The Grappling Gospel

  Recommendation:  Watch " Principle #4: Pyramid " video 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 beneficial and I hope you do too! And it's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog) Thoughts : Back in 1999, I had the fun adventure of staying in Cairo, Egypt, and from there, visiting the Great Pyramids of Egypt. I actually rode on a camel around the famous pyramids, seeing them up close and in person. It was an experience I'll never forget! What makes a pyramid structure so solid is simple to see: it has a secure base . As long as that base is strong and secure, it's very difficult to take the structure down. That's probably why the pyramids are still standing strong after so many years! (about 4,000-5,000 years old!) In the same way, the video entitled " Principle #4: Pyramid " on Gr...

  Today was my weekly class for Jiu Jitsu, and I caught a phrase by our Professor (lead teacher) that I'll always remember. We were learning a new move (at least for us who were newer to the class), and our Professor was reminding us to put aside our egos, and just focus on learning.  He said, "If you get the pin, the submission, great! you win! but if not, you learn. You only lose when you stop learning." Did you catch that? "You either win or learn." Now, if that's not a good perspective for us as learners of this incredibly complex martial art, I don't know what is. And in the same way, as a person trying to follow Jesus, this holds true too. Even the word "disciple" means "learner." Maybe instead of focusing on living perfectly, we should focus more on learning. Learning about our Savior, the Shepherd Jesus we are trying to follow. And learn about the world around us, and how it works (or often is simply broken). And yes, learn ab...

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  Recommendation:  Watch “ Principle #3: Distance ” video 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 beneficial and I hope you do too! And it's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog) Thoughts : “Whoever manages the distance manages the damage.” This is one of the top quotes from the video by Rener and Ryron Gracie in their “ The 32 Principles ” instructional course on the teaching platform at GracieUniversity.com . This video teaches about the importance of managing the distance between your opponent during a fight. Sometimes you want to be close, sometimes you want to be farther away. Either way, you should seek to manage the distance, so the fight goes in your favor, and you are able to control the flow of things more efficiently. The goal is to DISRUPT THE DISTANCE!  This means, you are working to disrupt the o...

  Recommendation: Watch “ Principle #2: Detachment ” video 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 beneficial and I hope you do too! And it's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog) Thoughts : This video taught me about the importance of detachment for the sake of finding a new opening or opportunity. Sometimes in BJJ, we have to make the decision to detach from a certain connection – to let it go, to release it, so that we are free to embrace something better. If we focus on maintaining a connection that is no longer advantageous, we could put ourselves in a compromising position, and ultimately lose our chance to win the fight. We don’t want to be too stubborn by holding onto a certain position when it’s no longer advantageous – when our energy is being drained and it’s not working. Now let’s pivot and apply thi...

  Recommendation:  Watch “ Principle #1: Connection ” video 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 beneficial and I hope you do too! And it's not necessary to watch these videos to benefit from this blog) Thoughts : Wow – I was blown away by all the different connections that Jiu Jitsu offers! This is AMAZING! Feet, hands, arms, elbows, knees, head, etc – so many different ways to connect! My favorite quote from the video was “ If Jiu Jitsu is the language, then connection is the alphabet! ” The Connection Principle teaches us that there are three basic purposes in each connection:  (1) movement prevention , (2) movement promotion , and (3) movement prediction . We either use connection to  PREVENT  a move, to  PROMOTE  a move (make something happen), or to feel the push and pull (energy transition of our opponent) to  PR...

The Rubik’s Cube I remember when I was a kid getting my first Rubik's  Cube. It was so much fun! But trying to solve it with random twists and turns was incredibly frustrating. Soon I bought the instruction book on how to solve it, and then I finally had techniques that worked and gained my confidence. I quickly mastered the Rubik's  Cube and felt like a black belt with it! Jiu Jitsu can feel like trying to solve a Rubik's  Cube – blindfolded! There are so many twists and turns that at first it seems outrageously overwhelming! Since I’m currently a white belt, this is the stage I’m in. I’m quickly learning as much as possible, but wow, every session feels like my brain is panting and out of breath just trying to keep up. I go to my local Gracie Barra facility every week and I look forward to it with eager anticipation. I even have the online app that I use to get a sneak preview for the week’s techniques, and I try to practice on my own with my grappling dummy at home. Bu...

I'm not a violent person, or at least I don't consider myself to be. Sure, growing up I had my fair share of playground scuffles and school bus shoves, but nothing serious enough for my parents to worry about.  My first fight was in kindergarten. I followed another boy into the bathroom to set him straight about something (and to this day, I can't remember what it was about). In elementary school, an older boy was picking on me about something. I was shoved to the ground by him, and he then taunted over me. A few days earlier my step-father, who had some experience in Judo, taught me how to do a simple foot sweep in that very position. I executed the move perfectly, and the boy fell back in shock, crashing into the ground. From that day on he left me alone. I tried to avoid conflicts as much as possible, but inside of me was a growing desire to learn more, so I could feel confident in any fight-type situation. Fast forward to my middle-aged adult life. Still no real fights ...