Brown Belt Prospect: Gianni Grippo

Renzo Gracie's Gianni Grippo recently won the brown belt weight and absolute at the Houston Open.
Here's the Brown Belt Absolute Final which shows some of the reason(s) why he's one to watch.

Rodolfo Vieira: Faixa Preta & Fundamentals

You hear a lot about Roger Gracie and (recently) Rodolfo Vieira in Roger's absence.
For more on Rodolfo and his relatively meteoric rise to the limelight in BJJ, click HERE.
And for a documentary on the man himself and his current trainingz, click HERE. 

I'm not saying Rodolfo doesn't deserve his current standing as the best in the world, but until Roger and he face off....well, we are all left wondering who is the best.

At any rate, what is of note regarding BOTH MEN is how the two guys, in general have relatively "basic" games.

Roger's mounted cross collar choke and top pressure and Rodolfo's takedowns and passing are deceptively basic.

I've included this recent qualifying match from the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials from Brazil (Gramado I believe) as proof of Rodolfo's deceptively basic yet crushingly effective game.

On the foot sweep:
His opponent has an inside grip which is typically the stronger grip in stand up, but as he goes for the foot sweep and Rodolfo is taller, this is actually his undoing as he comes down to his side

On the mat:
Rodolfo cracks open the remaining half-guard using his free foot and a pant leg grip at the knee and establishes side control.

Rodolfo nearly steps into mount, gets put into half-guard then slides into quarter guard/near mount.

Rodolfo gets the underhook, does what we call the Tripod at my gym, nearly achieves mount, gets back in quarter guard/near mount, then using the underhook does the cut thru/knee through pass into side control.
Moments later he briefly hits knee on belly, then slides into mount and hunts for the arm.

Rodolfo misses the arm, maintains top position, gets his underhook again, AGAIN hits the cut thru/knee through pass into side control then moments later is threatening knee mount again.

Rodolfo isolates the arm, presses the face down and does the step around armbar I'm pretty sure I learned my first week at Jiu-Jitsu.

The whole thing takes less than 3 minutes.
Pure domination using basic components/techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Amazing.
Faixa Preta indeed.

I'll be working on my knee thru/cut through passes, establishing my underhook, and the step around armbar this week.

Happy Trainingz!

Ricardo "Cachorrao" Almeida - Head/arm control to butterfly sweep

From over at Graciemag


I've been playing a lot of high/shoulder/half-triangle type guard when I'm on the bottom as of late.
Ala this:

 And this:

Mainly, from this position, I hunt for what we call at my gym "the gift wrap".



From here, I'll sweep as in the video above, or look to finish the armbar/triangle or a keylock from the locked triangle.

At any rate, the above head/arm control to butterfly sweep Almeida shows is another threat/option as I'm hunting for my sweep or submission from the bottom and one I used to use quite a bit more often.

Seeing someone like Marcelo Garcia use the butterfly sweep or the scissor sweep in Gi and NoGi at the highest levels of the sport reminds me that the basics are called the "basics" for a reason. They are simple, effective, and the principles behind them work in a variety of situations.

Happy Trainingz!

Monday Morning Video Mailbag

If you're like me, you dread checking your work email on Monday morning. Typically, I go several days without checking my email. This means that Thursday morning may or may  not have been the last time I checked it. What this causes is a deluge of things that should have been done days and days ago.....on Monday morning.

Add that to the fact that I worked about 2 days last week and you get the picture. I have, selflessly, compiled some video links from across the internetz for your viewing pleasure. Watch. Learn. Reflect!

Ary Farias on his BJJ lifestyle, Atos, and 2 slick chokes using your own lapel
   - more on Ary Faria from BJJ Heroes

Highlight of World Pro Trials with Irmaos Miyao
   - the Miyao Bros. facebook page :)
   - Miyao Bros. Berimbolo Insanity Doomsday Armageddon!

Roger Gracie on learning BJJ via youtube/Berhimbolo et al.

Draculino says "Gracie Barra is the best"
    - for those needing some background on this prolific figure in BJJ


Tips on competition for white & blue belts from Queens MMA

And a video from the Euro 2012 of the guy I'm watching a lot lately, Roberto Saitoshi De Souza

Sporting Event Riot for your Saturday: Brawl after Lazarte Casimero in Argentina

Nothing like a good ole' post sporting event full-scale riot for your viewing pleasure.

Young Guns & Gossip Hounds: What to do both on the mat and off

You know you liked it. This was back when Lou Diamond Phillips & Emilio Estevez were still cool. 4 or 5 DUI's aside, Keifer Sutherland is still cool.

If you want to be successful, you have to learn and follow the traits and beliefs of others who have been successful.

Jimmy Harbison of Lloyd Irvin's Academy is a great example. As a brown belt he won the Grand Slam of BJJ that is the Pan Ams, Worlds/Mundials, and the Euro. Impressive for anyone. What's also impressive is the stories of how he went underground in terms of distractions in his life to focus on Jiu-Jitsu. That and his age being in the early 20's.
More on Harbison's relatively meteoric rise to prominence through Brown Belt.

Harbison VS "the Jiu-Jitsu Outlaw" Barbosa - coincidentally, I saw this match in person as I competed as a blue belt at the Pro Trials in New Jersey that day.

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Gossip.
It's a dirty word in the world of men, and rightfully so.
The urge to participate in gossip abounds in the gym. From who tapped who to why so and so left and trains elsewhere. It may have to do with an incident during training or someone censured by an Instructor. It may have to do with a visiting member of a different team/gym. Whatever the case may be, it is a virus, a cancer, and an unavoidable ill of combat sports.

Here is an article about Shawn Williams and Hollywood BJJ parting ways. I post the article not to continue the vicious cycle of gossip but as an exhibit of how quickly a statement or fact like someone announcing parting ways becomes a firestorm of gossip. Anonymous claims via the internet or otherwise, gossip is prevalent in BJJ. You've probably read similar articles about Koscheck leaving AKA, and Camarillo leaving as well. Camarillo and his feud or bad blood (whatever you call it) with Ralph Gracie is also relatively well-documented both in Camarillos' Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu book and on the internet.

I saw the politics and gossip in Judo before I committed myself to training Jiu-Jitsu full-time. With different coaches under one roof, and different mindsets, variances in techniques et cetera, it's practically inevitable.

My point being, in the gym, your job is to train, represent the team, and outside the gym and off the mats to represent your team and your coaches.
It is not to spread lies, repeat what is told to you in confidence, nor talk about who tapped who.

There is a fine line between repeating what you are told and gossip mongering.
When in doubt, keep your f*cking mouth shut.
Your job is to train, represent the team, and help your teammates.
And remember....those who gossip to you....will gossip of you.

 - Happy Trainingz

2012 IFJ Paris: Stall Your Way to Victory Edition!

That was close...they almost realized I had no intention of doing anything other than STALLING.
Note: the above is(are) not the alleged suspect(s).

It was a busy weekend with the UFC and the Super Bowl and my starting training for the Pan Ams in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I had a week out of training due to sickness, so I spent a week getting back to rolling, getting my lungs back, and the like.

I hadn't had a chance until earlier to watch any of the Tournoi De Paris 2012 Grand Slam.
I should've just not tuned in.

The first two matches I watched from the 66kg with David Larose of France were atrocious.
See here and see here.

I warn you, if you like legitimate attacking, aggressive Judo, this is not for you.
All parties are to blame initially in the matches, but once Larose is up on points, he clearly, deliberately, and effectively does only exactly enough to avoid passivity penalties.
He gets a referee's decision against the Korean player b/c the Korean is so frustrated with Larose's stalling he finally gets sloppy and gets countered.
The match against Sergey Lim has some of the most clear and blatant stalling/grip fighting to avoid engaging I've seen at this level in a long time.

It's boring. It's fake. It's stalling and deliberate optical illusion-ery pretending to attack at it's shallow, dark, empty, heart.

Between this and the last world championships....I honestly am highly disappointed.

I have serious concerns about the upcoming Summer Olympics if this is what the high level players are competing like in the 6 months before the summer Olympics start. These last big tournaments are supposedly the events to fine tune the game plans for various styles and players.

The matches I've seen thus far were about as lackluster and anti-climactic as the Nick Diaz vs Carlos "The Natural Born Runner" Condit non-fight that took place Saturday night.