Oleg Taktarov Tribute

Dude doesn't get enough contemporary credit for his work in the early heyday of the UFC:

Current Training Projects

Over the long haul, I've found it necessary to spend longer periods of time largely focused on one area of my game. Having played Judo before I tried Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and because I had plans of fighting MMA, my first JiuJitsu coaches forced me to start on my back. I spent the better part of a year or 2 working for submissions off my back in the Gi, and when in training MMA to fight in the cage, getting off my back and back to my feet. One of the first names I watched and found online to take from for this skill was BJ Penn. As I got better at submitting, but also the overall level of guys improved, and against heavier opponents, it was time to start sweeping. I spent most of my blue belt (close to 2 years - part of which was spent returning from full knee/ACL reconstruction) sweeping: deep half guard, reverse de la riva, combinations of spider and reverse de la riva et cetera. I got to purple belt and spent the first year or more working on my guard passing in an effort to catch it up to my bottom game. I moved to NYC, joined Renzo's and due to my work schedule and training, I had no real direction. I trained in the Gi, but had no overlying direction to where I was going. I finally sorted out work, and life, and the balance necessary to train when I wanted to and.......
About a year ago I transitioned to focusing on NoGi full-time. I spent the better part of that first year attacking the legs from the bottom, and elevating, hand fighting, making angles, but again - with the sole purpose of attacking the legs. Due in large part to the positional rounds we do every training session in the blue basement, I never left other skills very far behind (back attacks, armbar defense, attacking the turtle, referee's position, wrestling - we've spend extended periods of time both learning and doing positional rounds for all of the above and more). When I competed NoGi for the past year I almost exclusively attacked the legs.

Rewind to two months ago: now I'm focusing on passing the guard/legs again. My NoGi passing game is bare bones to say the least, but it's time, as passing results in back exposure and opportunities to threaten the legs. The real question looming: do you invest ALL your time and energy into a very narrow range of the game, for example: bottom position, open guard, attacking the legs and sundry other submission and getting to the back, or for example: your wrestling, fighting for top position and passing and getting to the back et cetera.

Danaher always stresses the importance of both having competency in all areas of grappling (both Gi and NoGi) but at the same time that real progress is made by truly delving into a position and/or submission on an exceedingly deep level.

I've been doing grappling as a whole for coming up on 15 years (between Judo and the overlap into JiuJitsu), and yes, there's a million techniques, but then again, in the big picture, there's essentially a -10 set of skills within which to work.

In NoGi (for the sake of simplicity):
Bottom position -- sweep, submit (upper body or lower body), get to the back, back to your feet
top position -- pass, submit (upper body or lower body), back take, attack the legs,
There's some overlap in the above, of course, but you get the idea.
----

When you compete sub only & with all leg locks, the nuances between the positions and transitions change pretty significantly - as evidenced by the fact that experienced leg lockers have not won black belt level nogi world titles and black belt world champions have not fared well in EBI. Counter point? What about ADCC? ADCC is submission wrestling, and those 40 minute finals matches, or the fact that Orlando Sanchez won it without actually scoring any points, leaves it as a strange sort of outlier grappling entity that's not really a mix of sub only and IBJJF as some would like to partition it. There's a lot of overlap between the two, but ADCC, to me, really is an option C in terms of skills.
---

At any rate, in my match last weekend, I defended a back take, came up to top position into a guard pass, forced enough pressure from the pass to create back exposure, locked up the kimura grip, and transitioned to a back triangle, forcing the tap via armbar a good bit later.
Sub Systems/Skills at work over the course of the last 2 minutes of the match:
Back Defense + guard passing leading to back exposure + kimura grip + back triangle + control and several submission attempts ultimately resulting in a back-triangle- armbar.

When you begin to see grappling as a macrosystem of microsystems connected together, and the real skill becomes forcing errors, capitalizing on the mistakes, or progressing in a repeatable fashion to the same junctions whereby you then overwhelm the defenses leading to a submission, the attributes of speed, or athleticism, or courage blah blah blah, while necessary, seem to fade into the background, and it becomes more about sensible structure of training, details, and problem solving under duress. 

2018 Fila World Cup Grappling and Grappling Gi

Teammate of mine, Frank Rosenthal, is overseas doing this event:

Quintet - Full Event Breakdown Match by Match Results - Team Polaris Wins it All

No kani basami, no closed guard, no neck cranks. Also no jumping guard. No stalling, warnings for lack of attacks are penalized

TBH, I think heel hooks are out because you'd never get the Judo guys and even some of the other competitors to come into an event with heel hooks. 

Omigawa vs Nakamura - relatively uneventful, a nice Haraigoshi to open from omigawa then ineffectual guard passing attempts, thank god closed guard disallowed, lack of points at this point having me wonder how a winner will be determined 

Then some very ineffectual guard pass attempts and feet on hips 

Some near back takes by omigawa due to lazy backstep attempts and back steps by Nakamura 

With a last second kimura to armbar transition Nakamura ends fighting for the submission but walks away empty handed. So it's a draw. 

Sakuraba vs Debana

Debana throws up some armbars with active hips, Saku looking mainly to pass, curious why no ankle or kneebar attempts from the legend, Saku hangs well considering the age difference and looks better than he did against Renzo at Metamoris (then again Debana is of course not in the same galaxy of skill at Renzo so...). Match ends in a draw. I begin to have the creeping suspicion that we'll see a lot of these semi positional battles. 

At this point the commentary is pushing the Quintet is about being dynamic angle and commenting that Saku felt after his match against Renzo that the rules made it boring, though I wonder how this is much different minus the banning of heel hooks and closed guard. 

I think in marketing something as being dynamic, you can confuse ineffectual movement and action with actual effective progression of attacks and position. 

Kim vs Tokoro 

Tokoro spins to his back with a flying armbar in 14 seconds 

Tokoro stays on the mat and faces Yoon

Yoon diving forward looking for and scores a nogi Ezekiel within the guard. The ole' throat punch Judo inside the legs finish by surprise. (From what I've read, a Brazilian Judoka came to Gracie Barra way back in the day in Brazil and submitted a bunch of guys with the sleeve choke from inside their guard and his name was Ezekiel so it was thus named). 

Yoon vs Souza 

Yoon with smooth door sweeps and Souza sweeps to top and passed quickly with ease. Spins to kimura, Yoon on his side, Souza to the back then back to the armbar, loses it then back to heavy on the pass to 3/4 mount, then passed again, positionally all over Yoon on the mat. 

5 minutes to work, still on top, Yoon unable to effectually recompose inside position with his feet, belly down to try and turtle by Souza gets back to mount. 

Works to arm triangle but loses it, works to high mount and gets the armbar 

Souza stays on to face Ishiii. Yoooooooo haha, after I started thinking it would be draws we get 3 submissions. 

Souza vs Ishii

Hoping Souza loses so we can see Barnett vs Ishii....30 seconds in & Souza still on his feet. Way longer that I would have. Souza hits a Haraigoshi and knocks Souza down, then head down and attempting to walk around, Souza closes his guard but not penalty, Ishii onto an over under style pass with what must feel like a concrete dump truck of pressure. It's a 4 minute match so Souza just has to survive and Barnett will come on. Souza bravely shoots in for a double but Ishii stuff it and is back on the pass. He briefly passes but with hips square to the mat Souza recomposes. More hopping around to pass from Ishii, but not time enough to chase a submission. A draw. 

Haleo takes it in a competitive battle with Judo Dream Team. 

Up next is Polaris vs Sambo

Jones vs Verzbickas

Jones immediately on single leg X, inverts to leg lace/sankaku, goes for the kneebar and stuffing foot for toe hold, Jones get the kneebar with the foot stuffed behind the armpit grip. 1:58 seconds 

Jones vs Grecicho

Jones to his Z knee shield then almost a triangle, Grecicho staying down on both knees so you know he'll be in trouble again soon. 

Toe hold to kneebar attempt but too far down the leg. Jones on top then passes. Threatens a no gi Ezekiel but no dice. Jones to mount, more top position retention, overreaching for a toe hold, back to bottom position, chasing the foot, legs laced, back to the kneebar, ineffectual scrambling. Ends in a draw. 

Marcin Held vs Tomasevic

Held pulls guard then sweeps, to the attack with a crunch armbar, Tomasevic over under pass and gets the pass. Held to the darce attempt ish, Tomasevic heavy on the pass, Held inverts and gets the kneebaaaaaaah! Held doing well chaining together his upper body submissions to get to the leg lock. His opponent also had time to defend the kneebar early but lacked the information to do so. 

Held vs Teodoras

Held gets outside half guard and rolls through and hits a half kneebar type finish. Teodoras taps very early to this. Again, lack of basic leg lock info does someone in. 

Held pulls ahead of Jones with two leg locks (and against a heavier opponent, and things look grim for Team Sambo. 

Held vs Zaromskis

Held dives for an Imanari roll to sit, then back to the feet, Zaromskis shoots but stuffed, Held stuffs the shot, front headlock to the back take. 

Held hunting for the Twister then banana split then gives it up to get to top position. Deep armbar but Zaromskis survives. Held all over him and Zaromskis tough to finish and escapes another armbar. Held doing the chasing, Zaromskis doing a good bit of dancing and not really in a position to pass or even begin to threaten Held. Zaromskis survives for a draw. 

Polaris Team Moves on: Team Haleo vs Team Polaris for the final

Gregor Gracie vs Josh Barnett 

Standing up in the clinch, 4 minute match due to the weight difference. 

90 seconds left, Gregor picks up a single, Barnett not really committing to any takedowns. Arguing over the starting on the referee position, Barnett deep on an ankle lock but Gregor defends, Barnett dives on a low single, match ends. Draw.

Strauss vs Nakamura

Hoping to god it's more exciting that Strauss' Polaris match with Shields.

Strauss jumps to an armbar, a lot of semi closed guard here, wondering when the penalty comes. Allegedly a timer is going. Strauss back to closed guard. I start to doze off in recollection of his terrible Polaris match. Nakamura diving head low to try and pass but Strauss has butterfly hooks set. Strauss comes to top and chases the back after a lazy Nakamura dive over top to pass. Strauss takes the back and gets a body triangle then finishes with an RNC. 

Strauss vs Tokoro

4 min match due to weight difference. Strauss tries to sit without contact but they make him stand up. Lazy shot from Tokoro. Strauss almost takes the back, a lot of movement on the feet. Handfighting. Strauss looks winded after one match. Strauss pulls to open guard. Tokoro stepping in to pass. Finally. A penalty awarded to both. Minute and 15 seconds left. Strauss on a front head lock. Step over to mounted arm in guillotine for the Win. Strauss tied with Held for two submissions wins so far. 

Strauss vs Sakuraba

Strauss sits about a minute in. Sakuraba jumps over, Strauss sweeps to top, looking to stack pass, gets north south, heavy on the pass and settles in. Looking to lock up a kimura, Sakuraba defending. Strauss looks for a wrist lock but no dice. Strauss heavy in too, Sakuraba reverses and chases a leg lock, Strauss escapes, Sakuraba on top. Strauss lifts him up, comes up on the single and they separate. Remaining 2-3 minutes largely ineffectual on both sides. Draw.

Souza vs Uno

Delay early on due to eye poke. Low single to sits Uno down, immediate pass to armbar Bc Uno turns away and leaves his arm behind. 

Souza vs Jones 

Souza lets Jones bring the foot across the hip, then transitions to the kneebar and gets the tap. 

Jones now tied with Held and Strauss for two submissions for the day. 

Team Polaris shuts it down with a bunch of submissions and takes the inaugural Quintet title. Despite no heel hooks, I'll admit, this was a lot of fun to watch.
Strauss, Jones, and Held each picked up two submissions apiece repping Team Polaris as the real submission hunters of the event. 

10 Jiu-Jitsu/Grappler Life Milestones (Told with Memes from The Office)

1) You break up with a girlfriend because her schedule and your schedule (training) is not compatible and/or she complains about your training schedule.









2) You start not eating fast food/eating out as often/You start packing food in advance to eat healthy







3) You choose not to go out to rest so you'll get more out of training









4) A) you don't look forward to your next belt promotion
    B) you actually don't care about stripes anymore







5) The first thing on your Christmas/Kwanzaa/Festivus wishlist is a new Gi









6) You start enjoying sport Jiu-Jitsu and even watch the lower belts to see how your belt competes, what's en vogue







7) You compete because you know you'll learn whether you win or not











8) You skip work, plan vacations, take a long lunch, look forward to holidays because it means open mat or training twice a day


















9) You see people in real life and think, "that guy looks like Rafa Mendes" or "she looks kinda like Mackenzie Dern."







10) Virtually all of your newsfeed/social media/need for social media is based around grappling

Training for the PanAms and some other Odds & Ends

Been training hard for the Pan-Ams. I got super sick with the flu about a month ago and lost 12 pounds in 5-6 days of being as sick as I've ever been in my life. It was a healthy reminder how much we take our good health for granted. Being able to eat, sleep, and go about my day normally was something I missed incredibly after a couple days of being sick.
Not being able to train for nearly a week straight was unbearable. Those who train hard are constantly struggling to find the balance between hard, dedicated, consistent training and pushing the envelope to the point of injury, exhaustion, and true over-training.

But, post sickness, I've managed to train 6 days a week the past 3 weeks straight, with only Sundays off to rest.
I finally hit the wall Monday night when I had to acknowledge that another 6 days in a row was not advisable nor intelligent. I had hit the point of physical overwork and mental overload.
Nothing was clicking: I struggled to do the things I normally do without thinking like break grips, establish my grips, my head was down and my spine wasn't aligned when I hit my takedowns....I didn't hip out, make angles, inactive hips....et cetera. Or, that last little bit of energy to finish taking the back from the bottom, or getting to top position in a scramble rather than just fall back and look to sweep from...so I took a night off from training.

Monday - I do a quick 5 round workout consisting of a circuit of bench press, rows, then 400m sprints.
Then I'm in the Gi from 730-930pm. Roughly 15-20 min's with positional rolling like mount escapes, guard passing, sidemount escapes etc. Then another 15-30 min's of free rolling with my training partners.
Tuesday -  I go to Judo and do some quick rounds of 2-3 min rounds of matwork, then about 10-20 min's of takedowns or exchanging throws.
Wednesday - Again in the Gi from 7-830pm, usually about 20-30 min's of free rolling
Thursday - another 5 round circuit workout of 3-4 exercises like overhead press, curls, squats, or good mornings/russian twists. Then I'm back in the Gi for a repeat of Monday's drilling positions/rolling, then 15-30 min's of free rolling.
Friday - free rolling in the Gi for 30-40 min's
Saturday - free rolling in the Gi for 30 min's.
Sunday - REST
At any rate, this is my training preparation during an average week.
-------
Links to video/interviews from around the interwebz:
Armlocks from Catch Wrestling with Billy Robinson and Josh Barnett

Fedor's latest Sambo match (you know you are at least mildly interested despite his precipitous fall from grace in MMA)

Background on Lloyd Irvin's latest wonder kid, Keenan Cornelius.

Interview with Lloyd Irvin regarding: 2012 Houston Open, Lloyd Irvin's training methodology, PED's, etc.

Another Arm Hunter in the Sambo World Championships: Dimitry Bazylev vs Sergey Shibanov

Grappling is awesome. In virtually all of its forms. Since I saw the final the other day with the rolling/leg-grip Kimura/omoplata, I've been going through and watching all the Sambo World Championships I can find. Here's an awesome armbar finish.

Dimitry Bazylev vs Sergey Shibanov

Crazy Omoplata/Kimura with the legs from Sambo World Championships: Kurzhev vs Papov