March-April 2017 Issue 53
T h e S w e e t L i f e – Su ga r or su b s?
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Vinny Magalhães goes No-Gi • Mastering Spider Guard with Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano • Focus Internally For Results • 5 Best Exercises f or a Better Guard • Competition Prep Do’s and Don’ts Plus more… 2/15/17 12:16 PM
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contents
I SS U E 5 3 M A R /A P R 2 017
Life
skills
body
Discipline - Yourself
Mastering Spider Guard with
Common Medications that
Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano
Might Affect Your Jiu-Jitsu
060 cove r f e ature
098 Gains
Jocko Willink - Discipline Equals
Five Best Exercises for
Freedom - and better jiu-jitsu!
Better Guard
058 T ech n ique
092 Mind Games
No-Gi Finishes with
Focus Internally and Stay
Vinny Magalhease
The Course
008 E d i to r i a l
044 T ech n ique
010 I n F o c u s 70 Years and Beyond
012 W e i g hi n g I n New Gear and News
022 p ro m ot i o n s Belts and Stripes
032 b e hi n d t he scen es At Onnit HQ
036 W hi t e B e lt Ch ron icles Jiu-jitsu Etiquette
040 D o ’ s a n d d on ’ts Competition Preparation
096 Medic
106 success
fuel
Giving Back To the Kids
024 Grub
Sugar or Substitutes
030 Supplements CoQ10
086 W ho I s Maynard James Keenan
Meet The Experts M ac k e n z i e arrington
W il l safford
patrick flores
Ricardo Castaneda
Dr. Ethan Kreiswirth PhD,
Is an award winning
Certified Strength and
Is currently a jiu-jitsu
is a brown belt and
ATC of “Kreiswirth
chef out of Boothbay,
Conditioning Coach
brown belt under Gracie
holds a master of arts in
Sports Medicine” is the
Maine. He is the author
who trains under Andre
Barra’s Rafael “Moskito”
Psychology. He is also
Medical Director for the
of GrapplerGourmet.
Galvao in San Diego,
Oliveira. He has a
the head instructor of
International/United
com, a comprehensive
CA. Will specializes
bachelors degree in
Gracie Barra Lakeway
States Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
guide to cooking for the
in mobility training,
history and is currently
in Austin, Texas. Find
Federation. Dr. Kreiswirth
jiu-jitsu lifestyle. On the
injury prevention, and
working on an MBA. His
him on social media @
is a Black Belt in BJJ and
mats he is a blue belt
kettlebell strength and
jiu-jitsu photography can
ricardopezaobjj and his
has provided medical
out of PSABJJ in Brooklyn,
conditioning. For more
be seen on Instagram
website at JiuJitology.
coverage for BJJ events
NY, and a personal chef
info, visit his website at
under the name
com for more.
since the mid-1990s.
off the mats. Follow
ironwillathletics.com.
patjflores
MacKenzie at facebook.
Ethan can be reached at ekreiswirth@gmail.com
com/grapplergourmet.
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ON THE COVER Look for us online: @jiujitsumag
036
White Belt CHronicles
044
Technique: Spid e r Guard Mast e ry
100
Gains: E xercises f or be t t er guard
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You need more discipline,
60 and Jocko’s gonna give it to you. Photo: Patrick Flores
Should You or Shouldn’t You?
Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano
We’ve got five of them you’d better start doing now!
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editorial DISCIPLINE
A
EDITORIAL STA FF EDITOR & PUBLISHER.............................................. Mike Velez ASSISTANT EDITOR............................................. Patrick Flores MANAGING EDITOR................................................Areum Kim
AS AN ADULT I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS WELL-DISCIPLINED. I WAKE UP RELATIVELY
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS................................... Will Sanford,
EARLY MOST DAYS, BETWEEN 5:30 AND 6:30AM, I GO TO THE GYM, MOST DAYS, I TRAIN JIU-JITSU,
MacKenzie Arrington, Eran Galperin, Jeremy Reid,
MOST DAYS, I EAT “RELATIVELY” HEALTHY, MOST DAYS. So, if someone off the street were to
Arlo Gagestein, Jim Lawson, Heather Raftery,
ask me if I considered myself “disciplined” I’d probably say “Sure”. When I was a kid in the third
Ricardo Casteneda, Contributing copy editor - Amy
grade I was really struggling with school. My teacher, Mrs. Rebenstorf, thought I should be held
Lindsay
back because I was always fidgeting. I couldn’t sit still, and my mind would focus for a minute then quickly find a diversion. So my parents had me tested. Back then they just said I was a hyperactive kid that wasn’t being challenged enough. Into adulthood I continued to find it difficult
ART & PHOTOGR A P H Y ART DIRECTOR................................................. Dave Palacios
staying focused on anything other than something I was very passionate about and interested in.
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS.............Jason Boulanger,
At the age of 21, 21 years ago, I got into the magazine business and suddenly my life was nothing
John Cooper, Kenny Jewel, Patrick Flores,
but a continual, never ending loop of deadlines. None of which I think I’ve ever met “early”. Fast
Mike Calimbas, Alberto Marchetti, Ric Ricard
forward to about five years ago and hearing the symptoms of ADHD and remembering my testing in grade school, I thought I’d take the test with a doctor. Turns out I have ADHD with impulse
PRODUCTION & ADV E RT IS ING
control. I talked to another doctor about medication and he said, “you’ve made it this far, why
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR................................ Paula Fountain
bother?” So I trudged on, routinely finding myself at the office until three or four in the morning
ADVERTISING SALES........................Mike Velez, Jim Lawson
on deadlines. Finally having enough, I thought about the medical option again to seek help. I saw
CIRCULATION MANAGER..................................Chris Reardon
another doctor and got a prescription for some medication, tried it for a while, but it was no help. She put me on another one, no help. I didn’t care for the side effects and wasn’t seeing results so I decided to wean off both of them. I understand that in many instances people find great results on medication for a variety of mental illnesses. This is no judgment at all, they just weren’t
Address change & S UB S Phone: 1.877.834.3552 ext. 221 Web: jiujitsumag.com
working for me. A few months passed; deadlines stretched, difficulty focusing, and always late. Same old Mike. But hey, that’s just the way I am. Then I met Jocko Willink. I’ve been listening to his
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Podcast off and on since the beginning, I read his (along with co-author Leif Babin’s) bestselling
AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST, CONTACT:
book, Extreme Ownership. All along through his podcasts, social media posts, writings, etc, Jocko
Jiu-Jitsu Magazine
had been sharing with me a remedy for just about anything that ails a human being – discipline. I had met Jocko once before at an event but it was a quick handshake. For the shoot for this month’s cover, I got to hang out with Jocko, roll with him, interview him, and witness firsthand what discipline is in both his words and actions. Discipline is something that I think I’ve been
PO Box 2405 Chino Hills, CA 91709 ph: 1.877.834.3552 ext. 221 fax: 909.591.1251
lacking in so many areas of my life. Again, I’m not saying that someone suffering from severe depression, ADD, ADHD, or any other mental illness just needs to toughen up. I know firsthand that it’s not always that easy. But in my case I think 1000mg everyday, of some serious discipline might indeed cure me of some nagging afflictions. We shall see. Today the alarm sounded at
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0430, I hit the gym hard, and I’m gonna do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that… My plan isn’t just to wake up early but to employ discipline in all the areas that I feel I’m lacking and with those around me that I feel I can influence in a positive way. I’ll report back
Jiu-Jitsu Magazine (ISSN 2157-6173) is a publication of Recon Media Inc.
to you here in the next issue and let you know how it’s going. I’m not sure whether to ask you to
Phone: 877.834.3552; Fax: 909.517.1601 email: subs@jiujitsumag.com.
wish me luck, or say some prayers. Either way, I’m anxious to see if this turns out like I expect it
and $59.99 per year for foreign airmail. All rights reserved, The entire
to. Thank you, Jocko, for your service, your sacrifice, and your inspiration.
Subscription rates are $29.99 for 6 issues (1 year), $39.99 per year Canada, contents are copyright 2017 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
If you don’t know who Jocko Willink is, turn to page 60 and start reading, then seek out The Jocko
their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Recon Media Inc., the
Podcast with Jocko and Echo Charles and start listening.
for advertising claims, errors, and omissions.
I hope you enjoy this issue as much as all of us here enjoyed creating it.
Publisher, or the editorial staff. The Publisher assumes no responsibilities
Some of the techniques described in this magazine can be dangerous. Always practice safe procedures and use common sense. Recon Media
Keep Rolling,
Mike Velez Publisher/Editor
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 (ISSN2157-6173) is published bi-monthly by Recon Media Inc., 3857 Schaefer Avenue # D, Chino, CA 91710. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to iu-Jitsu Magazine, PO Box 2405, Chino hill, CA 91709
MikeV@jiujitsumag.com
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TRAIN FOR LIFE
JoĂŁo Gabriel Rocha www.gameness.com Joao Gameness.indd 1
www.facebook.com/GamenessFightwear @GamenessFightCo @Gameness_Sports 11/15/16 9:40 PM
in focus
70 YEARS AND COUNTING WORDS AND PHOTOS ROB NORBUTT
STARTING AT THE GRACIE ACADEMY IN 1947 UNDER HELIO AND CARLOS GRACIE, GRAND MASTER FLAVIO BEHRING HAS BEEN PRACTICING JIU-JITSU FOR CLOSE TO 70 YEARS. AT ALMOST 80 YEARS OLD HE IS THE OLDEST RED BELT STILL ACTIVELY TEACHING SEMINARS ON A REGULAR BASIS. In fact Grand Master Flavio travels around the world teaching on a schedule that would crush many instructors half his age. I was introduced to jiu-jitsu when asked to photograph one of his seminars at Absolute MMA in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was so impressed by how Grand Master moved that I had to give it a shot. I figured if he could do it, I could at least try. I started my own journey in jiu-jitsu at 35 years old, it has become a significant part of my life. This photo was taken after the 2016 World Masters in Las Vegas. We went out to Red Rocks racing the fading light and a rainstorm. We lucked out getting this shot right as the sun went down just before a downpour. This is one of my favorite photos I have ever taken of a man I truly look up to.
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011
Nikon D3s 1/200 f6.3 ISO 320 2 studio lights with hard reflectors were used
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weighing in
FEEL LIKE THE MAN OF STEEL!
S
Sometimes the act of throwing on a gi and tying that belt that we’ve worked so hard to earn around our waists can have a psychological effect. The feeling of confidence that comes over ourselves is sorta like we’ve transformed into a superhero. For some that super hero might be Deadpool; however, for most, it’s probably more like Superman. Well, no matter your belt rank, you can transform yourself into the Man of Steel with the new Superman Man of Steel Gi from
Fusion Fight Gear. Like many of their gis, this is a limited edition and based on the Last Son of Krypton comic book. The artwork featured on the gi is all Jim Lee original; comic geeks will know what I’m talking about. The gi itself is high quality and made of 420 GSM pearl weave cotton. Like its inspiration, it’s made to withstand any punishment you can throw at it. Triple stitching and other reinforcements are
found throughout. The pants are made of 240 GSM ripstop cotton. The embroidered patches on the sleeves and pants along with the inner lining were all taken from Superman: The Last Son of Krypton comic. Even if you don’t consider yourself a comic geek, this is a solid looking gi that will be an instant classic. It’s officially licensed and extremely limited, just 100 individually numbered gis. Check out that bag! Don’t wait on this one, it will be all gone soon. fusionfightgear.com
“WHO’S A DIRTY BIRD?”
As a grappler, you should already know the importance of staying clean. The soap you use will be the difference between in the battle against bacteria and virus. Here at Jiu-Jitsu Magazine we’ve always been fascinated with the art of cleanliness. So what makes Dirty Bird soap any different? Well, they have two different formulations, the Energy Bar and the Relax Bar. The Energy Bar contains caffeine (which is absorbed through your skin) to help jump start your mornings. Its counterpart, the Relax Bar, contains rosemary, chamomile, and ylang ylang oil to help you relax! We’re not sure how much of the caffeine is making its way into our systems, but the peppermint smell sure does help give a nice pick me up in the morning. These soaps are a great way to get clean and chill out after an intense night of training. dirtybirdenergy.com
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013
It’s Alive!
In the last issue we told you about the changes going on. Well, we’re proud to announce that Jiu Jitsu Mag 360 is alive! Best of all, the first issue is FREE! Search “Jiu Jitsu Mag 360” on either the App Store on iTunes or on Google Play, or you can find links at jiujitsumag.com. However you find it, download the app now along with the first issue of JJM360. So far the feedback has been tremendous. This first issue is jammed packed with tons of great content, hours of video, super cool 360-degree photo rotations, and so much more. Expect a new issue of JJM360 every even numbered month, so February, April, June, August… Those other months we’ll be doing the printed version just like the one you’re reading now (or the digital version of the print, also available in the JJM360 app). jiujitsumag.com
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weighing in TAKE IT IN!
The need for oxygen is essential, without it we die. In jiu-jitsu that need is even more pronounced. When we’re rolling and putting it all out on the mats in training or in competition, our entire circulatory system is craving more oxygen to keep muscles and nerves firing. As our heart rate increases, so does that need for oxygen. Ambient air is only about 21% oxygen. That’s why you’ll see football players on the sidelines sucking on oxygen between possessions. That extra boost of oxygen helps their systems recover more quickly. This same theory holds true for almost any athletic endeavor. Unfortunately, when we’re training, we don’t have the luxuries afforded to NFL players. Until now! Boost Oxygen is 95% pure oxygen, all natural and safe. When it’s go time, we’re emitting more carbon dioxide than the oxygen we take in. It doesn’t take long for this lack of oxygen to cause muscle and mental fatigue, cramping,
and poor performance. Three to five inhalations before training or competition, three to five during rest, then three to five at the end will help aid recovery and keep your body and mind sharp. It might seem obvious, but supplemental oxygen is NOT considered a banned substance for those of you competing at the highest levels. Boost Oxygen is available in two sizes, 22 oz that will cover you for about a hundred and fifty inhalations, and 4 oz that will cover you for about fifty. There are four different flavors to choose from, natural, peppermint, pink grapefruit, and menthol-eucalyptus. The 22oz cans sell for $14.99 and $9.99 for the 4oz. Considering the cost of a jiu-jitsu tournament, probably not a bad investment to have handy the next time you compete, or in your training leading up. Boost Oxygen is available online or at a number of sporting goods stores like Dicks, Sports Authority, Big 5, and others. boostoxygen.com
It’s A Nice Day For A…
Jiu-Jitsu Wedding! Love and war have been tied together through the centuries, so it’s not surprising that sometimes while practicing martial arts, love can bloom. Rayce Neidzwiecki is a black belt and has been training at Tampa Jiu Jitsu for almost nine years. Rayce was enamored with jiu-jitsu and martial arts as a child, and once he started training jiu-jitsu, it became almost like an obsession for him. Cori Neidzwiecki started training six years ago and initially had no idea what the sport was, but her competitive spirit and sometimes ornery nature made jiu-jitsu a perfect match for her. Both have competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments and teach regularly. Rayce’s 14 year old daughter also trains and is an orange belt and has also competed and won tournaments. A few years into training, Rayce and Cori started dating and then decided to get married. As jiu-jitsu is a huge part of their lives, there was no question of incorporating their love for it in their wedding. They were married on November 11, 2016, in Tampa, Florida. The groom and all of the groomsmen wore gis instead of suits and their cake featured belts instead of traditional cake topper. Oss to the happy bride and groom!
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weighing in
Coverage Powered By:
FTW PRO Huntington Beach Fight to Win Pro finally made its Huntington Beach debut on Friday, February 3rd. Surf City gave way to many Southern California grapplers at Huntington Beach High School. Originally slated to fight DJ Jackson (whom had to withdraw due to injury), Edwin Najmi fought Nathan Mendelsohn for the FTWP Lightweight title. The flying triangle master was successful in controlling Mendelsohn throughout the match resulting in the judges awarding him the title. João Assis was originally set to fight Jeff Monson, but Atos’ Mike Perez was
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able to step in on short notice to battle with Assis. After a long and heated fight between the two, referees awarded Assis the winner. The win did not go without protest from Perez’ corner, including coach André Galvão. Finally in the main event, Garry Tonon faced off with Gracie Barra’s AJ Agazarm. It has been several years since Tonon has competed in a gi match, but this did not deter him from grappling with Agazarm. Agazarm who is not shy to say what he thinks, made it abundantly clear he would approach and promote the bout like he
does all his bouts. The fight comes at two fronts, one on social media and another on the mat. There was much back and forth exchange of words on various social media platforms making for great build up to the match. AJ was able to defend and counter many of Tonon’s early attacks; however, the crowd cringing moment came when Tonen secured a leglock on Agazarm, seemingly bending his knee backward. The resilient Agazarm pushed through, even passing Tonon’s guard. It was, however, not enough to secure a win as Tonon was declared the unanimous victor by the referees.
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weighing in BONG MADE THIS FIGHT WEAR COMPANIES USUALLY HAVE BEHIND THEM AN INTERESTING STORY. UK BASED FIGHT WEAR COMPANY GAWAKOTO IS NO DIFFERENT. Pronounced Gawa-ko-to, it is a Filipino phrase translated to mean “I made this.” The owner and artist, Bong Abad, is a comic book geek who instead found himself sharing his art through the designs of his fight wear. Filipinos have a very unique martial art culture that has definite influences in Gawakoto’s gear. Many grapplers will appreciate the original design and unconventional graphics that have made Gawakoto stand out in a growing market of fight apparel. gawakoto.com
How RAD is that?
Myofacial release is something that we’ve discussed before on these pages and can be extremely beneficial to any grappler. Walk into almost any school in the country and you’re sure to see at least one large foam roller located somewhere near the mats. Unfortunately, that ubiquitous roller is just one tool that can’t perform all the duties that our bodies need when it comes to myofacial release. Now comes the RAD Roller line of mobility products. The RAD mobility tools are designed to allow you to pinpoint the location of those trigger points so that you can gain the benefits of this type of massage. Pictured is the original RAD Roller that comes in three different densities depending on the location you’re trying to target and the type of relief needed. The other is the RAD Rod that is designed to be rolled lengthwise along a muscle pre or post workout to flush toxins and aid in recovery. These and other innovative tools can be found at the company’s website. Look for future articles on this type of therapy in the months to come. radroller.com
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weighing in We Might Have Some Competition Well, I guess this whole idea about sharing jiu-jitsu technique in print thing is catching on. It looks like our next competitor might be 7-year-old Adele. You might recognize her as this little cutie we had in the magazine about three years ago. Well since then her love of jiu-jitsu has only grown stronger. Not long ago she surprised her uncle with this illustrated book of her favorite techniques. We’d like to think that we gave her some inspiration, but beyond that she had no help of any kind. Way to go Adele!
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❖❖ Here she is with her favorite professors: Misty Shearer (Brazil 021 Edmonton), Hannette Staack, and Andre Terencio of Brazil 021.
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Natural Energy Recently, we had a chance to try RE Focus from Rushmore Essentials. What’s unique about this product, unlike most energy shots, is that RE Focus is all-natural, has no added sugar, no artificial stimulants, is non-GMO, and is vegan, kosher, and gluten free (if you’re into that sort of thing). There are three different shots available, RE Focus, RE Vive, and RE Shape. Some people don’t like to take stimulants prior to rolling, but we’ve found the RE Focus to not give you those jitters you might experience with other energy shots. Each bottle is packed with 21 all natural super fruits, biotin, matcha, and ginseng. Green tea extract provides the caffeine, 120mg to be exact, which is about the equivalent to one cup of brewed coffee, so not too crazy on the caffeine. It’s available online as well as retailers like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Giant Eagle, and others. drinkre.com
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Lavato Signs With Bellator
One of our favorite grapplers, and only the second American to win an IBJJF World Championship, Rafael Lovato Jr has signed with Bellator MMA to join its Middleweight division. So far he holds a 4-0 MMA record with all fights taking place in the Legacy Fighting Championship Promotion. Lovato is a 33-year-old black belt under Carlos Machado but reached world championship level success in 2007 training under Saulo Ribeiro. In jiu-jitsu, Lovato competes under the University of Jiu-Jitsu flag and recently won both his weight and Masters 1 at the IBJJF Masters Championship last year. He will make his Bellator debut on March 3rd against Wayman Carter at Bellator 174. We wish him all the best and know he’ll do us proud! bellator.com
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promotions ❖❖ Obviously Sam Braga far right, me in the middle,
THE RELUCTANT WARRIOR
and my training partner Gene Click on the left.
School: Gracie Barra Location: Knoxville, TN
Newly promoted black belt Cody Hudson provided this story to us. My name is Cody Hudson and I have been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for 12 years this month. I received my black belt on August 16th, 2016. I have never been a big fan of no-gi jiu-jitsu, but my Professor Samuel Braga has always stayed on me to incorporate it into my training. I have always brushed it off, and he told me that if I ever wanted to get my black belt that I would need to start incorporating more no-gi into my training; however, I have always laughed at the thought because I was comfortable in my gi at brown belt. I’m a hobbyist who didn’t care for no-gi.
I know the reason behind my Professor’s thought. He just wants me to be equally tough with or without the gi, and he always has his students’ best interest at heart. I consistently train 3-4 days a week so during my brown belt time, which was about 2.5 years, I started incorporating random no-gi classes into my weekly regimen. It was not every week, but I made an effort. So the morning of August 16th, it was funny because I kept receiving texts from my Professor asking “Hey, you coming to train no-gi today?”, and I was also receiving texts from my main black belt training partner Gene Click wanting to know if I was coming to no-gi. So I assume you get the point now. I showed up to a
no-gi class and received my Brazilian Jiuitsu Black Belt. I couldn’t wait to get back the next day to train in the gi...lol, I guess in the back of my mind I have always laughed and said if I ever get my black belt it will be from Sam in a no-gi class. Well, it turned out he wrapped the black belt around my waist while rolling during a round. It was a pretty awesome way to receive the belt. Thank you, Cody Hudson
Jiu-Jitsu Magazine congrat ulat e s you, Cody. Well done. Now ke e p t h o s e rashguards close and ready to ro ll.
Brown Belt Soul School: Soul Fighters BJJ Location: Glendale, AZ Inching that much closer to the black belt rank, Tim Welch was recently promoted to brown belt by Augusto Tanquinho Mendes and John Crouch. Congratulations Tim, almost there! Okay, meant to respond wayyy sooner, but the holidays happened. Here are the details: he started
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training at Cesar Gracie’s in Pleasant Hill in 2006. Has trained under Cesar, Caio Terra, Alessandro Ferreira, Osvaldo Queixinho Moizinho, Guga Campos, and most recently, who is pictured alongside Sean & Cesar in the 2nd photo. The number of tournaments and wins are too many to count. Let me know if there is any other information you need. And thanks again for this!
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023
Ain’t Nuthin but a Promo Party
School: Carlson Gracie BJJ Location: Chicago, IL
Huge congrats to Antoine Evans, Larry Lindenman, Justin Lemke, and Justin Maroney of the Chicago based Carlson Gracie Jr. Academy on their accomplishment of achieving the coveted rank of black belt.
1
3
2
The Stronghold Has Another Blue Belt in Their Ranks
4
School: Stronghold BJJ (Cobrinha Affiliate) Location: San Diego ❖❖ 1. Andre Madiz, Antoine Evans, and Carlson Gracie Jr. 2. Larry Lindenman and Carlson Gracie Jr, was just promoted to black belt. 3. Justin Lemke and Daniel Wanderley was just promoted to black belt. 4. Clark Gracie, Justin Maroney, and Samuel Puccio was just promoted to black belt.
Congratulations to Gilbert Mueca on his first belt promotion from his instructor Michael Cusi. Here’s to many more.
White Belts Who Train Together, Get Black Belts Together! School: Sapateiro BJJ Location: Honolulu, HI
The Consummate Competitor School: Berks County BJJ/3G Location: Berks County, PA Ryan Thomas has been promoted to brown belt under Shane Mock of Berks County BJJ/3G. As a purple belt he has been killing it on the competition scene. He competed a whopping 36 times, and Ryan has earned 15 gold, 13 silver, and 3 bronze medals! It’s going to be fun to see more of Ryan on the mats. Well done, sir!
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Now, here’s definitely something you don’t see. These eight guys started out as white belts with Leandro Nyza and eight years (or more) later, these guys received their black belts. Now, that’s what we call perseverance and unity. Great job gentlemen!
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Grub
SUGAR OR SUBS? Everything you need to know about how to manage sugars.
S
WORDS: MACKENZIE ARRINGTON
SUGAR, THE SWEET, SWEET...SWEETNESS OF LIFE. THE NUTRIENT THAT GIVES US THAT MUCH NEEDED BOOST AT TIMES BUT CAN ALSO GIVE OUR WAISTLINE A NOT SO NEEDED BOOST. It is found in just about every food out there, processed or natural, so knowing how to work with it in your diet is like knowing how to deal with leglocks. They are out there and can really ruin your day, but, with a little know how, you can manage them and know how to work around it. Sugar consumption in America is astonishing, and because of this, if you look around, you will see more out of shape individuals rather than the opposite. And when you find those fit individuals, I will bet dollars to donuts (lots of sugar) that one of the keys to their success is limiting their sugar consumption. Did you catch that though? “Limiting” not eliminating sugar necessarily because as jiu-jitsu athletes, we burn through tons of calories, and more importantly, the energy stored within our bodies. Where do you think a lot of those energy stores come from? You guessed it, carbohydrates! Oh wait, and sugar because sugar is in fact a carbohydrate that our smart bodies break down into glucose which all of the cells in our body uses for energy. Grab some sugar for a little energy boost because we are about to dig deep into the source of our energy and gain a better understanding of which sugars are bad, which are good, and how sugar substitutes hold up.
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What is sugar? Sugar in a simple term is a carbohydrate used as a source of food energy. There are natural sugars such as sugar beet and cane sugar which are plants that are harvested and refined into the white sugar you typically think of when you hear or read “sugar.” There are also sugars found elsewhere in the foods we eat that are not processed and refined in factories. To understand sugar in a less simple way, sugar can be broken down into two groups, monosaccharides and disaccharides- mono meaning “one” would be sugars that are a single unit of sugar and disaccharides are compounds consisting of two monosaccharides.
Monosaccharides: The most common ones found are; Glucose: aka “blood sugar.” This is what our bodies break sugar and carbohydrates into and which gives us energy...or fat rolls. Found in fruits, vegetables, table sugar, honey, milk products, and cereals. Fructose: The main sugar found in fruits, vegetables and sweeteners. Galactose: A sugar found in milk, some vegetables and certain cheeses.
Disaccharides: Sucrose: (Glucose+Fructose) Also known as “table sugar” which is what is found in all of that junk food, soda, etc. But also found in some fruits, vegetables, and honey. Lactose: (Glucose+Galactose) Milk sugar that is found in dairy and sometimes in cereals, baked goods, and salad dressings. Maltose: (Glucose+Glucose) Malt sugar which is found in breads, breakfast cereals, and cooked sweet potatoes! Formed when starches are fermented by yeast or enzymes.
When looking at food labels, if an ingredients ends in “ose”, it is not showing you respect but instead showing you that it is a type of sugar.
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How our body breaks down our sugary opponent. Ok, it is time to accept that we will be consuming sugar in some shape or form. Let that sink in, take a deep breath, and let’s move forward and use our jiu-jitsu mastermind and figure out how we can utilize the cards we are dealt. Our bodies know we will eat sugar, and they actually need us to consume sugar because we gain energy stores from it. It all starts with digestion. Sugars needs to be digested and absorbed because we can gain that full energy boost. Enzymes in
our stomach break sugars down into two monosaccharides, fructose and glucose. Those are absorbed into our bloodstream in our intestines and from there the glucose is used as energy and the fructose is sent to our liver. Our livers convert fructose into glucose which is then used as energy yet again! The liver is like a doorman at a club. He regulates how much glucose is allowed into the party so that there is a continuous stream
of energy based on our bodies’ needs. So, when we are out training hard, our livers are pumping out a steady flow of glucose into our cells for energy. Jiu-jitsu is a long endurance work out so you can see how we can deplete our stores of energy, and our bodies need a bit of sugar post training to get back to equilibrium.
The pains and gains of sugar When we consume sugar, our body has two options for it: turn glucose into glycogen that is stored in our liver and muscles for energy or check if our organs and muscles are at capacity and thus converts the glucose into fatty acids and then into triglycerides to use later...AKA fat. So the amount in which we exercise is an indicator on how much sugar we can have without getting fat. So simply put..
If you are consuming more sugar than your body needs for your energy levels then it will be stored as fat. You don’t put more gas in your car than the tank will hold, so why put more sugar in your body than you need? Grub - Sugar Subs.indd 2
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So wait... everything contains sugar?
So, sugars are found in natural foods such as fruits and vegetables. That is all fine and dandy. These sugars are unavoidable and are primarily the good ones to be consuming. So, what are the other ones that can be found on food labels so we know that what we are eating container sugar? Well there is a plethora of them because the FDA requires that nutritional labels show the more prominent ingredients first in the list and if they break down sugars by name and spread them out between multiple ingredient names, the items show up later in the list of ingredients and are not noticed as being “prominent” and high in sugar. So keep an eye out for these names on your food labels: agave nectar, brown sugar, cane sugar, cane crystals, corn syrup, corn
sweetener, crystalline fructose, dextrose, evaporated cane juice, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, sugar, and syrup. Wow, that is a lot sugar. That being said, natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables are your number
one option when it comes to getting your needed sugar intake but aim to consume low glycemic fruits and vegetables so you can eat them in moderation and regulate your intake in smaller doses. Go with whole fruits over juices because the juices are essentially sugar water since the process eliminates beneficial fibers and nutrients.
Sugar Subs
So, you are scared to death of sugar and you might be thinking “Oh well, I’ve heard that eating sugar substitutes instead of regular sugar is better for you.” Well, again, aim for natural fruits and vegetables to get your sugars but if you can, surely work in some of these substitutes into your diet instead of regular processed and refined devil sugars.
Ho n e y
agav e nectar
stevia
A good all around substitute because besides just having fructose and glucose, it has added minerals and nutrients. With a balance of fructose and glucose, honey is a good slow burner sugar that will give you a continual boost rather than give you a spike of blood sugar levels.
Is not as good as you think it is. It is processed and refined just the same as cane sugar and comes with a 90:10 ratio of fructose to glucose. A lot of sugar for your liver to process versus a lot of readily available energy.
Natural sweetener from the sunflower family that is about 300 times sweeter than table sugar. With that, it has allegedly low effects on blood glucose levels. A worthy substitute but does has a chemically taste to it.
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This is a personal favorite because organic maple syrup is packed with 50 different antioxidants and other good flavors. It is also low glycemic and won’t cause any major sugar level spikes. Did I mention it is delicious too?
It is in “diet” foods so it is better for you, right? Well, anything made in a lab usually comes with risks and there are a lot of fears of cancer out there when it comes to aspartame, so I would air on the side of caution and just rule this one out.
Calorie free, that is good, right? It also happens to be about 600 times as sweet as regular sugar so a little goes a very long way. This is what is found in most of our protein powders and in Splenda. The luxury is that because it is so sweet you need very little, which is good, but it does not give a great boost as far as glucose levels, just flavor.
How to gain sugar control
Cooking and baking without sugar might be a struggle for some people because a recipe calls for sugar, but can I just add the same amount of the substitute? This would not go over well for instance if you add the same amount of sucralose instead of sugar seeing as it is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Also, the compounds are different and you do not want to give yourself early onset diabetes. So here are a few tips when substituting for sugar. Honey: ¾ tbsp for every 1 tbsp of sugar Stevia: ⅜ tsp for every 1 tbsp of sugar Maple Syrup: ¾ tbsp for every 1 tbsp sugar Other alternatives: In some baking and cooking applications, omit the sugar and use dried berries or applesauce. For beverages and smoothies, use citrus or cinnamon instead of sugars to give a depth of flavor.
CONCLUSION
Sugars are not necessarily our worst enemy; we are our own worst enemy. So by choosing where you get your energy from and how much you get, you can limit your sugar intake so that you are getting a constant burn of energy rather than having an excess and creating a bunch of fat. We as jiu-jitsu practitioners use a lot of our energy up, and it is best to have our sugar after we train to replenish and then go from there rather than try and get a boost before training. Over time you can get intune with your body and feel when your glycogen levels are low and know “Hey, maybe I need to eat an apple before class.” Until then, be smart, use sparingly, and read the labels! Also make sure you read some articles and recipes on grapplergourmet.com then you can truly eat well and train hard. Oss.
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supplements
COQ10
(UBIQUINOL)
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WORDS: MIKE VELEZ
IF YOU PAY ANY ATTENTION TO SUPPLEMENT MARKETING AND YOU’VE HEARD THE NAME “COQ10” THROWN AROUND, IT’S PROBABLY BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH AGEING. NOT VERY OFTEN DO YOU HEAR ABOUT IT BEING MARKETED TOWARDS ATHLETES. But Coenzyme Q10 is produced by our bodies and helps our cell’s mitochondria during intense energy production. It’s often associated with ageing because many diseases associated with ageing are also associated with low CoQ10 levels. These include fibromyalgia, heart attack recovery, male infertility, and Parkinson’s. But multiple studies have shown that supplementing CoQ10 can have positive effects on many human functions that can help you in your jiu-jitsu training.
How to Take It CoQ10 is naturally present in a number of foods, however, in small quantities. If you’re down with organ meat, you’re in luck. Beef heart, liver, and kidneys are all high in CoQ10. If that doesn’t sound too appetizing, you can also check out soy oil, sardines, mackerel, and peanuts. Again, not very appetizing. Thankfully there are plenty of CoQ10 supplements on the market. Whenever you’re shopping for supplements, be sure to stick to brands you can trust.
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Look for third party purity testing and the seal of NSF (originally founded as the National Sanitation Foundation), which tests and certifies products. Typical dosage is between 100mg and 300mg daily once or twice daily with a meal. It relies on food for absorption. Some people have reported mild insomnia and some research has shown elevated liver enzymes in those taking 300mg or more for long periods of time. It can also affect blood-thinning medications.
As with any supplement, it’s never a bad idea to ask your doctor before taking it, especially if you have any sort of liver or heart issues. The two forms, ubiquinone (oxidized) and ubiquinol (reduced form) appear to be equally potent. For the reasons stated earlier, CoQ10 seems like a potentially effective supplement for any grappler to add to their supplement routine.
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What Is CoQ10 and What Does It Do? Coenzyme Q10 is not a vitamin but is similar in its importance to the body. Unlike vitamins, lack of CoQ10 won’t result in disease. CoQ10 is also known as ubiquinone or ubiquinol. CoQ10 is an antioxidant; studies have shown it to be very effective at reducing lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation is bad; the end products of lipid peroxidation may be mutagenic and carcinogenic. A recent double blind study fell in line with previous studies showing that 200mg daily for 12 weeks resulted in increased blood flow and reduced fatigue. Another study with the same dosage showed a reduction in blood pressure when measured throughout the day. This means increased blood flow which is good for athletes. Fatigue is something we all can relate to. A strength and conditioning session in the morning, followed by a long rolling session in the afternoon or evening, can run down even the most in shape among us. One study was conducted on exerciseinduced fatigue at 100mg and 300mg daily. The results showed that the 300mg daily dose for 8 weeks was able to reduce the subjective feelings of fatigue along with reducing fatigue in the later parts of prolonged physical exertion. That means that they were able to train longer and hard. There’s also evidence to suggest positive results from a CoQ10 regimen in Peyronie’s Disease (erectile dysfunction), symptoms of fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, muscle damage, VO2 Max (maximal oxygen consumption during exercise), and a reduction in UV damage.
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behind the scenes
INSIDE ONNIT HQ WORDS AND PHOTOS: WILL SAFFORD
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YOU MAY RECOGNIZE ONNIT AS A SUPPLEMENT BRAND, BUT WHAT STARTED OUT OF A GARAGE WITH ONE FLAGSHIP PRODUCT, GREW INTO AN ENTIRE HUMAN OPTIMIZATION COMPANY. JUST FOUR YEARS INTO THEIR NEW DIGS IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, ONNIT NOW OFFERS FITNESS EQUIPMENT, SUPPLEMENTS, APPAREL, AND AN IMMENSE RESOURCE OF THE BEST AND LATEST EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL AROUND UNCONVENTIONAL TRAINING METHODS. We had an inside look at the Onnit headquarters, just south of downtown Austin, to find out about what goes on day-to-day behind the scenes.
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Pioneered by CEO, Aubrey Marcus, with a little help from his friends, namely Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Onnit has developed into a serious competitor in the fitness industry. Since 2012, the company has grown their headquarters to include a massive warehouse, functional training facility, retail store, café, jiu-jitsu academy, cryotherapy area, creative room, and corporate offices - all of which are onsite in the same location. The atmosphere at HQ is light and friendly, teaming with people who talk the talk and walk the walk. Most employees are young, in shape, and truly believe in what the brand represents. According to Onnit Sales Manager Ty Burge, “There is low pressure put on those working at HQ, but they are expected to perform. We put an emphasis on team building and plan plenty of events to keep everyone moving forward together”.
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Take My Money Now!
When you enter the Onnit HQ gym, you step into a beautiful retail store and café. All of the Onnit products, which seem to be expanding daily, are colorful and bright, mirroring the energy at the headquarters. The café is stocked with fresh produce, and everything on the menu is healthy and meant to enhance your being. A flat screen loops episodes of “The Fighter and The Kid” in the lounge area as a few Onnit Academy members huddle around their Acai bowls after an obviously tough workout. Flushed faces and sweat-drenched t-shirts are testaments to their recent effort.
FITNESS NIRVANA Entering the Onnit Academy is like walking into an adult playground. Every functional fitness tool you could ever need is waiting for you. Kettlebells, clubs, slam balls, battle ropes, bands, and boxes line the perimeter of the space with rigs, racks, and turf making up the space where work is done and goals are smashed. The personas of Onnit Pros, Joe Rogan, Brian Cushing, and Bode Miller, watch over to inspire those below demanding more from their bodies and minds. While we were there, UFC Middleweight Tim Kennedy was
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working with head trainer Juan Leija to prepare for UFC 206. The Onnit Academy caters to all fitness levels, however, and maintains the principle of “movement first.” -something that is echoed by all of the Onnit trainers, certifications, and online education. Learn to move well first before adding load, volume, and speed. ne thing that has set the brand apart is their unconventional approach toward fitness and their commitment to education. The organization recruited
some of the best names in functional fitness to develop their training curriculum and certification process. The head trainers at Onnit are not dogmatic about their methods and are open to what works, allowing the educational resources to evolve over time. The Academy plans to continue to refine their product and eventually open Onnit Academy gyms around the country. Only, however, when they can replicate what’s happening at HQ and maintain the same high quality.
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Onn Another Planet As you continue past the fitness facility, you enter the training space for 10th Planet Austin. Here, head instructor Curtis Hembrof, teaches the unique nogi style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, morning, afternoon, and evening. Just recently, they introduced Bang Muay Thai to the
schedule, a Muay Thai system created by Duane Ludwig. The Onnit Invitational is also held here, an 8-man no-gi sub-only invitational tournament put on by Onnit and 10th Planet Founder, Eddie Bravo. Last December was their 3rd event, which used EBI rules and featured super-fights and
live commentary from Bravo and Brendan Schaub. Catch the next one, which will be aired on Flo Grappling, or attend the live event and maybe you’ll run into funny man Joe Rogan himself.
Down To Business
The far end of Onnit HQ is dedicated to the corporate offices where the administrative work and daily business operations are run. There is the team break room, dining area, and a creative room, outfit with a massage table, and meditation area. The office of CEO Aubrey Marcus is also located here. Although Marcus travels a lot for business, he can usually be found onsite and very involved with the day to day at Onnit. He can often be seen in the gym getting a workout or on the mats rolling with the 10th Planet guys.
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We can only expect Onnit to keep growing and delivering the same high quality products they do now. The brand prides itself by providing the means for “Total Human Optimization.” So as long as people are looking to make themselves better, Onnit with continue to evolve and deliver the goods to do so. If you haven’t tried any of the Onnit supplements, they offer a money back guarantee, and be sure to take advantage of all of the free health, fitness, and nutrition information provided on their website, onnit.com!
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ETIQUETTE ON AND OFF THE MATS
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WORDS: RICARDO CASTANEDA
STEPPING INTO A JIU-JITSU SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME CAN BE A BIZARRE EXPERIENCE. IT IS UNLIKE WALKING INTO YOUR AVERAGE PLACE OF BUSINESS AND YOU WILL QUICKLY NOTICE THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR AMONG THE STUDENTS. These patterns of behavior stem from an established code of conduct that every school implements. Some schools will be more formal with students dressed in uniform, standing at attention while the instructor demonstrates. Other schools are more lax: students strewn about the mat, mismatched kimonos, and music playing in the background. Though most academies differ substantially in terms of atmosphere and etiquette, there are a few basic rules that most schools follow, especially with regard to hygiene and behavior on the mats.
HYGIENE
Cleanliness
Always be clean. This is crucial. Taking care of your training partners on the mats is important and this includes making sure you are clean and exercising proper hygiene. We encounter billions upon billions of strains of bacteria daily. This is normal and our bodies have great defense mechanisms for combating infections. This, however, needs to be mitigated as much as possible. Shower daily and always wash your hands after using the restroom. Also, keep your nails trimmed. Untrimmed nails can create tiny abrasions on your partners’ skin that can lead to a greater risk of infection.
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Wash Your Gi After Every Use
If your gi has not been washed since the last time you used it, please borrow one from a friend or save money to invest in a second gi. Gis can harvest a lot of bacteria and letting bacteria and fungus to fester about will cause it to proliferate, making the risk for infection more probable. Also, you will stink, which should be reason enough to come in with clean attire. In the event that you have multiple sessions that day and cannot make it back home to wash and dry your gi, please pack another. “Airing it out” does next to nothing to reduce the risk of infection.
Cuts and Skin Infections
If you have open cuts or wounds, dress them appropriately. Abrasions on your skin can leave you susceptible to infections and diseases. Make sure they are taken care of before stepping on the mats. Furthermore, if you have any skin infections such as ringworm or staph, please stay off the mats until you are properly treated or no longer contagious. It is relatively easy to transmit rashes and other bacterial infections in a high-contact sport such as jiu-jitsu. Rash guards, though not required by most academies, are highly recommended to add an extra layer of protection. If you want to go the extra mile to cover up exposed skin, spats can be a great investment to keep your legs safer.
ETIQUETTE ON THE MATS Ask Permission before Entering and Exiting Always ask for permission before getting on and off the mats. This is important for two big reasons. First, the mat space is like your instructor’s home so it needs to be treated as such. If you are going to enter a person’s home, you will always want to ask permission (e.g., knock on the door) before coming in and when you are in, you will always want to excuse yourself before leaving. The polite thing to do is wait for the instructor to acknowledge you, invite you in and excuse you before stepping off. In addition, bow (a gesture of respect) to the mat space when entering and exiting. Plenty of instructors do not require this but it is definitely recommended etiquette.
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The second reason you should receive instructor’s permission before exiting and entering is safety. Most students are not paying attention to what is going on around them. During an intense sparring session, for example, you may try to get off the mats to dress a cut or grab some water. It has happened where one
of your training partners is executing a perfect judo throw and his unwilling partner gets thrown right into somebody else. It can also happen when one of your partners gets swept right into the side of your knee as you are excusing yourself for a quick water break.
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Take Care of Your Training Partners I hate to break this to anyone that feels jiu-jitsu is an individual sport: you need your training partners. This is a fact. You cannot practice jiu-jitsu by yourself and if you are constantly hurting and maiming your training partners, you will have nobody left to practice with. It is OK to turn up the intensity from time to time, but be mindful of the varying size, strength, age and rank of each individual you train with. Take care of them. An injured athlete is a worthless athlete and hurting your partners only removes value from a team. Taking care of the community, however, adds exponential value.
Bow and Shake Behavior Off Hands before AND the Mats When you practice jiu-jitsu, after training keep in mind that you are Always bow and shake hands before and after working with your partners. This is not only a sign of respect, but it is also a sign of thanks. It shows your partners that they are appreciated and you respect their time and willingness to work with you. At times the intensity of a sparring session can get a little personal and emotions may flare up. This is not an excuse to turn your back on the person in front of you. Manage your emotions, put any ill feelings about your sparring partner behind you, and bow. There is a lesson to be learned in every person you train with. The person that just upset you is no different.
not only an ambassador of the gentle art, you are also a representative of your school. What you do off the mats reflects on your teammates, your instructors, and your affiliation. If you get into a bar fight because you wanted to try out a cool new choke, this will reflect very poorly on your entire team. If you use jiujitsu for reprehensible means, the same falls on your peers. Respect for yourself, your team, and the entire art of jiu-jitsu is paramount, and this extends to your behavior in your personal life as well.
Lastly, When in Doubt, Ask
Every school is going to be different. Jiujitsu academies will always vary in terms of instruction, conduct, and even business policies. Instructors and school owners are going to have their share of likes and dislikes, preferences, and pet peeves. Never be afraid to ask your instructor about the code of conduct or how one should behave in a certain situation. You can even ask your training partners if your instructor is busy. Open the lines of communication up and ensure you are a part of the behavior your instructors envision for their community.
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Officially Licensed BJJ Apparel fusionfightgear.com
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the life
DO’S AND DON’TS: COMPETITION PREPARATION
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WORDS: RICARDO CASTANEDA
EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT METHOD OF PREPARING FOR COMPETITION. IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING OUT, YOU MIGHT BE LESS CERTAIN OF WHAT YOU SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT BE DOING BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT YET HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF PREPARING. Trial and error is one of the best ways to learn, and there are no ways to duplicate this knowledge without actually experiencing it. Your next best option is to ask questions from people who have been there. Everyone is different but there is some consensus as to what you should and definitely should not be doing.
Do’s
Prepare Well in Advance Preparing for a competition is not a weekend retreat. There are experienced athletes out there who are competition ready year round, but for most of us, we will need time to get our minds and bodies ready. Take about four to six weeks to implement a “camp”. Use this time to focus on your strengths. Do not focus too much on your perceived weaknesses but do practice escaping bad positions heavily. Especially if you are a white belt, you should be taking a substantial amount of time to practice and polish your escapes.
Remember the Mental Training
It Is Never Too Early to Focus on Weight Many practitioners do not take their weight very seriously. The end result is that most competitors will scramble around trying to shed those last few pounds during those last few days. How you manage your weight can be a huge factor in whether you succeed or fail in competition. If you find yourself having to resort to extreme measures such as starvation or dehydration, your body will be weak and your performance will be subpar. If you come into the competition well nourished, you will perform better.
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❖❖ Starting on weight early will help avoid having to cut weight come competition time.
Preparing your mind is just as important, if not more important, as preparing your body. Regardless of how great your physical attributes are, if your mind falters, you will be setting yourself up for failure. Mental training is crucial if you expect to perform at a higher level. Practice mindfulness meditation in order to facilitate sound decision making under pressure. Visualization is also very helpful as you can imagine various scenarios and work through them in your head. Visualize success and you will increase your odds of being successful.
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Don’ts Learn New Things
Do not try and learn anything new. If you have followed the advice above, you will have started focusing on your strengths and diligently be practicing your defense. This is the work you have done and what your body and mind will be accustomed to. If you flood your brain with new information, you will have trouble executing in real time when the pressure is on. The less new information you have, the more optimally you will perform. Stick with what you know. ❖❖ Save the indulgences for AFTER your competition.
Eat Poorly Ideally, you should be eating clean throughout your camp. Most jiujitsu practitioners, however, throw caution to the wind and indulge in whatever sounds delicious. If this is you, you will want to consider cleaning up your diet sooner rather than later. Poor eating can lead to poor performance. Throughout your camp, eating poorly can also lead to subpar recovery and training. Clean eating, like actual competition preparation, is not something you should pick up just for a few days. Stay consistent with a healthy diet and do not allow yourself to slip just because you are at or under your weight.
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You’ll win some and you’ll lose some.
Be a Sore Loser
❖❖ Sometimes decisions will go in your favor or against you, regardless be professional.
Being a sore loser is a monumental display of disrespect for yourself, your opponent, and for your team. You should always endeavor to show humility in victory as well as defeat. Jiu-jitsu competition can be an intense emotional rollercoaster, and it is easy to let your emotions get the best of you. One should always keep a level head and be gracious regardless of the outcome. Jiu-jitsu is a learning experience. Win, lose, or draw, there is always great value to extract from your experience. Being sore for losing is selfish and sophomoric. Be a good sport, show respect, keep your integrity intact, and honor your instructors, training partners, and affiliation with grace.
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Technique
MASTERING
SPIDER GUARD
With Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano
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WORDS: JIM LAWSON | PHOTOS: PATRICK FLORES
BASEBALL HAS “BUCK” SHOWALTER, BASKETBALL HAS LARRY BROWN, FOOTBALL HAS BILL PARCELLS, AND BOXING HAS EMANUEL STEWARD. ALL LEADERS AND “HIRED GUNS” IN THEIR RESPECTIVE SPORT WHO PUT THINGS IN ORDER TO CREATE A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS TO TAKE ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO THE NEXT LEVEL. Jiu-jitsu has its equivalent in Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano. As an academy owner, the creator of one of the first comprehensive instructional DVDs dedicated to the Spider Guard, the Senior Program Director for UFC Gym’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program, and a significant presence in the establishment of Gracie Barra academies in the United States, Professor Tinguinha is no stranger to running and developing a solid jiu-jitsu regimen. Tinguinha’s approach started out of necessity. When he began his jiu-jitsu training (around the age of 10 years old), there were no kids classes being offered at the time, so that only left him the option of training with adults. Among some of those adults were names like Carlos Gracie Jr., Jean Jacque Machado, Roberto “Gordo” Correa, Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes, and Ralph and Renzo Gracie. He was one of the youngest of that group and would get smashed on a regular basis. It’s pretty easy to imagine that the learning environment was intense and competitive. It was through this environment and his need to survive those training sessions that he began to take notes and compile a catalogue of information from these sessions. Eventually, he would develop and begin to rely on his now famous Spider Guard. Contrary to popular belief, Tinguinha states that he did not create the Spider Guard. He explains that early in his training, he was very skinny, couldn’t effectively close his guard, and that he would often end up on his back. He made the adjustment to place his
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feet onto his opponent’s arms just to survive and manage distance. Being around such influential figures, Tinguinha also had the opportunity to learn the business vision of Carlos Gracie Jr. He tells us that one of the main things that he learned from Carlos was that Carlos not only wanted to create top competitors, he put the emphasis on assembling the best instructors. With jiu-jitsu always on his mind, and taking some of the business principles of Carlos Gracie Jr., Tinguinha noted that the method of instruction in the Brazilian JiuJitsu community was generally very open and loose. There was no regimented system in place, which oftentimes resulted in too much information coming at the student. He speculates that out of every ten students, roughly three would be able to retain the information. He reasoned that only a few people would truly benefit from such an open method and saw the need to document and create a system. Using the catalogued notes that he kept for himself to survive those early days of training, he, in turn, developed his own system, which would enable him a method to teach students in an easier way. Once that was in place, he speculated that roughly eight out of ten students would be able to benefit in learning the core fundamentals of jiu-jitsu, which and in theory, could translate into top practitioners and instructors themselves. Tinguinha is continuing to push the growth of jiu-jitsu by giving seminars and traveling to various countries and multiple locations within the United States. He uses his structured methods that have served him well in the past. Tinguinha emphasizes that “everything is based on a system”. He also offers up additional advice to anyone aspiring to make jiu-jitsu his or her business. Tinguinha’s advice is “to be passionate. Don’t do it for the money”. I’d say sound advice from someone who has been able to navigate the business of jiu-jitsu for so long.
Raw Data Powered by BJJ Heros Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Junior > Mauricio Mariano
Main Achievements: BRAZILIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION (1995 BROWN) BRASILEIRO DE EQUIPES CHAMPION (PURPLE) 4X RIO DE JANEIRO STATE CHAMPION PAN AMERICAN SILVER MEDALLIST (2001 BLACK) WORLD BRONZE MEDALLIST (1998 BLACK) WORLD SILVER MEDALLIST (1996 BROWN)
FAVORITE POSITION/TECHNIQUE: Spider Guard WEIGHT DIVISION: Peso Leve (76kg-167lbs) TEAM/ASSOCIATION: Tinguinha BJJ Academy
“Professor Tinguinha is no stranger to running and developing a solid BJJ regiment.”
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SPIDER GUARD PASS SHOOTING UNDER THE LEG Step 1 Tinguinha is standing and inside of Thomas’ Spider Guard. Thomas is controlling both of Tinguinha’s arms with grips to the cuffs of Tinguinha’s sleeves. Tinguinha establishes his base with his stance by keeping one leg forward and one leg back. He also grips the inside pant legs of Thomas, keeping his elbows tight.
Step 2 Tinguinha begins the pass towards the “weak” (bent, lower) side of Thomas’ guard by circling his hand underneath Thomas’ leg and regripping the inside pant leg again. This changes the grip positioning of Thomas.
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Where you grab is important.
Step 3
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Now, Tinguinha takes a few steps towards the weak side around Thomas to drive his leg down to one side.
With his grip on the other leg, Tinguinha will now readjust his grip from the inside pant leg to grip the outside.
Step 5 A nice angle has now been created for Tinguinha to shoot across Thomas’s body, by leading with his right knee towards the mat and clearing Thomas’ hip on the opposite side. Tinguinha is also sure to lower his head to clear to the outside of Thomas’ leg and establishes side control.
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SPIDER GUARD TORREANDO PASS TO THE BACK
This time Tinguinha begins to breakdown the Spider Guard by exploiting the stretched out leg of Thomas’ guard Step 1 Like the previous position, Tinguinha establishes his grips and base standing inside of Thomas’ Spider Guard with Thomas controlling both of Tinguinha’s arms with grips to the cuffs of his sleeves.
Step 2 This time, Tinguinha begins to breakdown the Spider Guard by exploiting the stretched out leg of Thomas’ guard by driving his knee behind Thomas’ outstretched knee to bend Thomas’ leg, effectively jamming Thomas’ legs.
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Step 3 At this point Tinguinha steps back, clearing Thomas’ feet from his biceps and driving downward on Thomas’s legs while Tinguinha maintains his grips and circles out of Thomas’ guard. Once to the side, Tinguinha sprawls out, keeping his hips off of the mat and drops his lower shoulder onto Thomas’ upper shoulder, keeping Thomas from rolling up to grab a leg. Note: If Thomas does not sit up to counter, Tinguinha can merely complete the pass here and establish side control.
Step 4 Tinguinha will now let go of his grip of the outside leg, making sure to keep his inside grip. Using his inside grip, Tinguinha posts his grip on the mat to jump over Thomas’ head to establish back control.
Step 5
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Back control is established by placing both knees on the mat and Tinguinha’s free hand establishes a cross collar grip.
Once Tinguinha’s cross lapel grip is established, he uses his grip to lift Thomas’ leg to further breakdown his position. Once this is done, Tinguinha finishes with a choke.
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TRAIN FOR LIFE Yuri Simoes 2014 Double Gold NoGi World Champion 2015 ADCC Champion www.facebook.com/GamenessFightwear @GamenessFightCo www.gameness.com Yuri Gameness.indd 1
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SPIDER GUARD SWEEP TO THE BACK
This time we see Tinguinha starting on his back employing Spider Guard on Thomas. Moves like this are great in competition because they produce so many points. If done correctly in competition, this is a six point move, two for the sweep and four for taking the back. Step 1 Tinguinha establishes his Spider Guard with both of his feet on Thomas’ biceps and grips to the cuffs of Thomas’ sleeves. Thomas also has grips on Tinguinha’s pant legs and has posted with one leg up.
Step 2 Tinguinha breaks Thomas’ grip kicking his right leg straight and away, returning his leg to establish a butterfly hook on the same side behind Thomas’s calf.
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This is one you’ll need to drill quite a bit.
Step 3 From here, Tinguinha lifts Thomas’ leg from underneath him and follows the roll to the opposite side. If Thomas doesn’t post, Tinguinha can sit up to complete the sweep. But if Thomas does post to prevent the sweep.
Step 4
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Tinguinha will now release his grip from Thomas’ posting arm and uses that hand to grip underneath Thomas’ left heel.
Using the grip on Thomas’ heel, Tinguinha guides the leg across his body to the opposite side. At the same time, Tinguinha removes his left foot from Thomas’ other bicep and transfers it behind Thomas’ leg.
Step 6 From here Tinguinha grabs Thomas’ belt, straightens his legs, and sits up, establishing back control.
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SWEEP UNDER THE OPPONENT’S LEGS Step 1 Tinguinha establishes his Spider Guard with both of his feet on Thomas’ biceps and grips the cuffs of Thomas’ sleeves. Thomas also has grips on Tinguinha’s pant legs and is posted with one leg up.
Step 2
Step 3
Tinguinha breaks Thomas’ grip by kicking his right leg straight and away, returning his leg to inside of the opposite leg to establish a half guard hook. It is important that Tinguinha keeps his left leg stretched out on Thomas’ bicep so that Thomas doesn’t smash him.
Using his right hand, Tinguinha pushes Thomas’s arm inside, across his body.
Step 4 As Tinguinha pushes Thomas’ hand across his body, he follows with his head by rotating on his back, continuing until Thomas falls over him with Tinguinha coming up while maintaining his grips and keeping the half guard hook, completing the reversal.
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SPIDER GUARD SWEEP WITH OPPONENT STANDING Step 1 Tinguinha establishes his Spider Guard against a standing opponent by placing his left feet on Thomas’ biceps. Tinguinha is also gripping the cuffs of Thomas’ sleeves.
Step 2
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Tinguinha drops his right foot to place it on Thomas’ left hip making sure not to fully extend the right leg. This allows for better distance management against Thomas and doesn’t make it as easy for Thomas to pass. Tinguinha also releases his grip from the cuff of the sleeve and shifts the grip to the cuff of Thomas’ right pant leg.
Tinguinha makes a slight rotation out so that he can shoot his knee under Thomas’ leg and shifts his hips back in, placing his knee behind Thomas’ knee while still keeping his right foot on Thomas’ hip.
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If you’re going to play spider guard it’s good to have stronger than normal grips.
Step 4
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Tinguinha now stretches his left leg causing Thomas to take a step to maintain his balance.
As the previous step happens, Thomas has now lost his base. Tinguinha maintains his grips and rolls with Thomas, effectively executing the sweep and finishing on top.
Step 5 Once Thomas takes that step, Tinguinha removes his foot from Thomas’ hip and places it on top of Thomas’ right foot and uses it to hook the outside of Thomas’ right ankle.
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ARMBAR FROM SPIDER GUARD Step 1 Tinguinha establishes his Spider Guard with both of his feet on Thomas’ biceps and grips the cuffs of Thomas’ sleeves and rolls towards his right side and stretches his right leg into Thomas’ bicep.
NOTE Tinguinha prefers to finish this armbar belly down because the movement keeps the hips tight to his opponent allowing greater success in finishing with the armbar.
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Tinguinha now releases his left foot from Thomas’ bicep and immediately drags Thomas’s arm behind his own head.
From here, keeping his hips elevated, Tinguinha throws his left leg around Thomas’ head, underneath his chin.
Tinguinha releases his grips from Thomas’ cuffs to grab and hug Thomas’ wrist while putting pressure on Thomas’s arm, completing the belly down armbar.
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DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM Jocko Willink
WORDS AND INTERVIEW: MIKE VELEZ | PHOTOS: PATRICK FLORES
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Years ago, the first time I headed down to Victory MMA in San Diego to interview Dean Lister, I remember Dean mentioning the name “Jocko” a couple of times. Not wanting to sound like a newb I’m pretty sure I nodded my head and probably said something like “Oh yeah – Jocko…” Years later the exchange was out of my memory. It wasn’t until one day I saw an email advertising that week’s episode of the Tim Ferriss Podcast talking about the “Scariest Navy SEAL Imaginable”. After some investigating I found out the interviewee was John “Jocko” Willink. “How many Jockos could there be?” I thought. Listening to that podcast and discovering just who this mythical “Jocko” guy was was a true wake up call. We hear stories of men like this or see caricatures of them in the movies. Many have called Jocko a hero, including myself. But pin that badge on Jocko and he will be the first to tell you that he’s only man, a man amongst heroes, and to never forget them. Jocko is a retired United States Navy Seal who has received the Silver Star and Bronze Star for his heroic actions while serving in the Iraq War. In 2010, Jocko retired from the Navy and partnered up with fellow Navy SEAL Leif Babin to start Echelon Front to offer businesses practical, experience-based solutions from lessons learned on the battlefield. Along with running the operations of the business, Jocko and Leif do speaking engagements across the country. After hearing the podcast I immediately went out and purchased the book that Leif and Jocko co-authored, Extreme Ownership, and became a listener of the Jocko Podcast that launched at the end of 2015. The podcast is co-hosted with Echo Charles. Echo is a jiu-jitsu brown belt, a magician with a video camera, and an all around great guy. The podcast is not for the weak. Jocko will read from books that have impressed great points upon him through the years, many of which are related to the ravages of war. Jocko pulls no punches and conveys the harsh realities of war with detail and affect that I promise you’ve never experienced before short of being there. Along the way Jocko brings those and other life experiences into view and
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“JOCKO IS A RETIRED UNITED STATES NAVY SEAL WHO HAS RECEIVED THE SILVER STAR AND BRONZE STAR FOR HIS HEROIC ACTIONS WHILE SERVING IN THE IRAQ WAR.” shares lessons that most of us can use in our everyday lives. During the podcast Echo chimes in to interject. Echo always seems to have that question that we all want the answer to. The podcast is in the “Business” category on iTunes, but it really falls under the “Your Entire Life” category, if that exists. So much of what Jocko talks about and the guests he has on adds value to every aspect of our lives, including our jiu-jitsu. Jocko is a black belt under Dean Lister and first started training the “jiu-jits” back in the early nineties before Royce Gracie entered the Octagon. A pretty good portion of every episode talks about jiu-jitsu in some way or another. If you’ve not yet listened, then you’re in luck. Most episodes seem to run about two and a half hours or so, multiple that out by the 62 episodes released and counting, and you’ve got a good six and a half days of listening to catch up on.
Jocko and Echo come across so natural it feels like one of those after training conversations you share with the boys (and girls) down at the academy. They say that you’re the average of the five people you surround yourself with. Listening to the podcast will not only make you tougher but also will raise that average and make you a better person for listening. I promise you. If after 10 episodes that’s not the case, you let me know and I’ll give you your money back for this magazine. Among the constant themes that Jocko espouses is the idea that discipline equals freedom. It might seem overly simplistic. However, when you dive deep into the idea and concept it seems to ring true in so many veins of life. Want to have the freedom to travel more or put some money away? Then be disciplined at work or school, at saving, and that discipline will reward you with the freedom you seek. Want to be better at jiu-jitsu, and want the freedom to hold your own on the mats with all challenges? Be disciplined in your training, train often, be disciplined in your diet, and how you treat your body. So many of the rewards and freedoms we want in life require discipline beyond the average and probably beyond what many of us put forth daily. I became intimately aware of Jocko’s discipline on the mats when I had the opportunity to roll with him. Having recently earned my black belt, my goal when visiting new schools is usually to just hold my own against other black belts and not embarrass myself. Let’s just say that rolling with Jocko was like getting struck by a freight train, and just when I managed to pick myself up, the 2 o’clock rolled in, then the 3 O’clock, and so on. Humbling and enlightening to say the least. The discipline Jocko speaks of is that self-discipline is inside us. He espouses that when we truly decide to make that change, the discipline within us will appear. But you must make that decision. Enough of my rambling, check out some excerpts from our interview with Jocko along with some of his favorite techniques. Enjoy.
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Jocko on Life and Jiu-Jitsu
JJM: How difficult was it getting through BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALS)?
did that, you were getting choked. So that was my introduction and there were a few other guys that trained with me at that time. When we watched the first UFC those other guys and I that were training with at the time knew jiu-jitsu. We didn’t know what we didn’t know, but we knew what a rear naked choke was, and we knew what an armlock was, and we knew what an Americana and Kimura was. We knew how to get the back, we knew how stay on the back so those basic principles. We definitely didn’t understand half guard or butterfly guard or spider guard, or even open guard, we
BUD/S is fun. It’s fun, you get paid to work out. You get fed three or four meals a day, and it’s awesome. You’re down at the beach, you’re hanging out with a bunch of good dudes, and you’re getting after it, working out. It’s fun. It’s awesome.
didn’t understand those things. At that time I thought that jiu-jitsu was a finite thing. I thought there were forty-seven moves and once you know them, you know jiu-jitsu. I didn’t know you could not know all the moves, no one can.
JJM: How were you introduced to jiu-jitsu?
JJM: How did Fábio Santos become your first instructor?
I came across jiu-jitsu in 1992 or 1993 and luckily for me there was an old SEAL Master Chief, and I call him old right now, but he was my age at the time. He’s an awesome guy, his name is Steve Bailey and he had been training with the Gracies up in Torrance, in their garage back in the day. When I showed up to my first deployment overseas, he was the Master Chief in charge of the command overseas and he asked us point blank, “Hey, who here wants to know how to fight?” and I said, “Well, I wanna know how to fight,” and he said, “Show up at this place.” and they had a little judo room and that’s how he taught us basic jiu-jitsu. He was a high level white belt at the time, but in 1992 a high level white belt could beat anybody because he knew how to take someone down and how to either armlock them or get them to turn their back and get the rear naked choke. He was a good Muay Thai guy and a good stand up fighter, so it wasn’t like you were gonna stand and bang with the guy because he was gonna get you. You weren’t gonna wanna close the distance on him and when you
My buddy Jeff Higgs, who was another SEAL with me, who had started with Steve Bailey at the same time, but when we’d come back from that deployment, he’d gone out and found Fábio Santos. It wasn’t right when we got back, maybe it was a deployment later, but at some point he started training with Fábio full time and he’d gotten his purple belt. The day he got his purple belt he came to my apartment and was like, “Hey, let’s go train,” and I said sure because we were even you know. I was probably a little bit bigger than he was, and he says, “Hey, let’s train,” and I said, “Cool, let’s go train”.
JJM: What did you want to be when you were a kid? Well, when I was a little kid, like many kids, I wanted to be some kind of commando. I wanted to be some kind of a soldier and so when I got old enough that’s what I did. In 1990, straight out of high school I joined the Navy. I decided I wanted to be a SEAL. There was definitely a lot less publicity than there is now. Back in the 90s it was not that big of a deal.
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So, we went across the street in the grass and he was a purple belt and I was a white belt and we all know what happens there. He submitted me five hundred times and I couldn’t stop it and he said, “Yeah, I’ve been training” and I said, “Where? I’ll be there. I’ll go there right now.” And he says, “Well they’re closed today but go tomorrow.” So I went there the next day, signed up for unlimited classes, and started training the whole time with a whole core group of guys that I still
train with all the time now. James Nilsen, obviously Dean Lister, then my main training partner for many many years and we all kind of came from that same group- Higgs, a couple other guys. There’s a core group of guys that came out of there and we still hang out and train.
JJM: During your time as a SEAL how often would you find yourself using jiu-jitsu, both mentally and physically? Well, I think mentally you should be using jiu-jitsu all the time. I mean everything that you do in life is basically jiu-jitsu as far as I’m concerned. So, I use jiu-jitsu everyday in every thing that I’m doing. At this point it’s not like I think about it, but if I do think about it, I know where I’m getting these reactions to the world from. I’m getting them from jiu-jitsu and in combat scenarios you use jiujitsu on a fairly regular basis because you’ve gotta get control of other human beings that may be resisting on a wide variety of levels and what you’re trying to do them. So, it is something that you’re going to use on a regular basis.
JJM: Is there one tip that you can share with people that will help them improve their jiujitsu as well as their lives? Train all the time. The more you train, the better prepared you’re gonna be. When you train, train yourself for worst-case scenarios, and that’s what I think is what makes the SEALs very effective, that’s what makes the U.S. Military very effective, and that’s what makes jiu-jitsu very effective. In the beginning of jiu-jitsu, one of the things that made jiu-jitsu so effective in the beginning was that you and I could spar 100%. You could resist me with everything you’ve got and could throw everything that I’ve got back at you, and so we got to train for this scenario over and over and over again and we would rarely get hurt. Where as if it was even boxing, we can’t train 100% all the time. Especially when
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“OVERPOWER, OVERCOME.”
you’re talking street fighting and you’re going bare knuckles, you can’t do that. Train. In life, what are you getting ready for in life? What’s your mission in life? If you’re a soldier, train to be a soldier. Train as hard as you can. Train for worst-case scenarios. If you’re a business person, how do you train to handle clients? How do you train to handle people that have a big ego or someone that doesn’t want to do a good job? How do you train to deal with those situations? So, my advice would be to train.
JJM: You run a consulting business, Echelon Front, is there a common problem that you see among the businesses you consult? Every business, just like every human being, has strengths and weaknesses and when we go to work with a business, the first thing we have to figure out is what’s going on inside this business? Now in the book that we wrote, Extreme Ownership, we talk about these fundamental principles of combat leadership and this much I know, when I go to a business, if they’re not performing at their highest possible level, they will be lacking in one,
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two, three, or four of those fundamental principles of combat leadership. What we’ll do is identify which one of those areas they’re weak in and then explain to them what those weaknesses are, then how to correct them and give them corrective measures. That’s what we do and different businesses ... every business will have strengths and weaknesses so we have to go in there and identify what those strengths and weaknesses are and then we attack them.
JJM: In your book, and on the podcast you say that discipline equals freedom. How can someone become more disciplined in their lives? If you’re not disciplined, and you want to be disciplined, start being disciplined. Everybody wants me to say something and give them some magic potion or some magic thing to say to themselves or some magic pill that’s going to make them become disciplined, but the fact of the matter is, if you want to be disciplined, get up early and get after it. That’s where it starts. It’s not gonna be easy, it’s not gonna massage you in the morning, it’s gonna be hard. Life is hard and the harder you are, the easier life is going to be. And
the softer you are, the harder life is going to be. The weaker you are, the harder life is gonna be. So be hard yourself. Be tougher. Be disciplined. The more disciplined you are, the more freedom you’re gonna have.
JJM: You’ve made waking up at 4:30 famous, what does that early morning ritual look like? I wake up in the morning normally around 4:30, either between 4:00 or 4:30 and I wake up and I work out by myself. My workouts last between ten minutes and three hours. Depends on what’s going on. I have a lot of stuff going on. If I’ve got work to do, I might be able to squeeze in a ten minute. If I’m traveling, if I’ve got a six o’clock in the morning flight, that means I’m gonna get up at four o’clock in the morning because I gotta be at the airport by 5:00, so you do the math, you’re gonna get ten, fifteen minutes of work. And you know what, I’ll crush my soul in ten minutes. I’ll be hurting in ten minutes and anybody can do that. I’m not special.
JJM: What time do you usually go to bed? I usually go to bed around 11:00, five and a half hours is pretty good for me. I’m not good at much, but for some reason I don’t
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need a lot of sleep to go and that’s been pretty lucky for me, but I don’t encourage other people to do it because it’s not smart. I know there’s other healthier ways you should sleep more, but I’m just not into it. I got stuff I got to do.
JJM: Who’s had the greatest impact on your jiu-jitsu? Let’s just be straight up. I’ve trained with Dean Lister my whole jiu-jitsu career. Obviously I started with Fábio Santos, but Dean came into Fábio Santos with a lot of wrestling and a lot of Sambo, and then he is a very creative jiu-jitsu guy and then the thing you add on top of that, you add Jeff Glover because now you’re learning all of Jeff Glover’s type stuff. I steal everything I can from those guys. They’re awesome. Both of them are unbelievable, not just unbelievable at jiu-jitsu, but they have a natural gift for jiu-jitsu that I’m pretty lucky to have them around.
JJM: How often do you train jiu-jitsu? If I’m in San Diego, everyday. When I’m on the road ... A lot of times the way my trips are set up on the road, I’m in and out. I’ll be on the ground for 18 hours and work for eight of them and have a dinner with somebody and meet someone else. A lot of times on the road I don’t get a chance to train, but when I do longer trips, yeah, I’ll try and uncover some place to train.
JJM: Do you ever have any down time? Negative
JJM: What recharges the batteries? Life. Seriously, we’re lucky to be sitting here. I’m lucky to be sitting here and if I’m alive and I’m thankful for being alive, I’m going to keep going until I burn out.
JJM: Do you take any supplements? I take glucosamine, chondroitin, and krill oil daily. I think it’s good for your joints. I’m not a scientist. I’m not a doctor. I can only tell you what I’ve done. That’s what I do. My joints are pretty good considering my lifestyle.
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JJM: Favorite place to vacation? For me, life is a vacation. I just worked out this morning, came here and trained some jiu-jitsu, I did a little bit of podcast preparation in between, probably going to go surfing this afternoon. I’m gonna do some more podcast preparation tonight, I’m going to eat some good food, I’m gonna wake up tomorrow morning and I’m going to do it all again.
JJM: With the success of the podcast do you find yourself getting recognized more often? Yeah, definitely. A lot of people listen to it. It’s awesome because it’s not like I said, “Hey, I’m gonna make something that I’m gonna get a bunch of people to listen to.” Echo, who I do the podcast with, and I’ve said, “Let’s just talk about some stuff I wanna talk about” and that’s what we did and we’re lucky because a lot of people like to listen to what we talk about. A lot of people give us feedback too. It’s not a one way street where I’m just talking, or Echo’s just talking, we’re talking but we’re getting a lot of feedback, and we’re getting a lot of interaction with people out there in the world through social media, email and everything else. It’s like when you have a jiu-jitsu gym in a town, everybody that does jiu-jitsu can come to that gym and hang out. Well, with social media we’ve got a bunch of people who are into the same stuff and they can come and hang out in the podcast.
JJM: Any projects you’re working on for this year? Yeah, I got a new book coming out May 2nd. It’s actually a kid’s book and every jiu-jitsu person in the world is gonna get it because it focuses fairly heavily on jiu-jitsu. It’s about a ten year old kid; he’s kind of a typical ten year old kid, maybe a little less than average typical kid, but he doesn’t know his times tables at school, he doesn’t know how to swim, he can’t do any pull-ups, and he’s getting bullied in school. And so he finishes up fifth grade, worst year he’s ever had, feels stupid, feels weak, feels bullied and doesn’t know how to swim.
That summer his uncle comes to stay with him and his uncle is transitioning out of the Navy where he was in the SEAL teams and he’s gonna go to college, but he’s gonna stay with his nephew and his sister for the summer. So Uncle Jake comes and basically says to the kid, “What’s going on?” The kid starts crying and saying I get bullied, I get picked on, I don’t know how to swim, don’t know my times tables, can’t do any pull ups and Uncle Jake says, “Well, we can handle all those problems.” Throughout the summer they start working out, they start studying, learning how to learn, learns how to swim, and learns jiu-jitsu so he won’t get bullied. Finishes the summer, goes back to school and obviously has no issues, stands up to the bully, the bully doesn’t know jiu-jitsu so the bully backs down. He’s scared. I think a lot of kids and parents are gonna be bringing their kids into jiujitsu places around the country for sure.
JJM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? For me, I would tell you the thing that you’ve already brought up which is discipline equals freedom. I don’t know if I got it from a specific person, in fact, I don’t think I did, it’s just something that I observed through my life through people that were doing what they wanted to do, and I realized the most common theme with people that were doing what they wanted to do and had the most freedom in their lives were the most disciplined people. I think that’s the best piece of advice I try to live by is discipline equals freedom.
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“COMPLACENCY KILLS.”
Jocko and Echo
ON THE PODCAST JJM: Echo, what have you learned since starting the podcast with Jocko? Echo: I would say there are three specific things. The first is give recognition to those around you. If someone helped you or you recognize some value that someone else brought to whatever it is that you did, if you give them credit, that’ll make you look better for sure. But it’ll make the probability of whatever situation that happened will keep happening. Taking credit typically...that’s not the right move. The right move is to give your team credit. Other thing is how important humility is. I don’t mean humility like being humble, like polite necessarily. But listening to people who you think have less experience than you. Let’s say you’re a black belt. And a blue belt comes up with a little variation of a move. To have the humility to understand you don’t know everything. This guy might have something to offer, you know? It sounds like, “Oh yeah, that’s obvious.” But I didn’t know how deep that really went. The last one, most important overall, is everything that you do or everything that you want to do is a 100% predicated on your mindset. If you get frustrated with something, which is natural, but if you get frustrated and then you behave in a way that’s based on frustration, the chance of you being successful in
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whatever it is, even if it’s fixing your car or something, is going to be way less. But if you take on problems, they’re not problems, they’re challenges or pursue things with a sense of empowerment more so than, “Oh, this sucks we gotta do this,” kind of thing. That’s not going to maximize the probability of your success. And that was something I didn’t understand when I thought I had a good attitude about things but to understand that, how deep that I understand that now, is a huge, huge takeaway.
JJM: Over that same period of time is there something that you hope you’ve taught Jocko? Echo: Maybe the ability to relax a little bit more. Maybe. And not like physically just relax but maybe take even more fun out of, I don’t know, life.
JJM: Jocko, has he been successful in that? Jocko: Negative (smiles)
JJM: Has there been more pressure as the podcast has been more successful? More people are listening each week. Echo: No, not at all. I think it became easier. In the beginning I felt more pressure. People will sometimes tease me or whatever, give me shit like I… I’ll start a thought, I’ll interrupt that thought, go somewhere else and then I’ll come back
to it. But that’s how I talk in real life. I think a lot of people have grown to understand that. The dynamic kind of makes sense after a while. But if it’s me trying to perform or I don’t know what to say kind of thing then that’s bad and that was the pressure I felt in the beginning. Right now I know I can just be how I normally am.
JJM: I love the fact that you two talk about jiu-jitsu so often on the podcast. Jocko: I hear five people a day through social media that say, “Just took my first jiu-jitsu class. Thank you, it was awesome”, “It was unbelievable, can’t believe it”, “Thought I was so tough, I just got tapped out by a 130 pound kid.” I get social media like that every single day. People start, “Got my kids into jiu-jitsu.” because they hear us talk about jiu-jitsu, and jiu-jitsu’s an unbelievably powerful thing. It’s a big part of my life, it’s a big part of Echo’s life, and people hear us talking about it they go, “Oh, that could be part of my life too”. So, the amount of people that have started jiu-jitsu because of the podcast is enormous.
JJM: That’s cool. That’s a lot, I think I got everything. Echo: Solid. Jocko: I was just getting wound up. (smiles)
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Over the year, Jocko’s grappling has been sharpened to a well rounded mix of jiu-jitsu within the rules to a mix of practical tactical positions. The techniques that Jocko shows us in this article are for the most part practical positions that you could use in a grappling tournament or on the street in a real life scenario. The first two that begin standing begin with a common wrestler’s tie-up. There’s no real world situation where Jocko would ever pull guard (our guess is that he’d never pull guard ever), but in these situations he closes distance quickly to engage his opponent and quickly get them under control.
TIE UP TO COBRA CHOKE OR SIDE CONTROL Step 1 Jocko starts off with a basic wrestler’s tieup. His right hand is behind Echo’s head, his left hand near Echo’s right bicep.
Step 2 Now, Jocko turns his head into Echo’s to get the angle then quickly snaps his head down to bring his right arm up and over Echo’s head. As he brings his hand under Echo’s neck, he wants to get a good grip and control of Echo’s chin.
Step 3 At the same time that Jocko brings his arm up and over the back of Echo’s neck, he also dives his left arm under Echo’s right arm for an underhook.
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“Battles aren’t won lying in bed. So...”
Step 4 From here Jocko could go for a guillotine, but that’s not what he’s looking for. He wants to bring Echo to the ground. So with control of the head and the underhook, Jocko turns to his right while bringing Echo down with him.
Alternate Step 1 If Echo doesn’t want to go along with the plan at first, Jocko has the option of pushing him across to the other arm. This is even more effective if Echo resists the first move but is pushing back towards Jocko. In this situation when Jocko feels the resistance, he helps push Echo’s head across to his left.
Step 5 Now, Jocko has the choice of finishing with a cobra choke, in which case he switches his hips to get the leverage. Or, he lets go of the choke and moves into side control. Either way he remains in control, and it’s up to him to either finish or disengage.
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Step 2 From here it’s just like the original technique. Jocko uses his right arm to get a deep underhook then drags Echo to the ground to finish with the cobra choke or maintain side control.
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CHIN WHIP GUILLOTINE Step 1 Jocko starts off as before and snaps Echo’s head down to get the chin whip control with his hand.
Step 2
Step 3
However, this time Echo doesn’t let him have the underhook to take him to the ground.
Echo knows that in order for Jocko to get the guillotine, his head must be off to the side of Jocko, so he centers his head on Jocko’s chest to defend the choke. But this helps Jocko.
Step 4
Step 5
Jocko brings his hands together for a Gable Grip, keeping both arms against Echo’s head so he can’t move to either side.
Now, Jocko repositions by moving his body up so that the back of Echo’s head is against Jocko’s stomach. All he has to do to finish at this point is pull up on his arms to get the guillotine.
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KIMURA FROM SIDE CONTROL
The beauty of jiu-jitsu is that it is an art: give a hundred people paint, a brush, and a canvas, and no two pictures will be the same. Jocko’s take on a Kimura from side control is one that allows him to maintain control through the entire technique giving his opponent little room for escape. Step 1
Step 2
Starting from side control, Jocko gets an underhook scoop of Echo’s far arm while pressuring his head against the captured arm to keep Echo close.
From here, Jocko wants to lift Echo’s right side off the mat. Some grappler will go knee on belly here, which is what Jocko used to do, but he feels this defeats the purpose since he wants Echo’s side off of the mat. Jocko lifts Echo’s side off the mat while keeping control of the arm with his hand and head.
Step 3 Jocko takes his right hand and posts it on Echo’s neck to be a little nasty; this clears a path for Jocko to bring his right leg up and over Echo’s head.
Step 4
Step 5
From here, Jocko wants to switch his arms so that he can have more leverage on Echo’s arm. He replaces his grip of the arm from his left to his right.
Now, Jocko locks up the Kimura grip and rotates his torso to finish.
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NECK CRANK TO CRUCIFIX
During our visit with Jocko, I got to roll with him and the thought of a freight train immediately came to mind. During our roll, one of the multiple finishes that Jocko got on me was this nasty neck crank to crucifix. Keep in mind, in the absence of a choke, neck cranks are illegal in most, if not all, competitions. That being said, when Jocko rolls he’s looking to get after it, not necessarily to adhere to the rules.
Step 1 Starting from side control, Echo decides to make a frame across Jocko’s neck to relieve some pressure, a common technique.
Step 2 Jocko brings his left hand under Echo’s right arm and brings his hands together in an S-grip. As soon as the hands are locked, Jocko puts the pressure on, bringing Echo’s head and shoulders off of the mat.
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“GET AFTER IT!”
Step 3
Step 4
Jocko wants to get his right hand over the midway point on Echo’s bicep. He lets go of his grip so that he can use his left hand to help put Echo’s arm into position.
From here, Jocko can bring his right knee behind Echo’s shoulders and posture up a bit. This is where he would finish with a neck crank, or in a tactical situation, maintain control of his opponent.
Step 5 If Jocko sees a referee looking, he’ll quickly bring his right leg up to step over Echo’s right arm to trap it.
Step 6 Once the leg is laced through the arm, he can then fall back and go for an armlock of some sort on Echo’s left arm or adjust his body to attack the neck for a choke.
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Technique
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NO-GI FINISHES WITH
VINNY MAGALHAES
Raw Data Powered by BJJ Heros Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie > Vinny Magalhaes
Main Achievements: • ADCC CHAMPION (2011) • WORLD NO-GI CHAMPION (2007 BLACK BELT) • WORLD JIU JITSU CHAMPION (2005 BROWN BELT WEIGHT AND ABSOLUTE, 2002 BLUE BELT)
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WORDS: MIKE VELEZ | PHOTOS: PATRICK FLORES
IN THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OF JIU-JITSU MAG 360 (FREE TO DOWNLOAD AT JIUJITSUMAG360.COM) VINNY MAGALHAES SHOWED US A GREAT SEQUENCE OF ATTACKS OFF A FAILED OMOPLATA. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THOSE, GO CHECK THEM OUT NOW. In this issue, Vinny’s going to show us three of his favorite no-gi techniues. Of course, like most no-gi techniques, all of these can be done in the gi as well.
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• WORLD MASTERS CHAMPION (2016 MASTER 1) • PAN AMERICAN CHAMPION (2002 BLUE BELT) • BRAZILIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION (2005 BROWN BELT ABSOLUTE) • PAN AMERICAN SILVER MEDALLIST (2005 BROWN BELT) • BRAZILIAN NATIONAL SILVER MEDALLIST (2003 PURPLE BELT) • 3X ADCC BRONZE MEDALLIST (2011 ABSOLUTE, 2009 WEIGHT AND ABSOLUTE)
FAVORITE POSITION/TECHNIQUE: Closed Guard, 50/50 Guard WEIGHT DIVISION: Peso Pesado (94kg207lbs) or Super Pesado (100kg-221lbs) TEAM/ASSOCIATION: Gracie Humaita
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RUBBER GUARD TO TRIANGLE TO KIMURA
On the bottom, Vinny likes keeping his opponent close in the clinch. This method of guard is effective in grappling and more so in MMA where too much distance with an opponent in your guard can spell disaster. One closed guard that Vinny likes using is Rubber Guard. Vinny has spent time training with Eddie Bravo and actually studied the 10th Planet system online before ever training with Eddie. Here’s a great sequence that Vinny likes to use from Rubber Guard. Step 1 Vinny starts with Shawn in his closed guard and sits up to pull him down into a clinch.
Step 2
Step 3
Shawn’s left arm is extended so Vinny opens his guard and scoots out to his left a little so that he can pull his right leg up over Shawn’s back.
Vinny scoops his left arm underneath his right ankle and uses his right arm to hold his knee tight to Shawn’s head to lock in what 10th Planet grapplers call “Mission Control”.
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Vinny says that Renato would enjoy being submitted in this position.
Step 4 Now, Vinny brings his left foot to Shawn’s right hip and brings his right arm over the top of the leg to hand off control from right arm to left arm. To help keep Shawn secure, Vinny slides his right arm under Shawn’s shoulder.
Step 5 Next, Vinny grabs Shawn’s wrist with his left hand and pushes it back and up to allow room for Vinny to pull his left leg up and over so that he can then bend his knee over his ankle and lock down the triangle.
Step 6 Vinny’s got Shawn trapped, but Shawn’s arm is on the wrong side to finish with the triangle. For this reason, Vinny bridges his hips up to allow space enough to guide Shawn’s trapped arm across his body.
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Step 7
Step 8
Shawn’s arm is not in the proper position to finish, but Vinny’s legs aren’t. Vinny grabs his left leg with his right arm at the shin to keep pressure on Shawn’s back. Only then does Vinny move his right leg out and onto Shawn’s hip so that he can push off and scoot his hips to the right. The entire time Vinny maintains control of Shawn’s wrist.
Once the left leg is across the back, Vinny brings his right leg up and over to lock down on his own ankle. Now he can squeeze his legs, bump his hips up, and pull back on the head, if he needs to, to finish the triangle choke.
KIMURA FINISH
fter Step 5 in the triangle setup, Vinny has the option of going for a Kimura with the trapped arm. Step 1
Step 2
Instead of bridging to free the arm and drag it across Vinny hips, he moves out to his right by pulling his legs to his left and forcing Shawn down towards the mats. At the same time, Vinny control’s Shawn’s left arm at the wrist.
Vinny reaches his left arm over and behind Shawn’s arm to lock up a Kimura grip and finishes by applying upward pressure to the arm until he gets the tap.
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HALF GUARD TO KNEEBAR
This is a kneebar from Half Guard that Vinny likes because it leaves you less vulnerable to a counter than the more conventional approach. What is more common when in someone’s Half Guard is to swing the free leg over across your opponent and then fall to the side to attack the leg. Instead, Vinny does a back step that’s easier and safer from a counter than the more conventional method. Step 1 Vinny is on top in Shawn’s Half Guard. Until he’s ready to make his move, he remains low and tight to Shawn.
Step 2 When Vinny’s ready to make his move, he creates some space by posting and pushing off the mats and bringing both arms to his left side, the side of his free leg.
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Vinny going for your legs is bad news.
Step 3 As soon as Vinny’s arms are posted and off to the side, he immediately does a big back step with his free left leg over Shawn’s right leg. This is the leg he’ll be attacking.
Step 4 Rather than fall off to the side, Vinny will adjust his positioning so that he stays on top of Shawn.
Step 5 Vinny uses his outside, in this case his left, arm to scoop across beneath the knee. This allows his right hand to be free to deal with Shawn’s defense.
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Step 6 Shawn figure fours his legs to defend the kneebar. Vinny could pull up on Shawn’s leg, but in that case he’d be fighting against the hamstring muscles which are very strong. Instead, Vinny grabs Shawn’s foot and pulls the foot up to the side. It’s much harder for Shawn to defend this motion.
Step 7 After freeing the target leg, Vinny stuffs Shawn’s right leg back down and brings his own left leg over to triangle with the back of his knee. This keeps Shawn from being able to reestablish a defense.
Step 8 Now, Vinny can fall to his left side, focus on the kneebar by pulling back near the ankle, and pressure his hips forward to get the tap.
Step 3 must be done very quickly, spending too much time with your hands posted to the side will give your opponent time to go for your back. Locking your leg over their foot in Step 7 is huge doing this will give you time to work on that leg if you don’t get the kneebar right away. If you allow your opponent to keep their right leg free, it will greatly reduce the chances of you getting the finish.
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50/50 TO TOEHOLD
The 50/50 guard is an interesting position. Whatever attack or defense you have, your opponent can have as well. If you’re in the 50/50, and you’re not quick to defend, you’re open to an inverted heel hook. This is one reason competitors in 50/50 will immediately figure-four their legs to mount a defense. This is the position Vinny and Shawn start from in this technique. Step 1 Vinny takes both hands and pushes Shawn’s bent knee away to unhook the figure-four, while at the same time scooting his hips out in the opposite direction. Vinny wants to get his right knee below Shawn’s leg.
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Check the rules before you go for that heel hook.
Step 2 Now, Vinny pushes down on Shawn’s leg so that his knee points towards Vinny.
Because Vinny’s knee is below Shawn’s leg, he’s safe against a heel hook- Shawn doesn’t have the leverage to finish.
Step 3
Step 4
Vinny has the green light to attack, he posts his right elbow to the mat so that he can turn into Shawn. He wraps his left arm over and under Shawn’s leg while placing his right hand over the top of Shawn’s left foot at the knuckles.
Grabbing his own right wrist with his left hand, Vinny can lean back and begin to exert downward diagonal pressure against Shawn’s foot while his left forearm is against Shawn’s Achilles to get the finish. Vinny pulls his left arm in to pressure on the leg while pushing the toes away to get the tap.
Step 5 If for some reason Vinny doesn’t get the toehold finish, he can switch his attention to Shawn’s other leg by stuffing the foot into his right armpit and bringing his forearm against the heel. Then he brings his hands together with a Gable grip and peels back on that heel to finish.
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who is
MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN LET THERE BE ROCK… AND ROLLING
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WORDS: EMIL FISCHER
IF YOU ARE A FAN OF HARD ROCK AND HEAVY METAL, YOU ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN. THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED LEGENDARY VOCALIST IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS WORK WITH TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE, PUSCIFER, AND HE HAS ALSO SUNG WITH DEFTONES AND RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE AMONG SEVERAL OTHER BIG NAMES IN MUSIC. Many don’t know that Maynard is also an avid winemaker, oh, and he does jiu-jitsu too… I had an opportunity to chat a bit with Maynard about his experience as a jiujiteiro, his endeavors in the jiu-jitsu community, his thoughts on the Gentle Art and some of his personal goals therein. Maynard started training in the mid 90s after being shown the early UFCs by his friend Tim Alexander. Maynard’s
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main instructor early on was none other than Rickson Gracie, and he trained with Rickson’s protégé Henry Akins. Maynard did not receive his blue belt from Rickson directly but rather from Rickson Gracie Black Belt Luis “Limao” Heredia and years later Maynard was promoted to purple belt by the same instructor. Currently, Maynard primarily trains at Verde Valley Brazilian Jiu-jitsu near his winery Caduceus Cellars. “A friend of mine has a gym in Northern Arizona. Verde Valley Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Cottonwood, AZ. But I train with Rodrigo Vaghi in St. Louis at Vaghi Brazilian JiuJitsu, and I also train with Henry (Akins) in LA. He (Henry) came in after I did. I ended up moving to Arizona so I was only able to come to town a little bit and trained on and off during that period of
time. But he stuck with Rickson for quite a long time even when he moved over to the Palisades location. And then years later, I started back up with him (Henry).” As a rockstar who often has to pack up and travel the country, Maynard has devised a training routine suitable for his personal situation and preferences. “It depends on time of year. It’s hard because I have a hard time getting training in. I tend to train a little bit more on the road because I have a focused schedule that’s not interrupted for the most part. So that way I can actually have a set time during the day that, provided I’m in good health, I can set aside time if I can find the right guys on the road to come down and train. Generally speaking it’s just positions, going over positions, going over situations, not
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much sparring because I can’t really afford to do that if I have a job to do that day, so not a lot of sparring, but there’s always, I usually ask whoever has come down, to train—Dave or Dan Camarillo, or Henry, Seth Smith, Cat Zingano- a whole list of awesome dudes who come down and train…. I just go. I ask them what’s on their plate. What have they seen recently that’s an inspiring solution to any problems they’ve run into? And we’ll always go over that. It’s always fun to watch their eyes light up and go… oh, I’ve figured that thing out! So we always go over that stuff, it’s inspiring. And then of course basics, way back to the basics of Rickson’s and Helio Gracie’s traditional jiu-jitsu.” Maynard is 52 years old and is a frequently touring musician so there are going to be some inherent limitations to what he can and cannot do with jiu-jitsu. I was interested to learn a bit about his thoughts on the “new school” styles. “I’m 52 and I’m less flexible than I was when I was 22, so I stick with the basics just because that’s what I learned… those guys that are doing that stuff are young and flexible and recover easily! There’s a whole bunch of guys out there who are just doing incredible; the newer generation of jiu-jitsu that I find really inspiring. There’s so much acrobatics attached to it that I just love watching it. Jeff Glover, of course. Seth Smith. Just a lot of those guys!” Insofar as his training routine, Maynard has access to many different instructors throughout the country, but at least when on tour, he doesn’t spend time with any one instructor for an extended period of time. Most jiu-jitsu practitioners tend to stay within their gym environment so I was curious about what effects Maynard sees this having on his personal development.
“It depends on time of year. It’s hard because I have a hard time getting training in. I tend to train a little bit more on the road because I have a focused schedule that’s not interrupted for the most part.”
“I think the downside of training with all those different people is that of course they have a completely different discipline, different body type than you do. So you’re constantly having to hear one guy go, “No, that doesn’t work, this works.” but then another guy says that doesn’t work, this works… it really does, it can be confusing. The upside is that I get to see a bunch of different guys giving me different solutions to similar problems, and then I get to work on them and choose what works best for my game, rather than just staying… and I guess just being in one gym, where you have one instructor that might not be your size, shape, strength, talent, kind of telling you this is how it should be, etc. I have that benefit of seeing multiple ways.”
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Maynard’s background in wrestling plays a crucial role in his love of jiu-jitsu. From his self description, he is still very much the archetypical wrestler-jiujiteiro. “My dad was the wrestling coach at my high school in Michigan. So I wrestled. I wasn’t great, but he was a solid coach. He got coach of the year for high school wrestling. Two years in a row—one for class C and one for the state. I go back every year to help out with the team. Give them a few tips. Kids nowadays are pretty thick so hopefully some of it gets through. I think there are just some wonderful solutions that you can witness in those—again, I love Helio Gracie’s approach to jiu-jitsu where, I think he’s kind of been misquoted, maybe it’s a translation thing, but people think he said that he can beat anybody. That’s not what he said. He said that he can’t be beaten. And that’s that self-defense jiu-jitsu curriculum that has really not much to do with tournament jiu-jitsu; it’s more about self-defense. And I feel wrestling is that thing too. I’ve learned that from my dad. My record was probably 60-65% throughout high school. But I was the guy that would end up helping us win if we went up against a state competitor in a tournament or dual meet. I was the guy they never saw coming because they underestimated me. They couldn’t pin me. I might not have pinned them, but they couldn’t pin me. And they’d be a lot more tired than they had imagined. So we might end up winning a dual meet by three points because I didn’t get pinned. If I teach, I teach wrestling basics. Being able to change elevation, explosive driving forward movements, having them understand the battering ram that is their center core. A lot of core elements that work. If you go to some tournaments, maybe eight years ago, these are tournaments and most guys if they have a background in judo, it’s clear. Which guy was a wrestler and which guy was in judo and which guy was not.
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And he’d get dominated standing up right away. But I think that’s changing now. People are really coming back around to understand some of those judo and wrestling elements are important for their game. So that’s what I teach. I just teach them the basic core stuff. Positioning and moving at a lower level and that wrestling stance. I’m not a guard puller at all. I mean, I’ve done it because that’s what I’ve learned somewhere along the line. Of course, it all comes down to skill level, doesn’t it? If you’re a fantastic black belt guard puller, and I’m purple or brown belt who’s trying to maintain more of a wrestling or judo approach, you’re probably going to get schooled if you’re going the old school route and not doing the guard pulling. But I think it’s important to know all of it, right? You know, for every counter, there’s a counter, to a counter to a counter.” Given Maynard’s background in the competition oriented sport of wrestling, coupled with his classic Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu background, I was curious what his thoughts were on competition. Though he hasn’t himself competed, Maynard has been around the mats for a very long time, so his perspective is interesting in the “sport vs. street” debate. “I think that of course a lot of my Gracie friends would disagree with me, but I feel like, again, I think it does instill some bad habits because they’re coming from such a street combative place. The argument would be in a parking lot you can’t roll on your neck and do all that kind of crap because there’s glass and a curb and oil, and it’s just a f**king parking lot. But I would argue, maybe don’t go to that bar. Avoid that place where those things happen—unless you’re looking for it. If you’re looking for it, most likely you’re going to abandon your sport jiu-jitsu and go to more straight chest facing the ground or facing your opponent form of jiu-jitsu or a
2/15/17 10:15 AM
Who knew wine and jiu-jitsu paired so well?
martial art. That’s just probably gonna be the case. But, you know, the argument would be that you’re instilling bad habits and doing the acrobatics in a parking lot. But it’s better than not having any of that stuff, right? You can hold the remote and eat your bag of potato chips on the couch and argue that point all day long, but those guys are out there doing it and they’re in shape and most likely, as now that you’re a martial artist, you’re out there diffusing any of those situations if they come anyway.” Many musicians, artists, and actors who do jiu-jitsu find that it deeply affects their artistic process. Given the intricate nature of Maynard’s music, the deeply spiritual and self analytical essence of it, his mindset about the combination of passions is valuable. “I think just in general, wine making, cooking, music, jiu-jitsu, there’s just a presence of consciousness, of being in your own body and that space, paying attention to what’s happening, situational awareness. I think that just translates across the board in almost any discipline. If you consider yourself to be artistic, in any way, you have to
they just seem like they’re bulletproof and can beat the crap out of everybody, as soon as they have their ass handed to them, it breaks them. Because they forgot the humility part. Great example way back in the day was Prince Naseem Hamed. Seemingly unbeatable and then he had his ass handed to him one time, and he’s gone, never saw him again.”
be present for those moments. So I think that’s the common thread.” I was also interested to learn about what benefits Maynard has found in jiu-jitsu. “Understanding your limits. Understanding that it’s possible for you to go beyond what you thought your limits were. Everyday, just self-improvement and humility. You can’t walk into any gym thinking you know everything. You’re going to have your ass handed to you at some point, and if you’re not ready for that, that’s soul crushing. Like when you always see that unbeatable fighter and
Though he doesn’t run into a lot of fellow musicians who train, apart from training with his instructors along his path, Maynard does a lot of conditioning exercises while on the road. “I try to find that perfect balance between training jiu-jitsu and doing conditioning. Great stuff all around Denver – Landau performance. This gentlemen Scott is doing fantastic yoga for jiu-jitsu, for martial arts in general. You just have all those peripheral facilities and trainers that help you get more out of jiu-jitsu because I think a lot of guys just have a tough body, they’re professional or semi-professional athletes, so when they go into jiu-jitsu, that’s their conditioning. I can’t do that, I have got to condition before so I can actually be healthy and strong for jiu-jitsu. Just the basics, basic
“I think just in general, wine making, cooking, music, jiu-jitsu, there’s just a presence of consciousness, of being in your own body and that space, paying attention to what’s happening, situational awareness.” Photo: Travis Shinn
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conditioning, wouldn’t call it CrossFit, more low impact versions of CrossFit. Battle rope routines, always great. A little bit of weights but mainly I like the battle ropes because it’s easier to throw a pair of battle ropes on the bus than it is a weight set.” There was an incident at a Tool concert over 10 years ago in which a fan rushed the stage during a performance of Tool’s classic hit “Push It.” Maynard got a hold of this individual, threw him with a hip toss, then took his back and finished the song, never really skipping a beat. I was interested to hear Maynard’s thought on the incident over a decade later. “It was a long time ago and that it actually got filmed as a miracle because back then you didn’t really have cell phone cameras. There may have been more incidents like that that didn’t get caught on film. It was just what most people don’t realize is that even as popular as jiu-jitsu is, as popular as the UFC is, 90% of the population doesn’t have the faintest idea how to really defend themselves. So, it was kind of a dick move for me to toss the guy on his ass because most likely he had zero training. It wasn’t like Connor McGregor got up there and I tossed him.” Maynard’s aggression in that situation stemmed from a sort of restlessness that he accrued from taking a break from training. “I think it’s just body awareness. It’s an art that I love; it’s something I can continue to learn over time. Part of it is just unfinished business. I got injured. I had a back injury right around 2000 that kept me from doing jiu-jitsu for eight, ten years just because I couldn’t get back into it. And toss living in the area that I live, there are no academies. I would have to drive two hours south, go get beat up by Megaton or one of his students, and get into a car and drive two hours home. I mean that’s just not great for your body. Especially coming off an injury. So I just didn’t have that. Recently, I felt a little healthier, I got back into it, and I’m slowly working my way forward, and now that there’s Stefan Dahlstet who’s a black belt who’s moved to the valley here– taking over our school here in Cottonwood- so we have a black belt resident on site. That’s
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a huge step for us. Just having that talent and that depth there to answer questions.” Maynard’s closing thoughts for our readers focus on a healthy training mentality “Just that conscious presence. Other than that, maybe the most important thing for any dojo, for any academy, is understanding that you’re there for your partner. I think it used to be when you walked into an academy you just had your ass handed to you and you’d get beat the f**k up and you almost didn’t want to come back. I think that attitude has changed as people are realizing that I can’t get better if I don’t have a good empathetic training partner to help me get better. And when it’s time to turn the heat up, and we all know when it’s time to turn the heat up, if I’m injured I can’t come back. I think it weeds out the guys that heal faster and made it through those things right away. It doesn’t breed a good school where you all are going to learn. There’s some young kid who might not necessarily be athletic yet. Looking at Cat Zingano and Ronda Rousey and all those old guys, if they rolled into a school back in the day and they got hurt right away, they probably wouldn’t come back. So having that—pushing those people away right away, are like, like it’s the Olympics today, it doesn’t necessarily help the sport. There’s absolutely a time and a place for that. Let’s tear each other’s f**king heads off. As long as we both agree that’s what’s going to happen now!” Maynard’s shout outs go out to the many instructors with whom he has trained over the years: “Rickson Gracie, Rodrigo Vaghi, Luis Heredia, Henry Akins, Cat Zingano, Todd Fox, Joel Bouhey, Rob Stone, Bryan Guidry, Seth Daniels, Loren Landow, Rolles Gracie, Leonardo Xavier, Carlos Machado, Seph Smith, Jeff Glover, Ryan Hall, Eddie Edmunds, Dave Camarillo, Dan Camarillo, Stefan Dahlstet, Raphael Sapo Natal, Renzo Gracie, Eddie Fyvie, John Disimone, and Steve Austin.”
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mind games
WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL IN JIUJITSU: FOCUS INTERNALLY AND STAY THE COURSE
O
WORDS: RICARDO CASTANEDA
❖❖ At the 2015 IBJJF Worlds Marcus “Buchecha” Almaeda suffered a devastating knee injury that many thought might end his career. Despite many physical, mental, and emotional setbacks, he managed to stay the course and return a year later to win both double gold at the 2016 event.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO LEARNING THE GENTLE ART IS THE INABILITY TO CONTROL MOST THINGS JIU-JITSU THROWS OUR WAY. IN JIU-JITSU, JUST AS IN LIFE, THERE ARE MANY SITUATIONS BEYOND OUR CONTROL. Events come up that keep us off the mats, we train with partners that throw technical curveballs, and we even experience unexpected injuries. Regardless of what gets thrown our way, we must continue to find solutions and stay on track. Missing mat time, enduring harsh training, and experiencing injuries are stressful, and many times we believe that there might have been something we could have done differently or better. Sometimes, we think it is all out of our hands and completely abdicate responsibility for where we are at. This lack of personal accountability, regardless of the circumstances, can be detrimental to our progress.
Attribution Theory: The Perception of What We Can Control A huge part of the learning process is cause and effect. People learn via observation and practice, and the tendency is to attribute various causes to observed or practiced outcomes. If, for example, you drank too much the night before a loss in competition, you might attribute your loss to drinking as opposed to any other factors that might have influenced or hindered your performance. Drinking in this case may not have necessarily been the reason for your loss (your opponent might have actually been much, much better than you), but nevertheless, you will learn that drinking the
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night before a competition is a bad thing. This attribution will influence your belief and guide your decisions the next time. You will either choose to drink next time if you have an unhealthy attribution, or you will choose to avoid booze before a fight if you have an adaptive attribution.
Understanding how we attribute events to outcomes is important because it is relevant to how we perceive what is in or beyond our control. We view situations and events differently whether or not we think an outcome was influenced by our efforts or abilities. Sometimes, we
attribute outcomes to external factors such as luck or task difficulty (task difficulty in this case would be akin to training with a black belt as opposed to a white belt). The psychological
term for how we internally or externally attribute our actions to outcomes is called locus of control and has an impact on our behaviors in the future.
❖❖ Hanging with these guys the night before a competition, probably not a good idea.
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❖❖ Champions take responsibility for setbacks and make the needed adjustments to overcome adversity.
Internal Versus External Locus of Control There are two ways we can attribute our ability to control outcomes: internally and externally. Internal locus of control means that our behaviors are directly related to the situations we find ourselves in whereas external locus of control means that things just happen and we otherwise have nothing to do with them. For example, for each outcome if you have a solid internal locus of control, you will believe that your effort and your abilities are responsible for your success or failure. If you have an
external locus of control, you will blame external factors like bad luck and believe that these events are beyond your control. In other words, you will believe that your poor competition performance has more to do with your opponent being better than you instead of drinking the night before a match. This belief will increase the possibility that you will drink before the next competition because you cannot do anything about fighting a person that is more skillful. This belief is maladaptive and does not
inspire change. In jiu-jitsu, if we understand that our failures and successes are related to how much work we put in, we will be much more motivated to put in the work. Or, even if we do not want to put in more work, we will understand that we are where we are as the result of our more recreational approach. On the other hand, if we have an external locus of control, we will find ourselves making more excuses for not achieving what we seek to achieve. If you never show up for training, you will still find
ways to externalize the blame. For example, rather than make the time to train more, you will blame your lack of training time on a demanding job or having too many social outings where your attendance was required. On the mats, for example, if you get caught in a submission, you will not attribute it to not putting the effort to learn a submission escape, but rather you will say something like “Well, training partner X is just so good that there was nothing I could do”. This kind of belief will be detrimental to your progress.
Focus on What You Can Control Research has shown people with a high internal locus of control perform better and have much better outlooks than people with external locus of control. The idea is that if you can accept responsibility for where you are at, you will hold yourself more accountable and stay motivated to accomplish your goals. If, however, you attribute your circumstances to external causes, you will never be motivated to change anything within yourself. You cannot understand the need for change if you just have bum luck for example. In jiu-jitsu, it is easy to say you are not where you want to be because of work or family or that you are out of shape. It is also easy to suggest that other people are just better than you are, and therefore you will never be as good because you have other things going on. For the most part, there is a lot beyond your control but there are some ways to work around these obstacles.
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Things You Can and Cannot Control Emergencies You cannot control random catastrophes and emergencies. In life, things just happen. If, for example, you are attempting to make a 6:30pm class but you find out that your toilet is overflowing and you need to go home as soon as possible to take care of the problem, you cannot beat yourself up for it. You cannot control these types of situations, but what you can control is making time to attend another class. Wake up an hour earlier the next day in order to make the morning class at your school. Cancel a happy hour or dinner plans the following day to make up for missed time. If possible, take an extended lunch break and hit the noon class. If you miss a class due to events beyond your control, you can always try and make another session so that you do not fall behind.
Harsh Training Sessions
injuries
The road in jiu-jitsu is filled with good and bad days. You cannot control being paired up with the toughest guys in the room, but you can control your attitude about it. If you focus too much on the external (“those guys are so much better than me”), you will find your negative emotions snowballing into something much worse. If, however, you change your attitude and attribute the rough training session to your lack of experience, you will be motivated to continue showing up and gaining that valuable experience that only harsh training sessions can provide. Of course, there is some degree of luck and task difficulty that you cannot control, but you can always control your efforts and influence your beliefs that if you keep practicing, eventually you will have more good days.
Very often, adjusting your training intensity can mitigate the risk of injury. Jiu-jitsu translates as “the gentle art”. Theoretically, the practice should be smooth and gentle. Ironically, because of training intensity, practice can be ruthless and unrelenting on your physical capacities. This overexertion can lead to minor injuries as well as freak accidents that can pull you from practice for an extended period of time. Immediately after experiencing an injury, the tendency will be to evaluate the session in hindsight. “I should have stayed home”, “I knew I should not have sparred with that person”, and “I should have toned it down” are statements you will likely make after the fact. While there is nothing you can do about the past, you can still focus on the
present. As an athlete, once an injury is sustained, your job must shift from training to rehabilitation. While you are unable to make many strides on the mats, you can still focus on getting back to the mats as soon as possible by beginning an aggressive rehabilitation program and sticking to it, not allowing external factors to get the best of you.
❖❖ After a devastating leg break at the Abu Dhabi World Pro, Luiz Panaz made it a mission to come back stronger than ever.
Conclusion
On and off the mats, we are going to face many challenges that frustrate us, hinder our progress, and even derail us completely. Learning involves plenty of cause and effect relationships, and our ability to stay motivated and stick with jiu-jitsu long-term is often related to how we attribute our successes and failures. If you find yourself constantly attributing events to external factors such as luck or the difficulty of your task, you will have a much harder time staying the course. Instead, begin to believe that your efforts and your abilities have much more to do with your outcomes. Having a sound internal locus of control will empower you to make the changes you seek to make and be the practitioner you seek to be. Accept that there is much beyond your control, focus on what you can control, and always figure out a way to get back on track.
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Medic
COMMON MEDICATIONS THAT MIGHT
AFFECT YOUR JIU-JITSU
W
WORDS: DR PAUL MORTON MD
WHILE MANY JIU-JITSU ATHLETES ARE GENERALLY HEALTHY, ILLNESS OR INJURY CAN AFFECT THEIR PERFORMANCE. FREQUENT TRAINING HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER INCIDENCES OF ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AND STRESS INJURIES COMPARED TO THE GENERAL POPULATION. Use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibiotics, asthma, and allergy medications are more frequent in younger, high-level athletes. Older hobbyists may be affected by medications used to control high blood pressure and diabetes.
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) In the younger, more competitive population, overtraining can lead to an acute injury like an ankle sprain or chronic injuries such as tennis elbow. Often athletes won’t take time off from training or competing to rest their injuries with thermal therapy or temporary splinting. Instead, competitors might try to treat their problems with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen.
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NSAIDs work both as pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications. This group of medications work by blocking the cyclooxygenase enzymes. These enzymes are important for forming prostaglandins and thromboxane from arachidonic acid, a phospholipid found within cell-walls. Prostaglandins are responsible for both pain and inflammation. There are several animal studies demonstrating
that the anti-inflammatory effects of NSAIDs may play a role in delaying muscle regeneration or fracture healing after injury. These studies have not played out consistently in clinical trials on humans. NSAIDs taken for a short period function primarily as a pain reliever while daily use of NSAIDs takes advantage of its anti-inflammatory properties. In tendon injuries, such as ankle sprains, daily use of NSAIDs are
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Antibiotics
useful as pain relievers and has been demonstrated quicker return to activity. In chronic tendinopathies like tennis elbow, NSAIDs still function as pain relievers but may not ultimately change the healing progress of the disease. Frequent and long-term use of NSAIDs can lead to gastrointestinal irritation and kidney injury. NSAIDs in the elderly is associated with cardiovascular risks and with gastrointestinal bleeding. The use of high-doses or different types
of NSAIDs simultaneously should be avoided at all costs as this can lead to significant rise in side effects. BOTTOM LINE: NSAIDs are great medications to use for a short-time for injuries, but exercise caution with high-doses and long-term use of these medications. Avoid the use of these medications if you start noticing side effects. Do not take different types of NSAIDs at the same time.
Rigorous training schedules can lead to higher than normal levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This can lead to a higher incidence of infection. These infections are often viral in origin, but many athletes obtain antibiotics. Elite athletes are known to use antibiotics twice as frequently as the general population. Often these antibiotics are unnecessary as they will not address a viral infection. Overprescription of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic resistance. These medications frequently cause gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea. Fluoroquinolones are a specific class of antibiotics that is associated with tendon injury. BOTTOM LINE: Antibiotics should only be used after confirmation of a bacterial infection.
Allergy Medications Nasal allergy symptoms include stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, headache, and fatigue. If you have a fever or body aches, you are more likely dealing with the common cold, you should get some rest to avoid passing on a virus to your training partners. Allergies can significantly reduce performance in athletes. Allergies are frequently caused by airborne allergens such as pollen and dander. Medications that are frequently used to treat allergies include antihistamines and nasal steroids sprays. Antihistamines
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themselves can cause fatigue. Some of the second or third generation antihistamines such as loratadine have a less sedating effect. Intranasal steroids have been shown to be very powerful at reducing the symptoms and are a first-line treatment. Caffeine and pseudoephedrine are other common decongestant medications with stimulant effects. High doses of pseudoephedrine is concerning for cardiovascular and neurologic risks. Pseudoephedrine is listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency list and its use has caused the loss of gold medals by multiple athletes in the Olympics.
you’re noticing symptoms such as a stuffy nose and fatigue, consider overthe-counter treatment with anti-allergy medication.
❖❖ Caution, pseudoephedrine is a banned substance according to WADA.
BOTTOM LINE: Allergic rhinitis is an undertreated problem in athletes. If
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Asthma Medications Asthma is a common problem among younger athletes. Asthma can lead to shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and chest tightening. An asthma attack occurs when airways become extremely narrow and you feel as though you cannot catch your breath despite the use of an asthma inhaler. If this happens, don’t hesitate to call 911. Asthma symptoms can be made worse with allergies, exercise, and cold weather. Short acting β2-agonists found in rescue inhalers such as albuterol have a rapid onset of action and causes smooth muscle found in your lungs to relax. This is important to helping the airways in lungs open and increase airflow. The use of your inhaler 10 minutes prior to intense exercise can help prevent airways from contracting. β2-agonists can cause increases in heart rate and heart muscle contraction. Athletes without asthma have not been shown to gain a competitive advantage using these medications in clinical trials. In fact, they are more likely to
experience the side effects such as muscle tremors and heart palpitations. When asthma is not easily controlled by short acting β2-agonists, physicians may recommend inhaled steroids, long-acting β2-agonists such as salmeterol or leukotriene modifiers like montelukast. Steroid medications and leukotrienes modifiers are useful in lowering inflammation while long-acting β2-agonists have a longer half-life and will reduce symptoms for a longer period. These medications will require physician supervision to allow for the customization of an individualized treatment plan. BOTTOM LINE: Patients with asthma should ensure that their symptoms are under control with the help of physician supervision. Always have your rescue inhaler available when training.
Cardiovascular and diabetic medications As life expectancy continues to grow, athletes expect to stay active longer. Older jiu-jitsu hobbyists may be taking medications for chronic conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure. After exercise, the body’s natural response has a phenomenon known as postexercise hypotension. Blood pressure drops by about 10 to 20mm Hg for up to nine hours. This is usually short lasting. However, patients on blood pressure medications can have a further drop in blood pressure leading to dizziness or syncope (loss of consciousness). It is important to undergo a cool-down session of 5 to 10 minutes after exercise, which promotes improved venous return, thus reducing post-
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exercise hypotension. Statins such as Lipitor or Zocor are useful in the reduction of high cholesterol levels. Statins have been associated with exertional rhabdomyolysis, a condition when muscle tissue breaks down, releasing protein myoglobin, which is toxic to the kidneys. Higher risks are associated with deconditioned individuals undergoing intense exercise or in hot environments. Signs of this include muscle stiffness, darkcolored urine, and significant
fatigue. Prevention of rhabdomyolysis can be done by slowly increasing intensity of training levels, avoiding hot environments and adequate hydration. Individuals with diabetes are on medications that intentionally drop their blood glucose levels. The body will use sugar as an energy source during exercise thus dropping blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels drop below normal levels, diabetics experience varying
symptoms of hypoglycemia such as confusion, loss of consciousness, clumsiness, headaches, or heart palpitations. Sometimes diabetics do not experience any symptoms at all. Rapid carbohydrate ingestion may help reduction of these problems. Individuals with diabetes are responsible for checking their own blood glucose levels. If their levels of glucose drop to a dangerous level, it becomes a medical emergency. BOTTOM LINE: Patients with underlying medical problems should have a physician evaluation prior to undergoing any rigorous exercise regime. Adequately warm-up, give yourself time to cool-down, and maintain adequate hydration.
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gains
FIVE BEST EXERCISES FOR A
BETTER GUARD
J
WORDS: WILL SAFFORD
JIU-JITSU SETS ITSELF APART BY EMBRACING AN OTHERWISE UNFAVORABLE POSITION: THE BOTTOM. BEING ON YOUR BACK IN A FIGHT WAS THOUGHT OF AS THE BEGINNING OF THE END - GRAVITY AGAINST YOU, LITTLE ROOM TO ESCAPE, AND YOUR MOST VULNERABLE AREAS EXPOSED. However, with time, innovation, and an unwillingness to accept defeat, the bottom became a position of strength and what we know now as the guard. Now the bottom can be used as a position of offense. With new guards developing year after year, this once avoided position is now the favorite of thousands of competitors, including multiple world champions. It’s impossible to compete against today’s elite
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without some sort of expertise in the bottom position. Some of us are inclined to pull or jump guard; however, everyone can benefit from improved strength, flexibility, and endurance in their guard. The following are the best exercises you can do to improve the qualities needed for a dynamic guard: core strength, grip strength/endurance, hip power/flexibility, pulling/pressing strength, and overall strength endurance. Whether you’re inclined to sweep or attack submissions from the bottom, or find yourself defending encroaching passers round after round, these exercises will help with all situations from the guard. You can use them in a guard-specific workout or add them as individual exercises to your current strength and conditioning routine.
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Turkish Sit-Up The full Turkish Get Up could easily be the best exercise for an improved guard; however, much of the benefit for guardieros comes from the first movement in the TGU – the sit-up. Performed with a stiff arm and an explosive abdominal contraction off the floor, the Turkish Sit-Up develops unrelenting core strength and shoulder stability. It will develop the ability to come up for a single-leg from the bottom or thwart off a passer who is nearing side control. TGU IN ACTION: Defend with stiff arm, RDLR to single leg. X-Guard Stand Up Sweep.
Cossack Squat The Cossack Squat is a very demanding exercise and hits multiple qualities with one movement. One-part mobility drill, onepart strength exercise, the Cossack can be used for high reps with no weight or loaded for low reps. Aside from building single leg strength and enormous range of motion in the hips, it’s performed in the frontal plane (side-to-side) – where a lot of jiu-jitsu happens. It also exposes asymmetries between the body’s lower halves, which set us up for injury. COSSACK IN ACTION: Spider Guard retention, Spider sweeps, RDLR transitions and passes
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Kettlebell High Pull The Kettlebell Swing gets all the glory, but the KB High Pull only builds on what the KB Swing offers. Explosive hip action, relentless cardio, and upper body pulling power are what you can expect from repeated sets of the KB High Pull. Not to mention it works the grip and challenges the core, asymmetrically, much like on the mat. If you’ve mastered the KB Swing, it’s time to master the High Pull. HIGH PULL IN ACTION: DLR sweeps, Spider and Collar sweeps, Spider DLR sweeps
Bench Press Sure the bench is also the favorite amongst gym buffs and high school kids, but when programmed for strength, not aesthetics, it’s an extremely functional exercise that provides use in jiu-jitsu. Our sport is about space, creating it or closing it. A strong bench allows you to create or maintain space. A goal of pressing your own bodyweight for 10 reps will leave you plenty strong. BP IN ACTION: Framing against passers, escaping side control/mount/Half Guard
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Will doesn’t want you to see that the bar is actually just 3 feet off the ground.
Chin Up There’s a reason why the military has included the chin up and its variations in its fitness regimen for decades – it builds functional strength that performs in the heat of battle. Forget the cables and pullies and literally pull up your own weight. When performed with the hands supine, or facing you, it develops the lats and biceps more so. These two muscles will help pull your opponent where you need him, then finish off the choke to get the tap. Weighted chin ups will get you to where you want to be even quicker. CHIN UP IN ACTION: Pulling into guard, X-chokes, collar drags, rear naked chokes
Glute Bridge
The glutes don’t get a ton of work while playing guard, as most of the emphasis is put on the anterior chain, or front of the body. It’s important to keep the gluteal muscles strong and active to maintain balance between the front and back of the body. This will help prevent injury and protect your spine which takes a fair share of abuse from continual guard play. If you screwed up and got your guard passed, powerful glutes will help you power out of side control with a strong Upa or hip bump. GB IN ACTION: Upa, escapes, back health
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GIVING BACK TO KIDS THIS MONTH’S SUCCESS STORY IS SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT. IT COMES TO US FROM ANNIE AND DAVID ITURRINO OF MOUNT DORA/EUSTIS BJJ ACADEMY IN EUSTIS FLORIDA. Annie is a brown belt while David is a black belt. During November of 2014, Annie was diagnosed with cancer. Over the path of two years, she had no idea what challenges we would be facing. Throughout doctor appointments, surgery, and rounds of radiation her jiu-jitsu academy provided a channel for her and David to stay focused on recovery, and reminded them that they still had their “jiu-jitsu family”. They did not allow the cancer to stop them, they continued to train, and continued mentoring their students with the help of their families. It became very apparent to them during these times, that they were not the only ones that had some kid of struggle. Instead of allowing families to quit training due to financial hardships, they helped them, and made sure that they still had the avenue to train. “We wanted to get out into the community to share our story to encourage someone that no matter what they are facing in your life, they can overcome it, sometimes they just need a little guidance and direction”, said Annie. This is why came up with Grappling For Life, Inc. a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
What is the Grappling for Life? Grappling for Life is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity that provides FREE training in jiujitsu and mixed martial arts to youth of Lake County, FL. Their focus is to provide youth with skills that help them build self-confidence, and discipline through martial arts. They lead the children with instructors, and youth mentors to help prepare each child for their future both on the mat and off the mat. Their goal is to raise funds to give this opportunity to over 150 children in their first year. As many of you know, the benefits of training martial arts far extend beyond the mat. Students will develop
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focused tasks, the ability to succeed, and most importantly believing in themselves. When a child is a member of Grappling For Life, they become part of a family; the atmosphere gives them a sense of security and well being. The students will have an opportunity to seek assistance for homework, training, and mentorship.
What have they done so far? Annie and David Iturrino have invested in the Lake County community for the last three years helping countless children. With their own money, they have been able to secure a facility, top of the line equipment, and additional instructors ready to help over 150 students at any given time. They
became affiliated with Team Brigaderio American Top Team to provide addition training areas for the students. We’re sharing their story not only to help raise awareness for their effort, which you can check out at grapplingforlife. org to learn more. But also to share the story in hopes that maybe just one more person out there will use this as inspiration on figuring out how you can help give back by giving the gift many gifts of jiu-jitsu to those that could really use it. If you have a story like this one please don’t hesitate to share with us so that we can help continue this mission of spreading jiu-jitsu around the world.
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