On August 8, I was teaching an early morning BJJ class. I was filling in for the main instructor. We had a few people getting ready for Worlds so we sparred the entire time. I wanted to up the intensity a bit, so the last 5 or so minutes were 1 minute rounds where people were pushing because you only had 1 minute to do anything. We then finished with a bit of fun and did some sumo to round out the class. We had a couple belts down on the mat and the goal was to push, pull or otherwise force your opponent out of the circle. Just as I was about to force my guy out, he got me to step out and as I ..read more

Disclaimer: A representative from Elite Sports sent me a gi for free to try it out in exchange for the post. I’ve been training BJJ for just over 6 years. In August of 2012 I bought a white gi and that was my only gi for about 4 months. I’d wear it to class on Monday, wash it on Tuesday and wear it on Wednesday. Eventually, I bought a new gi so that I could train more than 2 times a week.  I liked those gis, they were nothing special, just what my gym sold.  About 2 months ago, the pants of the first gi and the jacket of the second both got ripped.  Then a few weeks ago, th ..read more

Over the past year or so I’ve been taking privates, and it seems to have helped. One thing I picked up a few months ago was this phrase “Play the position, not the belt.” It actually goes two ways.  The original meaning was that when I spar against blues and whites I’m worried about getting beat and so I’d try harder and do dumb things. So Professor Ed was reminding me to keep playing the position whether the guy was a white or blue belt. Lately, though, I’ve been finding that I’m also applying that against higher belts. This time it’s a reminder that even though the person I’m going agai ..read more

There’s a lot of talk in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu about belts. In part this is because there are so few belts that people look at them as major accomplishments. For example, it took me 2 years to go from white to blue. Next month, I’ll have been a blue belt for 3 years, and probably only about 1/2 the way to purple at this point.  So when someone gets a new belt, it’s a big deal. But there are also people who talk about how the belts don’t matter, and you should just enjoy training. And there’s truth to that. If you’re in this for belts, you’re in the wrong martial art. An average person with ..read more

On August 8, I was teaching an early morning BJJ class. I was filling in for the main instructor. We had a few people getting ready for Worlds so we sparred the entire time. I wanted to up the intensity a bit, so the last 5 or so minutes were 1 minute rounds where people were pushing because you only had 1 minute to do anything. We then finished with a bit of fun and did some sumo to round out the class. We had a couple belts down on the mat and the goal was to push, pull or otherwise force your opponent out of the circle. Just as I was about to force my guy out, he got me to step out an ..read more