Everyone reading this is probably old enough to remember the “mix tape.”  The fact that someone put in the effort to accomplish the tedious task of making a mix tape was always meaningful.  In the days of drag-and-drop file copying and music stealing (you don’t actually have to own all the songs or listen to several days of radio with your finger poised over the record button to get everything you want) the music mix is definitely less meaningful and less appreciated.

Recapturing some of the flare of the ‘90s, my friend Jake sent me this:

It’s a mix tape!  A totally real mix tape!  Just for me!!!

Well…. sorta….

I guess that’s a good thing… because I don’t actually have a tape deck to play a real tape on…

Thanks Jake!! 

Currently we have around 40 students (not bad for only being open only a month). And we have new interested people stopping in almost every day! 

I had a pretty good class last night. Didn’t perform as well as I would have liked rolling, but I was having some stomach problems so I wasn’t at my best, physically. I did have one important breakthough, however. I used a technique Frank had shown me. When in side control, using the arms to block your opponent’s knees and keeping your knee near your elbow and letting your knee follow your elbow across as you slide into mount. I actually was able to use that while rolling. I got bucked off pretty quick, but it felt good to make a little technique work.

UFC 94 picks:

Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida: I think this has the potential to be quite a good fight. Guida has a lot of heart and a lot of skill. Nate Diaz has some sick jiu-jitsu skills. Diaz is a cocky little punk, but it is hard to take much away from him. I will predict Diaz by submission in the second round.

Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Not terribly familiar with either fighter. I have seen Parisyan fight and don’t believe I have seen Kim. Based upon my lack of knowledge about these guys, it is a tossup, but I will say Parisyan by TKO or unanimous decision.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones: Having seen the two classic fights Bonnar had with Forrest Griffin, I have to say that I really like Bonnar. There is NO quit in him. None. I don’t know anything about Jones. I will pick Bonnar by first round TKO.

Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva: Not terribly familiar with either fighter. Saw Lyoto Machida fight Tito Ortiz in Tito’s UFC farewell and do very well. Based upon that, I will pick Machida by submission in round 3.

BJ Penn vs. George St Pierre: This has the potential to be one for the ages. Their first fight, GSP won by split decision, but in terms of damage done, GSP by far got the worst end of it. He was a bloody mess. The consensus seems to be that GSP takes this fight. I am a huge BJ Penn fan, however. His jiu-jitsu is some of the best on the planet. I am therefore going to pick BJ Penn to defeat GSP by submission and become the first fighter in the UFC to hold two titles simultaneously in 2 different weight classes.

We’re going to watch the fights tonight and I will post again tomorrow, reviewing my picks.

Arrived in Lusaka after a great 10 hour flight, even got delayed and it was still great. One of the pilots was a friend of the family so I got bumped up. Got plied with lots of cashews and champagne. Was also thoroughly enjoying my book I picked up from WH Smith at terminal 5 Heathrow. Sam Sheridan’s “a fighter’s heart”, which I have since finished. Sam is a mid level fighter but a great writer and his book is about his journey exploring the fighter’s mindset, what makes a good fighter, why do we train to fight etc. And by journey I do mean in the physical sense; Japan, Brazil, USA, Thailand. Whilst giving enough background information so anyone would become familiar with the fighting world. In terms of actual fighting he trains with some amazing characters in BJJ, MMA, Muay Thai, Boxing, Tai chi and meditation. And for most of these I’m not just talking a casual visit, he becomes friends with these people and becomes part of their circle. Pat Miletiches camp, Brazilian top team, Fairtech muay thai. The book can quite often be brutal as Sam really trains and even explores less desirable parts of fighting (Dog fights, cock fights, boxing conditions) but does so in a very professional neutral way. I don’t want to give too much away but pick this book up; it’s really good and not just for the hardcore fight fans. Completely novice friendly whilst providing great insight for the more familiar.
Anyway back to my trip!

A week in and no problems, I’ve got a good room, the kids are amazing, I love teaching and helping, good food, weather isn’t too bad, the nuns are great fun! And I got some internet access. Now that I’m more settled; in my main duties are teaching the young children (8-10 yr olds) English in the mornings before their school and teaching 4 older boys English in the afternoon (15-18). Their English is good all round but their teachers at school have not been great. Repetition all day long, their English not to great, taking the kids to garden instead! As the teachers aren’t getting paid enough. But most annoyingly no phonetics at all…. Which means when they read they are going purely by the shape of the word, the letters don’t represent sounds to them, making it very difficult for them to figure out new words. Despite this they work hard and some can converse fairly well. The nuns are mostly all polish or Zambian and despite having quite good English they lack confidence worrying to much on their accent.

Sister marieola the head sister asked me to teach them some jiu jitsu, something Im all to happy to do. They are familiar with the idea of judo so Ive used it as a crux in describing Brazilian jiu jitsu. The older boys have really taken to it and as there’s only 4 of them during the day (rest at school) I can give them a lot of attention. I spent a long time really making sure they understood the importance of tapping and respecting your training partners. And so far so good. It looks like I will probably end up teaching them everyday for an hour for 6 weeks, so I think they will be quite competent by then. As they are very flexible, athletic and keen to learn.

In my first lesson I gave them a little bit of history, went over positions, showed them a hip throw and seionage and then briefly gave them idea of what a submission is. Mainly to guage their interest and possible pitfalls. They did great however and really took to it. So now Ive been concentrating on drilling fewer techniques for longer so they can get the details down. They really love it when a technique works with minimal effort. Had a small guard passing roll with each of them where they would start in my guard and then after I swept them I would pass theirs. I wanted to highlight how easy decent technique can make dealing with a potentially stronger opponent.

Outside their rooms they have a lawn with the softest grass ever which has been great for training on although it does add a little bit of friction for the bottom guy. Although we have recently added a carpet big enough for us to practice techniques. Am trying to teach a move and then its defense or counter in the same lesson so they can get an idea of what they have to look out for and the basic options. First case was double leg and sprawl.

Teaching jiu jitsu is very enjoyable but its also made me appreciate good instruction more I think. As I often noticed I am perhaps talking to much/rambling and am not concise enough, sometimes providing to much detail or not enough. But I feel my style of instruction steadily improving as I notice mistakes and correct them. Having to show people techniques in good detail is also great for my own practice.

As they have to pay for bandwidth used here I am not going to upload pictures to the blog yet, when I goto Lusaka (the capital city) Ill find a web café and add stuff there.

I am so glad I got back to class yesterday. I walk in the door at the school and who’s standing there in his gi? Rick. I can’t even tell you how good it was to see him up and around, smiling, ready to go. Rick has a killer scar on his head, which m…

Last night I had my second (and last class) at Easton BJJ in Denver. This no gi class was pretty crowded, and we again lined up by our gi belt rank. This was relatively easy for the regular students because they sort of know each other’s rank….I needed a little help to know where I should be in the line up.

I was also really impressed at the instructor’s response to a homophobic (or maybe misogynist) joke. During the line-up, one of the guys who was trying to determine where he should be asked the instructor, “When will I get my pink belt?” The instructor said, “When you tell a joke, make sure it’s funny.” That was really just the perfect response from the instructor.

During the warm up, a big guy smashed into one of my feet. I sucked it up and went through the class, but it’s relatively swollen now. This, like most things, will heal, though.

Following the warm up, we were divided by weight (under 160 and over 160) and did a double leg take down drill and then worked the same guard pass we did in the gi class the day before. The one exception is that we used a cross-arm grip to control the opp’s guard before standing up.

We drilled this for about 10 or 15 minutes and then did positional training. At first up/down/out, then king of the mat. I did well in the training portion, though was certain to go real light with the couple of women in the class who I think were probably white belts in yesterday’s class (again, I wanted to observe the instructor’s admonition from yesterday).

We trained with one person – - – I trained with a guy who was likely right at 160 pounds and, I later learned, a former college wrestler. I played a half guard game (the guard was mighty painful with my bruised foot) and went for sweeps, back, etc. We weren’t able to tap each other, but I was able to keep advancing my position and getting sweeps, cross side, mount, etc.

Once again, a great class….I have to say that I’m really impressed with Easton BJJ and the instructor who is incredibly friendly. On my way out, I bought a very cool Easton BJJ t-shirt with an abstract depiction of one person applying a RNC on another.

If I ever find myself in Denver again, I’ll definitely be back at Easton BJJ.

As promised, I am reposting the video I have when I met Helio Gracie last year. Lets remember a few things he said.
“Afraid of dying? This is nonsense. People should be afraid of being born”
“I don’t know if you believe in reincarnation, but we will come back many times over until we do not need [...]

Posted 2009-01-31
by John Davis

I’ve trained various styles of martial arts for over 24 years now and am currently training BJJ at Austin Jiu Jitsu. BJJ is by far the most effective art I’ve found, but I’ve noticed a “problem” in the BJJ culture. The problem is that BJJ is taught in a sort of “all or nothing” manner. When a new student comes in, they are taught techniques during the instruction part of a workout then thrown on the mat with more advanced students who proceed to dominate them and defeat every attempt made at applying techniques they are just learning. BJJ has a culture of “dominate or be dominated”. The beginning student has to endure lots of discouragement until the day that a newer student comes in and the beginner can finally dominate someone else. This sets up a culture of competition where one can only gain “success” at the expense of another’s discouragement.

There needs to be a middle ground between the instruction part of a workout and the sparring part. Austin Jiu Jitsu has addressed this need by introducing “Mentor Rolling”. During mentor rolling, advanced students are paired with beginners and they enter a live rolling session, only the mentor coaches or guides the beginner as they roll with them. The mentor pushes the beginner and rolls at the level equal to what he/she can handle but doesn’t dominate. The mentor gives opportunities for the beginner to succeed, but may defend many of the attempts at submission if they are sloppy. When the time is right in the session, the mentor provides an opening and the beginner is allowed to secure a submission if the attempt is solid.

What do you think? Comment and let us know.

Yesterday Helio Gracie, widely known as the father of Brazilian jiu jitsu, died. He was 95. I don’t know many more details but will find some. I and all my friends who train owe him a debt of gratitude for an amazing martial art, lifestyle, and philosophy. Much sympathy to his family.

If you have back mount, with you laying on your back and your opp laying on top of you……his escape is to get his back to the mat and turn into you (if he does this properly he can even end up having side mount on you)

So as he gets his back to the mat, using your far leg….simply hook your foot under the bend of your opp’s knee! This will stop him from being able to turn into you (bc the way he wants to turn his leg is raised high in the air) – This gives you a chance to switch your position (by replaing your foot behind his knee with your hand, rolling to your stomach) ending up in side mount.