Epi 206 Turning your Jiu-Jisu into an Art

Is Brazilian Jiu-JItsu an art? This week on The BjjBrick Podcast we discuss if BJJ is an art. How can you add an element of art to your game? Is your game a paint by numbers style of jiu-jitsu or are you a ninja turtle level of artist?

And a happy little choke here

Quote of the week: “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls” Pablo Picasso

Article of the week: Can a Coach roll too much with the Students??

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunesStitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod

Epi 205 Chelsah’ Lyons Training Tips and Amazing Stories

Chelsah’ is a brown belt under Rob Ables at Marcelo Garcia of Dallas. She shares some amazing stories in this interview. She also enjoys competing as much as she can and balancing her busy schedule.

We talk about:

  • Her starting MMA before BJJ
  • Being held up at gun point…… Twice
  • Getting discipline from martial arts
  • How Jiu-Jitsu changed her life
  • Working four jobs and training to compete
  • Some of her favorite techniques
  • Learning to do wrist locks
  • Helping other students
  • Her future in martial arts
  • How she keeps the women’s class fun and effective
  • Advice for running a class for women
  • The growth of women in BJJ

Links:

Quote of the week: “Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.” E. Joseph Cossman

Article of the week: Defend the Primary Threat

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunesStitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod

BjjBrick Q&A Q17 Help with lacking a BJJ curriculum

Here is the question:

I started BBJ 3 weeks ago and love it. The only thing is there isn’t a curriculum, starting course, or even drills…. I just go, learn some moves and roll. As a white belt, I’m trying to breath, be safe, and learn the fundamentals… but I am not taught them exactly so I have started using youtube Gracie videos… I want to keep showing up and putting in work to show my coach how motivated I am to learn this art… but I’m not sure if I should bring up my problems now or later…

Epi 204 BJJ and Weight Loss With Weston Roberts

Weston is 18 years old, he has lost 100lbs and it is fair to say BJJ has changed his life. He has been training for around three years in Jasper Alabama.

We talk about:

  • Starting BJJ at 280 lbs and getting down to 180 lbs
  • Trading video games for BJJ
  • Getting into a flow state while rolling
  • Tips for learning BJJ
  • Advice for someone starting jiu-jitsu for weight loss
  • Talking to your training partners while you roll
  • Tips for rolling with higher level people
  • Teaching BJJ as a lower belt
  • Making changes to your diet
  • Performing better with a improved diet
  • How BJJ could benefit kids in school

Quote of the week: “There is still no cure for the common birthday.” John Glenn

Article of the week: I think I suck at BJJ

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunesStitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod

Defend the Primary Threat

When it comes to jiu jitsu I’m extremely “concept” orientated. I believe that after you’ve learned the basics of each position and a few moves from each position, understanding a few basic concepts can do so much more for your jiiu jitsu than simply continuing to collect random techniques. Defending the primary threat is an example of a concept that, when implemented can improve your game from many different positions in a short period of time.

Defending the primary threat is a concept that I spent a good deal of time focusing on as a white belt shortly before receiving my blue. Identifying the primary threat from most of the positions I found myself in and figuring out ways to defeat them made a dramatic difference in my rate of progression. Lets’ look at a couple of examples that will illustrate what I mean by “defending the primary threat”.

First, the primary threat from any given position might not be the same for every jiu jitsu practitioner. If when in your opponent’s guard you are consistently being swept by the scissor sweep or variations of it or you are constantly fighting the cross-collar choke then the cross-collar grip is probably the primary threat you need to be concerned with. Conversely, if you are constantly being arm barred of swept, swept with the flower sweep, or having your back taken off an arm drag then having your arm dominated and your elbow pulled across your center line is the primary sweep. You can learn and drill all the guard breaks and passes in the world, but if you don’t learn to defend these primary threats you will always struggle inside your opponents closed guard.

A few other examples really quick: If from bottom half guard or when shrimping from bottom side control to recompose your guard you are getting choked with guillotines and similar chokes then the primary threat to defend is your opponent getting his arms in position to execute the choke — i.e. defend your neck. If from top half guard your opponent is getting the under hook and sweeping your or taking your back then obviously your opponent getting that under hook is the primary threat that must be defended.

This concept can be applied from the offensive perspective as well. If you have found that bottom half guard with the under hook is a position you are having a lot of success from then getting that under hook should be your main objective. If you like working from top side mount you need to keep your opponent on his back so you may want to consider that getting the cross face and blocking the hips are some of your main objectives.

In closing: Do you want to get better at jiu jitsu fast? Start looking at the concepts that make it work. If you’re new to the idea of “concepts” talk to your coach or experienced grapplers in your gym. There are also a ton of online resources available as well. Check them out.

Train hard. Train smart. Get better.

Joe Thomas

More articles by Joe here

Expanding your Jiu-Jitsu in a logical manner

I ran across this scenario and subsequent question not long ago: A white belt 6-8 months in has developed a decent closed guard but when his guard gets broken he has no answers to prevent the pass. His question was, “what’s another guard I can add to my game?”. That’s a great question, but a better question might be, “how do I figure this out myself? — how do I determine which positions and techniques to add to my game?”. Most grapplers will find themselves at the point of needing to evolve and expand their game many times during their journey. Sometimes you will adjust your game for competitive reasons, because of injury, or simply to continue moving towards a complete game. If you have a sound methodology for making these kinds of jiu jitsu decisions the process will become more efficient allowing you to progress more quickly. Here’s a few questions you can ask yourself during the process.

Have you explored all the options in the game you’re already playing? I would not try to discourage someone from expanding their game, but before you abandon something that has been successful, but no longer is – it may be worth spending some time trouble shooting. Perhaps with a few simple tweaks, you can get some more mileage out of that position. This may be especially relevant if you are trying to solve a problem for an upcoming tournament. A month before competition is not the best time to be revamping your game.

Does it solve the problem? If your training partners are using standing guard breaks and passes, spending a month studying half guard might not be as effective as spending a month transitioning from a broken closed guard to a single leg x guard, x guard, or de la riva guard.

Does it fit with the game you are already playing? Adding a new element will be easier if it shares some commonality with the game you’re already playing. All jiu jitsu fits….so maybe a better question here is “how will I make this fit into my game?”.

Does it fit with your physical attributes, skill set, and experience level? Every jiu jitsu practitioner has a different body type with different physical attributes and therefor certain positions and techniques will work better for some athletes than others. This definitely should be a consideration when expanding your game.

Is it the next logical step in regard to complexity and difficulty? If the two takedowns that had been working for you no longer are, then getting the fight to the ground would be a problem for you, and adding some additional techniques would make sense. Learning to do flying triangles and flying arm bars could be a possible solution, but you need to have the requisite skills in place first. If you are not already proficient at arm bars and triangles from more traditional positions and during transitions, then doing flying variations is most likely not the next logical step.

What does your coach think? If you have reached a point where you must expand your game to address a weakness, odds are your coach has also noticed you have an issue to address and has some direction for you. You can catch your coach before or after class, or even better, schedule a private lesson with them.

In conclusion: Efficiency is a core concept of jiu jitsu. Efficiency of movement is one of the things that allows smaller, weaker, or older people who have trained to prevail over those who haven’t. Why not apply this same principle when it comes to building your game?

Train hard. Train smart. Get better.

Joe Thomas

More articles by Joe here

Epi 203 Mike Bidwell From BJJ After 40

This week we have Mike Bidwell from BJJ after 40. We cover a huge range of topics in this show.

We talk about:

  • Mike’s start to martial arts
  • His early days of BJJ and MMA
  • The value of competing
  • Spending 13 years as a brown belt
  • Moving schools as a brown belt
  • Getting out of shape as a brown belt
  • Setting small goals to get to the next level
  • Talking with an instructor about your next belt
  • As a vegan what he likes to eat before training
  • Why he loves the triangle choke
  • Tips for having a good triangle choke
  • Goals for the BJJ after 40 practitioners
  • Starting BJJ while in your 40’s
  • Drilling take downs instead of doing them at full resistance
  • Dealing with injuries
  • Chasing a criminal that was messing with his car
  • Advice for BJJ players older than 40
  • The differences between a black belt and a brown belt
  • What it means to be yourself on the mat
  • The term “Flow Mike Bidwell”
  • Working with Nic Gregoriades
  • The Cryangle choke and how he came up with the name
  • Why the cryangle choke works best against the flexible opponent
  • Creating the body that you want to do BJJ with
  • Looking for the lessons when you get tapped out

Links:

Quote of the week: “No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.” Epictetus

Article of the week: What you need to know when transitioning from the gi

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunesStitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod