Had a new guy last week. I got partnered with him on his second day. A general rule of thumb I've seen is "tap them 3 times, then let them work." This may have been a bad rule for me to follow that day, because we were doing lightning rounds. A purple belt told me to teach him something. Unfortunately time was over. My understanding is that 3x rule comes from the idea that if you don't at least let someone know that you are capable of smashing them, they might assume the gym has... Read more ..read more

I've been working on wristlocks a lot lately. Trying to apply what I learned in Hapkido to BJJ. One thing I think is interesting is the very different approach both arts take to what I would consider to be the fundamental wristlocks of the art. In HKD, wristlocks are typically made by going 2-on-1 on the hand and wrist that you're attacking. A couple examples from a thread I posted a long time ago in the HKD forum: ... Read more ..read more

Could someone possibly offer some suggestions on the best exercises to increase mobility and leg stength to do the double leg takedown. In particular, the move where you fall to one knee. So for the double-leg takedown, you start in a horse stance/surfer squat stance. You then fall to one knee for the front knee to the ground. You swing around the rear leg to behind the other person's leg and bring them down. I have great trouble falling to one knee from a surfer stance. I just don't seem... Read more ..read more

Someone competes in a tournament, wins gold. While standing atop the podium, their professor gives them their new belt. My gym has seen this. My gym has done this. We had a 6-year-old girl get her solid gray belt on the podium, and a 40-year-old man get his purple belt. We've also had multiple folks lose a match, and then the winner went on to get promoted. This includes blue belts who lost to a soon-to-be purple, white belts who lost to a soon-to-be blue, and gray belts who lost to... Read more ..read more

I’m a professional drummer with tendinitis in both wrists. I’ve been thinking about studying bjj for self defense but I’m concerned about getting injured to where I can’t play the drums. I wanted to get everybody’s advice here on the issue and any tips that you might be able to offer. Thanks ..read more

I missed class this Monday (to check out a TKD school in my area). At my school, M-W-F is gi, Tu-Th is no-gi. We often do the same stuff in both gi and no-gi, but just as often we'll do something different. I get to the kid's class to help out yesterday (Wednesday). Professor asks a purple belt, "What did we do on Monday?" Purple: "I don't remember." Professor: "Me neither." He then asks the other blue belt coach (purple belt's brother). He shrugs. I wasn't there, so I shrug. One... Read more ..read more

New game we've started playing in BJJ is Pick Your Shot. The game is simple, one player is the "top" at the start of a 2.5-minute round. They get to pick the starting position. Live roll, once there's a submission, reset, top player again picks their shot. After 2.5 minutes, switch top/bottom, the other player gets to call their shot. Your shot could be something simple like "mount" or "side control." Or it could be a 90%-locked-in submission. You get to pick your shot, where are you... Read more ..read more

We only had a couple of classes this week, due to the holidays. Class this week was run with the template: student asks a question, coaches answer, then students drill the answer. It was a very unique experience in and of itself. The second day is what I really wanted to talk about, though. Class was being run by a brown belt. Our professor (4th degree black belt) would not answer any questions without first asking permission of the brown belt. There were a few times the brown belt... Read more ..read more

I’ll try to keep this brief. Fell in love with BJJ about a decade ago and was hooked day one. Trained religiously for 6-7 or so years, competed, did well and was a purple belt for about a year prior to having an extremely rare condition which paralyzed me waste down for about 3 months, took about 18 months to recover as best possible. Full mobility and range of motion/strength just neuropathy in feet a bit is all. Rolled maybe twice, got staph on my quad and needed leg saving surgery... Read more ..read more

I used to do Muay Thai many years ago but had to stop because of wrist pain from the striking ( I have tendinitis in my wrists). I’m a full time musician so I have to be careful to not mess up my wrists. I’ve been looking into bjj for self defense and exercise. Is bjj a good alternative to Muay Thai and safer for my wrists ..read more