Marc Laimon with Jordan Breen

I forgot to post this link to an interview with "The Mastermind" Jordan Breen over at Sherdog.com and Cobra Kai founder, Marc Laimon.

Laimon on Sherdog Radio.

Love him or hate him, Laimon cares passionately about jiu jitsu. This interview is a real treat.

Maia: Jiu Jitsu Warrior

Link to Video Interview here

Nick Fury

More on Guard Passing

One of the theories I've always had about passing the guard is that one way to be consistently successful as a guard passer is to always pass the guard you want - not the guard the guy on the bottom wants.

An example of this, I think, is GSP's habit of passing to his right. This forces guys to play guard off their left hip, which tends to be most grappler's worst side. It's not 100%. But I suspect it is an edge.

We hear about this in basketball and soccer all the time - the idea of "force him left" - make him rely on his weaker side.

I think part of what works in the BJ Penn passes I posted earlier comes from BJ forcing guys to play butterfly guard - or variations off it - and then exploiting the fact that a good butterfly guard pass will beat most people's butterfly guard most of the time simply because very, very few grapplers have butterfly guards that are anywhere near as advanced as the rest of their guard game.

That's not to take anything away from BJ's guard passing. But I wonder if BJ and I are on the same page on this. If you read his books, then you realize that BJ Penn has an exceptionally practical jiu jitsu (witness his readiness to stand up from guard rather than insisting on fighting from the bottom). And the idea of forcing your opponent (or goading or tempting or tricking) into fighting from a position that is a weaker one for him/her and a stronger one for you is practicality personified.

BJ Penn and the "Near Side Underhook Pass"

Pan feed from Budo Videos broke down sometime this morning after I logged off for a little while. So here's some guard passing from BJ Penn. Interestingly, the work he does with the knees and flattening the legs is reminiscent of what Cobrinha was focusing on during his seminar.

I'm not sure if "near side underhook pass" is the best way to describe this pass. What is key to me is the way the knees and legs are used, as well as the switching back and forth from side to side. But a very nice pass I'd like to see about discovering ways of setting up.

Return of the Son of Building a Better Guard Game

Doing some major flow chart work on my guard game got me thinking about this oldie-but-goodie.

Closed Guard Lockflow from Jersey Shore BJJ

Pan 2010 Preview

Apparently, the correct nickname for the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships being held this weekend in Irvine, California is "the Pan", no longer "the Pan-Ams".

Six o' one. Half dozen o' the other, to me. But here's the best "Pan" preview I've been able to come up with.

Pan Jiu-Jitsu Tournament 2010: The Black Belt Competition Environment

Heading in to this coming weekend’s 2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Irvine, California, we wanted to reflect a bit on who will be returning to defend their titles from last year. As the second most important event held in North America under the auspices of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, the Pan (formerly referred to as the “Pan-Ams”) has traditionally been a “must compete” event for jiu-jitsu’s most talented athletes.

Cyborg's Tornado Sweep

Anyone who has rolled with Henrique at our academy has likely found themselves on the Dorothy and Toto end of the Tornado. Here's a few tips on how to get your own cyclone on.

Pam Am To Stream Live April 11th

I plan on getting all errands and the lion's share of the yardwork done on Saturday just to make sure I can spend as much time as I can in Irvine on Sunday.

Pena 2011 or Bust?

It's far from official, but I'm more than half thinking about competing at next year's Pan Ams - hopefully as a Senior 2 Brown belt.

And the more I think about it, for a variety of reasons, I think Griff may be right after all in putting me in the pluma category along with guys similarly-sized guys like Cobrinha, Ryan Hall and Professor Christiano.

Pena is 154 pounds in the gi, 149 without. Without killing myself, I've managed to reach a walk-around weight of about 154-155 in recent months and, truth told, the vast majority of the reasons why I haven't been able to stay down there and instead have drifted back up over 160 are reasons that can be dealt with and reduced - if not eliminated.

To that end, here's some familiar advance on the topic of losing weight.

How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise

It is possible to lose 20 lbs. of bodyfat in 30 days by optimizing any of three factors: exercise, diet, or drug/supplement regimen. I’ve seen the elite implementation of all three in working with professional athletes. In this post, we’ll explore a variation of the “slow carb” diet as used by Dean Karnazes, an ultramarathoner famed for completing 50 marathons on 50 consecutive days in 50 different states. The most impressive part of this, for me, is that he did so, not with the typical anemic marathoner build, but with a well-muscled mesomorph body.

In the last six weeks, I have cut from about 180 lbs. to 165 lbs., while adding about 10 lbs. of muscle, which means I’ve lost about 25 lbs. of fat. This is the only diet besides the rather extreme Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD) that has produced veins across my abdomen, which is the last place I lose fat (damn you, Scandinavian genetics.

Training Day: Wednesday

Fundamentals: 5b: Tue pm, Wed am, Thu pm

1. Counter to rear bear hug w/ arms pinned (step back and hip lift)
2. Side control escape to turtle (going flat then to knees)
3. Side control escape to turtle to double leg takedown

#3 is the one I want to focus on the most. There are a ton of times you'll find yourself in this situation and being able to convert and get the reverse is key.

From the turtle, you want to grab behind the knee on the leg on the opposite side as your head. Bring your knee on that side up and, as you do this, post on the mat with the hand on the other side (the head side) and posture up sharply. This will help secure your grip on the leg and set you up for the takedown.

Once you have upright posture, reach behind the knee on the headside and post out with the leg on the headside. The takedown is a kind of circle, as you bring your posted leg around like a big sundial.

A lot of power in this reverse. But the key is to get the mechanics down right: Grip. Crunch (knee to grip and posture up). Post. Run.

Did a lot of side control specific and definitely felt my cardio being tested. One of the things I want to do is to break these drills down into key movements that I can then add to my conditioning routine: side control escapes, mount escapes (mount is the focus for next week, BTW), rear mount escapes). For example, today's side control escape to turtle involved a bridge, hipscape to belly, and belly to knees. I need to be able to do repeated 60-90 second rounds of moves like this in order to really get these moves ingrained in muscle memory/circuitry.

A good day on the mat. I'm still having an impossible time working in some of my focus areas, tending to "wing it" more often than not. I'm still very much in the market for some under-165 training partners who are into a little drilling before or after class, and I suspect that's where I'll get a lot of my improvement time in. But all of that is a work in progress - and another goal for 2010.

Last Night I Had a Vision ...

Maia by Armbar



I'm curious if they are going to be showing the event at the club down on the Lake that Bruce - who I haven't seen in a million years - bartends at, Jillian's. It's been awhile since I've bought a PPV and I've never done the UFC at Jillian's ...

Drill, Baby, Drill

Team Lloyd Irvin: Preparation for the Pan Ams

I don't know how long this video will be up. But in many ways it reminds me of exactly how I'd like to be spending more of my time at "home."

Speaking of the Dark Side ...

Shinya Aoki Unrepentant Arm Breaker Coming to Strikeforce for Gilbert Melendez
Great pre-fight coverage compilation from the good people of Bloody Elbow

TAS-mania(n)

TAS: On Style, On Fighting

Form V: Shien / Djem So

While a Soresu user stayed on the defensive, however, and only counterattacked when necessary or when an opening appeared in his opponent's defense, a Djem So practitioner was not nearly so passive. Immediately after defending against an opponent's strike, a Djem So stylist would follow with an attack of their own, bringing the force of the opponent's own blow against them and seeking to dominate the duel.

It probably helps to read Gumby's classic primer on Jiu jitsu and Lightsabre combat from On the Mat.

Unfortunately, while the On the Mat guys are great, their website is terrible from an archiving perspective. Here's a cached version.

Pe de Pano Wins Again

Pe de Pano Wins Fifth Straight

Six-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Marcio Cruz needed little more than a minute to submit David Yost with a rear-naked choke in the Art of Fighting 7 “Payday” main event on Saturday at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. “Pe de Pano” cinched the fight-ending hold 1:22 into the first round.

Jordan Breen, "the mastermind" over at Sherdog.com referred to Marcio Cruz as one of the most accomplished heavyweight grapplers in the world - especially in the gi. That's worth remembering. Pe de Pano doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves from many in the current generation who are infatuated with smaller fighters (and Roger Gracie).

But there is a not-too-crazy argument that Pe de Pano was Roger before Roger was: 6-time Mundial champ, 5-time Brasileiro champ, 8-time Pan Am champ ...

Renzo on Hughes

Some interesting points about the guard here, as well.

Gracie: Guard is the Key Against Hughes

Training Day: Monday

Cual es mas macho? El academia o el fitness club?

Fundamentals
6a: Mon am/pm, Wed pm
1. 1-2 punch, front kick to shot with in-to-out reap takedown
2. Headlock escape on the ground: bridge and post, bridge and roll
3. Armlock from side control (arm on northside of head)

I never really wondered what it would take to make me feel unwelcome in my own academy. Unfortunately, I know exactly what it would take and, having experienced it for the second time in the past several months, I can at least take growing refuge in the notion that I'm better equipped to deal with it than I was before.

Day one of TAS felt both uncomfortable and strangely comfortable at the same time. It will probably just take some getting used to. But after darting in that direction and then recoiling in a fit of guilt again and again over the past two or three years, that direction has increasingly become a welcome destination - and maybe even the key to getting where I want to go.

Class kind of fell apart after the specific training involving headlock escapes and the side control. Things dissolved into an open mat which typically has been disastrous in terms of finding a decent sparring partner quickly and getting my mat time in before I've got to run. TAS is helping out tremendously on that score - at least it did today - and will be my guideline going forward whenever the moment arises.

That said, some halfway decent work in sparring with Troy. I didn't get to work on any real guard passing. But what I was able to do from my back in terms of both defending the pass and maintaining an aerobic pace went pretty well - especially for a Monday.

No weight today because I wasn't in the mood to play the scale game. But I'm feeling pretty good (again, especially for a Monday) and there are no deadlines to make.

Return of the Son of Training in Brazil

I'll admit that I don't ever remember reading a "bad" article about training in Brazil. But this most recent one from Mark Mullen of Gracie Barra Calgary is in many ways especially nice, concise and certainly has a special appeal for those of us in the 40+ crowd whose nightclubbing days are increasingly behind us.

Training BJJ in Brazil

As I lay gasping on the cold pavement of the Trans Canada Highway, the 18 wheeler that had just plowed me over belching diesel exhaust into my face, my life essence slipping into the next plane of existence, my last thoughts were "Shit!! I never made it to Rio de Janeiro" I bolted upright, awake out of that feverish dream, heart pounding. I had daydreamed about going to Rio to train jiu-jitsu for over 10 years, but never found the right circumstances, time or money.

I resolved right then and there in the darkness that I would go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the next year of my life.

Bloody Elbow's Judo Chop: Maia Over Quarry

As the Sherdog forums have become increasingly unreadable (save for the Grappling forum, at least), I've spent more time over at Bloody Elbow. More and more, Sherdog is what I listen to (at least on Tuesday and Thursday), but Bloody Elbow is what I read.

This series, "Judo Chop", is an example why. Here's a review of just one move by Demian Maia in his fight against Nate Quarry. One of the things I love about this is that it comes out of the half guard and is a counter to the whizzer. I've made this takedown in my arsenal for awhile, but it is nice to see how Maia uses the setup to get the high percentage takedown.

Bloody Elbow Judo Chop: Demian Maia Pulls Half Guard on Nate Quarry, Starts a Dogfight

But the cool part of the move was the way Maia pulled half-guard on Nate Quarry, entangled his legs, got up on his feet, fended off Quarry's whizzer and ended up on top. It was like Maia was some sort of human superglue, all he needed was a brief contact to ensnare Quarry in a fatal grappling bout. There are more gifs in the full entry so you can see for yourself.

The Anakin Syndrome

Part of what I've been struggling with over the past few months is trying to find a way to train as an advanced jiu jitsu practitioner.

One of the things that used to really puzzle me when I was a white belt and blue belt is why so many advanced guys, brown and black belts, avoided the regular classes like the plague. Now, of course, I understand quite a bit more why that was the case. But it still begs the question: how can brown and black belt continue to improve at a rate comparable to the growth rate of, say, a purple belt or advanced blue belt?

I've been flailing away to improve the same basic half guard game that I was doing when I was a two-stripe blue. That's no exaggeration. I've become more effective, to be sure. But it still the same pair of sweeps.

And it has seemed impossible to build upon this. I've sketched out all kinds of tactics, and added a conditioning element that should help improve my agility from the half guard. I've bought Jeff Glover's deep half guard DVD. But I'm still stuck.

Right now, there are few more critical priorities than expanding my half guard game. Staying aerobic will always be at the top of the list since that's what's going to allow me to train every day, every session, to be the one turning the lights out at the academy every couple of evenings. But expanding my vocabulary from the half guard is key to becoming better from the bottom, having more options and being able to dictate where the match takes place for any length of time.

So what does that mean? More live training, for one. At the present pace, I should be "brown belt eligible" sometime in July-August of this year (not when I'll get my brown belt, just the earliest possible time). Continuing to take the Fundamentals curriculum is critical to that schedule. Still, I only need to do as much of that as I need to in order to advance. The A session, the B session and a Friday review (A&B) is plenty to get my Gracie Barra card punched three times a week.

I'm thinking about training the full early sessions on Monday and Friday, the early Live Training on Wednesday, the late Live Training on Thursday and the full evening session on Tuesday (which includes the Advanced Program). This is an everyday training schedule with two out of the five days solely 30 minutes of Live Training (Wed/Thu).

Technically speaking, my goal is to focus on the transition from half to hook half and attacking with the hook sweep. This is a sweep I've been trying to add to my game for about a year now. If I can get this into the mix, then I'll move on to the deep half entries. But for now, half to hook half to hook sweep is all I'm interested in from the bottom for the next week or two.

Also, I'm done with the "Move of the Day" cheerleading. This goes a little into what I was writing about before about feeling as if I'm giving more than I'm getting. I spend a LOT of time being pretty pedagogical come training time and, to be frank, there aren't a lot of other advanced belts who do. And I'm starting to think that they are a hell of a lot smarter and more accomplished than I am because of it. If nothing else, my experience at the Cobrinha seminar this weekend was an example - however extreme - of where I'm headed if I don't start to embrace a bit more selfishness when it comes to getting what I need in order to improve.

For awhile, I thought that my role in jiu jitsu was ultimately more bodhisattva like than buddha like. "Teaching others and helping spread the art of jiu jitsu" turned into a fallback goal sometime when my competition record as a purple belt eclipsed the 0-8 mark and I realized that being a sport jiu jitsu champion was unlikely in the extreme.

But the fact of the matter is that I'm not that interested in being the world's most knowledgeable and magnanimous jiu jitsu guy in the room. To be blunt, I'm far too much the misanthrope for that and, thinking about it now, I feel like I really should have known better.

What I really want from jiu jitsu is to become good. Extremely good. Rickson Gracie - Leo Viera - Demian Maia good. And short of going all Anakin Skywalker about it, I'm not interested in anything that doesn't help me get there.

The Jail Break: Getting out of side control

Powder Keg: Triangle Choke from the Dog Fight

My 2010 Pan Am: Updated

At the Cobrinha seminar today, Griff remarked that I was taking a picture with the best guy in my division.

I should be so fortunate. Rubens Charles is a multiple time featherweight division champion - 152 in the gi. The lowest I've ever weighed in was about 151.5 or so - stripped and ripped.

Weekend Update w/ Cobrinha

For an unfortunately long stretch of time last fall, I fell into the notion that I was putting more into jiu jitsu than I was getting out.

I'm not sure how I ended up shaking off that sensation - attrition, most likely. Some of the worst aspect of training late in 2009 disappeared on their own, others - well, I just don't know what happened. I just stopped feeling that way.

That sensation has started to return - punctuated by three-hours of utter exasperation at the Cobrinha seminar today. I don't want to go into it. But it was like a flashback to some of the worst training sessions I had in the fall of 2009.

Grif noted that since the new program was launched at Gracie Barra, my blog posts had become shorter and - I'm inferring a bit here - significantly less interesting. I think I've put a least a little sugar in the bowl as far as March posts go, for example. But his point is very well taken.

With any luck, this is just the early spring lull before a productive summer. But there are some signs in my training that are starting to remind me of the Jiu Jitsu Heart of Darkness I experienced last fall. And I have no interest in repeating any of that again.

We did a pair of takedowns: a guard pull fake to a single leg setup that resembled my Rip Cord takedown a bit. A collar drag takedown. Cobrinha also did a lot of work on passing the spider guard, which is always good stuff. His key points were in (1) squating and standing as you circle your hand to break the spider grip and (2) packing both knees in one direction and using your knee between those legs to pin the hips. Most of the moves were variations on those. My efforts to drill these techniques on Saturday was subpar due to circumstances beyond my control. But hopefully I'll remember them enough to work on them next week.

Many thanks to Griff for the photo. Standing next to Cobrinha, I look old and fat. My wife suggested otherwise, but I'm not having it - even if she is the best training partner I've got in the only thing that really counts.

Training Day: Friday

A review of the material from earlier in the week. You can see the Fundamental lessons for Week 5a here and Week 5b here.

Not a lot to report on the sparring. Rolled with Stephen and got caught in a baseball choke. Then spent some time rolling with JM and showed him that one half-guard flip I've been using when the guy manages to get a lock around my head.

Feeling a little floaty and undetermined lately. Haven't been able to find the space to work on any of my main moves: the deep half entry, the slingshot. I have etched on my whiteboard the admonition to "Stay Aerobic", which may prove to be accomplishment enough.

GSP on Hardy, Fighting, Winning

My goal is to win. Tonight, my goal is to win. I did not want to engage the battle where my opponent is the strongest. I wanted to fight him where he is the weakest.

Even though I probably could have stood up with Hardy - it's mathematic (sic). If I were to stand up with Hardy, even though I think, I believe my standup is superior, it would have been a risk because that's his main asset. If I go to the ground then I know my ground is much better than his. So it was smarter for me to go on the ground and take the fight (to) where he is the weakest.

That's how I fight. I want to have a long career and I want to be champion for a long time and I want to be the greatest. I wanted to take him out and to take him out I had to fight him where he was the weakest ...

Tempo Training Week 2, Session 2

Second day of tempo training this morning. Three sets of 10 instead of three sets of eight and I could really feel the difference of those additional reps. During both my second and third series, the second and third sets were broken. Finished, but broken, and broken pretty badly.

I kept the active rest segments the same. All the adaptations are going to have to come as a result of the increased sets of lunges.

What's interesting is that while my quads were definitely feeling the effect of the weighted tempo lunges, I felt more pressure in my hips than I did last week. Arguably, it was the pressure in my hips that forced me to break the sets midway through the protocol.

It will be interesting to see what happens next week - whether most of the "attention" returns to my quads or stays with my hips. But it's all a part of the building I want to do over the next 6 to 8 weeks en route to becoming the most dominating guard passer I can be.

Vella's Spider Guard Pass

A lot of times when it comes to learning new techniques from jiu jitsu DVDs and videos (the "visible" jiu jitsu, I suppose), there is a tendency to focus on the little guys.

While I tend to think that smaller jiu jitsu folks tend to have a relative advantage when it comes to technical options compared to their (our!) heavier brothers and sisters on the mat, this video is a nice reminder that size is no barrier to effectiveness.I'm more interested in the way Vella passes the spider guard than the choke - though the choke looks perfectly legit. It's just that guys get themselves so tangled up in trying to pass the spider guard without dealing with the grips first. Vella shows a very effective, very efficient way of dealing with both.