Dec31

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—A Female Perspective

by goatfury on December 31st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is truly an amazing journey.  What is it like being a woman and training in a male dominated sport?  For me, it is challenging, frustrating at times, but also a lot of fun.  There are many reasons why I am an advocate for jiu-jitsu.  One reason is because I truly love the art and it is the one thing in my life that provides me a true “break.”  When I’m on the mat, nothing exists but jiu-jitsu.  Jiu-Jitsu is both physically and mentally challenging and even small accomplishments are rewarding.  My personal view of jiu-jitsu is that it is the same in many ways for women and men.  While there are not as many women practitioners of jiu-jitsu as there are men, women are beginning to take more of an interest in the art.  I have been training for several years and cannot imagine a life without jiu-jitsu.

One of the great things about jiu-jitsu is that the techniques will work regardless of size and strength, making it the perfect art for women to learn.  Grand Master Helio Gracie modified traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu techniques to accommodate his smaller physique and developed a system that enabled him to defend himself against larger and stronger opponents.  One of the biggest challenges women face is that they are smaller in size and physically weaker than their male counterparts.  Women who are primarily training with men (or larger women) will need to keep this in mind.  At 5’2 and115 lbs, I am the smallest person in our academy.   All of my training partners outweigh me by at least 40-50 lbsand are significantly stronger.  Constantly training with larger and stronger opponents presents its own set of unique challenges.

So, what do you do when you’re smaller than everyone else?  You have to be responsible for your own training and create a positive training experience for yourself.  You cannot walk into class and just expect your instructors and your male training partners to cater to what you need to improve.  Be assertive, ask questions, and watch out for your own safety.  Unless you are training with upper belts (advanced blue belts and above), many guys just have no idea how much stronger they are than their female counterparts.  Higher belts already know body control and have developed a certain sensitivity to their training partners.  Women beginning jiu-jitsu should seek out higher belts as training partners instead of fellow male white belts because higher belts will be better training partners.  Higher belts will be able to train with women and allow them to work technique without crushing them because they have body control which only comes with experience.  There is nothing to “prove” in class so train smart–look out for your safety first.  And as a shout-out to all the guys out there, training with women can improve your game!  By training with a smaller partner, you develop sensitivity and body control that you would not otherwise develop with a partner your same size or larger.

Another significant challenge women face is the lack of female training partners.  If the goal is simply learning jiu-jitsu then having only male training partners is not a big deal.  However, if one of the goals is competition, I am finding that it is incredibly important to train with other women.  Women move differently than men, have a different type of game, and it is overall just a different experience rolling with a woman versus a man.  If there are not many women in your academy, just finding other women to train with can be a challenge in itself.  There are women’s classes at certain academies, there are women’s only seminars, and there are several women’s jiu-jitsu forums that you can join.  While it may require some travel and expense, training with other women is incredibly important for competition and for improving your overall game.

I have trained at three different academies over the years and I also visit other schools as a drop-in during travel.  I have always found people throughout the Jiu-Jitsu community to be friendly and accommodating.  The best advice I have for women who are training is that you have to be outgoing as it relates to your training and you cannot be afraid to ask questions.  I ask questions all the time and I have always found that my instructors and training partners are more than willing to help me.  Perseverance is the name of the game in jiu-jitsu regardless of whether you’re male or female.  Being smaller and weaker and consistently feeling like you’re losing to a larger opponent can be frustrating at times.  For me, these challenges only make me even more determined to improve and learn.  Some of the best advice I received was from Professor Pedro Sauer who said “If you’re not tapping, you’re not learning.”  This statement has stuck with me throughout the years as a reminder that jiu-jitsu requires perseverance, and that you cannot look at being tapped as a negative but instead as a positive that provides the opportunity for growth.

 Comment 
Dec27

Chess: The BJJ Analogy

by Evan E. on December 27th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Kevin Santi, judo instructor at Revolution BJJ

Author: Kevin Santi (Black Belt Judo Instructor and BJJ Brown Belt)

I came across an excellent article that looks in great detail at the attributes and make up of a chess expert. The author used chess masters as a study group because there is a formal ranking system of chess players based solely on their performance.  After reading this article, I realized what was being said about chess could also be said for judo and jiu-jitsu.

http://wimse.fsu.edu/media/expert-mind.pdf  by Philip E. Ross

Attributes of an Expert:

  • A vast store of knowledge of positions.  Psychologist George Miller showed that people can contemplate only 5 to9 items at a time.  “Take the sentence ‘Mary had a little lamb.’ The number of information chunks in this  sentence depends on one’s     knowledge of the poem and the English language. For most native speakers  of  English, the sentence is part of  a much larger chunk, the familiar poem. For someone who knows English but not  the poem, the sentence is a single, self-contained chunk. For someone who has memorized the words but not  their meaning, the sentence is five chunks, and it is 18 chunks for someone who knows the letters but not the  words.”   For the novice, this means that they can keep 5-9 positions or techniques in their working memory.   Psychologists believe that experts can get around this limitation by packing hierarchies of information into chunks.  The expert is still limited to this 5-9 items.  Through years of experience, an expert is able to build up a library of  positions in his long term memory.  The expert’s library of knowledge is stored as chunks not individual items. One chunk may contain a series of moves and positions.  The expert is able to quickly recall  these chunks and use them in  their working memory. This allows the expert to quickly recognize a situation and decide the best course of action.
  • Motivation is a more profound key to becoming an expert than natural ability.“Yet this belief in the importance of innate talent, strongest perhaps among the experts themselves and their trainers, is strangely lacking in hard evidence  to substantiate it.”
  • 10 years or 10,000 hours or hard meaningful practice.

Thoughts on meaningful practice

I observe some students who come to practice, do the provided lesson, roll, and go home. The students that excel are the ones that use the lesson plan as a starting point. They start thinking about the techniques and strategies,  internalizing them, and  making the techniques their own. It’s one thing to see a technique and just repeat it, but it’s another to really grasp it. One must perform the technique and then start to ask themselves,  “where and when can I do  this?”  It is imperative that you create your own observations and impressions of the technique. By providing your own personal context to the technique, you will be able to more easily recall and apply the technique.  This will allow you to build your grappling knowledge base and create “chunks.”

Practice is the student’s time. The instructor can create a great environment and great lesson plan, but it is ultimately up to the student how fast they progress.  The more you own the technique and struggle with the position; the more you figure out its strengths and weakness.  Strive to be an aggressive learner who realizes that setbacks and failure are just learning tools, not a reason to get frustrated. Have both the will to learn and the will to fight.

-Good Training

 

 Comment 
Dec20

Your First BJJ Class: Why Being Nervous is Normal

by goatfury on December 20th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

In the years I have trained BJJ, I’ve watched a lot of students enter the school, try one class, and never return.  One of the biggest things I attribute that to is nerves so bad that the class isn’t enjoyable.  Come in, relax, and enjoy yourself!  You’re a paying customer, and are starting in a sport and hobby that can quickly turn into a lifestyle.

We all started just like you – Every single black belt you’ve ever watched in a BJJ match and wanted to be like had to walk into a BJJ gym for the first time.  The most cauliflower eared, knowledgeable guys in the gym are just people like you who had to take the first step and start training.

But I don’t know anything- It’s perfectly normal.  Nobody expects you to show up to your first class and know how all the positions, how to do submissions, or how to shrimp.  The instructors are there to help you learn.  Listen, do your best, and realize that most of the guys teaching have been doing BJJ for years, and it can take time to get some of even the most basic movements down.

I’m out of shape! – BJJ is a flexible sport.  Certain moves will work better for different shapes and body types.  Long term, BJJ will help increase your flexibility, cardio, and strength.  Instructors will understand you’re new to the sport, and will try to help you through the workouts with encouragement or slightly less strenuous exercises.  Other schools have beginners programs that will help ease you into the technique and exercise levels.

Everybody seems so intimidating! -  BJJ attracts all shapes and sizes of people.  Most of the people I’ve interacted with over the years of training, helping teach, helping at tournaments, and driving all over for seminars are genuinely good, likeable, friendly people.  Introduce yourself if they don’t do so first, and I think you may be pleasantly surprised at how welcoming most people are.

Stop making excuses, get to the gym, and start training!

 The author:  Sean Zorio, purple belt under Guy and Rob Pendergrass

 Comment 
Dec17

What is the Difference Between Judo and BJJ?

by goatfury on December 17th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be categorized as “grappling” martial arts.  On a very simplistic level, it is possible to categorize martial arts into either grappling or striking arts, or some combination of both.  Judo and BJJ both focus far more heavily on close range combat- close enough to grab and throw or roll around with one’s opponent.

So… what’s the difference between these two martial arts?  What makes judo and BJJ so different, and how are the two arts similar?

Both arts have far more similarities than differences.  They both encompass taking the fight to the ground.  Both include pinning techniques and submissions from both the top and bottom.  The differences arise far more from the respective rules of the sports of each art.

Here are some key differences, largely based on what the sports dictate for each art.

The ways to win a match in judo are as follows:

  • Throwing your opponent to his or her back, with force
  • Pinning your opponent for a pre-set period of time (25 seconds = ippon, or complete victory in Japanese)
  • Submission (armlock or choke)

There are also penalties and referee’s decisions, but the above three are typically stated as the goals in sport judo, in order of the frequency by which matches are won.

In sport BJJ, the ways to win are:

  • Submission
  • Points

Once again, there is the possibility of the referee deciding a winner, or a disqualification, but few competitors train to win in such a manner.  There are also “advantages” (tie-breakers) which often decide the winner in BJJ, but they are typically based on the previously listed criteria.

Just for fun, here’s a video of our judo instructor, Kevin Santi, throwing me around like a rag doll:

But if you can win by submission in judo, why not focus more energy on the ground game?  A typical judo club or program will focus about 75% on the feet (some far less than this).  Why?

The answer is simple, and once again dictated by the rules of the sport.  In judo, you have about 15 seconds on the ground to make something happen, or the match will restart on the feet.  Contrast this with sport BJJ, where the fight essentially begins on the ground.

In order to understand what is different about judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it is important to understand the differences in the sport applications.  If your main goal is to throw someone to the ground, you can bet that you’re going to spend the lion’s share of your training time developing a sophisticated, high percentage approach to doing just that.  On the other hand, if your main goal is the submission on the ground, it is reasonable to assume that most of one’s time and energy would be spent researching what happens on the ground.

This is precisely what has happened over the last century or so.  Sport judo has developed into an incredibly sophisticated, subtle, effective throwing art, with some relatively basic ground techniques.  Sport BJJ, on the other hand, has moved away from its sophisticated focus on the throws, in the interest on developing what happens on the ground.  As a result, we have two unique martial arts, with incredibly complex throws on the feet in judo, and equally complicated ground techniques in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

 

 Comment 
Dec16

BJJ Gym Etiquette for Newcomers (A Guide) Part I.

by Evan E. on December 16th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Posted In: Brand new to BJJ?

Training in a safe, mutually respectful environment is crucial to progressing

A lot of martial arts (BJJ included) gym websites post their schedules, tuition fees, directions to the gym and “about the instructor” sections.

What they don’t tell you about is Mat Etiquette.  BJJ often tends to be the least formal of martial arts.  There is rarely any bowing/clapping or formal ceremony.  But make no mistake, there are some guidelines you should follow.

The etiquette is about being a decent human being with common sense.  On and Off the Mat.

Below I have listed out a few helpful suggestions that may help to make your BJJ training experience more successful.

1.) Be on time, if not early for class.  This is a big one for every instructor I have ever had.  Your instructor’s time is valuable.  When you are late, you show a lack of respect for him/her.  You also show a lack of respect for your teammates/training partners.  When you are on time/early, you show respect for the art, your instructor and everyone at the gym.  You say to them with your actions “I am serious about my BJJ journey.”  I guarantee you, you will be respected for it.  It might not be vocalized, but it will be recognized.

If you are going to be late (life does happen) give your instructor short call/text/email to notify him/her.  It’s just plain good manners.  Besides, how would YOU feel, if your INSTRUCTOR was late?

2.) Be clean.  Take a shower before you train.  Or at least wipe your sweat off with a towel/bring a fresh gi/training uniform to each class.  Noone wants a skin infection.  I assure you, you do not want my funk on you.  And I don’t want yours either.  (A personal note here: You are going to be in someone’s personal space for the next few hours.  Please. Use. Mouthwash/Gum/Mints.)  See the Hygiene Article!

3.) Keep it quiet during instruction.  Seriously, you can’t learn without listening.  And you can’t listen if you are talking during instruction.  Try to keep questions on topic and relevant to the instruction, but also at a minimum.

4.) Be a GREAT training partner.  It takes time to learn to be a great training partner.  But setting a goal for yourself to be a great training partner starts you off on the right path.  Be polite and try to provide the “sweet spot” for resistance during drills.  Not full resistance, not flopping around like a fish.  Somewhere in between.  Respect your partner, and you will be respected.  Fact.

A side note here, your training partner’s safety is as important as your own.  Be slow and controlled with your training partner(s).

5.) When you roll, roll with respect first, intensity second.  Rolling is NOT a fist fight.  It’s not a battleground or a proving ground.  It’s a workshop for you and your training partner.  Respect one another and work hard, but with CONTROL.  Do yourself a favor and find out the “Leg Lock” rules at the gym.  You don’t want to KNEEBAH, when it’s not acceptable to do.

6.)  Do whatever your instructor asks you to do.  Whether you want to do it or not.  Seriously, your instructor has developed a plan to build you up.  He/She knows best and have probably been at it for at least 10 years or so.  Do as you’re asked.  Keep the complaints/excuses off the mat and out of the gym.  They will not benefit you.

However, if you have a physcial limitation (in my case a fused ankle), make your instructor/training partners aware and work around it.  Chances are you’ll surprise yourself by overcoming and adapting.

These are just a few examples of BJJ Gym Etiquette.  The key theme here is respect.  For yourself, for your instructor, gym and training partners.  You have to be respectful to be respected.

 Comment