tallgeese

We run between the hour and two hour mark. It's largely due to the rolls at the end of class. We kick off with some sort of warm up, usually basic movements. Then move to technique. This is where we talk about the moments, how it ties in to the rest of jiu jitsu. It's uses, etc. Then we drill the movements. We'll usually cover 2-3 techniques per night. This and the warm up will take about 50 min. Then we have 40 min of roll time. Sometimes there will be specific assigned goals to the rolls, often it's just free form application against resistance. That clocks us in right at 1.5 hours. That sends up to PTK which due to time limits is usually 1 hour in length. When we expand mat space we;ll probably end up at closer to 2 hours of jits per night and 1.5 hours of PTK.

I always like your posts, tallgeese. Do you think BJJ's strong central control/adhered to standards/I'm trying to put a description to it is due to it being new, relatively speaking? I think there's a handful of BJJ schools/organizations out there compared to JJJ, which has been around since the samurai days. Give BJJ say, 100 years, and there will probably be a lot of splintering. Agree? Sorry, I'm just trying to pick your brain a little bit here. Thank you, JR. That is a great question. I suppose only time will tell. I think there is certainly an element of time to this equation. I also think that one of the things about BJJ that will keep it more consistent than many arts is the nature of the training methodology. There is very little "theory" in BJJ. Every technique that gets taught on the mats is put to the test by the student under the duress of BJJ's sparring "rolling." What makes this slightly different than many arts is that this is done against resistance from the get go. It works for you or it does not. Effects of one's tactics are immediately seen by all parties. There is no need to simulate what would happen or guess as to what the effects of a certain movement are. You're correctly applying against resistance or not. This is easily observable for anyone in the know. This isn't a knock on other arts. May Thai is a perfect example of another art that is very easy to spot skill. It's working for you or not. No one in the know can question who's better OR what is or isn't good Muay Thai. The more theoretical an art becomes, the more is at risk for loss of actual quality application. BJJ has a leg up on many great sparring arts because you can work at near optimal energy outputs without injury or long term damage. Even Muay Thai can suffer from this. Fight at high level a of output for any length of time, you won't do it long. Same for good karate or any other striking art. In BJJ you can do this all night, night after night of training. This will always keep a certain level of legitimacy in the art I believe. But, I do agree that some time will effect even this. For my money, the bigger thing we'll see with time is a drastic splintering of the art into very specific subsets of the greater whole. Competition BJJ will become even MORE specialized and athletic based than it has to date. Positional, SD jiujitsu will become more reclusive and eschew many of the more fun, artistic aspects that competition has brought around. To date, there has been a great deal of overlap between these aspects. That gap is starting to widen. Personally, I hope it never totally splits because each aspect has a lot to offer the other. Despite what might happen with specialization, I think the very live aspect of each of these sects will continue to maintain a certain set of performance standards. I hope.

Spartacus is pretty much right on. In JJJ you'll see stand up striking and an emphasis on standing joint manipulation and takedowns. Actual work on the ground is pretty minimal in many schools. BJJ is almost entirely on the ground. Yes, some places that still focus on SD will defend from strikes to takedown. More will actually work takedowns more than a month out of tournaments. Most will focus on playing from the ground for the most part. Now, what you're losing in versatility, your making up with a very high degree of specialization. Is this good or bad? It depends on what you want to do and your situation. The caveat I always put out there is that BJJ is still pretty tightly controlled in regard to standards of black belts and legitimate linages. JJJ can (please note "can" not always) fall victim to lack of centralized quality control.

Not for us. I've been in gyms before with and without. They can be exceptional tools. They can also be breaking hazards. We frequently moved them in one gym I taught at to cover holes that "developed" in the drywall for one reason or another.

I teach 4 adult BJJ classes per week. 2 PTK (kali) classes per week. One of our purple belts teaches the kids and we have another for the kickboxing and Muai Thai. Quite frankly, that's enough.

Welcome to KF and the arts!

Welcome to KF!

As we left the side position and a paper cutter choke sequence, we moved into more guard passing. Here, we discuss breaking the guard from a kneeling position and conducting a knee over pass: So, how does everyone else break guard? Deal with the movement to open guard? Use combat base?

A bit behind, but here's a tutorial we cut a couple of weeks ago. Here are some of the details behind positioning for the paper cutter choke as well as the choke itself. Also, we talk about some positioning that will keep your training partners safe while training. Here's the link: The nice thing about this choke is that it works with the heavier jiu jitsu gi as well as lighter karate is which makes it really multi purpose for different arts. Who here uses the paper cutter that does grappling arts? What about other arts that cross train with grappling? Do you have luck with it?

Congrats!

We've been dealing with fundamental movements to ring in the new year. From the perspective of getting of the bottom, there are few techniques more iconic or important than the hip bump sweep. This is foundational to several other, more complex, sweeps. Also, it's incredibly functional in its own right. Here's a brief video of class: Take a look at the details. Are you catching each one? Also, consider the centerline discussion later in the video, does the concept of achieving flanking position for follow make sense in jiu jitsu as it does in stand up arts? For those looking at SD use, can you see how this particular movement can be equally effective for gi, and no gi?

Training road trip....over and over again. On the list, I'd visit the nations of origin of the arts I do. An extending time in Brazil and the Philippines would be a must. Given I started in a kempo art, Okinawa and Japan would be on the list as well. Although at this point that would be a much more intellectual visit than anything. From there, I'd make a point to tick off regular trips to individuals who I either have trained with and want to spend more time with or haven't gotten to see yet. Rickson Gracie, the academy in Torrence, Roy Harris, Henry Akins, the list is pretty endless on that front. I'd have to get time with Tim Wade in the States for PTK and Prado in the Philippines. As to new arts, I'd take up Kendo. If I don't have to worry about work, I can squeeze it in.

In the karate organization I was a part of testing was done at each grade. Yes, there was a ceremony that was short right after the test for kyu grades. For dan ranks it was a bit more formal. There were certificates for each rank. In BJJ, we don't do tests, at least in my lineage. It's pretty informal as well. Stripes are awarded at typical classes, usually afterward. Belts are a touch bigger of a deal. Brown and Black belt usually is a more specific on when it's done. Here's an example of one of our Brown Belt promotions at a seminar.

It's a sliding rule depending on one's goals. When I first started out my goal was combatives. I was in it for self defense. On that front, within a year I was infinitely more capable of taking care of myself than before. Let's break this down. If you're an average citizen, with normal self defense goals, and you train 3 days per week, two hours per day that's 6 hours per week. That is roughly 24 hours of training in a month. That's 288 HOURS of training in that year. If you train 3 hours instead of 2, or add a 4th day. You end up with 432 hours. Look at those numbers. If you can't go from a zero sum fighter to an individual that can understand use of force and deployment of physical skill agains violence at a basic level, something is really not connecting between you and the instructor. We can dress this up all we want and go on about it taking lifetimes to master and fully understand things, but at the end of the day, if you can't get to a point to defend yourself in those allotted hour then either your goals don't match what the instructor is teaching or the instruction itself is lacking some thing you need. Please note, I'm not talking about winning every conflict. I'm talking about being proficient. Now, if you have different goals, this number can change. If you want to understand every nuance of ever matter in the art, numbers can go higher. Want to step in the cage, add some more. Cross train with weapons, longer due to more modalities to get proficient with. So proficiency is a bit of moving target. For me, I think sometimes we get too caught up in decade of study for the "basics." Given the relationship of martial arts to self defense, I think we do a disservice to the heart of the arts if we tell people it will be years to learn to defend themselves.

Last week we built on the previous week and look at some advanced movements into the high guard and some attacks in combination that build off the omo plata. These tactics aren't just really good BJJ, they are built on hip movement that is critical to all sorts of other attacks. Take a look at the options: How do these compare to the related material from last week's video? What other combinations from this position to members here use? How are everyone's omo playa's coming?

Welcome back to the arts and welcome to KF!

Great job!

Thank you!

Great question. As with all things it depends. A t shirt can tear away, but the way it rolls up can be advantageous to holding on to it as well as sliding under the jaw. For me, I also consider that not everything I run into on the job is a tee. For instance, hoodies and jackets are popular for what seems like 6 months out of the year in the Chicago

Welcome to KF!

Welcome aboard, KF!

As we look at some fundamentals of attack and defense in jiu jitsu, part of our series of kicking off fundamentals in the new year, we want to take time to not just work on isolation through the manipulation of guard but also some of the most common attacks from there. Here, we break down the movement to the Omo Plata attack series from the High Guard: So how many people here utilize the omo plata routinely? How to you use it? In conjunction from the high guard?

So I've fallen a bit behind on updating everything We've been busy with the holidays and a hectic return to work. To kick off our new year at the gym, we're working through a review of the fundamentals of jiu jitsu. Here's a look at a crucial attack, the cross collar choke, and one of the first chained attacks one should learn- from cross collar to the armbar. So, how do the details on the actual attacks AND the transitions line up with how others view them? At what point do other practitioners being to drive fluid attacks?

That's a bit of a bummer. It's still kind of common in some circles. I think there's a lot of worry about proprietary material getting out. Here's the thing, that's pretty rare these days. I look at what I do, BJJ. There are only about a million channels that go over jiu jitsu technique. The idea that I hold material back from our channel because I don't want someone to see it is a bit optimistic at best. The material is out there. For all of us. Even with PTK, which has a much smaller footprint on social media right now, you can still go find form and application with a bit of work from several different sects. So, if you've got good material, a unique way to say it, I'm all for it. It's never going to overtake people actually doing in to class. In fact, good material on line will actually make people want to train with your group. Again, this is not on the individual practitioner, but more often (as in your case judo dad) governing bodies. Which can be easy or hard to work around depending on the group.

Nice job! Congrats!