So I got hit by Glandular Fever about a week back, and I've only just started to recover.

 - I should probably watch who I kiss a little more closely. Yikes (I'm kidding, of course, I'm a wholly respectable gent. This probably would have come from someone spitting in my food. Or dribbling on me. Yeah.)

One thing I've hated through this last week is being unable to exercise. Believe me, I've been trying to be Superman and keep running and working out (at home, no gym for me), but it just hasn't worked.

I've rested, and I don't want to rest any more. This really sucks!

It's nice to reflect though, and see just how my habits have changed in the last year or so - it's amazing to see the change from sedentary uni bum to someone who regularly works out and is actually in a healthy shape. Forgive me for bragging, but I'm proud of who I'm starting to become. Also, I started BJJ during that health kick (now that I've mentioned that, this post is finally on topic, phew).

Back to bed, and recovering into (hopefully) badass shape as soon as possible.

Peace,
- George


Shameless promotion time:
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BJJ classes aren't cheap, especially for a uni student like myself, This fact, as well as a lack of free time, mean that I can't train everyday. So, I really want to maximise my learning potential whilst in class - and this is something that everyone should strive to achieve.

To start, here is the format of my classes, which has been common across most places I've been:

• Warm-up.
• Instructor demonstrates a technique.
• Drill technique with a partner.
• Instructor demonstrates another, related technique (e.g. variation/counter).
• Drill technique again.
• Instructor demonstrates another, related technique.
• Drill technique.
• Live rolling for the remainder of the session (generally about half an hour).

My coach likes to demonstrate three techniques, max, as this is about as much as people tend to remember. However, he'll also demonstrate any variations that address issues countered in drilling, or if people ask questions.

This format is great, but I found myself forgetting most of the stuff shown down the track. So, in order to learn better and get the most out of the class, I have (and have been given) a few suggestions.

1. Ask Questions.

This might just be an Australian habit, but most people in my gym don't like to ask questions (with a few exceptions). If you have any difficulties with the technique, or are missing particular intricacies, why wouldn't you ask for assistance? You're not getting the most out of your session if you don't.

2. Write things down.
Keeping a notepad is a good idea - as your instructor demonstrates a technique, scribble down some of the key points about it. This'll help you focus, as well as allow you to recall the technique a lot easier. Most people won't judge you for taking a vested interest in learning the gentle art, and your coach might be impressed - it shows dedication and a willingness to learn.

3. Practice techniques when live rolling.
When live rolling at the end of class, your goal is to put into practice what you have learnt previously. Primarily, you should be focusing on what you have just been taught. However, it is also important to practice techniques learnt previously in order to enhance your memory of them. I like to focus on the techniques of the last three weeks, as this is the time gap where I might be prone to forgetfulness.

4. Stop, discuss and continue.
When rolling with someone more experienced with you, it is a fantastic idea to discuss what went wrong (and what went well) after each roll, as they will usually be more than happy to teach a little - in my gym, the more experienced guys are fantastic at helping you learn. From their point of view, teaching is a fantastic way of improving their conceptual knowledge, and describing a technique forces you to truly understand it. That being sad, don't be the white belt professor, and don't stop rolls unnecessarily - I only start discussion when I've been submitted, for example.

5. Start where you're uncomfortable.

Source: LearnBJJ.blogspot.com

A great way to address a deficit in your game is to start a live roll in a position where you are uncomfortable or significant gaps in your game are evident. I found it a great learning experience to start a heap of rolls with my opponent mounting me, forcing me to learn to escape and enhancing that aspect of my game.

Keep in mind that when in class your goal is to learn, not win. The result doesn't matter when you're training, what matters is that you've improved your skills or enhanced your understanding. That is how you get the most out of a BJJ class.

News time:

Today was the end of a week-long break (due to study commitments), and I was rather pleased with how it went - I'm feeling a significant improvement from the last month or so, and am enjoying building my game.

I've also started mindmapping out of class, using this as a tool to remember techniques and link situations and techniques together, and this has been really helpful thus far (despite the sparsity of my game). I might have to write about this later, just to show how you can use different mindmap setups and techniques to enhance your theory.

Good nutrition = good health. It's simple, common-sense stuff. Eating well maximises the results you'll see when training, for both cardio and building strength.

So, what are some easy ways to eat better, without buying a book written by a shit-peddling quasi-nutritionist? I'm no nutritionist either, but I've outlined some handy ways to make your diet work.

1. Eliminating or Reducing Sugar

Source: lailasblog.com

Fat is not the enemy, as marketers would have us believe - it's sugar. In our modern society, we over-consume sugar to a ridiculous amount, particularly when we partake in soft drinks.
I noticed a massive difference in the amount of belly fat I had stored (and the ease at which I burned it off) when simply eliminating soft drinks from my diet. Not that eliminating sugar is easy - too often I experienced cravings for it, requiring good self-discipline and motivation in order to not succumb to my vicious sweet tooth.

2. Avoid Obviously Harmful Habits
Drinking, smoking and drug use are harmful to your brain and your body. Eliminating these habits will lead to better results. That being said, the average person among us appreciates a good social life; simply cutting back a small amount of your weekly alcohol intake is a great step to better health.
I'm a non-smoker, and vehemently against the habit. Smoking nullifies most people's cardio, meaning it's not your friend when it comes time to roll. Treat your body well, it's the only one you'll ever have (barring amazing breakthroughs in medical science, of course).

3. Homecooked Meals > Processed Crap
Cook your own food. It might be generally more expensive than a McDouble or a frozen lasagne, but you'll know exactly what goes in there. Cooking is therapeutic, and a good skill to have (especially for someone who's single and looking to impress!). There ain't no frozen pizzas in the wilderness, my friends. Learn to cook good, wholesome food - plus, it'll taste better!

4. Eat More Fruit and Veg

Most people don't eat enough fruit and veg - two and five is still a great guide to how much you should be taking in. Fruit and veg is relatively cheap compared to processed confectionery, and can still pack that sweet punch you're craving. Swapping chocolate bars for celery or carrot sticks also allows you to snack more often, so it's pretty much a win-win.
You can get most of your daily intake of necessary vitamins and minerals from vegetables, as well as macronutrients like protein. Forget eating slabs of meat for protein - vegetables like beans and spinach are packed with the stuff. That being said, I like meat, and don't plan on subbing it out entirely any time soon.

5. Monitoring what You Eat
This last one is tough - keeping track of your food takes dedication and a little more nutritional insight than a lot of people possess. Be the better person, show a bit of discipline, monitor your food. You'll see trends in how you eat and snack, and just thinking about what is actually going into your body does wonders for your diet, allowing you to go beyond factors like taste and satiety when choosing meals. Choosing comfort over effort will always hurt your training. Comfort is for weak people who don't truly want to achieve their goals. Ugh.

Fads can Piss Off. People experience results on these things generally because it changes simple elements of their diet, such as introducing more fruit and veg and cutting back on candy. The paleo diet is an example of this - don't be ridiculous for a diet, just eat well-rounded, balanced meals.

That's my simplest points! I might upload a meal plan in future, or a little more dietary insight. Perhaps even a bit more on how BJJ is changing my body, day by day.


Anyway, onto news:

I've had a week's break thanks to uni holidays, but I'll be back into it tonight. This means I'll have a lot more to post about for you guys!

This blog has received a lot more publicity than I'd anticipated, nearly tripling its pageviews in the last three days. This is enormously exciting for me, and I'm hoping to see it grow even further - I've received a couple of email suggestions about content, and would like to hear even more!

Y'all are great.
- George

Hey guys!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately (it's kind of my thing), and have been noticing just how many people seem so incredibly impatient in regards to obtaining a new belt rank.

It got me wondering - why on earth would you want a quicker promotion?

BJJ takes an enormously long time to learn, and the time between promotions reflects this, aided by the lack of coloured belts we use. This places an enormous amount of value on the strip of cloth tied around your waist.

Why else are our ranks so important? 
 For most, they're a symbol of your progress within the art, and this is how they should be viewed - they show that you've achieved a certain level of understanding and ability.
There is a negative to this however, when a belt is viewed only as a symbol of higher status. Sure, your belt means a lot. However, being tapped out by a person of a lower rank than you should not be a shameful experience - rather, it makes for another opportunity to learn, as every roll should be. This mindset is indicative of an egotistical approach. It is not jiu jitsu.

We should want a promotion because we want to develop our skills enough to earn it, not because we want a new rank to intimidate the white belts.

If you earn it quickly, great! I mean, look at the majestic, bearded soul that is Kit Dale - he was lightning fast!

If you earn it slowly, also great! You've still earned it, if you're at a legit academy.

The pace shouldn't be your concern, and neither should tying a new belt around your waist - it should simply be an affirmation that you have progressed significantly within the art.

As for being worried about whether your professor is holding you back just for competition glory? Don't be. Unless you've been winning gold for five years straight, you've probably got nothing to worry about.

Bottom line?
A good professor will know when you are ready. The more time, sweat and energy you put into earning your rank, the more it'll be worth (to you).

Belt farms make for dodgy agriculture.
- George

Throughout human history there have been a multitude of philosophical notions concerned with ideas of our 'spirit' and the way in which we harness our own 'internal energy' (a concept completely separate from physical models of energy, I assure you).

Sometimes training sessions with our instructor are too few and far between. Sometimes, for those with a bit of a BJJ addiction, every moment of free time spent without training is a moment wasted.

I've seen and tried a number of solo home training ideas, and here are the basic forms I've distinguished:

1. Working Out
The first is easy - simply supplementing BJJ training with working out, such as cardio, resistance training, plyometrics etc. You generally can't go wrong with this, and can do it with minimal equipment (such as a set of dumbbells, outlined here).

2. Yoga
Another simple, non-technique related supplemental (or concurrent) training. Flexibility is good for your game, so doing some yoga is generally not going to be detrimental to your BJJ progression. Another benefit is the spiritual aspect of yoga (if you practice in such a way), which can help you to relax and think in sparring (more on that in a later post!).

3. Training with Inanimate Objects

Source: Amazon

Admittedly, I find this a little weird. I've seen a number of posts on r/bjj, for example, showing various practitioners and their attempts at recreating a rolling partner with all sorts of objects. The strangest one I've seen has been a chair, but I've also seen pillows and people made out of pillows, complete with gi. Of course, there are always the purpose-made grappling dummies, but as far as my noobishness is concerned, I'd get more out of doing some stretching or rolling with a resisting partner. That being said, dummies can be great for practicing striking, and for complex moves in order to remember their components.

4. YouTube Research
There are two sides to the internet or YouTube coin - finding new moves to experiment with or viewing instructional videos to refine techniques you already have a grasp of. The former, I believe, should be restricted to experienced practitioners - as a beginner, one is better off learning face to face with simple techniques, then focusing on refining these techniques. Knowing 3 of the 72 steps involved in a 'reverse flying platypus-oplata heel choke'* isn't really going to help your game.
On the other side, being able to watch footage of a technique you know, explained by a world-class instructor, might afford you a new way of thinking about the technique or at least allow you to see where you might be slightly deficient.

5. Solo Drilling

Source: slideyfoot.wordpress.com

This one is also pretty simple - practicing falls, rolling, grip strengthening or your bridges/hip escapes could all fall under this banner. Basically, BJJ-specific exercises that are technical, strength building, and good for cardio. Doing these drills in conjunction with your workout is a sure-fire way to maintain relevant areas of your skill-set, as well as build strength and conditioning.

6. 'Flow' Exercises
These are exercises that require you to feel minute changes in pressure in your body. One such example is an exercise I've seen Xande Riberio do - squats with water in a pipe. By balancing an object with a constantly shifting weight, we are forced to concentrate on tiny changes in pressure and to eventually anticipate these changes. To take it up a notch, simply incorporate another, independent element into the exercise, such as squats. These exercises are great for more advanced practitioners - as I've been told, the difference between a black belt and an amazing black belt is absolutely tiny perceptions and applications of pressure.

7. Mental Rehearsal

Source: 1stMuse.com

This last technique is great for anyone, and only requires thinking about techniques, scenarios and past rolls. By being cerebral and really thinking about our game we can better see our flaws and areas that are lacking, allowing swifter and more targeted development. When we learn a technique we should also think of all the scenarios in which it could arise, allowing it to connect to the rest of our game and actually become useful. Mindmapping is also a great tool, and I'll be writing more on that in later posts.


Comment or message me if you have another method of training at home!
Ultimately, I'd really like to have a matted area in my home to train and drill, and hopefully a regular sparring partner. Hopes and dreams, hopes and dreams...

Only you can prevent forest fires,
- George

*Not a real move. However, if you figure something out that could be adequately described by it, don't hesitate to use the name!

When we walk on the mat, we shouldn't have fear. We should have confidence in our abilities, and faith in our training partners (in a training scenario, of course).

Hey everyone!

Everyone knows a brick's attributes: it's strong, stable, brittle, and quite shit at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
In terms of flexibility, I am a brick. I struggle to touch my toes, my knees are 6 inches off the ground in a butterfly stretch, and I'd have more luck making a perfect Croquembouche than pulling my foot to my chest.

This brick can't touch its toes. Also, it doesn't have any toes, it's a brick.

However, ladies and gentlemen, this is all set to change. Over the last few weeks I've started to incorporate stretching into my workout routine, beyond warm-up and warm-down routines. At the bottom of the post I'll include a basic outline of what I'm doing.

Well. Saturday has come and gone (in Australia at least), and taken with it the Spring Cup.

This is not me.

I'm writing this surrounded by puppies - I can imagine that this is the kind of joy Dan Bilzerian is searching for in his life. I win, Dan.

Anyway, onto non-puppy-related stuff.

What is the proper etiquette in an Academy?
The places I've trained have been quite relaxed, though etiquette is still central to maintaining a friendly, respectful atmosphere. The issue, however, is that it is generally unspoken - so I'm just putting down a few of my observations.

Source: shierly-c.deviantart.com

First, the simple stuff:
- Be hygienic and free of odours,
- No talons (cut your damn nails),
- Clean your gi after every session,
- Don't roll if you're disease-infested,
- Wear shoes while off the mat,
- Don't bring your shoes onto the mat, and;
- Be polite and friendly when starting a roll, always shaking hands (or whatever you like to do) beforehand, and thanking your partner afterwards.

That all is pretty no-nonsense; I mean, most people should have all of that pretty much understood the moment they walk in the door. There are a heap of other things I could list here, but brevity is nice in a blog post.

I've noticed, however, I few little things around my academy. I've also had a few things told to me after failing to notice (how embarrassing!).

Firstly, I had no idea we were ordered according to grade when stretching - I had apparently sat in the right spot accidentally prior to finding this out,

Next, shaking everyone's hand when entering and leaving (this one was fairly obvious, and is an Australian thing to do anyhow).

Lastly, the most confusing one - half my academy bows to the mat before stepping on, and after stepping off. The other half, including the instructor, does not. I don't know whether it's a habit learnt doing other martial arts or just a less stringently enforced social pleasantry, and I feel it'd be awkward to ask! From what I've heard, it's something that varies widely from academy to academy, especially between Gracie/non-Gracie schools (Gracie Barra in Sydney, for example, bow to both the professor and a picture of Grandmaster Helio Gracie).
Personally, I like the informal style - I think being a pleasant, respectful person on and off the mat should be the extent of etiquette-related discussion.

Every academy is different, and training for the first time at one may bring a challenge - I think following this 'good fella' attitude makes the challenge of etiquette just that little bit easier to navigate - you'll invariably find out if you're doing the wrong thing anyway!

Don't sweat the petty things, just get the sweaty things,
- George

One More Roll?

My academy's coach is trying to make this into a bit of a motto for us, and I quite like it.



As far as I'm concerned, unless you're about to spew on the mat, or some part of your body is broken, bent or bleeding, your answer should always be yes.

Every roll is a learning experience, not to mention valuable exercise to increase your fitness (For an interesting post on being totally gassed-out, see The Worthwhile Struggle: Leaving it All on the Mat). If you're turning them down without a good excuse you're more than likely being lazy and not allowing yourself to progress.

Plus, tenacity is a good personal attribute!

So, NSW Spring Cup is on Saturday - Tonight I'll be training at Jiu Jitsu Kingdom in the lead-up to the comp. I'm half nervous, half excited - let's see how that balance changes on Saturday!

Smell you later! (or not... please wash your gi..)
- George

Hey Y'all!

Sucking at BJJ is what I'm really good at right now, and that doesn't particularly bother me! People keep saying "I know its frustrating" etc. The fact of the matter is, every time I step on a mat my only goal is to learn, and so far that's going quite well.

So, news: I've registered for my first comp! I'm going to be competing at the NSW Spring Cup. I've only entered in the featherweight gi division, mainly because I don't want to spend an enormous amount of money.

Source: NSWBJJ.com.au

I feel like this should be an awesome learning experience, and I'm really keen to get out there and give it a go!

I'll be taking a few classes at another gym in Sydney in the week leading up, plus working on my standing game with my brother, who's a pretty good judoka. I'll probably be writing about those and my experience at the comp itself.


This should be good!

Until you take an arrow to the knee,
- George