Conditioning Day: HICT

box steps / two sets / 10 minutes / 8 minutes 

Training Day: Monday

(instruction)

Live Drilling: Double leg / Armbar from Mount / Choke - Mount Bridge Escape - HipBump Sweep circuit /  Armbar from Guard

Ground: Back Mount Escape (no grips) / Back Mount Escape (with grips)

Live Training: 5 minutes

Scale: 169.8

Should Closing Out a Division Be a Double DQ?

One of the great innovations of the IBJJF Pan 2014 tournament was a double disqualification in the men's master light feather finals that sent rivals for first and second packing for the bronze, and boosted the Pair Formerly Known As Third Place Winners into a contest for gold and silver.

The most appropriate, if not accurate, point about the double DQ suggested that the two players, both in guard (of course) were essentially "daring" the referee to call repeated stalling penalties. The referee more than met the challenge, handing out double stalling penalty after double stalling penalty against the would-be leg wrestlers until eventually calling both "competitors" to their feet to administer the disqualifications.

And while this was not the first double DQ for stalling in a high level competition, the solution, giving the third place finishers the chance to compete for first and second, was novel. And something I'd like to see more of.

The stalling penalty is fundamentally a penalty for refusing to engage. What is a greater refusal to engage than to refuse to even begin the contest when your turn is called? And so much the worse if the contest in question is the most important one of all: the one that decides a champion.

So if two competitors reach the finals and refuse to compete, why not let them eat bronze? They still get their place on the podium, and the hardware for smartphone photos with teammates and fans. But we as fans of sport jiu-jitsu get what every sports fan in every legitimate sport gets - now including Division I college football: a final contest.

Half of the finals in this year's adult male black belt division were division close-outs (I'm generously including the Absolute division, otherwise it would be more than half). Light-feather. Feather. Light. Medium-Heavy. Heavy. All wrapped up without a final match to determine a champion. That is madness.

There are more modest solutions than the one I'm proposing. Teams could be limited to a single entrant per division per school to prevent close-outs. More divisions could be added to give teams better ability to spread their top competitors around (allegedly Atos' Andre Galvao competed at Ultra-Heavy this year for just such a reason).

But radical times call for radical action. And if 5 out of 10 closed out divisions isn't radical, I don't know what is.

While the IBJJF is busy trying to keep black belt riff raff out of the Worlds, the Federation might want to spend a little time figuring out how to ensure a final in at least half of its matches.*

* This does not include the women's divisions which, for a variety of reasons, did not have a single division-close-out. That said, I'm willing to bet that the ladies would give us a final regardless of who was on the other side of the handslap and fistbump.

Tabata: Press and Pull

Thrusters / 20s work 10s rest / 8 cycles

Dead Pulls / 20s work 10s rest / 8 cycles

Training Day: Friday

(instruction)

Live Drilling: Double Leg / Armbar from Mount / Standing Armdrag to back / Choke from Mount - Mount Bridge Reversal - Hip Bump Crossover Sweep

Live Training: 5 minutes

Scale: 166.6

Training Day: Wednesday

(instruction)

Ground: Bridge Mount Escape / Cross Choke from Mount / Armbar from Mount

Scale: 168.4

IBJJF Brackets Are Up

Props to the IBJJF for continuing to improve the technology that delivers this data to the rest of us.

IBJJF Pan 2014 Brackets

Training Day: Monday

Self-Defense/Standing: Double leg takedown drill / Single leg takedown drill

Live Drilling: Mount/Escape Mount to Specific Training

Scale: 170.6

Post-Pan BJJ Competition Opportunities in the PNW

Revolution XXIV - March 29
Pacific Lutheran University Olson Auditorium, Tacoma, WA
Registration deadline: March 24

7th Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu American Cup - April 5 and 6
Independence High School, San Jose, CA
Registration deadline: March 31








Sub League Qualifier 1 - April 12
Liberty High School, Hillsboro, OR
Registration deadline: April 7

Chase Performance, Not Fatigue

As I look to emerge from what feels like a partial jiu-jitsu hibernation, Christian Thibaudeau's take on high-frequency training as it relates to bodybuilding seems like good advice for (relatively) high-frequency training as it relates to any high-intensity activity.

And especially jiu-jitsu. Fatigue is the friend of some sort of training, especially when maintaining technical competence is not the priority. But there is often a misplaced fatigue fetish when it comes to training, a syndrome that leads too often to poor but hastily executed technique.

I don't think that gets anybody anywhere. HICT training, resistance training as a secondary goal, 45min+ LSD training ... all of these are worthwhile activities for fatigue-chasing. But if we agree that more training > less training when it comes to skill improvement, then strategies that "activate rather than fatigue" are going to be the more valuable ones over time.

Tabata: Pull

Dumbbell High Pull Snatch / 20s work 10s rest / 8 cycles

Pan Masters: Me and My Imaginary Friends

I call the competitors of the Master 4 division of the IBJJF Pan 2014 tournament "my imaginary friends" not because they don't exist, but because, in terms of the Pan, I don't.

I always like to get the measure of the division I would compete in if I participated in the Pan, something I've never done and probably will never do. It's easily the only opportunity in the world I'd ever have to compete against guys my own size and age. The division includes a couple of pretty active guys: Adimilson Brites, who won the Euro Master 4 lightweight division this year, and Gardner, who came in third at the same event. Also noteworthy is the comeback of Ricardo Guimaraes, who was battling stomach cancer just two years ago.

And I don't mind saying that last note suggests more than a few things, arguably the least important yet most relevant of which being the fact that competing at the Pan - even just once - is probably something I need to do before I'm done.

Being on the road so much with my new Clark Kent/Peter Parker seems to both make it more AND less likely that I'll make the time in March for the event (in between business trips to London in February and San Jose in April). But maybe more important is finding the kind of training time that would make a Pan appearance worthwhile. I'm still struggling to come up with a new training regime more than a year after moving from the Daily Planet to the Daily Bugle.

In any event, I'll be tuning in to the live Pan coverage starting next week, cheering on Professors Carlos and Griff, Coaches Angela and Ed, and teammates Gordon, Phil, and John - along with a host of others. I may even do a little live tweeting or FBing to help friends find friends on the mat, imaginary or not.

TGIF Training: Escapes

(instruction)

Self-Defense:

Headlock escape: Frame escape

Headlock escape: Hook escape

Ground: 

Mount bridge escape: Front choke

Live Training:

5 minutes

Eddie Bravo on Metamoris, Royler, and the Best Guard in MMA

I'm not convinced that Bravo's rubber guard suite of techniques is the answer to the challenge of winning mixed martial arts contests from the guard.

But I have an infinite amount of respect for him for raising the issue and continuing to innovate his way toward a solution. If there is a Mount Rushmore of American jiu-jitsu artists, Eddie Bravo deserves a spot on it.

And now that he's got a match coming up, returning him to competition for the first time in years, we're fortunate to be hearing a lot more from him than usual.

Eddie Bravo's Metamoris 3 Guide for the Casual BJJ Fan

That's what I've constantly been working on. It's been the biggest hole in jiu-jitsu, which is why we dropped the gi 10 years ago. We focused on that glaring weakness, the bottom game. There's a huge difference in bottom game with the gi and without it, especially when you add strikes to the mix.

There are so many BJJ blackbelts in MMA, but submissions from the bottom are very rare. We, as a community, should focus on making the bottom game more effective and dangerous.

Read the rest here.

If Youth is Wasted on the Young ...

... does the faixa azul sometimes feel wasted on blue belts?

Results for the Proving Ground's first qualifier for the 2014 season are in. Congratulations to everyone who participated. As far as I'm concerned, from the moment you step on the mat to compete, you're a winner.

That said, I'll admit to being more than a little bummed out that more people didn't come out for the event. I have no idea what the promoters are feeling about the turnout or how it compares to last year's. But while I've come to expect little participation beyond purple belt, it was shocking to see a single blue belt division that consisted of three different weight classes.

Take it from someone who's been there: there is no better time to compete than when you are a blue belt. When you're a white belt, everything is just a panic. By the time you get to purple, as Fabio Gurgel famously pointed out, it's starting to become clear who the academy superstars are. And if you are not among their number, then this is when the idea of keeping track of your competition record will start to become much less appealing.

Grandmaster Helio allegedly preferred to wear his blue belt rather than his black belt when training. He had his reasons. But when I think about those most pure moments of my jiu-jitsu upbringing - especially where competition and competition training was concerned - nothing comes close to my years at blue.

Training Day: Wednesday

Self-Defense/Standing: Stepover Headlock counter to shoulder lock

Ground: Mount escape

Live Drilling / Specific Training: Mount/Mount Escape specific alternating with Mount start to Sparring

Live Training: 5 minutes

Scale: 168.2

Professor Cindy at the Proving Grounds: March 2014

Training Day: Saturday

Live Drilling: Cobra Guard Armdrag vs. Standing / Pull Guard to Nicolini Sweep / Pull Guard to Nicolini Sweep to Single X Guard entry

Scale: 168.8

Post-Train: 50 technical lifts / 100 hipscapes / 50 technical lifts

Tales of the Pan: Confirmado

Me and My Favorite Mendes Brother

Gui might be my favorite under-160 fighter right now. While I'm not a big fan of the berimbolo as a technique for my own game, I appreciate how effectively he uses it as a tool get to the top (if not necessarily the back).

I'm especially loving his finishing game (the B-sides of baseball chokes and brabos).

Whoop! Terere Knee Shield Pass!

Professor Barata is Back!

Get the lowdown here.

Joe Rogan Podcast: Two Hours with Kron

A truly outstanding interview of Kron Gracie by Joe Rogan. The length of the interview - more than two hours - gives the two plenty of time to relax and get comfortable with each other, leading to some very entertaining and insightful exchanges. Well worth a listen.

Strength Day: Deads, Squats, Presses and Pulls

 Deadlifts / Squats / Bench / Pulldowns

4 x 10

Training Day: Wednesday

Live Drilling: Side control / Transition to Reverse Scarf Hold v. Counter / Transition to Scarf Hold v. Counter / Transition to Other Side v. Counter

Ground: Asymmetrical choke / Spinning Armbar

Scale: 168.0

TGIF Dawn Training: Closed Guard Sweeps

(instruction)

Ground:

Pendulum Sweep
Scissor Sweep
Hip Bump/Crossover Sweep

Scale:
166.4

BJJ Scout Runs the Rousey v. McMann VooDoo Down

There is so much good in this analysis. It is incredible to see how BJJ Scout's work gets better and better. Like all great analysis, it informs and teaches at the same time.

Ronda Rousey v Sara Mcmann Preview Part 1: Grappling and Skill Trees

One thing beginners often do is chase moves all over the BJJ map – 50/50 leg locks, berimbolos, baseball bat chokes etc. There is this temptation to correlate mimicking the “moves” done by top level players as the path to advancing in BJJ. It sort of makes sense – like Roger? Learn to the cross choke from mount. Like the Miyaos? Berimbolo it is. However, focusing on drilling random moves without a well thought out overall strategy seldom makes sense.

Ronda Rousey v Sara Mcmann Preview Part 2: Takedowns and Clinching

Wrestling’s place as a legitimate skill set to bring into the octagon has been validated many times over. The jury is still out on judo though. Despite Ronda having dominated all her opponents since day 1, skepticism still remains as to her abilities and most of it focuses on her being a one trick pony, and the central question in every fight is “can you stop her armbar”. Strangely, until late the question has never been, can you stop her takedown, as if it’s a matter of time before some exposes her judo takedowns/tactics as flawed. 

Training Day: Wednesday

Live Drilling: Double-leg drill / Single-leg drill / Double-leg specific / Single-leg specific / Guard Pass drill / Double-leg drill / Single-leg drill / Double-leg specific / Single-leg specific / Side Control King of the Hill

Scale: 169.4

Strength Day: Return of Whole Body Strength-Endurance

DB swings / three sets / 10 reps 15 reps 25 reps 50 reps

Strength Day: Whole Body Strength-Endurance

DB swings / three sets / 10 reps 15 reps 25 reps 50 reps