Loving Our Laboratories of Grappling

Watching Eddie Bravo's Combat Jiu-Jitsu Team Duel between Christmas and New Year's Day, I was struck anew by the realization that jiu-jitsu is in an unbelievably golden era. 

Most of this growth is coming from no-gi grappling. No-gi grappling offers the best of both worlds for grappling athletes and spectators alike, combining the fast pace of amateur wrestling with the fight-finishing capacity of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

What's also interesting about no-gi grappling is the variety of rule sets. It may be true that rule set diversity is one of many reasons why the grappling we see and train will not become an Olympic sport. But that same diversity of rule sets is providing a "laboratory of grappling" that is helping propel the art forward at an incredible pace.

Watching CBJJ, I'm reminded of things like Eddie Bravo's "the get down rule" that eliminates stalling (and poor ability, to be honest) in the standup. I also enjoy watching the "overtime" of his Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) tournaments. For spectators, it delivers that critical one-two of pace and finishing opportunity. For competitors, this is how they train all the time: defending and escaping from specific situations. 

Forget competitors. This is how all of us train. At least some of the time. And I bet most of us love it.

Combat jiu-jitsu is similar. The vast majority of grapplers do not train combat jiu-jitsu now and have no interest in doing so in the future. I'm in that group. But there is something worth watching when strikes are introduced into grappling competition. Not all strikes. Not strikes all the time. Still, I enjoy the "realness" that strikes-against-a-grounded-opponent bring to jiu-jitsu guard strategy. These are entertaining and enlightening contests. And given the struggles we see with guard strategy in mixed martial arts, combat jiu-jitsu provides a workshop for further innovations from the guard.

There may come a time when a certain ruleset captures the enthusiasm of a certain number of grappling spectators and participants in a way that makes an Olympic sport out of no-gi grappling after all. If it happens in my lifetime, then count me in. Meanwhile, I am loving our little laboratories of grappling: from the IBJJF to ADCC to EBI to WNO to FTW to CBJJ and more. Has innovation in any other combat sport been so entertaining?

Firas Zahabi "This is the thing Jiu-Jitsu players don't do but absolutely should"

Is conditioning the biggest differentiator between the success of jiu-jitsu athletes in MMA and other combat athletes, especially Russian wrestlers? Tristar's Firas Zahabi thinks so.

I recently read an Instagram post from a wrestling organization that encouraged wrestlers to make sure they got in their conditioning work. And if there was a choice between conditioning and strength work, conditioning came first. I've adjusted my off-mat training to emphasize conditioning and de-emphasize strength work. I've also gone back to doing a long, LSD cardio session (40+ minutes) after jiu-jitsu training.

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Charles Oliveira & Aljamain Sterling Have Changed MMA Wrestling | Mornin...

MMA Submission Hero of the Week: Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira

No explanation needed. Looking for a good time watching MMA? Start with Do Bronx's loss to Paul Felder (in 2017!) and check out every fight since.

11 / 12

Celebrated the occasion by watching the finale of the 10th Planet Middleweight combat jiu-jitsu qualifiers. 11/12 is the closest thing combat sport athletes and martial artists have for an international holiday.

MMA Submission Hero of the Week: Carlston Harris

 

Fly Like an Eagle: BJJ Scout on Nurmagomedov

This video has been available for a long time. But I'm only now getting around to studying it. Shame on me.

The Eagle's Final Flight: Gracie Breakdown

 

So Much Maia

Gracie Breakdown: Kron Chokes Kawajiri

#WhiteHatGrapplers: Me and My Jiu-Jitsu in MMA Fantasy

Demian Maia retires after winning the UFC Welterweight Championship and several successful title defenses. Opens his own school and shares all his secrets with a new generation of jiu-jitsu oriented fighters determined to rid MMA of the plague of traumatic brain injury ...

Demian Maia Guard Pass Study, Parts 1-3

Interview with Cindy "Sleeper" Hales Ahead of Her Return to MMA

Check out this awesome interview with Gracie Barra black belt and MMA veteran, Cindy "Sleeper" Hales.

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.

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.

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.

Read the rest at Sherdog.com

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.

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.

Maia!

You'll find few fans who are more passionate about Fabricio Werdum than yours truly. But when it comes to martial artists in MMA who are keeping the jiu-jitsu banner flying high, Demian Maia takes second place to nobody.

Congratulations to Demian on a great victory tonight, and much thanks for being a true inspiration and example for jiu-jitsu-focused martial artists competing in mixed martial arts.

McGregor v. Duffy: Katagatame