Epi 240 Playing a Tight or Loose BJJ Game

Do you play a tight BJJ game that limits your opponent, or do you play a loose game that involves many different elements.

We talk about:

  • Define tight and loose games
  • What do we tend to play
  • Who should play loose
  • Who should play tight
  • What is better for learning
  • What is better for performance

Quote of the week: “Music is one of the easiest ways to motivate yourself. Listen to uplifting tracks , and songs about success – and you can’t help but want to work harder” AJ Winters, The Motivation Switch

Article of the week: How Important is Your Jiu Jitsu to Your spouse?

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Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

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

Creating an Environment for Success

I’ve heard it said before that “environment trumps will”. For those of us who like to credit our success to our own grit, determination and hard work this is not an easy truth to accept. Sure, some of the greatest people have emerged from some pretty bad environments, but those are the exceptions – not the rule.

How can we, as adult jiu jitsu practitioners, use this information to help us get better at jiu jitsu? Well, the good news is that we do have some control over our environment. It’s something that we can improve. Let’s look at a couple of ways our environment off the mat may be hindering our progress and maybe one or two ways our environment at the gym may not be helping us. Then let’s look at how we can turn that around.

If you have a spouse and kids and you cannot get them on board, your home environment will not be ideal for progress and success. It’s a lot to juggle, but somehow you must get them behind you. Getting them involved is a great way to do this. Keeping things “fair” is important—if you’re spending 4-6 hours a week doing something you’re passionate about try to help your family members find things they are passionate about and make sure they have the time to pursue those passions the same as you are pursuing jiu jitsu. Another way to get them behind you is to ensure that they are also reaping the benefits of your journey—jiu jitsu should be helping you become healthier, happier, more confident, and more relaxed. In other words, it should be helping you become a better spouse and parent.

If you leave home early for work, stop for a fast-food mc-something and coffee for breakfast, sit at your desk all day studying spreadsheets only stopping once to have lunch at the food truck on the corner, then rush home for a heavy carb loaded dinner—this will not help you accomplish your jiu jitsu goals. A busy life and stressful work environment is not always easy to overcome. Somethings that might help are: meal prep on the weekends for breakfasts during the week, pack lunches on work days, taking the stairs at work, standing at your desk,

If your friends that you hangout with on the weekends think that belly flop competitions and beer chugging are athletic events, you might be spending time in an environment that is not conducive for success. You probably don’t need to completely abandon recreational activities that include bratwurst, beer, and belly flops…but you probably need to minimize them. The key here is, like they say, balance and moderation.

What’s the environment like at the gym? How can you affect that?

Is there an “I have to win at all costs” environment at your school? Here’s the problem with that: When you adopt that mentality, you find a way to win i.e. get really good at a few moves that seem to be really well suited to you and then only do those moves. Or you may only train with training partners with less skill or lesser attributes which obviously won’t challenge you to the same degree as training with partners who are better than you. If this attitude is prevalent at your school, here’s how you can make a difference. First of all, roll with everyone and tap when you’re caught without trying to spaz out of the submission and don’t make excuses. Secondly, when rolling with training partners you can easily beat, roll in such a way that puts you in bad positions or get’s you caught once in a while, i.e. start from bad positions, work from your week side, try new techniques, etc. For more ideas along these lines check out Six BJJ Training Games, by Byron Jabara. By approaching jiu jitsu this way you will be setting an example that others will eventually follow.

Is there a “me first” mentality where students seem to only be concerned about their own progression? While this seems to be a mindset that would indeed help you get better faster it is, in the jiu jitsu world, actually counterproductive.  There should be a culture of comradery with the mind-set that a rising tide raises all boats. If you are training at a gym where other students, as well as the instructor, are concerned about your progress and are willing to invest in your success then you are training in an environment where you are likely to succeed. The solution here is simple, but not necessarily easy: Model the behavior you hope to see in the rest of your team. Take a round or two every class for a while and make it about your teammate. I’ll often time ask my teammates what they’re working on and then steer the match in that direction.

In conclusion: I’m not a life coach, marriage counselor, nutritionist, or even a jiu jitsu expert so I can’t necessarily tell you the best way to improve your environment. But I can tell you that there’s enough evidence out there to indicate that it would greatly improve your chances of success if this was something you paid some attention to. Maybe pick one area of your life and work each week to make that area just a little better.

 

Train hard. Train smart. Get better.

 

Joe

Epi 239 Can BJJ Cause a Stroke?

This week we have an interview with Chris Martin. Chris has a story of training BJJ and unknowingly receiving damage to his neck. This damage would later result in a stroke. This interview helps create awareness of strokes and how to train BJJ safely.

We talk about:

  • How training BJJ caused an injury to his neck that ultimately caused a stroke
  • What happens when someone gets a torn carotid artery
  • How younger people get strokes
  • Some ways to tell if someone is having a stroke
  • FASTER Face, Arms, Stability, Talking, Eyes, React
  • How he trains with a stent in his neck
  • What causes damage to the neck and the arteries
  • The latest news for BJJ4Change

Links:

Quote of the week: “Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.” Dwight Eisenhower

Article of the week: Level up with Positional Sparring

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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 238 Roy Harris The Jiu Jitsu Answer Man

This week we bring you an interview with Roy Harris. Roy has been training martial arts since 1981. He brings a wealth of BJJ knowledge and wonderful explanations to this interview.  We cover topics from new students all the way to how to run a school.

We talk about:

  • Becoming the Jiu-Jitsu Answer Man online many years ago
  • How the internet has changed and effected learning BJJ
  • Writing his book The Jiu-JItsu Answer Man
  • Why bridging is so powerful
  • Some unstoppable movements in BJJ
  • Using pressure differently in BJJ
  • Tightness vs pressure
  • Why positions are so important to understand
  • What to look for in finding good training partners
  • Dealing with injuries and attitude
  • Tips for instructors to run a great class
  • Advice for law enforcement officers that train BJJ

Links:

Quote of the week: “A little impatience will spoil great plans.” Chinese Proverb

Article of the week: 5 AWESOME LOW EFFORT WAYS TO SUPPORT YOUR BJJ TECHNIQUE LEARNING

The BjjBrick Summer Camp in Wichita Kansas

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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 237 Black Belt Livia Gluchowska

This week we bring you an interview with BJJ black belt Livia Gluchowska. Livia is a black belt under Lachlan Giles and Thiago Stefanutti. We talk about a variety of topics including training for bjj and off the mat sports like sprint cycling and gymnastics.

We talk about:

  • Her BJJ competition history
  • Doing gymnastics and sprint cycling
  • Traveling to compete
  • Her favorite techniques
  • Starting BJJ as an adult
  • Drilling vs concepts
  • Dealing with injuries
  • Working full time and trainig BJJ
  • Sport helping build friendships
  • Winning worlds at Blue, Purple, and Brown belt
  • Tips for running a successful women’s program
  • Tips for a successful competition
  • The current state of BJJ competitions

Links:

Quote of the week: “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” Margaret Thatcher

Article of the week: Safety Net

The off the mat lesson was about a door to door sales man with a unique pitch

 

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Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

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

The BjjBrick Podcast Presents: Jiu-Jitsu Summer Camp

Come spend a weekend training and hanging out with the BJJ Brick crew, guest instructors, and jiu-jitsu enthusiasts. Only 60 spots available. Register online at www.FoxFitnessBJJ.com (single session registration available via e-mail at FoxFitnessBJJ@gmail.com)

6/22 Friday
6-8p Open Mat (check in)

6/23 Saturday
10-11:30a Kids Seminar (message, call, or email to register)
12-2p Gi Workshop w/Prof Tim Sledd
3-5p No-Gi Workshop w/Prof Roli Delgado
6-???p BBQ and beers

6/24 Sunday
10a-12p No-Gi Workshop w/The BJJ Brick Podcast team

Keep up with what is happening on the Facebook event page here!

DVD Review Kristian Woodmansee AP De La Riva Guard

In this DVD Kristian Woodmansee teaches you things to take your De La Riva guard to the next level. He also shows some very good passes and drills

This DVD can be found here https://www.thefighthub.com/shop/ap-de-la-riva-guard-dvd/

Please comment below if you have this dvd, I would like to know your thoughts.

 

Epi 236 Train Smart with Brandon Mullins

This week we have an interview with BJJ black belt Brandon Mullins. This is a great interview and Brandon shares tons of training ideas and tips.

Photo by Mike Calimas

We talk about:

  • His start to BJJ
  • Competing in masters and adult categories
  • Having early success with grappling
  • Training gi and nogi and the diffrences
  • A interesting comparison between learning a new language and trying nogi for the first time
  • Having goals while you train
  • Training ideas to speed your growth
  • Working on both sides of your body
  • How to beat someone that is better at bjj

Links:

Quote of the week: “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” David Brinkley  We also talk about this book “The Obstacle is the Way

Article of the week: When your teammates are in Competition Training Mode and you’re in I Can Barely Drag My Ass to Class Mode

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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 235 Off the mat training to keep you on the mat with Sam Spiegelman

This is an episode of BjjBrick Extra! Joe has an outstanding interview with Sam Spiegelman. Sam has written a bunch of great articles on Breaking Muscle, and is a wealth of knowledge about BJJ and fitness.

We talk about:

  • His start to BJJ after college
  • Transitioning from Judo to BJJ
  • Starting strength and conditioning for BJJ
  • The importance of rest
  • Making an off season for your BJJ
  • The benefits of off the mat training for your BJJ
  • Cutting weight for a tournament
  • Warming up properly
  • Recovering between matches
  • Tips for people new to BJJ
  • Things a blue belt should know
  • Teaching a kids class

Links:

Extra Tip: We give a tip about wrist locks

Extra Question: Help, my instructor is not showing me the things I need to know

We play a joke on Gary and use as many Idioms as we can. He is always able to laugh at a good prank.

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