The Grappling Gospel

  Recommendation:  Watch " Principle #11: The Kazushi Principle " on GracieUniversity.com   (Disclaimer: I am not being paid/sponsored in any way to promote "Gracie University". I have found their " The 32 Principles " videos incredibly helpful and I hope you do too. It's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog.) I was recently frustrated and didn't know what to do... At the end of class, we transition to a time of 'open mat' -- when you can roll with someone and focus on things or just roll and see how it goes. It's a great time to get extra practice and experience, and I really enjoy it. But I was frustrated, because it starts with each person on their knees, facing each other. You grab your opponent, and one of you eventually goes down first, and the other tries to take mount, and the roll begins. But as a big-time newbie to Jiu Jitsu, no one prepared me for this intro time of the initial sparring from the knees...

  Recommendation:  Watch " Principle #10: Framing " on GracieUniversity.com (Disclaimer: I am not being paid/sponsored in any way to promote "Gracie University". I have found their " The 32 Principles " videos incredibly helpful and I hope you do too. It's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog.) Would you roll with Santa Claus? I guess that depends if you want to be on his good list, right? As we get older, and Santa Claus looks more and more familiar in the mirror, this is going to be one of the key principles that keeps you rolling. As an older competitor myself, this principle of Framing has increasing value to me to use it as much as possible in my rolling. What is Framing? Framing is when you use your skeletal structure to hold your opponent in position or simply block them from moving to a different position. It's a great substitute for muscular strength, especially when you are up against a larger and stronger oppone...