Monday Morning Motivation

Jeff Glover Dressed Like Wolverine Being Jeff Glover

I'll say this for Jeff Glover. The guy competes one moment like he could not care any less, any other moments flashes brilliantly. At any rate, he is one of our more enduring personalities among American Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. I'm slowly training a bit more NoGi every now and then. Coming back from ACL surgery, and being promoted to purple belt back in December, if I'm going to compete NoGi, I have to start looking at the leg locks and the like as they loom on the horizon for me. It's a different aspect of grappling, one I admittedly know very little about, and that means there is room for growth and learning and I'm considering doing the advanced division coming up at the end of August at US Grappling's Virginia Beach event.
That, and some days, I only get a match or two at purple belt featherweight. And mat time, is good time, so....time to put on my big kid pants and walk the line.


Enjoy.
 

We Famous: Cody Maltais Debuts on WSOF

Buddy of mine/former training partners makes his World Series of Fighting debut tomorrow night.
He's a brown belt now, training out in Las Vegas under Drysdale. We used to train together when I was a white belt and he was a blue belt here in NC.


He has a sick guillotine and submission game, as evidenced by his professional record.


 

Know Your Roots: Relson Gracie Documentary

Gary Tonon Talks Metamoris 4, Kron Gracie Match, ADCC, et al

Gary Tonon, a member of the BJJ Kumite, now a black belt, discusses his ADCC match with Kron, and the upcoming match with Kit Dale.
He's been busy at various tournaments up and down the coast from what I've seen on the internetz. Perhaps, his venue choices have not been as perhaps profile as Keenen, Agazarm, et cetera, but he's been plying his wares and grappling chops nonetheless and I'm interested to see him bring his game to this level of event and hopefully garner more visibility.
 

Another Fistful of Felipe Pena (2 More to be Exact): BJJ Hacks TV & Felipe Pena

22 year old world champion at black belt.
Bonkers.

 

Operation: Omoplata/Skill Acquisition Process

So....the time has come.

I have never understood nor felt comfortable going for the omoplata. Even when it's available, honestly, I do something else because I simply don't get the position, the nuances, and I do not have the feel.


Your Omoplata sucks.

But like shooting free throws, if you only shoot one a day, you'll never get better at an omoplata if you only shoot one at your training partners/opponents/whoever.
A big part of learning for me, is knowing that I begin with white and blue belts in trying to implement my new area of learning. So for example, I'll begin by pulling guard or half-guard and then looking to set up the omoplata in only 1 or 2 ways. Anything more complicated than that, and I'll do one or both of them poorly.

I also accept going into training that "winning" today in training will simply be going for the set up(s) that I've chosen. Every failed omoplata set up, or every failed transition is simply one step closer to a better omoplata. For some people (Not me), things may seem to come naturally. I'm an incremental learner. There's the old adage that Edison tried 10,000 variations for the light bulb before it worked.
Well, interestingly enough, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and other research by Ericcson suggests 10 years or 10,000 hours of study for mastery.

How many omoplatas have you tried or drilled or attempted? My number is low, probably less than a hundred in all my years of training.

Dedicated or deliberate practice requires that I specifically hunt for the omoplata, be cognizant of it, and attempt to be aware of where/when it fits into the live action of rolling. I may attempt to force it when it is not there, and I may see it pre-emptively or late because my partner will not necessarily know that its what I'm working on.

Your Omoplata still sucks

Another important part of skill acquisition for me is watching footage and seeing the various angles from which the omoplata can be found, seen, or set up. That is to say, the angle and common elements of an omoplata. Essentially, the backside of my calf/thigh will be chopping into/meeting my opponenet's armpit. From that general viewpoint, the omoplata seems less complicated, theoretically, or conceptually than trying to remember the 14 points of however many of a good omoplata.

 

And Michael Lieira Jr. showing his omoplata set up from the 2014 Worlds.


Otavio Sousa has a mean omoplata set-up to an armlock that has finished a number of black belts and put the likes of Leandro Lo in deep trouble: