Why would you want a stronger neck for grappling? Well, there are a number of different reasons. First, and most importantly a strong neck is more resistant to injury. Unfortunately accidents happen in grappling, and if you get planted on your head, or someone twists your neck unexpectedly, then the stronger your neck is then the less likely it is to get bent in half and injured. A … [Read more...]
Injuries
Should You Train When You’re Really Tired?
I recently came back from Europe and felt just clobbered by the 9 hour time difference the next day (being wide awake from 2 am onwards didn't help either). But I was really missing jiu-jitsu, so I made sure to get in a training session while stumbling from task to task. Was it an epic workout with 110% intensity? Not so much... It was a very controlled roll, focussing on just a few … [Read more...]
3 Fixes for Sore Fingers in BJJ
So I got a question the other day from someone looking for advice about the pain and inflammation they have in their fingers from training BJJ. I sent them back a super-quick email response with 3 suggestions, but now want to elaborate on my suggestions in hopes that this info will be useful to someone else too. First, here is a video I shot about exactly this … [Read more...]
Tips for Recovering from a BJJ Injury and Getting Back to Training
Unfortunately injuries are just part of the game. Now hopefully they'll be minor injuries and you'll recover from them quickly, but regardless, getting back to training after recuperating from an injury is always a tricky business. In the video below I give some of my best tips about exactly how your return to the mats should be structured. This is advice I've learned the hard way - for the … [Read more...]
BJJ and Combat Sports Conditioning with Pshemek Drabcynski
I'm thrilled to bring you guys my interview with Pshemek Drabczynski. Pshemek was my very first 'official' BJJ teacher and I learned a ton from him. He's a BJJ black belt, a WKA North American kickboxing champion, and a physical conditioning guru. In this episode we talk about martial arts specific fitness, getting stronger, improving endurance, eating properly preventing injuries, fasting … [Read more...]
Getting Your BJJ Black Belt at Age 62
I hope you'll like this episode of the Grapplearts Radio Podcast! In it I talk with 62 yr old BJJ black belt Rabbi Mordecai Finley (the Wrassling Rabbi) about many topics including... Starting BJJ at a later age and finally getting his black belt at age 62 How to pick the the right jiu-jitsu club Training with sciatica and after a heart attack The horrors of the Eastern … [Read more...]
The Training and Competition Strategies of Bernardo Faria
Bernardo Faria is a 5 x BJJ World Champion (and a good friend) so I was very excited to sit down with him and have an in-depth conversation about his competition, training and conditioning routine. The full transcript, audio and video are below on this page, but here's a quick preview of some of the things talked about: Exactly what a world champion's day to day training regimen … [Read more...]
Overtraining in the Martial Arts
How to Avoid Bringing Your Martial Arts Training to a Screeching Halt... Overtraining is a major problem for the serious martial artist, and especially for competitors who have to balance technical training sessions with sparring and additional conditioning, often in the course of a single day. All this hard training can result in the body breaking down faster than it can repair itself, which … [Read more...]
BJJ Rib Injuries and How to Deal With Them
Let's talk about rib injuries in BJJ. This will probably only apply to a small percentage of people, but if you're one of those people then you might be about to get some important information. I'm being pretty general here and not differentiating between all the different ways you can bang up your ribcage: I'm including bruised ribs, broken ribs, damage to the sternum and damage at the … [Read more...]
Neck Harness Trials
A strong neck is essential for BJJ and grappling. Obviously a strong neck is simply harder to choke, but that’s not the end of the matter… A strong neck also helps you maintain good posture when standing and in the guard, and high level grapplers inevitably use the head as a fifth limb. (If you’ve ever had a skilled wrestler in your guard then you probably know what I’m talking about, … [Read more...]
Cauliflower Ear Prevention in BJJ
Let's talk about how NOT to end up with cauliflower ear when you're doing BJJ. (You know what cauliflower ear is, right? It's when you end up with lumpy cancerous potato looking things on either side of your head.) Personally I am less than thrilled by the possibility of acquiring a giant lumps on either side of my head because I've always had large ears. Supposedly when my grandmother … [Read more...]
How to Train When You Have No Time
Whether you're working a full time job, a parent with a couple of kids, or a student juggling a crazy class schedule, almost everyone is really busy these days. And if you're also trying to squeeze regular training into that busy schedule, well, things can end up in the ludicrous zone pretty quickly... I'm no exception: of course I'm running Grapplearts, training in BJJ and trying not to … [Read more...]
New Podcast: Impact, Concussions and Brain Damage in Mixed Martial Arts
I've just released a brand new podcast on Grapplearts Radio called 'Does MMA Make You Stupid?' Now that might sound like a deliberately provocative title, but the topic of brain damage in combat sports is so important that I want to make sure this podcast reaches as many people as possible. This podcast grew from an article I wrote a few years ago about the current state of head impact … [Read more...]
A Guide to Grappling Gear
You're training in a sport that, at its core, consists of two human beings rolling around trying to submit one another. This all seems very simple, and you don't need a lot of gear to get started other than a mat (and maybe a gi). But In this article I am going to discuss a few additional items might make your time on the mats more enjoyable and productive. The MOST Important Training Gear of … [Read more...]
The Pros and Cons of Bridging Onto Your Head
Neck bridging is an exercise that supposedly strengthens the neck that is almost unique to the grappling arts. It is also controversial. Broadly speaking, there are two main ways of bridging: the backwards neck bridge (belly to the sky) or a forwards neck bridge (where you are belly-down to the mat). Most grapplers who bridge do both forward and backward bridging. First the pro of … [Read more...]
How to do the Armbar Without Crushing Your Balls
It's a question that I get from BJJ beginners all the time, "How do I do the armbar without crushing my balls in the process?" And it's a legitimate problem for people starting out their BJJ career. In fact, it's a simple equation... Elbow + Groin = OUCH!! Now you could wear a cup, but most intermediate and advanced players don't do that unless they're training for MMA. Instead of … [Read more...]
A Hidden Danger When Martial Artists Get Injured…
If you're doing a 'real' martial art then it's going to involve some form of contact... And if you're doing any contact activity for long enough then, eventually, you're going to get injured. Now hopefully your injury won't be anything serious; maybe just a sprain, a bad bruise, or a tweak that will heal quickly. But in the worst case scenario - especially if it's a serious injury like an … [Read more...]
The Secret to Getting Your Black Belt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWcbLgxANFo Pssst, want to become a BJJ black belt? The 'secret' is simple: just don’t quit! Of course, the devil is in the details, which is why this article is more than two lines long... I want to start with the fact that almost everybody can eventually become a black belt, so if you just keep training hard then you’ll probably make it. One my … [Read more...]
3 Lessons Learned from BJJ Injuries
One of the secrets of BJJ is to get good before you get too banged up with injuries to be good. To help you avoid crippling injury I shot a 15 minute video talking about some of the most important lessons I've learned dealing with injuries. Some of these injuries could have stopped my BJJ career dead in its tracks, or left me in constant pain for the rest of my life, or necessitated some … [Read more...]
A Storm in the Mountains and Risk in BJJ
Today we're going to talk about assessing risk and reward in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but first let me tell you a story about what happened up on a mountain recently... Risk vs Reward in the Outdoors I arrived at the Black Mountain trailhead in the Mount Cypress area a few hours before dark, intending to squeeze in a 90 minute trail run to Eagle Bluffs and back. In my pack was a light fleece coat, … [Read more...]