Jun 06
The double guard pull is a relatively development. Its use has been expanding with the popularity of berimbolo and 50/50. It’s becoming a game unto itself. Those who play it have become extremely adept at it. It almost seems ritualized when you watch the transition from the pull into their attacks. If you play that …
Feb 12
I recently read a book called Start with Why by Simon Sinek. It made me think about why I love BJJ, and the answer I came up with surprised me because the reason has existed before I even knew what BJJ was. Through the Wormhole Before I just spell it out, let’s go back in …
Feb 01
One of my ongoing projects is related to half guard, and today I want to look at one of the questions that I’ve received as a result of that project. The question was: My Half Guard question is about the cross face. I have gotten very comfortable with being able to control the bicep of …
Oct 08
I’m very self aware. I know when I’m performing to the best of my ability and when I’m not. There’s a clear difference. I’m telling you this not because I’m so special but because I spend a lot of time thinking about the connection between mindset and performance. There is no doubt that such a …
Oct 05
Let’s take a little trip. Through the Wormhole A few years ago, Evolve Academy decided to create a fight team for the WKA Nationals. The tryouts were set at a certain date and a certain time, and it was expected to be a really difficult and demanding test. At the time, I had been training …
Sep 25
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu isn’t popular. Deny it not. It’s the reason why all the big names in the sport as well as the martial art as a whole are barely known outside the small community of dedicated individuals who train. Now that’s not a problem. It’s an opportunity. The Great Challenge For those who are truly …
Sep 24
It’s interesting what you can learn from diverse sources. The Theory That Would Not Die is a mathematical history book that focuses on the controversies and successes of Bayes’ theory of probability. Now right away the question arises: How can that be applicable to training? The answer is that the underlying theory of Bayes in …
Sep 06
Updated: December 13, 2012 I’m a thief. I’ve never thought of it that way before, but after reading a certain book, I accept it. Hell, I’m even proud of it. What does it mean to be a thief though? It’s simply the willingness to learn from the experience of others. Why reinvent the wheel if …
Sep 04
Today, I’m going to talk about the lesson I learned the very first day I trained at Evolve Academy. I drove over an hour to get to the gym and I got lost at the end, since it was located off the main road. By some miracle though, I will still early. So I signed …
Sep 01
Back when I was a white belt, I was consistently partnered up with three upper belts. Their names were Tyler, Sulaiman, and Coleman. The things I learned from each of them had a formative impact on me. So what I’m going is to go back and relive those experiences to some degree and highlight the …
Aug 22
Recently, I’ve been thinking about some of my formative experiences when I was a white belt. So I decided to go back and try to highlight those experiences, and this will be my first attempt to do so here. The focus of this post will be on the lessons I learned competing as a white …
Oct 24
Personal Assessment: Strengths – Mobile on the ground Good understanding of basic guard concepts Relatively flexible Decent guard recovery Decent conceptual understanding of the triangle and armbar Good at applying the ezekiel choke from mount with or without the Gi Conceptual understanding of top and bottom half guard Ever-increasing effectiveness with the arm drag Weaknesses …
