Today, his second season began. He is Wrestling 6 and under again this year, and he was at 70 lbs. He had 3 matches at this novice tournament, 4 kids in the bracket, and they did round robin style bracketing.

First match was with a kid in our home town Wrestling Club. I hate it when they have to compete against their buddies, but such is life at times. Our club had the most kids there, so it was probably inevitable, and will probably compete against this kid a few more times this year, which is cool. He won his first match on points, going all 3 rounds, and won 14 -5.

Second match he won by pin in the 1st round, and 3rd match, he won by pin in the second round.

He did a great job of listening for one thing, and working hard for another. I told him I just wanted to see him give his all, and work hard, and no matter the outcome, I'd be happy. He shot good takedowns, worked half-nelsons, and did good at staying chest to chest and staying heavy on the other competitors. He needs work on keeping kids from standing and escaping when he is on top, but, all in all, he's got some positives to build on.

Being the proud dad that I am, I'll probably keep updating here as the season goes along. We plan to hit some open tournaments as the year goes along, so he'll get to Wrestle some more skilled kids as well. I told him there will be days when he won't win them all, but its important because he will still learn some good things, and he'll still be Wrestling.

Thoughts and Reflections on this Article

This article is found on the Police Magazine website, and it caught my eye when I saw the title pop up in my work email. Since I’m both a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) and a life-long Martial Arts practitioner, it reeled me in. I thought there were some good points in the article, and there were some things that I didn’t quite agree with, and I thought I’d take the time to share them here. I haven’t written an article for KarateForums.com in quite some time, so I figured I’m about due, anyway. This is going to get long, so strap in and enjoy the ride, KF.

I need to start out by stating that I am not a consistent practitioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (henceforth in this article denoted as BJJ). I’ve had what BJJ practitioners would call limited exposure to this style, but what I’ve experienced I’ve found useful. There are no BJJ academies in my area to train at, but I have accumulated a very base knowledge of the style. I trained consistently for a couple of years with a Defensive Tactics Club at Fort Hays State University in which the instructor had experience with BJJ and provided instruction on it at the club in a no-gi format. I’ve also attended the GRACIE Defensive Tactics Course for LEO twice (originally for certification, and once for recertification), taught by Royce Gracie. The training was fantastic, and I would recommend it for anyone in law enforcement. Not that it really counts, but I also own and have read several texts on BJJ published by very respected practitioners of the style, including, but not limited to, Royce Graice, Jean Jacques Machado, and Royler and Helio Gracie.

With the preliminaries out of the way, onto the meat of this article. I’ll be pulling out various sections of the article to quote, and I’ll try to map it by paragraph number as it appears on the website.

In a culture of intense scrutiny of police control techniques and accusations of brutality based on cell phone videos, it is imperative that law enforcement trainers re-evaluate what they are teaching officers.

This has never been more true. However, I would say that many departments are pre-empting this by providing their officers with body-worn cameras, which means that not only could the general public be recording what’s going on, but the officer should be recording what’s going on as well. I work for a department that issues body-worn cameras to their patrol officers, and I have found them to be quite useful, both in investigations, and in dealing with complaints. I also find them quite useful in use-of-force training, providing a first-person view of incidents allowing for a review of the situation, and how to help officers better protect themselves, and thus better protect others. I would not use video footage to “Monday morning quarterback” what an officer did, but rather use it as a tool to try to understand what happened, what the circumstances were, and how we can get better going forward. Many times, a video of a use-of-force incident will get released to the public (which I have my own opinions on this practice) and it won’t be long before many people post and say, “the officer should have done this,” or, “I wouldn’t have done that, I’d have just done this or that,” without having any idea what the actual situation was from start to finish, or how the officer felt at the time that it happened.

I digress; that was a bit of a tangent. But hey, it’s my article…. Moving on in paragraph 1, the authors mention that while baton strikes and punches may be justified by a use-of-force policy, they don’t look good to the public, the authors describing them as “awful but lawful.” I agree that it looks much better on video to see an officer take someone to the ground and control them than it does to have to strike someone to get them to submit. As officers, we tend to want to take all resistance to the ground immediately, and there’s no denying that arts like BJJ and wrestling are very good at this. Get them down, get them cuffed, ending the struggle as quickly as possible, because the longer the struggle goes on, the more likely someone is to get hurt (officer or suspect; yeah, we get hurt, too).

Paragraph 2 goes on to talk about how BJJ has grown in popularity and has also become the basis of many defensive tactics (DT) programs. However, the authors referred to these programs as “elective” programs. The fact of the matter is that DT training isn’t always a focus for officers, and some would prefer not to attend DT training if they don’t have to. It’s human nature; I’d prefer not to attend training on computer crimes. The authors also mentioned a movement on social media called #bjjmakeitmanditory, a push to make BJJ a new standard of mandatory training for officers. I had not heard of that social media movement, but then again, I’m not on a lot of social media platforms (just a Facebook account I check infrequently). Is this a genuine push for BJJ in DT, or a marketing ploy by BJJ academies? Not sure, but I wouldn’t be opposed to more BJJ-based training for LEO DT (but it shouldn’t be the only thing trained, either).

The number one objective for officers is to go home safely at the end of their shifts. The number one objective for defensive tactics instructors is to teach officers how to accomplish that objective by using force when it is necessary and legally justified.

This is the goal, while keeping everyone involved as safe as we possibly can. I think about this all the time when putting together training sessions, and making sure I do the best job I can to prepare the officers to do this.

However, the existing style of training does not escape backlash from the media when required force is used….BJJ teaches methods to control a suspect and restrain them in various positions, rather than striking them, which reduces the risk of injury to the suspect as well as to the officer.

I think these are very sound points. Striking is not only a good way to hurt someone else, but improper striking by an inexperienced person is a good way to get themselves hurt as well. A suspect’s fractured nose or occipital bone is likely to end up being a doctor’s bill that comes out of the department budget, along with who knows what kind of civil or criminal action could be litigated on the officer depending on whether the use-of-force was justified. Even if it is justified, if a right-handed officer breaks his/her right hand in a struggle, then they’ve shut down the use of their gun-hand for the foreseeable future, thus taking them off the street until they’re healed, which presents its own host of logistical problems for the department.

Therefore, if BJJ training is made mandatory, the term “defensive tactics” could credibly be replaced with “control tactics.”

I don’t agree with the idea of changing the terminology here. I think the term “control tactics” is more limiting than the term “defensive tactics,” which could end up limiting officers to fewer options when it comes to responses to situations. Every situation is different, and as much as I think BJJ provides a lot of answers to a lot of problems, it’s important to keep options open for the use of other tactics besides grappling. I don’t mind the use of the term “control tactics,” and see it as a very valid term. I could see the combination of the terms as useful, to “defensive and control tactics.”

Our agency, the Marietta (GA) Police Department, has been teaching limited BJJ techniques in-house for more than a decade. The training is made up of a mandatory four-hour session taught annually and augmented with open mat sessions offered monthly. The department’s curriculum of in-service open mat and recruit training has morphed into mostly BJJ and less striking.

I think this is a great idea, however, this department is uniquely situated to have this kind of training available. A quick internet search of Marietta turned up no fewer than 6 options for training BJJ, and that doesn’t count what is likely also available in Atlanta, just 20 miles away.

In paragraph 5, the authors talk about some of the issues that popped up with the availability of training. They said many of their officers started to seek out BJJ training on their own time, but the open mat sessions they provided had limited success (likely due to the nature of officers’ rotating schedules). As one might conclude, they started having the same officers show up for open mat regularly (most likely the Martial Arts enthusiasts). The authors also noted that their instructors trained at a local gym and were limited to the knowledge they had received.

The certified instructors at the gym began offering law enforcement specific classes, which led to greater attendance from other MPD officers. The instructors explained that they felt sporadic and minimal (annual) training was not nearly as effective as it should be. They believed officers should train “a little a lot” throughout the year versus the existing “a lot a little” mentality.

To further this,

Most agencies train once a year on defensive tactics and then move on to the next required topic. Training on a regular basis is the key to becoming proficient.

I agree with this whole-heartedly, and I believe it is a huge issue for law enforcement as a whole. I found it surprising that some larger agencies only trained DT once a year. I’m fortunate to work in a department where the Sheriff believes this training is important and believes the frequency of the training is as important as the content of the training. I hold DT training monthly except when I’m working the night shift. I usually conduct training in two-hour blocks, which I feel allows me to keep the attention of the officers engaged throughout the training, and they don’t have to fret about spending a four hour session getting sore and beat up. This also makes it easier on the department to schedule everyone for training.

Later in paragraph 6, the authors mentioned that they made BJJ training mandatory for all recruits before, during, and after academy, requiring weekly training up until they began working the road. I like this approach, but it wouldn’t work for every agency. Most departments in the state of Kansas have to send their officers to the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) in Hutchinson, KS, to receive their officer certification. When new officers go to the academy, I have no control over what kind of DT training they receive. They get what they get while they’re there, and I have to wait until they complete the 14 week academy before I can get them back into my training regimen. However, most departments run a field training program upon the officer’s graduation from academy, and this would be the ideal time to set up that kind of training.

Paragraphs 8 and 9 go on to talk about how a major in their department attended one of the LEO-focused DT classes offered by a local BJJ gym, and decided it was important enough to get it integrated into department training for new officers. Getting some of the brass to experience this kind of training and get behind it is a great start for getting other brass on board. They are often busy and getting them there to begin with is part of the challenge.

The next paragraphs go into how the program got set up.

In order to convince the rest of the command staff to consider adopting the program, it was immediately clear it needed to be reasonable, sustainable, and affordable. If any of the three factors were missing, the program would fail.

Budget is a factor that department supervisors have to worry about, along with all the other issues that come with the job. Supervisors want to provide the best opportunities they can for their officers, but the budget has to be respected, too. Larger departments have larger budgets, and larger metropolitan areas also have more options available locally. The opportunities available to a department like Marietta PD aren’t always available to smaller, more rural departments.

By going outside the agency for instruction, we could train with BJJ experts at varying hours, providing flexibility without putting new additional pressure on our own instructors.

This is great, if the opportunity is available. As much as I’d like to pitch something like this to my department, the opportunity just isn’t available in my area, and many smaller departments have even fewer options available to them. In my hometown, there are 5 options available; a Taekwondo school (which I’m a member of), an Aikido club (also a member), a Boxing club, a Karate school, and a local gym that offers MMA training which includes a grappling class (no-gi). Even with these options, each school is limited in the classes they offer and the times they are available.

The school Marietta PD chose to work through offered nine classes a week, with morning, afternoon, and evening availability. They required their recruits to attend at least one class per week for 5 months. They negotiated a lower rate with the gym on their “drop-in” daily rate and provided gis for the recruits. They stated their monthly gym bill for training and gis was in the hundreds of dollars, and they average between 4 and 10 recruits at a time. DT instructor courses can be pretty costly; I’ve seen them range from $600 to over $1000 for week-long (5 day) courses over 8 hours each day.

In paragraph 15, they talk about the first group they ran through this new program, 7 recruits, three of which had prior experience in Martial Arts or Wrestling. Each recruit attended 1 class per week minimum, but they all had weeks where they attended three training sessions (unknown how long each session was). Marietta PD reported that these 7 recruits accumulated 159 hours of training with no injuries. The paragraph concludes by stating that 30% of the officers continued their training after the 5-month period was over and were willing to continue their training by paying out of pocket.

This is a step in the right direction for sure. It’d be nice to see that retention number higher, but the fact of the matter is that not every officer that is hired is going to push themselves to training outside of work. Some have other family matters they tend to, and some just don’t feel the need to do it. Others, as we know in the Martial Arts world, just aren’t interested. Those of us who take an interest in training are willing to go out and find it, pay for it, and attend regularly. Those that don’t may want some kind of incentive or stipend from the department to justify getting themselves into training. I think it would be nice if departments could offer something like that, but again, the budget must be kept in mind. And if supervisors are spending money out of the budget to offer opportunities like this to the officers, they’ll want to be assured the resource is being taken advantage of; if it isn’t, then it will be taken out of the budget, and no one would benefit.

The article finishes with how they notified media about their training program and the local media’s response to it. I think this department definitely took a step in the right direction for law enforcement in general. I hope other DT instructors can read this article and use it to promote more improved, more frequent, and more effective use-of-force training in their departments. I like the approach Marietta PD took with BJJ, but it wouldn’t have to be BJJ for every department. There are lots of good options out there, and the more consistent the training is, the more effective the officers become, and the better protected they are. More effective officers can also protect resisting, combative individuals as well. In the end, everyone benefits.

I hope everyone got something useful out of this long, rambling reaction to an article I happened to read, and I look forward to any and all comments.

As a Karateka, I was the type that would train as much as I can (4xweek 2 hour sessions etc.) I was "all-in/gung-ho" when I was in my 20s to 30s, because it was something I always enjoyed, and it was my only physical activity that garnered genuine interest. I have dabbled in Judo and BJJ while training mainly as a Karateka, but never stuck to it long enough to earn ranks or progress effectively.

Fast-forward to the present..

Currently, I am approaching my 40's and are hoping my body will be able to handle the amount of training I plan on pursuing. My heart and energy level is preparing to train 3-4 times a week, but I have noticed my body has more aches (especially my hands and knuckles) and I hear more gas bubbles cracking at all joints from simple activities such as getting up, walking, any minimal strain. It is not painful once-soever, but it is a painful reminder that the door to my youth is closing soon, and it will stay closed and never open again..

I'm hoping I will be lucky and progress without having to absorb any serious injury or anything debilitating that would put me out for months. I say this, because I have read horror stories online of people getting debilitating injuries to the point of requiring surgery. I'm not looking to eventually compete (although it isn't out of the question) I would just like to learn enough to utilize the style to defend myself on the ground and maybe reach a level of proficiency that's above immediate beginner (blue or purple belt?)

Does anyone here currently train and are in their 30's or above? how is your training going and how is your body keeping up with the style?

Notes on reading Aikido and the Harmony of Nature, by Mitsugi Saotome:

3/29/2024, reading pg. 191 about Shomenuchi Ikkyo:

…you must see the movement of your partner’s center and deal not with his hand, but with the direction of his force.

I guess I never thought of defending a kick or a punch this way. But in sparring, techniques come at you so fast, one can get overwhelmed. I will try to focus more on this concept, and not just think about blocking a strike. The strike coming at you is a concrete thing; the idea of the direction of the force seems more an abstract way of thinking about it. In the end, perhaps it simplifies things? Instead of thinking about how to defend a side kick or a front kick or a straight punch, think about the direction of the force, which these three different strikes produce a similar direction of force. Defend that direction of force. Also important here is to pay attention to their center, and how you can affect it through defense. If I only deal with the striking tool, I leave myself to the mercy of the other striking tools, whereas if I deal with the center, I can perhaps better control the other striking tools.

…without conflict, without impact, you must first connect with the attacking arm by joining it’s direction.

The passage then goes on to talk about subtly changing that direction.

Sensei Brandon has referred to this as “blending.” I will try to see it more when I train.

Saotome wrote about some class teaching experiences in which he’d focus on a particular movement or feeling (like a particular technique). He said the beginners will be the ones really conscious of the point he made, but the more advanced students, who have done it more, are often filled with preconceptions of what the technique should be. He stated, “that they have forgotten how to see.” This makes me think of complacency. I’m sure I do this in my Taekwondo training, but I do it less in Aikido right now, as it is still fresh and new, and I can view things through “the eyes of a beginner.”

3/30/2024, reading pg. 197 about de-ai, “the meeting”:

Be aware of not only your center and your partner’s center, but also be aware of the center of the combination of the two.

Sensei Brandon talks often about using our center when doing techniques, keeping weight under center and the like. As a new student trying to get techniques down, I find myself thinking of what I’m doing or what I’m doing wrong all the time. I try to keep track of where my center is, but thinking about the center of the two of us is going to be difficult. But I’m going to try to make the effort to be cognizant of it. I think once I get the hang of keeping my center where I want it, being aware of the center of both of us will come more easily (yet still be difficult!).[/i]

We had a student come into Karate who had zero MA training at all who took a trial class at a BJJ school and he said he was rolling with students within 30 minutes. They showed him a couple basic movies and then he was thrown right into the fire. He also said that he was instructed to try standing front and back rolls on his first day. He felt the class was unsafe due to his lack of training and experience. Again, not sure if this is common or not, it is only based on one student's explained experience. In the other styles I have done, which are several, it takes weeks before you spar. I realize some of this might vary depending on the school as well.

I just picked up a copy of 'the Black Belt Blueprint' by Nicolas Gregoriades and thought it might be of interest to some people to write a short review. I know that for myself i often look for reviews of martial arts books etc prior to purchase so i thought it might be useful.

I have a few other bjj books in the house that i would be happy to include a short write up on if anyone is interested

Review

The book is quite short but i think it is a good one. What it most definitely is NOT is a book full of techniques ala Jiu Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro or the Guard series of books by Joe Moreira & Ed Benneville. What it IS is a book covering general concepts for bjj and suggested methods for learning and absorption of techniques.

Personally i think it is best aimed at people with at least a year or two of experience in bjj to get benefits from it.

There is a really nice section covering suggested methods for drilling to retain new technqiues and make them a reflex.

A lot of the information due to the length of the book is quite high level but i think it is enough (personally) to give some ideas of areas to develop in and i think it will likely be quite helpful.

On the negative side there are a number of errors in the book, typos, mislabelled diagrams etc that do takeaway a little from the professionalism of the book. It is quite obvious that it is self published and it could have done with a higher level of proof reading (as an example there is one picture in my copy that shows someone performing an achilles lock to illustrate a point but the accompanying text discusses an armbar). Personally i don't find these errors too bothersome as the meaning of all of the sections is still clear but some people might.

Overall i would recommend it though.

What would you recommend to be on this list and why?

What is your opinion on Aikido today; is it doomed or is it flourishing?

I had a look and believe it to be a fantastic addition to bjj training.

Has anyone in fact undergone the testing process and obtained the belt?

Due to the weight of them taking the top spot, I frequently gas out and just tap from them being on top position.

It also depends on whether I pair with them at the beginning of the rolling session. Sometimes I can hold my own, but it quickly turns into a fight for my life, and by the time we exchange partners a couple more times till the finish of class, I'm already exhausted.

Anyone have any tips based on personal experience?

However, I've really wanted to work for a particular organization for a while, and I've finally gotten to a point where I could make that change. Unfortunately, doing so would require that I move two hours away. Fortunately, my current head instructor has a brown belt student with a school of his own at the location I would move to. My concern is, would changing from a fourth degree black belt to a brown belt instructor hinder my growth? Have any of you had or witnessed such an experience? What are your thoughts on this issue?

First off, this isn't your typical "versus" YouTube video. I thought it was very tactfully done, with each stylist getting to display their skills.

I thought this was a great video, and as I watched it, I noticed a couple of things:

1. The wrestler's takedown game was very, very good. He was able to take the BJJer down with relative ease, and he didn't have much defense against it. The wrestler was also able to use his takedowns to establish a dominant position. The BJJer did not show any effective takedown technique, that I could see.

2. The BJJer was very good at getting into guard after being taken down. It would afford him the opportunity to begin mounting a defense if the fight continued.

3. When the grappling continued, the BJJer did lock up at least a few good submissions; the heel hook, and I think he had a choke that would gone his way. The wrestler was pretty good at maintaining good position, but other than working for a pin, didn't show much of a submission game (which I kind of expected).

So, some other notes:

Aside from the two subs put on the wrestler in the continuous grappling portion of the video, I thought the wrestler did an overall decent job of defending subs.

The weight difference was an important factor, I think. Also, the wrestler's athleticism was a huge advantage to him. I think if you put them both in gis, things slow down a bit, and favors the BJJer a bit more.

I'm just guessing here, but I'm assuming the wrestler, who I think they said was a high school senior with prospects of a collegiate wrestling career, has probably been wrestling since he was 6 or earlier, giving him a lot of years of experience. The BJJer appeared to be in good shape, but he didn't appear to be DI athlete material. For all that, the BJJer performed very well.

I liked how they talked and evaluated things after they were done. Both showed a great martial attitude towards working together, and admitted that each one's style had strengths that the other could benefit from.

I'm anxious to hear what others think!

Like many practitioners of martial arts, I'm getting interested in picking another one. Preferably one of the martial arts that are the topic of this section: judo, jujitsu, BJJ, aikido.

Unfortunately, I have an obstacle. I trained judo as a child and through repeated minor injuries, my elbow started to fall out of the joint. It doesn't fall out any more, it healed when I stopped practicing judo, but it bends in both directions and I'm afraid it will fall of the joint again if I put too much strain on it.

So having that in mind, is there a martial art or fighting style apart from striking and kicking styles that wouldn't destroy my elbow?

I am sorry for the long post, but I feel much better now, sharing my feelings with people who can understand me and guide me through my decision.

I have been practicing Shotokan karate for the past 9 years. I started it at 18 and now I'm 27. Since the day I started, karate has always been a passion for me.

However, in the last two years, my feelings about my karate club started to change. The club got more and more competition oriented, which is not a very bad thing for many, but just a source of frustration for the likes of me (who compete occasionally and not for medals). Instructors started to teach kids how to impress referees to get more points before correcting their techniques. And I started to find modern kumite more useless as I trained, and feel that it is more of a burden on my body trying to keep up with kids of age at most 16. And I started to think "What is the use of being fast or getting all flags up if your technique is not useful at all?" Last but not least, the club is swarming with little kids! There is not enough room for performing techniques without interruption and people bump into each other.

Not being a competitor, the instructors do not care about me much, either. They haven't corrected my technique for such a long time-maybe for two years.

To make a long story short, sadly, I do not feel that I am learning new things and improving my technique at all. And I am afraid I will not be able to find a new dojo in the entire city to my liking. I am not sure Sensei would let me go to another dojo, either. Because of all these reasons, I decided to try out new things. I started practicing iaido one year ago and judo three months ago, once a week, to get to know other martial arts. I enjoy iaido very much, but the sessions are once a week only. I hope to continue learning iaido as long as I can.

Although judo takes a toll on my body (probably because of not being used to hitting the ground) and I feel more injury-prone during sessions (because I cannot do much without a partner in judo and my partners are usually tougher than me), I enjoy trying the throws and falls. It is a totally different world.

Plus, Sensei corrects me whenever I make a mistake and then I can feel I am doing better, which makes me really happy. I can feel I am learning new things and improving what I once did wrong. And my classmates are serious and enthusiastic people, unlike the kids in the karate club who come to training because their family force them to.

I still do not know what I expect from a martial art. I do not know why I adhered to karate that much. Just for the feeling of achieving something? Because I was seeking some kind of guidance? To socialize with people? For gaining self-confidence? For keeping fit? Well, the last one would be the weakest reason, because I have never felt fitter my entire life. I simply loved karate and I still love it, but I feel it is time to move on.

I decided to quit karate for about six months and concentrate on judo. Then I will decide whether to quit it forever or give it another chance.

So, what would be your suggestions on the new path that I chose? I would love to hear any comments and ideas, or any tips that would help me have less pain after judo sessions. Thank you very much in advance.

It may sound trivial, but it was a tough decision to take for me and I was thinking over it all the time, and having decided at last, it feels great

Are you enjoying the benefits of the pygmalion effect or is it pulling you down?

How to get a positive loop in your jiu-jitsu game

The problem as I see it with boxing is that if the grappler goes for an ankle pick, like Couture- Toney, he is not within reach for any punches... but if you kicked instead, it might catch him on the way down.

The problem with kicking is of course the need for precision, power, and not getting the leg grabbed.

The problem for both is that it needs to stun the grappler, in order for him to not just blast through (which is often the case).

So, which is your pick?

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Just kidding

Of interest to me was browsing the internet (OMG!! I know I know...) and seeing other places teaching grappling that aren't grappling schools (or not very good at it if they are..) One of the things I see repeated often is "pulling guard." They actually teach their students how to pull guard.

My next question is: when did people see this as a good thing? Why would someone want to pull guard, indeed especially if they're not a ground fighter? There are plenty people who are very experienced grapplers that still refuse to pull guard. I saw a Taijutsu school teaching it (or it was written on their blackboard...) and it was one of the things taught for Jeff Speakmans "Kempo 5.0"

But anyway. Back to my point. Diving and rolling on a mat is one thing. But in the real world, I don't think I'd want to dive and roll on a concrete floor. A floor which if a fight is happening, may be covered in broken beer bottles and who knows what.

So apart from the safety of the dojo, is there any use for the aikido roll?

As an aside, I keep calling it the Aikido roll. I know it's not exclusive to Aikido, I'm just calling it that because I think most will know what I mean without having to offer a detailed description.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44922889

Progress is a good thing!