Saturday, March 2, 2019

The Frightfully Increasing Speed of Knowledge in Grappling

So, I've been consuming a ton of competition footage and other grappling related content in this phase where I'm very limited in what I can drill due to my leg locked in a brace, and I was watching all of the IJF (International Judo Federation) matches of my favorite competitor (to gameplan takedowns for Gi competition upon my return) and I had watching something like 50 matches thus far (and more to go) dating back the past 2 years, and it hit me...I'm able to sit in the comfort of my own home and watching basically the International level career of my favorite competitor accumulated over a couple years.

When I started JiuJitsu, I had to lie to my mom to trick her into renting the UFC VHS tapes for me from Blockbuster. There was no YouTube of JiuJitsu content (both good and bad, which is another topic). The other weekend I coached at the Finishers Sub Only Open Tournament, then watched the Pro -145 the next day, and this weekend I'll watch the Midwest Finishers -155 and Sub Spectrum -135, then watch the UFC tonight. For all the criticism and complaining of steroids, and trash talk, and whatever else is stuck in the craw of the day, let's not forget we have such a dearth of opportunities to consume combat sports knowledge and enjoy spectating whether we can get to the event or not. I pay $10 or something a month to have access to all the EBI's on UFC Fight Pass. I also have access to a ton of old ADCC matches as a result. That alone is a treasure trove of grappling information. ESPN+ is something like $4.99 a month depending how you buy it. There was a time when it was revolutionary that BudoVideos sold the Worlds that would stream from their website.

Have appreciation. 

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