1) I learn a fundamental but somehow mindblowing basic concept every time I watch Marcelo Garcia roll.
example: I watched him rolling NoGi with Marcos Torregrosa and from bottom, I realized/recognized Marcelo is always controlling hands/wrists, or the head if it comes low, and if the butterfly sweep misses he opens up the heel hook/lacing one leg through.
It's super simple in concept, and basic, except for the fact that he does it at such a high level....he does it to virtually every single person he rolls with.
It's super simple in concept, and basic, except for the fact that he does it at such a high level....he does it to virtually every single person he rolls with.
2) Watching Ronda grapple and mix up her stand-up and mat work is truly seamless. Her transitions between throws to then dominating her opponents on the mat is truly fluid in motion. She literally must find herself in positions with her hands, or squeeze or whatever already locked in where it needs to be without being consciously aware.
3) Interested to (hopefully) watch Minotauro potentially submit another giant of a human being in Stefan Struve with his Jiu-Jitsu he's used to submit notables like Bob Sapp and Semmy Schilt.
4) I was fortunate enough to roll with the Miyao brothers and visit Unity Jiu-Jitsu and now I'll watch Joao face Garry Tonnon Sunday as part of the Five Grappling Super League event.
5) Whatever I thought was hard training at blue belt, was nothing compared to how much I train at purple belt. Whatever I thought was hard training at purple belt is absolutely minute in comparison to what I saw the Miyao brothers doing at Unity during my visit. They literally eat, sleep, and breathe Jiu-Jitsu. It is staggering to watch them train.
6) I have days where I look at the scope of Jiu-Jitsu and see how hopelessly complex the alphabet and dictionary/encyclopedia of moves is. I have other days where I see the precision that comes with practice and rolling and how much more efficient you can learn to do a relatively small set of moves or a sequence and how effortless part(s) of your game can become with dedicated, hard, training day in and day out.
7) I hate NoGi training because I am lazy and because I have to roll much harder with less places to pause in NoGi. I have to work harder and rely less on grip and more on squeeze with less places to pause. But, I've learned to like NoGi because I work other parts of my game less emphasized like guillotines, head/arm chokes, and a much more fluid game with some more wrestling thrown in. It's a good bet that because I find myself more frustrated in NoGi that means I'm being forced to learn/step outside of my comfort zone at a higher rate than in the Gi.
8) Jiu-Jitsu helped save my life. By itself, it hasn't saved me from my personal struggles and problems, but my love for Jiu-Jitsu has helped make me a more humble, dedicated person, willing to simply show up day after day and believe that if I keep coming back, things will get better.
