Getting better faster: Coming full circle?

In jiu-jitsu in my opinion to be great or one of the best in the world, and you can check out any past world champion and look at them and see that they are a well rounded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter. I am sure you can find one or two who exclusively played guard, one being Pe de Pano who he himself said all he did was pull guard and win championships like that, but thats another post. What I am getting at is, the more i train the more I realize that you have to come full circle as soon as possible. I dont mean in the sense that you have to be great fast but that you have to have an idea from everywhere I believe. Meaning that, if you are under 3 years of bjj experience, then you should try and be good on top, good on bottom, and just basically have a good understanding of everything. A lot of times people just want to be on top or on bottom. 

Look at the greats! They had top games and bottom games. Ryan Hall said something to this effect in an interview in the past, where he was discussing how he was just a bottom guy in the beginning when he was triangling everyone it seemed, and how that completely messed up his ascension to the top of the mountain in jiu-jitsu. 

Me personally I believe I have taking gigantic strides in this aspect, where the first 12-15 months I was predominantly a bottom guy. During the last 7 months or so, I have become pretty good at passing. Honestly I pass pretty well, but I know i have a tremendous ways to go in improving my passing ability. I pass so well in fact that coupled with my improved conditioning, I feel more comfortable on top these days.

My school is predominantly top driven, so I have been getting remarkable help and instruction from Tim Burrill, he is the master of passing. I will be great at it as well!

Jul

29

2010

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Becoming a Giant killer…

David vs Goliath. Overcoming in jiu-jitsu what seems impossible or just really hard to do. Beating the guys that weigh 230lbs and above, the extreme aboves! We have all probably seen one or several accounts of the the David vs Goliath match ups at local BJJ tournaments. And they’re always a spectacle.  Everyone wants to see David SLAY Goliath everytime. And why not? Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was made for the smaller weaker people. I think this is partly why the Absolutes of tournaments are so compelling.

So what does this mean to me. Well if you have been following my blog you will remember  I competed

at the World Pro Trials in Florida this winter. While I won my division, I went to compete in the Absolute  won my first 2 matches and lost to a very guy big guy. I was overwhelmed by his sheer size, I remember being steam rolled, and I did not like that one bit. He literally grabbed me pushed me back, until I fell on my butt into half guard. Real quick, half guard is not a good place to be in with a man over 240 on top.

I came away from this tournament with a sour taste in my mouth. Not because I had lost, but because of how I lost, my desire to be great and become a World Champion not only in my division but in the Absolutes had made me absolutely crazy about beating the HUGE guy in the division.

Over the past few months I have been tweaking my game to beat these guys. And to do that I have been watching of course regular sized guys vs big guys. My favorites are

I get to see what works and what doesnt work. The trend that I see the most is that the little guys play a different game then what they would against a smaller opponent. Like you can see Tarsis do a drop seio nagi in the video but you never see him do that against anyone else. Not to say that the drop seio isnt one of the single greatest throws in judo, but Tarsis plays a little different. 

And I have noticed that about my self and my progreess vs big guys. I play different. Passing changes, Playing guard changes, being mounted is probably not good, getting side mount is different. The way you escape bad positions will significantly improve if you can escape big guys, why because everything you go there is pressure or a stomach overlapping your leg. Everything changes. I want to be the absolute champion everywhere I go. And in order to do that you gotta beat the big guys, have great technical ability, and be in tremendous shape. These are all things I am figuring out and as the new season of grappling approaches, I will be ready to take on Goliath with a good performance unlike the last time.And this is not to say that these big guys arent good, theyre just as good if not better, but they also have an attribute based advantage on us, sort of like the guy in your school who is flexible, had long legs, or is stupid strong and he is never in the gym and is always eating fast food like this kid Jamestown in our gym. These guys are a challenge for me! Ossssssss

Act as if it were impossible to fail. - Dorthy Broude

Jul

26

2010

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Faixa Roxa…Ossssss



Here I am, 21 months later. Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Tim Burrill! I earned it training 2 sometimes even 3 times a day and hard work, now its time for me to prove I deserve to be at the top of the heap at purple. I didn’t realize it right then when I got promoted but after everyone had left, I thought: “wow there are some really tough guys at purple”. Guys im not sure if they have received their promotion yet or not. I am looking forward to ripping it up this year! 

On the top of my list is Nogi pan-ams, and nogi worlds! I didn’t get a chance to compete at the Mundials, but I will still have a shot at being a world champion nogi. I havent written recently besides my highlight of NY Open, but I have switched up my classes that I teach during the day. instead of all of them being gi, now 2 of them are nogi and 1 is gi. I am having a ton of emphasis on wrestling, takedowns, and finishes right now. Making the switch from gi to nogi is a tough one for me. I know i am still effective without the gi, but to have the same kind of confidence I do outside the gi is lacking for sure. Recently My confidence has been raising up nogi. I have been watching a ton of instructional’s for wrestling. I am learning how to drill wrestling stuff. Stuff i wished my wrestling buddies would have taught me instead of just techniques. Because I am realizing more and more that grappling isn’t about single techniques when you get up in belt and up in experience. Its the tiny little details of positions, transitions. I am pretty good at the flower sweep, and you will still catch me drilling the crap out of it. So back to wrestling. I have been working on polishing up my wrestling posture when Im standing up. A dvd that has helped me a ton with drills is Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan. He talks about “shoulder, knee and toe alignment”. Making the shoulder knee and toe aligned whenever your moving, when your shooting, and were just doing this over and over in my class. Ahhh there is so much! So much drilling and trying to be disciplined in our positions.  I am also watching alot of Bobby Douglas, and some Dan Gable. Here are my goals:
  1. Take down the wrestlers.
Thats it for now =) I am preparing, and I will be prepared.

Before I forget, i want to thank everyone whos ever trained with me, from California, to Maryland, to Massechusetts, New York, I wouldnt be who I am were it not for your rolls. More over I want to thank the guys who train with me every single day at Tim Burrill’s BJJ in Providence, Rhode Island, and more important Dan “Micro” Faggell whos helped me so much with the thinking of jiu jitsu and just being one of the most dedicated grapplers I have ever met, Dustin Rhodes i hate you =), Paulo and Vinny for being the core group of guys in my class always helping me prepare for tournaments, my instructors Daymon Smith who continues to be a bar i keep reaching for in terms of giving abuse hahaha, Mat Santos always helping me whenever i asked and of course Tim Burrill for being a great mentor, coach and friend for trusting me to be the rank of purple belt.  If this thank paragraph did not make sense, thank you too. I am very happy right now. =D Ossssss!!!!

“The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare” -the wall at Iowa State wrestling room.

Jun

24

2010

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