Badass!

Once again, the blue spinning marble that we live on has made a successful revolution around the giant thermonuclear reactor that is our sun. Another year gone, another ahead – and usually the juncture of the two serves as a reminder for us to take stock of what transpired during the last 12 months and what we have planned for the year ahead; chance to re-invent – a chance to improve our situation.
If we hope to improve our situation without knowing what it is we want to change – then it all just falls to random chance. If you want to have some say in over which direction your life moves – you’ll need a plan. The simplest of plans is to adjust our compass so that we eradicate the things about our lives that we don’t like and build on those parts that we do like.
This is a simple lesson that I have learned on the mat … to improve your BJJ Game, the easiest approach is to develop a more deliberate focus on the techniques you want to use – while at the same time, working on eradicating the one or two main weaknesses of your game.
We can use the same simple strategy for improving our day to day lives; just pick one or two things that we want to get done in the new year – and think deliberately about how we are going to achieve those things. At the same time, it’s worth thinking about eradicating one or two behaviours that don’t sit in accordance with the realization of those goals. In other words – import a couple of good habits – and export a couple of bad ones.
Of course, we don’t have to wait until New Years Day to make these changes – every single day is an opportunity to re-invent ourselves, our behaviour’s, our thinking and the way we live in the world; but if not now – at the beginning of a new year – then when?
Here I am, sitting out on a verandah, overlooking the jungle in Ubud, Bali. The sun is coming up and a new day is underway. I’ll be back home soon, after taking this week away with my family to rejuvenate before 2010 kicks off! Last year was a very busy one for me, so I am guessing this one will be too. In 2009, I visited 10 countries throughout the year – taught 100 seminars – and got a lot of other things done. And 2010 is shaping up to be just as busy – but for right now, I am enjoying the quiet of the mountain air as I wait for the little gangs of monkeys to scamper past my room on their way to forage amongst the little offerings to the gods, that the locals put out each morning. Another day – another year … another infinite set of possibilities …
Warmest wishes
JBW

Al: Tell me a bit about your background, in particular your Martial Arts training.

I think that bodymechanics is a skill you need to work on just like you need to work on technique, strength and cardio. It is something you can do on your own and for me personally, it has really benefitted my game a lot.

I have a pretty large repertoire of bodymechanics drills in my game at the moment, and I am showing my most common in this video. I have not really learned them from anywhere specific, but picked them up a few at a time along the way from seminars, training with different people, ginastica natural videos, capoeira training and also made a few up myself. I hope you can use some of the drills yourself, I would recommend anyone to do them or something similar as a part of their grappling training.

I’ve wanted to do this video for a very long time, since it is something that people ask me about quite often. Finally I got it done, and I really hope you like it, cause I had sand EVERYWHERE when I was finished LOL

Enjoy

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman concludes our series of interviews conducted at the 2009 FILA Grappling World Championships by speaking with Marcus “Conan” Silveira, Kelly Anundson, and Richie Guerriero of American Top Team.

Marcus “Conan” Silveira is a pioneer in mixed martial arts, and was the first Extreme Fighting heavyweight champion. He also played a key role in founding American Top Team.

Kelly Anundson, who competes in wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts, won two gold medals at the Grappling World Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He won the men’s 120 kg/264.5 lbs. no-gi championship, and then the men’s open division in no-gi grappling.

Richie Guerriero is the general manager at American Top Team.

We spoke with all three at the American Top Team headquarters in Coconut Creek, Florida, Monday, December 14.

If you would like to support No Holds Barred financially, you can send a gift through our PayPal account. Just click the “DONATE” button on the No Holds Barred pages at http://nhbnews.blogspot.com or http://nhbnews.podomatic.com. Any size gift, large or small, is greatly appreciated.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called “The Heist”, by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you’re a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

Armlock from Rear Mount

My quads are on fire like they haven’t been in years.My biggest gripe about my body right now (other than the collapsible shoulders) is my relatively underdeveloped quads. While this isn’t as much a problem as I used to think it was when it came to th…