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.

Map | Territory

“Just as a man walking in a forest without a compass will inevitably end up walking in a useless circle, so too, a years worth of training sessions without direction will end up with you at the same point you started.”

-John Danaher, The Danaher Diaries

Otavio in Action: Pan 2020

Spent my cardio session today watching a couple of competition videos of Gracie Barra competitor Otavio Sousa. He's been one of my favorite guys to watch for awhile. I've been fortunate to attend one of his seminars at Gracie Barra Seattle years ago, and studying his sitting guard game (courtesy of BJJ Scout's excellent video on that position) led the way to one of the last Great Leaps Forward in my jiu-jitsu career.

He favors a closed guard attack more these days. But you can still see him working from the sitting guard a little from time to time. I've liked to watch his game because although he's a stockier guy than I am, we're both on the short side relative to our weight (especially in jiu-jitsu). He's also heavier - competing at medium heavyweight of late - which makes him less acrobatic, less reliant on extreme flexibility, etc.