlock. Whenever both his hands are free he can abandon the armbar and go for the wrist, so be aware and keep it locked straight.

“WALK THIS WAY!”

11/1/13 10:42 PM

I ROLL WITH

Mario Sperry Multi-Time World & ADCC Champion Coach to Top MMA Athletes

See Free Videos of Mario and Other World Champions

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JJMTECHNIQUE:::::::::::

HEAD OVER BRIDGE ESCAPE

01

With an armbar attempt from the mount, Joe’s opponent captures the right arm, and is fully committed to the armbar. Both of their hands are attacking the arm.

02

When his opponent pulls back, Joe grabs onto his right hand with his left to keep from getting caught, goes with it and bridges in that direction.

03

Once the bridge is fully extended, Joe throws his legs to his right, up and over his opponent’s torso.

04

As he lands to his feet, Joe brings his right hand to the inside of his right thigh.

05

Joe’s left hand comes to the mat in front of him, while at the same time Joe steps his legs to his right, over his opponent’s head, ending up on top in side control.

KEY POINTS

A higher level opponent may control your right leg with his right hand as he’s controlling your arm with his left. If this is the case, choosing another escape route might be in order.

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Yeah, that one’s a little tricky.

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ARMBAR ESCAPE WITH INSIDE KNEE

Depending on the opponent he may choose to execute an armbar from the mount with his bottom leg tucked against your side rather than over your body.

This is a simple escape you can use when presented with this attack.

01

Get a good grip of your target arm so you don’t get caught. While he begins to pull back on your arm, bring your left leg up and over to your right to hook the inside of his right knee.

02

With your left leg inside his knee, peel it downward, kicking if needed. Once you feel it open, pinch your knees together nice and tight to control his leg.

03

Once you have firm control of his right leg you can let go of your own grip and use your left hand to push off on his left leg, freeing your head.

04

Once your head is free, pressure it against his left thigh and quickly reach your left arm over his right shoulder and sit up, dropping him to his back. Your arm is no longer in danger since he has no leverage.

05

Because his right leg was tucked on your side at the beginning, you’ll be past his guard and able to quickly move into side control.

KEY POINTS

In step 3, to keep your target arm safe, the entire time as you let go and bring your left arm up, put your right hand into the crook of your left elbow to maintain a figure-4 grip of your arm while pushing off on his leg.

Joe’s new studio is blowing up. Check it out: www.district3six.com

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KIMURA FROM CLOSED GUARD ESCAPE

This is a simple defense and escape from an opponent attacking you with a Kimura while you’re in his closed guard.

01

Joe’s opponent has solid control of his right wrist while in closed guard.

The first thing he does is anchor his target arm to his right leg. This is done by getting his own right hand behind his bent knee, grabbing onto his own pant fabric.

Getting the hand between his own leg, along with the pant grabbing, makes it much more difficult for his opponent to break.

04 02

Then Joe pressures down to his right side to keep his opponent from rocking him over to get the arm.

03

Joe applies pressure down on his opponent’s right thigh with his elbow to push it down, opening the guard further.

05

Once the leg is over, he puts all his weight on his opponent’s side and slowly works his left knee up to the back, while at the same time he’s grabbing the back of his opponent’s gi.

06

At this point, Joe is still holding onto his own leg with his right hand, but it’s now safe for him to let go and free up his right hand.

To do this, Joe pressures his right shoulder into his opponent’s shoulder, and then quickly pulls his arm free.

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With the knee down, Joe “mule kicks” backward with his right leg then up and over his opponent’s right leg.

07

After his arm is free, Joe is safe to bring his right arm over his opponent’s left shoulder, controlling the neck. Joe then sits his opponent up and drops back to take the back.

That’s one way to turn the tables.

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LAST RESORT TRIANGLE ESCAPE

This is a simple escape when things aren’t looking too good. You’re caught in a triangle, he’s got the leg locked down and your arm across his stomach.

01

First thing with any escape from a bad spot is to defend the attack. So to do this, Joe takes both of his hands, grabs his opponent’s bent leg by the pants and drives that knee hard to the mat.

02

As soon as his opponent’s knee is to the mat, Joe shifts his body so that his knees are pointed to his left, or in the direction of the side he brought the knee down to.

03

Joe then looks in that direction, his opponent will more than likely pull back on his head, which creates enough space for Joe to sneak his left hand between the back of his opponent’s knee and his own neck.

04

Once the hand is through, Joe grips his hands together and forms a frame for which he can use to pry his trapped right arm out.

05

When Joe frees his right arm, he’s got an angle to quickly move into side control.

KEY POINTS

When you shift your knees your opponent will sense that you’ve eliminated his leverage for the triangle. So, work quickly to get your hand in there to create your frame, otherwise you might get caught with an arm lock.

Again, it’s always nice to turn a bad situation into your advantage.

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FIGURE-4 OMOPLATA ESCAPE

Joe has two common escapes from an Omoplata, one for if his opponent figure-4’s his leg, and one if he doesn’t. This first one is for the figure-4 scenario.

01

Joe finds himself in an Omoplata. His opponent brings his near foot under the back of his far knee, which is a very common detail of many who use the Omoplata.

02

As soon as the figure-4 gets locked, Joe grabs a hold of the top foot and pulls it towards him and up onto his own right knee. Grabbing the foot keeps his opponent from sitting up and allows him to bring the foot to his knee.

03

The pressure on the foot allows Joe to come up on his feet and walk his legs to his right to his opponent’s head, in a north/south type position.

04

From this position he’s able to fight the Omoplata grip and escape his right arm to move into a side mount from there.

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Follow the arrows.

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OMOPLATA TO TRIANGLE ESCAPE

Some people don’t use the figure-4 on their Omoplata because it makes it more difficult to sit up sometimes. This is an escape Joe likes if he’s presented with this circumstance. There’s only a 50/50 chance he gets the triangle, but even if he doesn’t get it he’s escaped the original threat.

01

His opponent has control of the arm, legs straight and he’s sitting up to execute the Omoplata. If properly performed, the attacker has control of the hips, so Joe can’t roll with it to an escape. But for this escape, controlling the hip is okay.

02

Rather than do a roll when his opponent sits up, Joe gets his back to the mat and pulls his left leg back far enough to get it beneath his opponent’s left arm that’s attempting to control the hip.

03

As soon as the leg is through, Joe grabs his opponent’s left arm and hips up to pull his opponent’s arm and shoulders between Joe’s legs.

04

Quickly, he locks his legs together to allow him to drag his opponent’s arm across to Joe’s left side.

KEY POINTS

Joe likes to finish his triangles with a “windshield wiper” move.

When his ankle is under his knee, he turns that top leg outward to help pinch his knees to finish the choke.

05

Joe grabs his left ankle, inside his own right leg, to pull his shin up across the back of his opponent’s neck so he can lock down the triangle, readjusting if necessary, until he can finish.

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Everybody say “thanks Joe.”

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GEARLAB:::::::::::::::::::::::

FUJI SPORTS

SEKAI BJJ GI www.fujisports.com

F

words: MIKE VELEZ

| photos: JASON BOULANGER

UJI SPORTS KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT MAKING GI’S. Mr. Frank Hatashita started the company more than 50 years ago with the mission to make affordable and high quality Judo gi’s. In 2006, Fuji began making gi’s for Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the same mission. Go to any school or tournament in the world and you’re sure to find gi’s bearing the Mt. Fuji silhouette. Fast-forward to this summer, Fuji Sports has released their latest BJJ gi, the Sekai. The Sekai is a full-featured premium gi made with competition and heavy training in mind. We got our hands on one from the very first run and rolled with it for almost a month.

PANTS The Sekai pants are made from a 100% cotton ripstop material.

They’re relatively soft and don’t have that rough or starchy feel that some blended ripstop materials have. The white gi that I reviewed featured black contrast stitching throughout.

I’m a big fan of contrast stitching; I think it looks good and it’s also a nice quality check for consumers. Flaws in the stitching are more apparent with the contrast. This is more reason for manufacturers to pay attention to detail. The stitching throughout the pants is very good, but not flawless.

Single and triple stitching can be seen all over the pants. A thin sheet of cotton twill runs from about mid thigh down the front of each leg. This adds some durability and cushion on the knees. The extra material gives you the lightweight feel of ripstop without sacrificing any durability or comfort.

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A draw string keeps the pants on tight with four loops total near the front of the gi.

The Japanese character for Sekai, along with the English word, are embroidered near the bottom of the right pant leg. Sekai means “world” in Japanese.

The bottom of each leg features a hem of black ½” material.

Those are some jiu-jitsu feet if I’ve ever seen any.

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FIT AND FEEL

JACKET The jacket is a very nice single-piece cut of single-weave cotton. Out of the package, it has a comfortable, lightweight feel to it. I wouldn’t say that the yoke is high on the Sekai, but it definitely isn’t low. It sits about 3 inches from the armpit. The yoke is the seam that runs horizontally across the chest where the pieces of fabric making the jacket come together.

The placement of the yoke should translate into a neutral fit: not too slim, yet not too broad. Like the pants, contrasting black stitching can be found throughout the jacket.

Reinforcement material can be found in all the key areas of the jacket and are put in place with double stitching. This includes reinforcement in the armpit, ripstop behind the yoke and side slit, and doubling up of the weave across the shoulders.

Simple black and grey embroidery work is found on the shoulders and center of the back. It’s nice and clean, nothing gaudy, with plenty of room if you want to patch it up yourself.

The collar on the Sekai is a nice, thick EVA foam collar. I’m a fan of a thick collar and the Sekai doesn’t disappoint. A strip of black material covers the seam between the jacket and collar to keep things comfortable.

A large, super-soft silkscreen print of the world can be found inside the jacket.

The print pays homage to the birthplace of jiu-jitsu and its current hotbeds including: Tokyo, Rio De Janeiro, Abu Dhabi, Southern California, New York City, and London.

Highlights and Specs The Sekai is available in three color combinations; white with black stitching, black with red stitching, and blue with grey stitching.

Available in A1 through A6 sizing.

Nice and clean, the way we like it.

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Suggested Retail of $169.99.

Comes in a nice black nylon drawstring bag.

Every now and then I come across a gi that fits me perfectly. I’m 5’8, 195lbs with a 48” chest and a 34” waist. My dilemma usually lies in the sleeves. If the gi fits me comfortably across the chest and shoulders, the sleeves are usually too long. When I first put on the A3 model I reviewed, I was immediately excited because it fit me so well in the upper body and the sleeve length felt like it would be perfect after a few washes.

The jacket closed nicely across the front and the length of the jacket felt comfortable as well. There was not too much lapel to be used against me. Putting on the pants for the first time felt equally good. I’m on the shorter side and sometimes A3 pants fall past the mat. These were just above and felt good all the way around. After looking at the measurements, the Sekai A3 is a slightly smaller cut than most A3’s I’ve tested. I would keep that in mind when purchasing.

If you’re in between an A2 and A3 normally, like I am, I would definitely error on the larger side.

ROLLING WITH IT

The shrink on the Sekai was really not much at all. It was well within the acceptable range. This meant that the feel in the gi when rolling the first few times felt a lot like it did when I first tried it on. On my back, with my legs up in an open guard, I did feel like the back of the pants rode a little lower than I had liked.

(I don’t want anybody checking out my thong when I roll. To solve that problem I went commando and tightened up the drawstring, kidding.) Up top the gi felt GREAT! The sleeve length was perfect, I wasn’t overly concerned with long lapels, and the material felt comfortable and breathed well. The Sekai has that lightweight feel, but I wouldn’t put it in the “lightweight” category. It always felt durable and comfortable. After about a dozen days of training in it, it continues to hold up well. The brightness in the white is still there and there are no signs of premature wear.

A3 Weighs in at 3.9lbs total. The pants are 1.2lbs and the jacket is 2.7lbs.

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GEARLAB::::::::::::::::::::::

SHRINK ME?

TRY IT! A

BRAND NEW

AFTER X3 WASHES AT 40-DEGREES C

A 65”

62.7”

B 30.3

30.3”

C 22”

21.8”

D 20.9”

20.9”

E 40”

38.3”

D

CONCLUSION

This gi has found a permanent place in my gear bag. Its smaller fit suited me perfectly.

That could be a draw back if you’re on the larger side. You might have a little trial and error finding the right size for you. Check out Fuji’s website for a size chart. The only problem I discovered while rolling, was the cut of the pants between gusset and waist. Maybe it’s my budunkadunk, but I found myself tightening up the drawstring more often than usual. Don’t let my large posterior turn you off to the Sekai; it’s a gi worthy of any combatant. It’s reasonably priced considering the solid quality.

VERDICT B

Ideal fit for me, excellent quality, and reasonable price.

E

PERFORMANCE: VALUE: OVERALL:

C

MASTERING THE GUARD PASS AND ITS SUBMISSIONS

by Master Pedro Sauer and Kid Peligro

Now Available in Paperback!

Available at www.bjjmart.com

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JJMTECHNIQUE::::::::::::

LIVING THE DREAM Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu

After Overcoming Many Obstacles on the Road to Beijing, ADCC Worlds 2013 Absolute Champion, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu is Now Living the Dream bio: DEB BLYTH tech: MIKE VELEZ

| photos: JASON BOULANGER

W

E ALL HAVE DREAMS, BIG AND SMALL, AND THEY DRIVE US TO OUR GREATEST HEIGHTS. Sometimes we hold the same dream close for a lifetime, other times our dreams change daily with our moods. Some people meet their dreams through a stroke of good luck, while others toil away for a lifetime trying to manifest them. And every now and then, when the stars align and the timing’s right…BAM! It happens and you are now the holder of an experience so great, an event so transformational, a moment so monumental, you are permanently altered by its beauty and wonder forever.

If it sounds like I’m talking about that instant when you meet your true love, in a way, I am. Jiu-jitsu means different things to different people, and in the case of Fight Sports’ black belt Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, jiu-jitsu means everything to him…it’s his life, his true love… and now, after winning the coveted open class title at the ADCC Worlds 2013, which is the most prestigious, prominent and esteemed grappling tournament on earth, and defeating multi-time world champion Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida in the process, jiu-jitsu is also his dream come true...his “happily ever after.”

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CYBORG ISIdaho, CREATED a small city of 800 people.

Roberto Abreu was born and raised in Mato Grosso do Sul, the countryside of Brazil. He was raised on a farm in the middle of Pantanal, one of the most beautiful ecological reserves in Brazil until he was 10. Cyborg always had the support of his parents to play sports and before he started training jiu-jitsu at the age of 17, he had already collected many medals in several sports like swimming, Judo, Karate, and Capoeira. With only two weeks of jiu-jitsu under his white belt, he won his first competition. After that, he was hooked. Three months later, Roberto came to the US as an exchange student to study English. His dad wanted him to live in a similar environment as the one he had in Brazil, so Roberto ended up in Plummer,

It turned out to be one of the best experiences of his life. His host mom would drive him to jiu-jitsu classes in Spokane, Washington three times a week. He eventually received his blue belt there. A year later, Roberto went back to Brazil.

Shortly thereafter, he got into a very serious car accident. The car flipped many times and threw him out of the front window.

The car ended up landing on top of his arm. After having surgery, the doctors told him he would never be able to move that arm correctly again. But Roberto didn’t listen. He went back to training and four months later, he placed for the first time at the Brazilian Nationals. That’s when his coach started calling him “Cyborg.” It was a mark…a gift that would stick with him forever.

When Brett told his mom to be sure and check out the new issue because his picture would be in it, I’m sure he wasn’t expecting this photo.

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THE DREAM BEGINS TO FORM

In 2002, Cyborg’s dream began. He knew that jiu-jitsu was his life. He opened the first Fight Sports Academy when he was still a purple belt, with the help of his dad, who is his biggest idol. He trained while he studied at two universities, majoring in business and fitness. He built his students, who were always his only training partners (he’s never had a professor). He began to accomplish many things: he won the Brazilian Nationals, the Pan Ams, and the Worlds, defending Team Nova Geracao from Rio. In 2004, Cyborg received his black belt from Francisco Toco Albuquerque, his mentor and friend, someone very special to him. Cyborg fought for two years on the Brazilian National team of wrestling. In 2007, Cyborg competed in the first Long Beach Worlds. On his way back home, he stopped in Miami to visit his Uncle Lauro. He was offered the opportunity to stay in Miami and teach at a gym and he accepted. Conquering a new country with only $800 in his pocket was tough. Cyborg lived on the mats and ate $1 food from CVS to get by, but that didn’t stop him. “Tough times make us understand the real value of every little accomplishment we earn,” he says, “Adversities make the champion!” Over time, Cyborg brought his students, Marcel Gonçalves, Jake Mackenzie, Paulo Azambuja, Ricardo Rezende and others to help him out, and little by little everything started coming together. After years of hard work, his team got stronger. He and Pablo Popovitch decided to create a team called The Avengers, and they won many world titles, including the Worlds and Pan Ams team titles. And now, after winning the silver at ADCC 2009 and a bronze in 2011, Cyborg’s dream has finally arrived: 2013 ADCC Absolute Champion!

DID YOU TRAIN DIFFERENTLY FOR THIS EVENT THAN YOU USUALLY DO? For the first time in a long time I felt 100% dedicated to training. I got instructors to cover my school, and I got in a serious conversation with my personal trainer, Eduardo Ferrino, who is like a brother to me and has trained with me for the last six years. We sat together and talked two and a half months before the ADCC. I still had a foot injury from the Worlds, so I couldn’t run or anything like that. We created a spreadsheet showing how the training would go. He told me I was going to have to trust him. He told me I was weak. I hadn’t trained hard for two years. Before the ADCC I was competing out of shape, basically. I was doing physical therapy for my shoulder, then I had knee surgery, then I injured my foot at the Worlds. I was also running my businesses, which took a lot of my time.

I just had a bunch of things going on, which frustrated my progress. Eduardo said I was going to put on some weight so I could get stronger. During my first month I did only conditioning. I pushed really hard. My regular weight is 225lbs. At the end of the first month and a half, I was 245 lbs.

Don’t worry Brett, there are more shots to come.

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I’ve never been that big in my life! I was so heavy, but I was so strong. I had to put on muscle so my body wouldn’t break again. My shoulders were weak, my knee, and my foot…I was getting smoked by everybody in training. I thought, “This sucks!” Eduardo said, “I told you to trust me. Just do what I tell you to do and you’re going to be fine.” The second month I focused on jiu-jitsu and spent a lot of time training. I did 10 rounds of 10-minute training back to back with all of my guys. I had some good training, especially with bigger guys, which I haven’t had in the past.

That, plus my conditioning in the same day. It beat me down.

It was tough getting in shape, but everything was so perfect.

I was at my peak when I got to China. I didn’t get tired at all.

HOW DID YOU DO IN YOUR WEIGHT CLASS? I had 4 fights in my weight class. My first fight was against Mike Martelle from Canada. I armbarred him in 30 seconds.

My second fight was against Orlando Sanchez. I had a war with him. He’s so freaking big!

He’s like 295 lbs! In ADCC rules the first 5 minutes you can’t earn any points. During the match I swept him 3 times.

I could sweep him, but not hold

him. He’s very explosive and big. I had 2 overtimes with him, so our match went 20 minutes.

I cut his eye, bloodied his nose and lips. He cut my face, my eyes, my jaw. It was a war. I beat him on a referee’s decision. It was a hard fight. On the second day I faced Buchecha in the semi-finals in my weight class.

He’s a good friend of mine. We don’t like to fight each other.

We talked and said, “Let’s just put on the best fight ever.” In the beginning of our 10-minute match we started really hard, but I wasn’t 100% focused. I lost the competition mindset.

He got the best of me. He took my back to earn the victory. I feel like I could have won if I’d had the right mentality, but I lost. At the ADCC you have to fight for third place, so I went against Jared Bopp. I took his back and ended up winning 5-0, so I won the bronze.

THEN YOU WENT INTO THE OPEN CLASS. Yes. I had 4 fights in the open class. I won the first fight by RNC, the second 10-0 and my third was against Keenan Cornelius. It was a good match.

He’s winning everything. He’s really, really good. The first 5 minutes we started standing up; I almost took him down, so he pulled guard. I almost

passed twice, but never engaged 100%. The next 5 minutes, I passed his guard and took his back twice. I won 6-0. Then I faced Buchecha in the final. I beat him 10-0. No one scored a point on me in the whole open class. It was perfect!

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR FIRST AND SECOND FIGHTS AGAINST BUCHECHA? A friend once told me that you change in every fight. If you fight me now, I’ll be different 10 minutes from now if I fight you again. I will change, and it could be for good or for bad. I realized after my first fight against Buchecha where I needed to focus my energy and what I needed to capitalize on. Going into the finals was such a big deal for me. Winning this title has been my dream my whole life. Just to have this chance was amazing. It was a once in a lifetime chance in my hands.

Personally, I think Buchecha was a little over confident. I think he thought he was going to take it again. This was the fight of my life. I felt 10 times stronger than I ever have before. I was so fast, he didn’t have a chance.

He couldn’t do anything to me.

I was confident in every move.

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and in technique. It was so perfect. I felt blessed. The match went 20 minutes and I never let him rest.

HOW DID YOU STRATEGIZE FOR ALL THESE FIGHTS? The strategy changes with everyone you compete against.

Competing against Keenan, I know he’s really hard to pass, so if you get the pass in the first 5 minutes, you’re not going to get points and he’s not easy to submit. So, with him, I felt it was better to wait and then pass once the points counted. But with some of the other guys who are really good wrestlers, and not as good at jiu-jitsu, I wanted to get in there and finish it as fast as possible. I would try to submit them in the first 5 minutes to end it. For the guys who are really good on their feet, they tend to not engage in the first 5 minutes and then they pull guard in the last 5 minutes. If the match goes to OT, you’re not allowed

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to pull guard in OT, so if he gets you down, he can hold you and get you like that. So, everyone you compete against, the strategy has to be different.

ADCC is really special. It’s a fight that anyone has a really good chance of winning. It doesn’t favor jiu-jitsu guys.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU COMPETED AT THE ADCCS? This was my third time. My first event was in 2009 in Barcelona.

I took 2nd place to Fabricio Werdum. In 2011, I was in the semi finals with Fabricio Werdum and lost again. I took bronze on a referee’s decision.

MAYBE YOU AND WERDUM SHOULD HAVE A REMATCH AT METAMORIS TO SEE WHO THE TRUE CHAMPION REALLY IS… (Laughs)…I would LOVE that.

That would be a really good Metamoris fight.

WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR PERFORMANCE AT THE ADCC WAS SO STRONG THIS YEAR? I think overcoming my mind and wanting to conquer my dream made the difference.

Overcoming yourself and your perceived limitations are the hardest things for someone to do. I have so much going on in my life, and winning the ADCC represents everything I’ve worked my whole life for.

I’ve conquered my dreams one by one, believing in my potential and working very hard. It’s made the victory more special. I’ve had nothing given to me; I’ve always had to strive for everything I have.

WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE PART OF YOUR TRIP TO CHINA? I went to Beijing by myself the Friday before. I was sure there’d be a lot of people there, but no one was there. No one spoke English. All I ate were bananas

the first day and when I finally tried to eat regular food, I got food poisoning (Laughs). I thought, “I trained so hard to make this happen, and now I’m in trouble.” On Sunday, I ran into Rickson Gracie in the lobby. I had breakfast with him and Kron. We had such a nice conversation. I was honored to have many meals with him over the next few days. He is a legend. I’ve never looked up to anybody in jiu-jitsu, but he’s different. I was like a little kid with him. I asked him to tell me stories about his life and his fights. I bugged him all day long to tell me. I was like a sponge; I soaked it all up. Then I asked him one important question. I asked him what the toughest fight of his life was and he told me the story. He said when he was only 17 he took a fight with a huge guy named Zulu, who defeated everyone back then. After the 1st round of the fight, Rickson said he couldn’t submit Zulu because

Special Thanks to Juliano Prada and Total MMA in Tustin for letting us shoot there.

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he was so strong. Before the 2nd round he told his dad (Helio Gracie) that he couldn’t go back out there and face him again; that he was too tired. His dad said, “Are you crazy?” His dad and brother threw him back in the ring and Rickson ended up submitting him. He told me he never backed off any mental challenge again after that. He said he realized that Zulu must have been just as tired as he was. It was important for me to hear this. I had so much on my mind the day of the finals.

We are our own worst enemies.

I’m sitting there thinking that I was tired, I have all these injuries…our minds trick us into a bunch of excuses as to why we can’t accomplish our dreams. I’m a Christian, and I really believe that we have to have faith and understand that we have someone bigger than us watching over us. I have it written on my arm that I’m the strength and courage of God. And my faith has always given me the strength to overcome my biggest fears. I went back to my room. I put on Gospel music. I had so much peace inside me.

I headed to the elevator to go over to the gym for my fight.

There was no Internet in the rooms, only in the lobby. When I stepped into the elevator, I received a message on my phone. A friend sent me a scripture from the Bible: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” There’s no way I should have gotten that message. I thought, “Wow! God is sending me a message! Today is my day.” Having Mestre Ze Mario Sperry in my corner on the first day and Pablo Popovitch in my corner the second inspired me a lot as well.

After I had fought my weight, the officials started calling for the absolute. They only allow 16 athletes in the open class. When

Like a machine.

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they asked if I wanted to fight in it I said, “Of course!” At that time, I still had concerns on my mind, but knew I needed to fight. As I started warming up, I all of a sudden felt like I had nothing to worry about.

I fought 100% with my heart during the whole open class. It was such an amazing experience for me just being there. I overcame myself – my body, mind and spirit.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU CONQUERED MORE THAN JUST THE OPEN CLASS. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALSO WON THE WAR WITH YOUR MIND, WHICH IS NO EASY FEAT! Yes, that’s true. I was there for my dream. I can’t stress how important it is to give value to the things we conquer. I cried for a whole day after I won because the victory meant so much to me. If I’d won the ADCC earlier in my career, it wouldn’t have been so precious.

Everything happens at the right time and I’m so happy it happened this way. I hope I inspire people with my victory.

I conquered my dream.

YOUR WIN IS INSPIRATIONAL FOR MANY REASONS, NOT TO MENTION THAT YOU TURN 33 IN DECEMBER AND YOU BEAT A WORLD CHAMPION 10 YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOU. Yes, and I have a lot on my plate! Buchecha is a young and very dedicated athlete.

It definitely gets harder to accomplish these victories when we’re older and have more responsibilities. When I was younger I didn’t have 4 companies to run, gyms around the world, and students competing everywhere. I didn’t have to be a teacher and a

businessman and a parent to a bunch of kids at my school nor be a competitor on top of it. That’s the whole difference; where my focus is. It’s so much harder to accomplish these things today, but I went there and I did it. To win the open class at this time in my life… that’s why I just dropped to my knees and cried. It’s truly a blessing. It took a lot of overcoming and it was such an accomplishment for me. It’s a dream come true. I can only thank God for the opportunities I have in life, to be able to live for my passion and for having so many special people in my life. I dedicate this victory to my parents. My family has always supported me and given me the values I needed to become a champion. The true values of a champion are beyond the medal; they’re of the heart. It’s in the history you wrote to become the champion.

So, thanks to my parents for giving me the tools I needed to fight for my dreams and to be

the man I am today. I also want to thank my precious students, friends and fans that supported me in accomplishing what I have. We’ve built a beautiful family over the years, and they’re my motivation to keep reaching for bigger dreams. This dream started over 10 years ago in Pantanal, Brazil and I’m the real proof that every dream is possible. It doesn’t matter how far it looks from your hands. If you truly believe it and are ready to bleed for it, the Universe will conspire to make it happen! I conquered my dream!

WRITER’S NOTE: If you want to learn more about Cyborg’s extraordinary ADCC Worlds 2013 journey, check out Stuart Cooper’s film at:

TINYURL.COM/JJMCYBORG

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Cyborg is going to show us some of his favorite technique combinations along with some Tornado Guard sweeps and drills.

HALF GUARD PASS TO KIMURA

01

Brett has an open half guard with his shin up as a shield. Cyborg pops his knee up so that it’s on top of Brett’s thigh, but doesn’t go to far otherwise Brett can lock half guard.

02

Brett wants to get close to Cyborg so he can do something from there, this is good for Cyborg, he pulls Bett’s head in and scooping his right hand underneath Brett’s neck as if he’s curling Brett’s head. Keeping it nice and tight.

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03

Now Cyborg cross passes, never with his knee over the thigh, but instead over the Brett’s shin.

Everything Cyborg does is done with strength behind it.

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04

As soon as Cyborg passes his legs Brett thinks he can go to Cyborg’s back. This allows Cybog to continue the pass running his legs across to get to a north/south spot on Brett.

05

At this point Cyborg can go to side control or he can work a Kimura. For the Kimura he brings is knees to Brett’s back, releasing is hold of Brett’s neck and getting a Kimura grip of Brett’s left arm.

06

Do execute the Kimura Cyborg steps his right leg over Brett’s head and body so that it’s under Brett’s arm.

07

Then Cyborg traps Brett’s arm up by his head while attaching’s Brett’s triceps tight to his chest.

08

To finish Cyborg pulls his entire body up, taking Brett’s arm with him and taking that arm to the back to finish the Kimura.

KEY POINTS

At the beginning of the technique if Cyborg doesn’t have control of Brett’s right arm Cyborg keeps his left knee close to Brett’s knee. If he doesn’t there’s a lot of space for Brett to under hook Cyborg’s thigh and move to a deep half guard.

Just ask Brett. This could be a drinking game for this article. Everytime Brett looks like he’s in pain you have to take a drink.

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HALF GUARD PASS TO BACK

01

In this situation Brett’s keeping his distance from Cybog.

02 04

Cyborg punches his right fist down on the mat above Brett’s thigh and close to his hip.

Cyrbog continues the progress of his legs, at this point Brett is really stuck, he’s got a lot of weight on him and he’s lost his guard.

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03 05

As soon as Cyborg punches down he crosses his knee over Brett’s shin, remember never over the thigh, always over the shin.

With leg’s passed Cyborg steps over up high bringing his left arm up over to control Brett’s left arm, and bringing his right arm down to control Brett’s legs.

Of protein drink or Kill Cliff of course.

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06

At this point Cyborg can go for the Kimura just as he did in the previous pass. But let’s say that Brett’s fast enough to get to his knees. Well then, Cyborg brings his right knee to Brett’s back and swings his left leg over the front of Brett’s left side to get the hook in.

07

But Cyborg doesn’t get just any old hook in, he places the top of his foot on the inside of Brett’s thigh to latterly “hook” the leg.

08

With this hook in and his left arm wrapped around Brett’s torso Cyborg pulls and to his left, bringing Brett with him.

09

Cyborg continues the motion and has Brett’s back to finish with a choke.

KEY POINTS

Before Cyborg brings his first hook over he makes sure that his right foot is blocking Brett’s right leg. If he doesn’t Brett could possibly escape.

Cyborg uses the top of his right foot to hook into the crook of Brett’s right knee.

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That outside foot hook is gold.

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HALF GUARD TO DEEP HALF TO BACK TO ARMBAR

This is a sequence that Cyborg used at the ADCC to get one of the quickest submissions of the tournament.

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Brett starts off in Cyborg’s open half guard.

Cyborg has his left shin up as a shield against Brett and he’s controlling Brett’s left arm at the wrist. Cyborg’s left arm is under his knee so that Brett can’t smash down on his knee.

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Cyborg kicks out his left leg to create a little space and reaches deep with his left arm around Brett’s back to get a hold of his left hip.

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Once he has a hold of the hip Cyborg drops to his right side shoots his left hand deep between Brett’s legs reaching deep enough to pull Brett on top of him so his head is against Brett’s thigh.

Then Cyborg reaches his left arm out far too keep Brett from escaping that leg and so that he can bring his arms over Brett’s left thigh close to the hip. Then he closes his hands together with a Gable grip and shifts himself back forcing Brett in front of him.

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Now Cyborg wants to control Brett’s left arm. When Brett’s not expecting Cyborg grabs Brett’s left wrist by his left hand, and hooks his right arm under Brett’s left arm to control him at the forearm.

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Next Cyborg must switch his legs. He brings his right leg Brett’s leg then locks it down under his own left leg as shown while at the same time scooping his left foot under Brett’s foot to get the lock down.

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Watch those legs.

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When Cyborg is ready to strike he releases the lock down and rolls up and to his right, he uses his control of Brett’s hip and leg to get Brett to the mat on his back.

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Cyborg keeps control of Brett’s arm with his right hand on the forearm while he releases his grip with his left then feeds his left hand underneath Brett’s left hand to grab him at the wrist.

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With control of Brett’s arm with his left hand Cyborg digs his right arm around Brett’s neck to cross face and shifts Brett to his left side.

Cyborg steps his right foot on Brett’s right hip to get the angle and brings his right leg back deep enough to get it over the front of Brett’s head. Just prior to that he pushes his right elbow against Brett’s head to expose more neck.

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Once over Cyborg brings his right arm over Brett’s left shoulder and hands off control of that left arm to Cyborg’s right. Cyborg’s elbow is near Bretts ear.

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Once Brett hits the mat Cyborg quickly pushes Brett’s right leg away with his right. This allows enough room for Cyborg to bring his left leg up and over Brett’s left side and across his mid section.

Cyborg comes down hard with his leg across Brett’s neck and face.

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Finally, to put Brett out of his misery Cyborg brings Brett’s arm up to Cyborg’s right then peels back to finish.

He brings Brett’s arm up first to make sure that Brett can’t reach his hands together to defend.

We’re not going to tell Cyborg to squeeze knees, you tell him.

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TURTLE ATTACK TO BACK TO TRIANGLE CHOKE This is a sequence of moves that Cyborg teaches to all the UFC fighters he trains. He’s anxious to see it get pulled off and awarded Submission of the Night.

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Brett’s turtled up and Cyborg’s right hand is scooped around and controlling the inside of Brett’s right thigh. Cyborg’s weight isn’t on top of Brett, but off to his side using his shoulder to put pressure down. Cyborg keeps his weight off to the side to avoid getting rolled from the turtle.

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Cyborg brings his left arm across the front of Brett to control his right arm at the wrist.

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Cyborg brings his left knee up between Brett’s thigh and torso.

Brett goes to block and Cyborg brings his right leg up and over to get his right hook in.

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At the same time the hook is coming over, Cyborg uses his right hand to grab his own left wrist and rolls Brett over to his right side. When they land, both of Cyborg’s hooks are in and his right leg is already across Brett’s body.

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Now using his two points of connection, control of the wrist and knee on the shoulder, Cyborg brings Brett over to the left side.

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Cyborg keeps Brett’s right hand pressured against his own chest to help kill his movement, and as he does this, he passes his left leg over Brett’s left shoulder.

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With the leg right there, Cyborg lets go of his wrist with his right hand and passes it under to grab his left shin, just above the ankle.

When Brett agreed to do this photo shoot with us I’m not sure he had all this in mind.

11/21/13 11:41 AM

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As soon as they roll over, Cyborg steps his right foot on Brett’s hip and adjusts his left leg up tight. He locks down the triangle and locks his foot behind Brett’s back.

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At this point it’s likely that Brett would tap, but if he doesn’t, Cyborg keeps it going.

With control of Brett via the triangle he rolls over to his knees, bringing Brett with him.

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Cyborg walks his arms to his right towards Brett’s legs and reaches for Brett’s right knee.

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As soon as he grabs his leg he makes Brett fall to his side. He grabs the ankle to pull up for a tap or he goes for the two-in-one by choking him out along with the toehold.

KEY POINTS

If, for some reason, you really want to get the submission with the toe-hold rather than the choke, don’t pull too far back on that leg in the last step, otherwise he’ll go to sleep before you can get your toe-hold in.

When you have a grudge with the other guy that’s when you go for the toe-hold.

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TORNADO GUARD

Cyborg grew up in a very remote city in Brazil 23 hours away from Rio by bus. With very few training partners, he was left to his own devices and came up with some pretty unique techniques. When he was a blue belt, he came up with what would later be known as the “Tornado Guard.” The name was given because of its violent, yet choreographed, look and feel. Being successful with the Tornado Guard takes lots of agility and flexibility. Before playing with it, you should work to improve your flexibility if you don’t consider yourself very flexible. Later in this article are some simple drills you can work on to improve your flexibility for the Tornado Guard. These two Tornado Guard techniques are good to start with and will help you become more familiar with this guard for future experimentation.

TORNADO SWEEP TO THE TOP

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Cyborg’s got Brett in his half guard; Brett’s bringing the pressure and Cyborg’s not able to get his leg shield up. Brett pinches his knee against Cyborg and on his hip to keep him from getting swept.

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Now he places his right arm in front of Brett’s face and neck so his hand is on Brett’s right shoulder. He pushes away to create a little space.

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Cyborg reaches down with his left hand to grab Brett’s left ankle, or pant leg, depending if you’re rolling gi or no gi.

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With force, Cyborg pushes Brett’s upper body away, while swinging his right leg up and down to get some momentum. At the same time Cyborg reaches his left hand out to grab Brett’s right triceps.

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On the upswing Cyborg passes his head under Brett.

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Cyborg brings his right leg way up to get momentum and his weight now rests on the back of his left shoulder.

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Cyborg rolls his weight to his right shoulder while bringing his head to his left and extending his body.

With this extension, the weight of his legs and the movement forces Brett’s back to the mat with Cyborg falling on top of him, now in Brett’s half guard. From there Cyborg can try to pass or work from there.

I don’t know about you guys but I’m dying to try this one out.

11/21/13 11:42 AM

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JJMTECHNIQUE:::::::::::

TORNADO SWEEP TO KIMURA OR SIDE CONTROL

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Cyborg is playing half guard, keeping his distance from Brett. Instead of controlling Brett’s head, Cyborg switches his grips to control Brett’s right arm, with his right hand on Brett’s triceps.

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With his hand on Brett’s triceps, Cyborg scoops his left hand under his own left leg to reach the back of his hand on the outside of Brett’s left thigh.

Once he has that hook in, he kicks his right leg out and around, rolling his weight from his left shoulder to across the back of both shoulders.

At this point, Cyborg brings Brett’s weight on top of him so he can’t back away. If necessary, Cyborg can bring his left leg down on Brett’s back to keep him in tight.

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Cyborg controls Brett’s arms and bends his right knee to tuck his right leg across Brett’s back.

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With Brett’s weight going forward, Cyborg keeps the momentum going until Brett ends up back down on the mat with Cyborg on top.

Now Cyborg uses his right leg as a pendulum and brings his leg down.

As it does, he’s able to lift Brett off the mat with his left leg. As soon as Brett’s knees are off the mat and his weight shifts forward, he gets very light on Cyborg.

From this point, Cyborg can go for the Kimura or he can back off and pass over into side control.

So many of these techniques must be done with explosion.

11/21/13 11:42 AM

TORNADO GUARD DRILLS Start with your legs out in front of you and place your right arm behind your back reaching across. Allow your upper body to fall to your shoulder, tucking your head in

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so your weight rests on your right shoulder.

Keep your feet on the mat and allow your lower body to hang over the top of your head in front of you. Continue the roll so

your weight is on your left shoulder. Keep going until you fall to your side and then sit back up. Repeat to the other side. Perform regularly to help with your mobility.

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From the same starting position, drop your shoulder to one side and step your far leg over in front of you. Now, bring that same side hand to the mat and “pop” your head

under your own body. Roll the shoulders to rest your weight across both sides. Continue the roll to the opposite side and let your legs fall to the side. Continue the roll until

you’re on your side then switch the legs so you’re now stepping across with the opposite leg you started with. Continue the drill to increase flexibility and mobility.

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Roll to your side and step your left leg and arm over like you’re going to crawl, but bring your weight to your shoulder, starting with your left shoulder on the mat. Center

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For a big guy to move like this he must be from the future.

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your weight over both shoulders and bring your left leg up and over in front of you.

Continue the momentum of your leg until it brings your body along with. Allow your

right leg to cross under your left and step forward to get up. Roll over to the opposite side and repeat.

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SPECIALFEATURE:::::::::::

TRAIL BLAZERS

OLD SCHOOL STORIES OF TRAINING JIU-JITSU IN RIO DE JANEIRO Old attitudes persist about the pitfalls that await tourists in Brazil. Nine black belts who traveled to Rio share their stories of training the arte suave in South America. words: HYWEL TEAGUE

PHOTOS: VARIOUS

U

NTIL A FEW YEARS AGO BRAZIL WAS CONSIDERED WILD, LAWLESS, AND A DESTINATION FOR ONLY THE BRAVEST OF TRAVELERS. Fast forward to now and things are completely different. Rio de Janeiro, the spiritual home of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, has opened its doors to visitors and is preparing itself for the upcoming FIFA soccer 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. If you still suffer from the old ideas that Rio is a dangerous place to go, the stories from these trail blazing black belts should help convince you otherwise – and even inspire you to make a trip of your own.

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Have you been to the homeland yet?

11/1/13 10:11 PM

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THE PIONEERS JOHN WILL A 4th degree black belt from Australia, John first visited Rio de Janeiro in 1988, making him among the first ever outsiders to visit Brazil specifically to train jiu-jitsu.

John is the head of the Machado-Will BJJ association. To find out more go to: WWW.BJJ.COM.AU.

ALAN MARQUES Known in the BJJ world as ‘Gumby,’ Marques is a Ralph Gracie black belt and the co-founder of www.OnTheMat.com.

He traveled to Brazil with Ralph in ‘99.

Gumby operates the Heroes Martial Arts academy in San Jose, California. For more information go to: WWW.HEROESMARTIALARTS.COM.

PETE LETSOS Chicago-born and bred grappler ‘Pete The Greek’ headed to Rio de Janeiro in 2000 as a 22-year-old purple belt. Though a Carlson Gracie student, he had unprecedented access to a number of the best BJJ gyms in Rio de Janeiro. A black belt since 2005, his gym in Chicago is called ‘Rio Jiu-Jitsu’. For more info go to: WWW.RIOJJ.COM.

AMAL EASTON Few non-Brazilian practitioners of jiu-jitsu relocated to Brazil in the early 90s. Amal Easton blazed a trail by moving there in ‘95 and the experience had a lasting effect on his jiujitsu. He owns and operates three jiu-jitsu and MMA academies in Denver, Colorado.

For more info go to: WWW.EASTONFIT.COM.

DUSTIN DENES A training partner and close friend of Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, the connection became the catalyst for Denes’s first trip to Brazil in ‘99. He now calls Brazil his second home. Dustin Denes is available for seminars worldwide and regularly hosts training camps at locations around the world.

For more info go to:

DENNIS ASCHE Born and raised in Oregon, Dennis Asche realized his dream of going to Rio to train BJJ in 2003 and he would later make the city his home. After his competitive career ended, he founded Connection Rio to enable members of the jiu-jitsu community to stay in Rio and train BJJ. For more info go to: WWW.CONNECTIONRIO.COM.

WIM DEPUTTER A BJJ black belt from Leuven, Belgium representing the Brasa team, Wim took advantage of his relationship with teammate Felipe Costa to go to Rio as part of the first ‘Brazilian Black Belt’ camp in 2004. Wim is an instructor at Brasa team Belgium. For more info go to: WWW.BRASATEAM.BE.

STEVE CAMPBELL What was meant to be a short visit to Brazil in 2000, ended up changing Englishman Steve Campbell’s life forever. He witnessed first hand the development of the city and how it opened up and became easier for foreigners to train jiu-jitsu. He teaches at Stealth BJJ in Manchester, England. For more information go to: WWW.BJJMANCHESTER.COM.

NIC GREGORIADES Roger Gracie-black belt Nic Gregoriades loves to travel. He’s trained, taught and experienced the arte suave across six continents and crossed Brazil off his list in 2005. He teaches seminars across the world and releases free videos and articles on his website: WWW.JIUJITSUBROTHERHOOD.COM.

WWW.DUSTINDENES.COM.

You might love it so much you may never come back.

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SPECIALFEATURE::::::::::

Why did you decide to go to Brazil, and how did you go about organizing your first trip there?

JOHN WILL: I met Rigan Machado in Los Angeles on my second training trip there. I had just begun my BJJ journey with some private lessons in Rorion Gracie’s garage. Rigan suggested I head to Brazil for some more serious training; and as he was heading down there, offered that I join him.

AMAL EASTON: I was in acupuncture school at the time and thinking about going to China to work in a hospital.

But I was also obsessed with BJJ. Chinese culture seemed kind of boring, and I was looking at pics of beaches with Brazilian girls in bikinis! It was

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a pretty easy decision.

DUSTIN DENES: I would have come to Brazil earlier, but I was finishing up college. When college was over, that was my opportunity. I spoke to Rodrigo ‘Minotauro,’ we got tickets and went to Brazil. It was perfect timing, he just had his first MMA fight, and he got the tickets with that money.

ALAN ‘GUMBY’ MARQUES: Ralph (Gracie) invited me over, he’d been in the US for a few years and he hadn’t been back to Brazil for a while. It was fairly short notice, between the suggestion and touching down in Brazil. It was not much more than two weeks. I didn’t even have a passport before we went down.

PETE LETSOS: I was competing and training in Chicago, and the only big tourney was the Pan Ams. I did well; I got 10

wins and 2 losses. I was a purple belt, and Cristiano Marcello told my coach Carlson Gracie, Jr. I had to go to Brazil, and that I would be unbeatable.

STEVE CAMPBELL: Some of my friends were going traveling, so we wanted to take a year out, but it fell through. I was training BJJ and from there I made contacts to go to Brazil.

I didn’t plan to go for so long.

I went out for a few months; I ended up staying 8 years!

DENNIS ASCHE: I was competing on a regular basis and my coach John Machado put me into the very first Gracie Open. The grand prize was an all-expenses-paid trip to Brazil and a week at Helio Gracie’s house. It was an incredible experience and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to Rio de Janeiro.

WIM DEPUTTER: Back then there was not a lot of access to new techniques. My teacher was a blue belt, and a blue belt was the highest thing you could get in Belgium. For me, it was an amazing experience to train with black belts and get so much better. I don’t know if I would have had the courage to go by myself back then, but my coach and another friend wanted to go, too, so there was a group of four of us.

NIC GREGORIADES: It felt like something that I had to do, a BJJ ‘pilgrimage’ of sorts. For my first trip, I just winged it. I had a friend who’s wife owned a small apartment in Copacabana, and he offered for me to stay there for free, so I just booked my ticket and went.

Thanks to everyone who supplied photos for this article.

11/1/13 10:11 PM

JOHN: I had experienced very little BJJ at that point. BJJ was very challenging and very humbling – it was difficult to get my head around what was happening to me back then.

AMAL: The skill level, the noon class for example, was guys who all had schools and came there to train. They’re probably all in America now. I got my ass kicked a lot. But there was so much technique there. There was some amazing stuff going on the mat.

Only in jiu-jitsu would “Gumby” be a kick-ass nickname.

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GUMBY: It was kind of weird at first because, like when we went to Sao Paulo to what was now Ryan’s academy, Ralph was the one who would teach. So I went all the way to Brazil to just get my instructor’s instruction, only in Portuguese!

STEVE: It was probably similar to what I’d experienced in the UK because I’d trained with Gracie Barra before I went to Brazil. The training was very relaxed there – though I don’t mean the sparring – they’d have a quick warm-up, some techniques, but people would turn up throughout the class.

Higher belts would turn up late and sparring would just go on until way after 9pm.

DENNIS: It was great, at that time there were no real Gracie Barra gyms outside of Brazil, so all the champions who have since

IL ED Z RT RA PO B IM M O FR

What were your first impressions of the training there?

Was it very different to what you’d already experienced?

left and opened their own schools were still on the same mat. There were limitless black belts on the mat, and varying styles and body types to train with.

Who were you training with and who did you see on the mat?

WIM: The technique – it was only the foreigners practicing the technique! Everyone else is always chatting! I could roll well with other blue belts, but I remember brown and black belts would fold you double!

But they were relaxed enough to let you try stuff. It was a good experience.

JOHN: Most of the classes at Gracie Barra were being taught

by Rigan Machado, but there were many other interesting people on the mat; people who have since gone on to do great things themselves: All of the Machado brothers, Roberto ‘Gordo’ Correa, Renzo Gracie, Ralph Gracie, Rillion Gracie, Helio Soneca, Soca… The list goes on and on. It was the best BJJ laboratory you could possibly hope for.

NIC: The actual training was pretty good. I expected the technical level of the average guy to be a lot higher than in England and South Africa, but that wasn’t the case. The humidity played a big role, though… I must have lost 5kg in a week due to sweating so much.

AMAL: Carlinhos was on the mat at Gracie Barra every day; he ran every training.

Also Ricardo Almeida, Bruno Fernandes, Mamazinho, Ryan Gracie was there a lot, Daniel Gracie, Christian Uflacker.

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SPECIALFEATURE:::::::::: DUSTIN: At Carlson Gracie’s, there was Wallid Ismail, Amaury Bitetti, Paulo Filho, Ricardo Arona – he was still a brown belt – and a lot of good guys that nobody in the mainstream has heard of. Powerhouses, the best of the best.

GUMBY: One day I walked into Gracie Barra and Carlinhos saw me and said, “You’ve been training well, why don’t you train with this guy?” He put me with this teenage blue belt, and this guy kicked my ass from one side of the academy to the other, it was one of the worst I’ve ever taken. This kid was on another level. I started talking to him, and I asked his name and he said, “Roger.” You can guess what his last name was!

PETE: At Osvaldo Alves’s gym, we had Andre Galvao there, Fredson Paixao, Bibio Fernandes.

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Jacare’ used to stay there, too. He slept on the beach when he first came to Rio! WIM: Back then it was a paradise. Felipe was always on the mat, Comprido, Ratinho.

But we saw Jacare’, Leo Vieira, Demian Maia… And they were very relaxed always. It was a really good experience. I rolled with Demian Maia and this guy had won the World Championships just the week before. It’s like playing a game of soccer with Ronaldo!

What about the city what did you think of Rio? JOHN: I can tell you what I told everyone back then, ”The mat was green” – because that’s pretty much all I saw.

AMAL: Mind-boggling, I can’t believe the change from back then to what it is now. I remember there were a lot of kidnappings – you would see them every single day in the newspaper. It’s so much more welcoming now.

DUSTIN: It’s more developed now. It was the Wild West back then. Now you have the Olympics and World Cup coming, so they’ve put a lot of money into the city, given the country a chance to step up.

GUMBY: I found it easy to get around, between my smattering of Portuguese and other people wanting to practice English with me and wanting to help me out, I was OK. PETE: It was easy coming from Chicago. If you’re from Chicago you can handle it easily. It gets

as wild as you want it to be. If you’re looking for trouble in favelas, that’s when it’s going to get bad.

STEVE: You hear stories about Brazil. I was worried about where I was going, but it doesn’t take long before you feel comfortable and start exploring the city.

DENNIS: Rio de Janeiro was wild when I first arrived. It was untamed compared to today.

I’ve seen a huge change in the last 10 years. It’s much more relaxed now.

NIC: I thought it was pretty cool. It reminded me a lot of my home city of Cape Town in South Africa. The beaches were incredible. I remember sitting on Ipanema beach one day and just being blown away by all the beautiful girls in bikinis.

Love hearing these stories.

11/1/13 10:12 PM

JOHN: Don’t go hard and try to tap everyone out the first week.

Take your time; make friends with everyone on the mat. In Rio – at least back when I was there – BJJ was as much a social event as it was a hard training session. Be social.

AMAL: Go do it! It’s awesome!

DUSTIN: It’s a great opportunity! Everybody who is involved in BJJ should experience it. If you want to be a black belt, how can you hold that higher standard without stepping foot in the motherland?

Come check it out.

STEVE: I’d definitely say watch that you don’t over-train. A lot of people get there and blast the training and injure themselves in the first week. I was trying to train every day, so you need to pace yourself. And be careful you don’t get burnt on the beach!

DENNIS: Come here with an open mind, and be respectful of whatever academy you’re at.

NIC: Don’t act like a stupid tourist when you get there,

What good times.

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What advice would you give to somebody thinking about training BJJ in Brazil?

because people can pick up on that and you might get taken advantage of. Always treat people with respect, be friendly and smile a lot.

How much of an impact on your jiu-jitsu did your time in Rio have?

JOHN: Well, it was really my formative experience as a BJJ athlete. Rio was where I learned my fundamentals and had the opportunity to pressure-test them on a daily basis. It was hugely impactful.

DUSTIN: I took it to a whole other level. It opened my mind.

The first couple of days I was here, I knew I was coming back and I knew jiu-jitsu was what I had to do.

GUMBY: It definitely shook things up for me; it gave me focus. After I got back, I wanted to quit my job to go work with OTM and immerse myself into the jiu-jitsu lifestyle. It was definitely a catalyst to change my life.

PETE: It was everything.

Without that time there my timing wouldn’t be there.

NIC: I felt pretty damn good – I was lean and sharp!

DECEMBER 2013

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JJMTECHNIQUE::::::::::::

INVISIBLE JIU-JITSU Weight Distribution with Henry Akins words: MIKE VELEZ

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Wait, where did he go?

11/1/13 10:00 PM

T

HE CONCEPT OF INVISIBLE JIU-JITSU WAS TAUGHT TO HENRY OVER THE YEARS

BY RICKSON GRACIE. What Rickson coined as the term “Invisible Jiu-Jitsu” is actually based on two concepts, weight distribution being one and being in connection with your opponent the other, larger part. In interviews Rickson talks a lot about this “connection,” which allows you to feel what your opponent is going to do almost before he does it. This knowledge allows all of your movements to be far more effective.

In this article Henry is going to focus on the weight distribution concept of Invisible Jiu-Jitsu. The concept was first illustrated to Henry years ago.

Henry was a blue belt student at the Rickson Gracie Academy when one of the world’s best competitive jiu-jitsu athletes came through the school.

He was a two-time world champion and fresh off a Pan-Am win. The world champion was much bigger, stronger, and younger than Rickson. About five minutes into sparring, Rickson forced

How cool would that be?

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the champion to tap without even using a submission. Rickson used invisible jiu-jitsu to inflict so much pain, discomfort, and exhaustion onto his opponent, the champion had no choice but to tap. At that point, Henry was so in awe of the concept that it became a pillar of his own jiu-jitsu. Rickson’s jiu-jitsu is regarded as the most direct and true definition of jiu-jitsu as Grand Master Helio intended it.

In this article Henry shares with us the concept of weight distribution, understanding it, drilling with it, and employing it in some common situations. The information he’s about to impart with us might seem like a lot to grasp, but it’s just the basic concept. Many articles can be written on the concept, and as anything in jiu-jitsu, the only way to really grasp and understand it is to do it, over and over again. No matter your belt rank or your years of experience, I’ve personally never come across a subject that I’ve felt so strongly about. I would suggest that everyone who practices jiu-jitsu play with this concept, give it some attention and try it in your own jiu-jitsu. It may not work for you; actually I can’t imagine it not working for you, but do yourself a huge favor and try it.

ABOUT

HENRY Henry began training jiujitsu in 1995 and moved out from Oklahoma, abandoning a promising education in genetic engineering for the purpose of learning jiu-jitsu under Rickson Gracie, widely regarded as the greatest living example of jiu-jitsu in the world. Nine years later, Henry became Rickson’s third American to be awarded a black belt. Henry went on to become the head instructor at the Rickson Gracie Academy.

Today, Henry is partnered with former UFC fighter Antoni Hardonk, as owners of Dynamix Martial Arts in Santa Monica, California.

WWW.DYNAMIXMARTIALARTS.COM

DECEMBER 2013

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JJMTECHNIQUE:::::::::::

SHIFTING YOUR ANGLES

Shifting angles is the easiest way to explain how to use your weight to kill the other guy’s leverage, and can be mastered in a day if you dedicate yourself to it. Mastering this step first is the best way to get comfortable with this concept. Here’s a step-by-step on how to train this position.

Starting mounted on your partner, have him push off against your chest and rest your weight on top of him. Be relaxed. The person on bottom will quickly begin to feel a large portion of your body weight.

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Now, start to shift your angle, drop one shoulder down towards your opponent, don’t just move, really focus your weight on that downed shoulder.

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Now, change the angle again, with your other shoulder down, this forces his elbow outward and he’s forced to let you collapse down to his chest.

As you shift your angle you’re forcing your partner to lose the leverage on that side. More than likely you’ll collapse down to his elbow being that’s the only thing keeping you off of him entirely.

KEY POINTS

This is the same concept of weight distribution that you’re going to use when passing the guard. Instead of your opponent using his arms to keep you away, he’ll be using his legs. The weight distribution concept is the same.

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The lights are hot, can we get a little “Powder” in here?

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FROM 1 THE MOUNT POSITION Easy Drill: Start in the mounted position and have your partner on bottom push off at different angles for one minute then switch. The partner on top’s goal is to shift his angle away from the point of contact to eventually get his chest to his partner’s chest.

Perform the above drill for five rounds with each of you taking turns on the bottom. Take a break, and then do it again, and again. If you have more than one partner to perform this drill with, change it up and maybe do a round robin. Getting a feel for how to shift your weight to kill the angle is probably the biggest key to mastering this concept. Drilling with partners of different weights and sizes will only help you grasp and properly employ the concept.

2

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

The weight distribution concept that Henry’s showing us can be used any time you’re on a top position. This is where it has the most benefit; however, it can also be used when you’re on the bottom in certain circumstances.

Henry’s going to give us a glimpse of that as well. There are a lot of benefits to being able to properly use your weight. One of the most useful benefits is the toll it takes on your opponent’s

You didn’t get it did you?

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breathing and heart rate, especially from side control.

Using your weight properly makes it more difficult for your opponent to breathe. In a long match, that can have a huge effect. In the short term it can take him off his mental game. He may look to force an escape that isn’t there if he’s at all claustrophobic or really uncomfortable. The second dramatic benefit is forcing your partner to deal with your weight. Any time he wants to

3

move, or to move you, he’s going to have to deal with much more of your static mass than he would if you were in a more traditional position with your weight. The sidecontrol example we’ll get into later dramatically shows this concept. When you properly apply your weight on top of your partner, it’s like a CrossFit workout for him. Imagine him having to rep 160-180lbs non-stop for the length of time you’re on top. It doesn’t take

very long to break him down both mentally and physically.

Proper weight distribution allows the person on top to relax, not fight so much, and really open up his mind to focus on the opportunities the person on bottom presents.

These opportunities will come because the person on the bottom constantly has to deal with a huge amount of resistance any time he wants to move or do anything

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GUARD PASSING Weight distribution is crucial when it comes to passing the guard. The whole idea of passing the guard is to move forward, and to soak up the space between you and your opponent. You’re trying to get past the person’s legs, trying to get your chest to his chest. Any movement backward is counter productive to your goal. When the person on the bottom is playing open guard, the idea for him is to create distance, to keep you away. He’s using his legs to keep you at bay, he’s trying to control your arms so he can sweep you or keep you off balance.

He’s trying to constantly keep distance from you so you cannot pass. Any time he puts anything on you, a foot, a leg, an arm, a knee, you’re going to do the same thing you did in the mount drill.

You’re going to engage your weight and shift angles to basically kill whatever he’s putting in front of you. Henry tries not to use his arms when passing. He feels that it’s inefficient, the guy on the bottom is using his legs, which are so much stronger than the arms.

This is not a fair fight and will tire out the person on top if he’s relying too much on his arms.

GUARD PASSING DRILLS

For these drills try not to use your hands, just try to use your body weight and shift the angels. The hands will eventually help out, but at this point, when Henry passes, he doesn’t find the need to use his arms very often.

OPEN GUARD WITH LEG SHIELD This is a drill for a typical open guard with the person on the bottom using his leg as a shield; he has control of a sleeve, and control of the collar.

This is a solid position for the person on the bottom. He has options to sweep, options to choke, and could rest in that position if he was so inclined.

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01

The first thing for the person on top to recognize is that if your knees are on the ground, then your weight is not on your opponent.

Any time you’re passing the guard you want to be on your toes with your weight on your opponent.

02

Notice immediately that the person on the bottom is no longer relaxed. He has to deal with 100+ pounds that just got placed on top of him. He’s forced to engage his muscles.

How about some Boondock Saints?

11/1/13 10:01 PM

KEY POINTS

If Henry steps his right leg over and goes to the front, all he needs to then do is get on his toes and drive forward to move into side control.

03 04

Henry’s biggest obstacle in obtaining his goal of getting his chest to his opponent’s in side control is Sean’s left leg. So, to kill the leg, Henry turns his angle, dropping his right hip and upper body down, focusing his weight on that side.

If Henry walks to his right and goes to his back he stays on his toes, controls Sean’s far arm to keep him from rolling and flattens him out for side control.

Once Henry has turned his angle he’s collapsed, his head and chest are already closer to Sean, and now Sean only has his left hook keeping Henry from the pass.

EXAMPLE 1

EXAMPLE 2

Sean tries to spin in the direction he’s going, to Henry’s right.

To stop the spin, all he has to do is grab onto Sean’s pants near his right side hip to prevent the spin and eventually complete the pass.

05

From there, Henry only has to walk his feet to his right to pass, or he can stretch out his right leg and step to the front.

Darn, we gave it away.

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SPIDER GUARD

Spider guard has become a mainstay guard these days and can be frustrating if you’re not prepared to deal with it. The most common passes usually involve the person attempting to pass by breaking a grip using mostly his arms and then throwing the legs like a Toriano pass, the entire time maintaining the distance that the person using the spider guard is looking for. Henry’s spider guard pass quickly eliminates the distance, and once again, forces his opponent to deal with his weight from the beginning.

01

Sean has his foot on the crook of Henry’s right elbow, with control of that same sleeve.

Henry steps off to his left side, Sean’s right, and forces his weight onto Sean’s leg.

02

Henry’s weight is applied, not as just a “thrust,” but is being “applied” across and down onto Sean’s leg. This kills his control of the arm and puts Henry’s weight on top of Sean.

03

Henry keeps his weight on top of Sean, he’s practically in a side control position.

04

If Sean keeps control of Henry’s left arm with his foot, then Henry rotates his elbow over or can use his knee to free it.

KEY POINTS

Notice that during this pass Henry’s knees never contact the mat. If he were to drop to his knees after killing the control of his left arm, Sean would be able to recover by bringing his right knee up as a shield. If his knees hit the mat, then Sean wouldn’t be forced to deal with Henry’s weight.

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That’s Sean Patrick Flanery. Super cool guy, Gracie Black Belt, and Powder.

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SIDE CONTROL

Now that you’ve passed the guard, you’ve gotten into the side control position. Henry says this is the position in which this concept can have the greatest effect. Henry has seen many black belts tap simply from the pressure being placed on them from this concept being utilized correctly. No submission; it’s just so uncomfortable, they can’t breathe and they end up tapping.

RULES OF SIDE CONTROL When you are chest to chest with your opponent, your hips should always be a little higher than your shoulders, this way your weight is coming “down” on them.

Your knees are bent, with your toes on the mat. Focus your weight so your chest is applied to his chest.

If you’re forced to shift your angle, as illustrated in the mount drill, you’re going to drag your butt down, so it’s lower. This helps you protect against your opponent regaining guard. Your butt becomes the blocker against his legs.

Whenever you’re in side control with your opponent you are NEVER on your knees, and you’re never sitting on your butt. Whenever you do either of these things that means your weight is no longer engaging your opponent. Your weight is being wasted, so keep the knees up, and stay on your toes.

You’ve got to try this.

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KEEPING THE POSITION 01

If your opponent wants to turn into you, bring your hips up and force the pressure down and forward to flatten him out.

04

When it’s time to attack the far arm, Henry will bring both arms over and maintain the chestto-chest weight the entire time. Bringing the right arm over does pose a problem in protecting against the guard recovery.

EXAMPLE 1

05

When your have both of your arms to your opponent’s side you must be cautious of his guard recovery. He could sneak a knee in there to begin to recover. Any time you feel him start to bring his leg up you have two options. You can either bring your left leg underneath your body, pivoting to your right. Or, you can do a “sit out” to your left bringing your right leg across, near your opponent’s head. With either example, remember to keep your butt and knees off the mat and remain on your toes so he’s dealing with your weight.

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Just like anything, the more you practice this the easier it gets.

11/1/13 10:03 PM

02

If he tries to push your hip away, just drop the other hip. So, here Sean is pushing against Henry’s left hip. Henry drops his right hip and eliminates the angle and leverage.

If Henry didn’t do this and tried to resist instead, he might leave himself open to getting swept.

03

Although not a rule, Henry likes to keep his right arm near his opponent’s hip as a simple way of protecting against the guard recovery, his left arm is over his opponent’s shoulder, but he’s careful not to rest it on the mat. This would reduce the amount of weight being placed on his opponent.

EXAMPLE 2

06

Once you get a good grasp of the concept of using your hips to block that guard recovery you’ll find that attacking the far arm with your weight concentrated on your opponent is really easy. You’ll feel very light and fluid. From a more conventional side control you’re not nearly as mobile as you are when you’re on your toes. It’s easier to adjust because you’re very light with your weight on your opponent.

KEY POINTS

When your opponent is trying to escape the cross side position he usually tries to get to his side so he can either recover guard or get back to his belly then his knees. Always try to adjust your weight and put it towards whatever shoulder your opponent is trying to lift up. So the basic idea of side control is to use your weight to kill the shoulder your opponent is trying to lift off the mat to keep him flat on his back.

Using your weight this way will become second nature.

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USING YOUR WEIGHT FROM THE BOTTOM

In future issues we plan on exploring this concept more in depth with Henry. What he’s shown us in this article is really the tip of the iceberg. One thing you probably wouldn’t realize is that this concept is also applicable from the bottom.

How is that possible, you ask? Well, the concept is about using your weight efficiently. Whether you’re holding 100 lbs. over your head, or carrying it at your sides, it’s still 100 lbs. working against you. From the bottom there are many ways to distribute your weight on your opponent to make their actions much more difficult. One way is preventing your opponent from standing up when in your closed guard. In this example Henry is going to shift his weight and focus it on his opponent at just the right time. When done correctly it feels more like a parlor trick than jiu-jitsu, but it’s extremely effective and can be used to set up a sweep, or bring your opponent into your clinch.

01

Sean is in Henry’s closed guard.

Sean steps up with his right leg first. This means that in order for Sean to stand up, at some point, he’s going to have to place all of his own weight on his right leg so he can get his left leg up.

04

02

Henry “bites” his legs into Sean’s hips.

As soon as Sean begins to put his weight on his right foot to stand up Henry can feel the movement and focuses his weight onto Sean’s left knee. This transfer makes it extremely difficult for Sean to stand up on that left leg.

03

Next, Henry raises his hips and rather than being relaxed, is placing the weight of his lower body onto Sean.

05

With Sean stuck and off balance, Henry can then pull Sean into him, bringing him into the clinch. The real desired effect is to keep your opponent from standing and working his guard pass.

CONCLUSION

If you’re a regular reader of JJM, you’ve seen a lot of technique articles. Hopefully, many of those have helped you improve your jiu-jitsu.

In the three years that we’ve been around and I’ve been writing these articles, I can honestly say that this one, this concept of invisible jiu-jitsu, has had by far the most profound impact on my own jiu-jitsu. I’ve employed countless techniques I’ve written about, but this is not one simple technique. This is a concept, that when employed properly, will “transform” you and your jiu-jitsu forever. I’ve been using this concept for about two months now after Henry first demonstrated it to me in person. Since then I feel like it’s had an immeasurable impact on my jiu-jitsu. I’ve managed to submit fellow purple belts without a submission. Almost every partner I’ve sparred with has told me how heavy I felt, and how stifling my top game is now. Guys who used to pull guard on me now fight for top position from the start.

That’s helped my confidence, and in turn, improved every aspect of my jiu-jitsu. And that comes only after a couple of months. I’m still just a novice with the concept at best. I really hope that you’ll give it a chance and dedicate some time to embrace it. I think you’ll be very thankful you did, and all your opponents will rue the day.

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Seriously, no BS here.

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FIVE KEYS FOR BECOMING A JIU-JITSU GIANT KILLER M words: DAN FAGGELLA

ANY OF US GOT INTO BJJ AFTER WATCHING THE EARLY UFC EVENTS, SEEING ROYCE GRACIE RUN THROUGH HIS OPPONENTS WITH GRAPPLING SKILLS THE WORLD HADN’T SEEN BEFORE. Anyone who’s seen Brazilian JiuJitsu and done their homework is familiar with the notion that the art

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was created for a smaller, weaker practitioner to defeat bigger, stronger opponents. Royce proved it, and most of us believed it.

If you met someone twice your size in a fight, your best bet would be BJJ. But what about when your opponent or training partner also trains Jiu-Jitsu? How does this change up the game? Some world champions like Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles or Caio Terra seem to be capable of beating

bigger, stronger adversaries, but it certainly isn’t easy when they know as much Jiu-Jitsu as you do.

Over the last four years I’ve been lucky enough to interview and personally train with many of the world’s absolute best lightweight BJJ world champions to determine their insights, strategies, and approaches for beating bigger and stronger opponents. In this article, I wanted to cover five “Go-To” principles for beating the big guys.

A true David and Goliath story.

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1) Use Submissions That WORK: A Lot on a Little Many grapplers treat Jiu-Jitsu like it’s exactly the same for everyone - regardless of their own body type or the situation they find themselves in with their opponent.

If you watch the best lightweight grapplers win against bigger opponents, you realize there are certain submissions that are much more effective against them than other submissions. Some of these “effective” attacks are chokes, some are arm attacks, and some are leg attacks. The commonalities they have are as follows:

Effective “Giant Killer” Submissions Involve as Much of YOU

on as Little of THEM as Possible

If you had a choice to go for a head-and-arm guillotine, or a head-hold guillotine on someone twice your size, which would be a more effective strategy? The fact of the matter is that the less of the bigger, stronger opponent you have to control, the better.

The more you can concentrate your limited strength on a single point of weakness on the opponent, the better off you are.

Effective “Giant Killer” Submissions are Usually NOT Dependent on Top Positioning

For instance, if you’re on top of a larger opponent and you’re aiming to finish an arm triangle or a traditional north-south choke, you’re at a huge risk of being rolled and reversed. Neither of these submissions happen to work

with. The kimura, on the other hand, involves controlling the opponent’s arm and shoulder using one’s arms, thus attacking a bigger, stronger part of the opponent - making that submission less likely.

This is why you’ll see a lightweight champion like Cobrinha hit a back-mount choke on a bigger opponent,

2) USE SUBMISSIONS THAT WORK: IGNORE GRAVITY

Another one of the most critical details to tapping out bigger, stronger opponents is using submissions that are not dependent on being on top positions. Someone who’s much stronger or larger can usually buck and roll a much lighter opponent, especially when they’re in danger of being tapped.

but you usually won’t see him finish a kimura on the same adversary. The choke involves Cobrinha’s entire upper body concentrated on the opponent’s neck, with the opponent left with only his neck to defend

very well from bottom, and if a giant opponent wants you on bottom, he may very well be able to make it happen.

On the other hand, if you are on top and go for a mounted guillotine, or an armbar from side control - you’ll be able to finish either of those submissions, even if a big opponent turns over and ends up on top (armbars and guillotines, unlike north-south chokes, work very well from bottom positions).

3) INITIATIVE IS KING

When I took a private lesson from 8x BJJ World Champion Robson Moura, I asked him for his advice on beating bigger opponents (Robson has done many open weight divisions in Brazil, despite being a very small BJJ fighter himself). One principle that Robson shared with me was the importance of taking the initiative with a bigger opponent - especially from bottom positions.

When a big guy “sets the tone” or makes the first move from top, it’s usually not something that can be undone. If he squashes you in bottom half guard, you usually can’t easily get out. If he compresses and nullifies your butterfly hooks, it’s usually not super easy to get back to a sweeping position.

So, in order to avoid getting passed, and to have your best shot at sweeping and submitting, it’s most important to not just have a guard in mind when you’re on bottom, but have a sweep or submission that you’re able to aggressively transition into without hesitation. Forcing the opponent to react will open up opportunities you might not have been able to find against a bigger, stronger opponent otherwise.

Continued on page 109

Wonder how it ends?

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IBJJF MASTERS AND SENIORS

WORLD CHAMPOINSHIP Don’t Call it the “Old Man Worlds!” words: DEB BLYTH

| photos: KENNY JEWEL

T

HE 2013 WORLD JIUJITSU CHAMPIONSHIPS – MASTERS AND SENIORS, WENT OFF WITHOUT A HITCH ACROSS THE OCTOBER 4TH, 5TH, AND 6TH WEEKEND AT THE PYRAMID IN LONG BEACH, CA. As usual, the cream of the crop rose to the top and many familiar names and faces were seen standing at the top of the podium after each final round of competition. Many like to tease and call this event the “Old Man Worlds,” but that is indeed just a joke, as competitors as young as 30, who still compete in the adult divisions at the Pan Ams, Worlds, etc., come to battle

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at matches they say are oftentimes just as challenging as an adult match at a “regular” tournament, especially at the Master level.

The length of the matches are shorter, so one must think and act quicker, the athletes come in loaded with years of experience and a plethora of skills, and the competition is stacked. If you make a mistake or your opponent scores first, it is very difficult to come back from it in such a short time frame. So, much emphasis is placed on strategy, scoring first, and then working to maintain that advantage or capitalize on it even more. It’s a different kind of physical and mental chess match,

but it’s still all about your game, your training, and your explosive cardio. If there was one tip that the older set shared, it’s that drilling is king. Forget sparring – for the 30+ year old athlete, drilling is the key to your success on the mats. Here are a few black belt gold medal winners’ thoughts on getting older, training smart for competition, lessening injuries, and how the Master/Senior Worlds measures up to other events (pick up next month’s “Spotlight On” column for a full, in depth interview on heavy weight gold medal winner Flavio Almeida)

Did you read the news?

11/1/13 10:30 PM

RAFAEL “FORMIGA” RS: BAfaeRlBhaOdSfoAur, SOUL FIbeGcaHusTE e I was more

Ra y aggressive all the wa matches at the . through the fight event. He won the I just turned 30 in e first by armbar, th my January, so this is second 13-0 before r first Master/Seno his opponent was Worlds. It was a DQ’d, the third by t. good and hard even 6 decision after a 6If your opponent tie, and his final by e makes points in th . a referee’s decision u first minute, yo After taking some can’t really come rth time off for the bi u back from it, so yo iga of his child, Form k in th ck really have to was happy to be ba feet and try ur yo on competing. “My u to stay ahead.” Yo last match was the iga rm at says can find Fo toughest,” Rafael ter his new Soul Figh ht of his final, “I foug gym in Bethel, m hard and swept hi Connecticut. at the end. I won

RODRIGO PINHEIRO, GRACIE HUMAITA:

Rodrigo had four matches in the middle weight division.

He says, “With the sixminute matches, you have to come to this event with your strategy ready. There’s no time to think about whether you’re going to pull guard. Am I going to take him down? No, you can’t think like this. You have to be ready to go.” To prepare for the event, Rodrigo says he trained six-minute drills and always tried to be ahead of his partner in training and in his mind. “It doesn’t matter if you have different partners; tough, tall, short…you have to try to stay ahead. Never be behind in the score.” Rodrigo also fights MMA and just had

Thankfully we’re no longer Seniors in our 30’s.

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a fight two weeks ago that he won, but says he never stops training jiu-jitsu. “My focus is always on jiu-jitsu,” he says, “I trained in striking for seven years, but I never spent one day not training in the gi. It’s tough to make the time, especially since I have a family and a business and I’m training and fighting in both jiu-jitsu and MMA, but I’ve been training jiujitsu for 23 years, so I’m not ever going to let it go. This is my passion.” Rodrigo is also currently training Diego Brandao of TUF 14 fame.

Diego will be fighting in the UFC on December 28th where you will find Rodrigo coaching in his corner.

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SPECIALFEATURE::::::::::

J: MarcARosCOTorreS groTOsaRRis ranEGkedROtheSAIB, JJFYEMASwhO y.BJI workinona tradrinsill scetionansrioan.”d

M work them ht weight and say you #1 Master division, lig Marcos explains, “Let’s no it’s d an gi the in lt ard to side open class black be have two positions, gu r. yea e ibl red inc an d between wonder. He has ha control. There’s a pass d ha he ds orl W ior tion. It’s a At the Master/Sen them. That’s the transi g din ad , all m the n wo tic; it deals four matches and movement that’s chao for ns wi of list big identify another gold to his with a roll or flow. I ’s he nt me rna tou ry d drill it 2013. He’s won eve that as a technique an se cau be ing nn wi ’s sarial entered. He says he repeatedly. I drill adver and his smart nno d an ce) an of his positive mindset ist (with res ’s been my best transitions. ce) an ist res (no and hard training. “It ial adversar lot a e am erc ov “I s, u’re replicating year ever,” he say When you do that, yo s ng thi n the d an ms d transition in an of personal proble the same technique an . me for y thl oo sm re adversarial, like started moving mo environment where it’s to d nte wa I th. rpa e ready to go when I’ve been on a wa tournaments, so you’r care n’t did I ; uld co I nt can take advantage fight in every eve you get there. If you in r fea ike str to d nte u’re inside before what it cost. I wa of a transition, then yo os arc M g.” hin ryt eve n knows what’s going everyone and wi your opponent even r tte be the s ete mp co works for him says the more he on.” Marcos says this tive eti mp co t tha in be aggressive rhythm. he is. He likes to because he has a very nd. mi of te sta e tiv eti g to something rhythm and comp “I’m constantly movin s say d an er tob Oc in he says, “I never Marcos turned 33 new in my game plan,” his in gas of lot a s ha he tries to stall on he still feels like stall. And if someone n’t did I , 28 , 27 , 26 s wa ntrol tactics for tank. “When I me, I have distance co don’t I w, No ay. tod do I get comfortable train as smart as that. I don’t let anyone out ab nk thi t no d an s just do 20 round

to stall. Jiu-jitsu is enough in a position I work the systems like a science to me. d in my DNA, and until they are engraine hours, until they then I drill them for I think that’s smart become unconscious. e’s ever going to beat training…and no on me on cardio!”

DENILSON PIMENTA, GF TEAM

Denilson had four matches in his feather weight division and won them all on points. Denilson, who is 33 years old, recently won the International Master/Seniors in Brazil with his teammate Theodoro Canal, but oftentim es competes in the adult division at other tournaments on the IBJJF circuit. “The big differen ce between competing at the mas ter/ seniors level versus the adult leve l is the shorter match time,” he says, “The competition is all at the same level, though. I think this Master / Senior Worlds event is harder here in California than in Brazil.

There are more competitive peo ple at this event.” Denilson says he’s become more confident in him self and his jiu-jitsu as he’s aged and his concentration is definitely stronger. “When I was in my 20’s ,

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I hung out with my friends and got wild all the time,” he laughs, “Now, I have experience and focu s.

I train a lot. I work on my tim ing and drills. I used to spar in Bra zil a lot. I didn’t know how to trai n well. Now, I feel like I train mor e like a professional and I haven’t been injured in a long time.”

Denilson says he lost a lot of weight for this event, so he did n’t feel confident to get the finish because he lost some strength, but because of his training regimen , he felt really strong in his techniq ue and in getting his opponents to make mistakes that he could capitalize on. Denilson, who’s currently training in Florida with his friend, Renato Tavares, says he’s very happy with his gold, and now he might take a little brea k until the Europeans next year.

One day this will be the biggest tournament.

11/1/13 10:31 PM

RICO BASTOS, NOVA UNIAO

Thirty-one year old Rico Bastos (brother of Bruno Bastos, who won gold in his Master, super heavy division) had an interesting day at the Master/Senior Worlds. In his heavy weight division, he lost in his second match to Flavio Almeida by one advantage point (earning him a bro nze medal), only to come back in the ope n to beat Flavio in the second match by one advantage point, to then win on a referee’s decision in the final against Flavio’s GB teammate, Roberto “Tussa” Alencar. Rico say s he lost to Flavio last year in the same eve nt. “There’s always going to be the same, old school guys here every year,” he says, “Th ese guys have more experience than anyone.

That’s why it’s so hard.” Rico says the shorte r match time is also a challenge. “Six mi nutes is such a

short time,” he says, “If someone scores points before you, it’s har d to do something after that because the guy you’re competing against is for sure very exp erienced. You can see the time is ending and you know the guy is good. If he scores in the first 30 or 40 seconds, you have a chance with 5 minutes left, but further into the match…to come back…it never happens.”

So, how does Rico prepare for this sce nario? “I train to score first,” he says, “I dri ll a lot of butterfly sweeps. You have to be goo d at everything, but to score first; you hav e to have a good position and that’s mine.

I think it’s hard to defend.” Rico says the guys today don’t use that game much. “Th ey use Berimbolo, De la Riva… so when I do a lot of it, they don’t know how to defend it well,”

he says, “That’s why I hav e a hard time with Flavio Almeida, bec ause he’s really good at that game.” Like the others, Rico has changed his training routine over the years. Although he loves to train himself to “death,” he understands that his body can’t take the abuse anymore.

“I need to almost die every day training to feel confident and comfortable,” he say s, “But I have to understand that as I get older, I cannot do that anymore. Drillin g is the best. Less sparring. You also have to have a good defense so you can rest mo re. If you don’t know how to defend, you have to move all the time.” Rico still lives in Rio de Janeiro, but says he spends more time in the US than there. He will be ope ning a new Nova Uniao school in Dallas, Texas next year.

FABIANO SCHERNER, GRACIE BARRA Fabiano won double gold in his Senior 2 ultra heavy and open class divisions. He had three matches in his division and four in the open class and won six of them by submission. The 41-year old, 6’4”, 290lb champ says he has definitely had to change his routine over the years and he is yet another believer in “smart” training. He says, “Twelve years ago my training used to be jiu-jitsu three times a day (drilling and live training), conditioning (weights/cardio), live jiu-jitsu again, six days a week.

These days, pre-competition, my jiu-jitsu training is to drill four times a week, do live jiu-jitsu

None of us are getting any younger.

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training three times a week and condition six days a week.” He also does additional cardio workouts to increase his cardio. “Physically, I can’t try to keep the same pace as a competitor 15 to 20 years younger than me, so my preparation has to be different, but still hard,” he says, “It’s difficult to compete in the adult division. It’s the speed and stamina of the youngest and the moves that I can’t do anymore, due to less flexibility and all the injuries I’ve gotten after years of competing and training.” Fabiano says that his strategy at these events is to go for the takedown.

He trains in freestyle and Greco

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2013 MASTER/SENIORS WORLD JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP ACADEMY RESULTS MALE 1st: Gracie Barra – 301 points 2nd: Gracie Elite Team – 178 points 3rd: Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu – 141 points

FEMALE 1st: Nova União – 70 points 2nd: Gracie Humaita - 34 points 3rd: Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu - 27 points

BLUE, PURPLE, BROWN BELT “DOUBLE GOLD” ACHIEVEMENTS BY CATEGORY: BLUE BELT: Master / Heavy and Open: Anthony Ferrara, Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Master / Female / Heavy and Open: Niceli Guerino, CheckMat Senior 2 / Super Heavy and Open: R. John Carrillo Jr., Cavalcanti BJJ - Carlson Gracie LV Senior 3 / Heavy and Open: Scott Roffers, Brasa Senior 3 / Female / Light and Open: Karen Peters, Coalition 95 Senior 4 / Heavy and Open: Arthur Cantu, Coalition 95 Senior 5 / Super Heavy and Open: Timothy Kennedy, Creighton MMA Academy

Roman wrestling, which is his favorite technique to use to start them. “In the master/seniors division, starting a match taking somebody down will give you a huge advantage due to the short time of the matches,” he says, “In the adult division a takedown might not guarantee the win, but I still apply the same strategy in all divisions.”

Fabiano says his size does not make winning automatic.

“Being big does not make jiu-jitsu any easier,” he says, “I make it work for my body type. My game is comprised of everything that could be done with size, strength and technique combined. The hard part is that no matter how hard I train, my cardio and stamina will never be the same as a guy 70 pounds lighter than me, due to the weight I have to carry and the muscles I have to feed

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with oxygen.” You can find Fabiano at his new Gracie Barra academy in Portland, Oregon.

Fabiano’s final open class match against Giva Santana was memorable. The two hugged and talked before their fight because off the mats they are friends. During their match, Fabiano was going for a takedown attempt and accidentally hit Giva in the groin and he went down. The medic (Ethan, who writes for JJM), ran out onto the mat and loudly said to Giva, “Do you need some massage?”

Everyone in the crowd laughed, including Giva. He finally got up and continued fighting; a little worse for the wear, and eventually Fabiano got that takedown to win double gold for the day.

PURPLE BELT Master / Ultra Heavy and Open: Michael Quintero, BJJ Revolution Team Master / Female / Light and Open: Sarah Black, Nova União Senior 1 / Super Heavy and Open: Selwyn Jason Bell, Carlson Gracie Team Senior 2 / Middle and Open: Jeffrey Milton, Gracie Barra Senior 3 / Super Heavy and Open: Brian Germain, Fabio Novaes BJJ Senior 3 / Female / Middle and Open: Debra Taylor, Cia Paulista Canada Senior 4 / Heavy and Open: G. Elgin Cobham, De La Riva Jiu-Jitsu USA BROWN BELT Master / Middle and Open: Michael Tousignant, Gracie Elite Team Master / Female / Med Heavy and Open: Jill Baker, Jean Jacques Machado BJJ Senior 3 / Feather and Open: Kevin Brown, Gracie Barra Senior 4 / Middle and Open: Joseph Thompson, Soca Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu MASTER BLACK BELT ACHIEVEMENTS: Rooster: Fabbio Passos, Alliance Light Feather: Daniel Beleza, SAS Team USA Feather: Denilson Pimenta, GF Team Light: Marcos Torregrosa, Yemaso Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Middle: Rafael Barbosa, Soul Fighters BJJ Connecticut Medium Heavy: Rodrigo Pinheiro, Gracie Humaita Heavy: Flavio Almeida, Gracie Barra Super Heavy: Bruno Bastos Cruz, Nova União Ultra Heavy: Marcio Corleta, WinnerJJ Open Class: Ricardo Bastos, Nova União Female / Light and Open: Abby Malone, Nova União BLACK BELT “DOUBLE GOLD” ACHIEVEMENTS BY CATEGORY Senior 1 / Super Heavy and Open: Saulo Ribeiro, Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Senior 2 / Ultra Heavy and Open: Fabiano Scherner, Team Quest MMA & Fitness Senior 3 / Light and Open: Adimilson Brites, Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Senior 4 / Super Heavy and Open: Stephen Kamphuis, Fabricio JJ Int’l Senior 5 / Heavy and Open: James Boran - Boran Jiu-Jitsu

Nothing but smiles.

11/1/13 10:31 PM

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11/2/13 3:51 AM

SPECIALFEATURE:::::::::::

HELIO 100

The Legend Who Was Helio Gracie Lives On Inside All Of Us words: DEB BLYTH

| photos: KEITH MURAOKA

O

CTOBER 1, 2013 REPRESENTED A VERY IMPORTANT MOMENT IN JIUJITSU HISTORY. It was the day that Grand Master Helio Gracie would have celebrated his 100th birthday.

In order to commemorate the memory and history of the man who created the gentle art, his grandchildren, Ryron Gracie, Rener Gracie, Kron Gracie, Rhalan Gracie, and Kroyler Gracie united to host a full-day event that included a four-hour live jiu-jitsu seminar that included skills, such as foot locks, guard passes, flow movements (transitions), and momentum/resistance/leverage techniques. Right after the seminar, a one-hour philosophy class took place, where the grandchildren regaled the days spent with their grandfather. Lots of laughs were had as they lovingly honored the sometimes rebellious and defiant Helio Gracie, along with the

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reflective and philosophical side of the man. What followed was a banquet dinner comprised of Helio Gracie’s favorite foods, then a film presentation on the legend’s life, and finally, the unveiling of a new piece of Helio Gracie artwork; a painting created by world-renowned painter, Stephen Holland. The co-creators of the Gracie University, Ryron and Rener Gracie, led the event with their charismatic, compelling and dynamic personalities. Just like they are on the Gracie Breakdown video series, Ryron and Rener are extremely passionate about every jiu-jitsu technique, and the mechanics of how and why it works. They pick apart every motion and movement, every transition, and they study the intrinsic value of each. They put it all back together again, and test its validity as they go. If it won’t work on the street or if it doesn’t work for everyone, they throw it out because they say it’s a waste

of time. When they roll, they allow themselves to constantly be put in inferior positions. This allows them to fully understand what it feels like to be in bad places, so they can better learn how to defend themselves against opponents who may be bigger and stronger than them. After all, they say, that is why their grandfather created jiu-jitsu in the first place. The brothers, who often finish each other’s sentences and seem to be completely in sync with their thoughts, ideas and philosophies, say jiu-jitsu is about exploration; the adventures and learning of street applicable techniques. They say, “We are as excited about the techniques we use against others as we are about the ones used against us.” The following is Ryron and Rener’s thoughts about the legacy their grandfather left behind and what they believe is their role in teaching and sharing it with the rest of the world.

Helio was there in blood and spirit.

11/2/13 3:30 AM

RENER GRACIE WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO HOLD THE 100-YEAR CELEBRATION? Whenever someone puts on a gi and chokes someone out, they’re celebrating Helio Gracie.

His influence, both on the mat and off, has reached millions, directly and indirectly around the world. People who may have started training jiu-jitsu over the last five years may not even know who my grandfather is, but they’re training and benefitting from what he taught us, so for us to have this 100year celebration is really just a chance to call attention to, give respect and ultimately show appreciation for his jiu-jitsu and the lifestyle. The reason for this specific event is to give students a little taste of the real Helio Gracie’s jiu-jitsu, his philosophy, his favorite meal…so, the whole

experience is if you were going to hang out with Helio Gracie for an entire day, this is what it would be like. I hope people leave here feeling like, even though they never got to meet him, they know him through his grandsons.

HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR GRANDFATHER’S PHILOSOPHY AND TECHNIQUE HAS TRANSFORMED OVER THE YEARS AND WHAT DO YOU SEE AS YOUR CURRENT ROLE IN IT? My grandfather essentially created the jiu-jitsu that we now practice. Phase one was the creation phase. He had to create an art that was not in existence to accommodate his physical limitations. Phase two was the proving phase. That was Royce,

The Helio 100 article starts on page 100. Did you catch that?

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Rickson, Royler, Rorian, Renzo coming to America. If you did a different martial art, it was their objective to prove to you and to all the students who believed in that art that our jiu-jitsu is superior for self-defense, for real fights. The proving phase was Royce in the UFC, my dad, Rorian creating the UFC, Rickson in PRIDE…Renzo fighting all over the place. That phase was accomplished with all these fights being won all over the world. So, my brothers and I looked at the landscape of jiu-jitsu and said, “Ok, what are we going to do at this point?”

Phase three…the sharing phase. My grandfather created it to help weak people defend themselves, my dad proved it to show people that they need it, and now my brothers and I are on the last frontier and we are

making it accessible to people all over the world. It’s also the philosophy, the ideas, the techniques, and the lifestyle. By giving students the confidence to handle a street fight against someone 50lbs heavier than them…to be able to give them confidence to assert themselves in that situation, is priceless. That makes you a better businessman, a better husband, a better dad, a more calm, patient, respectful human being. We are interested in the lifestyle change that occurs with a student’s dedicated practice in jiu-jitsu for the street benefit.

YOU SAY YOU WANT TO KEEP JIU-JITSU REAL. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Sport jiu-jitsu can exist in a very non-street, non-real fight scenario kind of way. What DECEMBER 2013

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SPECIALFEATURE:::::::::: they’re doing is the furthest thing away from a street fight.

That can exist. That’s ok. But let’s not forget the reason why all those sport BJJ practitioners walked into the dojo in the first place. It was not to earn an advantage or to learn half guard or to win a medal. They walked into the dojo for the very first time because they saw Royce beat a giant or they saw a DVD or Youtube video of a little guy beating a big guy back in the day and they said, “I want to be able to beat giants.” Or, “I’m a giant.

Where do I go?” These people think all jiu-jitsu is the same, so they pick a BJJ academy and they train for three or four years before they realize…wow…what I’m doing does not resemble what I thought jiu-jitsu would be for a fight. And then they come to Gracie University and they watch a seminar: Gracie street applicable jiu-jitsu that Helio Gracie created. And they see a technique that has applicability in the street and they see how to block a punch. I know guys who are purple belts who have trained for six years who have never once neutralized strikes from their back or the guard. So, we’re keeping it real. Every single one of our techniques has passed through the Helio Gracie filter.

WHAT IS THE HELIO GRACIE FILTER? 50% of what I teach I learned from my grandfather and 50% I made up. I’ve adapted it for myself. But every single technique I’ve created passes through the Helio Gracie filter.

My grandfather made up his own jiu-jitsu using his own filter; meaning if it worked for him, it was good. There are three parts to his filter: one, the move has to be applicable in a street fight, otherwise, you’re wasting your student’s time.

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Two, it has to be a move that my body AND yours are both capable of doing. And lastly, it has to be energy efficient. The move can’t rely on you using strength you don’t have. Jiujitsu is about leverage. Everyone has leverage. My grandfather would say, “Can anyone here pick up a truck with one hand?

No? Well, I can! Give me a jack and I’ll pump it up with one hand!” That’s jiu-jitsu!

WHAT’S YOUR TRAINING ENVIRONMENT LIKE? Basically, we’ve created a training environment for the intellectually stimulated American who wants to learn self-defense and street applicable jiu-jitsu with a training guide that is non-injurious, long lasting, cooperative, built on relationships versus gold medals, where we all work together collaboratively. Our school is for everyone. We have a lot of kids. But it’s also for the person who is 47 years old, a doctor, who is not an athlete, has kids, comes in with glasses, has never done a sport in his life. We make our schools welcoming, inviting and effective for all the people who do not fit in at the other schools. My grandfather used his filter to teach weak, un-athletic, old people. My brother and I are trying to teach the Helio Gracie filter in life. Before my grandfather died he told us, “Keep jiu-jitsu available to those who need it most.” He meant don’t filter it for ourselves. It’s not about us.

The fact that we can do a move means nothing. He would say, “If all 60 of the students on the mats can do it, great, if the weak ones can’t do it, throw it out. They are the filters.” This is revolutionary stuff.

Jiu-jitsu royalty.

11/1/13 11:04 PM

RYRON GRACIE WHAT IS THE “KEEP IT PLAYFUL” MOVEMENT ABOUT? The most important thing to me is the training and teaching of jiu-jitsu and its lifestyle to students. I want them to have fun. I believe you need to have fun learning all the positions of jiu-jitsu, which even means the inferior ones, and to not be afraid of losing. Why are people afraid of losing? It’s because of ego and because the teacher creates this fear. When someone gets armbarred, the teacher will say, “Good arm lock,” so the other person feels like he did a bad job. If he said, “Hey… good job putting yourself in a bad position and letting yourself feel your opponent’s attack. Now you understand how they are submitting you.

It’s good to go into a triangle to understand it better.” Now you’re complimenting him and creating a student who wants to explore and learn that position. People in general feel that success is a sweep or a guard pass or a submission.

Instead, I see it as, you lost the mount, but at least you were aware of how you lost it. That is success. It’s a completely different perspective. Then people won’t judge themselves so much. They’re going to walk off the mat saying, “Wow, I don’t feel bad, because now I’m more aware of arm locks and chokes and I see where they’re coming from better.” This lowers their expectations and the pressure they put on themselves because otherwise, you might get frustrated and think, “This is not for me.” If you look at it how I’m saying it, then of course it’s for you, because everybody loses every day. You’re making it safer for people to not only start training in jiu-jitsu, but to stay in it longer. And when you’re training in-house with friends and family, that’s the best opportunity to allow yourself to explore all positions.

It almost seems like a waste of time if you’re not doing this.

If you don’t create a flow in practice that puts you in all bad positions, your preparation and

understanding of those bad places will be limited.

If you create that flow and type of training in-house, you’ll be more comfortable when you land there in life. Whether in a street fight or in a professional event, you’ll be more knowledgeable of that situation.

IS THAT WHAT YOUR GRANDFATHER TAUGHT YOU? My grandfather taught me a big portion of it, but he left out one piece that I’ve adopted for myself.

OK, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR GRANDFATHER’S PHILOSOPHY FIRST. My grandfather was a huge advocate of making me be on the bottom of the mount, be in someone’s guard…be in inferior positions. He always had me practicing survival because jiu-jitsu is self-defense.

He always wanted me to be prepared from any position.

He always wanted me to survive and not get beaten there because if you don’t lose, you can only win. And by him teaching me all these things, I became very comfortable in all inferior positions.

Applied History?

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SO, WHAT WAS THE PIECE THAT YOU FIGURED OUT ON YOUR OWN? Basically, I told myself, “I’m going to let myself get swept in the guard and make something good of it.” I decided that when I got swept, I was going to observe how they swept me, what the order of their steps were, and then I was going to go in there and do it again.

And if I do the same thing for seven days, then maybe I will gain a better understanding of how to not get swept versus just trying to stick to the A, B, C, D steps that my grandfather taught me. So, I took a different route in learning how not to get swept. I learned to accept it and let it happen. It’s like being an observer of jiu-jitsu. I will observe all submissions from the worst positions. I will allow a heel hook to happen, I’ll let a twister happen…the most ridiculous moves, just so I can be cognizant of the movement, DECEMBER 2013

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WRITER’S

NOTE

and that is what I was not told to do. I was not told to allow someone to take my back and choke me out. I was told if they take my back, you defend like this…not when they get 75% into the choke, defend like this…so, I’m practicing survival at multiple stages.

The most common stage we always learned from was the early stage. You’re in the position and you learn to keep your arms and legs in a safe spot – not 90% into trouble… but getting there and losing will actually really help your early stages of learning defense because your confidence about what has to take place for the submission to happen could keep you from overreacting so you can take what you’ve

learned and apply it, which is the basic defensive skills from any position. I want to appreciate all the techniques; all the ones that work for me, and all the ones that work against me, and I’m going to love jiu-jitsu no matter what.

training each other to get better and to prepare ourselves for when a higher-level person may attack us with a submission. We are helping each other tighten our attacks and defenses. And we’re having fun doing it.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR GRANDFATHER WOULD THINK OF YOUR PHILOSOPHY? I think he’d really like it. He would say it makes sense and sensibility mattered to him.

I do not suggest people train this way every day. I would say that a couple days a week you do not allow yourself to fall into any inferior positions.

This is why I always say, “Keep it playful.” The point is we’re

WHY DO PEOPLE WANT TO TRAIN IN JIU-JITSU AND WHAT MAKES THEM STAY WITH IT? Most people start because they want to learn to defend themselves. Every human being is concerned about personal safety. Why do people stay with it? Because it’s fun, it’s camaraderie and we make friends.

The Gracie University program has 86,000 members in 196 active countries learning jiujitsu from home all over the world. The curriculum is online and each lesson builds on the one before it. After the student completes a segment of the program, they digitally record themselves doing the same techniques full speed with some fight simulation using the techniques. They upload it to Gracie University and get assigned to a qualified Gracie instructor who deducts points for every critical mistake made. It’s notated, so every student gets a detailed critique of the mistake made at the appropriate time code of the video. Rener says, “People say you can’t learn on the Internet versus going to a group class. The truth is, in class, I stand in the middle, present a technique, you grab a partner and do it. If you get my attention you’re probably lucky because there’s so many people in the room. When you put the exact same technique on the computer, you can watch it, press pause, and then practice it. You can watch it as many times as you want.

You can train one lesson for four hours. You can’t get this in a live class. I know how tight the curriculum is, and I’m meeting the students around the world who are effective in the art because of it. My grandfather didn’t create this course, but he is the one who taught us the basics and fundamentals of street defense and we incorporated it all into Gracie University, so anyone who wants to receive that knowledge can.” For more information, please go to: GRACIEUNIVERSITY.COM

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Happy Birthday Grandmaster Helio!

11/1/13 11:06 PM

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11/1/13 11:23 PM

STRENGTH&CONDITION

ISOMETRIC STRENGTH words: JEREMY REID

I

SOMETRIC WHAT? Few people know what isometric strength is and even fewer know how to train it. However, isometric strength plays a huge role in jiu-jitsu. It is the often forgotten and heavily neglected form of strength training, yet it may have the largest and most immediate impact on your game. If it’s that important, then why is it ignored?

Isometric strength plays such a miniscule role in most sports and daily activities, that for the vast majority of people and athletes, isometric training doesn’t make sense. So, through the years, isometric strength training has essentially been forgotten. However, I’m sure most of you know that jiu-jitsu athletes aren’t like other athletes, and jiu-jitsu has its own set of demands unlike any other sport, and isometric strength is one of them. In this article, I am going to teach you what isometric strength is, why you should start training it, and how to train it effectively.

WHAT IS ISOMETRIC STRENGTH? First, we must understand what an isometric muscle contraction is. An isometric muscle contraction is a static muscle contraction; the muscle contracts, but there is no movement at the joint. This generally occurs during one of two situations. The first situation is called, “overcoming” isometric contraction. This is when the muscle contracts against an immoveable object; think pushing against a wall as hard as you can.

The second situation is referred to as “yielding” isometric contraction. This is where something is held in place, even though it could be moved. In other words, you are applying the exact amount of force necessary to counteract the resistance. Think of wall sits or holding a crunch. The basic premise

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and common theme here is that isometric contractions involve no movement. During a jiu-jitsu match you will probably experience quite a bit of both, overcoming and yielding isometric contractions. Ok, so what is isometric strength? Isometric strength is simply how much force the muscle can apply during these contractions and/or how long the muscle can apply this force without fatiguing.

Both of these can make a huge difference in a jiu-jitsu match.

We’re that old school.

11/1/13 10:38 PM

WHY ISOMETRIC STRENGTH IS IMPORTANT I know the last section was a little technical, and you may not see the correlation to jiujitsu, but jiu-jitsu involves a lot of heavy isometric contraction.

In fact, the basic premise of jiu-jitsu is rather isometric if you think about it. You are trying to immobilize the other person. You want to put him in a position where you can control him and prevent him from moving. Essentially “applying the exact amount of force necessary to counteract the resistance” from your opponent to keep him from moving. Think about trying to hold someone in side control or mount, or squeezing a

choke to get the finish. These are isometric actions. This is unlike almost any other sport.

Almost every other major sport exclusively involves movement, moving yourself, moving an object, or moving

someone else. This sets jiujitsu apart. It has its own set of unique demands and one of them is isometric strength.

How many times have you told someone or heard, “it’s a different kind of strength”

when describing jiu-jitsu? That different kind of strength is isometric strength. Isometric strength is also the reason why some people appear big and strong (and they are probably traditionally strong), yet when they’re rolling they don’t feel very strong. And vice versa!

I know I have rolled with guys way lighter than me that I thought I could easily overpower, but couldn’t, yet ended up feeling stronger than guys heavier than me.

Improving your isometric strength will improve almost all aspects of your game.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ISOMETRIC STRENGTH Now that we can agree that isometric strength is important, how do we improve it? This is another problem with isometric strength. Not only is isometric strength often overlooked, but when it is trained, it is often trained incorrectly. Most people get a basic understanding of isometric contractions and just start adding random isometric holds to their routine, assuming it will increase overall isometric strength. Well, sorry, but that’s not the case. The good news is that isometric strength can be increased relatively quickly.

The bad news is that the strength gains are only at the angle and movement trained.

Basically, if you push against a wall with your arms at 90 degrees, you will get stronger with your arms at 90 degrees and not anywhere else. This is where most of the mistakes are made. You must make sure the exercises mimic exactly where you want to get stronger.

You also must make sure you train different angles of the exercises since the improvements will only be at the angle trained +/- about 10 degrees. For example, if you want to get better at holding someone in side control, you should pick an exercise that mimics pulling your arms in close to your body and squeezing, such as a supine row hold.

There are different type of supine rows.

Strength and Condition 19.indd 2

Now, don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying to forget all normal strength training and only do isometric exercises. However, they should be a part of your training program if you want to improve your strength on the mat. They are great to add at the end of your training sessions or to superset in with other exercises during your strength training. Generally, for isometric exercises, you will hold each for a certain period of time, usually 30 seconds to 1 minute. To make things more difficult, you

can increase resistance as you would with most exercises. For body weight exercises you can add a weighted vest to increase intensity. I have included some of my favorite isometric exercises for jiu-jitsu, but this is not a comprehensive list; in fact, one of the great things about isometric exercises is that you can create exercises based on your individual needs. So, take a look at your game and find some exercises that mimic positions you find yourself in.

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STRENGTH&CONDITION

EXERCISES

SUPINE ROW HOLD

SUPINE ROW HOLD WITH GI GRIP

PULL UP HOLDS

SUPINE ROW HOLD WITH AB STRAP

LOW PUSH UP HOLD (ELBOWS TIGHT)

LOW PUSH UP HOLD (ELBOWS TIGHT) WITH FEET ELEVATED

REACHING LUNGE WITH ZERCHER HOLD

PULL UP HOLD WITH AB STRAP

HEAVY BAG SQUEEZE

CONCLUSION

Isometric strength, while often overlooked, plays a crucial role in jiu-jitsu performance. It is that “different kind of strength” seen on the mats. Improving your isometric strength will no doubt improve your game. But remember, isometrics must be trained very specifically in order to gain the strength in the right areas. Start adding the right isometric exercises to your program and watch your strength on the mat increase.

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Hold it, hold it, hold it...

11/1/13 10:39 PM

:::::::::::JJMTECHNIQUE Continued from page 93

4) WHEN IN DOUBT, TAKE THE BACK! I know plenty of smaller grapplers who have terrible backattack games. This is a shame on many levels. Not only is the back mount the most reliable position to finish someone your own size or even bigger, it’s also the position that most of the world champs I’ve interviewed have identified as their “go-to” position for bigger opponents.

Think about it like this: In mount, side control, or kneeon-belly, you can get rolled.

If your opponent rolls when you’re on his back, where are you now? On his back!

Jeff Glover, Mario Reis, and Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes all mentioned the back as their

5) Model the Best If you wanted to run a successful pizza business - would you want a mentor who’s run dozens of successful pizza shops, or a general business professor?

Probably the guy who’s done exactly what you want to do in the pizza industry - right?

I see absolutely nothing wrong with watching great grapplers like Jacare’ or Roger Gracie and learning a ton from their strategies, techniques, and approaches to the game.

However, if you’re aiming to be

successful against bigger, stronger opponents, you have to watch the guys who do it.

There is a difference between general business knowledge and knowledge of running a successful chain of pizza shops.

There is also a difference between Jiu-Jitsu skills and the kind of specific BJJ skills you need to beat bigger opponents.

Which BJJ champions have you watched online? Do they have a fantastic success rate against

first choice of position against an opponent who’s significantly larger. Maybe that’s a clue? If it’s not good enough for you, study the best “giant killers” in the BJJ world (including Marcelo Garcia, Caio Terra, etc.) and see how many more submissions and points they score from the back than from positions like side control - especially when going against MUCH larger opponents.

If you’ll be battling the big guys, finding ways to take the back from all of your best guard and top positions is one of the absolute quickest ways to boost your submission rate and positional success against them.

BIO:

Dan Faggella larger opponents? If your goal is to build that specific skill set, you should study the techniques, strategies, and approaches of grapplers who do it best. I recommend watching Cobrinha, Caio Terra, and Marcelo Garcia.

Armed with some of these strategies to help refine your approach to tapping the big guys - you should be able to see new opportunities to become a little bit more of a “Giant Killer” yourself!

Dan Faggella is the #1 Amazon Bestselling author of the new book “BJJ Techniques to Defeat Bigger, Stronger Opponents.” He is also a no-gi Pan Am champion, absolute division medalist, and writer for over a dozen online and offline publications.

Dan’s #1 book can be found on Amazon, and the print version of the book will soon be available as well.

To learn more about Dan’s book, or to see some videos from his free video series on submitting bigger opponents, please visit: WWW.MICROBJJ.COM/ BOOK

Marcelo is a jiu-jitsu genius, and still working on his skateboarding.

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THE PROCESS OF TEACHING

JIU-JITSU words: MATT CORLEY

| photos: BOB BARTON | illustration: CHRIS HAUETER

Part 1 of 2

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Arthur Ward

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NE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS THAT BEGINNERS ASK AFTER THEY START TRAINING IS, “HOW DO I GET BETTER?” Invariably the answer is always a version of, “Just train more.”

This is certainly good advice, but the onus is placed completely on the student and leaves out the single most important person on the mat, the instructor. Having a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu does not magically confer the ability to teach to your students. There is a wide range of opinions on what it takes to be a good instructor. Some of the more common characteristics of a good coach/instructor are: knowledge of the sport, developing a team atmosphere, loving what you do, and last but not least, the ability to teach.

For this article I’ll be focusing on developing new strategies for teaching.

The intent is to add to your toolbox so you have more options when engaging with your students or a training partner you’re trying to teach a new technique to. We’ll explore several methods of teaching from the perspective of the jiu-jiteiro. Each of these teaching techniques has been studied extensively in academia and identified as effective at helping students to learn. Your ability to convey your knowledge to students is a crucial aspect of their development (and your own). [Note: statistics mentioned in this article are from traditional classroom settings].

Class is going to be rough tonight!

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The Tortoise vs The Hare (AKA DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE)

This method can most easily be described as the opposite of cramming for an exam. Materials are taught in digestible portions over an extended period of time, and most importantly, the students are reintroduced to the material at a later date.

Teaching a curriculum over 6 months versus 2 months increases a student’s long-term retention by approximately two-thirds. The extended time frame gives

the student ample time to develop the physical attributes needed to apply their new found knowledge. Reintroducing the techniques at a later date, up to 30 days later, is very effective for improving retention, more so than immediately rehashing the material. A challenge to this method is that it requires patience on the part of the student and instructor.

Show Me How You Do This (AKA PRACTICE TESTING) Self-testing and/or instructor-led tests on the techniques that have been taught are effective methods to improve retention. The test can be over a small portion of the material (for example, the guard break used to start a standing pass) and is most effective when used frequently.

Students who participate in practice testing consistently perform better than students who use non-interactive methods to reinforce new information.

At first glance this may look like an endorsement of formal testing for stripes and/or belts. However, these rehearsals do not need to be highstakes or high-stress for the students to benefit. Informal checks from the instructor accomplish the same goal.

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EXAMPLE: Prof essor Bubba Gracie’s student s are taught no more than two related techniqu es per class. Afte r a month of cla ss es, the typical stude nt has been taug ht about two two dozen techniqu es.

Professor Bubb a dedicates the final weekend of each month to revisiting the te chniques that ha ve been taught prev iously.

EXAMPLE: Professor Bubba periodically has his students line up about 10 minutes before class is finished. After line up, the professor names a technique and chooses a student to demonstrate it for the class. Techniques demonstrated generally fall into the basic premise of the week and can be techniques taught a few weeks ago (linking in the distributed practice model).

“Good job little Johnny.”

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Tell Me Why We Do This (AKA SELF-EXPLANATION/ELABORATIVE INTERROGATION) Students who are able to verbalize what they’re doing and why they’re doing it are able to improve their abstract problem solving roughly threefold. A teacher, who generates a dialogue with the students and gets an explanation for why a concept

is true, enhances learning and retention by nearly 50% over just reading/watching the materials. A side effect of asking students questions while you’re teaching is that they all pay more attention, just in case they’re called upon.

g their techniques, Professor EXAMPLE: As Professor Bubba’s students are demonstratin ques can explain why and techni the ing has them stop periodically so the students practic questions while he’s nded open-e asks how the technique works. Professor Bubba also benefit of this grip?” the is What here? teaching techniques, like, “Why do I put my foot

He Does This & You Do That (AKA INTERLEAVED PRACTICE)

Mixing different types of problems (or materials) within a single session or space of time is an example of interleaved practice.

A student is shown multiple responses to a problem and then taught how to respond effectively to those problems. Practice may suffer in the short-term as multiple skills are introduced to the students. Long-term retention and application is significantly better as students are able to identify different problems and apply the correct solution to them. Interleaved practice is specifically used to develop situational class in which instruction and drilling are EXAMPLE: Every Saturday, Professor Bubba has a 2-hour awareness and that was taught earlier, the triangle choke for done for a full hour. The class starts with a technique problem solving , and finally a counter to that which negates example. Professor then teaches a defense to the choke abilities, two critical s have been adding is to have classes that the previously taught defense. An option that many school skills for a successful e technique chains with attacks, counters and are devoted to drilling. These drills can/should includ jiu-jitsu player. eful flow rolling can be used as well. adjustments based on the defender’s actions. Purpos

WRAPPING IT UP

If you’ve read this far, then it’s safe to say you want to be a more effective teacher. Some of these strategies may fit your particular situation better than others. For your part, incorporating these practices will take some planning and discipline, but the potential pay off for you, your students and your school are substantial. The four strategies outlined above can be adapted for all levels. As students become more advanced, the ideas and techniques taught will be applied at a higher level of complexity, but the essence of teaching effectively remains the same. In part two of this series the focus is on the student role and how they can take ownership of their own learning.

Which do you think you respond best to?

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LIFE REDEFINED Louis Dulien

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LITTLE OVER THREE YEARS AGO LOUIS DULIEN WEIGHED ALMOST 300 LBS. Louis decided to change his life and have gastric bypass surgery.

Some people might think that’s an easy answer. However, success is far from assured. A year and a half after the surgery Louis discovered jiu-jitsu and it’s had a huge impact on his ability to continue to lose the weight and define his life for the better.

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER JIU JITSU? I first was introduced to jiu-jitsu by my kickboxing coach Sean McCully, who fought a lot of MMA in Japan. He showed me some great techniques, but at that time I was more interested in kickboxing. I never had a strong enough mental attitude to pursue jiu-jitsu. Then my brother worked at RVCA and told me the Mendes Brothers were opening an academy real close to where I live. I was so excited to sign up. I stopped by AOJ while the the facility was still be finished. I signed up and I’m proud to say I have been training at AOJ since the day it opened. I was there for the first class on the first day it was opened.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU TRAIN? I train at least 5 times a week. I like to train first thing in the morning. It helps kick start my day.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO FOR PHYSICAL FITNESS? I’ve always had issues with being over weight. I did a lot of boxing and kick boxing and would lose weight, only to put it back on when I got bored with training.

That’s the great thing about Jiu Jitsu, I never get bored with it, as I’m always looking to get better. Jiu jitsu has motivated me to try other things, like spin class to help my cardio and weight training to help with my strength. I also do Pilates to help with my

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flexibility. I can honestly say that since I’ve started training at AOJ, I’ve been in the best shape both, physically and mentally, than any other time in my life. I just turned 36 and I’m in WAY better shape than when I was at 18.

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR DIET AND HOW? When I eat bad I feel bad, and that changes how I feel when I train. I try to eat a lot of protein; I eat A LOT of sushi. I couldn’t keep my diet like it was and expect not to pay for it the next time I was on the mats.

WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE? The biggest challenge for me with jiu-jitsu is the mental side of things. Anything from remembering technique to having the energy to walk through the front door. Dealing with mental blocks and plateaus. In the almost one and a half years I’ve been training, I’ve seen a lot of physically tough guys come in, but only the mentally strong people are the ones who train consistently and get better.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE LOOKING TO MAKE THE SAME TYPE OF CHANGES YOU HAVE? In the words of my professors….“Believe and Achieve.” Thanks to the Brothers, my instructors and all my teammates at AOJ!

SPECS

AGE: 36 HEIGHT: 5’8” STARTING WEIGHT: 265 CURRENT WEIGHT: 170 BELT RANK: white HOME TOWN: Newport Beach HOME SCHOOL: Art of Jiu-Jitsu INSTRUCTOR: Rafa and Gui Mendes

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE CHANGE? Having confidence and the constant desire to get better. Setting obtainable goals and being able to actually reach them. It’s a great feeling.

Great job Louis, keep it up!

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