Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Daily* Oss: Kron Gracie Returns to MMA


Competing at the Rizin Fighting Federation event, Kron's triangle choke victory gives him a 2-0 record as a mixed martial artist.

Also on the card, Gabi Garcia made her MMA debut, finishing Lei'd Tapa by TKO in round one.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

2016 PNW Grappling Season Begins Jan 30 with Ground Warrior Submission Challenge

The top notch talent of the Pacific Northwest is still the best kept secret in American grappling. If you're interested in doing your part to help put PNW grappling and jiu-jitsu on the map, there's no better way to support the art than by supporting PNW grappling events.

Starting off the PNW grappling calendar is the Ground Warrior Submission Challenge in Salem, Oregon on January 30. Sponsored by the Oregon National Guard, the Ground Warrior Submission Challenge is a submission-only, round-robin event. Entry fees are $55 for gi OR no gi, and $85 for both until January 1st.

Prices increase by $10 on Monday, and another $10 after January 18th, so if you're planning on competing, act soon to take advantage of early bird savings.

The Ground Warrior Submission Challenge is in its third year. Gracie Barra Washington/Federal Way's Phil Raby took home gold in the men's brown belt division last year. Superheavyweight gold medalist Shaun Kiatvongcharoen from Impact Jiu-Jitsu won the men's purple absolute division. Among top women competitors, Hannah Sharp of Renzo Gracie Portland won the purple lightweight division.

Check out the full results from seasons one (2013) and two (2014) - including no-gi and children's divisions.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Getting Better and Throwing Down: A Striking Coach Talks Training


Luke Thomas: If there were no concerns about brain injury or beating the body down, would you still taper back on some of the sparring?

Brandon Gibson: Yeah, a lot of these guys I see spar from almost a conditioning element or moral-psychological development. I don't know how many go in and spar with purpose or intent to work on X, Y and Z and implement A, B and C. I think they just get in with guys who are the sparring partners that want to impose their will and they try to impose their's right back and they leave too many miles in the gym.

I'm an advocate that if you're going to spar, you should spar with intention on getting better. You should go in there with a game plan that will be applicable to your upcoming fight, not just go in there for the sake of throwing down.

Check out the rest of the interview with striking coach Brandon Gibson here.

Monday, December 28, 2015

The Daily* Oss: Demian Maia is Sherdog's Comeback MMA Fighter of the Year


Maia reversed the narrative set in motion by Father Time. The 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist’s celebrated jiu-jitsu game was on full display over the past 12 months, as he continued to build on an often-overlooked resume. Outside of his June 2011 defeat to Mark Munoz, Maia has lost only to fighters who have either fought for or won UFC championships during their careers. His latest run of success represents his strongest stretch since he entered the UFC and became the only fighter in history to tap out five consecutive opponents.

On the Minute Monday


10 single-arm db snatch / 5 minutes

5 thrusters / 5 upright rows / 5 minutes

matwork  /  20 reps

Thursday, December 24, 2015

The Daily* Oss: Post EBI 5 Interview with Gary Tonon


If you watch the EBI (the Eddie Bravo Invitational) series, then Garry Tonon needs no introduction. 

And if you don't watch EBI, I strongly encourage you to start.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The Daily Oss: "All the New Thinking is About Movement ..."

in this, it resembles all the old thinking* ..."








* With apologies to Robert Hass


Saturday, December 19, 2015

Circuit Saturday




Berardi complexes / 3 rounds

"Totin' barges 'n' liftin' bales" / 2 hrs


Friday, December 18, 2015

The Daily* Oss: ATH on the Jiu-Jitsu of Demian Maia


The only thing better than this breakdown of the Maia v. Nelson matchup from UFC 194 last weekend is the fact that there is more to come. This first installment from ATH focuses on the initial confrontation between the two submission artists, Maia's trip strategy to get the fight to the mat, Nelson's backstep counter, and Maia's response to the counter.

Great stuff. Looking forward to more!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Acid Thursday


LSD (long slow distance) cardio / 30+ minutes

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Acid Tuesday



LSD (long slow distance) cardio / 30+ minutes

Monday, December 14, 2015

The Daily* Oss: Luke Thomas on Luke Rockhold's Mount Game

Today's Oss is the breakdown and analysis of Luke Rockhold's mount game by MMA Fighting Senior Editor, Luke Thomas (@SBLukeThomas).


I think it is crucial for anyone who practices jiu-jitsu to pay attention to how jiu-jitsu is applied in mixed martial arts. If Mars came down from his heaven and forced me to choose between getting my jiu-jitsu fix from watching sport jiu-jitsu or from watching MMA, I'm not entirely sure which option I'd pick.

What's great about this analysis (and there's a lot to like) is that these details about Rockhold's mount game are applicable to anyone who trains on the mat: from sports jiu-jitsu inversion artists to MMA grapplers whose guard game is to just stand up.

There's also very detailed analysis of Ryan Hall (!) taking the back of Artem Lobov en route to winning The Ultimate Fighter Finale.

The whole piece is worth checking out (seriously). Otherwise the Ryan Hall analysis begins around 5 minutes in or so, and the Rockhold analysis starts around the 28th minute. 

I said this years ago and it's more true today: if an art can be judged at least in part by the quality of its critics, then martial arts are in very good shape, indeed.

* The Daily Oss will be as "daily" as there is Oss and energy enough to report it.

On the Minute Monday



10 thrusters / 10 db upright rows / 5 minutes

10 single-arm db snatch / 5 minutes

3 rounds matwork


Thursday, December 03, 2015

Joe Rogan Interviews UFC Flyweight Champion, Demetrious Johnson


I cannot recommend highly enough this extended, three-hour conversation between Joe Rogan, color commentator for the UFC, and Demetrious Johnson, the promotion's flyweight champ and pound-for-pound top 10 fighter. If you ask Rogan, "DJ" is as good as it gets in mixed martial arts, and I'm inclined to agree.  And the fact that Demetrious trains in and represents the Pacific Northwest is just a big fat delicious cherry on top.

Rogan has his detractors. But if you are a fan of the art of combat, his conversation with Demetrious Johnson is not to be missed.