01/02/2022 - Daytime, more on the knee slide pass with Adam Wardzinski details

Class #12##
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 01/02/2022

I continued on with details for the knee slide/cut pass, looking forward to teaching this over the course of February. So many lovely details from that seminar I went to at RGA Bucks last weekend. :D



My videos are still going up regularly on my many Instagram channels, if you want to see something more frequently updated. The Artemis BJJ one is here, which has links to my other accounts.

28/01/2022 - Daytime, knee slide pass with Adam Wardzinski details

Class #12##
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 28/01/2022

I still haven't got on top of the massive backlog of posts, but meh, I'll get to it eventually. I am still taking notes, as usual.



My videos are still going up regularly on my many Instagram channels, if you want to see something more frequently updated. The Artemis BJJ one is here, which has links to my other accounts.

27/01/2022 - Daytime, knee slide pass with Adam Wardzinski details

Class #12##
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 27/01/2022

I had just been to a superb Adam Wardzinski seminar all about the knee cut/slide pass and thorough troubleshooting, so I'm keen to update how I teach that pass with some extra details. I'll be talking about this lots more!



My videos are still going up regularly on my many Instagram channels, if you want to see something more frequently updated. The Artemis BJJ one is here, which has links to my other accounts.

03/12/2021 - Friday daytime

Class #12##
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 03/12/2021

I haven't posted in a while, but I've got loads of drafts ready to go. I've been super busy with club stuff (setting up a new location in Caldicot, GrappleThon, camps), plus some cool personal life stuff. However, I have been able to get a few videos of daytime classes, so I can at least put those up to show I'm alive. Here's the most recent one, from last week:



Also, my videos are going up regularly on my many Instagram channels, if you want to see something more regularly updated. The Artemis BJJ one is here, which has links to my other accounts.

28/10/2021 - Thursday daytime | Deep half guard, summary of recent lessons

Class #12##
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 28/10/2021

26/10/2021 - Tuesday daytime | Testing out the north-south choke

Class #12##
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 26/10/2021

23/07/2021 - Clifton Friday | Basics with Jimi

Class #1240
Artemis BJJ (213 Whiteladies Rd), Bristol, UK - 23/07/2021

The Clifton classes are small in normal times, so they are particularly quiet while we build things back up from the pandemic. So while tonight would normally be a more formal class, as it was just Jimi it was effectively another daytime type format. Meaning I can just put up the video again. ;)

23/07/2021 - Friday daytime | Passing theory & pressing armbar

Class #1239
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 23/07/2021

Right back into the old swing of things with lots of daytime, live streamed over Facebook. It's started off slow, with just one person, but that meant I could go into detail on some passing theory. I also talked about the pressing armbar, as I want to teach that next week.

22/07/2021 - First daytime class since the pandemic started

Class #1238
Artemis BJJ (Easton Rd), Bristol, UK - 22/07/2021

Wow, it's been a long time! It felt really good to be back teaching properly again though, and actually being able to wander around and correct people. Also, answering technical questions, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy being able to chat about technique and help people improve.

I practiced something new (for me) today, which is going for the armbar off the 2-on-1 grip break set up. It was a good practice for next Monday, fitting in well with the techniques I've taught this week. I'm going to keep playing, but getting an arm under the leg is one big help for this. Also, considering how to maintain control of their posture while getting perpendicular and then a leg over the head. That's something I'm also going to keep playing with, checking videos, etc. I've got lots of prep time, so I should have a solid lesson plan by the time I get to next Monday.

It was also really good to finally spar again on Monday and Wednesday, with Weronika M. She's smaller than me, but not quite as small as thought (in the 60kg+ range, so only a 10kg difference max, rather than the 20kg or more I thought). Particularly as the other awesome Polish blue belt student I used to train with has unfortunately moved to bath. ;)

17/02/2021 - Covid training update

Class #1237
Artemis BJJ (my living room), Bristol, UK - 14/08/2020


I definitely wasn't expecting to still be teaching over Zoom from my living room a year after the pandemic started, but such is life. There was that brief period of being able to train in person, over September and October 2020, but other than that it's been all Zoom since March 2020. Still, I can't complain as I'm in a much better position than many other people who run BJJ clubs as their livelihood. My awesome students have continued to stay engaged, with enough of them paying fees that I can keep the club going and my own head above water.

The format of classes is something I continue to tweak. At the moment, I do 5 solo drills, two and half minutes each. There are two solo drills I include every time (sliding shrimps and the grilled chicken self-directed sequence, meaning students can combine the grilled chicken elements and variations they know however they want), with three other solo drills I pick from my big spreadsheet (which is up to 100+ drills now).

After that, I move on to 3 grappling dummy drills, again picked from the spreadsheet, three and a half minutes to drill each time. To finish up, I'll go into another technique in more depth, then stretch to end the class. That works out at an hour, sometimes slightly under, sometimes slightly more if I get plenty of questions.

The addition of a daytime class on Tuesdays, which I started doing last month, has helped a lot too (especially as the main people who attend are a couple drilling together, which keeps it grounded because I get to see how the drill I just taught on a dummy works on a human). Just as with the daytime classes I teach in the mysterious otherworld of pre-covid, I use daytime classes to prepare for the evening class the following day. It always ends up being educational for me, enabling drills to be refined or dropped. It has also meant that I can keep trying out videos I've seen that interest me, whether that's a random cool variation or an entire instructional.

My main project continues to be Priit's grilled chicken open guard. I also picked up his running escape and baby bridge instructional, which I'm going to dig into properly over the next side control month (which is March). I think I could develop a self-directed running escape drills sequence, like I have with grilled chicken.

I'm still finding good stuff on the internet for the basic techniques too. I'm particularly pleased that thanks to inspiration from Ritchie Yip's list on GrappleArts, I've got a few passing drills to play with now too. Yesterday I went through a knee cut drill self directed sequence, which I built out of Yip's drills plus my own modification. That went pretty well, I'm going to keep trying to bring in passes this month. As my grappling dummy doesn't have any legs, I didn't think it would be possible to teach passes, but it turns out it is (you can even use an arm to substitute as a leg, like with the knee cut/slide pass).

The solo drills sessions over Zoom (twice a week, plus private lessons) have been ranging between about 25 minutes to 30 minutes, followed by a technique of anywhere between 4 minutes to 10 minutes. I get certain regulars each time, which is handy as then I don't need to explain the drills as much. There are normally nine drills each session, which I could increase if I wasn't spending time explaining. Then again, the reason I'm explaining is that I often add in tweaks to existing drills, or new ones.

To that end, I've been both reviewing the Priit grilled chicken/shell guard material I've already got (thanks to that long weekend seminar a while ago), as well as buying his instructional on the topic. I hate buying from BJJ Fanatics because their marketing is so shady, but with one of their ever-present discounts it was at least a slightly less insane price than usual. The platform it's sold on aside, the instructional is good. Priit's penchant for talking too much is controlled a little, plus you can just skip ahead when he gets into lecture mode.

View this post on Instagram

As I've been drilling so much #PriitGuard in my @ArtemisBJJ solo drills sessions over Zoom, I thought it was time I finally bought @jitsvulcan 's instructional on the topic (BJJ Fanatics has horrifically bad marketing, but some great content, like Priit and Danaher). ☺ Having done several 12hr Priit seminar weekends and numerous @bjjglobetrotters camps, I was curious to see how his teaching style translated to DVD/video instruction (especially as my friend @meerkatsu recommended it). Turns out, pretty well, judging by the first part of the #GrilledChicken set. 😀 As usual, BJJ Fanatics unnecessarily divides them into four short chunks instead of one or two larger ones, but this is good stuff. For those who aren't keen on the "sit down and lecture" approach (as opposed to "talk while physically demonstrating", which I greatly prefer), the video medium very handily means you can skip ahead. Therefore both pro and anti lecture approaches can coexist. 😉 Very good summary on this first of four chunks (32 mins), which should help me refine the drills I've been doing. Also some excellent practical tips, like holding your partner's feet and guiding them into an invert (something my student Paulina has done in the past too, when helping people with invert spins). 👍 Unlike many people, Priit makes a point of citing his primary sources at length, of which I very much approve. Specifically for #GrilledChickenGuard, that's a 2013 match between Braulio and Galvao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gui5wWJA4gI&t=3m11s This is what originally inspired Priit to develop what he calls the grilled chicken guard (I prefer the term shell guard, but grilled chicken is admittedly memorable and at this point a well known moniker). In that match, Braulio (one of my old instructors, #namedrop 😜) almost entirely neutralises Galvao with his guardwork. ___________________________________ I look forward to the rest of the set, it's promising so far. 😎 #SlideyReview #ZoomBJJ #ArtemisBJJOnline #SlideyStarTrek #StarTrekBJJ #SlideySpats #GrilledChickenBJJ

A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on May 25, 2020 at 10:23am PDT

I've so far found two drills in particular that have been useful thanks to the DVD. Firstly, what I've been referring to as the wrist frame and circle. That is similar to framing off them a la Defensive Guard when you are looking to retain guard from sitting guard etc, with the addition of coming up to Priit's 'active turtle' and circle to create enough distance to get your guard back. Secondly, one I haven't yet tried builds on that, with an invert. Priit doesn't spend much time on that, but what he shows is enough for me to turn it into a drill.

Along with grilled chicken/shell guard, I've been looking further into my favourite position, the running escape. Priit had a video up about that too, from 2019, where he tweaks it a little. I normally have my knee up, everything curled in tight. Priit's 2019 change is that the knees are together, which he suggests can make it tougher for you to get pulled backwards, or put into the cradle position. That's useful, as getting pulled backwards is the most common way people attempt to break my running escape, especially if they are stronger than me. I'm therefore looking forward to testing this out in sparring.

I do feel more vulnerable due to that knee barrier being removed, as it's easier for them to step over. However, that could potentially be countered in a similar way to when they step over against panda. I could underhook their leg and move directly into the turn and pass, rather than going to panda first (as my Beltchecker.com friend Vince Choo suggested, he's a black belt teaching in Malaysia). Again, something I want to test in sparring. Interestingly, Priit has been thinking about renaming the position half turtle rather than running escape, which isn't a bad idea.



I've managed to keep up my home workouts routine three times a week, with 3 sets of 10 press-ups, 10 twisting crunches and 10 single leg squats, followed by 10 military kettlebell presses (bottoms up, as I've only got a 6kg kettlebell at the moment, waiting for my 20kg to arrive), bottoms up front squat and then v-ups. I should also take this opportunity to clear up some of my blog post backlog, there are a bunch. We'll see if I actually do it, or just say I'll do it. :P

26/04/2020 - Zoom classes update, plus thoughts on the future of online BJJ

Article #25, by Can Sönmez
Class #1234
Artemis BJJ (my living room), Bristol, UK - 26/04/2020



Insomnia as usual, so I'll take the opportunity to chat about how the shift to online teaching only has been going for me here in Bristol. I've been doing it for a month now, as I have a housemate willing to be my uke. I've been using Zoom to teach group and private lessons since the lockdown got serious in the UK a month ago. Internet connection while streaming has stayed steady, which surprised me considering my wifi is pretty rubbish.

The recording function on Zoom is terrible: it's supposed to upload to Zoom's cloud storage, but so far has just resulted in unwatchable vids (though the quality while I'm initially streaming seems to be fine). I therefore record it on my phone instead, then upload that to unlisted YouTube links I can send to my students (as lots of them don't watch live, they prefer to check it out later, judging by the view numbers on the YouTube vids). The full vids are between 20 to 30 minutes long, though as my uke doesn't like to be on public footage, those are just for members. 😉

The main problem is naturally the lack of physical feedback. I have got a few sufficiently motivated students that have been doing Zoom private lessons and give good verbal feedback, plus I can see what they're doing and correct (thanks to the gallery view in Zoom), but most of them don't have a drilling partner, which unsurprisingly makes that a lot less useful. Interestingly, one of the most committed private lesson students is somebody who I hadn't often seen in my classes pre-lockdown: she usually goes to the nogi and women's class. I'll be curious to see if she will pop up in my classes when normal training resumes (I hope so, she's a good student, a promising blue belt).



I have modified how I teach a little as a result of the move to online-only. I demonstrate the technique for longer, also taking time to show it solo. In a normal class, I'd just teach one technique with one variation, then do a lot of drilling. With Zoom, I'll show multiple variations and some related techniques, plus anything else people ask about.

After that, I do solo drills (like shrimping, bridging, grilled chicken, turn to knees, back step etc), bunch of repetitions so people can follow along. The handy thing with that is I get a little work-out too: I have considered doing that section for longer (at the mo, isn't usually more than a few mins). So yeah, I need to ask if people want that solo drill section to be longer or not. I then finish up with stretching, which again is useful for me. That's something else I could potentially do for longer, as there isn't the same time constraint as in a 'normal' class.



I think that is one positive outcome of the lockdown. All sensible BJJ schools have now engaged with some kind of online training as a result, which is making everybody more familiar with the options available. That also means we are all getting a lot of hands-on experience with what works best online: the long-term repercussions for our sport could be significant, with a whole generation of BJJ teachers becoming very familiar with both the technology and pedagogy of teaching online.

Before lockdown, online training was something a few big names were able to use as an income stream, putting up technique videos relatively similar to what you get on a DVD. Now, I think that is going to open up, as so many of us are running full classes on Zoom, or recording full classes and uploading them. That experience and knowledge is still going to be there when the lockdown is lifted. In an ideal world, it will provide us all with a whole new potential income stream, or at least a way to increase the value of what we can offer to our students.



I was surprised when an ex-student of mine (who now lives in Australia) suggested she'd be interested in paying to just have private lessons, as I'd mentioned I was doing them for my current students. I'm not at a level yet where doing that separately would make sense, BUT it wouldn't be difficult to simply live stream my in-person classes (once those start up again). I could set up some low payment option for people like her, who have an interest in doing distance learning.

Though yeah, I'd need a wifi connection at the gym for that, probably. I could try the data on my phone, but I'm not sure my data package is beefy enough to handle repeated live streaming. It's something I've considered in the past, but the experience of Zoom classes has done a lot of clarify the idea for me. Watch this space! 😁

< Previous Article :::

Article - Ten Years Of Blogging

Article #24, by Can Sönmez

My first ever blog post, written ten years ago today (shortly before I flew to Asia, hence the pic), didn't start in a blog. It was in a forum thread over on the now defunct Tung-Fu. I had a habit of cross-posting on multiple forums (2004 is also when I first got up the nerve to post on Bullshido, which would later prove a very important site for me), so a few months down the line, the same content popped up again on another forum no longer with us, Cyberkwoon. That had the rather uninspired name of 'Slidey's Training Diary', though it wasn't as bad as the original name for this website. When I transferred the posts from that thread into a new-fangled thing called a blog (around 2005), I dubbed it 'The Slideyhouse'. Yeah, I'm glad I didn't stick with that name too. ;)

From what I remember, there were few BJJ blogs on the web in 2004. In my own Cyberkwoon thread-log, I focused on MMA and some of the various other martial arts I did back then, as I had not started BJJ yet. Global Training Report is probably the longest running BJJ online journal, dating back to before the millenium (here's how it looked in 2002. rec.martial-arts is possibly the only older BJJ-related site, its archive boasting treasures such as contemporary responses to UFC II). Stephan Kesting's GrappleArts was a great resource in 2004, which it remains in 2014. The mighty Meerkatsu was active that year too, still teaching traditional jujitsu at Imperial alongside his BJJ training. I was in esteemed company when I moved over to Blogspot in 2005: a certain Danish blue belt, who had already begun trotting some of the globe, started a photoblog here.

'The Slideyhouse' thankfully became 'Slidey's Training Log' not long after its birth, stripped of the ungainly clumps of logos that filled up the left hand side (I had gotten a bit overexcited when I initially learned how to embed images). 2006 is when the site really got going, once I started training in Brazilian jiu jitsu late that year: here's how the site looked back in 2007, the same year I started my rather neglected technique summary. Two years along, I was finally convinced to shift to a custom domain, resulting in another name change: 'slideyfoot | bjj resources' (I soon added '.com').

2006 was a good year for BJJ blogs. That's when Andre Anderson hit the blogosphere with this, along with the blogger I think of as the Godfather of BJJ Blogging, Aesopian. Matt has inspired me in many ways: for example, the title layout for my post-2009 site was based on his old blog title, aesopian.com | brazilian jiu-jitsu. The following year was pretty good too, with a Roger Gracie brown belt called Nicolas Gregoriades sharing his thoughts here (some of which have recently become part of his new book), while Christian Graugart had gone from a Danish blue belt to a Danish purple belt blogging at ShogunHQ. He'd do something even more impressive when he set off as the BJJ Globetrotter in 2011, later binding those experiences in a print volume.

Today, the BJJ blogosphere is enormous: I've currently got over 600 blogs in my blog index. The contribution of women has been especially powerful, and I'm not just saying that because I'm an ardent feminist. Georgette, one of several bloggers I've now had the immense pleasure of meeting in person, started her blog in 2006, like me pre-BJJ (handily for this article, last week she wrote a retrospective post about her training). MegJitsu, the blogger I most look up to, kicked off her superb blog in 2008 (I think originally on blogspot, later migrating to WordPress) with this post. Fellow fantasy/sci-fi fan Julia put on a white belt and started typing in 2010, gradually becoming one of the top bloggers in BJJ with an incredible knack for generating discussion.

Following a journey from the start (or more commonly, near the start) is a special thrill I've experienced with a few blogs. Sadly, many of them have fallen by the wayside, digital tumbleweeds rolling across their neglected RSS feeds. Fortunately, some - like Julia and another of my favourite bloggers, GroundWork editor Megan, who shifted from Posterous to Blogger - have managed to stay the course. Others have even surprised themselves by their longevity, like Shark Girl, who only intended to stay in BJJ a scant four months. I'm very pleased that she is still with us, three years later. Even though I know most blogs won't last, I always feel the same excitement when I encounter a new, well-written and engaging blog.

Appropriately, that first ever blog post I mentioned at the start of this article was written during my initial stint in Bristol. The objective back then was to share my thoughts on different schools, geared towards the kind of audience there was on Cyberkwoon and Tung Fu. By 2006, the intention had changed: I wanted to list somebody's training in BJJ from the beginning. That's still the goal today, though it has gradually become more about providing resources to help people along the way.

Having moved many, many times since 2004, heading all around the UK, it's strange that ten years and around a million page views later, I am back in Bristol. It's even stranger that last month, I co-founded a BJJ club of my own, Artemis BJJ (naturally, our school has its own blog). I look forward to seeing what the next ten years of blogging brings: thanks to everyone who has willingly suffered through my online rambling over the past decade! :D

< Previous Article ::: Next Article >

Article - ADCC 2011

Article #23, by Can Sönmez

[My pics are crap, as they're from way up in the arena. For decent pics, check out Seymour's blog. His pics of all the British fighters here.]

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championship, commonly referred to more simply as the ADCC, is the most prestigious nogi grappling competition in the world. It's backed by the financial muscle of Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who aside from being a black belt under Renzo also happens to be incredibly wealthy. That has proved to be extremely fortuitous for grappling, as it means that since 1998, athletes have the chance to actually get some monetary reward for displaying their talents.

I haven't been to a live sporting event for many years: I think the last time was either Beşiktas or Turkey playing at İnönü, back when I used to go to football games in Istanbul with my father. However, when what is effectively the World Cup of grappling landed a train's ride north of me in Nottingham, there was no way I was going to miss it. Binoculars packed, I left my house in Bristol at 6:30am on Saturday: something has to be very special to get me up that early! ;)

There have already been numerous excellent write-ups of all the matches (like this), so I can be subjective. As usual, I was more interested in the women's fights than the men's. Unfortunately, there are currently only two female weight categories at the ADCC, which results in some ridiculous discrepancies. It isn't Gabi Garcia's fault she is so much bigger than everybody else, but she is competing with people literally half her size. It is a huge shame that Cris Cyborg had to pull out (I'm told due to the usual Zuffa shenanigans, but that may be hearsay: after all, other Zuffa employees were in the competition), as that would have been a fascinating match-up.

Still, I was looking forward to Garcia versus reigning champ Hannette Staack, who put up a fight, but couldn't quite get underneath Garcia's base. There were a few moments when it looked as if she might be able to enter into a leg submission, but Garcia made good use of gravity. Refreshingly, there was plenty of support for the Alliance stand out, who was visibly emotional at gaining her first ADCC title. Garcia has worked hard on both her technique and her physique, so deserves a certain amount of credit.

It was great that plenty of British women took part, with grappling stalwarts like Dr Rosi Sexton, even if they didn't prove successful. Australian Laura Ng had sadly suffered a blood clot in her leg on the plane journey, which must have been devastating for her. Hopefully she'll be back in two years. Ng's absence meant that my RGA Bucks training partner, Yas Wilson, was called up as a very late replacement. Yas did well, considering she took the match on almost no notice. To go in against multiple time world champion Michelle Nicolini is a tall order for a well-prepared black belt, so to do so as a purple is especially impressive.

Nicolini was probably the most entertaining competitor among the women, with some excellent guardwork in a tense match with ADCC 2009 winner Luanna Alzuguir. Staack gave a dominant performance en route to the final, until she ran into Garcia. As there were several matches going on at once, I wasn't able to watch as many female bouts as I would have liked, but then I can just get the DVD. That has the huge advantage of commentary, which I find increases my enjoyment of BJJ competitions many times over.

Intriguingly, it seemed the seasoned competitors were tapping early to avoid injury. Or at least they did at first: things changed later on. If you were facing Rousimar 'Toquinho' Palhares, he didn't care if you tapped: your leg was coming home with him. His nickname means 'tree stump', because his huge muscles are packed into a 5'8" frame. He looks like a supervillain: apparently, the man even lived under a bridge back in the day!

After getting their knees mashed by Toquinho, David Avellan and Rafael Lovato were both left to limp off the mat (though Lovato bravely limped right back to face Popovitch for the bronze medal). It took Andre Galvao to finally slay the monster, narrowly escaping the knockout punch of Toquinho's leg attacks. Though his sportsmanship may be questionable, there is no doubt that when Rousimar Palhares is involved, you're in for an exhilarating match. Galvao had an incredible competition, winning not only his weight category, but taking the absolute title as well.

Among the male competitors, I mainly focused my binoculars on Dean Lister. I knew Lister (a black belt in BJJ under Jeffrey Higgs, who in turn is under Fábio Santos) had a decent record in MMA and had done well in the ADCC before (absolute champion in 2003, then he beat Jean Jacques Machado in the superfight at ADCC 2005), but I didn't realize just how skilled he was. Drawing on his experience, the 35 year old Lister submitted three out of his four opponents, which included the favourite, Rodolfo Vieira. That did mean I missed the Vinny Magalhaes armbar defence over on the other mat, which was getting a huge cheer, but Lister's technical mastery was worth it.

Aside from the high level BJJ on offer, I was also excited at the prospect of catching up with friends, both old and new. After heading up on the train from Bristol to the arena, I swiftly got to wandering round the rest of the crowd. That meant bumping into old friends like Zaf, Ciaran, Seymour, Callum, Kirsty from Roy Dean UK, Eamonn, the RGA Bucks crew and various others. I love the way that it seemed almost all of UK BJJ turned out for this event. :D

On the new friends front, I enjoyed learning more about sports science with William Wayland: check out his blog here. While heading outside just before the Renzo superfight, I recognised the author of the she beast blog. Slightly embarrassingly, I got her attention by shouting out 'she beast!', then introduced myself as slideyfoot. Mainly because I forgot her real name was Hannah and my name (Can) tends to confuse people. ;)

When I heard the ADCC was going to be in the UK and Caleb would be commentating, I had high hopes that he'd be able to sort out another breakfast with the family. That's something the Fightworks Podcast has been doing before big events for a while. Despite being super-busy, Caleb delivered, making time to meet up with members of the Mighty 600,000 on Sunday morning.

I was surprised the turn-out was pretty weeny, though then again, a lot of people went out for drinks the night before. That left me, J-Sho, Caleb and Shawn Williams to chat about BJJ, later joined by a pair of cool Scots. Every time I meet somebody from Glasgow, I ask about one of my favourite bands of all time, Strawberry Switchblade. Not only had she heard of them, she'd even been to their gigs! Awesome. :D

I'm eager to check out all the coverage over the next few weeks. I'm sure Callum, J-Sho and Seymour will have something brilliant in the works for Jiu Jitsu Style. If somebody from the IBJJF is reading, please bring the Mundials to the UK too. ;p

< Previous Article ::: Next Article >

Article - BJJ & Aggression

Article #20, by Can Sönmez [FAQ Entry]


In Brazilian jiu jitsu, you learn how to fight, imposing your will on another person to prevent them doing the same to you. It is less confrontational than MMA (a closely related sport), where you're also getting punched in the face, but physical combat is still at the core of BJJ. Sparring for the first time can be an intimidating experience: most beginners will panic. Depending on their size, they will be struggling wildly to escape with all their strength, or looking to crush their opponent with superior mass. Either way, they are probably going to be aggressive.

Personally, I have an automatic aversion to the term ‘aggression’. For me, it conjures up images of shaven-headed thugs with bulging neck veins getting into fights outside pubs. I prefer the term ‘assertive’, which doesn’t have those associations. It may merely be a matter of semantics (as Leslie discusses), but it nevertheless makes me wonder why people like me have that reaction to ‘aggression’, particularly in the context of BJJ. After all, the legendary Aleksandr Karelin put it to good use in the picture above.

Part of the reason is the fondly held myth of the slightly-built martial arts superhero, gracefully dispatching a horde of less enlightened meatheads. The weedy nerd within us all (or rather less deeply buried, in my case) wants to believe that pure technique will trump brute strength, requiring no physical effort or malicious intentions on our part. BJJ has several diminutive superheroes of its own, beginning with Hélio Gracie. The Gracie patriarch was allegedly so frail and weak he had to learn his impressive fighting prowess through observation (I have my doubts).

The success of his son Royce in the early UFC is another touchstone, dominating with skill rather than power and overcoming huge size discrepancies. Importantly, he also made a point of winning without unnecessarily hurting his opponents, often opting for a gradual transition to a rear naked choke, without throwing a single punch.

When competing, you are unlikely to succeed by staying passive and working your defence. You've got to score points, or even better, force your opponent to give up, which is rarely a gentle process. Neither of you are there to help the other person improve: you are each an obstacle in the other's path to getting that gold medal. Some might argue, justifiably, that aggression has its place in competition.

However, examples like Royce feed a desire to succeed through pure technique, smoothly flowing around your opponent rather than savagely cranking your way to a submission. This is especially the case outside of tournaments, when you are in the more co-operative and relaxed class environment. As Saulo Ribeiro said in Jiu Jitsu Revolution, "You have to think that your partner, the guy that you're training [with], has to be your best friend. So, you don't want to hurt him."

Nevertheless, there must be a line. I want to perfect my technique rather than beat up my partner, but I also don't want them to flop limply into my submission attempts, or never threaten with any attacks of their own. The extreme end of this paradoxically pacifist approach to martial arts is aikido. There, you can dance your way through crowds of attackers, because they are actively jumping into your throws.

A certain amount of resistance is required, or practice becomes meaningless: to paraphrase another of my favourite quotes, you can't learn how to swim without getting in the water. The question is, when does useful resistance cross over into brutish aggression?

< Previous Article ::: Next Article >

Article - Competition & BJJ

Article #13, by Can Sönmez
[For the practical side of competition, such as when to compete, how to prepare, weight cutting, tournament listings etc, go here]

When Jigoro Kano was in the process of developing judo, competition was central to the fledgling style's success. By defeating all-comers, judo established itself as the premier martial art in Japan at the time. Brazilian jiu jitsu, an outgrowth of judo, followed in this tradition. Indeed, you could say that BJJ is the very epitome of competition as a means of expansion: it first came to attention due to the vale tudo exploits of the original Gracie brothers, most famously Hélio. Decades later, his son Rorion created a superlative marketing tool in the form of the UFC, which has led to BJJ's popularity today. MMA and BJJ continue to have a close relationship.

It is therefore unsurprising that competition has remained a staple of BJJ. In many clubs, tournament performance is a significant factor in promotion, which has the dual effect of objectively evaluating a student and simultaneously enhancing an academy's reputation. That has disadvantages, such as the 'sand bagging' phenomenon, but generally it is a positive part of jiu jitsu. There are even some schools where rank is purely predicated on competition record.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the Gracie University online training system, where the Gracie Academy in Torrance loudly denounces competition as unrealistic. Given their history, this is unsurprising, and at first it seems a logical argument.

However, numerous other styles have hidden behind the "self defence, not a sport" excuse, to their great detriment. By removing competition, a martial art stagnates, as techniques are no longer pressure tested. Instead of empirical data, students are left with their instructor's anecdotes, and training steadily degenerates into compliant drilling and dead movements.

Full contact competition sustains a martial art's vitality and efficacy: fortunately, BJJers generally treasure tournaments. Instructors will often list their personal competitive accomplishments on the school website, where it is treated as a selling point. A gleaming pile of trophies makes for effective advertising.

Yet this comes with its own problems: it can also mean that a black belt scalp is highly prized. As Dave Jacobs discussed on The Underground and NHBGear, higher belts can be put off competing as a result. Particularly when competing against lower ranks, it is arguable that a black belt running a school has nothing to gain, but everything to lose.

Due to the inclusion of a ranking system, competition has an added importance. It is seen as the litmus test, proving to both yourself and anyone who asks that you are indisputably worthy of your belt. For an instructor, it enables them to claim they can prepare others to enter the arena, because they can prove they know what it takes to succeed in that environment.

BJJ is unusual in the sporting world in that the most prestigious competitions, such as the Mundials and Europeans, are open to everyone, not just elite athletes. There is no qualification requirement beyond the often expensive entry fee, which means the only barriers to competition are cost and inclination.

Hobbyists like me can take solace in teachers such as John Danaher. He has never competed, but is nevertheless widely regarded as one of the best jiu jitsu instructors in the world. The paradox is that BJJ could not survive if everyone took the same approach as Danaher.

There is nothing wrong with not competing, but that luxury is only available because of the many who do compete. Without them, BJJ would become debased into yet another martial art with meaningless rank, populated by ten-year olds wearing black belts. Gaining rank in BJJ is currently a long road filled with sweat, years of mat time and tapping: I'd hate to see that change to rapid promotion, grading fees and kata.

BJJ Competition: Further Reading ^
[started 08/04/10, last update 29/10/2013]

-When to Compete: FAQ Entry
-Weight Cutting: Shama, Stephanie
-Preparation: Leslie, Georgette (1) (2), Shawn, Dev (1), (2), Nic Gregoriades
-Why Compete: Mark, Georgette, Dave, Liam (1) (2), Rafael Lovato, Steve, Seymour, Me, Calf of War, heavytraining, side control, DirtyRancher on JiuJiuBJJ.com ("I'm Afraid I'll Get Hurt" and "Should I Compete Later Due To [Reasons]?"), Tracy, Andrew 'Goatfury' Smith, BJJ Canvas, No Guts, No Glory?, Rob Taylor
-Where to Compete: iCompete.org (global), EFN (Europe, especially UK), bjj.ie (Ireland), JiuJitsuCalendar.com (USA)


~ Previous Article ::: Next Article ~

Article - The Rise of Online BJJ Training

Article #12, by Can Sönmez

When the UFC looked to be in its death throes in the final years of SEG, after getting kicked off cable, MMA fans online helped keep the UFC alive. That vibrant internet community was closely related to BJJ, a sport which has greatly benefitted from the growth of mixed martial arts.

The internet has also expanded exponentially over the last decade, meaning that BJJ now has a major presence on the world wide web. There are thousands of BJJers on a huge number of blogs and message boards, discussing the latest gossip, events, and of course, how to get better at jiu jitsu.

With the development of YouTube, it was inevitable that somebody would make the connection between an online community hungry for training resources and a business opportunity. As far as I'm aware, Jean Jacques Machado was the first to take advantage of this market, announcing his online program in late 2006. A few others followed, like the Grapplers Guide in 2007, but online training was still a niche interest.

That appears to have changed, most likely thanks to the advent of Gracie University, which hit the internet in March 2009. Machado's program was and is respected, but it didn't have the aggressive marketing tactics of the Gracie Academy to push it forward. Rorion and his sons may not have been the first to go online, but their widely advertised system demonstrated the viability of online training as a profitable endeavour.

At least, other instructors seem to think so. Tinguinha set up a program in October 2009, Marcelo Garcia in Action opened that December and most recently, Draculino launched his offering in early 2010. Those are just three of the bigger names: there is now considerable competition for your online subscription. They're even pitching their product in forum threads, addressing potential subscribers directly.

Another reason Gracie University arguably made bigger waves than Machado was because they offered rank. For the first time, a Gracie jiu jitsu student could earn their belts without ever stepping inside a school. Whether or not that belt really means anything is quite another question: I still don't feel online ranking is a good idea. Apparently most of the other online training providers agree. Draculino in particular has been explicit about his objections to online ranking:

The belt is something that really matters: it's not a joke. You really have to earn your belts and it's not something that you can give away easy. I sweat a lot, I had to work hard to get my belts [...] because of that, I'm not going to be giving away belts, online. I don't see how somebody can be awarded a belt online, especially if you never met the guy before.

Ok, they're going to show a couple of techniques, and they have to do correctly. Ok, but it's not just show technique, you know? The first thing with a belt, you have to prove time on the mats. [...] You have to see the guy live, you have to put a hand on him, you have to watch him.

The nature of the internet means that online training is quite different to older formats, like tapes, books or indeed DVDs. You can't ask Demian Maia a question as he runs through The Science of Jiu Jitsu: he is just a picture on a screen, which you can pause, rewind and fast-forward. There is no interaction.

By contrast, online training comes with the tempting prospect of having a conversation with those pixels, not just watching them. That is a particular attraction if it is a major figure in the sport, like Marcelo Garcia. I'm sure my old instructor Roger Gracie would do a roaring trade if he ever developed a similar product. An online training program can keep on growing and adapting to the needs of subscribers, though unlike a DVD, you are forced to rely on your internet connection and streaming videos.

Personally, I haven't been tempted: I already have a monthly subscription to a real academy, so lack any desire to pay for a virtual one as well. Still, I can see the benefits, if you have plenty of bandwidth and time. I'm happy working on the fundamental skills and asking my instructor questions, while using a few trusted DVD sets (like Roy Dean, Saulo Ribeiro and Cindy Omatsu) to refine what I already know. So for the moment at least, I'll be keeping my training on the mats instead of a keyboard.

< Previous Article ::: Next Article >

Article - Homophobia & BJJ

Article #11, by Can Sönmez

You may well have seen the photo featuring a grinning Wanderlei Silva, unadorned except for a pair of fightshorts, held from behind by a similarly underdressed training partner. It tends to be captioned with the phrase "it's only gay if you make eye contact." This is part of the "BJJ is gay" meme, something anyone who has trained in BJJ for a while will eventually come across. Often, it will be a friend trying to make a joke about your chosen sport. When positions like 'rear mount' are a common part of class, that isn't exactly hard.

The fact is, two sweaty men rolling around on the floor looks a lot like something else to the uninformed. That is even more the case when it's no-gi, as in the infamous Silva picture. I'm a straight BJJer, so if someone tries to tell me "BJJ is gay," I'll just assume they're ignorant or trying to be funny.

However, I wonder what my response would be if I was a gay BJJer myself. Sport and homosexuality are not on the best of terms: it is still a big decision for a prominent athlete to come out publically. Even gay fans struggle to be acknowledged. Many gay sportsmen and women choose to remain in the closet (naturally it is difficult to get statistics on that, but related stories here, here and here) fearful of media reaction, losing sponsorship, or causing tension in their team. In the past, this worry has been tragically justified.

For a grappling sport like BJJ, homophobia is a particularly pressing concern. There are those who can't help feeling uncomfortable when in close bodily contact with somebody sexually attracted to their gender. This is unfortunate: after all, heterosexual women face that issue every time they step on the mats. The majority of their training partners will be straight men. A heterosexual guy rolling with a homosexual man should be no different: you're both there to learn jiu jitsu, not find a date.

Sites like Matbattle.com (not safe for work) probably don't help matters. That isn't necessarily the fault of Matbattle (although articles like this arguably cross the line), as they are catering to a specific audience, just like the vast slew of titillating material aimed at straight men. What consenting adults want to do in the privacy of their bedroom is their business. However, the problem is when homophobes decide that all gay BJJers are sexual predators waiting to jump on them, most likely pointing to Matbattle as some kind of spurious 'evidence'.

Personally speaking, I haven't seen a lot of homophobia in BJJ. The kind of attitude I'm familiar with is exemplified by my favourite martial arts forum, Bullshido. As much as it occasionally gets dismissed by detractors as a bunch of foul-mouthed meatheads, almost every time I've encountered a thread on gay BJJers, the consensus has been "yeah, so what? They're there to grapple and get better at BJJ, like everyone else." An eminently sensible response.

Nevertheless, there are examples of shockingly homophobic behaviour elsewhere in the sport, as the below video [since removed, unfortunately] investigates (interestingly, the related documentary resulted in two initially contrasting Bullshido discussions. First this, then this, and prior to both of them, one on NHBGear [website down]):  

      I'm keen to hear the perspective of gay BJJers on this topic, so please feel free to share your experiences, good or bad.       < Previous Article ::: Next Article >

Article - BJJ Belts: What's the Point?

Article #10, by Can Sönmez [FAQ Entry]

As far as I'm aware, the idea of using belts to reflect rank was first popularised by Jigoro Kano, who is easily among the most important figures in modern martial arts. According to JudoInfo, Kano's senior students began wearing black belts in 1886, signifying their higher status. It took until 1930 to bring in another colour, an alternating red-and-white belt. BJJ was once similarly sparse on rank, as Royce Gracie explained in a recent interview:

In my father's old days, in the beginning, the history of jiu jitsu let's say, there was a white belt, a blue belt, and a navy blue belt for the instructors. That was very hard to get, it wasn't just anybody could get it. There were no stripes, just plain blue belt. That's what my father used to use for the longest time, until about 1970s, when people create the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation. Under pressure, my father kinda give in, and told the people, "Go ahead, do the Federation." That's when they came up with all kinds of different belt colours, and they award him red belt, ten stripes.

The JudoInfo article goes on to state that in 1935, Mikonosuke Kawaishi introduced a more extensive system in Europe, ten years after Carlos Gracie opened his Rio academy. The reason is telling: "[Kawaishi] felt that western students would show greater progress if they had a visible system of many coloured belts recognizing achievement and providing regular incentives."

This continues to be a major factor in why people like to get new belts. It is human to crave praise, from your mother smiling at some abstract scribble you produced at the nursery, right through to your boss congratulating you on a job well done. In BJJ, belts are supposed to be a direct reflection of ability, meaning that in a legitimate school, promotion can be a cause for great pride. You've accomplished something, and are now being recognised.

The purpose of a belt is to mark your progress. That makes it easier for the instructor, if they're looking for an uke, or if they want to match people up during sparring. It also grants you greater access to competition: if you've spent the past year or two smashing your way through all the white belt tournaments, then you're going to get a lot more out of competing at a higher level against challenging opposition.

Yet many people feel undeserving upon promotion. What if you haven't been dominating at competition? What about that one girl in class who always manages to pass your guard? Or the big white belt who tapped you with an Americana yesterday: why isn't he getting promoted?

The only absolute is your instructor's faith in your ability. BJJ leaves you in no doubt about your failings, as the mat is a harsh critic. There are always areas to work on and people who can painfully expose those mistakes. In BJJ's highly subjective ranking system, it is essential you feel able to trust your instructor's opinion.

If the instructor is worthy of a student's trust, due to their honestly earned rank, then BJJ's meritocratic grading process falls into place. This is why it is so important to maintain the direct link between ability and status in BJJ belts: any frauds who seek to debase rank must be exposed. Many other martial arts have lost all credibility due to compliant belt examinations, where the candidate is never truly tested. If performance against full resistance is not a central part of promotion, the belt becomes meaningless.

At the same time, obsessing over a piece of cloth instead of concentrating on your actual ability is detrimental. After all, Hélio eventually gave up his impressive red belt with ten stripes, preferring instead to wear one of those old blue belts. He didn't need a belt to demonstrate his skills: he already had incontrovertible proof, in the ring and on the mat.

< Previous Article ::: Next Article >