Roger & Me: Thoughts on Goal-Getting

Shortly after receiving my black belt, I remember lamenting to a veteran black belt one day that I "didn't feel much like a black belt." His response was one that I didn't take well at the time, and one that's taken me years to fully appreciate. 

What I mistook as a criticism of my abilities on the mat was actually the key to any continued success I would have from black belt onward. I was so focused on what I wasn't able to do effectively and consistently against those of comparable skill that I had completely taken for granted - and, as a result, under-developed - those areas where I excelled.

If I achieve anything in the second half of my jiu-jitsu adventures, then let it be a response to this.

T minus seven ...

T Minus Ten

 ... and counting ...

George Patton, Helio Gracie, and the Depletion Principle

One of my favorite lines from the movie Patton is this:

Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

I remembered this bit after reading a recent email from Ryron Gracie, who was pitching his Gracie University 32 Principles program. I haven't bought the program. But I thought this excerpt from Ryron was worth noting - especially as I get closer to Mat Return (TM) next month.

When I was growing up, I remember my grandfather telling me, “I’d rather you make a mistake and get submitted, than roll so hard that you can’t continue.”

What I took from this was that I was to never defeat myself.

No matter how badly I want to submit someone, sometimes I must slow down because if I continue at the pace I am at, I run the greatest risk of all: complete exhaustion.

The reason complete exhaustion is worse than being submitted is because submission is generally due to a simple technical error. However, when you reach complete exhaustion, it is a psychological/mindset error.

We should never reach the level of vulnerability that exists when you are so tired that you are begging your training partner to get off you, unable to continue rolling, or the worst, when you can’t stand up because you’re so exhausted.

It’s okay to train hard, but be very careful not to defeat yourself.

The desire to avoid inferior positions and the desire to submit your training partner may lead you to defeat. Learn how to pace yourself because the ability to outlast your opponent is a great technique in itself.

If you ever had the chance to ask the Grandmaster how he defeated all those giants, he would have said, “I never defeated my opponents, they defeated themselves.”

Gracie Barra Washington Represents at Fight2Win 203

Easily some of the most fun I've had watching jiu-jitsu competition has been at Fight2Win events. I'd grab a burger and fries, beer and a shot (or two) downtown, and then walk over to the venue with enough buzz in my membrane and grub in my belly to last me all evening.

Missed this latest event. But am looking forward to catching every minute of the action courtesy of the good folks at FloGrappling.

FloGrappling Recaps the IBJJF World Championships

From the Meregali victory in the absolute to the immortal Leandro Lo to the incomparable performances of Mica Galvao and Tainan Dalpra, this year's IBJJF World Championships were among the most exciting in years. Victor Hugo's spectacular comeback win! The U.K.'s first female IBJJF world champion Ffion Davis! The dominance of Gabi Pessanha!

Be sure to catch up with FloGrappling for a great IBFFJ World championship review - as well as updates on the new faces coming to ADCC 2022 later this year.

Luke Thomas Talks with Jiu-Jitsu Legend Demian Maia

There are a lot of jiu-jitsu guys that I love. But there are few whose game and intelligence I admire more than Demian Maia. Very much enjoyed this conversation between Demian and one of my favorite MMA analysts Luke Thomas.

FloGrappling Previews the IBJJF World Championships

Aside from providing the best video coverage of grappling, FloGrappling's previews of major events are second to none. 

One of the best experiences in jiu-jitsu I've had off the mat was listening to their preview of the ADCC in 2019. I was stuck in a hotel room in New York on business and spent almost every free moment listening to the FloGrappling team talk up one of the biggest events on the calendar. I can't remember ever being so excited to watch a grappling event (aside from maybe EBI 1 which debuted the same weekend I just happened to be in L.A.).

With any luck, the Grappling Bulletin's breakdown of the IBJJF World Championships - which start in over than two weeks - will do the same.

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.

People Get Ready: Summer Competition Edition

 If you're competing at the Revolution in June, then your Eight Weeks Out begins today.

Guard Passing with B.J. Penn

One of the greatest misconceptions about BJ Penn's jiu-jitsu is that, due to his exceptional lower body flexibility and control, Penn's bottom game is more advanced than his top game. 

If anything, Penn's top control - guard passing and finishes from dominant positions - better characterize his jiu-jitsu than submissions from the guard. 

Here's a sample of the former. A great insight into guard passing fundamentals.

Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Playlist: Black Belt Adult Feather

I'm biased in favor of the division. But I think it's fair to say that black belt adult featherweight has plenty of talented jiu-jitsu competitors for fans of heavier weight combatants, as well.

Here I'm sampling some of the more interesting contests. I'm especially highlighting some of the top competitors that DIDN'T make the podium, let alone the finals. This is all the more unfortunate insofar as the division suffered one of the event's infamous first place close-outs with Alexssandro Pinto Sodre of Nova Uniao and Raimundo Diego Pinto Sodre of Nova Uniao taking first and second respectively without contest.

Richard Emiliano Nogueira and teammate Thiago Augusto Araujo Macedo closed out third place

*

Kennedy Leonardo Maciel v Richard Emiliano Nogueira

Richard Emiliano Nogueira v. Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor

Isaac Doederlein v. Alexsssandro Pinto Sodre

Raimundo Diego Pinto Sodre v. Richard Emiliano Nogueira

Thiago Augusto Araujo Macedo v. Alexssandro Pinto Sodre

Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Playlist: Middleweight Champion Tainan Dalpra

 

Photo Credit: RVCA

Tainan Dalpra (Art of Jiu-Jitsu) was one of the biggest sensations at the Pan American championships this year. He won the World championship last year, and did not disappoint with his performance this year at the Pan.

Here's a look at his gold medal winning campaign this spring as he won the Middleweight division at the IBJJF Pan. (FloGrappling subscription required).

Finals

TAINAN DALPRA VS JEFERSON GUARESI

Semifinals

TAINAN DALPRA COSTA vs RONALDO PEREIRA DE SOUZA JÚNIOR

Quaterfinals

TAINAN DALPRA COSTA vs EDUARDO AVELAR DE CARVALHO

Elimination

ROBERTO FRANCISCO JIMENEZ vs TAINAN DALPRA COSTA

Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Playlist: Black Belt Feather Master 5

The IBJJF Pan American championships are in the books. To make watching and tape study a little (actually, a lot) easier. I'm putting together a playlist of certain competitors and certain divisions. Credit to FloGrappling for making the videos available, and you'll need a FloGrappling subscription to watch them. 

First up is "my" division: Black Belt Featherweight | Master 5. I always want to see what competitors my size and rank are up to first. 

Black Belt Feather | Master 5

Finals

ALESSANDRO CIRONE NAGAISHI vs RENATO SAMPAIO TAVARES FILHO

Semifinals

ALESSANDRO CIRONE NAGAISHI vs MICHAEL CHUNGSIK YUN

RENATO SAMPAIO TAVARES FILHO vs ANDREI OSTI ANDREZZO

Quarterfinals

ROBERT SCOTT SCHWARTZ vs ALESSANDRO CIRONE NAGAISHI

RICARDO GUEDES DE OLIVEIRA vs MICHAEL CHUNGSIK YUN

SAMUEL JOSEPH vs ANDREI OSTI ANDREZZO

Happy New Year! "You Say You Want a Revolution" Edition

Love to see the plan?

My Top Three Stories from the 2021 IBJJF Mundial

 

Photo courtesy of Flograppling / IBJJF

Apologies for being more than a little late to the IBJJF World Championship conversation ... I've finally gotten around to checking out some of the many matches I missed. And while there are several more to go, there are a handful of contests that I managed to watch that were especially remarkable.

First, the controversy of the Meregali DQ is probably the biggest story to come out of the event. No sense in crying over spilled milk; and I don't think anyone should be surprised that the IBJJF would decide to be strict about its sportsmanship rules even at the cost of potentially diminishing the legacy of its championship series. That said, the decision to involve representatives of other competitors to help decide who should replace Meregali was disappointing - and only darkens the cloud that hangs over the event. Coupled with the fact that Meregali's challenger, Felipe Pena, announced that he was retiring from gi competition and it's hard not to be all the more bummed out that we missed an opportunity to see what would have likely been an epic contest between top competitors.

Here's Flograppling's take on the DQ and here's Pena discussing the DQ and his own decision to step away from gi competition.

That said, there was much to enjoy about this year's championships - not the least of which was the fact that more new champions were crowned this year than at any Mundial in recent memory. This leads me to the second big story, at least for me, coming out of the event: Fabricio Andrey's victory over 2018 Mundial featherweight champion Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor by submission (triangle). I'm partial to the division as a sub-150 pound person myself, even though the style of jiu-jitsu common to the lighter weights is typically less to my liking. And that's probably why the contest - and its conclusion in particular - was so rewarding. Add to this the fact that the contest between Andrey and Hill-Taylor was a rematch from their meet up at the Pans earlier this year (which Andrey won by advantage), and you easily have a strong contender for "Best Gold Medal Match" of the event.

My third favorite story of the 2021 Mundial is the run by Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) Middleweight Tainan Dalpra. En route to taking home the gold in his division, Dalpra took out Ronaldo Jr. and Isaac Bahiense - two of the division's toughest - as well as besting both Tommy Langaker and Jeferson Guaresi by submission (choke and toehold, respectively). No wonder Dalpra has earned the #1 P4P spot in the gi rankings.

Again, I've got more matches to watch, and there's a chance that I'll see something that may challenge these three tales from Anaheim in terms of my opinion as the most consequential. But, for now, there are few things I'm looking forward to more than seeing what comes next from Andrey and Dalpra - as well as Meregali and Pena - in 2022.

Footsweep to Double Leg

 

Mike DeWitt of 10th Planet Springfield hits this takedown in a couple of these 10th Planet Qualifier competitions that I've watched. Nevertheless seeing it yesterday while doing cardio film study reminded me of how much I like the set-up. The footsweep attack incentivizes the opponent to lift his feet and remain as vertical as possible, opening up both the space and the timing for the double leg.

DeWitt has a nice double leg without it. But with the setup, it looks like an especially potent way to get the fight to the floor.

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.

People Get Ready

The deeper we get into October, the more likely the next big regional competition (I'm looking at you, Revolution) will be in 2022 rather than the fall of 2021.

In a normal year, February would be the earliest for an event to take place. The latest anti-COVID mandate, as it applies to gyms, runs through late March. Best case scenario is a successful spring event that paves the way for a summer event and, ideally, getting the whole show back on track.

So, with six months to go ...

Submission Hero of the Week: Ben Dyson

He didn't win the tournament. But with his armbar victory over a guy who repeatedly went to the "limit his ability to breathe" technique of putting his hands over his opponent's mouth from inside the closed guard, he has won my heart.

WNO Championships Deliver

The most fascinating thing about the incredible show that was the WNO Championships this past weekend was the way that the victorious competitors were able to leverage specialization instead of being limited by it. 

On one hand, you had the predictable-but-unstoppable head and arm (okay, d'arce) chokes of the Ruotolo brothers and the wisdom and strategic intelligence of a non leg locker like Tim Spriggs to make the still-common vulnerability of most no-gi grapplers a major part of his, 3-day-a-week training in preparation for the event. 

On the other hand, we have the inability of veteran leg lockers like Tex Johnson and Elizabeth Clay to lure their opponents into their game - to say nothing of Michael Musumeci's inability to defend himself effectively once his notoriously tough-to-pass guard was, in fact, passed.

So many great performances! And many takeaways, as always. If you haven't watched the event, then browse on over to FloGrappling and treat yourself to some very entertaining jiu-jitsu.

Honorable mention to both Amanda Leve and Kendall Reusing who were also especially impressive.

Old School Jiu-Jitsu Classic Moments

 

"Wear Your Insides / On The Outside / Show Your Enemy ...

What You Look Like"

Performance Uber Alles

 

Luke Thomas On the Physical Toll of Recreational Combat

I'm a huge fan of Luke Thomas' work as an analyst and commentator on mixed martial arts. I thought his reflection on whether or not he planned to return to jiu-jitsu training post-COVID was pretty heartfelt, honest, and resonant - one of the key reasons I've been a fan of his for years. Although I end up making a different decision, I think his perspective is worth considering if your time in and around the mat starts to feel less worthwhile. 

The conversation starts at 27:20 minutes and runs for about 11-12 minutes. Some valuable truth-telling.

MMA Submission Hero of the Week: Carlston Harris

 

Keenan Cornelius on Competition Preparation

 

This latest from KC is very good. He does a great job of breaking down his concepts and presenting them in a pretty compelling fashion. For all my gripes about his lapel game and its influence on gi jiu-jitsu, Legion Era Keenan is a real boon to BJJ.

Ryan on Rogan

 

A lot of good takeaways from an interview I've been looking forward to for awhile now. Not a ton of surprises for any one who's been following Ryan's career, but some interesting insights into the teaching approach of the Danaher Death Squad and, more importantly, what he thinks distinguishes the DDS approach to jiu-jitsu from everyone else's.

Rafael Lovato Jr. On the Competitive Mindset and Knowing Your "Why"

 

"What's your goal, your purpose, your 'why'? Of course, we all love jiu-jitsu. We love to learn. The vibe, to train, to get better. But when you sign up for a competition, that's a step beyond. That's a step beyond just being a normal practitioner. So, why are you competing? Why are you challenging yourself? You have to know that. You have to know what your inspiration is. Because when things get tough, and there's a hard battle in front of you and you want to break, if you don't know your 'why', you're going to be at a disadvantage."

Watch the rest.