Grappling and BJJ tips by Liam The Part-Time Grappler Wandi

BJJ gi review: ES BJJ GI Product Review Post

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 10:37:00 +0000

ES BJJ GI Product Review Post

As a grappler, I feel you’re your GI says a lot about your work. It is a way you recognize a fighter in the crowd. Most people say that being a grappler your options are limited, you get to choose between very limited colors and there is no way you can customize your GI without feeling the strain on your pocket. All these things are true in my opinion.

In most cases, if you come across a good BJJ GI, the options are limited. However, if you get past the options and you like something, the overall fitting process and finding the perfect size means you have to give up eventually. Apart from this, price and delivery charges can get pretty hefty as well. As an expert, if you have been buying GI for a long time, you will know your way around things. However, if you are not familiar and you are just a beginner this will drain your energy.

I recently tried elite sport GI for one of my grappling sessions. I liked the packing and the material but I was not sure if it was going to work for me since I am a fierce grappler who likes a lot of room. Most of the time, size is pretty limited so there is no way to tell that the medium you ordered will offer you enough room that you can perform a maneuver without feeling restricted.

I first heard about the elite sport through a friend who is also a fellow grappler. The GI he was wearing was very different. I had seen people wearing white, black, and blue GIs but he was wearing a camouflage GI. To be honest, I have not seen people wearing a camouflage GI yet. When asked about the brand, he told me it was a good purchase and people have been asking him about the other options as well. This is when I thought I should try their GI.

Features

Their GI is pretty comfortable so far. I have used it at least three times and I have washed it as well. Even after washing, I see no difference in quality or size.

· The fabric of this GI is very lightweight and made of antibacterial, pre-shrink material.

· The design is very adjustable, especially the side slit design. It offers enough movement room and you get to see the color pattern as well. It offers an ergonomic function and there is no restriction in the range of motion as well.

· Even if you don’t want to wash the GI, it is made of anti-odor fabric lined with sweat-wicking so even when you sweat it doesn’t stay or smell.

· It is a multipurpose GI and is suitable for all kinds of martial arts tournaments.

· The drawstrings on the trousers offer you to easily tighten and adjust the trouser according to your fitting, ease, and comfort.

· It also comes with a free white belt so you don’t have to buy it separately.

Material

This GI is made of CVC with 60% cotton and 40% polyester. It is pretty comfortable and can be worn in all sorts of weather. The cotton offers softness and flexibility while the polyester offers strength to the fabric.

Fit and Comfort

When looking for a good GI, most people complain that although they have invested too much money they were not able to get good value for their money because it didn’t fit them right. The best part of getting an elite sport GI is that the size chart is pretty simple to understand. You just need to know about your height and your weight and then get to the size chart where you can easily pick the size that is appropriate for you. A simple example is that if you are 5.8’ and 125lbs you can choose A3.

Variations and Options

If you are a design freak and you like to experiment with the designs you are in for a treat. Elite sport range offers some of the best and most unique designs that you can try. They have three different variations and each variation comes with its perks and color options.

Ultimate BJJ GI

If you just want to stay simple and rock the logo of elite sport, you can choose this GI. It comes with a simple logo near the chest area and also a color slide near the slit.

Essential GI

Ideal for the academies and people on the budget. This is the simplest GI because you get to customize it, add your academy logo, or just write your name. Since it is simple, you can buy it in bulk because it is pretty economical.

Customized GI

This is a little expensive and mostly used by experts who are going to take part in an official fight. You will get to have two variations mainly for American and Mexican.

As a professional who doesn’t want to go through hassle or styling, you can get Ultimate GI. This comes with a white belt and you will have so many different colors to choose from.

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Top 4 High-Intensity Workouts for MMA Fighters

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 10:31:00 +0000

Top 4 High-Intensity Workouts for MMA Fighters

HIIT-based training is known to be one of the most effective and most famous workouts for toning your body and weight loss. Within this workout pattern, you will see better results in a very limited time, and collectively this workout has proved to be the best. Most people use HIIT-based training to meet their goals, reduce their fat proportion and become closer to their ideal VMI level.

However, what most people don’t know is that HIIT workouts are not just for weight loss and getting toned, it also helps you condition your body, improve strength and increase endurance. Most people with weak stamina start with HIIT-based workouts so they can perform their day-to-day functions better.

So eventually you will be able to perform your daily activities without getting tired. This is even more important when the work gets intense or if you have physical labour.

Why Strength And Endurance Are Used For MMA?

Similarly, when we think about getting into the ring, we all know it is not a simple task. You are not just judged based on your technique but also based on how long you can survive in the ring. If you are technically strong and you know when to kick someone and how to grapple but you struggle with energy and feel drained within two minutes, there is a high chance that the opponent with better stamina will win the game.

In real-world d, especially in street fights, your technique will play a very small role because most people might not be very good with technology but they are good with stamina. Another important thing to keep in mind is that most people have a struggle where they don’t attack but rather try to exhaust the opponent.

Once the opponent feels drained and tired, then they attack and win. This technique is very common so you need to make sure you know when and where to use your energy.

With the help of this article, we will mainly focus on the simple HIIT-based workout that every MMA fighter must try. This workout will help the fighter train according to the needs of the MMA fight. Since MMA fighting involves much more intense and vigorous use of energy, you have to train accordingly.

4 High-Intensity Workouts for MMA Fighters

High-intensity training is just a simple format or framework that you can use. Within this workout, you will have an intense workout spell followed by resting time. Usually, the ratio of workout and resting is somewhere between 4 ratios 1.

However sometimes people exceed it to 4:20, this change might seem very small, however, in real life, this will impact the progress and you will increase the resting time. To make sure you meet your goal this ratio must be maintained.

Within this workout pattern, you will have three exercises per batch. Each batch will help you target different muscles so you can increase the calorie burnout rate. This workout is very intense so you need to adjust the energy according to your diet as well.

Batch 1

For the first batch, you will start with high lateral hops. Then you will switch to plank jacks and finally jumping lunges. All these workouts will help you focus on your calorie burning as well as lower body strength so you can stay for a long time in the ring. These workouts also help in improving the balance so you can easily dominate your opponent in the ring

Batch 2

For the second batch, you will start with explosive push-ups, then you will get to Turkish get up and finally you will end with Single Leg Ventral Hops. For this workout, you will work on the core strength as well as lower body and shoulder muscles. This will help you know how you can conserve energy easily.

Batch 3

Within the batch, you will start with a ball jack knife crunch that is very good for core strength. Then you will switch to Windshield Wipers which are good for the strength of the limbs and finally, you will end it with Ball Back Extensions. This is a very intense workout but you will be able to work on all the muscles.

Batch 4

For batch 4 you will start with leg raise which is good for the strength of your upper body along with the core. Then you have to switch to side leg push up and finally end it with the jump turns. This batch will help you focus on the core strength along with the limbs.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, HIIT is just a framework. The way you choose the exercises to fit the framework, the time duration you choose, and the goal you set will dictate everything that will make this a success. For an MMA figure, a full-body workout is very important. Although you need to work for at least 10-15 minutes there is no hard and fast rule if you adjust the intensity. Another very important thing is that the effectiveness of the workout is greatly dependent on the way you adjust the energy, intensity, and time. If your workouts don’t help you meet goals you should track the progress and see where you lack. This will eventually be used to optimize and upgrade your workout routine and you will meet your goal.

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Top 4 Yoga Workouts for MMA To Reduce Chances Of Injury

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 10:27:00 +0000

Top 4 Yoga Workouts for MMA To Reduce Chances Of Injury

Starting an intense workout routine after spending a passive lifestyle for a long time can test your body. The world we live in today runs according to the clock. You will see people struggling to find enough time to cook a decent meal. This is where you will see takeout, bad diet, lazy lifestyle, and intense working routines where they will sit behind computers most of the day.

In this intense lifestyle getting back in the ring without getting into shape means you will get injured right away. This also means that once you get injured, you will need too much time to recover and your routine of seeking rest and living a very passive and dormant lifestyle will prevail even more. This is the reason you need to get your body into shape before you start your workout.

How Does Flexibility Help You Improve Your Training?

To understand the idea of flexibility you need to understand the function of your muscles every time you lift something or you move, your muscle has to move according to the body and bones structure. If you lift something heavy, your muscle needs to extend. However, in most cases when you live a passive lifestyle, your muscles lose flexibility and become very rigid. The angle of movement and its extension capacity becomes very limited.

As a result, when you start your workout and you try to move according to the requirement of exercise, your muscles will only move to a certain limit. Beyond that limit, when you move your muscle or try to test its limit, you will either feel strain or your muscle fibers will rupture. This strain means you will have to wait for the fibers to heal.

Usually, after the healing, the replaced fibers are strong and flexible enough that they can support the movement. This is the reason you might have noticed that if you have never worked out and you start your workout, you will have very limited muscle movement and angle of movement. However, with the right workout and daily exercise, your movement will extend and you will be able to work in a better way.

With the help of this article, we will look at some of the best and most effective yoga moves that will improve your body’s flexibility. This workout will not only help you prevent the chance of injury, but you can also use it as a warm-up exercise.

Top 4 Yoga Workouts for MMA to Reduce Chances Of Injury

Utkatasana

This is also called chair pose. For this pose, you will follow the same pose as squat but you have to make sure that your hands are just above your head. This will help you focus on the strength of your lower body and as you extend your arms above, you will be able to work on the arms muscles as well.

Vajrasana

Commonly known as the diamond pose. This pose requires you to tuck your feet under your buttock as you take a seat on the floor. Now, keep your hands on the knee in your lap. Keep your back straight and breathe through your nose. This pose will help you fix your posture and work on the flexibility of your chest muscles as well as your shoulders and your back.

Paschimottanasana

This pose is known as the forward bend and it can be a little tricky for the beginner. For this pose, you will have to sit straight and then extend your legs straight as well. Now use your hands to reach your toes and then tug on them till you can touch your chest down on the knees. This pose will help you strengthen your lower back muscles as well as your legs and your arms.

Chakrasana

This is the most common pose and you might have seen people testing their flexibility through this pose as well. This pose is known as the forward fold or table pose. You will be required to lay down and then use your legs and arms to lift the weight of your torso. Make sure you are not getting lower stretch instead, go up till you see your back getting into a curved shape.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to the workout you choose. Although stretching is the main principle in all kinds of exercises you also have to keep in mind that there are static stretching techniques as well as dynamic stretching techniques. Apart from this, focusing on the flexibility of just one muscle group will make you weak, and eventually, you will get injured somewhere else. While forming a good workout, always start with simple full-body workouts that will help you work on all muscles at the same time. Also, keep in mind that before working on muscle strength you need to work on flexibility first.

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20 Min MMA Workouts to Get In Shape

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 10:23:00 +0000

20 Min MMA Workouts to Get In Shape

As a beginner, starting your MMA journey can be quite daunting. This is mainly because you will see that to get in the ring people invest years. They have long training sessions and complex diet plans that help them maintain a good routine and fight in the ring. However, most people are not familiar with that. Just to be in the ring and to start training you have to be in good shape as well. Even if you have been an MMA fighter for a long time and you take a break for a few months, just to start training again you will start with the pre-training sessions. Within this session, you will get to work on the flexibility, and capacity of your lungs, improving the muscle range as well as the functionality of your muscles so you can effortlessly work without feeling the strain. In case you skip this phase, you will find it difficult to move because of the intense throbbing pain that is caused by an intense workout.

How to Start your Training after A Resting Period?

For MMA training, it is very important to start with some basics that can help you get your body in shape. The main issue is that when you take a rest or when you have never workout before, your body muscles have already lost flexibility. Eventually, when you start an intense workout, you will be at high risk of injury. Apart from this, when staying inactive means you will see an increase in the fat content of your body. This increase in fat content means you will not be as agile as you should be. Your BMI will be higher than normal and you will feel like you are struggling when you work out and breathe at the same time. With the help of pre-workout training, you will be able to bring your body to an active stage where your lung capacity will become better, your muscles will be flexible to support your intense training and you will see improvement in your overall workout technique as well.

With the help of this article, we will help you address all the issues that can cause injury or restrain your training capacity. We will also look at some of the basic workouts that will help you get into shape so you can get to the technical training as well.

20 Minutes MMA Workouts to Get In Shape

The workout is divided into four different sessions. Each session consists of just 5 minutes of blasting, intense workouts that will help you work on the whole body and its performance. After each 5-minute session, you can take at least 30 seconds to one minute for rest.

Yoga Warm-Up for Flexibility

To start your training and get into shape, your body must have enough flexibility that it doesn’t just feel strained after you start your intense workout routine. To start it off, you need some dynamic stretching that will then help you improve the flexibility of your muscles so you can without getting injured. The best way to improve flexibility is with yoga. You can start with some basic poses and slowly when you feel you are ready to switch, you can then get to some intense and dynamic poses.

Cardio Warm-Up for Stamina and Endurance

The stamina and endurance-based workout mean you will be able to stay in the ring for long. This also means that you will not get tired and your body will be in shape for an intense workout. This is also used as an indicator of progress. The best workout is to start with cardio. Within cardio, you can start with just 1 minute of extreme running followed by jumping jacks, squats, and touchdowns.

Strength Workout without Weight

Strength starts with the core so if you have a good core you will be able to perform better in the ring. This is where you will use your 5 minutes core strengthening workout. You can start with a plank for one minute and then switch to crunches, scissor kicks, and push-ups and complete it off with side planks.

Punching Practice Fat Burner

For a better technique, you need to start with fat burning so you can get rid of extra fat and get back into the right BMI. For fat burning, you need to start with simple cardio-based shadow boxing then you will switch to an intense speed boxing spell followed by heavy bag punching. This will take just 5 minutes.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to your current workout stage. If you have never worked out before and you are just a beginner, you need to start with flexibility and then use different workouts to improve your BMI and cut down the fat content in your body. However, if you have been working out before but you took some time to rest, there is a high chance that your body and muscle memory are still good enough to start your intense workout. You can start with some simple cardio and warm-up sessions and finally, you can start your workout routine just like you would. Even with the combat-based workout, you will see different categories of workouts and different intensities that you can easily adjust to the requirement of your body.

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Bursting The Myth Bubble - Does BJJ Make Your Child Violent?

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 10:17:00 +0000

Bursting The Myth Bubble - Does BJJ Make Your Child Violent?

BJJ is known to be one of the most advanced combat games. Almost all the professionals that you will ever come across will have some kind of specialty in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. People usually use BJJ as a foundation combat game and then build their skill further with other combat styles later.

Starting from the way BJJ improves the functionality of your body to the way it impacts the muscle memory so it can later perform better with other combat games, Brazilian jiu-jitsu indeed changes and improves the way you fight. Long before Brazilian jiu-jitsu became mainstream, it was used as a way to discipline kids.

People used to send their kids to combat schools, these schools were built in forests and mountains very close to nature so kids could learn some survival skills. Apart from this, they offered complete isolation so they could become independent and learn to practice according to the cycle of nature.

Why Is BJJ Known As A Violent Game?

In short, a combat game that was mainly used as a way to discipline kids when it came into the mainstream was tagged as a violent game. People started referring that when kids learn how to fight and not how to control their anger, they usually end up becoming very violent. This was true just for very limited cases.

However, when assessed in the case of Brazilian jiu-jitsu when anger and frustration built by social issues were offered an outlet through Brazilian jiu-jitsu, there were so many benefits that most people were forgetting. Experts in child psychology and development revealed that Brazilian jiu-jitsu helps in improving overall mental function and physical health.

With the help of this article, we will look at some of the ways Brazilian jiu-jitsu can help you kid. We will also know if the myth of making kids violent is true or just a false accusation.

Can BJJ Make You Violent?

Most people think that once you learn how to fight, there is no way of stopping you. This is mainly because we see that in movies where kids and adults fight all the time just because they are good at fighting.

In real life, you will not get so many opportunities to fight and even if you do, you will learn the way to emotionally control yourself. Within BJJ you always start with strategy building once you get on the mat.

This means you need to know how deep breathing techniques will help you control your emotions. Another important thing is that once you learn how to fight, you also learn the price of pain because you experience that very often. This makes you care how you hit someone and how you initiate a fight. This is the reason you will see experts in BJJ never initiating a fight.

How Does BJJ Help Your Child With Development And Physical Health?

There are so many ways BJJ is ideal for a child and a developing body. This is a great workout substitute so kids who find it hard to engage in any kind of workout or physical activity can start BJJ.

Apart from this, as a workout substitute, it helps in regulating the blood flow which will eventually improve the healing process. You will improve in focus as well as your overall health. Here are some of the reasons BJJ is known as the best method to work on your physical health.

Improves Focus

Most kids struggle with a focus which is the reason you will get to see parents and teachers complain about their studies. With the help of BJJ, your kids will be able to work on their focus and this will improve their grades as well.

Helps Calm Down

Within BJJ you are taught deep breathing techniques which help in calming the nerves. This is very important for kids especially if they have rage issues.

Improves Social Skills

Social skills are very important to function in society. Usually, kids struggle with making friends. With the help of BJJ, they will be able to work on making friends because they can read the emotions and how to respond accordingly.

Deescalating Situations

In violent situations where people react haphazardly, a professional with the knowledge of BJJ knows how to deescalate situations.

Improves Healing

BJJ works as a cardio substitute so you will be able to see that you heal better with BJJ. This will also help kids stay fit and healthy.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to how you train a child. When a child is trained he is usually not just learning some moves to help him beat people up. He is also learning social skills, functional ways to move his body as well as improving his physical health. Most people think that the child will not learn how to emotionally control himself but the very first thing that is taught with strategy building is linked with the way you handle your emotions. Since control over emotions can help the child in moderating the way he uses his energy. This is a very vital phase of learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu and it can be used in real-life situations as well.

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: How Important Is Cardio For BJJ?

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 10:17:00 +0000

BJJ is known to be one of the best combat games so far. This is mainly because it helps you control yourself physically as well as mentally and improves your performance as well. From the way you handle people around you to the way you use your body effectively, everything revolves around physical workouts.

Since most people find physical workouts very challenging they get to the combat-based workouts and add some functional workouts so they can see improvement in their health and development of their body. This seems to be a very easy task because they don’t have to get engaged in a lengthy and boring workout. This also means that with very little effort they get to see improvement in their health as well as their daily work.

Why Cardio Is Recommended For BJJ?

According to experts in the BJJ domain, people should start with simple exercises like cardio and yoga so they can help their bodies get accustomed to the intense workout that will eventually come their way. This helps them reduce the chance of injury. However, even as an expert in BJJ, you will still be asked to follow a strict workout routine that will not only consist of your BJJ functional moves and technique-based maneuvers but also cardio.

As a newbie when you start cardio, it is considered a way to help you get into shape. However, when you become professional cardio is used to help you not only stay in shape but also help you move your muscles in a better way that will eventually help you perform better on the mat.

With the help of this article, you will be able to know why cardio is considered a very vital part of BJJ training. You will also know why professionals and beginners start their training with cardio every day and how cardio helps them perform better on the mat.

How Cardio Can Help You With BJJ?

Cardio is known to be the best warm-up for BJJ or any other type of combat-based workout. This is mainly because if you have never worked out before and you start an intense workout like BJJ, you will be at high risk of injury. This also means that you will not be able to breathe properly hence you will feel tired when you get on the map.

Another important thing is that breathing helps you control your emotions and also helps you strategize things before you think about attacking. Moreover, when you don’t work out for a long time, your muscles become stiff, they lose flexibility and you are not able to move your muscles properly. When you get on the mat, you need to use the full potential of your muscles. You might have to extend your muscles or use their flexibility.

Without cardio, this means you are straining your muscles and this can cause injury. However, with cardio, your body is already used to the workout so you will safely be able to start your training. In most cases when a beginner starts the workout, he is advised to start with cardio for one week to fifteen days so his body can get used to it.

Why Continue Cardio Even When You Are An Expert?

Most people think that once you are an expert, you can leave cardio. However, experts say that even after so many years of experience they still use cardio for not only warm-up but also in their day-to-day workout. This is mainly because cardio helps in improving the functionality of muscles and triggers healing.

Most people struggle with deep breathing when they move their bodies or fight. This is where cardio will help you because it helps your deep breath, use the full capacity of your lungs and also enhance the capacity of your lungs so you can work for longer without getting tired.

The best thing about cardio is that it will help you reduce the chance of injury which means your muscles will easily adjust to the performance. Even as an expert, you cannot leave cardio because it will be a great warm-up and you will be able to use your muscles in a better way.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, it all comes down to the way you handle your training and where you want to be in the next few months. Most people start their BJJ journey without thinking about taking it professionally. If you are also taking it just for entertainment purposes, you might not have to work too hard. This is the reason people usually are told to stay on a cardio workout routine for the first few weeks.

This helps them know how to breathe, and how to use their muscles and this is very good for getting into the workout shape as well. The best thing about cardio is that it helps you build an endurance level that will help work for longer hours without getting tired. While most people think that cardio is just a warm-up that will help you get into shape and get the work running, experts say that no matter what you do or at what level of BJJ you are, you have to continue your cardio.

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BJJ / Grappling Rash Guard Review: Starlocks Xmartial from Xmartial.com

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Sat, 18 Sep 2021 09:00:00 +0000

The STARLOCKS (YUP, YOU READ IT RIGHT!) Rashguard is one of my favourite new additions to the jiujitsu wardrobe. I will say that I refuse to wear it under the gi, I am definitely more of a t-shirt or nothing under the gi kinda grappler, but I refuse to hide this beautiful rashie under the gi jacket. In my grappling universe this is strictly Nogi grappling attire.

I first heard about XMARTIAL through Instagram.

They were kind enough to contact me to start collaborating (exchanging links etc.) and we started talking about reviewing one of their products. The hardest part was choosing just one model, as they have a huge range, and they all look great. That said, I reserved judgement because a lot of products look great online then look totally subpar once they arrive in your hands. Not the case here! Let’s have a look at the features of the garment. You can find them at "https://www.xmartial.com/".

You can get your own XMARTIAL Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Rash Guard here.

Features

Raglan Style Sleeves
Moisture-wicking Fabric
High Density Flat Lock Stitching
Gel Panel Waistline for Extra Grip
Long sleeve, although they come in short sleeve (not my thing!) and female cuts

You can get your own XMARTIAL Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Rash Guard here.

Quality and Style

The design is cool and trippy. The infamous coffee chain logo is holding shaka poses with her hands and her caffeine-stimulated eyes are DILATED! Putting her in a white gi with a black belt is an excellent additional touch!

The fabric is impressively strong and wouldn’t, thanks to the gel-panel, ride during grappling and the thick, flat seams have remained intact. The seams themselves are a fantastic detail. I honestly think this rash guard is going to last a long, long time.

You can get your own XMARTIAL Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Rash Guard here.

Fit and Comfort

Who are we kidding? Lockdown(s) have been unkind to everyone’s waistlines. The fact that this size is M-L (genius!) has meant that it’s not a compression-tight fit, but it hugs my torso and stays close to the skin while rolling. It has a lot of give. It feels silky smooth, even when dry, and, as mentioned above, it NEVER rides up.

Model: Starlocks

Size: M-L

Measurements

Length: 27.5 inch, 70cm

Width: 18.5 inch, 47cm

Collar to Cuff: 29 inch, 73cm

Armpit to Cuff: 21 inch, 53cm

Cuff: 4 inch, 10cm

Width across the upper arm: 7.5 inch, 19cm

My measurements:

Height: 5’10’’, 178cm

Weight: 187lb, 85kg (thank you Lockdown(s)!)

Waist size: 24inch, 61cm

Build: I work out!

Generally, I have nothing but love for this rash guard. My only notes, but that’s only off my own personal taste, is the back signage. It’s … unmissable. I prefer subtilty.

Because I wear suits and formal shirts at work, that’s my usual frame of reference. Imagine someone wearing a drop-dead gorgeous E. Zenga, Alexander McQueen or Ralph Lauren suit and when you turn around, it says the designer’s name and slogan in big, bold letters across the upper back. Rather, I want it to be so great-looking and great-functioning that anyone seeing it comes over to ask about the make and where I got it from. But again, that’s just me.

This is the first rash guard that made me understand why John Danaher constantly wears them, including on date nights!

But honestly, what really tips this rash guard for me over the edge is the staff at XMARTIAL. They truly go above and beyond to make sure you are happy with the purchase. I recommend them just as much as I recommend this particular product.

You can get your own XMARTIAL Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Rash Guard here.

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'What Outstanding Instructors Do': My first book on commonalities amongst the world's top Jiu-Jitsu instructors

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 05 May 2021 08:41:00 +0000

Recently I published my first book, 'What Outstanding Instructors Do'. Since it was published, it has been doing incredibly well. More so, it’s been receiving lots of praise from those in the know: instructors and educators. For this I am eternally grateful.

When I set out to write the book, I thought it would turn out to be a small anecdotal booklet of about 100-150 pages of me talking and reminiscing about seeing this or that outstanding instructor getting their point across effortlessly or how they orchestrated a huge seminar with ease and magnetism. It started out like that but it very quickly grew into something quite academic in nature. This is both good and bad. A bigger, deeper book (53,000+ words!) allowed me to flesh out my thoughts and observations into more meaningful analysis. However, I was constantly worried that I was simply indulging myself (the writer) as opposed to serving the reader (the instructors). I ran this dilemma by a few trusted voices, both from within the Jiu-jitsu community and outside it. We agreed that, me being me, it was always going to be a bit of an academic 🤓 nerdy project, but that it would be a good idea to meet the readers half way. This gave birth to the “End of Chapter: Reflective Summary & Action Pointers” segments.

In these, as the name indicates, I summarised the previous chapter into bullet-points that the reader can put into action immediately. It’s something I know I appreciate any time I see it in any non-fiction literature.

In addition, I am going to, on a weekly basis, pick a technique or strategy from the book and discuss on Instagram (@the_part_time_grappler). If I feel the topic needs longer form of discussion, I’ll write an accompanying blog article here on ‘The Part Time Grappler’.

Once again and forever, thank you all for your encouragement and support and for buying the book (paperback and Kindle available through links here and here). First technique to be discussed: How to deal with “what if” questions in a win-win manner.

The first overarching theme I discuss in the book is all about setting high expectations as an instructor. The first technique within that area is a something I call 'Everybody in the pool'. It is the way I see the most experienced Outstanding Instructors deal with students choosing to opt out, in other words, students choosing not to do exactly what they are meant to be doing. This can range from rabbit-in-the-headlight type students not sure what to do to this-would-not-work-on-me know-it-alls. I discuss how the Outstanding Instructors I have seen deal with these scenarios in a win-win manner, but that one of the risks that can come up is entering into the dreaded “What if?” rabbit hole. Here, I’d like to discuss a good protocol to follow for how to deal with “What if?” questions.

While “what if?” questions can often emanate from a genuine curiosity the learner may have, they are sometimes used by learners looking shift the power distribution within the lesson. By asking “What if?” they can take charge of where Learning Episode goes next and, using a series of these, for how long.

An example can be someone who doesn’t seem to want to pay attention to specific grips and balance breaks that lead to a takedown. This may be because they are an experienced wrestler or perhaps already determined that they prefer pulling guard. Instead of paying attention and drilling the technique that is being instructed, they choose to fire off a series of “What if?” questions:

· What if I can’t get that grip?

· What if they grip me first?

· What if it’s Mixed Martial Arts and they’re not wearing a gi?

· What if their gi top is too tight?

Genuine or not, “What if?” questions are addressed by the Outstanding Instructor according to the simple Flow Diagram below:

Directly relevant to the topic at hand: Stop the lesson and create a valuable learning episode
Not directly relevant to the topic at hand: Praise the question and promise the learner that it will be addressed at a future opportunity*

Let us re-examine these questions:

· What if I can’t get that grip? Ideally, the instructor should have thought of this and dedicated the first part of the session to getting advantageous grips

· What if they grip me first? Stop the class and work on defensive grip fighting & grip breaking

· What if it’s Mixed Martial Arts and they’re not wearing a gi? Praise the question and promise the learner it will be addressed in the Mixed Martial Arts class, if your academy offers that class

· What if their gi top is too tight? As this technique is uniquely sport related, this question is neither important nor urgent. Smile and assure the student that the gi-checker at the competition should take care of that detail

That’s it. In fact, if the “What if?” question really is that directly relevant, the Outstanding Instructor would have already thought of it and can simply praise the learner for their insightful question and promise them that it will indeed be addressed at a future opportunity.

Thank you all for your encouragement and support and for buying the book (paperback and Kindle available through links here and here)

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*It bears repetition that this is done with one hundred percent genuinity

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

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Where should I grip in BJJ? Grip Fighting 101

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 18:14:00 +0000

Gripping and grabbing is such an inescapable part of jiu-jitsu, grappling and by extension all fighting. There are many reasons why we would choose to establish a grip. This could be to sink in a collar choke, to extended a limb or even to defend against the opponent’s own aggression.

While the practical applications of gripping (cloth) or grabbing (body part) are endless, the mechanical reason should always be the same:

To define the end of the lever.

A lever is an inflexible rod that bridges between the mover (Force) and what needs to be moved (Load) around a rotation point (Fulcrum). The further away from the fulcrum we apply the force, the less force we need to move the load and vice versa.

You will often hear instructors referring to finding the “end of the lever”. This is because the further away you are from the fulcrum, less force you will need to move the load. Therefore, it stands to reason that there are better and worse places to grip and grab. Below is an introduction to the better places to grip and grab and while indeed there are others to investigate, these should form the foundation of anyone’s gripping strategy.

The collar. If you are looking to control posture, the spine is your lever. The end of the lever is as high as possible on the collar, close to the label, because that puts you the furthest away from the fulcrum (the hips). Gripping any lower will not be optimal and to grab any higher you’d need to abandon the gi and control the back of the head.
The seam of the sleeve just above the elbow. If you are looking to control the lateral movement, the upper arm is your lever. The end of the lever is as low as possible on the seam at the back of the arm, close to, but just above, the elbow, because that puts you the furthest away from the fulcrum (the shoulder).
The cuff of the sleeve just above the wrist. If you are looking to control the movement of their hand, the lower arm is your lever. The end of the lever is as low as possible on the sleeve, at the cuff, (or even the wrist or the hand itself) because that puts you the furthest away from the fulcrum (the elbow).
The bunched up material at the outside (or inside) of the bent knee. If you are looking to control the guard recovery, the thigh is your lever. The end of the lever is as low as possible on the pants, immediately outside, or inside, the knee, because that puts you the furthest away from the fulcrum (the hips).
The cuff of the pants just above the foot. If you are looking to control the movement of their foot, the lower leg is your lever. The end of the lever is as low as possible on the pant leg, at the cuff, (or even grabbing over the arch of the foot) because that puts you the furthest away from the fulcrum (the knee).

As expected, there are other minor grip locations (such as various locations on the belt etc.) that serve other, perhaps more niche purposes. I will talk more about these in a future article.

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

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Interview with Rickson Gracie: jiujitsu master and founder of theJiu-Jitsu Global Federation

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 15:44:00 +0000

Interview with Jiujitsu Global Federation founder Master Rickson Gracie.

A concise version of this interview was recently published by Blitz Martial Arts, Australasia's leading martial arts magazine.

This interview was conducted on 29th July 2014. 10am Los Angeles Time

Liam Wandi: How's your morning been?
Rickson Gracie: It's great man. Just waiting for your call and excited about this new endeavour.

LW: Of course, and we are all excited. The whole jiujitsu community is excited. We met a couple of times during your seminars, once in Amsterdam and once in Glasgow and I am curious, were you thinking about forming the federation as far as back then in 2012?
RG: The idea of doing something about the sport is always on my mind and a while ago a friend of mine tried to create a new federation and gave me that idea. But at the time he wanted to have me in it but also to be the main responsible for it which I disagreed with because once I get into a federation, it will have my body and soul and creativity and ideas and I cannot just be his employee so we didn't go through with the idea. Finally, I got into a position to go ahead and create my idea and everything just fell into place.

LW: Fantastic. What is your role within the newly started JJGF?
RG: My role, with my current experience, is that I could identify the real problem with we have to solve today. Then, I give my input and my ideas on how we can approach and address that.
My partners, experts in technology and the corporate sides, and I will get together and try to build a platform where the message can be exposed and shared. We are working to achieve a very balanced federation between the technological and the business sides.

LW: Absolutely. What would you say is the mission statement of the Jiu-jitsu Global Federation (JJGF)?
RG: It's service. Our mission statement is service because I think that's what is the most important need, not only for the sport but also for the community.

LW: Why now? Obviously you mentioned that the idea has been brewing on your mind for a while but why now in 2014?
RG: It is a combination of factors. First of all, over the last 7 years after I moved to Brazil, I have been travelling around the world teaching seminars and I can definitely feel the appreciation of the knowledge. A lot of black belts don't have even basic principles of weight distribution, invisible power and leverage. Everybody has been motivated to play the sport and the sport has become a huge competitive element and growing in every corner of the world but I feel like there is a need for people to understand the concepts.

I have 10 different seminars, progressive levels. If people are comfortable with level 1, I will give people the next levels 2, 3 and 4. But every time I got into a seminar, approximately 200 people, at least half of them don't have the basic ideas from level 1 so I end up giving almost the same seminars, of course with a little difference. I feel like there is a big need for people to understand the concepts and as my body is getting tired and my bones start to complain, my position for the community is to create something where my reference becomes bigger than me hands-on. My intention was, through the federation, almost the same service I have been doing for jiujitsu my whole life, spreading the good knowledge, giving good reference in how they can teach, train, incorporate more techniques in their jiujitsu to facilitate the absorption from all segments of the community. (Jiujitsu is) not only for competitors, not only for tough guys, but also fragile people, women, law enforcement so I feel jiujitsu is a very complex and a very positive art to be taught for anyone not just for competitors or tough guys so this way, I feel like doing this I can serve a lot more people in the community.

To get back to your question about the amazing thing of doing this business in 2014, if you imagine that Facebook has only existed for about 7 years, we can use a modern tool to definitely spread, with much more efficiency, all the guidance and all the reference, to support the needs of the practitioners, of the black belts, of the competitors, of the school teachers, of the school owners, of the federations all over the world and the independent promoters who sometimes divide themselves. Being in different organisations with no governing body to legitimate everybody and put everybody under the same umbrella. To give a real functional idea for the growth of the sport and be more helpful and more interactive with the community as a whole.

LW: That's great. I know you have mentioned in the past that you want the federation to become a meeting point for the jiujitsu community, very much like Facebook.
RG: That's right, because you know by using those tools I think because the federation is based around service, like I told you, and we focus on three different pillars of work. The first one is the "communication" aspect which I feel like there is a need in the entire community to have access to general information where everything is in the same basket. That means the biggest associations today have their own circuits and their own champions and they don't mix with each other. There is no one federation that represents even 50% of the community. The IBBJF has a good slice of the cake, NAGA has another, Grapplers Quest, DreamJiujitsu, SEVEN, Copa Pacifica, US Open. So many different associations and federation doing tournaments those days and they have no relation with each other. This is creating a divide in the competitor community. and doesn't give them access to eventually look towards the olympics, or even before that look towards a premium world wide circuit, which would translate into a possibility to appear on TV or put major sponsors into the game.

I believe the sport needs this kind of unified thinking in order for us to get to the next level. I'm not creating this federation to compete with other associations or federations that have been in this game for so long. I try to validate everybody and put everybody under the same umbrella, looking to fix our biggest problem which is restore effectiveness. I think the whole mission statement which is "Service" is to fill the need of the jiujitsu community itself which is, we are losing effectiveness. Based on that need, we need to come up with a lot of service in the communication aspect, by creating a "Masters Council" to get their active voice in the community, by creating a "Development Council" with the best teacher who are still hands-on to give their opinion on how to restore effectiveness. Also, creating a Facebook-like social media for the community so every fighter, every athlete can have their own profile and download their own fights and ask for their own sponsorships. This will also provide forums so the community can ask and get answers from the masters. It's a very interesting way for the community to start to find itself included within a body which will replace how we resolve our problems.

Jiujitsu is an evolving art and the way I feel about the evolutionary process of jiujitsu now is taking us to a very sportive-like direction in competitions and losing effectiveness in real life so in order for us to restore effectiveness, we have to work in the communication, such as sharing all the news and reporting all the tournaments within the sport. Some magazines nowadays are very partial. They talk about one show but don't talk about other shows or other champions. I think a real federation has to have eyes on every event me athlete, bringing everything to the same basket so they can expose themselves to the community.

Talking about the competition aspect, I feel like if we don't do anything radically efficient we're going to lose our effectiveness. I love competition. I love watching the athletes fight but in the last few years, I feel like 8 out of 10 fights are very boring and very ineffective. They fight for positioning and to stall the game. They developed ways to make it easy to reach the medal, but they lose effectiveness in real life, in self defence and in the cage. My purpose I'm suggesting a change of rules is to create more dynamic action, prevent the stalling and making the fighters fight more dynamically as they fight on the street, in the cage and preserve our effectiveness. I want to make them rethink the way they fight. With the new rules, 90% of the current champions won't be happy because they're used to fight in a way I call anti- jiujitsu. They create technical ways to diminish the motions and control the action and gain an advantage. Once they get the advantage they sit back again and stall the fight in order to win the medal. While this is an easy way to the medal it jeopardises our effectiveness as a whole. This is why we have to work in the communication and in the competition aspects and most of all we have to work in the "educational" aspect. We need to preserve the art and philosophy. The federation will legitimise every black belt out there but it is a bit problem today in our culture because people are coming up through the belts based on tournament achievements. Eventually they become black belts and achieve fame by winning tournaments. One day they decide to open a school, which is beautiful, but when they go and start to teach the only thing they have to offer is the way they compete. They don't have children-, women- or law enforcement programmes. They have a very small ability to fulfil the complete needs of the community as a whole. The can only fulfil the needs of somebody that want a to compete.

Of course, I'm not going to de-validate anybody, but I will suggest to every instructor out there to be certified by the federation to increase their ability to serve and fulfil the needs of their community. They will then be able to retain more students too. Instead of having a hundred guys training with them they can have 500 people training with them: 200 kids, 100 women and executives and professionals. Everybody cam take advantage of jiujitsu.

With this view in mind, we have to work within the federation to enhance service to help the instructors, the school owners, event promoters and so on.

LW: This is fantastic. Jiujitsu has been around for a few years and we have had a few different federation but why do you think we have had these problems arise? Where do these problems come from?
RG: You know, I feel like it's nobody's fault. I feel like introducing advantages into the the game, which is presented like half points but they're not really points. It's like in basketball having a ball hit the ring and you reward the team for that. That would create a situation where the player don't feel the need to learn how to score the ball in the basket anymore. By touching the ball to the ring enough times, they'd already be winning the game. Advantages were meant initially to help resolve grey areas but unfortunately they created more grey areas. The evolution of he rules do the sort has meant that tough guys now don't actually need to go for scoring point anymore. They can just make an attempt at a technique or show the referee a set up, like "hey referee I ALMOST passed the guard" so when they have the advantage it's almost like they gained a point so they stop trying. The game had become so sophisticated around gaining advantages and lost objectivity on who the best guy out there is in passing the guard, gain the cross side, mount and submit. Using the rules to get the medal is now the goal and the objectivity of the fight becomes secondary. In order for is to restore effectiveness, which is part of our culture, we have to definitely make changes in the rules like i, cutting advantages and ii, penalising stalling. By doing these two things, you're going to see a completely different fight because if the fighter cannot stall and hold a position just because they got a few points they have to let go and do something. It brings a completely different action package that's going to be better for the viewers, for the training and ultimately for the fighters. I really believe most of the existing champions aren't going to be too happy with that but I'm trying to favour 85% of the competitive community today who are the white and blue belts who, without knowing, are being misled into believing that they have to use thee stalling positions to get the medal.

If this keeps going, in ten years from now, jiujitsu will become something like taekwondo or sport karate which had great athletes with great, explosive expression of athleticism but far removed from effectiveness in real life.

LW: I completely agree with you and I think many in the community do too. So you feel the changes in the rules and focus in education will help the JJGF avoid falling into these same mistakes?
RG: yes I do but having said that, I don't believe that the rules are set in stone. I tank we are still able to have an evolutionary process with the rules and make them more effective still. We will start with these sets of rules but, based on the opinion of the masters, the results of the tournaments and the comments from the development council we can change the rules. I'm not trying to own the truth. I want to be openminded in my focus on restoring effectiveness. You know, jiujitsu is an animal that keeps evolving. Techniques evolve, the athletes evolve, everything keeps moving ahead but you have to keep the quality control in terms of effectiveness. That's what we are about: restoring effectiveness through service.

If you think about it, all the first generation of the family members, and jiujitsu competitors, they all feel comfortable in any situation in life. They can handle life on the street, they can handle life in the cage or wherever. Now, I can see a new breed of champions who have no relationship to any real life situations and I think it's because the rules do not translate into effectiveness but rather only into efficiency in getting the medals. This is very disappointing for me to see the core of jiujitsu disappearing. It is a very serious matter in terms of what the future will hold.

LW: Absolutely. The new rules push towards a very dynamic future for jiujitsu competition. Will the JJGF enforce or at least suggest testing for performance enhancement drugs?
RG: of course. I think any governing body for a sport today that does not oversee that situation and aspect of their sport and how it threatens the sport is making a huge mistake. I mean it's like showing up to F1 with a car that has a jet engine. Drug enhancement is forbidden in sports for a reason so to make our sport legit, we cannot close our eyes to this modern problem. The federation will have to play an active role in overseeing this and taking away all the bad apples so they don't spoil the whole sport.

LW: Many in the community feel that existing or past "federations" carried the name federation but were actually run as corporations. It's embarrassingly visible out there and when there are suggestions for PED TESTING, rule changes or democratic votes, a blind eye is turned to that. What is going to be the organisational structure within the JJGF? Will it have regional / national divisions? Will there be a JJGF-Europe? Etc?
RG: 100%. I agree about the current situation. Our idea now is to create our new circuit and, instead of dividing everybody, to welcome everybody to be completely supported by us. This year, I'm not going to say "if you don't use our rules we don't respect or support you" instead, we want to welcome everybody to the federation. I will promote every tournament on the planet. I will accept and distinguish every champion, no matter the rules. I will try to bring attention to and suggest our new rules in order to create a strong body in the JJGF. the aim is to unify the community and bring major sponsors to the game and TV contracts.

All this is in my vision for the growth of our beloved art. Depending on the reaction and retaliation from the community, we might end up drawing ourselves back and preserve our own vision and culture for those who share and accept it. But I don't want to try to create that kind of division to begin with.

I need to talk to the promoters around the globe and get them on board. They need to see that they can't necessarily just double and triple the size of their events so if they can't expand horizontally, through the work of the federation, they can expand vertically through the involvement of sponsor and TV exposure. We'd be creating a very unique and sound business model and a very interesting development for the sport.

I come with a very open mind to work with everybody because my position means I'm not trying to compete with any promoter, association or federation. It's just that somebody had to come and say "hey man,we need to create a big umbrella over the whole thing and let's make the sport grow and make the community get better results overall. Let's make the teachers more capable and more professional and the school owners and promoters more successful."

My vision starts with bringing effectiveness back to the sport. It's a beautiful thing, man. I wake up everyday very motivated and driven because I feel I'm till in the fight, but without my bones. (Laughs)

LW: absolutely. This is exactly what sport needs. When you used the term "umbrella" I was thinking "that is exactly what a federation should mean".

So to deliver your services and the pillars we takes about, do you have a structure of employees under you? I understand the JJGF was started by three people and that there's the masters and the development council, but is there going to be a structure of people within the JJGF governance?
RG: yes. The initial ideas are a follows:
1st: a clinic for the referees. We're going to certify the referees who already understand our rules, for them to spread all over so any tournament that want to run our rules can have official referees too to support there cause and event.
2nd: the first certified full instructors programme. I will invite the instructors who I know already know the programme of self defence, they will be certified as "Full Instructors" and then they will return to their regions and clubs whether in Europe, Brazil, Japan, Australia or the US. As they become full instructors, certified in that region, they will be the contact point for whoever is interested in our certification path, which is step 3.
3rd: instructors expressing interest in our certification pathway will contact the above full instructors and receive a digital training programme to study. Once they become comfortable studying this material, the applications and techniques of the self defence programme they will attend a test with those full instructors. If they pass the test, they will start a one year probationary certification period. During this year they will continue teaching and once every quarter or so they will show a class of whatever we ask them to show for us to see how they portray the correct ideas, concepts and teaching methodology. After the end of that year of being evaluated, they'll become full instructors like the first wave. That way, I can create scale because if everything depends on my availability and resources, I'm not going to have the time. I'm trying to create a multiplicative scale to replace me. The goal is for it to be the norm for a jiujitsu school to have a certified instructor within it.

This is what will give the school the potential to help all elements of society, from the police officers to fragile children to women's self defence and so on. That's exactly the position a jiujitsu school should have towards its community. It's a complete centre of martial arts where you can learn the techniques and concept you need to enhance your life.

LW: It sounds like you're trying to create something bigger than yourself, something that can replace you.
RG: oh man, you know that's exactly what I'm trying to do. If I look back at my life, I did everything I could do to represent, to fulfil my students' needs in order for them to become better. As men, as competitors, as parents or whatever. I feel like I've been dedicating my life to jiujitsu and as my body is physically fading, the best contribution I could do is to create some kind of pattern of quality control for our product and our community because what I see is our product being diluted and weakened. I see that my last challenge, my last fight, as very fulfilling and very motivational. I feel like if I can accomplish half of what I'm thinking, I'll be the happiest guy on earth. I'm out there fighting and providing service, working hard to conquer this challenge but in a much bigger position. For example, instructional videos: I will never, ever put my instructional videos on the shelf for anyone to buy. It's not about the money but for me it's about the principle. It's weakness from me if some guy I've never met pays $50 and takes my knowledge and a piece of my soul and then becomes my enemy. On the other hand, if a jiujitsu practitioner from anywhere in the country or the world, gets in contact with me and says "Master, I'm a jiujitsu teacher from wherever and I'd like to have your programme", I don't feel it's the same as selling it on the shelf to anyone. I feel like I'd be fulfilling that guy's needs as a black belt to become a better teacher. This is a completely different feeling for me because while I can be betrayed, but my intention is to serve jiujitsu and I'd be giving another jiujitsu practitioner the elements he needs to become better. I'd be working with people who love the art, respect the art and live by the art and the knowledge so it's a. Completely different service.

LW: fantastic. So how are you going to select the first wave of certified full instructors?
RG: We are going to advertise through the JJGF site the schedule of all the events we've discussed. The first wave, as I mentioned, will be restricted to those who already know the programme. That step is neither about testing, teaching or failing nobody. That step is about recognition as full instructors and let them spread the full art. For anyone to make the cut for that very special first meeting, they must for sure be already very comfortable with the whole programme.

LW: is the digital material that will be distributed to applicants of the second wave already available? Has it already been recoded?
RG: No. I will create that and film it in the first full instructors certification phase. All the material will be there, I will be displaying and teaching it fully. Only if it comes to my attention in the future that something needs to be amended or added I will film additional material. In the JJGF offices, we have now received mats and set up a studio to not only portray those techniques but also have a mini TV station where we can solve technique problems, run interviews with masters and people who are relevant within the community and talk about current affairs within the community and the sport.
LW: Looking at the information on the JJGF website, I saw a distinction between "black belts" and "elite competitors". Can you please describe the difference and how practitioners can go from one category to the other?
RG: We aim to create a ranking system within our circuit, just like sports like surfing, tennis and others. Ideally, once we have everybody in that ranking system, we can look at the elite who may be the top 50 athletes. We will have premium events within the circuit which will have the elite athletes, which will become a professional tour much like in tennis and surfing. That, however, is a vision for the future ahead. We have to divide the average black belt competitor from the premium black belts who for instance already have sponsors and dedicate their whole life to training. We're trying to create a high level of competitors who will become like the professional reference for the rest. We are hoping that this worldwide premium circuit will bring our sport to the next level.

LW: Wow that's unique of in jiujitsu. Do you foresee on the future the JJGF to have a world championship?
RG: the mission of the JJGF is NOT to create a new world championship. It's rather to oversee all the tournaments and create a ranking because we feel that a champion cannot come just from winning one tournament. Winning one tournament does not, in my opinion, give the guy the legitimacy to be a world champion. I think by competing in different events, in different countries and by summing points throughout the tour we can form a better and fairer understanding who is the true champion. For example, if you cannot participate in a particular tournament it shouldn't mean that you are not the best athlete on the planet. Essentially we are trying to add value to the competitors and the competitions. This circuit is what will allow us to attract major sponsors and TV deals and exposure. Much like what we see in, say, tennis and golf.

LW: changing gears a little, will the JJGF interfere with belt graduations at the club / school level?
RG: No, we are not a dictatorship and I think leadership comes from having an open mind trying to bring the people together by listening to and respecting their opinions and observations. We have a belt system with knowledge requirements within each belt centred around technique and reflexes, but again we're not in the game to forbid people from using their own standards for belt testing. Ideally, we're going to legitimise all the existing ranks but we are going to suggest to the black belts to get certified as full instructors and we will share this belt knowledge breakdown and suggest that they consider using it for evaluation. If they don't want to then they don't have to but it wouldn't be ideal.

I think, little by little, the culture will change because this gives the students, the white belts, the voice and opportunity to make choices: shall I go and learn just how to win medals with efficiency or shall go learn the full art? By having this kind of self evaluation based on exposure to the knowledge and the elements of the art, students are going to think "we'll I'm a blue belt under Joe, but I'd be a white belt under Paul. What do I want to be, a weak blue belt or a strong white belt?" All this is going to become part of our new culture that prioritises effectiveness, no matter what the belt is. My blue belts sometimes go to other places and give a hard time to brown or even black belts which displayed either that the black belts don't know what they're doing or that my blue belts are super blue belts. I can tell you that they are just regular blue belts but they just have consistent information.

LW: in your opinion, what makes a good instructor and what makes a great instructor?
RG: a good instructor teaches the programme. The great instructor identifies what the student needs to learn and then teaches to fulfil those needs.

LW: will you still be doing seminars?
RG: yes. As my mission and dedication towards the federation becomes bigger, I will definitely diminish my physical seminars because firstly I'm nota getting any younger and my bones are complaining more and more and secondly I can really achieve great work by spreading the art through this new tool. Of course, I'm always happy to be on the mat and fulfil people's needs by being there and sharing techniques but you know that's not something I'd be focusing on.

LW: thank you very much, master Rickson Gracie for sharing your time and knowledge with out readers.

RG: my pleasure. Thank you for your great questions and for having such a passion for jiujitsu.

This is the end of the interview. I would like to thank Master Rickson Gracie for his time and my friend Tony Pacenski who made this interview a reality.

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

Check for more resources on Amazon.com:

BJJ / Grappling Tips: The four corner stones of Gracie Jiujitsu

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 11:17:00 +0000

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be on the mat at the Gracie Academy out in Torrance California when Ryron was giving one of his first introductions to a 4-pronged approach to grappling and jiujitsu. He saw me intently taking notes and started laughing. Knowing my intentions, he asked me to not publish them immediately so, 2 years down the line, I feel I've honoured my promise.

In a nutshell, he explained that he approaches every exchange with these objectives:

Defend: anything the opponent may try to throw at you: including distance management
Escape: When the time is right, escape the bad position
Control: Using 3 methodologies (explained below) control the chaos when you are in a dominant position
Submit: only if it fits within the grand objective of survival. It's not always necessary to submit.

Defence:

within defence, for example the triangle, you want to defend as early as possible. The highest percentage defences are the ones addressing the opponent's earliest actions. What keeps us from that is our impatience and rushing into movement.

Escape:

the cleanest escape (First level) happens when the attached is fully focused on attacking and not on controlling. These are facilitated by relaxing to facilitate calmness and sensitivity to the opponent's actions and even intent.

The next level of escape is through the 1-2 combinations. A famous one is combining a strong Upa reversal from the mount with a well timed elbow knee escape.

The third level is forced escape. There’s no opportunity but we can eek out the escape through a 2-5% window of opportunity.

Control:

The 3 controls:
Through tightness
Through looseness and by hovering into the correct position
Through offence and positional changes which will constantly keep them on the defence.

Submissions:

Be alert to when they defeat themselves through exhaustion. Don’t ignore these opportunities. If you do, you may lose these opportunities and he whole controlled position. Finishing someone can indeed be for your own safety.

Sometimes, however, submitting your opponent can come when you choose to. This is when they are holding back and not engaging. This is done by baiting or attacking with punching or (in pure grappling) attacking the neck.

Each of these cornerstones deserves books worth of research and investigation. If you rush one, you give your opponent a chance to climb their hierarchy and catch you.

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Why do I compete in Jiu-jitsu or Judo?

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 16:28:00 +0000

Jiu-jitsu for me is the lens I use to see and interpret combat and, by extension, life. That is why I choose to see it as a complete martial art first and as a sport second. So why compete at all?

When I am a student in a martial arts class, I am not competing with my training partners. My will to win barely exists in that context. The dials are all turned down, most of the time at least. I go for things chiefly because I want to discover their flaws and how I can fix them. My aim is simple:

Perfect technique – Perfect timing and weight distribution – Perfect spirit.

When I compete, however, I live in the now and I wear my heart on my sleeve. When I take on the role of an athlete, as opposed to that of a coach, instructor or training partner, there is no diplomacy. No middle grounds.

When I win, I feel amazing! I raise my arms and shout as my happiness and endorphins rush through my veins.

When I lose, I always feel like burning my gis. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I don’t want to watch any matches. I don’t even want to be in the competition venue any more.

Win or lose, however, I always feel like parts of both me and of my competitor have died and melted into the tatami, into the arena and down to the core of the Earth.

Adult life can often be too tame and full of the necessary masks of civilisation. True genuine moments exist, of course: When I share a deep laugh over an inside joke with a loved one. When I finally get “too-cool-for-school” students to understand how to tackle a mathematical problem (or at least care enough to engage with it in the first place!). Rare moments, where the masks fall off.

Likewise, you will occasionally come across the downhill spiral when you don’t get what you were hoping for. When we suddenly have to deal with loss, rejection or “failure”. One-way ticket to “The Zone of Self-Pity”. We’ve all been there.

But we remind ourselves that we are adults. We keep up the mask. We soldier on.

The thing is…

We need to feel.

We are not machines, nor are we meant to be.

We live in a society today where, for whatever reason, we are discouraged from feeling too much –
Don’t get too excited either way and, for God’s sake, don’t overshare! It’s best to remain all zen and neutral. I appreciate that. I respect that and, as a Buddhist, I get how inner-peace-inducing all that is.

As a child I was incurably diplomatic and not to mention afraid of conflict. Maybe it’s growing with parents going through that treacherous time before the separation (which, luckily, came later when I was an adult!). I grew up carefully crafting my words, not wanting to tip over any carts or step on any toes.

This is why I am eternally grateful for the Martial Arts for, frankly speaking, forcing me take a chance on myself.

I took a risk to step into my first dojo. I took a risk to do my first grading and finally took a huge risk to step onto the competition mat.

The Martial Arts, specifically the sportive side, forced me to take the risk to feel.

When I look back over my twenties and thirties, pure (non-combative) sports never truly appealed to me. Sure, I enjoyed playing them with friends, but I never felt victory in winning nor defeat in losing. Instead, it is through competition in Martial Arts where I allowed myself to feel the most.

Nowhere else are you as alone as when you stand facing an opponent on the tatami. The world outside the 4-lines comes to a true standstill and while no one remembers their matches in their entirety, every match will have its one or two intense moments that are forever etched on our souls.

And it was in those moments, when I took the chance to do something I was afraid to do, that I felt the most intense joy and despair. No middle ground. Strong spirits clashing.

That is why I compete.

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Introduction to BJJ: How To Progress Fast in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 14:14:00 +0000

Here's a very short post I've been meaning to write for a long time.

Every jiu-jitsu practitioner should, as compulsory reading, download and study this free resource.

A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

About the Author, Stephan Kesting:

Stephan began his martial arts training in 1981. He currently holds the
following ranks and certifications:
• Black Belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
• Instructor in Erik Paulson's Combat Submission Wrestling
• Black Belt in Kajukenbo Karate
• Instructor in Dan Inosanto's Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do, Filipino
Martial Arts, and Maphalindo Silat
• Years of experience in a wide range of other martial arts including
Judo, Muay Thai, Sambo, Kung Fu, and Capoeira

That's it. I can't believe it has taken me so long but I cannot recommend this free resource enough. Download it now and study it in detail!

A Roadmap for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: Focusing on the Fundamentals Fosters A Truly Gentle art

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 18:39:00 +0000

When you hear the words Jiujitsu, BJJ, Gracie Jiujitsu or even grappling, what images come to mind?

Most uninitiated would probably visualise Hollywood Karate-esque pyjama fighting. Those who have witnesses Mixed Martial Arts events such as the UFC or Bellator may envisage that a jiujitsu mat is full of brutes wrestling each other to submission and, finally, those who have had a taste of the art will describe what they know to the level they know it with the grappling vocabulary they possess.

But the truth is that while Jiujitsu is a martial art and a thriving combat sport, it’s only as violent as the instructor teaching it. My own personal journey has lead me to favour brain over brawn, even though I fully appreciate the importance of athleticism and physicality. I am a self-diagnosed Martial Arts Geek, but I also love pushing the boundaries of what my body can do.

Making the best of what we were born with

When planning and / or delivering a private lesson, a group class or a seminar, I try to stay true to three rules:

1. The curriculum (techniques, concepts, strategies & tactics) must rely on natural body movements
2. The curriculum (techniques, concepts, strategies & tactics) must emphasise energy efficiency in a no-time limit / no weight limit / no rules confrontation
3. Safety First! By that I mean safety from strikes, safety from submissions and (very importantly) safety from accidents!

This is my matrix and my starting point. Does that mean I never teach sportive techniques? Does this mean I shun weight training or yoga? No. What it means is that my core that I teach to everyone stays true to these three principles and once I am happy that a student embodies them, they are free to expand and experiment beyond them (with the caveat of awareness that they are doing so).

In my experience (and I’m not alone in this view), students who adhere to these three principles learn and retain information much faster than those who don’t. Why? Because these rules provide
something that sensei YouTube doesn’t: Context!

When there is an abundance of information, context is king!

I’ve also noticed that students who adhere to these rules pay a lot of attention to the small but vital details of every technique. I’d like to attribute that to their narrow focus. They know that these rules restrict the spectrum of techniques they can select from, so they aim to become subject matter experts within the set of parameters they have chosen for themselves.

Effective technique, not brute force

I’ll give you an example:
If you are underneath someone in the bottom of the side mount, your strategies are (in alignment with the three rules:

1. Control the distance between you and the opponent (to ensure safety from strikes)
2. Patiently (no time limit) monitor their shifts in body weight and grips until an opportunity presents itself to:

a. Elbow escape to the back
b. Shrimp escape to the guard / half guard
c. Belly-down to your knees

This does mean you will not try to bridge and roll them with brute strength, will not try to pull your feet to odd angles to recover the guard nor will your attempt any explosive bridging action to create space.

What does that leave you with?

It means you have to become a scientist at studying the details of

How to manage the distance even from the bottom (including analysis of how they are controlling you from the top, giving you a dual understanding of the position) and
How minute shifts in grips and body weight distribution or even breath cycles can create escape opportunities.

In short, since your terrain is limited, you develop a higher level of expertise.

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

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 17:23:00 +0000

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

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

One quick look around the mat and you could see people escaping but you could also see a lot of people actually getting the triangle. Higher belts on lower and also lower belts tapping higher one. To me, that confirms my theory that purity technical skill per se is an inaccurate measurement and that what separates people was simply a heightened sense of awareness. I'll tell you what I mean.

When a white belt taps a blue or even purple belt with a triangle in the above described isolation drill, it's not because the lower belt has higher technical skill, but because BJJ works! We wouldn't love it so much if it didn't, would we?

The reason the higher belt couldn't get out was of course not lack of know-how, but because he was that far* into the submission that it just worked. For the sake of the drill, he or she had to suspend their higher level of awareness, which they fine-tuned over the years, and just started from a clearly disadvantageous position.

One day, they will develop an even more refined such sense and manage to climb out of even a 9-tenths shut triangle. But that's only because jiu-jitsu works. Always!

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*”BJJ is a game of inches”, I’ve heard someone quote John Danaher say. If the starting position is an inch tighter or an inch looser, the outcome may well have been different but only if the two players involved have the awareness and presence of mind to take advantage of it.

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: How to Open and Pass the Closed Guard

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 16:49:00 +0000

My teacher Professor Eddie Kone recently released a beautiful video on "How to Develop Pressure in Jiujitsu" and the geography he chose to demonstrate these concepts was inside the closed guard. Developing and maintaining pressure is something we spend a ton (pardon the pun) of time and energy on within EKBJJ, no less so when passing the guard. Here's professor Kone's video on the subject:

Once you use these concepts to keep your opponent under physical and mental pressure and the legs are opened, your main choices to pass are:

over the leg,
under the leg and to a lesser extent...
around the leg

I say to a lesser extent simply because (mostly) when you are creating pressure, you are keeping your hips connected to the opponent's hips from start to finish, meaning you are either sliding over their leg (e.g. within a tight knee slide pass) or under it (e.g. within a super heavy double / single underhook pass). There are indeed ways to pass around the legs without disconnecting the hip-to-hip pressure but they are less common.

In the following video, you will see very similar concepts being illustrated by another Gracie Humaita alumni, one of my personal jiujitsu heroes Sensei Saulo Ribeiro from his first series: Jiu-Jitsu Revolution:

Here's an earlier video that professor Kone shot where he flowed into an over the leg pass. What you can't see or feel in this video is the immense pressure he develops and maintains while passing over the leg and establishing side control:

Putting all these concepts together, you will start looking at being inside the guard differently. It's not a scary position where you are constantly under threat of sweep, submission or back take. Instead, it's an opportunity for you to show your opponent what your pressure feels like.

In the words of Rorschach (Watchmen 2009):

"None of you seem to understand.
I'm not locked in here with you.
You're locked in here with me!"

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BJJ / Grappling TIps: The Value of Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 10:08:00 +0000

If your training, and indeed any activity you pursue, is important to you, and I assume it is otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, then you need anticipate obstacles and to plan ahead.

There are times when I know I have a lot on or will be travelling and know that that will interfere with my ability to train. I have on many occasions emailed ahead to a club or two in where I'm going and secured me a session or even a private. Not only will I experience training at a different academy and with different people games and energies, but also I can pride myself in the fact that once again I achieved a win-win and I couldn't have done it without planning ahead.

One such an occasion was when I visited my brother in Nottingham a few weeks back. I knew I'd be staying three days so I contacted Gracie Barra Nottingham and arranged a drop in on the night I arrived in Nottingham but also a private lesson with Professor Victor Estima which I would do an hour or so before catching my train back to London. I made several new jiujitsu friends (and even ran into some old ones!) and had an incredibly rewarding private lesson with one of the best in the world.

So take a good look at the three-four weeks ahead and try to anticipate anything that might come in the way of a perfectly balanced week (a wedding invite, an exam, in-laws in town, a bank holiday which you have family plans for…etc.) and brainstorm around how to side-step it. A great tip that has served me many times in the past is “when in doubt, inject training session before”. What I mean by this is do an extra session before the event that’s disrupting your schedule rather than expect to have time to squeeze it after. That way you guard yourself against Murphy’s Law!

And remember; be ruthlessly uncompromising in your desire to have-it-all!

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BJJ / Grappling Discussion: Is Your Jiu Jitsu Pure?

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 10:27:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: Training When Ill...

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 15 May 2019 10:44:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

1. Why do I want to exercise despite being ill? Is it because of fear? is it because you miss training? is it because you would get bored if you didn't? or is it simply because you want the activity to aid in your recovery form the illness?
Confront these questions and whatever you decide on doing, you will be that much wiser. Further, adjust the type and intensity of the session to your answers.

2. What are the consequences of training v not training?Will my condition get better or worse? Do I need the session more than I need the rest? I advise you to develop a close relation with your physician and consult them before undertaking any exercise. Always, always double check with your doctor! I am not a doctor.

3. What are the consequences on others?
Is what you are suffering from contagious (flu, cold, infection...etc.)? Will it impact your performance so much that your training partners may suffer (overcautious due to a bad knee/back/neck...etc.)?

Grappling and all other alive martial arts mean that you are often dependent on your training partners. They are very valuable to you. In some respects, good training partners more valuable than the brand of gi you are wearing or even the instructor heading the class! Treat them with the respect they deserve.

So to sum up...take a long hard look at the questions above and decide, can you afford to exercise but also, can you afford to rest!
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(*) a complete cessation shorter than 12 weeks. --------------------------------------------------

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BJJ / Grappling tips: Stop Wasting Time in Jiujitsu!

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 17:24:00 +0000

Do you want to stop wasting time while training jiujitsu? Spring Clean your life!

An old saying goes: You don’t measure water with a sieve! In other words, in order to know how much time you will need to get something done, you have to manage where your time is disappearing.

We grow attached to clutter. It’s a simple as that. Garfield the cat says in one his cartoons: Food a funny thing, because the moment you are full it turns from temptation to garbage. The same goes for objects. The moment we attach a value to them, we practically hand them an unquestioned invite to clutter our lives (and steal our valuable time).

An excellent example is the £2.99 I paid for one of the best Judo books ever published: The Secrets of Judo: Text for Instructors and Students: Test for Instructors and Students. It's where I learnt all my top game pressure principles. I got it at the local used-book store. Whoever owned prior to me had not attached any further value to it and was happy to part with it (or perhaps they loved it but it was time for it to make its journey to me!)

Here is something that I recommend you do at least once and preferable 2ce a year. I call it the Spiritual Spring Clean:

Take a hard look at everything you own (and I mean everything!)
Within 2 seconds place it in one of the following three piles:

Keep for a specific (near-future: upcoming 6-months) purpose
Give to someone specific
Throw away in the bin

(PS. These piles are listed in increasing order of size!)

Uncluttering your life will have a trickle down effect on your mental state and help you re-focus your training.

Remember the Pareto rule? 20% of what you own will provide 80% you need (and 80% of your issues are born out of 20% of your activities!)

While you chew on that, watch professor Ryan Young's analysis of what's fundamental in jiujitsu and what's advanced. This may help you "spring clean" your arsenal of jiujitsu techniques.

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BJJ / Grappling Tips: Writing a training diary

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 18:01:00 +0000

I used to love my training journal. It was a helpful component of my training bag. Let me explain.

I said Helpful: I love BJJ grappling and, coming from a managerial background, I thrived on analysing old data and using that knowledge to plan future action plans ...etc. I actually still have my old journals from when I first started BJJ and look in them every now and again. You can't analyse what you haven't captured and that was my way of capturing.

I also said It was: I stopped using the journal as I felt that they served their purpose for me. I no longer go to training to get "better". I go because I love it. Of course, even those who are not chasing improvement can still use the training journal. I have just switched to other mediums like this blog and my social media accounts.

For those of you who are curious about the journal but don't know where to start, here is my quick guide:

Technical diary: This is where you make notes on everything you did in the sessions. Techniques, drills, the coach’s small notes, your own small notes, training partners small notes, diagrams, durations…etc. This, in my opinion, is very boring. I don’t like this and I feel it leaves you victim to the unfair and uneven sieve that is your memory. Having said that, many great athletes and coaches are huge advocates of this and, in time, it provides great raw material for that future BJJ book that will catapult you to stardom!

Mental diary: This is where you answer the following 4 questions after every session:

1. What thoughts were running thru my mind today immediately before and immediately after the session? (I’ve got lots to do at work, I don’t want to stay up late tonight, What am I going to have for dinner?)
2. What Positive Feelings did I experience during the session? (strong, agile, good hip movement, sweet armbar escape)
3. What Negative Feelings did I experience during the session? (muscling out of subs, couldn’t hold down side control, why did I get caught in that armbar?!)
4. What did I do to resolve the Negative Feelings? (talked to my training partner about how to avoid needing to muscle out, spent 4-5 minutes after session with partner working the side control, kept my elbows close to me the rest of the round)

That’s the skeleton. You can of course flesh it out with technical parts or anything else. If you come across something in step 3 that you didn’t do anything about in step 4, make sure you come up with a plan and follow it up in the next session/at home…etc.

This was my favoured format. Not only was it easier to keep up to date, it had a great built-in mechanism where step 4 empowered you to take charge of step 3.

Like I said, I no longer use this tool, but fully appreciate how it can be used, e.g., in the last 2 months or so before a competition.

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If you are interested in the mental aspect of sports performance, Kay Porter’s book The Mental Athlete: Inner Training for Peak Performance in All Sports is worth gold and you can get it for under a fiver!

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Judo & BJJ in central London

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 17:53:00 +0000

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

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

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

Someone didn't get the gi-colour memo!

Simon is part of a duo of black belts who teach over at Tokei Martial Arts. Simon takes the Saturday classes while a gentleman by the name of Mr Vernon O'Neil teaches on Thursday evening.

The atmosphere at Tokei is what attracted me to it in the first place and I am happy to report that that friendly and welcoming atmosphere is still evident in Simon's jiujitsu classes on Saturdays.

Smell my Shaka!

In fact, you will often see most of the judoka who show up for the 10.30-12.00 judo class stay for the 12.00-13.00 jiujitsu class, after a prompt change of belts.

I cannot recommend this place enough. Great facilities and location, great instruction and great people. Contact them now to check what's on offer!

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Is BJJ the same as MMA? What about if you train Thai boxing on the side?

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 17:40:00 +0000

Do you still practice karate? Which out of Jiujitsu, judo and karate is your favourite martial art? What’s the best martial art out there? What’s next for you?

These are the questions I get the most often when people hear that I’ve earned black belts in three different martial arts (karate, judo and Jiujitsu) and I’ve noticed, over the years, that my answers have evolved.

Courtesy of Mr Iain Abernathy: leader within the field of Practical Karate

Every art I’ve trained to any length* has had an element of exchange, aka partner drills / kumite / randori / rolling / sparring. Granted, some arts focused on that more than others but even the year or so I trained in tai chi chuan, an art made famous by its solo practice, had something called “pushing hands” which necessitated having a partner / opponent.

Outside the above mentioned (1) exchange of techniques with a partner, martial arts also have exercises that (2) strengthen the body and / or improve your control over it (callisthenics, lifting weights, stretching, coordination drills...etc), (3) solo forms of drilling the techniques (shadow boxing / wrestling, forms aka kata in Japanese arts) and (4) equipment practice (striking / wrestling bags, makiwara, elastic bands, dummies ...etc) and, again, the extent to which these avenues of exercise are emphasised varied greatly from style to style but also from instructor to instructor. I know for instance that some styles of karate lay a huge emphasis on making the body strong using traditional implements (weighted jars, iron rings, isometric contractions...) while more modern styles emphasise explosive delivery of techniques fostered through the use of elastic rubber bands and plyometrics. Different courses for different horses.

My two major challenges were always that:

1. I like all forms of exercise
2. There are only 24 hours a day and I’m only a part time martial artist.

It was never of question of which form of martial art or which morality of exercise I liked. It had to choose simply because I had to choose. My time and energy are finite so I had to choose based on something other than enjoyment. I had to become purpose-driven. In fact, you could say I became purpose-obsessed!

Think about it. Even if I only limit myself to karate training, there are hundreds of techniques, innumerable combinations and a wide array of equipment to train them on (striking posts, dummies, different types of bags, small focus mits, large power pads...etc.) not to mention the various styles of testing their effectiveness (point style, semi contact, full contact without gloves, full contact with gloves, MMA...etc). If we add judo and Jiujitsu to that, then I’d need an additional 7 days per week just to scratch the surface! So instead, I decided to focus all my time and energy on training the commonalities between the arts. Instead of delving into the minutiae of what makes a karate punch a karate punch and all the different styles of the tai otoshi throw and how to adjust it against a left-sided attacker in competition, I focused on how both the throw and the reverse punch utilise exactly the same foot placement, spine alignment and explosive weight transfer through hip rotation and I practice that movement sequence. I wanted to become an expert on the overlapping regions between the arts I love and, to my delight, the overlap is greater than the differences.

Look, for instance at this segment from a famous karate kata - Niseishi (aka Nijushiho)

this is clearly a face-level distraction followed by a mid-low level grapple / takedown.

This same can be seen in many other karate kata but it also is a cornerstone of how teh double leg takedown is taught within Gracie Jiujitsu, as demonstrated here by my teacher professor Eddie Kone:

My narrow focus does, however, mean I’ve had to be very selective with what I allow into my training matrix. If a technique, combination, piece of equipment of testing ground is too specialised then it gets cut out immediately. Intricate lapel work in Jiujitsu? Full contact kumite that doesn’t allow head punches (and therefore gives you false confidence in “the pocket”)? Throws that work best thanks to the opponent not being allowed to grab your legs in judo? All these and many like them do not feature in my training and probably never will.

I totally respect the single-minded dedication I see in karate experts or judo experts or Jiujitsu experts. The ones who have learned how to perform the fastest kick or the most powerful throw or the slickest guard pass or sweep. My hat goes off to them. But I also know the monumental effort that went into reaching that stage and, for me, the reward doesn’t match that effort. I don’t want to have the best kick but be at a loss when it comes to performing a simple hip throw. Nor do I want to be a high level grappler of any style yet cannot throw a punch or understand the distancing required to be effective with strikes. I am a martial artist and, like any artist, I want to be comfortable with all the tools at my disposal.

So, long story long, everything I train falls under everything I train. My footwork, engagement, gripping, striking, throwing disengagement and ground work are all the same for judo, jiujitsu and karate. I’m a martial artist*

*we didn’t do any partner exercises when I trained iaido (the art of drawing the katana), but then again I only did that for 6 months when I was still at university so who knows?!

*I am not a mixed martial artist either because you can’t mix it if it’s all the same.

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

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

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 14:07:00 +0000

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

I hadn’t even packed a gi! I contacted the organiser, Ms Anita De Klerk. As I was strictly on holiday, I explained the only time I’d be free was Thursday morning around 10 and if they were happy to pick me up, I’d be honoured to take the class and lucky for me, she obliged!

The facilities were, as you can see, fantastic and the passion the students have is contagious. The Namibia Kickboxing Federation is well established and the bug of Jiujitsu had well and truly bitten many practitioners. I had the pleasure of meeting 3 of them: Leslie, Ankia and Anita’s son: Delano, with Leslie being the blue belt and the highest rank. They receive instruction from one of the best sources of Jiujitsu in the world: Team Sylvio Behring.

I taught a class on tightening the aide control and transferring your weight to the opponent before moving on to the mount. After, I asked what attacks or defences they wanted me to help them sharpen and we spent some time of the triangle choke, the RNC and escaping the back. It was a great session and the students were so eager to learn and take onboard as much as possible. Jiujitsu in Namibia is in good hands.

Funny story to finish on: as Anita was driving me back to my in-laws house, she noticed a plumber’s car parked outside. I explained we had them in to fix something in the kitchen and she said: “yeah that’s Virgil. He trains with us. I guess this is why he couldn’t make the session this morning!” then she came in and introduced us to each other. Small world, constantly getting smaller.

And now, the Part Time Grappler has a spiritual grappling home in Namibia!

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Learning Jiujitsu is a challenging endeavour

noreply@blogger.com (Liam H Wandi) — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:26:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

Govern the distance
Elicit a reaction.
A bit of both.

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

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

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

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

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