three60roundhouse

I rolled with a girl about two months ago who had just gotten her blue - after eight months of training. She was really amazing though (I have the batle scars to show for it!) She was only 4'10 and about 120 but could throw around grown men like frisbees. My instructor, I think, got his blue in about a year.

If you were looking for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I'd say look for a teacher with some background in judo - many BJJ instructors don't teach enough stand up and it sucks. Most beginner sparring in BJJ starts from the knees....not good for practical self-defense Vale Tudo (No Holds Barred....NHB...anything goes....) involves punching, kicking, knees, elbows, takedowns, and grappling. Most BJJ schools will teach this to advanced students. In BJJ, generally beginners learn only with the gi or kimono, and after a few months or year begin to roll more no gi. Some schools offer a class where you wear jeans and a tee shirt. BTW, where do you live? If I were you, I'd take an intro class at every school near you, or at least watch a few. Good luck.

Yes.....half guard....the person in the guard has one of his legs trapped in a figure four by the bottom person....it's pretty hard to pass, but the person on top has a few limited submission oppurtunities. I don't like being on the bottom of this position, it makes me uncomfortable, so I see it is a gateway to the open guard...usually I end up here when someone is mounted on me and I am trying to elbow escape out.

The spider guard can also be done with both your feet on your opponents biceps, or one on the bicep, the opther hooked under the inner thighs. There are four safe places for the feet when you have your opponent in the guard: crossed around his back(closed), on his hips (no specific name), hooked underneath his thighs (sitting this is called "butterfly guard", standing it is "open with hooks in"), on his biceps (spider guard). It is good to experiment with different combinations: one foot hooked and one on the hip, one on the hip and one on the bicep, etc. etc. Another newer and less common guard is the "Dela Riva" guard. Your left foor is snaked behind and through his right leg, left leg on his hip. I will post a pic is I later find it. Most submissions are performed from the closed guard. Sweeps are from the open guard. The closed guard is good defensively to subdue an opponent, the open guard is harder to maintain and considered more "aggressive" because it is intended mostly to sweep your opponent.

The point of NHB is to determine who is a better practical fighter, not who can break their own knuckles and the other guy's face.

Unlike other arts, BJJ promotions are less about hours spent in class or years at the school but abput how you perform. Some get their black belt in 6 years, others in 13 years. It all depends on how long it takes you to be able to "hang" with the purples, or the blues. My instructor got his blue in just under a year, a girl I rolled with a while ago got hers in seven months. Some people take three years. The average is about a year, I would say.

All the fights i have neer been in ended with me running away. Luckily I have never been sucker punched or hit from behind - yet. I'm not particularly aggressive, and if some bloke challenged me, I'd swallow my pride and back off. If they swung at me, it'd be a different story. I'm gonna have to challenge that, man. Where did you get your info from? The Gracies like fighting with little rules and no time limits. Remember back in UFC1 when Royce grabbed the dude's ponytail to control him?

I'm from New Jersey...martial arts is very big here! We have many major BJJ academies I will have to visit when I have a car...at least within a few hours! We have David Adiv, Louis Vintaloro, Gene Simco, Renzo Gracie, Armando Basaulto, to name a few....I wish I could drive *sigh*. Definitely rambling.

No problem....also check out these http://www.jiu-jitsu.net http://www.intheguard.com http://www.mma.tv

Our school has always done that twice or three times a year. I personally have never brought a buddy.

You are definitely well-trained. I haven't even been training for four years yet....but luckily found the benefits of cross training early in my studies

Just thought I'd add, I've never met or seen a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt but I have been taught by a brownbelt.

Addition: I have been training for a few months, these are basically the things I know...I am still a new newbie if you can't tell --Developing an open guard --A few sweeps that you not only know but can perform well --Attacks from the mount --armbar --X-choke --thrusting choke ("amassa pao") --keylock ("americana") --triangle --inverted guillotine --Attacks from the guard --kimura --triangle --straight armbar --double armbar --X-choke --omoplata --Basic Takedowns --hip toss --osoto gari --single and double leg --dropping back, pulling opponent into guard --Side control variations --Mount Reverals --"upa" --elbow escape --many instructors teach not particular moves, more like strategies to reverse the mount --Passing guard strategies and the basic anklelock --Defense against side control and half guard --Guard variations - closed, hooks in, feet on hips, spider guard, dela riva guard --Backmount, the rear naked choke, armbar from the back, other techniques working the gi --Headlock escapes and basic self defense finger and wrist locks Some schools teach knee bars and heel hooks to beginners, but I'm just a kid and am not trusted with really dangerous stuff. Hope this helped a little in outlining some of the white belt curriculum!

Different instructors have different grading systems. They say in Rio most of the people in the academies are blue belts because it takes only about 6 months of heavy training to get there. I just turned 15, and have been training for a few months, therefore I am presumably working towards yellow belt and will be judged as a juvenile, as they call them in Brazil. I know that many schools follow the Brazilian saying, "there's no faking it on the mat" and judge rank primarily by how well one does in rolling. i.e. In order to get a blue belt, you would have to be able to beat all the white belts in your class. Since you are not in a BJJ class, I would recommend taking a "vacation" to the closest (though that is apparently far) academy. Most BJJ instructors will allow you to take a class. By the way, where are you from? Good luck with your training.

I'm a rabbit. And a cancer. Rabbits are ugly. Why can't I be something cool!?

http://www.fightergirls.com I think a few of these gals might have a "chance" () at defeting you, master of modesty ZakariRu!

Seems you've been doing a lot of that lately .

Let me guess....no woman has ever beat you at anything, and no woman ever will.

I like Gnucleus.

I was just working on the omoplata I definitely need work! Thanks for the info, K4j4....IMHO Helio was being an @$$ declining the invitation by Kimura..... men. pride mongers

I told the number in our school, usually in a kids class there will be three or four junior black belts and in an adult class usually only two or three taking class, and our instructor.

There are probably around 7 active adult first dans, one 2nd dan, and the head instructor is a 5th. There are probably 10-12 junior black belts, kids under sixteen who wear red and black poom belts.

Hum, I got lost in my town yesterday, walked about 5 miles with my sister in the jogger, I guess I don't know my area as well as I thought This morning I ran a mile and a half....I just listened to Zeppelin really loud and it wasn't half as bad.

My last day was June 14. I go back in the first week of September. I much prefer being in school than summer break, which gets boring after a few weeks.

Mets, Jets, Knicks, Rangers.....I am a fan of futility Yes, my teams haven't had the best run of luck lately. But being a female martial artist, i also know what bliss it is when the underdog kicks butt, even once out of a million.