Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 101

12/20/2022

A little SBG history. 🦍

12/08/2022

Accurate

"It's the people who want to make the strongest distinction between street and sport that are the least likely to be capable of operating in either environment." - Adam Singer

12/06/2022

12/05/2022

BJJ 101 is also all about the Fundamentals! Great minds think alike!

Here at SBG we talk constantly about the importance of focusing on the fundamentals. That focus has been one of the core principles of our organization. Too often, people think of fundamentals as something you learn at the start of a sport or functional martial art (I repeat myself), and then move away from as you “advance.” The reality is fundamentals are something you spend the rest of your life refining. And no matter how well you think you know a movement, I assure you that refinement will admit to ever increasing depths as the years go by.

Fundamentals are defined by what’s most important, and that remains true whether you’re a brand new white belt, or a thirty year black belt.

Over the years I’ve heard every excuse given by instructors who fail to make fundamentals the focus:

“People want something ‘new’.”

“Fundamentals are ‘boring’.”

The list goes on, and the one thing all these excuses have in common is that I’ve never believed any of them.

To a person, every time I’ve seen a coach who had a deep understanding of the fundamentals of a delivery system, be it striking, clinch, or ground, they also had a love for those fundamentals. They go together. That appreciation manifests itself on the mat as joy, because anytime you have a deep appreciation for something you’ll feel grateful when you and able to pass it on to others. That happens to be the exact opposite of “boring.”

This last weekend with Henry Akins was an excellent example. On Saturday Henry taught a 3 hour seminar, and we worked a total of one technique—the bridge and roll (Upa). That’s it.

Friday we did two hours on one more technique, the elbow/knee escape.

He closed out the last hour with two escapes from side-mount, one shrimp, and one reverse shrimp.

Five hours on two techniques. Four techniques all weekend. That’s it.

Was it boring or repetitive? Were people clamoring for a “new” move?

Not at all. By contrast, it was one of the better, most enlightening, and most entertaining Jiu-Jitsu classes I’ve taken.

Were all the students beginners?

No. We had people of all belt levels on the mat, including quite a few senior black belts who’ve been doing the art for more than 20 years.

Everyone walked away better than they were when it started, and everyone gained a deeper understanding of the art itself. How, and even more importantly, why it works. It doesn’t get better than that.

If this doesn’t make sense to you—if you are an instructor who still believes people want flashy, new, or shiny objects—if you think volume rather than depth counts as learning—then I’d urge you to seek out one of those rarer instructors who does focus on the fundamentals. You’ll be glad you did. And it may change how you think of, and pass on—the art. 🦍💡

01/19/2022

Professors Dan Pagan and Dave Ferreira.
Almost 30 years of training together..
Oss!

08/14/2021

🤼‍♀️

03/10/2021

Knowledge is power

12/17/2020

The two most important drills to start with are 1) defending strikes from the bottom with a training partner using bag mitts and 50% power, and 2) Closing the distance on your feet against the training partner wearing boxing gloves who is trying to tag you.

Pick your training partners carefully because the goal of these exercises is to become familiar with deploying your grappling skills in a striking environment, not to get knocked out, concussed, or to develop CTE.

The next thing to worry about after that is weapons awareness, which is another post for another day.