Here's a question I received recently: Q: "I'm 56 years old and in pretty good health except for a few old injuries. My question is whether it is it too late for me to start training in grappling without wrecking my body too badly? (I'm not interested in competition)." … [Read more...]
Teachers
Tips for Having a Great BJJ Private
Preamble: I recently talked about BJJ private classes gone bad. This tip is about how to make sure that that doesn't happen. Training in a group setting under the watchful eye of your main instructor is a good thing. … [Read more...]
Condolences
On January 29th, 2009, Helio Gracie passed away at the age of 95. Without him and his sons this sport would not be where it is today. … [Read more...]
Private Lesson Horror Stories
I'm a believer in taking private lessons with instructors, especially those that you don't get to train with on a regular basis. And I've taken my share of privates; some were great, but others were real stinkers. … [Read more...]
Why I Started Martial Arts
Here's how the book Ninja, Clan of Death got me started on my martial arts journey. And how a crayon-written black mail note failed to get me into Judo class. And which teachers have been my biggest influences. And how I finally transitioned into the grappling arts. https://www.youtube.com/v/pj2R4YYq5CY Click here to see the same video about Why I Started Martial Arts on YouTube. … [Read more...]
How To Retain Seminar Techniques
I like going to seminars, but I find it frustrating when I can't remember everything that the instructor taught. The way I think of it, the seminar costs a certain amount of money and the instructor covered a certain number of techniques. … [Read more...]
On Keeping Your Enemies (and their Coaches) Close
I don't remember too much from my first BJJ tournament other than that the place was packed, that there were lots of huge guys strutting around like they owned the place, and that I was nervous as hell. … [Read more...]
Thoughts on Lesnar vs. Herring, UFC 87
Like many of you, last Saturday night I sat transfixed, watching Brock Lesnar maul Heath Herring at UFC 87. … [Read more...]
Paulson Podcast
My friend and coach Erik Paulson was recently featured on the MMA Podcast Carson's Corner. … [Read more...]
Short & Long Term Problem Solving
Grappling is problem solving, and part of improving in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is maintaining enough awareness during sparring to figure out precisely what your problems are. Let me explain... … [Read more...]
Congratulations to a Leglock Master
Oleg Taktarov was one of the early pioneers in the UFC. Coming from a sambo background he had a very distinctive skill set. And nobody had more heart!! I'm delighted that Oleg recently stepped back into the cage and defeated Mark Kerr with a kneebar, which has always been one of Oleg's signature moves. Oleg was very influential on my leglock game development, both in terms of technique and … [Read more...]
Dan Inosanto on Adaptation
Last weekend I had the pleasure of learning from Dan Inosanto at a seminar. As he often does, he stressed the importance of adapting techniques to make them work for you, regardless of whether those techniques are Filipino stick disarms, Jun Fan kickboxing or BJJ submissions. … [Read more...]
The Art of the Tap
Stephan's note: The following tip is courtesy of Roy Dean, who is a black belt in BJJ under Roy Harris, as well as a third degree black belt in Seibukan Jujutsu. Today he shares with us a refreshingly different perspective from the ‘thug-jitsu’ that has become the norm at many schools. … [Read more...]
Training with Erik Paulson
Last weekend I got to train with one of my coaches and friend Erik Paulson, who was hosted in Seattle by Chris Clarke of Northwest Kali. As usual Erik covered an amazing amount of material that I'll be digesting for long time. … [Read more...]
The Amazing Dan Inosanto doing BJJ
I have to share this footage of one of my instructors, Dan Inosanto, doing some BJJ sparring. This incredible man is now in his 70's, and I hope I learn to move that smoothly some day... … [Read more...]
A “Hard” Bodyweight Workout
Someone asked me recently "if the bodyweight conditioning routine on your website is an easy workout, then what does your BJJ coach, Marcus Soares, consider a hard workout"? … [Read more...]
How to Stand in the Guard
Last week I discussed the differences between standing and kneeling guard passes. One thing I pointed out was that some schools tend use only kneeling guard passes whereas other schools tend to mix up their guard passing and use both standing and kneeling passes. … [Read more...]
How to Find a Grappling School
Every couple of weeks I get an email from a reader asking if there are any good BJJ, MMA or submission grappling schools close to where they live. Unfortunately I rarely have specific advice for them, because there are just too many good schools out there. … [Read more...]
Teacherless Training
A reader writes: Q: "I would like to hear you address grappling with no formal teacher or school. What are the benefits/downsides to this? What should we be careful to avoid? This is the situation I am in now, I get to practice with some good guys but have actually never had formal training. " … [Read more...]
Don’t be Afraid of Making your Students Better (Than You)
Normally in this newsletter I try to help you tap other people out, or at the very least make it more difficult for others to tap you out. This week's advice will result in you getting tapped out MORE often, not less, but you'll be a better grappler because of it. Let me start with an example. Recently I taught a sparring partner a new choke to attack the half guard (the 'Brabo' choke). This … [Read more...]