Inspiration from the Worlds - Roger Gracie

A couple of weeks back the Mundials (for the young-ens) was held in LA. Roger Gracie had 9 black belt matches.

He won all 9.
He won his weight class division and the absolute division.
He won all 9 by submission.
He won all 9 from mount position.
He won 8 of 9 with some version of an "X" choke (the other one was and Eziakal Choke)

Impressive?

No.

MIND BLOWING.

He is grappling against the best in the world, and he is still able to execute his game plan. He remains calm at all times. He stays poised, focused, and on-track. Wow. Great stuff! ! !

Fuel for the fire. Enjoy the video ... I know I have. Inspired.

TO

Days to the Senior Mundials

I am going to fulfill a life goal ... go to Brasil and compete in the Worlds.

What an adventure! Great training, great challenge, great life.

Pan-Ams 09 Video of Middle Weight Matches

Here are my middle weight matches:

Match 1:





Match 2:





Match 3:




Match 3 - from a different angle:



Here is my Absolute Match against Carlos Terrinha (Ironically, I fought him in the 07 Pan Ams):

Pan-Am BJJ Championships 09

Haven't written for a long time ... things have been super busy with preparing for the Pan-Ams, going down to LA to coach and compete in the Pan-Ams, then came home to jump right into the launch of the Sub League season. Crazy.

Pan-Ams were a great experience... and I took 2nd place in the Black Belt / Senior 1 / Middle Weight Division. I was pleased. It's the best I've done at a tournament of this size and caliber (2500 competitors, three days, and LOTS of great grappling).

I'll write more over the next week or so, but I wanted to get up some pics and video.

For the love of the sport,

TO

The Blue Crew

back: Bryan, Blake
front: Chris, me, Eric

Pan-Ams 09
The Floor

Juvenile Blue Belt Open Class

The winners!

Bryan "The Beast" Marrug
3rd Place - It was Awesome to watch Bryan work!

The Crew Eating out at Rocky Cola

Jessica, Eric, Bryan, Blake, Andy, Sean, Chris, me, Eric, Brian

Senior 1 Black Belt Middle Weight Division

1st place - Cleber Luciano
2nd place - Tom Oberhue
3rd place - Ricardo Miller and Bret Bosler

Excited and Pleased

Team IMPACT at Pan-Ams
Wong, Duffy, me, Beast, Blake, Williams, Loar

Positional Hierarchy

I orginally got this from Jude Ledesma from Berkeley. However, I think it was in a Gracie book; though not sure which one.

I like it because it helps give a beginner a structure to work by ... an understanding of what positions are strategically considered more important than others. I find that it has helped clarify / guide my game. It is a great guide.

Read from top to bottom. It goes from best positions to worst positions in BJJ:

Back with hooks / opponent belly down with you on his back
Back with hooks / you on your back with opponent on you
Mount
Knee to belly
Cross-sides
Turtle / quarters
Half guard
Guard (bottom)
- - - - -
Guard (top)
Half guard
Turtle / quarters
Cross-sides
Knee to belly
Mount
Back with hooks / you on your back with opponent under you
Back with hooks / on your belly down with opponent on your back

The importance of training movements and flow

This is a clip of Andre Galvao talking about movement and flow. I could watch this all day long. He shares his conditioning (doing power cleans and snatches) and his philosophies and strategies in regards to Jiu Jitsu. Great stuff.




Here is some great movement by Jeff Glover ... another young star of the Jiu Jitsu / Grappling world. Impressive flow.:



Enjoy and get out on the mat!

TO

Great Training in Bend

Just back back from a quick trip to Bend - where I went to help out with the running of a no-gi tournament (the High Desert Championships).

I had the good fortune to train with Roy Dean at his academy. Great stuff ... a really enjoyable experience. Roy presents Jiu Jitsu in his own unique style ... very cool stuff.

Check out his web page, his vids, and his blog - HERE. You can also find a lot of his material on youtube HERE.

Roy has been in Bend for just over two years. He is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. Great game. Positive environment. Super vibe. He definitely brings a refined dimension to the sport of Jiu Jitsu.

I hope to train with him more in the future ... he is always welcome on the mat.

TO

Roy coaching while I am pointing