Armbar and Grill

Glover's travels... Drysdale techniques

2009-10-07T12:47:00.001-05:00

Glover's travel Episode 3

2009-09-24T09:10:00.001-05:00

I know it isn't BJJ or MMA

2009-09-04T16:21:00.002-05:00

But i don't care...it's LSU.

Reputation

2009-08-28T13:48:00.002-05:00

Another insert for a bjj blog...

A widespread belief that someone or something has a particular habit or characteristic

Simplifying your game requires many things and has many benefits. Of what it requires the most important would easily be repetition. Repeating something over and over leads to conditioning for a desired outcome. If that outcome is Juji-Gatame then repeating said technique moves the student closer and closer to mastery of the straight armlock!

Here we have another formula: Simplify = repetition = mastery

Reputation is a byproduct from the process of mastery. When you master something you tend to gain notoriety. Just like in science if you prove your successful formula over and over you will gain respect from others. With that respect comes an indirect safeguard.

As I have said before Jiu-Jitsu is more mental than physical. This is very true in the context of reputation. When I roll with my students they make certain mistakes because of my mastery with Juji-Gatame. It clouds their judgment enough to throw them off. Where they would normally be certain they are uncertain. Where they would normally be strong they are weak.

The sheer notion of danger fills the opponent with dread and thus acts as an indirect safeguard. With this understanding comes another ally: The ability to lead an opponent away from threatening you and closer to being submitted.

Tip for upcoming tournament

2009-08-27T09:32:00.002-05:00

For those competing this weekend at the state tournament...here is a little advice. Have fun, and don't be too serious. Now saying that, I don't want you to go partying or coming in not caring. That is not what I'm trying to get across here. The more relaxed you are the better, and faster you think about what you are doing. If you are too consumed with not losing, you will freeze up and either buffalo to a 2-0 win, or get caught in a submission.

Remember to always keep advancing your position. Nobody likes a buffalo...It is a simple rule: If you don’t progress your position, you are losing!

In Jiu-Jitsu progressing position equals points. The same goes for life.

The second you decide to stop achieving is the second you start dying!

Pretty cool BJJ Show Pilot

2009-08-27T09:24:00.002-05:00

Jeff Glover is teaming up with Budovideos traveling to different gyms, and putting them into a show format. Pretty nice BJJ information, and they have a little easy roll at the end. This youtube version is not the full episode. Anyway...I saw it, and wanted to pass it to the group at Blacklist.

The Second place

2009-08-11T07:35:00.003-05:00

This blog is from Dave Camarillo. It is about giving it your all, and not regretting what you have done...or should have done.

I remember when I was a kid I used to compete in the Judo Championships in Las Vegas every year. I used to double up on divisions to get more experience. I would fight my weight and a weight category above. That way I would get the best of both worlds: Those who should give me trouble and those who should beat me.

On this particular day I was really tested in the higher weight category. I had made it to the final of both divisions. I fought the higher category final before my own weight. And I knew it was going to be a tough match.

I remember being very confident in my weight, but not with the larger opponent. Mentally I decided to save my energy and not give it my all in the first final. My reasoning was simple: If I save my energy I will have it for the final in my division.

I will never forget that decision for the rest of my life.

I ended up barely losing the final against the larger opponent, but winning my weight category with ease.

In a sense I chose to fail! A champion never chooses to fail. They choose victory. And that is irrelevant of the outcome.

Over the years I have received many awards throughout my extensive competition career. But the only one I find any real value in is my second place trophy

Creating Dilemmas instead of problems

2009-08-06T09:49:00.002-05:00

Here is a great interview with Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu...

In BJJ you want to create Dilemmas as opposed to problems. The logic is quite simple: Problems are solved.

If I engage my technique to create problems that can be solved, then I am creating more work for myself. With the solution comes a need for another problem. If I trap you in a dilemma however than I have forced you to choose the lesser of two evils. Which in many cases is not an easy choice.

I choose this method of training. I find my hub*, which puts me in control of reaction. My opponents’ reaction is then channeled through a system* in which the outcome is also controlled.

Imagine the Spider’s Web. On the outside the prey is uncontrolled and therefore not yet a meal. It may even be a formidable foe. But as soon as it becomes engulfed in the Web it immediately transforms from unpredictable to dead!

And as long as I have my favorite weapon (JuJi-Gatame) locked and loaded the rest is easy!

*The Hub: A position where I have a high degree of control and constant threat through technical systems. Example: Back control

Armbar & Grill Youth Tournament

2009-07-31T13:32:00.000-05:00

Funny Video spoof

2009-07-24T07:58:00.000-05:00

Cool workout/highlight video

2009-07-23T14:56:00.001-05:00

Purple Belt Requirement DVD

2009-07-22T11:03:00.000-05:00

Don't be so serious

2009-07-20T15:49:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day

2009-07-13T22:54:00.001-05:00

"If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle." - Rickson Gracie

Fitness/Status update from Armbar and Grill Staff

2009-07-10T08:56:00.002-05:00

Here is a post made on http://josharmbargrill.blogspot.com/

Update of the Armbar and Grill Staff workout/current stats. For those staff members who have not submitted their stats, please comment back so I can edit this blog post. Everyone has their own individual goals, well...here is mine.

With the fast approaching birthday (time has not stopped yet), I have decided I need to make my push to meet a goal of mine. I have never been happy with my body, and I have no excuse for it. I recently joined Anytime fitness, and along with training at the greatest Martial Arts academy in the south Blacklist, I should be able to reach my goals. Here is the breakdown of this week's training from our staff..

Status report from Armbar and Grill Staff

Name - Eric Weaver
Level - BJJ Blue Belt
Weight: 210
Schedule:

Monday - Walk 4 miles, Weightlifting (1 Hour)
Tuesday - Walk 4 miles, Weightlifting (30 Minutes), NOGI (1 Hour), BJJ (1 Hour)
Wednesday - Walk 4 miles,
Thursday - Walk 4 miles, Weightlifting (30 Minutes), NOGI (1 Hour), BJJ ( 2 Hours)
Friday - Walk 4 miles,

Name - Joshua Guidry
Level - BJJ Blue Belt
Weight: 196
Schedule:

Monday - Nothing
Tuesday - Weight training - Chest and Shoulders
Wednesday - Weight Training - Back and Legs - Submission Wrestling(1Hour)
Thursday - BJJ ( 3.5 hours)
Friday - Nothing
Saturday - Open Mat BJJ (2 Hours)

Name - Shaun Rook
Level - BJJ Blue Belt
Weight: 205
Schedule:

Monday - Nothing
Tuesday - BJJ (2.5 Hours)
Wednesday - Nothing
Thursday - BJJ (2.5 Hours)
Friday - BJJ (1 Hour)
Saturday - Open Mat (2 Hours)

Quote of the Day

2009-07-09T14:08:00.002-05:00

"Knowledge comes from finding the answers, but understanding what the answers mean is what brings wisdom."

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu everyone reads, watches videos, or attends classes/seminars to get better. What some fail to realise is that they are increasing the amount of information by doing these things, but are they really increasing the game? Does a person that has seen over 250 techniques have a better game than someone who knows how to perform 50? No, that's my answer...and that's were i stop this blog today...until tomorrow...keep armbaring.

Quote of the Day

2009-07-08T14:45:00.002-05:00

"It's not about the destination, its about the Journey. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it."

When thinking about the path to advance through the belts we lose the experiences and the fun of what it is all about.

What is the one thing you want to work on the most?

2009-06-11T10:56:00.003-05:00

If you could choose one area to tighten up in your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game, what would it be? Don't cop out and say...the whole game. For the longest time that was my answer too. However, how can anyone help you if you don't attack a piece at a time?

Think about it like a football player. You ask the high school athlete what he would like to work on to strengthen his game. He says football...I need to work on everything. How long do you think it will take to train this athlete? Do you even know if the person is a defensive or offensive player? Will you work on the rules? Will you spend time on basic fundamental postures? Do you work on speed, strength, endurance,...you get the picture. The same is with BJJ! Are you a guard puller, top playing buffalo, speedy flexible spider. Do you want to work take downs, different guards, subs, counters, sweeps.

Here is a little homework for everyone. Pick one thing that you would like to work on. Post on this blog what you want to work on. We can start hitting these items at open mat, or with private training with one of the instructors.

My one piece that I would like to tighten up before anything else is my Butterfly guard. I would like to work on better control and sweeps from this position.

Here is a video from an open roll with Tony and I, where I pulled of a plan B sweep from half guard. Send me any videos, and I will post them on future blogs.

Guard in my Guard Part 3

2009-06-08T13:41:00.001-05:00

From the guy who made the ever popular Get in my Guard video...here is part 3 when he enters a real BJJ gym. Funny and entertaining. Not for everyone though.

ADCC Regional Tournament in Texas

2009-06-04T12:50:00.001-05:00

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club is coming to Texas!

When:
Friday, July 24, 2009

Where:
Legends Sports Complex
602 Pruitt Road.
The Woodlands
77380

Description:
ADCC Regional Tournament in Houston Texas. This event will be open to all skill levels and age groups.

There will be early Weigh-Ins on Friday July 24TH from 5-7PM at LEGENDS SPORTS COMPLEX and the tournament will begin at 9AM.

Early registration is only $75 for adults and $50 for kids and teens.

WE WILL BE TAKING DAY OF REGISTRATIONS, HOWEVER THE PRICE WILL GO TO $100 FOR ADULTS AND $75 Kids.

Great job this past weekend at the Mississippi State Tourney

2009-06-03T08:41:00.003-05:00

We had another great showing at a state tournament this past weekend. Great job to all the blacklist competition team that attended. There were as many armbars flying around as the monkeys on the wizard of oz! Keep up the good training, leading up to the next competition!

Here are a few pictures...

Why is it important to Cross Train?

2009-06-02T12:15:00.004-05:00

Up until this weekend, I did not really see a point. I figured to get better in BJJ I will train BJJ all the time, and nothing else. I have gotten a greater understanding of the techniques and philosophy. That has been great, however; I am willing to try anything at least once. Sure I use to lift a few weights when I first started, but for the past year or so I did strictly BJJ. I will start this week with adding a few things to my training to see if it can improve my game.
I will begin with adding Crossfit. We have great guys who have been doing Crossfit at Blacklist, and even have gotten certified. I have messed around with it in the past, but never committed to it fully. I will begin today with my first WOD. They are hard, but if I want to achieve my goals, then i have to buckle down.
I will also get some equipment, and start coming to kickboxing class. I always had a problem with kickboxing...you know...it was getting hit...lol. I just need to suck it up, and try it out. I don;t expect to be any decent overnight. I have a feeling it will take me months just to not look like a fool. At least when I started BJJ, I read alot, watched video, and worked out a little. I have zero stand up. Derrick mentioned that it will improve my understanding of the game. I think it will be a great addition to me personally. I don't see myself stepping into the cage, but becoming well rounded is something I would like.

So long story short...I will try to incorporate many different training styles to help improve my grappling game and overall health. I am going to keep track of it on a separate blog titled

http://josharmbargrill.blogspot.com

In a few months I will get check back in on how it has gone.

For your crossfit needs go to
http://crossfitblacklist.blogspot.com/

For you overall Martial Arts training go to
http://blacklistbjj.blogspot.com/

And remember...if you want to be the best, you have to train with the best. Crazy Tim is coming to one of the best Martial Arts Academies in the South...BLACKLIST!!! Come train with Crazy Tim one of the few Black belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Fighters in Louisiana!

Results from the 2nd Louisiana State Championships

2009-06-01T10:18:00.001-05:00

Great job to all that competed a few weeks ago. Here are the team rankings from the tournament. We had only 30 students competing, and did a great job in racking up points.

Total

Ranking Gym Name Points Gold Silver Bronze

1º Gracie Barra 638 = 57 32 29

2º BJJ Rev\Black List 282 = 22 21 21

3º NOLA BJJ (GB) 66 = 6 2 6

4º Adrenaline X (GB) 64 = 5 5 4

5º LAMA(Machado) 62 = 5 3 8

6º GB Arkansa 58 = 3 7 10

7º NDBJJ 43 = 4 1 4

8º Team Hopkins 40 = 4 1 1

9º Gold Dragon 37 = 3 2 4

Omega MA 37 = 3 2 4

11º Gracie South 28 = 3 0 1

12º GB Southshore 20 = 1 3 2

13º Gladiators Academy 20 = 1 3 2

14º Leonardo Xavier 19 = 1 2 4

15º ATT 12 = 1 1 0

Points per medal:

Gold Silver Bronze 4º Place 5º Place 6º Place 7º Place

9 3 1 1 0 0 0

UFC 100 Fan expo shaping up...training, autographs, and more

2009-06-01T08:03:00.003-05:00

Here is an article from MMA Junkie on the upcoming UFC Fan Expo going on during UFC 100. You can view this article on www.mmajunkie.com

The UFC's first-ever Fan Expo, held on July 10 and 11 at the Mandalay Bay Covention Center in Las Vegas in conjunction with the historic UFC 100 event, is beginning to shape up with several recent announcements.

With more details to come, training sessions with Wanderlei Silva, Urijah Faber, Mark DellaGrotte and Eddie Bravo, as well as autograph sessions with several UFC fighters and personalities have been announced.

Tickets for all events are on sale now.

Participation in each of the two-hour training sessions featuring Silva, Faber, DellaGrotte or Bravo costs $100 and is limited to the first 80 registrants. The fee is for one training session only and does not include entrance into the main exhibit hall.

General fan tickets cost $30 for Friday, July 10, $35 for Saturday, or $50 for both days.

VIP tickets, which include admission to both days, reserved seating at keynote addresses, dedicated VIP registration and entrance areas and a collectible T-shirt and VIP badge, are available for $150.

Ultimate VIP tickets, which include a meet-and-greet with Dana White and separate autograph lines, were available for $500 but have already sold out.

Over 140 exhibitors have registered for the expo, including 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, Bad Boy Brands, B.J. Penn Enterprises, Bruce Lee Foundation, LLC, Fight! Magazine, MMAWarehouse.com, Round 5, Sinister Brand Apparel, Sityodtong MMA Academy, TapouT, THQ, Topps, Xtreme Couture MMA and more.

A complete list of exhibitors is available on the UFC Fan Expo's official website. Many are offering discounted merchandise and free giveaways at the event. An updated list of the current offers can also be found on the Show Specials page of the UFC Fan Expo website.

All tickets include access to UFC- and exhibitor-sponsored autograph sessions. Fighters scheduled to appear include Mike Brown, Shane Carwin, Nate Diaz, Rashad Evans, Efrain Escudero, Kenny Florian, Forrest Griffin, Clay Guida, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Keith Jardine, Anthony Johnson, Jon Jones, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Sean Sherk, Wanderlei Silva, Sam Stout and Cain Velasquez.

Octagon girls Arianny Celeste, Edith Labelle and Logan Stanton will also appear at the expo.

BJJ and Kickboxing Seminar June 6th

2009-05-29T09:06:00.002-05:00

"Crazy" Tim Credeur

We are once again honored to get our Blacklist Head Coach, UFC fighter, BJJ/Judo black belt Tim Credeur to Blacklist, June 6th. This will be a great learning experience for anyone who can attend. We always leave with tons of new/crazy/detailed things to work on. Come with notepads and pencils. You will not want to forget what he teaches. If you have any questions on certain things, now is the time to bring them up! Tim is one of the very few Black Belts in Louisiana, and loves to share his knowledge.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu session - Everyone is expected to wear a clean (white, Blue, or Black) Gi.
Kickboxing session - Everyone is expeted to have their own gloves/fight gear, the appropriate attire is Thai/Fight shorts and a Blacklist T-Shirt.

Schedule of Events & Cost:

9:00am Youth Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Ages 4-12. Cost $30.00 per child.
10:00am Adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Ages 13 & up. Cost $50.00 per adult
12:00pm Muay Thai Kickboxing, Ages 13 & up. Cost $30.00 per adult.
Take both BJJ & Kickboxing for only $65.00.

http://blacklistbjj.blogspot.com/

Crazy Tim is coming to Blacklist!

2009-05-28T14:40:00.004-05:00

Derrick jsut announced that our Blacklist Head instructor "Crazy" Tim Credeur is coming to our gym on June 6th. More information will be provided as we get the details. Can't wait to train with the best!

Here is the video from after one of his fights!

Videos from LA STATE BJJ TOURNEY

2009-05-27T15:30:00.002-05:00

Here are a few great matches from the LA State BJJ Tourney. Great job by all...If you have any more...send them to me so I can post.

Wally with his first ever match, gets his first ever victory by ARMBAR!
My 1st match and 1st win EVER

Wally in his first NOGI Match...Awesome choke!
My 1st no gi match

Joey's first Match...good effort!
Joeys 2nd match

EGO and Growing your game

2009-05-20T07:09:00.000-05:00

Here is a great little video on EGO and Evolution of Jiu-Jitsu...Growth.

The Takedown! Why is it so important?

2009-05-19T15:46:00.003-05:00

For some time I have not put any thought on how important the beginning of a BJJ match is. I thought of the stand up part as a time waste until the battle starts on the ground. After competing this weekend, I think I have changed my mind just a little. Everyone says go for the take down...it's worth 2 points! I don't really think it is the points that is the most important thing about take downs. It is the positional dominance that you have once completing a take down. You will end up on top. Why is this important? Because you do not have to sweep anyone to get on top. You will dictate where the match will end up.

Some may say, well on bottom I can catch people with submissions. This is correct, but if you go against a strong opponent with good defense, then you are behind the eight ball.

Think of it like a football game. Most teams want to pin their opposition as deep as they can on their side of the field. This would be the take down. Forcing the other team to drive the length of the field to score. Now ...not going for a take down, and possibly pulling guard...you kick the ball out of bounce at the 50. They have half the field to score...you can stop them, but must do it quickly and without giving up much yardage.

There are times where pulling guard is the better choice. Lets say you are going against a long time judo black belt that is stronger than you...may not be able to get the take down.

Did I mention that I love armbars?

2009-05-18T09:12:00.003-05:00

A kind competitor already downloaded one of the matches to youtube. Send me the links, and I will post them on this blog.

Congratulations to Competitors at the State Tourney

2009-05-18T07:35:00.002-05:00

We had a great turnout this past weekend at the Louisiana BJJ State Tournament. The Blacklist team had 20+ students there competing and having fun. We had many that received medals, and many that tried hard. I am very proud of all of you. In the next day or so, I will post the actual results for everyone that competed. Again great job!

Were there any lessons we can take from this tournament to improve our game? Of course...even if you won every match you entered, there were tons of matches going on that you could watch, and get pointers for. If anyone has video taped their matches, please email/youtube/burn to cd, or any other way of transfering file...and send it to me Josh Guidry...I would like to upload those videos to this blog. We could also take details out of the videos to tighten up anyones game. This is the best way to go into a private lesson with Derrick, Josh, Cy, Buddy, or any Purple or Blue belt.

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #8…Have Fun

2009-05-14T09:10:00.002-05:00

If there is only one thing I can tell you going into the tournament is let loose, and have some fun. Try stuff, don't get scared and buffalo. Show us what you have learned, and go for the wins. Have fun out there...

Here is a cool video of a Blackbelt in class just playing around...kind of looks like cy if he were a blackbelt...lol

3 days, 18 hours to go until the LA State Championships

2009-05-11T14:06:00.006-05:00

My, my...the time does fly. We only have a few more days left till the tournament! I can't wait, all I want to do right now is armbar someone. I think everyone who is competing this weekend has been getting pumped up, and is anxious to try some stuff out. We should have a good group going with purples, blues, greens, oranges, yellows, and white belts. I hope everyone has a fun time Saturday.

Getting things organized...It is kinda last minute for organization, s0 hope this helps with putting your information together.

Pre-Registration - Closed May 9th...If you have not yet registered, you missed out on saving some money. It is not to late to pre-register, you just do not have the big savings. Remember...to compete as adult in absolute competitions, you must pre-register!

Weigh-in - You have an option to weigh in the day before the tournament (Friday at Gracie Barra Northshore Hammond, LA.) Adults bring your gi...for gi class you have to weigh in with your gi...kids do not need to weigh in with their gi. If you are not cutting weight, and have lbs between you could just weigh in Saturday morning at the tournament. We have a group from the competition team cutting weight Thursday night, and Friday morning to go weigh in Friday. Get with Josh, Eric, or Tony for details.

Competing - Have Fun, and try for stuff. Win or Lose it doesn't really matter. What matters is that you try your best, and have fun. Learn from each match...what you did well, what you didn't do well.

What to do for the tournament? Wear a Blacklist T-shirt to go to the tournament. You don't have to compete in a blacklist t-shirt, but wear one of them to the event. You can wear the White blacklist, Black Blacklist Logo shirt, Black Team Blacklist, or the Grey CHOKE tournament shirt.

We will all try to get to the tournament early, and section out a place for our group. Since we have a large number competing...should be fun.

Here are the people who have said they were going. If you are not on the list...let one of the coaches know!

Purple

Derrick Breaux
Gabe Barahona

Blue

Joshua Guidry
Eric Weaver
Cy Landry
Tony Anselmi
Buddy Kiff
Peygan Lafont

Green

Neil Ledet
Chad Townsley
*Brendon Weaver

Orange

Joel Weaver
Kane Collins
Isaac Weaver

Yellow

Ryen Weaver
Joseph Leboeuf
Devin Desormeaux

Grey

Derrel Billiot

White

Brent Autin
Wally Naquin
Beau Naquin
Brett Naquin
Cody Landry
Joey Ezell

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #7…The Relaxation Myth

2009-05-11T12:36:00.001-05:00

Fantastic article off of grapplearts...

Not using too much power is important if you want to develop your technique, but if you want to develop a game you can really use against another competitor at a similar level, you have to be very active in your training and avoid the laziness of relaxing. I am NOT talking about spazzing out, but I am saying that you have to take the fight to the opponent at 100% in training if you want to really improve.

I didn't realize this until after a private with Marcelo Garcia. He told me that I was too relaxed and that I would need to step it up if I wanted to really be ready for a competition. He was totally right. Just giving myself permission to force the fight to go where I wanted it to go made a huge difference in the game. I used to counter attack, but now I can lead, counter, and defend as needed. It added a whole new dimension to my game.

It was as Marcelo said in Arte Suave (a video magazine): "If you aren't attacking, you are defending, and if you are defending it means that you are losing the fight at that moment."

I had developed this really reactive game from the bottom back when I had lung problems from a rib injury. I couldn't really push myself so I had to develop better timing and really wait for opportunities. The problem is that in a 6-10 minute match, those opportunities do not present themselves too often with a good opponent. So I would lose by a couple of points and never really get into the match.

I never really felt like I was stalling though...just that I was trying to be too "effortless". You know how you watch the really good guys and it looks like they are barely moving? Well, I thought my BJJ needed to look like that. But after Marcelo's pep talk I realized that the good guys DON'T look like that when they are fighting guys at their level.

Since I kicked up the aggression, my game has totally changed. On top I don't give any space and on the bottom I am constantly moving to my strongest positions. Most importantly, I am not waiting until the opponent gets his grips before I start to escape...Instead I'm not giving him the grips and forcing him to escape mine instead.

Aggressive means initiating the position changes instead of countering your opponent's actions. It means not being lazy, for example, when someone is bearing down on you in your half guard trying to flatten you out.

We'll see if all comes together at the Pan Ams...

This article is compiled from a thread that Andreh started on the BJJ forum at mma.tv. Andreh is currently a competitive BJJ brown belt training with Rey Diogo in Los Angeles, CA
www.grapplearts.com

Weight cutting? Here is a great article from Grapple Arts

2009-05-08T15:08:00.000-05:00

Why Cut Weight?

Many people not involved in combative sports do not understand why someone would subject himself to water and food restriction to cut weight in the first place. I usually explain this with the example of weight classes. What this means is that most combative sport competitions have weight limits for certain classes. Since the object of being in a certain weight class would be to be the strongest and heaviest person in that class, many athletes cut their weight down to a lower class only to add weight after the weigh in. In the athlete’s mind, they are then heavier for the actual fight, and have the potential to be stronger than their opponent (as long as they don’t do the exact same thing).

The weigh ins are also usually the day before the fight. This gives the fighters 20-30 hours to reload their bodies following the weight cutting. For anyone that has ever seen Tito Ortiz or Matt Hughes fight, you should understand what I mean. Every time those two athletes fight anyone in the same weight class, they always look much bigger and stronger. The Tito Ortiz/Elvis Sinosic fight, where both fighters weighed in at 204 pounds comes to mind. At fight time, Tito looked 230 and Elvis looked 180. This should hammer home the fact that if things are done correctly, cutting weight has huge advantages.

Don’t Forget The Other Half!

Everyone can quickly think of some ways to cut weight. You could stop eating and drinking, you could exercise to sweat a lot in heavy clothes, or you could hop in the sauna for a half hour. All of these methods will be somewhat effective if done correctly to cut weight for a fight or competition. But what about properly putting the weight back on in a safe and timely manner to be ready for the fight? That is where people don’t have as many answers. If you think you should just eat and drink to feel good, you are going to run into problems. Do not forget that the reconstitution of your body is as, if not more, important in the cutting weight and gaining it back cycle.

Shedding the Pre Fight Pounds

This next section is going to cover the techniques for adequate weight loss. Before I begin though, I must remind everyone that their diet should be solid at this point, and you should always be within about 10-12 pounds of the weight you want to reach before the weight cutting begins. Any more than this value and things start to get very dangerous. This means that you should control your caloric intake long before the fight, and get to 10-12 pounds away from the desired weigh in weight. By doing this, you will have much less to worry about when the fight approaches.

Fluid Restriction

The simplest and most effective way to begin the weight cutting process is to decrease or stop fluid intake. Your body is constantly losing fluid by breathing, sweating and urination. Every minute and hour that this goes by without replacing the fluid, you will lose weight. This process takes no extra energy from a fighter to complete, and you can lose up to 5-6 pounds in 24 hours without drinking. My athletes never go over 24 hours without fluid, and we usually start the fluid restriction exactly 24 hours before the weigh in. Before beginning the fluid restriction, there are some tricks to losing the maximum amount of fluid over that 24 hours.

For the fifth, fourth and third days before the weigh in, I have my athletes consume 2 gallons of water a day. They carry the gallon jug around with them so they know how much fluid they are taking in. At this time, the athlete also can be more liberal with sodium in his diet (we don’t go heavy on the sodium, but a little increase can help later as you will see). This increased water intake triggers hormones in the body to excrete more urine than usual. This response will be essential in losing fluid the day before the weigh in. Two days before the weigh in, the fighter cuts the fluid intake to one gallon of water, and cuts out the sodium from the diet. Finally, the last day before the weigh in, the fighter takes in no fluids, no sodium, and only food that I will describe later. This process is effortless, and only requires a little discipline and tolerance of a dry mouth.

Sweating

The next most popular way to decrease weight before a weigh in is to sweat out fluid from the body. This can be done in a number of ways, and can take off 5-10 pounds of weight in a short period of time depending on the conditions. This is a great method because even if the athlete is already lean, there will still be fluid that can be lost. The limitations to this method are that it requires great amounts of energy expenditure, and can sap strength from the fight the next day. The goal for using this method would be to take off the weight you need to lose with the least amount of fatigue for the athlete.

The simplest way to use this method is to exercise. That can be as simple as running or jumping rope, to as complex as cardio fight circuits involving punching, kicks, takedowns and sprinting. Depending on how quickly you need to lose the weight and the temperature of the area you are in, you will get a feel for what style you need to use. In addition to the exercise, athletes commonly use plastic suits and heavy clothing to increase the body temperature and enhance the sweating response. Just remember not to overheat. Athletes have actually died from overheating using some of these methods. (I must repeat that the goal is to be within 10 pounds by the day before the weigh in so that any methods you use don’t need to be drastic).

In addition to exercise, athletes can also use a sauna or hot bath or shower to lose fluid as well. A dry sauna is the most powerful of the three for weight loss and this loss should be monitored. Time spent in the sauna or hot showers should be at small 15-30 minute intervals to check weight loss. This brings up a great point that it would be a good idea to travel with your own scale to monitor how much weight you are losing. The last thing you need to do is lose too much weight. We always travel with a scale to keep track of our weight status.

Bowel Emptying

Another method to lose weight is to empty the bowels the day before the weigh in. This is another method that requires no effort and will not hurt performance if done correctly. Your bowels, or stomach and intestines, are up to 28 feet long and contain up to 5-7 pounds of material at all times. The food that has been ingested over the last 24 hours is all still contained along this set of tubes. This material does not help performance and is actually waste. By clearing out the bowels, an athlete can lose another 5 pounds without having to do anything.

The secret is in the methods.Two days before the weigh in, an athlete will already be eating less if he has to lose critical pounds. The day before the weigh in, he should not be eating much at all (to be discussed later). That material that is still in the gut from the day before, however, must be cleared. How we choose to do this is with a very gentle, all natural laxative. There are much more powerful drugs out there that do this, but you should not be using them. They can hurt your performance and leave you feeling horrible. By taking the gentle, natural laxative before you go to bed the night before the weigh in, you should wake and clear your bowels completely. Remember that you would only do this if you felt you were not going to make the weight with the methods listed above.

Diuretics

I hate to even bring this method up, but I must because I have seen them used incorrectly by fighters in the past trying to cut the last few pounds. There are natural and drug diuretics out there that can help you to lose fluids up to or over 10 pounds. I must say, if you were at the right starting point and you followed the methods already outlined above, this should not be an area that you need to worry about. This method is more dangerous than the others, and can lead to electrolyte imbalances and decreased performance. An all natural, gentle diuretic I have used in the past is called Dandelion Root. If this is a must, this should be used the day before the weigh in, so not to have problems during the fight.

Eating

Yes, I did put eating as something to do while you are cutting weight. You must make sure that your blood sugar levels are normal during this process or you are going to feel horrible and have no energy for the exercise aspect of the weight cutting. The last thing you want to do is take in fluids with sugar or heavy foods as this point. That is why we use a simple Balance Bar to get the job done. The bar only weighs a few ounces, but it will give you some sugar and fuel that your body can use during the fluid and food fast.

You Made It, Now What to do Next

Ok, you made the weight and you are feeling good. Now as soon as you get off the scale, you need to start refilling your body with everything you lost. As I said before, this piece of the process is as important as the weight reduction. Most people make big mistakes here that end up leading to disaster during the fight.

When you are cutting weight, your plasma blood volume decreases, and your blood pressure can increase as a result. In addition to this, your resting heart rate can go up, you can experience fatigue and feel psychologically weak. You need to make sure you reverse these processes not only as quickly as possible, but correctly and completely. Most people ram a bunch of food and water back into the system right after the weigh in, but they do not finish the job.

After the weigh in, you should eat small meals at regular 30 minute intervals. It is critical that you make sure you take in carbohydrates at this time to regain the proper blood sugar levels. Firing a ton of food down immediately after the weigh in is going to leave you feeling bloated and sick. Your body won’t be able to use all the food at once anyway, and it will just sit there. Smaller meals will clear the stomach and you will be able to eat again shortly. We actually have our athletes continue to eat all the way up to a few hours before the fight the next day. Eat meals that you are comfortable with. Don’t start to do anything different.

More importantly is getting the fluid balance back. You should immediately take in fluids following the weigh in and continue to drink at regular intervals. The ultimate goal for my fighters is to see a clear urine stream before we know we are back. This can take 3-5 gallons of fluid over the next day to replace the 10 or more pounds that has been lost. Don’t rely on the thirst response because it will not be accurate. You need to keep drinking to make sure that the blood plasma, fluid space between the cells and the cells themselves are refilled. An I.V. is also a good option here, but it can and should only be performed by a skilled medical professional. There are many dangers involved in this procedure. This is usually used as a last resort or in a medical emergency. If everything, from the weight cutting to the weight regaining has been done correctly and you have 24 hours until the fight, there should be no need for intravenous fluids.

A Few Pieces of Advice

A main motto of mine is that you never try something new a week before the fight. This stands for new techniques, new foods, new equipment, and especially weight cutting. This is something that needs to be practiced just like ground or stand up techniques. You would never attempt a technique in a fight that you have never tried before. You must think the same way about cutting weight. You need to understand everything about it. You must know how to do it, how long it will take your body to lose the weight, and exactly how your body is going to feel. If you don’t ever practice, you are looking to add stress and potential disaster to the plan. Practice, and the better you master the weight cutting, the easier it will be to perform when the time comes.

Another mistake I have also seen at weigh ins is that a fighter may think they made the weight and then still be too heavy. This occurs when a fighter only weighs himself on his scale and does not use the official scale for the event. Remember that you will have access to the official scale, and you should monitor your weight according to it. This is the only way to know if you have correctly made the weight or not. The last thing you need to be doing is frantically exercising trying to cut weight in the last few minutes. The less stress and adrenaline release, the better.

I hope you have learned something from this article. Remember that weight cutting is an art and must be taken very seriously. When used correctly, it can be a powerful tool that can lead to victory. When used incorrectly, it can be a powerful obstacle that can lead to defeat. This, like any art, must be practiced a number of times in advance. Only then can you begin to truly understand its power.

Currently, Martin Rooney is the director of the Parisi Speed School. Martin has prepared champions for the UFC, Pride, Pancrase as well as champions of the Mundials, Pan Ams and Olympic Judo. He has also traveled as far as Brazil, Japan and the Middle East to conduct seminars and help prepare fighters. In addition to training many world champion martial artists, Martin has also been a speed consultant to the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona State University, Oregon State University, as well as other athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA and numerous top Division I colleges across the country. He has also trained numerous Olympians including one gold, and two silver medalists. His book and DVD, Training for Warriors, can be purchased at parisischool.com

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #6…Lessons learned from past Tournaments

2009-05-08T14:09:00.001-05:00

Here are some things that I’ve learned from competition whether I won or I lost:

I have learned that it’s ok to be nervous and I’m not the only one.
I have learned how to test myself in uncomfortable situations.
I have gained confidence.
I have learned many things that I need to work on.
I learned what it’s like to step out of my comfort zone and to know its ok.
I learned that I am better than others.
I learned that others are better than me.
I learned that it’s ok to lose.
I learned that if feels great to win.
I learned that I will learn more every time I compete.
I learned that I LOVE ARMBARS!

That’s not even a complete list, but I’m sure you get the point. If you are worried about competing and if you’re not sure if it’s for you, you’ll never know unless you try. The people who become champions and who succeed in life didn’t do so because they thought about trying it’s because they did try

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #5…Nerves

2009-05-07T13:37:00.002-05:00

Nerves are something that pretty much everyone experiences in life. I am afraid of heights, therefore, I am nervous anytime i have to climb or look down on something. Being nervous is fine as long as you can control it. The nervous feeling can drain you and take all the gas out of your energy tank if you can not put it in control.

Being nervous for your matches at a tournament. Why is it that we can go to the gym pretty much every day, and not get nervous stepping onto the mat? As soon as someone says tournament, the butterflies are all inside our stomachs. The best analogy I have read on nerves relates to the school yard bully. Picture a bully telling you that it's you and him after school's out. But he says this to you at the beginning of the day before class. Kids that have been threatened or beaten up know this feeling. The agony of what this new person will do to me.

The tip on battling these nerves are simple. Don't think about it. I try to go in confident and almost cocky to a point. I will relax, listen to music, joke around, and just plain stop being serious about any strategy. This shortens the amount of time I am nervous. No matter how cool I stay before the match, the nerves act up while waiting at the mat. That is when it all goes away. Once the first match has started, it is fun...I picture myself in class, rolling for open mat.

Hope this helps...have fun, train hard, and I love armbars

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #4…To Gi or NOGI...that is the question

2009-05-06T10:08:00.003-05:00

I hear from time to time people talking about the differences in the GI and the NOGI game. They speak about the differences as though it is comparing Basketball to Football. Why has the perception of the two games come this far? Lets point out the differences...One wears a Gi, the other doesn't. What else is different? NOTHING else.
Is the nogi game faster...sure it is, but does that solely make it different? The reason it is faster, is because you can scramble from bad positions without having to use as much technique. I am not saying that you do not use technique, but that you are able to get out of things a lot easier if the gi is not on. The same techniques minus the grips are used in NOGI.
Can someone who only trains NOGI become a great grappler. Sure, why wouldn't they? Can they just throw on a gi at a tournament, and do just as good? NOPE...on the other hand, can a BJJ practioner take off the gi, and do just as good? Yes.

This is my opinion on the whole GI vs NOGI

My last comment...The grips are there...use them...the grips are there...use them...it's like getting up to change the channel on the TV, when the remote is beside you on the couch.

Here are a couple matches from the young warriors competing in the Youth Tournament last month.

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #3…Rules

2009-05-05T12:43:00.003-05:00

Here is a breakdown of the rules for the upcoming LA State BJJ tournament. Read them, Learn them, Live them...

KIDS Division Illegal Techniques
Do not attempt these techs
FROM 04 THROUGH 12:

SLAM FROM THE GUARD - BICEPS LOCK - WRIST LOCK - TRIANGLE PULLING THE HEAD - FOOT LOCKS OF ANY KIND - KNEE LOCK, LEG LOCK - CERVICAL LOCK (ANY KIND) - FRONTAL NECK CRANK - EZEQUIEL - CALF LOCK - OMOPLATA ( SHOULDER LOCK) - FRONTAL GUILLOTINE - SCISSORS TAKEDOWN - HEEL HOOK

HOW TO LOCK THE SCOREBOARD

The score board have this points

4 points – mount, back grab

3 points – passing the guard

2 points – take downs, sweeps and knee on the belly

-1, -2... - penalties

1, 2, 3... – advantages

-1

mount
____________

back grab

Passing the guard

Take downs
____________

sweeps
____________

Knee on the belly

penalties

advantages

The referee looks first for the points after for the advantages and last thing to do is lock for the penalties. This is the order that you can use for interpreting the scoreboard, if after this cases the fight continues a draw the referee will judge how is the winner.

There is never a draw. Bouts will be decided by:

1-SUBMISSION

2-DISQUALIFICATION

3-UNCONSCIOUSNESS

4-POINTS

5-ADVANTAGES

Here are the how the points are awarded

A-) TAKE DOWNS: Any kind of knocking down the opponent or being taken down on his back side, 2 points. If the athlete is thrown to the ground and does not land on his back, the thrower must pin him to the ground in the same position for at least 3 seconds to gain the points of the take down.

Observation 1: the take down that lands outside of the fighting area and on to the security area will be valid as long as the athlete that applied it stood with both feet in the fighting area while making the take down.

Observation 2: If the athlete has one of his knees on the ground and is taken down, whoever applied the take down will be awarded 2 points as long as he has both his feet on the ground. If the athlete has both his knees on the ground and is knocked down the standing athlete will have to pass to his side and maintain this position to receive an advantage.

Observation 3: When the athlete attempts the double leg and the opponent sits on the floor and executes a sweep, the athlete who attempted the takedown will not receive points, but the one who executed the sweep will.

Observation 4: When a competitor throws his opponent and ends up in a bottomposition the competitor throwing will receive 2 points and the opponent on top will receive an advantage. If the competitor executing the throw lands in his opponents guard and is swept, both will receive 2 points.

B-) PASSING THE GUARD: Is when the athlete that is above his adversary or in between his legs, moves to his opponent’s side, establishing a perpendicular or longitudinal position over his adversary’s trunk, dominating him and leaving him no space to move or to escape the position—if even is on his side or back. 3 points NOTE: if the athlete that is underneath avoids the move by getting to his knees or standing up, the initiative will not be awarded 3 points but will be awarded an advantage.

C-) KNEE ON THE BELLY: When the athlete on top puts his knee on his adversary’s stomach, holding his collar or sleeve and belt with his other leg towards his adversary’s head: 2 POINTS.

OBS: if the athlete that is underneath does not allow his adversary to put his knee down onto his belly and if the one on top does not establish the position completely, it will not be awarded 2 points but an advantage.

D-) THE MOUNT: is when the athlete sits on his opponent’s torso; the opponent can be lying on his stomach, side or back. The one mounted can be on top of one of his opponent’s arms, but never on both. It will also be considered a mount if he has one knee and one foot on the ground, 4 POINTS.

OBS: no points will be awarded if his feet or knees are on his opponent’s leg. Also if an athlete applies a triangle while in the guard and in so doing lands mounted on his opponent, it will be considered a sweep, not a mount. (See the Guard)

E-) THE BACK GRAB: Is when the athlete grabs his adversary’s back, taking hold of his neck and wrapping his legs around his opponent’s waist, with his heels leaning on the inner side of his opponent’s thighs, not allowing him to leave the position.4 POINTS. NOTE: the points will not be awarded if both heels are not properly positioned on the inner part of the adversary’s thighs.Also be considerea back if the athlete has the leg over one arm of the will opponent but never over grab both arms, in this case no points will be awarded.

F-) THE SWEEP: is when the athlete that is underneath has his opponent in his guard(in between his legs ) or the half guard (having one of his adversary’s legs between his) and is able to get on top of his adversary by inverting his position. 2 POINTS.

Observation 1: it will not be considered a sweep if the move does not begin from inside the guard or half guard.

Observation 2: When the athlete sweeping advances his position to the back of his opponent during the attempted sweep, he is awarded 2 points.

Observation 3: If starting in a guard position, an athlete attempts a sweep and both athletes return to their feet and the competitor attempting the sweep executes a takedown remaining on top, he will be awarded 2 points.

Really? We only have 11 days, 22 hours, 2 minutes...

2009-05-04T09:57:00.003-05:00

till state? Everyone should start getting excited, cause the big tournament is around the corner. This should be the last week of really hard rolling and training leading into tournament week. We don't want to have any little nagging injuries occur the week of the tournament.

Tomorrow is the last day to preregister for the tournament. If you want to save money, do it now. You can save as much as $30 if you preregister. You can download the form, and pay through paypal. www.bjjhome.com

Here are the weights for the people competing...

Name Belt Rank Current Tourney Difference
Brent Autin White 168 161 -7
Eric Weaver Blue 202 187.5 -15
Darrel Billiot Grey 49 50.6 Made it
Devin Desormeaux Yellow 62 66.4 Made it
Joel Weaver Orange 89 86.5 -6
Joshua J. Guidry Blue 185 176 -9
Neil Ledet Green 250 >220 Made it
Ryen Weaver Yellow 67 73 Made it
Tony Anselmi Blue 174 161 -13
*Shaun Rook Green 210 194.5 -16

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #2…Confidence

2009-05-04T09:25:00.004-05:00

After reading countless articles on any and everything to do with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I would like to pull some info to share with all of you. This will center around confidence in your game. There is a difference between confidence and being cocky!

From time to time everyone rolls with someone more experienced then you. When rolling with them you were weary of coming forward and you had a technique or plan that you wanted to execute but you weren't sure if it was going to work? You ended up taking a second to think about what might happen and by the time you're done thinking your partner or opponent has already made his move, because they were more confident then you were. That's what can make the difference of being steps ahead of your opponent or not.

The person who is a few steps ahead of their opponent is the same person who is completely confident in their abilities and their techniques. They don't care if they know what's going to happen or not, because regardless their going to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. There is no waiting, pausing, or thinking about what might happen they just go and take that chance knowing that no matter what they trust in themselves that they will be the ones to come out on top every time.

Let's say a Blue belt in BJJ pairs up with a Purple belt. Many times that blue belt is already thinking of ways that the Purple belt can beat him before they even started rolling. They beat themselves before the match even started. They never gave themselves a chance and counted themselves out right from the beginning instead of starting with their head high and their confidence in full affect.

When you are confident in yourself regardless of your technical ability you will...Think clearer, React faster, Feel better about yourself, Breath better, Be less self-conscious, Make things happen, Be steps ahead of those who aren't as confident, Attack better, Defend better, Trust that you can deal with any situation in the moment.

To sum things up: The point is to trust yourself and what you know. Trust that even if you don't know how to do something that you will one day. If you don't have confidence in yourself, then you don't trust yourself. If you don't trust yourself, then who can you trust?

LA State Tourney Daily Tip #1…The Safari ride at Disney World.

2009-05-01T10:32:00.004-05:00

Much like visiting a Zoo, Going on the Safari ride at Disney, or just out in the woods in South Louisiana…Rolling with a higher belt can be dangerous if you are not cautious. Not to say that Jiu-Jitsu players are animals, or even wild and out of control. It’s that if you dangle your arms or legs out there, then random/careless accidents can happen to extended limbs.

I recently read an article comparing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to an amusement park ride, and it made me think of this obvious similarity.

We are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, so we are concerned about how to keep this from happening. Remember, if you see a crazed blue belt drooling and staring at your extended limb, pull it back in. Blue belts are avid hunters and will often try to bait you into sticking out your arm. Their keen senses will immediately detect an unprotected elbow. Pull your appendages in close to your body and remain motionless. Eventually they will lose interest, and probably not break your arm off. If you forget this important safety tip, they’ll only wear you down and then try to break your arm. Just like the hunting animal stalking his prey…he will pick on the weak animal (extended arm of bjj’er) and attack. If the animal defends enough, or escapes it…he will lose interest and move on to another.

Higher colored belts are trained and veteran predators. They like to make you think they’re going for one thing, then suddenly change directions and go for something else. Generally, if a wild blue belt is doing something you don’t understand…you’re in trouble. They’re good at detecting movement as well and will capture an arm as soon as you stick it out. Often times their methods are crude, but usually effective nonetheless. Again, you must retract your endangered limb while you still have it attached to your body. Have you ever seen an alligator fight something…they grab a hold of the prey, and bring it into the deep water, and roll until they turn the prey into food. Like in Jiu-Jitsu you will take the person to an uncomfortable position, to finish your submission.

Now let's pretend you are grappling with a higher ranking belt. He begins to mount you, and starts to work. You’re a good grappler, so you have your arms T-Rex’d in and defending any attack there. All of a sudden like a ferocious Lion the Blue belt attacks one of your arms like he hasn’t eaten in days. Frightened, you push at him to get him off of you, hoping to outmaneuver him. It apparently works…he loses balance, but maintains mount. The still hungry and now angry Lion/Blue Belt still wants his meal, and attacks the arm again…hoping he wounded it a little. You do the same as before figuring…hey it worked the first time…You continue to extend your arms to push him off. The Lion/Blue belt enjoys your arm for lunch with a sweet Armbar with whip cream for desert.

Moral of the story…don’t stick out your limbs when grappling…grapple cautiously. At the safari, zoo, or in the woods…don’t mess with the animals…they are always hungry.

Here is a case of the bait for the takedown into a submission. I love armbars

Training 4-29-09

2009-04-30T08:47:00.002-05:00

Went train last night on my off night. Got in some good matches and trained for a good while.

Had matches with Eric, Jared, Jordy, Cody, and Cy.

Rolled for a real long time with Eric. Some good moving, transitioning, and sub attempts going on. Real good match with a lot of back and forth action.

Jared is one of the new guys who just started this week. I let him work as much as he wanted too and just tried to put him in a few bad spots to see what he would do and how he'd react. He didn't do too bad until he got winded.

Jordy has been training for about a month I think. I went a little harder with him than I did Jared. Just mainly moved and put him in a bad spot then let him loose and let him put me in a bad spot just so he could go through the motions and work some.

Cody was a much better match than Jared and Jordy. He is getting better and I see him using more technique all the time. He was pretty fun to roll with because he likes to move and transition and go for subs.

Cy was a good match. He's extremely quick and light...I always seem to have trouble with those little fast guys for some reason...just hard to keep up when you're big I guess. There was a little back and forth action on this one, but he's so quick it's hard to keep up sometimes. All I can do is give it my best shot at keeping up lol. It was a good match.

I was whooped at the end of training...good to get in there and get in some good matches on an off day.

Oh Man...only 19 days, 25 minutes, 15 seconds till State

2009-04-27T07:29:00.002-05:00

Here is another reminder of the state tournament coming up in less than 3 weeks. Everyone has been doing great as far as conditioning towards a good state tournament. We will kick it up a little this week and next for class. This week will allow us to do a lot of cool stuff cause Tuesday is Drill night, and we will just amp that class up a notch. Thursday is the last day of the month, so we will do a recap on all the techniques we learned for the month. This will be a great class, cause we will set it for conditioning with learning also in it. We will try something a little different than just matches. Hope everyone will like it.

Tips for the Upcoming Louisiana State BJJ Tournament

Tip 1 - Weight
Question? Do people cut weight for tournaments...The answer is yes. Not everyone cuts weight, but if you are competing in the white or blue belt level expect wrestlers and guy who cut weight. This doesn't mean that you should cut weight. You should compete at whatever weight you feel comfortable in. Some feel fine competing at a larger weight, some feel better competing at a lighter weigtht.
With only 19 days left, you should not be deciding today that you want to cut weight for the tournament. Unless you are within 10lbs of your weight goal...in my opinion. People have done more in a shorter time, and that is fine...I speak from my experience in it, and I felt weaker.
The goal is to get to 4-6lbs 2 days out of the tournament. This way you can cut the last water weight the day before, and rehydrate before the tournament. If you are weighing in the same day...don't do this.

Tip 2 - Cardio
Question? Should I start running or some other cardio exercise to increase my mat endurance?...The Answer...If you want to. Most people will definitely help build up their cardio by running, rowing, any other cardio exercise. Why else would they have all those machines all over every gym...right? I don't want to bash any of it cause it they all help cardio. Do they help mat endurance...I don't know.
To increase mat endurance (How many matches you can go before you are just out there doing the motions) is simple. Get on the mat! Blacklist is open most of the time for you to do this. Find someone, and get on the mat. This is how you will be able to roll matches after matches. I feel that you are doing a totally different motion when on the mat, than any cardio exercise out there. In the last few tournaments I went to the matches are 6 minutes long, and all done in one day. These are the number of matches I rolled in during each day...12, 10, 8, 13, 9. Are you ready to roll 10+ matches in one day?

Tip 3 - Strategy
Question? Is there a strategy I should go into the tournament with? There are a few answers to this one.
Answer 1 - Sure...have fun! The only strategy that you should have is to have fun, and try to let it just flow. Don't try to force something when it isn't there.
Answer 2 - Be the Shark! Attack, Attack, and Attack! Don't buffalo out there. Don't just settle for winning on points! The reason I say this is because of Tip 2. How many people can roll 13 matches if they all went the distance against good opponents? You would have rolled for a total of 78 minutes! If you cut those down to 2 minute matches for 8 of them...then it goes down to only 46 minutes. Just an example...be the Shark!
Answer 3 - Listen! If you have someone coaching you during your match...clear you mind and listen to them. Kinda goes back to answer 1...don't try to force something, and just let it happen. They are there to see another anlge to help you out and get the sub!

Here is my goal update...
Joshua J. Guidry
Weight: 187
Goal: 181
Difference: 6 lbs.
Training:BJJ at Blacklist...I did a few weight exercises also
Meals: Doing much better...I am eating more meals, but they are smaller...trying to keep the furnace burning throughout the day.

21 days, 22 minutes, 32 seconds

2009-04-24T09:26:00.003-05:00

Is when I started writing this post. The time is counting down to our Louisiana State Tournament. This week I feel we had a great week of training setting up for a good showing at State. If the kids are any inclination to how well we will do, things are looking good. The kids did such a great job at the youth tournament. I am so proud of all of them. We did not have many buffalo's out there...they were all sharks hunting for those armbars and chokes. I feel that we have a great game plan in place to work towards improving our game. We do get sidetracked from time to time, but we are focusing in on fine tuning the details.
For those of you that are cutting weight this should not be a start date for your diet! You should have already decided what weight class you will attempt, and have your eating in check. If you are more than 20-25lbs away...Good Luck. I am currently 8lbs away from my target weight of 181...leading into the week of the tournament. I want to be 181 by Wednesday of the tournament, and cut the water weight the day before to when in. I have noticed that I do not have the same amount of power that I had before when I was in the 195-205 range. Which is why I wanted to acclimate myself to this weight by slowly losing it. For the last tournament I did, I found that I dropped a lot of the weight 1-2 weeks before. This made me sluggish, and gas sooner than later. I also felt powerless against same or higher weight guys.

Joshua Guidry
Weight: 190 before class...187.6 after class
Goal: 181
Difference: 9-6.6 lbs.
Training:BJJ at Blacklist...I did a few weight exercises also
Meals: Doing alot better...Last night was my last softdrink until the weigh in. I will only drink water with meals....cutting down on my sodium intake.

Here is open mat match with Eric and Josh at Blacklist Mathews.

UFC Undisputed Demo for PS3

2009-04-21T15:36:00.001-05:00

How awesome is this game gonna be!!! I can't wait to get it in. Looks like some realistic moves in the game...should be fun.

Leaks...

2009-04-15T13:35:00.002-05:00

I recently read an article that showed the relationship of a leaky pool to holes in your jiu-jitsu game. I took the gist of it, and added a little of my views to it.

A friend was having a problem with his pool holding the water. It was not a gushing loss of water, but over time the pool drained. He searched and searched himself, but could not find the leak.
He brought over some other friends to check it out, and some mentioned maybe it was the concrete. Maybe it was the level of the surface around, and the temperature, but no one could find a crack. As soon as he put some water in the pool it would slowly empty out.
He finally decided to call in professionals and found pool cleaning company who said they guaranteed they could find and seal anything.
So my friend called them, and a guy came over to assess the situation. Sure enough, within 10 minutes he found the leak and sealed it.
My friend couldn't believe it when he saw the crack.
He never would have noticed it in a million years if someone hadn't told him and he was shocked that such a small little inconspicuous crack could leak out so much water.

So you may be asking yourself...What the heck does this have to do with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

Everything...

Many times we play our own game, and think that we have the answers to fix it ourselves. He even had friends over who thought they knew what was the problem, but instead offered unneeded opinions.
Sometimes what we don't see will get right past us without us realizing it. It can seem like it's invisible.
The friend had surely looked over the crack many times but never really "noticed" it.

The exact same thing is true of BJJ. The difference between many skilled and unskilled players is often down to what they "notice". So if you want to tighten up your game, you must learn to notice more subtleties during your rolling as well as when watching others roll.
The best way to do this is to study grappling matches and pay close attention to what's happening.
This is also a key to having BJJ players that have been around a while to help point out the little details that you may have missed out on to complete the technique. Remember, winning is not about knowing 1000 moves...it about how well you do the basic moves. Not everything you see on the internet, books, friendly advice is 100% accurate. Learn to take bits and pieces and apply them to your game. Become that student who notices the little cracks in your pool!

31 Days left

2009-04-14T13:20:00.001-05:00

Only 1 Month left till the Louisiana State Championships...No more excuses...everyone should have their diet running smoothly. We need to turn in up the next few weeks, so that we can coast the week of the tournament. If you are more than 15 lbs away from your target, you need to look deep inside to figure out what you want to do. 31 DAYS LEFT

Youth Tournament @ Blacklist Martial Arts & Fitness

2009-04-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

Kids are invited to have a fun time competing in your Youth Tournament this coming Saturday. If you are looking to compete, and keep your game sharp heading into the state tournament on May 16, stop by the Mathews, LA gym.

Blacklist Martial Arts & Fitness
Youth Tournament
April 18, 2009
Mathews Location
4882 Hwy 1, Unit 08
Raceland, La 70394
(985) 532-8348

First Match starts at 10:00 AM
Weigh-ins end promptly at 9:30 AM (8am-9:30am)
$30.
00 entry fee

*Open divisions for Gi & No-Gi
*Double elimination, Gi & No-Gi age brackets
4-6 years of age * 7-9 years of age * 10-12 years of age
*All 1st, 2nd & 3rd place fighters will be awarded a 2" metal. The winners of the open divisions will be awarded a 8" x 10" wooden plaque.

Countdown...36 days till LA State Championships

2009-04-09T09:18:00.005-05:00

I want to thank everyone at Blacklist and members of the Armbar and Grill for working hard with each other to get everyone ready for the State Tournament.

We only have 36 days left before the tournament, and i think we are all getting into our fighting shape. I am currently walking around at 192lbs, and need to cut off at least 3 by next week. After a good workout I was down to 188 last week. I feel that I can do this easily because I have yet to really crack down on my diet. I just hope i do it soon enough, cause I tend to procrastinate and rush it at the end. My diet right now pretty much consists of sushi...with chicken mixed in every once and a while. I at Sushi for Lunch Tuesday and Wednesday...and then for Dinner Wednesday night. Guess where I am going today for Lunch....SUSHI...i love it. Now if I can stop eating cheetos and crap like that I will be set.

This month we started working on the Mount position. I feel that this is the most dominant positions you can have in a Jiu-Jitsu match. While some may say that the Back is the most dominate, I feel that in MY game I have more submissions from the Mount as opposed to the back. Don't get me wrong...if I get the back, i will hold on like a tree monkey to you. I love armbars, and what better position to be in than mount to set up many variations of armbars.

We also added a little wrinkle to our Tuesday night drilling in which we have a gauntlet. One person will match for 10 minutes long, but every 2 minutes a fresh opponent comes in. We had started this a few weeks ago with Eric, Buddy, Larry, already going through it. I felt like i sandbagged enough, and it was my time to get in there...Well I loved it...Not during it though. It felt great after it was over. Those guys put it on me, and made me work the whole 10 minutes...I started with Buddy, then Eric, then Cy, then Jory, and finally Peygan. Believe me I was wore out. All those guys trying to take my arms and head off...it was a blast!

I then rolled with open mat with Eddie and then Alan who is a Judo practitioner from LSU. Eddie is a very technical roll, and I enjoyed that. He doesn't use much strength, and that is awesome. Good, fun roll with Eddie. With Alan he showed me a couple takedowns/throws, and we had a fun match.

Goals for May 16...

Joshua Guidry
Blue Belt
Weight: 192 lbs
Goal: 176 lbs ... Need to lose 2.5 a week to hit the goal.
Difference: 16 lbs...My actual target I want to be the week before is 181 which is only 11lbs away.
Mat Time: I am training 3 days a week, 2 days GI and 1 day NOGI
Mental Training: I am studying daily at least 2-3 hours.
Meals: Getting better

Blacklist Martial Arts & Fitness Youth Tournament

2009-04-09T09:06:00.001-05:00

Blacklist Martial Arts & Fitness
Youth Tournament
April 18, 2009
Mathews Location
4882 Hwy 1, Unit 08
Raceland, La 70394
(985) 532-8348

First Match starts at 10:00 AM
Weigh-ins end promptly at 9:30 AM (8am-9:30am)
$30.00 entry fee

*Open divisions for Gi & No-Gi
*Double elimination, Gi & No-Gi age brackets
4-6 years of age * 7-9 years of age * 10-12 years of age

*All 1st, 2nd & 3rd place fighters will be awarded a 2" metal. The winners of the open divisions will be awarded a 8" x 10" wooden plaque.

Gabe's videos from PAN AM 2009

2009-04-03T14:33:00.003-05:00

Great Job by Gabe at the Pan Am's of Jiu-Jitsu 2009. Gabe traveled to Carson, CA and competed against the Worlds best. Here are a couple videos from his matches over there. Gabe is always improving his game by training, and competing in the top tier competitions. We are glad to have him instructing us at Blacklist Jiu-Jitsu.

Beginner Lesson - Sleep

2009-04-03T08:49:00.001-05:00

Until last night I have not personally given a lot of thought of the effects on a good nights sleep on my jiu-jitsu game. Josh and me went up to Lafayette on Wednesday night and trained at Gladiators. After we got done training we went out to Buffalo Wild Wings and then Chili’s after that for desert. After getting back to the hotel room, getting a shower, and getting ready for bed I think I was lying down a little after midnight. Josh had the front desk send him a wake up call at 3:50AM so he could make his morning meeting. I figured since he was getting up I’d get ready and head out as well.

Needless to say I was hurting all day at work. I drove straight from Lafayette to work, which ended up taking longer than normal thanks to two wrecks along the way. I got to work at about 8AM and worked until 5PM. When I got off at 5 I went home and ate a little, watched some TV for a second, put some clothes in the wash, grabbed my gear, and headed out to the gym.

I noticed immediately that I felt pretty weak and would find myself stumbling every once in a while. I was afraid I was about to just fall over and go to sleep on the mat. We did the kids class fine and got through to the adults class. When we hit the adult’s class I realized real fast I was in trouble.

We were doing some pretty technical arm bars and triangle chokes from the mount and my mind just wasn’t working right. I was having trouble-keeping track just doing the simple bridge and roll escape from mount…Holy shit! That’s like the first escape you learn in jiu-jitsu…here I am at a 4-stripe green and my mind won’t work well enough to even do that. I know the technique quite well, but my mind doesn’t seem to want to function at this point. While doing the arm bar/triangle part I was screwing it up badly.

When we got to open mat I was really in trouble. I was moving slow and not thinking like I should. I kept getting put in bad spots because I’m not using my head. When I got in a bad spot I kept losing myself and trying to use more power than I should have. It was almost like I was going into survival mode or something. It was horrible. The lack of sleep was bumping me back about 10 steps from where I was. There was no thought process going on, it was just reaction…very slow reaction. It’s like when I was supposed to do something my mind would realize it and then react about 5 seconds later…man it was rough.

I ended up rolling with Chad, Buddy, Eric, and I think someone else. In all actuality I felt like I did ok for a minute there with Buddy and felt like I was doing okay with Eric, but I was definitely (thinking back on it now) was using more power than I should have. The roll with Chad was good, but he’s pretty quick and my mind just wasn’t working fast enough to keep up. He caught me with a good arm bar coming off my back. I think I woke up a little bit when he caught me and started rolling a little better. I caught him with a key lock and I think a choke. It was a good match, he’s fast and that’s been one of my major weaknesses to begin with, not to mention working on 3 hours sleep didn’t help the situation at all.

So I guess my lesson of the day is, get plenty of sleep. A well-rested mind is one that’s ready to compete. A mind that is tired and not functioning properly will only get you caught and in trouble as well as digress your game. Remember jiu-jitsu is a thinking man’s martial art.

Practice speaking in front of crowd

2009-04-01T10:12:00.003-05:00

After hours of presenting in front of a few hundred employees, I shouldn't have much trouble in front of our group at Blacklist. I was nervous for the first few times...here is a lil picture of me in front of some of the crowd.

The key thing is to know what you are talking about...you can't just go and wing it. Go in calm...I actually go in with an attitude of hey...I got this. Even though you go in calm...I always get nervous minutes before i go up to talk. This type of thing happens in the jiu-jitsu world. I try to go into tournaments thinking I am gonna kick some a..... Then i get nervous...then the first match starts...no more nervousness.

Blacklist training 3-31-09

2009-04-01T07:47:00.000-05:00

Got in a gi match with Josh before the kids class. Think we rolled for about 6-7 minutes. It mainly consisted of him going for armbars and me trying to fight out of them. He caught me a couple times and I fought out of a couple. Ended up landing on my shoulder again and knocking it out, but it popped in and out so it wasn’t too bad…it’s pretty sore this morning, but I’ll survive.

Kids class was good. Did a lot of drills and did some more ninja training that the kids love.

The adults class was mainly some new drills. Josh had us do full guard modified so the guy holding guard could only use scissor sweep and the guy in guard could only pass with double under or staple pass. That was an interesting drill because I don’t have the best scissor sweep in the world and Josh has pretty good double under and staple passes. Also on the other end I’m not real good with staple passes or double under passes while he’s pretty descent at scissor sweeps….when I pass I like standing passes so it was good to work on something that I’m really not any good at even though I got my ass handed to me.

The second drill we did back control. The guy in back control was only allowed to pass. The guy with back control was only allowed to use bow and arrow choke or a wrench choke. Josh took my back first and used his bread and butter (bow and arrow choke) on me right off the bat. I hate that choke because I don’t really feel the choke most of the time, but rather feel my back getting wrenched…he tweaked my back a little because he threw it on so fast (don’t think that bulged disc in my back liked it too much). I was hurting after that but continued to work as much as I could. I think after that Josh was taking it easy on me because he thought he hurt me more than he did. Don’t get me wrong, it hurt like hell, but it was just really sore after the initial pain…it’s pretty sore today, but I’ll live.

Last drill we did was mount and the guy on the bottom was only allowed to bump the person on top. The person on top was only allowed to use cross collar choke. It was an interesting drill to say the least. Several people have told me my mount needs some work so I’m always glad to work on it, but I self admittedly aren’t much of a gi choke guy so it was tougher than I thought it would be…especially working against someone as good as Josh.

After we got done with drills two guys did the gauntlet. Larry and Buddy did it last night. Didn’t see much of what was going on with Larry, but watched a little with Buddy. I saw when he was rolling with Brent, which I think was his 3rd guy and Cody who was his 4th guy. He was doing really well and I saw him tap them several times even though he was dead tired. I went in as the 5th man and tried a sacrifice throw on Buddy, but he stuffed me and I had to just pull guard on him. He tried to fight for a pass but was too tired to pass me for the most part. I think at one point he did get around to side control, but I fought back for guard. I went to spider guard and fought for a triangle, but got a little ahead of myself and set it up poorly…Buddy is not the guy you want to be sloppy with regardless of how tired he is. I thought about throwing an armbar in there, but he kept good posture and prevented me from being confident that I’d get the armbar so I opted to go spider guard and try the triangle. It was a good 2 minute roll though. Buddy did awesome even though he was dead tired…I think he might have even thrown up after the gauntlet was done.

So it was a good drill night except for tweaking my back a little and popping my shoulder out again. Got a good sweat on and learned from mistakes I made throughout the night.

Weight: 209 this morning
Goal: 194
Difference: 15lbs.
Training: trained 3 days last week, 2 days gi, 1 day nogi
Meals: Nothing great for me

Great Flow Drilling with a partner

2009-03-31T15:56:00.002-05:00

Here is a great video of BJJ related moves to drill with a partner.

Congratulations to the Guys from NOLA

2009-03-31T13:45:00.002-05:00

Nolabjj sent a group of people to compete in the PAN Am's this weekend in Carson, CA. Caroline (Purple Belt) took a silver, while Matthias and Doc Eddie competed in the Senior 2 Brown Belt Division. Matthias won gold in light weight. Doc Eddie won Gold in Heavy, and a Bronze in the Absolute division. Others went and competed against top quality opponents. Congrats to those who made the trip.

Also, Congrats to Matthias and Doc Eddie for receiving their Black Belts this weekend!

Cool idea...Being done in California

2009-03-31T10:56:00.000-05:00

Know someone curious about Martial Arts? Not sure where to start? Wish there was a way to test out different arts?

Now you can - at the Budo Beach Party!

The intention of the Budo Beach Party is to bring lovers of martial arts together with potential lovers of martial arts, to benefit kids in need.

The party is the PERFECT event for someone curious about martial arts. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, no gi grappling, self-defense, wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, kickboxing, Krav Maga and CrossFit will be available for you to learn from expert instructors. You will get a taste of different arts and see what one is right for you.

The event is also a chance for the martial arts community to grow and give to others. The money raised from this event will benefit underprivileged kids. These are kids who may want to train, who may be wishing they could compete in tournaments, but they don’t have the money for gear or entry fees.

By joining us at the Budo Beach Party, you’ll be helping these kids stay in positive productive environments …and you might discover a new inspiration for your own life!

BUY ADMISSION & RAFFLE TICKETS AT HTTP://WWW.BUDOBEACHPARTY.COM

Instructors:
Felicia Oh - Submission Grappling
Valerie Worthington - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
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Mtano Loewi - Self Defense
Dawn Forrester - CrossFit
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Chris Woolford - Wrestling
John “The Rev” Jensen - Mixed Martial Arts
Roberto Barrajas - Boxing
Marcus Kowal - Krav Maga and Kickboxing

Raffle Prizes:
Big John McCarthy Autograph & T-Shirt
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Muay Thai with “Razor” Rob McCullough, 7 Volume DVD
Shomanart Georges St. Pierre Print
Rodrigo Medeiros Championship BJJ, 8 DVD Set
Spartan Training Gloves
Personal Training by RoxyFit
LightForce Greens
The Guard - BJJ Details and Techniques, Book by Joe Moreira and Ed Beneville, 2nd Edition
Strategic Guard - BJJ Details and Technique, Book by Joe Moreira and Ed Beneville
Grapplers Quest DVD - 3rd West Coast Champioships - Gazzy Parman vs. Erica Montoya, plus more
Grapplers Quest DVD - Best Grappling & Jiu Jitsu Superfights from Las Vegas 2006
Grapplers Quest DVD - 8th West Coast Championships
SportFighting 2 DVD - Rob Kahn, Justin Garcia, Leo Dalla and many more
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Brad Utterstrom Print - Randy Couture
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You can also win great prizes in our raffle drawing - for $2/raffle ticket you get a chance at everything from autographed collectors items, to supplements, to training sessions!

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my beatdown

2009-03-31T08:50:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share a little bit of our open mat this past Saturday. I rolled with a bunch of guys there Saturday, and had a great time. Trying new crazy sweeps, setups to subs, and such. I was having a fun, happy time, until I ran into the teenage buzzsaw that is Peygan. I respect his style BJJ...it is sort of like the I hate your jiu-jitsu style. There is no lay back, and go...it's I'm gonna pass, then I'm gonna choke you. Very nice. Well we rolled, and he put it on me. Great job for the Triangle chokes bro. You definitely make me go back to study harder. Think about it. If I would have left without getting choked like that, I would have learned a little. However tapping out, has made me learn very crucial lesson. Don't get overconfident, and continue growing as much and as fast as you can.

BJJ App for Iphones

2009-03-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

Man, I wish I had an Iphone...check this out.

Grappling Application for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Note to iPod Touch users - this app now works on both
first AND second generation iPod Touch Devices!

ONLY $0.99 UNTIL MARCH 27TH

Hi Guys - Just a few hours ago my latest product hit the iTunes store!

It's called "Grapplearts Submissions." It's the very first tool of it's kind for learning BJJ, submission grappling or MMA techniques, specifically designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch

There are currently 31 different armlock, leglock and choke entries, AND we show you the details that make those submissions work. In addition, we plan to add other techniques to future updates, which you'll get for free!

This application is designed so that you can learn grappling anywhere.

The idea is to give you a tool so that you can learn the armbar from mount while riding the bus, or remind yourself of the key points for the triangle choke while waiting in line! Now you can bring your techniques with you to class and drill them with your friends!

We (the development team) had a long debate about pricing. I thought that the information and the production quality warranted a high price. The rest of the development team, however, argued that a low initial price would help the application develop some traction in the market.

In any case, our compromise was to make it available at the essentially nominal cost of $0.99 (that's ninety nine cents) for the first week. After that we're raising the price, so move quickly on this if you're interested.

So here's how to get the application, and some links to more information about it:

* You can open iTunes manually and search for "Grapplearts Submissions" in the iTunes store
* Click here to open iTunes to the application page (if you have iTunes already installed)
* Download the iTunes program for free
* Visit the iPhone page on Grapplearts for screen shots and a detailed list of contents
* Get a video tour of the application on facebook (The video is on the right. Also sign up and become a Grapplearts fan!)

A quick note: this is a big application because it has LOTS of video instruction. That's why you need a wifi network if you want to download it to your iphone directly.

If you don't have a wifi network then just use iTunes to download the app (search for "Grapplearts Submissions" in the iTunes store) and then synch your phone, just like you do for your music, calenders, etc.
Thanks so much for your time!

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com/iphone

We salute you, Mr. Cocky White Belt!

2009-03-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

Here is an article from a good blog on Mop the Mats...

What is the myth of a cocky white belt?

The legend goes like this - The cocky white belt is the guy who has only been training for 6 months to a year yet already has the Black Belt within reach in his mind. Granted, he does have potential and has started to “get BJJ” a little, even tapping out some blue belts on occasion… conveniently ignoring the fact that the blue belt may have been working a particular technique or used that round to rest. Nonetheless, he goes around telling all his friends of his breakthroughs and magical submissions class after class. And like a man asking you if you think he’ll find the wallet he lost on the floor of some crowded club late on a drunken Friday night, the cocky white belt will constantly ask for reassurance that he’s doing a technique or a series correctly and simultaneous proceed to teach it to all the newbies around him willing to listen. Half bad ass, half douche bag - We salute you, Mr. Cocky White Belt!

Beginner Lesson - PRIDE

2009-03-27T13:20:00.002-05:00

When I see lots of guys start out these days I see so many problems. Sure they have bad balance, poor control, don't know how to move on the ground, can't get their grips right, etc...That's only to be expected with beginners. The biggest problem I see with some beginners is their pride.

One needs to remember when starting a sport like Jiu-Jitsu Pride can be your biggest enemy and can hold you back for a long time. Beginners need to keep in mind that tapping is an admission of learning. How many times have I tapped since I started Jiu-Jitsu?? I have no idea, but I'd venture to say it has been at least several hundred times. It happens to everyone, you get caught. White belts just starting out need to learn that it's just like ILoveArmBars says "each time you tap you are saying 'Hey, you got me...I learned my lesson' and don't get caught the same way next time".

Show me someone who says he's never tapped and I'll show you someone who's never trained Jiu-Jitsu with us. Show me someone who's trained with us and says he's never tapped and I'll show you a liar. Regardless of who you are, you WILL tap when you train how we do...doesn't matter how good you are, eventually you will get caught. That's how you learn how to defend.

My final thoughts on this matter are as such:

You get tapped in the gym regardless of the submission or who catches you it's unlikely that in a years time anyone will remember. You won't find someone saying "Hey, remember that time Josh caught Shaun with a paper slicer choke?". Now given the same situation Shaun doesn't tap out and gets choked unconcious and ends up laying on the mat foaming at the mouth....people are gonna remember that 10 years from now. As a 4 stripe green when I see a white belt not tap and get choked unconcious or get hurt I don't think "wow, that kid is tough" I think "man, that kid needs to learn how to tap or he'll never make it in this sport".

All you beginners out there just remember that it's better to tap and fight another day than to try and hold on as long as you can and end up getting hurt.

Also ultimately it's not the responsibility of the person applying the submission to stop. It's the responsibility of the person who gets caught to tap...if it hurts, you need to tap!

Preview of last nights great Drill night and Techniques

2009-03-25T07:51:00.002-05:00

For Tuesday night we continued with our submissions part of the closed guard month. This will only be done after we finish drill night. We always start class on Tuesdays with stretching and then straight into our drills. We have started to add a few new wrinkles to our Tuesday’s leading up to the State Tournament. We will start with grip fighting, and one foot sweep each Tuesday to help with our standup...not everyone should butt flop every time. We will have a gauntlet every Tuesday with guys rotating. We hope to get their cardio up for the tourney.

Technique - The 3 Submissions from Closed Guard would be Kimura, Omaplata, & Triangle. These would be chained together in a sequence I use when attacking.

1. Kimura
You will start out with the opponent in your closed guard. The Kimura would come from when I attempt a hip bump sweep, and they post the trapped arm on the ground.

For the rest of the Training at Blacklist on Tuesday click on the Technique tab, or this link. Don't forget to post any comments or questions.

http://armbarandgrillmonthlytraining.blogspot.com

“Crazy” Tim Credeur’s Seminar

2009-03-24T09:24:00.003-05:00

This past Saturday we had the honor of Crazy Tim lend some of his vast knowledge to us at Blacklist. Tim always comes in with tons of great details, and wonderful techniques. I had the great privilege of being the demo dummy for both the kids and adult seminar. I was actually excited to be there, cause I actually got to feel how this was suppose to exactly feel. However, lucky me…Tim decided to show a lil of his awesome judo knowledge today. So after flying through the air for a few to maybe hundred times, I realized that it was gonna be a long day…lol.
The kids had a wonderful time. Tim is definitely great with kids, and the little samurai’s were eating it up. They were drilling, and listening to every word. The kids got to learn a few moves from knee on belly, and transitioning. It was a great seminar for the little guys and girls.
The adult class began with normal warm-ups, followed up by grip control. Tim wanted to go over some judo, and began the class with a foot sweep. He then had a variation of the foot sweep, in which he shot the other foot in front of the opponent. Then he showed us various throws before going into a great position of knee on belly. The submissions were excellent, and at the end he showed a few escapes that he loves to do. Great seminar, with great guys there learning for the man.
It was good to see the guys from Houma again. Training full time in Matthews I haven't seen guys like Eddie & Danny. We even had a few people that I never met attend. This is a wonderful sport, and lifestyle. Can't wait to get back to class, and try out some of these nice moves.

Learned a valuable lesson @ class 3-19-09

2009-03-20T08:07:00.001-05:00

It’s hard for me at this moment to describe my training last night. Derrick was there and I helped him teach the kids class, which I felt went pretty well. He has a way with the kids…it really is fun to watch. I enjoy working with the kids because after all they are the future jiu-jitsu guys and girls…I just hope that when they are all of our ages they are much better than we are. I guess the true measure of a teacher is to assure your students are better than you are when they get to where you are.

The adult’s class was less pleasing for me. We did flow drill for arm bars first, which helped me to realize that even though I thought my back was doing better it’s still not healed. I pretty much couldn’t even do this exercise. It seemed like every time I tried to turn to go for an arm bar my back would just say no and not allow me to do it. I was able to do the triangle choke drills since I don’t have to cut the angle that much…I can pretty much just come straight up and lock on the triangle. It seems like my back is somewhat okay with that as long as I’m not trying to cut angles too hard.

The real low point of my training last night is that I learned a very hard lesson. I was paired up with Wally for a match and I underestimated him. I got mount early in the match and secured an arm bar…I probably could have pulled it out if I would have done the right things, but instead I tried to fight Wally’s power with my own and I’m just not as strong as him. I ended up fighting to pull off that arm bar for almost a minute straight and wore out every bit of arm strength I had. I finally decided to let it go and fight for position. I was winning the position battle and got too comfortable. I once again underestimated Wally and decided to go for subs and if I didn’t get them immediately, just let them go and go for something else. I let go of multiple arm bars and I think more than one triangle choke and some various other things I think I could have maybe pulled off. Before I knew it I tried so many stupid things and made so many mistakes that I had worn myself completely out…I had nothing left. Wally powered me over and took side control, which I immediately fought back to half guard. I tried to go for old school, but my arms were so shot he got a hold of my arm when I let my underhook out and he caught me. He’s so damn strong! I take nothing away from Wally…I made so many mistakes in hinds sight and he just waited and capitalized on those mistakes once I had nothing left. He played a better game plan than I did. I won’t underestimate him again…he really is a monster when he gets on the mat.

I rolled with Brent immediately after Wally. It was a good match. I didn’t have much left, but I gave him what little I had. I didn’t let him play the top much except for a little right in the beginning of the match. I let him work for a minute and then swept him and took top position to let him play in survival mode for a while. I went for a couple subs, but he was doing a good job fighting the subs. He’s gotten much better at submission defense than the last time I rolled with him a month or two ago. I caught him a couple times during the match, but as I said he was doing much better than last time I rolled with him. It’s nice to take some time off from rolling with someone and then see how much improvement they have made. Makes you feel good that they are learning.

Overall it was a good night training. I’m still sitting here the morning after a little depressed about my performance though. I made a lot of mistakes and probably one of the worst mistakes a BJJ guy can make in somewhat getting a swollen head. I’m depressed at my pitiful performance, but glad on the same note that I learned something…I learned a lesson in humility and learned my place. It also helped me to realize that I really need to re-evaluate where I am. Being a 4-stripe green my next step is blue and I’m just not there…I don’t deserve it, not yet anyhow. What hurts the most is I don’t just feel like I let down myself, I feel like I let down Josh, Buddy, Derrick, Gabe, and everyone else. I don’t know what stings more, letting down yourself or letting down your teammates, your brothers…I don’t know.

I’ll take the positives from my experience last night and do what I should have done from the beginning and train harder, learn faster, and keep my head in the right place. That’s what BJJ is about anyhow, learning from your mistakes and using that to make yourself better.

Great time @ Blacklist last night!

2009-03-18T10:29:00.006-05:00

Hope everyone had a great time training last night. We had a great group of adults and kids for the two classes. Everyone was hustling for drill night, and believe me it will pay off. I really like helping out and instructing classes with Buddy here at Blacklist Mathews, LA. It gives me a chance to research fine details about the technique, that I wouldn't get to do until after it has been shown. It also helps because you have to be vocal to the students about what exactly you should do to complete the move.

Remember...check out the Training page by clicking on the tab up top, or the pic on the side...http://armbarandgrillmonthlytraining.com

The open mat session...I actually got a little open mat roll with Brett and Cody before the kids class.
My roll with Brett...well what can I say? This guy is so damn strong it is unbelievable. He is good with his weight and base...must have wrestled...lol. He is going to be a force with more technique and that strength. What is great with my situation is that I was the guy who was bigger and stronger...well not stronger than everyone, but mostly stronger. I can relate to where he is at in his bjj progression, and can give a few pointers that helped me do certain things. Awesome roll with Brett, and he definitely makes me stay quick and alert.

My roll with Cody...Cody is Cy's brother, and has been training with us in between his injuries. He is picking it up good. We just flowed around, and I let him work until he would get out of position. I would sweep him, and have him restart. Good roll

My roll with Muay Thai...We had a good 6 minute match...was fun, and very fast paced. I did not let him work too much from top position, and wanted to see his survival part of the game. He defended great on multiple submissions, and put pressure on me to sweep, keep control, and tighten up to find holes. Great roll, and I always enjoy a great roll...and yes...he mentioned in his post. I got an armbar, you know what...I LOVE ARMBARS!

My roll with Boxoplata...We lined up for a 6 minute match. It was also fun. Tony is a quick ball of fire man. He is not as big as me, so I think that may help with me putting pressure on him. He is really a great roll for anyone there. He doesn't use his stregth, and only uses technique...I love that! He is very humble about his gi game, and even is down on himself about it. He has no reason to doubt his game. The guy is tough, and a pleasure to roll with. If you are ever on the mats with him, watch out...he may poor mouth it, then tap your a#$...lol

My roll with CY...We lined up in the middle of a match, so I am not sure how long we rolled. We did get through at least 2 evolutions of 6 minutes, so i figure at least 15 minutes or so. This was a good match. Cy is so quick and flexible. I was able to pass guard a few times, and get to knee on belly a bunch, but Cy is so quick and good, that he would spin around and hook my leg either getting back into some guard, or attack the leg. We went back and forth on this match. I attempted a bunch of submissions, Cy tried a few subs on me while in his guard. Cy got the sweep on me towards the end. He then was able to fish the gi to attempt a choke, I could see it, but could not stop it...Great submission to end the match...a great 15+minute match! I think that rolling with Cy i need to change my postures from rolling with guys my size.

Great night of rolling, and I found this video on the internet for your view pleasure...

Training 3/17/09

2009-03-18T07:48:00.001-05:00

This was my first night helping out with the kid’s class. It was interesting, but hopefully it will be rewarding in the end. You can tell some of the kids have a little more trouble than others paying attention. I realized this when one of the kids told me “I don’t understand how to do this arm bar” so I went through the technique step by step with them and the kid looks up at me and says “I’m really hungry”. I went through the technique with him again and said, “Ok, got it little buddy?” and he says “I had to pee really bad, but my dad brought me to the bathroom so I don’t have to pee anymore”. I had to laugh a little…little fella was 4 years old and I have to admit it was kind of funny…he was trying hard but was having a little trouble keeping his mind on the lesson. His dad came over and apologized for his lack of attention, but I just said “hey, he’s 4, he’s not supposed to pay attention that good”.

We had some good drills during the adult class. Mixed it up a little with some new drills that Josh came up with. I think it was much better than the drills from last week, and got a good sweat going. We got into groups of 3 and took turns jumping in and out with each other doing guard twice and back control once. I was paired up with Corey Johnson and Larry. Man, Larry is hard to get off your back with those long ass legs he has…it’s almost like having an octopus wrapped around you. Good workout though and it’s always nice to roll with higher-ranking belts.

We worked on 3 subs last night, technical arm bar, triangle choke, and omo platta all in a series…if you miss one go for the next and so on and so on. Tweaked my technique a little and feel I’ve improved my arm bar and triangle just a little bit more…hopefully within the next 10 years I’ll get them down packed lol.

Got in a good match with Josh during open mat. I pulled some pretty ninja stuff and got out of a few bad spots. I’ve been trying to work more on being mobile and moving around a good bit. I feel at this point I’m getting much better at moving and getting out of bad spots and transitioning into good spots. I even felt like there were a couple times where I might have gotten Josh in a bad spot, but he’s a little technical genius and would pull out and get back in control of the match. I think he caught me with an arm bar (his specialty) and a choke. Not bad considering he’s a very high ranking blue belt and I’m just a weak ass little green belt lol.

Training at NOLA BJJ

2009-03-17T14:32:00.002-05:00

How you doing today guys? Just wanted to give you all a run down of my training this Saturday. I went train at NOLA Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Buddy and Peygan. Had a really great time. I got there around 10:15, so I was able to catch the last 45 minutes of my buddy Shawn Gayton's X-Fit class. Similar to cross fit, just geared more towards fighting and jiu jitsu. After 3 rounds of hell and a very intense "burn out", the class was finally done and I missed 2 rounds of it. Man, Shawn is a drill sergeant, but I felt great after it was done.

After the X-Fit, we had a beginners gi jiu jitsu class where the focus was primarily Judo. Dimitri (purple belt in jiu jitsu, black belt in judo) showed us basic hip tosses and some tricks on how to off balance your opponent. Great class. That guy knows his throws. At the end of class I had a few matches with two very tough blue belts from NOLA, Kirk and Scott. I felt pretty good in both matches. But Scott definitely got the better of me. Man that guy is strong.

Following the gi class, there was the competition team practice, which focused primarily on high intensity take down and grip fighting drills and full out matches from the standing position. At the end we had 7 minute competition style matches. I matched against Rusty (brown belt), Doc Ken (purple belt), and Shawn (blue belt). As I said before, man these guys are tough. By the time my last match with Shawn was over, I had nothing left in the old gas tank.

Overall it was a great day. Basically trained for about 3 hours straight. Got some great matches in with some very tough opponents and even picked up a few new tricks. If anyone is ever in the New Orleans area and interested in getting some training, stop off at NOLA BJJ. They are located at Temple gym on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans.

Sorry for the delay in the posting guys. Its been a very busy past few weeks for me. Anyways, everyone keep training and most of all keep having fun.

Peace,

Tony "Boxplata" Anselmi

Ready for this week's training...59 days to go

2009-03-17T13:56:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend. We started off the weekend with a great brainstorming meeting at the Weaver household. Good food (Sushi), great friends, and fantastic ideas. We all were thinking of great things we could do to improve our bjj game, team, and club. This went on throughout the night; well at least until little Alex had enough and wanted to go home. He wasn’t feeling good to begin with, but he is a little warrior.

Saturday was another good day. I got to sleep in with the kiddos…well only Alex, cause Addie wakes up at the butt crack of dawn. We had a good lunch and then proceeded to Arts and Crafts. Then it was off to the little Weaver’s birthday party. We got to discuss a little more bjj while at the party, and even talked to Buddy and Peygan who went train with NOLABJJ. They got to roll with some high level belts, and had a great time.

Later that night I got to finish the beginning of the Jiu-Jitsu University book …which covered survival. I find it very interesting how Saulo breaks down his belt understandings. He mentions how a white belts job is to survive. Here is a great quote on tapping...Tapping means in his words “Okay you got me, lets go again!” Every student should keep in mind that tapping is a positive part of the learning process; therefore, there is no reason to try with all their might to escape in the absence of proper technique.

I did not have a good weekend as for as eating healthy. I will not even post what I had, just because I don’t feel it will help anyone…lol. I am ready for class tonight at Blacklist. We are starting the submission part of the closed guard. Here are my stats for leading up to the State Championships.

Joshua Guidry
Blue Belt
Weight: 196 lbs
Goal: 176 lbs ... Need to lose 2.5 a week to hit the goal.
Difference: 20 lbs...My actual target I want to be the week before is 181 which is only 15lbs away.
Training: I trained 3 days last week, 2 days GI and 1 day NOGI
Meals: Horrible

Guys comment back your stats so we have them up here.

Lonely Tuesdays

2009-03-17T12:14:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, I cannot attend Tuesday night classes until the end of the semester because I have to do paper work until 1a.m. to prepare for my clinical day tomorrow, but I am still going to do cardio and crossfit. After my clinical rotation/Wednesday night, I will be in the gym drilling positions with Wally and Eric, so If anyone is interested in getting your roll on, feel free to join us around 530 in Mathews. Also, everyone has been doing a great job with training and working out and most of the guys in the gym have been coming everyday to train so I commend everyone on the hard work! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Monday training 3-16-09

2009-03-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

To start off I did 1,000 meters on the rowing machine. I did 21 pull-ups and 21 push presses before that bum shoulder of mine would have no more. That thing does get frustrating when it limits what I can do in the gym.

After we got done with that we went and rolled some. Had a pretty good roll with Tony. He’s not a big guy, but he’s like a little Tasmanian devil…he’s quick and always looking to finish. We got in some good transitions and guard passing, and he got my back twice…did I mention he’s quick?? He got me with an ankle lock…second time he’s done that as of late. Guess I’m going to have to be more weary of that damn ankle lock. Overall it was a pretty good roll.

After we got done rolling Eric and Tony got in there and rolled some. It looked like it was going well…I didn’t see either one tap the other, unless it happened when I wasn’t paying attention. I think Eric accidentally kneed Tony in the jaw, which pretty much put a halt to the match.

Soon as Tony stepped out with his bruised jaw Wally jumped in to take his place. It was a pretty good match and I got to work on my sideline coaching a little by telling Wally what to do. He was listening well and did pretty good overall. Several times Eric went for subs and Wally worked out of them. There was lots of good transitioning and moving around. Wally once again showed he’s a beast.

Anyhow, it was a good night of training, and besides a really sore shoulder from doing pull ups I’m no worse off than I was…maybe even learned a thing or two rolling with Tony.

Muay Thai

Techniques from Last night 3/12

2009-03-13T10:08:00.003-05:00

Great classes last night people...Blacklist is getting ready to add more classes for everyone to enjoy. Remember to keep up the good work, and don't forget to study on your off days.

Go check out the technique page for the details on last nights training...you can print it out, and keep for later, or comment on it if you have questions, or suggestions...communicate people...its there for us.

http://armbarandgrillmonthlytraining.blogspot.com

I had a good roll with Weaver and CY....both beat up on me last night...makes me rethink where my level is.

Wednesday training 3-11-09

2009-03-12T09:47:00.003-05:00

Went roll with Wally last night. Had a pretty good roll. I think we ended up rolling for the better part of about 20 minutes or so. Had a lot of good transitioning and caught him with a couple submissions.

He never ceases to amaze me at how fast he’s moving along. He has really good balance and transitioning for someone with as little training as he has. He’s going to be a real beast when he gets his technique down.
Anyhow, I had to make up a little for Josh smashing me Tuesday and I think I did that last night by going in there and having a good roll with Wally.

Muay Thai

My Second Adventure to Tim's Gladiator Gym in Lafayette, LA.

2009-03-11T20:57:00.004-05:00

I am in Lafayette, LA again for work, and already got with Tim about training there the first two Wednesdays of the month. Wednesday is a great night in the aspect that I get to work on something I feel I am the weakest in....NOGI...couple this with the talented wrestlers they have over there, and you are scrambling like a mad man all night. There Wednesday night schedule that I attended was ...5:30 - 6:30 Advanced NOGI...6:30-7:30 NOGI...they will start to add a GI class from 7:30 on taught by Jean George...one of Tim's purples in Lafayette, LA.

In the advanced class we did a lot of warm-ups, and then went on to the techniques...we practiced regaining butterfly guard when someone has side control on you. The person on the bottom will shrimp turning into the opponent, and bring the inside knee across the opponent. then swing in placing your outside foot in as a hook...this will swing you in more to get full butterfly...he showed a over under grip...trapping one arm...on the trapped arm side you roll to that side for the sweep ending up in mount.
The next technique was the exact same movement, but starting with a person in mount on you. You have to shrimp one leg at a time to get to butterfly...then continue with the technique above.
Once techniques were done, everyone got to roll...I was able to get in 6 matches with these strong, good controlling, wrestling, strong, position dominators, who...did I mention were strong? I was able to hit a bunch of oldschool sweeps, and even the hip bump sweep we covered Tuesday. It is tough cause it is a constant scramble for position. Only a few submissions in this class...I did get my armbar that I hunt for all the time, but got caught with an americana type submission...need to work on my side mount escapes.

For the normal NoGi class we had a good group of guys there. We went over the same escape from side control, and added a submission to the end. The mounted triangle. I had actually saw this move before on an Eddie Bravo video...forgot what he called it, but you get a high mount, bring one knee under their shoulder. On that same side you have the knee under his shoulder, you will hug his head, and place that arm around the back of his head. Then grab his shoulder from the back of his head. You will straighten out his other hand, and pass your foot over his arm to attempt the triangle.
After technique, we again did open mat. We all got in 3 matches, and most of these guys were only jiu-jitsu guys...I was definitely able to play my game...I think that I had an experience advantage here, but after going to scrambles and stalemates with the advanced class, I had to put some subs out there. All in all a very good night, and definitely better than me going eat out and drink with customers.

For your viewing pleasure...Buddy vs. Luke - Open mat

Mayhem Miller's New Show starts March 22 on MTV

2009-03-11T16:50:00.001-05:00

Tuesday Night's Training

2009-03-10T22:32:00.002-05:00

Had a good night tonight at class. We had a great atmosphere for training, and that always helps with the smoothness of class. We covered a few sweeps, which are detailed over on the technique tab. Drill night is always rough...especially with Buddy. That guy is explosive, and knows his stuff.

I only got in a few rolls tonight with Sean, Shaun "Muay Thai", and then Peygan. The first was with our tough wrestler Sean...man does he have nice takedowns...I decided after a few seconds just to pull guard...I was able to get an oldschool sweep, and work to the ezekial choke...More of the same for the next few minutes. Sean just started with us, and has a background in wrestling...once he picks up more submissions, he will be dangerous. I can't wait till we get him in a competition as a white belt. My next roll was with Muay Thai...I decided that I wanted to give him a tough roll...I thought it went well...good transistions, flowing around, even worked past the 5 minute mark. After that I rolled with Peygan, and he is very aggressive and quick...he almost pulled off my arm...nice armbar Peygan!

Sharks vs. Buffalos

2009-03-09T16:43:00.003-05:00

Since I started jiu-jitsu I’ve heard the expression “you’re either a shark or a buffalo” at least 1,000 times. Someone asked me what it meant. It seems like you talk to different people and they have different ideas about what it means…this is what it means to me…

Lots of people have a misconstrued conception of what the term “buffalo” means in my honest opinion. Most people I have spoken with about this think when you call someone a buffalo it means that the person will fight for position and then just lay there…I say yes and no.

To me personally that’s not the only way to be a “buffalo”. Another way is moving, but moving with no purpose. Sure you can get into position and move all around, while basically holding the same position, but are you moving with purpose?? Do you have intention of finishing the fight? If you are just moving for the sake of moving then it makes you no less a “buffalo” in my opinion than the guy who lays in one position for 5 minutes and doesn’t move. Sure you are moving a lot, but where are you really going?

Think about this for a second…

Does a shark move just for the sake of moving when it’s eating time? Heck no, he moves with purpose…to kill. He doesn’t stall, he doesn’t think, he doesn’t sit there. A shark jumps into a fight and finishes the fight. You’ll never see a shark grab a hold of prey and just hold onto it…if he grabs it he’s going to finish it, bottom line. When you grapple and you move you should always have the intention of finishing with a submission. Always.

To me this is the difference between a shark and a buffalo in jiu-jitsu.
Muay-Thai

Open Mat - Saturday 3/7/09

2009-03-09T15:27:00.002-05:00

Had a pretty good open mat on Saturday.

Got a chance to roll with Larry finally. He’s our newest guy, he’s a purple that hasn’t trained in a few years. He’s big, strong, and super aggressive. There were a few times when he pulled a submission on me and I thought he was going to get it, but I pulled through. Almost caught him with a Kimura and went for a knee bar I barely missed. It was a good, but rough match.

Also got in there with Buddy. He’s a beast. He caught me with an arm triangle; although it was a pretty good match and learned a few new things from rolling with him.
My back seems to be doing a little better than it was earlier in the week…I can finally buck and move when I get pinned on my back so that’s a good thing. Hopefully this week my back will be back close to 100% so I can get in some good training.

What a weekend...67 Days to go

2009-03-09T10:32:00.005-05:00

Well I hope everyone had a great weekend. I did not do anything on the mat this weekend, still sore from the four days last week. I have to leave time for my old body to recover. Eric through a great UFC party this weekend as always in the Weaver Household. Lots of relaxing, and even renamed a drink that evening. Remember you need to break away from time to time, or you will burn out. I did however get some research training in. I have added a few techniques I want to try out this week during open mat. I was disappointed on Sunday evening, but turned it into a good night. My son Alex and I went to Houma to go buy Jiu-Jitsu University from Books-A-Million. I had called, and they said they had it. After spending 30 minutes trying to locate it, I gave up. We ended up going eat out together at WOW...man does he love cheese sticks. All in all a good trip even without the book.

Keep training and keep and open mind

Forgot to post my Numbers for this week.

Joshua Guidry
Blue Belt
Weight: 196 lbs
Goal: 176 lbs ... Need to lose 2.5 a week to hit the goal.
Difference: 20 lbs...actual target I want to be the week before is 181.
Training: I trained 4 days last week, 50% GI and 50% NOGI
Meals: I did decent...although I need to get on more of a strict plan, I still did fine. I ate lots fo chicken, but some were fried...not good for you but damn tasty...Glad I am starting so far out this time, so that I am conditioned for the matches.

Guys comment back your stats so we have them up here.

Pushing through...Food for thought

2009-03-06T13:12:00.005-06:00

I wanted to go over a few things with training jiu-jitsu, and wanting to become a better Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player. I don't think that a person can ever get to the point of where they know everything in this game, and that there are always different ways to develop. We all have different games, and work towards being a complete BJJ player.

I have suffered through a few minor, and tough injuries while on the mat...and probably just me getting old. These injuries aggrevated me because it did not allow me to continue training exactly the way I had been. However, it caused me to work on other things in my game, to which I am actually glad I got injured. Now if you look at that statement...you are probably thinking...what is wrong with that dude, wanting to get injured? Crazy huh? Now if I had just said to myself...self...that is what i say when I'm talking to me...self, why don't you start strictly working from closed guard, or spider guard, or from half...stop pushing for top position and not letting go once I'm there.

I am glad we have a diverse group of games at our gym, and always look to add some elements from other's games to mine. The main thing I want to say is ... "Keep an Open mind, not a vacant one"

bl

20 minute match...no subs

2009-03-06T09:52:00.002-06:00

Went into the gym to do a little rolling with Eric. We couldn’t figure out how to work the new timer so decided to just go off the clock on the wall and roll a 10 minute match.

We did no submissions and rolled only for position and tried to keep moving at all times.
In the end we got caught up in the roll and grappled for 20 minutes straight. It really didn’t seem like a 20 minute match. It was a real good roll…probably one of my favorite rolls in a long time.

Thanks to Eric for the roll...it was pretty awesome.

2009-03-04T21:23:00.003-06:00

Whats up my brothers? Weaver is in the house! Well guys I'm on the pain train, and its not stopping til the 16th. I'm here to push the fitness part of jiu-jitsu.

My adventure at Tim's Gladiator Gym in Lafayette, LA

2009-03-04T21:10:00.004-06:00

Tonight I was in the town of Lafayette, LA for work, and decided to go over to "Crazy" Tim Credeur's gym. It definitely was a great choice by me...even though I was second thinking it until Derrick said to go and it will improve your game. I had a great time. Tim has a bunch of guys that seem to really love training, and learning new things. What's unique about training over there is that they have a plethora of high school and former wrestlers. Lots of guys with great base, and scramble ability.
I was able to work my game even though it was nogi, but dang those wrestlers don't gas out. I was dying towards the end sucking wind, but kept trying my sweeps. All in all it was a very good night being able to train with those guys will only diversify my game...and yes...i did get some armbars...you know I love them armbars. This was great, and i did not even mention the techniques that Tim went over were so detailed. The little key things he showed to everyone were pretty ninja in my book. Then after class those bad mofos went and trained MMA...like I said...they don't gas.

Can't wait to show you guys a few tips I picked up.

Technique from last night!?!?

2009-03-04T16:30:00.001-06:00

Did anyone click over to our Monthly Technique link? I put in the sweeps we covered last night, and added another half guard sweep from February. Comment back to see if this is what we want to cover.

bl

Basic lesson of the day

2009-03-04T10:12:00.003-06:00

Getting thrown on your head hurts...

It's one of those things that doesn't work for the best on many levels. I'll give you a few reasons why getting thrown on your head is not a good idea in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu:

1. It really freaking hurts
2. Usually doesn't give you good position
3. It hurts
4. Everyone thinks it would be cool to perform self-fellatio, but in the end...not that cool
5. You probably just lost points because while you were thinking "damn, that hurt" the other guy just passed you
6. They don't make enough Epsom salt to take away the pain
7. You probably just had to smell your own ball sweat
8. It's hard to win when your unconscious
9. There are no submissions that I'm aware of while doing a headstand and bent in two like a pretzel

And last, but definitely not least...

10. Did I mention it hurts!

Monday Training (3/2/09)

2009-03-03T16:27:00.001-06:00

Went to Blacklist Houma last night to get some training. Had some good warm-ups and then there were a few belt promotions. Neil got his first green belt stripe along with Ben after a good showing at the Gladiators tournament this past weekend. Brian, one of our guys from Blacklist Houma, got his second white belt stripe. I also got another stripe, which brings me up to the holding pattern of 4 stripes…can almost taste that blue now!

We went over some good guard techniques with some various transitions to different subs…armbar/collar choke/kimura/straight arm lock. I have to say it was some good training; although that choke more often than not ends up being a jaw crank. I can definitely feel the pain in my jaw today, but hey, that’s part of jiu-jitsu so it’s all good.

Got to roll with Gabe after class, which is always fun. It’s amazing that after all the hard training there is still so far to go. I love rolling with Gabe because you can go in there and smoke half the people in the gym and he tosses you around like a rag doll and makes you feel like a punk.

I weighed in this morning at 210lbs. so that puts me one step closer toward my goal heading into the state championships. Now just have a few more pounds to cut and work on some weak parts of my game to make sure I’m ready.

Congratulations on BJJ Promotions

2009-03-02T23:34:00.002-06:00

Last night at the Blacklist Houma, LA Gym a few guys received promotions for their hard work and dedication to learning our wonderful sport. A few of these guys competed in this past weekend's tournament in Lafayette, LA. Gabe and Derrick issued out stripes to the following.

These guys have moved up to...
Shaun "Muay Thai" is now a 4 stripe Green Belt
Neil "The Enforcer" is now a 1 stripe Green Belt
Ben "Crossfit" is now a 1 stripe Green Belt
Brian "IDK" is now a 2 stripe White Belt

Great job in sticking with it guys! This is not a sport where things come easily.

Coundown...75 days till LA State Championships

2009-03-02T21:22:00.003-06:00

Today was an off day for me in the training department, but that doesn't mean I slacked on improving my BJJ. I researched articles and watched a few videos online to sharpen up. The thing about watching videos online is to syphon through videos that are just put up on the net by anyone, and the ones that are legit. I know that I put a few videos online, and I definitely am not perfect in my technique.

While on days away from training it is important to watch your nutritional intake. Today I think I did well with my meals. I had a bagel in the morning, and tuna fish for lunch. I had a chicken pasta dish for dinner, which I could have eaten better...but it was darn tasty.
The only exercises I did today were my daily cardio...100 sit ups, 25 side crunches to each side, 50 sit outs, and 50 bridges. I added 50 shrimps (hip escapes) today. Anyone training BJJ knows how important that drill is.
I will weigh in Tuesday for class, and then report how far I am from my goal of 176. As of Saturday I was 23lbs away. My true goal should really be 181, and cut the rest to 176 for the week of the tournament.

Tomorrow we should have an update from Chef Boxoplata on Nutrition.

Countdown...76 days till LA State Championships

2009-03-02T08:16:00.002-06:00

A few of the guys at Blacklist are going to blog our training leading up to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu State Championships in Louisiana. We have 76 days until the event starts, and have been training regularly. We will have to step it up a little to ensure ourselves that we go into the tournament prepared. We completed Half-guard February and now moving onto Closed Guard March. A few of us have to knock off a little extra walking weight to compete in our usual weight classes. I know that i definitely need to. After the hurricanes last year, I haven't seemed to kick off these pounds that i gained back.

Current Weight...199.6 lbs
BJJ training...at gym for BJJ 8+ hours each week.
BJJ studying...8+ hours each week
Extra training...100 situps, 25 side crunches to each side, 50 sitouts, 50 bridges...each day.

Open mat...Saturday's open mat was decent...got a total of around 7 matches. I rolled with Luke and Buddy a couple times each, and mixed in a few new guys and kids just to keep rolling. Was able to work on my bottom game a little with Buddy, he is real strong in staying on top when he wants to. He ended up catching me with a D'arce choke and a straight arm. I was able to get a few armbars earlier, but then again...I love armbars. I feel at this point, I need to work on posture, and weight placement.

Till the next blog...

Luke Guidry's blog...77 days out

2009-03-01T15:09:00.001-06:00

well me and a couple of my boys at blacklist decided we were goin to blog weekly about our training up until state bjj tourney.(may 16th) so as of today im 77 days out from state 11 weeks. so every sunday at 5pm i will post my training blog, hope you all enjoy reading it.
ok so 77 days out and im at 20 percent body fat and a total weight of 280. i dont have a goal to get to a certain weight because i will be a heavy or super heavyweight either way. my only goal is to get in the best shape of my life in these next 11 weeks. so this week i was only able to train for one day roughly for about 2 and a half hours. i want to stay around 6-8 hours of bjj a week, not counting conditioning and weight training. but all in all i had pretty good rolls with tony, buddy, and josh......had a lil shoulder issue but im always rehabbin. so ill see you next week at 5 hope u enjoy.......................peace l.g.

Blog by: Luke Guidry

La State BJJ Championship - Goal Tracking

2007-03-10T13:08:00.000-06:00

Comment back your Daily stats...or if your lazy 2-3 time a week stats.

Armbar and Grill

2007-03-10T09:39:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Armbar & Grill. Our training location is at Blacklist Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Mathews, Louisiana. We're enthusiastic about our study in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, burt rarely without a little humor. Armbar & Grill was founded with a simple desire to help promote BJJ through an open sharing of information of our sport. Click on the sidebars and pics for Techniques and profiles from Blacklist.