Garry Tonon KIMURA

CRAZY! Japanese Grappling technique

My FAVORITE wrestling Takedown - THE CLIMB BEHIND (ADVANCED)

Overhook closed guard to Renzo arm in guillotine

Caio Terra Leg Drag Pass gi and no-gi

Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week - Kimura Defense to Choke

105 Leg Lock Techniques In Just 9 Minutes - Jason Scully (BJJ Grappling ...

How to do a REVERSE OMOPLATA aka Samboplata | SAMBO BJJ

100% to The Truck with 10th Planet Black Belt Geo Martinez

Florian Techniques "Front headlock to mount"

93 Guard Armbar | Show the ART |

Knee Reaping 101: Vlad Koulikov's Straight Ankle lock Fundamentals

North South to Atlas arm submission

Kron Gracie Highlight Reel

Arm / Leg-in Triangle Choke

20 Entries to The Truck (Banana Split)

Triangle From Knee On Belly

ONE FC Bruno Pucci Triangle Choke Variation | Evolve University

Vlad Koulikov: Calf Crush

The Splits vs A Single Leg

Turtle Guard Transitions and Recovery by Eduardo Telles (BJJLIBRARY.COM)

How to pass flexible guys guards

Reilly Bodycomb - Heel Hook Escape

Fat Guy Little Gi: A Visit to Roy Dean's (or: Discipulus vagi luctationis and the trip that made me so)

Fat Guy in a Little Gi – Discipulus vagi luctationis and the trip that made me so

We live in an awesome time in the grappling community. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is becoming even bigger and other grappling arts are gaining more notoriety. For the first time in ages, Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling is seeing a resurgence off the heels of Josh Barnett’s ending of Dean Lister’s no submission streak. Sambo is once again proving its effectiveness on the world stage with younger Russian fighters starting to make a name for themselves (Khabib anyone?). Yet, there is one thing I personally am happier about; the return of the wandering student.

In ancient China and Japan, martial artists would roam their countries and visit schools to challenge themselves against that school’s doctrine. Sometimes this was in the form of challenge matches, but most often it was in the form of spending time learning as a student from these other schools to augment their current abilities. Now, hundreds of years later, we see the same thing happening with BJJ and other grappling schools. Practitioners have been doing it for years now, but it wasn’t until guys like Stuart Cooper and Christian Graugart that the movement gained momentum. I am happy to say, I have joined them.

Before I go on, I want to explain this blog’s title a little bit. Discipulus vagi luctationis is what Google Translate told me Student of Grappling was in Latin. Why Latin? Well because wrestling as we know it started in Greece and Latin was the primary language back then. Why a weird other language for a title? Well I was hoping to coin a new title to name us wondering students. I want us to have our own title, but it was a little long. Simple solution though, I am shorting it to “discipulus.” It may not catch on, but you know what, from here on out it is what I am going to call myself. I am sure my Marine brother and one of the greatest grappling theory mentors I know, George Pardos, will agree it is applicable. Moving on.

For me, the hardest part of going to another school was the fear of being labeled Creonte. Some people reading this may not understand what that word means, for BJJ specifically it roughly means someone who leaves their school and trains somewhere else against their prior school. Of course there are always circumstances where someone can leave and not be considered Creonte, in my opinion it has always been about the spirit of why someone left. Anyways, my biggest issue was always, would I be viewed as Creonte? For those who have the similar issue, the answer is a surprising no. When you visit other schools for knowledge to bring back with you, all you are doing is enriching yourself and your school, and your professor. Grappling is one of the only martial arts you truly make your own. Something that works for Keenan Cornelius or Marcelo Garcia may not work for someone who is 260lbs of raw unadulterated saturated fat. Yet, learning from them, would allow that same person to take their ideologies and techniques, and make them their own. When you wander and learn, you become a better grappler, and when you return home to the gym that is family, you are able to show them new and exciting ideologies and explain how your own ideologies fared against them in live rolling. It is truly a wonderful feeling.

I decided a few years back that I wanted to do this, but never really had the nerve (as I said above) and I was always worried about spending the money. One day my parents told me that their time share was over points and they had to spend them before they expire, and they could cash them in for hotels all throughout the county if I didn’t want to go to a resort. We talked and they agreed that I could take some smaller trips rather than one giant one. The wife and I decided each of us would get a weekend away with friends and then a trip together. I told my mat brother and best bro Eric we could go somewhere finally and join the discipulus movement. He lost his mind to excitement and we both knew where we wanted to go in an instant, Roy Dean Academy*.

*Some people know that there has been some controversy regarding Roy Dean and Stuart Cooper lately. As far as I am concerned it has nothing to do with me or my path of knowledge. Whatever beef they have going on is between them and is going to stay that way in this blog. If either of them are reading this, I respect you both very much and I love what positive stuff each of you have done for our culture*

We chose Roy Dean for a few reasons; only 5.5 hours away, we knew Bend, OR was beautiful, and we loved watching Roy Dean’s videos. We set the date for the end of summer. I called and spoke to Roy Dean himself the week of the trip to ensure he was okay with us coming down. He was, and when the time came, my brother and I set off. The excitement was palatable and we acted like high school boys on their first road trip all the way down. The trip to Bend, OR from Olympia, WA (Tumwater for those who actually live here) is breathtaking. It is gorgeous, and with summer slowly coming to an end this year, we were blessed with skies that went from cloudy to clear and warm weather that went from 75-85.

(The trip down)

When we got there we had hours to kill before class started, but to be honest we were tired from the drive. We rested in the hotel after eating at IHOP (yeah, I know, drive 5.5 hours to eat at the restaurant that’s five minutes away). As the hours drifted we had in depth discussions on which Gi we were going to wear for our first day, and nerves set in on how we thought we were going to do against the students. When it was time to go, we packed up and headed out, excitement overtaking our nerves.

We got there a little early, okay super early, almost a half hour early. As we waited we started getting nervous again, thinking maybe we mis-read the schedule. In a few minutes however, one of Roy Dean’s students showed up, and a few seconds later, Roy Dean himself. We introduced ourselves, and after some obligatory paperwork and pleasantries, we put our gi’s on and hit the mats. There were four of us and Professor Dean that night. It was almost like we had a one on one. It was awesome.

We worked two grip breaks I have never seen, an Ouchi Gari setup, and an Osoto Gari setup off of the same principle. Our school doesn’t get a lot of Judo so it was great to get some in depth Judoka training. After drilling those, Professor Dean split the class up to work on different things. His two students continued to work Judo, whereas Eric and I got to each pick a few things we wanted Professor Dean himself to teach us. Eric chose a knee ride escape, I chose a way to get out from under pressuring wrestlers with good hips. In addition to both of those techniques, Professor Dean showed us a few others that went along the same vein.  The entire time he made us feel welcomed and treated us like honored guests, even though we were only a blue belt and white belt. At the end of drilling, we had about 30 minutes of live rolling, and Eric and I both got a chance to roll with Professor Dean himself, as well as the two other students who were present.

Rolling with Professor Dean is a lot like using a single shot .22 to hunt bear with. Yeah, you may get a lucky shot, but chances are, he is still is going to get you even if you do. For those who don’t know, Roy Dean is tall, very tall, and moves like water cascading down ice. He went very light with us, going very slow and methodical, but still using extremely solid technique. Of course he submitted both of us repeatedly, but he also allowed us to play our game too. He didn’t just completely shut us down and dominate, he allowed us to communicate with our art. It was an awesome learning experience.

After the class we went back to the hotel and, while we had plans to hit the nightlife, only ended up going and getting food, then coming back to recoup. The next day we attended the lunch class where we worked kimuras, hip bumps, and straight arm locks. Gained some different insight than I had had before, as there were a few different ideologies that were presented. We then had open mat, and since the class was much bigger, we had a ton of partners to roll with. I have to say this, Roy Dean students are really, really good at defending and positioning as a whole. Our school is much more of a Carlson Gracie school, grind from the top and force the submission. They had a much more patient and defense oriented game. It was excellent, as everyone I rolled with taught me something, and allowed me to teach them something. The fusing of their style and the broadening of our own really made the trip worthwhile as a whole.

After class, one of the students invited us to go for a hike that afternoon with him. We ended up going to Smith’s Rock. Let me tell you, two hour of rolling followed by a 3 mile hike up a very steep rock will make you feel alive.

(Eric and I at the top of Smith’s Rock)

That night we went out to see the nightlife and found out Oktoberfest was going on. Even though we participated, in the morning were still ready for our last day in Bend. We were lucky enough to be there for a purple belt test. I know some people disagree with testing for belts in BJJ, but you have to remember Professor Dean’s background and he isn’t just grading on BJJ alone, but on all grappling arts he teaches. The demonstration was amazing, and the comradery in the academy was truly uplifting. Even Eric and I, who didn’t really know anyone there, got caught up in the excitement. An hour of hard work, and we witnessed someone get presented their purple belt. Afterwards, another hour of open mat rolling. Again we rolled with Professor Dean, and again it was just like the last time. We rolled with some new friends and at the end of class we invited a few of them to come visit our school. Goodbye’s said, and hands shaken, we set off for home, after eating of course.

The trip has changed me and my mat brother Eric immensely. Our game was just a little slicker, a little tighter, and a little more respectable when we got home. If you haven’t cross trained or gone to another gym, I highly recommend it. No, I don’t mean go to an affiliate (although that is good too), nor do I mean go to the gym that is down the street from yours. I mean go find a gym in another city, state, or country and try it out. For those of you who want to try to do this, I recommend a few things;

1: Let your coach know!

So they know you aren’t sneaking behind their back, so they know you are coming home, and most importantly, so they can give ideas on what to look out or ask for!

2. Call the school first!

You don’t want to go long distance and find out the instructor you hoped to see isn’t going to be there. Also, you need to gather some information to make your trip worthwhile…

3. Gather the following information!

            In addition to all the other stuff you have to gather on a vacation, make sure you find out:

            Class times (you don’t want to go off of the internet, sometimes pages don’t get updated)

            Gear/Gi restrictions (some schools still don’t allow black gis!)

            Visitor policies (some schools are open door, some restrict)

            Cost (money makes the world go round)

            Are there any seminars going on?

4. Pack appropriately

            Duh

5. Be humble, respectful and overly gracious

These gym owners are opening up themselves to you, the visitor. They want to make sure your trip is worthwhile, so make sure it is worthwhile for them to do so. Don’t be a dick or assume they owe you anything.

6. Lastly, make sure you give props were props are due

Thank everyone and anyone for everything and anything! Thank your new training partners, thank the gym owner, the head instructors, the guy who told you about the awesome bar, the lady who told you about the sushi place…again be overly gracious. Don’t be a ham about it, be sincere. They have let you into their family for a time, show them it means something.

That’s all I have for now my fellow discipulus. Don’t be afraid to hit me up on Facebook with any questions, Ken Dunbar (Polar Bear).

                        

Bodylock Backtake by Xande Ribeiro

Reilly Bodycomb's 'No Kurtka Vol 1' DVD Sample - "Single Leg to Back Arch"

Kimura Roll From Half Guard

Sambo. Combination american to Armbar

Sambo. Flying armbar.

Rolled Up Episode 30: Bonus Footage with Erik Paulson-The Josh Barnett Choke That beat Lister

'Victor Roll' counter to a body lock- Reilly Bodycomb Seminar - NY July ...

This Wee In BJJ Episode 61 with Rickson Gracie Part 4 of 4

This Wee In BJJ Episode 61 with Rickson Gracie Part 3 of 4

This Week In Bjj Episode 61 Part with Rickson Gracie 2 of 4

This Week In BJJ Episode 61 with Rickson Gracie Part 1 of 4

Sambo Armbar Grips

No Gi Takedowns

Miyao Brothers Teach Unique Inverted Triangle

Joao Miyao teaching the Ninja Armlock from Berimbolo

Sambo Kneebar from standing

Rick Mirandette Aikido Self Defense Moves

Defending The Underhook

BJJ Techniques: Mendes Brothers Part 2

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Techniques: Mendes Brothers Part 1

AIKISAMBO

Chilean Necktie

Triangle Choke from Side Control Feat BJJ World Champion Evandro Nunes

Double Leg Entry to Leg-Lock

Arm Across Guillotine

Great choke from Jonatas Gurgerl "Tagarela"

Alexey Oleinik Diaphragm Choke

FGLG: A Puncher's Chance, A Choker's Choice

A Puncher’s Chance, A Choker’s Choice

The age old question of who is more deadly, the striker or the grappler, has been tested time and time again. In the old days of MMA, the early UFC’s, Vale Tudo’s  and Pankrations  we saw that the answer was nearly absolute.  Nine  times out of ten  the grappler won.  There are some striking purists, particularly boxers, who still pretend grapplers aren’t fighters or that they can beat any grappler with angles and precision. For the most part this is a fallacy. A puncher’s chance is slim compared to a choker’s choice.

Now before I go any further  I should note that I absolutely suck at striking, and my takedowns are ‘passable’ for my level; so I would probably  be in the 10% that would get KTFO when paired against a decent  striker-that being said let’s take a closer look at the realities of striker vs grappler!

We all know now that the best fighters are skilled in both disciplines,  you have to be good at both to truly excel in MMA. While specialists still exist, they have enough knowledge of both sides of the coin to stay afloat.  Why though, do grappling specialists pose such a danger to striking specialists? The answer is actually pretty complex. I have narrowed down the three things I feel are what makes grapplers so deadly.

The Human Head

Our domes can take a lot of damage, it is surprising honestly. In the glory days of bare knuckle boxing, it was very common for the fighter’s hands to give out before an opponent’s head. It’s one of the reasons you see old barroom brawlers who can’t make a fist anymore. The forehead absorbs most of the shots, and it is the hardest part of the human body, and it should be, it protects the most vital organ in your body (although let’s face it, if we used our brains more we probably wouldn’t do combat sports). Knockouts arising from head trauma come one of three ways:  1. the head gets hit so hard that the brain actually bounces off the skull and causes a shutdown 2. the overstimulation of nerve endings behind the jawline, or 3. temporary shutdown from pain (rare, but actually documented).  Strikers have to continually impact someone with blunt force trauma or very accurately to cause one of these three knockouts.  Grapplers however, have multitudes of ways to attack the head; from front standing position alone there are 15 different chokes and cranks that I can name off without thinking much, and I’m just starting my journey.

Space

Strikers need space. Their strikes have to garner force by distance traveled. Scientifically speaking, force = ½ mass X velocity² with velocity being calculated by distance over time.  Simply put, to generate force, the striker needs to create velocity, which requires distance. The grappler however, does not need a force of impact to do damage. If the grappler removes space from the striker, the striker cannot attack effectively. Yet the nature of submission fighting makes this an opportune position. Even in the case of ground and pound specialists, they must remove space from their opponents by placing them on their back and then give themselves distance for attack while maintaining a lack of space for the opponent.

Volumes Of Attack

Yes the striker can attack from a thousand different angles with their hands, feet, elbows, knees and even heads (if we are talking thai boxing), yet even that pales in comparison from the sheer volume of submissions a grappler can pull from. This is what I am talking about when I say the choker’s choice. They literally have thousands of options for finishing an opponent. Even from a basic guard position there are literally hundreds of submissions available. Arm bar, Kimura, razor lock, wrist lock, wrist pop, double arm bar, pretzel choke, head and arm choke, triangle, omoplata, kickstart Americana ,  guillotine, cradle choke, jaw pop neck crank…and these are just the beginning of a huge list from one position, all performed in endless combinations ! If we look at the old UFC’s and Vale Tudo tournaments, we saw this repeatedly. Kickboxers getting taken down and choked out in seconds, karate masters having their ankles separated from their leg, boxers getting armlocked from standing position.  Today pure grapplers are not seeing the same level of success in the octagon but that is because all Mixed Martial Artists are very skilled grapplers now- with striking skills to boot.

I know there will be strikers who disagree with this, hell I am from a striking school so I probably will get a lot of flak for it. Yet, the numbers don’t lie: World class strikers lose to world class grapplers most of the time.

See you on the mats!

“Polar Bear”  Ken Dunbar

-SOTG Staff Writer

Rolling Kimura from Standing by Milton Vieira

Jeff Glover's Donkey Guard Sweep

Hanging Triangle Setup with Jeff Glover

No-Gi Guillotine Choke From Back Control

Scarf Hold - Kesa Gatame - Escapes

Henry Akins - It Takes a Lot Of Learning To Be Content With What You Have

Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week - Escape From Back Control

K-Dojo. No Gi Pass

JUDO Armlock drill

Triangle Choke from Side Control Feat BJJ World Champion Evandro Nunes

Tuomas Simolan tekniikkakoulu: Simola Crusher

MMA Techniques From Moscow

Renato Sobral Barato Plata

four sambo locks a leg from turtle position

Kurt Osiander Documentary - My Goal Is Not Just To Teach You JiuJitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the Most Effective Martial Art on the Planet

Yoko Tomoe Nage (Circle Throw) from Renzo Gracie Academy

Romulo Barral Knee On Belly

Romulo Barral Pass To Knee On Belly

2014 Worlds Best Match: Keenan Cornelius vs Marcus Almeida Buchecha

Andre Galvao, Butterfly Guard Sweep

Andre Galvao, Shutting Down Open Guard

Catch Single Leg Throw

One of my favorite throws ever! Here are the guys from damage control teaching it and the second video is me teaching it at a seminar back in 2011.

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BJJ - Escape Side Cross

Wrestling Instruction Advanced Throws by, Carl Adams

Gift Wrap Choke

Keenan Teaches Closed Guard Hip Heist Pass

Fat Guy in a Little Gi "Of Losses and Lessons"

Of losses and lessons

“What the hell happened…?”

I asked myself repeatedly after I just lost my last match. Up 6-2 I was dominating my opponent, when I got swept, mounted, and Ezekiel choked in less than 3 seconds. Back to back losses on a day where everyone in our camp, from our school and others, thought I was going to be amazing. I had lost 50lbs and 11% body fat and my cardio was insane. Technically sound and able to hit sweeps on command. Everything said I was going to be on the podium; except my two opponents.

First guy, Army Combatives dude, with very little technique; however he was in peak shape and at 6’9” 270lbs, a force to be reckoned with. I failed an Uchi Mata attempt and he landed in half guard top. There we stayed until 20 seconds left when he was able to pass to side. I had attempted to maneuver for sweeping position, but he just pinned me. My brain left me, I didn't fight for underhooks and instead chose to work collar holds and keep lockdown. I lost that match because I wasn't focused.

Second guy, one stripe blue belt from a smaller gym. He had gotten severely dominated his first match and ended up tapping to a short choke as he was belly down. I knew I was more technical, and when we locked up in Randori, I knew I was stronger. I Tried an ankle reap which caused him to attempt an ankle pick and a switch to a single. My sprawl was good and I was able to dig an underhook. He let go of my leg and forced his way to standing, then I hit the most beautiful Uchi Mata that I have ever hit (not saying much really). I crashed on top and attempted to establish side; he was able to get his guard back quickly, but not before my points were on the board. Then I froze. Again my brain left me. I looked like a first day white belt trying to break his guard, not using any of the technique I have. Luckily I remembered to posture, but even that was lacking. He sat up for a hip-bump sweep and I fought it, only to have him arm drag and attempt to take my back. My back defense is impeccable for my level and I was able to easily reverse, but I reversed right into a sweep. As my back hit the mat I pushed his hips and attempted to get to my side, but his hand was already in his sleeve and around my head. 2 seconds, and I tapped. I looked at the monitor, and there I was; up 6-2 and had just been submitted.

Dejected I stood up from the mats, bowed, shook hands, and left the competition area. My coach stood in disbelief, as did all of my camp who were watching.

“Next time, you’ll do it next time.”

“That guy was lucky.”

“You just had an off day.”

Phrases that held little consoling for the anger and disappointment that was within. Another failure in the sport I dedicate my life to. In the locker room, as I stripped off my gi jacket, I looked into the mirror. Tears welled up, and I became disgusted with myself.

“I’m done with this.”

As I said the words, a thought entered my mind.

Go ahead and give up, you just aren’t good enough for this.

I wish I could say I didn’t listen to those words, but I did. The next few weeks, I attended class, but I wasn’t there. The motions were done, the knowledge shared, but nothing really stuck. My coach and I had a long talk, but it did little except make me promise that I was going to keep showing up to class. I hated grappling, and I took out my frustrations on some of the junior students. Not ‘hurting them’ mind you, but no longer being docile, no longer working on positions. Every roll, I was testing their wills and resolves. Until about three weeks after the tournament.

To understand this next part you have to know something about our gym. It’s a striking school with a developing ground program. We have our section of mat that we can use, and the rest is for those who wish to hone their hands and feet. Further, most of our grapplers are no-gi people and those that do train gi tend to be in sporadically. (Haha at Ken referring to “no-gi people” –hey I’m a no-gi person! Editor)

One day, like every other day, I expected 20 or so strikers and about 8 grapplers. To my surprise however, there were 3 strikers, and almost 20 grapplers. A couple wrestlers from high school who wanted to learn how to tap people out, a few guys who needed to work their ground for MMA, but most surprisingly; a few no-gi grapplers had went out and bought a gi themselves. I was slightly taken aback. Further still, our coach was running late, and being the senior student at the gym I had to run class until he showed up. Reluctantly I began class with a movement drill.

I paired people up by skill, showing the class how to do the drill and working with the new students to explain the why and reason of certain motions, and explaining why moving certain ways gets you in trouble. As each pairing ran through their paces, I was interrupted numerous times and asked questions; even by those who I trained with every week. It was weird, while I often had taught or assisted in classwork prior, this day was different. I had real, applicable knowledge that I could share with fellow grapplers. True, technical knowhow escaped my lips as I coaxed the class into understanding.

After warm up, stretching, and teaching a technique, our coach showed up and took over class. His day job had kept him and he was sorry he was late. However, I will forever be grateful he was late that day. It reignited something in me, the love of the sport.

We all have our mountains to climb, we all have our failures and lessons to be learned: but if we continue on, even if we don’t really want to, we will emerge somewhere far greater than we have ever known. I realized my mistakes at that tournament, and I am ready for training camp for the next one. Not just ready for the next one, excited for the next one. Excited to test my skills and style against the others in the region. Pumped up to see if I have added anything else into my bag of tricks that can help me in my division.  I am excited to bring the wisdom back to our home mats, to teach my mat rat family what I have experienced and learned.

Stay the course my friends, even if you can’t see anything but the waves and the rain.

Ken-

Caio Terra Modern Jiu Jitsu Standing Omoplata Escape

Caio Terra Modern Jiu Jistu The Closed Guard Kimura Set Up

Osvaldo Augusto's Armbar Variation

Reverse Omoplata Series

Cradle from Feet

Technique - Squirrel Lock

BJJ Kneeling Mount Escapes

De La Riva Counter - John Travolta Pass

gordo half guard sweep 3

Gordo Half guard Position 1-3

Gordo Half Guard Sweep 2

Gordo Half Guard Sweep

Armbar defense to back take - BJJ closed guard

This Week in BJJ Episode 55 - Jeff Glover vs Budo Jake

Igor Kurinnoy Teaching Rolling Shoulder Lock

Tilt to Cradle to Knee Bar

This Week in BJJ Episode 55 - Jeff Glover Part 2 of 3

Grapplers Masterclass

The site is live!!! http://thegrapplersmasterclass.spruz.com  New techniques added weekly!

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Foot Block Knee Pick from 2 on 1

Overhook Triangle

The Janitor: Single Leg Basics

Kit Dale, Back Take From Great White Grip

Kit Dale, Ankle Lock And Kneebar Defense

Kit Dale, Tomoe Nage Variation With Sub

Kit Dale, Omoplata From Great White Grip

Kit Dale, Kimura From Great White Grip

Kit Dale, Triangle Choke From Great White Grip

Kit Dale, Great White Grip Setup

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JT Torres: Stick With It | BJJ Mini-Documentary

Justin Rader Teaches Bullfight to Stack Pass to Rolling Back Take

"Russian Sambo" - Michael Martynov: Perfect Throws

Ostap Manastyrski - Guard Retention 101: Defending the Knee Cut Pass Par...

Ostap Manastyrski - Guard Retention 101: Defending the Knee Cut Pass Par...

Funk Roll pass counter| Jiu-Jitsu techniques

JT Torres Teaches Flying Arm Locks from Mount

JT Torres Teaches Opening the Closed Guard

Full instructional: "Gi Choke Submission Chain from the Back"

Leg lasso sweep counter to omoplata, Wander "the Crusher" Braga

Flying Omoplata You Have To See!

The Ninja Necktie with Daniel "Ninja" Roberts

Heel Hook Setup Trick

JT Torres - 1 Sneaky Guard Pass

Back Take from Single Leg

"Baratoplata" my new secret weapon!

Dean Lister Teaches the Corkscrew Foot Lock

Jeff Glover-Halfguard pass to Guillotine

Go Tsunoda Judo Inspiration

Kron Gracie Bruce Lee Tribute

Kneebar counter to the Single leg

Shoulder Roll Arm Bar from a Butterfly Drag (BJJ)

Shoulder Roll to Cradle

Great entry for guillotines...

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Securing a Cradle

I use the cradle all the time after seeing Drysdale's Cradle series...the cradle is a game changer for no-gi.

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The Art Of JiuJitsu Feat Rickson and Kron Gracie, Kurt Osiander, Braulio...

Braulio Estima: Armbar from side control

Good details, this video is in Portuguese, but the little things that make a big difference stand out like the use of the knee to control the arm and to use it to push the arm into the face.

Defend the Back, get a North South Choke!

The Marcy Choke with Ricardo Franjinha

Dean Lister - Straight Kneebar From Half-Guard.

Dean Lister - Sweeping Kneebar From Half Guard Bottom.

Eddie Bravos shows a calf crank from the arm triangle

Eddie Bravo Teaches The Sorcerer

Eddie Bravo's Vaporizer Leg Lock

Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie 2 Metamoris 3 Full Fight

Here it is the amazing full fight video from Metamoris 3: Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie! More than 10 years in the making and well worth the wait!

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Shawn Williams - Far Armbar From The Williams Guard.

Shawn Williams - Triangle Choke From Williams Guard.

Shawn Williams - Getting To The Williams Guard.

Shawn Williams - Omoplata From Williams Guard.

Shawn Williams - Omoplata Sweep To Submission.

Shawn Williams - Nearside Under Hook Pass.

Shawn Williams - Single Leg Counter From Williams Guard.

Dean Lister - Cartwheel Kneebar.

Luta Livre Triangle From The Back

Gokor Leglocks vs Open Guard

Gokor Leglocks From Side Control

Gokor Leglocks in the Guard

Gokor Leglock Basics

Kimura to Armbar Submission Combination | Evolve University

Kurt Osiander Escape From Mount

Double to Standing Turk

Russian to Lateral Spin

Frazatto Brazilian jiu jitsu De La Riva Basics

Controlling Side Control Concepts with Xande Ribeiro

Shoyroll Presents Tarcisio Jardim De La Riva Sweep to Foot Lock

De la riva/x-guard sweep/leg drag

Travis Stevens drills the back take Miyao pass

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Rodrigo Pagani: Gangster BJJ Techniques

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Reilly Bodycomb - Flying Scissor Leg Takedown Details

Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week - Attack From Side Control

Neil Melanson - Mastering Triangle Chokes - Shoulder Pin

THE BRIGHT PAST | Extinguished Techniques | JudoAttitude

Kashiwazaki guard pass

Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki-Sankaku Jime-2

NEIL MELANSON: K Control to Double Wrist Lock Kimura Finish

NEIL MELANSON: K Control Knee Bar Sweep Shamrock Sweep to Reverse Heel Hook

NEIL MELANSON: K Control Roll to Back Mount

NEIL MELANSON: K Control Balance Check Triangle Set Up

NEIL MELANSON: Knee Pintch Triangle Setup From K Control

NEIL MELANSON: K Control Knee Slide Sankaku Set Up

Sweep from tight Half Guard

Caio Terra Leg Drag Defense Drill

Wrist Cross Triangle

Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week - Double Guard Pull Triangle

Jiu Jitsu Sidemount Attacks

Wrecking Ball Pass - Keenan Cornelius

Omoplata Roll Counter w/ Michael Langhi.

The K Train

Rolling Kneebar Variation

A Nasty Catch Lockflow

Claudio Caloquinha Kimura from Guard

Sambo Technique set to ground fight.

Pancake Guard Pass (+playlist)

Caio Terra: a sweep from the De La Riva guard

Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week - Leg Drag to Back

Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu (ADCC 2013 Absolute Champion) - All the Good Thin...

The Grapplers Guide Competitor Analysis - Rafael Mendes G...

leg locks from the bottom of half guard

Dean Lister Shows Triangle Defense With Keenan Cornelius

sambo: ankle attacks vs butterfly

Back Attack Zen Mario Style

Hail Mary Sweep

Keenan Cornelius Shows Wrist Lock From Side Control

Cannonball Choke

Waiter Half Guard Scramble - Rolling Back Take (Plus Calf Slicer) - Jaso...

Side Control to Darce

Jiu Jitsu - Calf Crunch from Guard

The Spirit Of Jiu Jitsu

Robson Moura Shows Lapel Control Drill

Golf Swing Hi Single Finish

Dean Lister Straight Ankle Foot Lock from BJJ Library

Xande Ribeiro on Guard Retention and Knee Cross, X Pass, Same Side Knee ...

Armbar From Guard

CAVALCANTI X MOUNT

Armbar variation from guard

Puopolo - Arm Drag Sweep to Mount

Spinning Armbar

JiuJitsu - A Way Of Life (Featuring Joe Rogan, Dean Lister, Andre Galvao...

Triangle Choke with Flower Sweep Bait

SLICK! Modified Side Control Escapes from Javier Vazquez

Shinya Aoki SPECTACULAR MMA Submission Setup

Fat Guy In A Little Gi Entry #3: Forbidden Knowledge

Fat Guy in a Little Gi #3

Forbidden Knowledge

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge” – Stephen Hawking.

When I started my journey, I found that I was fairly proficient in toe holds. I could slap them on many people with ease and get the tap. A few years later, when I started getting really into BJJ specifically, I found out that my ‘go to’ move wouldn’t be available to me in many tournaments until I was a purple belt! I was flabbergasted, and a little pissed off. How could someone claim to represent the art, by banning something as simple as a toe hold? It wasn’t much longer until I saw firsthand the damage a toe hold could do when applied by a complete beginner to another complete beginner. While the victim’s knee was still intact, his ankle popped so loud that I could hear it from a few mats away. Luckily it was just a severe strain and he was only out a few weeks, but if any more leverage or force and he could have been out for much, MUCH, longer. Yet, even then, I rationalized that I was disciplined enough so I should be able to use them. Then I got caught with one just a year later. A young man I was training put me in a toe hold. I thought I could fight it, but when I realized I wasn’t getting out, it was too late. My ankle went pop and my knee got slightly tweaked (lucky I know). I limped for three weeks and didn’t train. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just about knowing when to let go as an attacker, but about knowing when to give in and tap as a defender as well.

 

That singular event made me re-evaluate the limitations BJJ has placed on lower belts. Sure I was disciplined enough to apply the hold slowly and with good technique, but would my partner be disciplined enough to tap? Along these lines, I used to think that heel hooks blowing out knees was the stuff of gym legend. Just a bit of research showed me how entirely wrong I was. Could it be that the tournaments had it right?

Even with that though, I lament. If the instructors had taught us what these moves could do, and advised us on how to tap and what to look out for; wouldn’t we then be prepared to use these techniques? Over the years I have watched more and more seemingly ‘run of the mill’ techniques become outlawed or restricted in different venues. In Judo, recently, we have seen that any sort of leg attack is now outlawed, even a Judoka fireman’s carry. In BJJ we have seen leg locks and neck cranks become more and more restrictive. In all grappling, we have seen that the takedown must not ‘slam’ the opponent.  All of these are sport aspects designed to give the competitor a longer career. However, it severely limits the self defense aspect of the grappling arts. All this begs the question…

Are we helping or hurting our students?

I am sure all of us in this lifestyle have sat on one side or the other on the debate. Total openness or ‘you’ll learn it when you’re ready’. Depending on what base art and instruction culture they hail from, some practitioners can’t even fathom that the other side could be remotely correct. Luckily, most people can agree to disagree or understand the risks that certain techniques have. Yet the debate always seems to spark passion. To understand it, we need to look into some key ideological differences within some of the base grappling arts. There are literally hundreds of grappling arts, but I am going to only look at four. These four make up my own game and I have had exposure to all of them;

Catch as Catch Can Wrestling

Judo

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Sambo

Additionally I will providing some historical/cultural citations (most of which are links) to help paint the picture of contrasting ideologies of these four arts.

Catch Wrestling

You may look at that small list and immediately notice that I put catch wrestling first. The reason for this, is that catch culture is completely at odds with a lot of submission grappling restrictions. Catch is ruthless, with slams, cranks, and leg locks that are designed to bust cartilage and shred tendons. That isn’t a bad thing. Catch capitalizes on a solid wrestling foundation and adds to it holds and submission that force the opponent to be in a bad position for a pin or suffer a humiliating submission.

Catch is far more aggressive than BJJ and Judo. Many view it as the most aggressive grappling arts in general (I disagree to an extent, but in the right practitioners hands it definitely can be). It is less about baiting and more about forcing your opponent to mess up. To quote Sal Bandini from Ready to Rumble “Don't let up until you hear cartilage snap, or they crap in their pants.” That pretty much sums up the culture of catch wrestling (albeit humorously and not entirely accurate, you can tap out before you crap your pants). However, due to this aggressive culture, catch is often seen as ‘brutish’ among the grappling arts. Yet watching a catch wrestler work is a thing of brutal beauty. Each movement measured, each submission used to set up the opponent for something worse. Personally speaking, the catch wrestlers I have met have a higher drive and professionalism on the mats than some of the other arts. One must also note, that catch uses cranks, leg locks, and big slams without many instances of career ending accidents; even though catch tournaments are traditionally ‘no holdsbarred’ (that is literal).

One down side, is we don’t see many catch wrestlers continue to train after their 40^th year. The years of brutality do take their toll on a body. The ones that do continue to train, have learned how to defend themselves early in their career, and are often at the pinnacle of their chosen art.

Quick overview of catch culture here (it isn’t much but it hits the important parts)

http://martialarts.about.com/od/styles/a/catchwrestling.htm

Judo

Jigoro Kano’s Ju Jitsu, Kodokan Judo, is precursor BJJ, and also has a huge influence on Sambo (one of its founders was a second degree Judoka under Jigoro Kano himself). While it mainly focuses on the takedown, Judo is a complete grappling art. It came into being for many reasons, but primarily because Kano’s scholarly dedication to Ju Jitsu and keeping the dying Japanese martial arts alive. Due to his education and his relationship with high level politicians, Kano was able to secure a foothold as the founder of Japan’s national self defense art. During this time, scores of Ju Jitsu and other martial arts masters brought their teachings to Kano, in hopes that he would keep their teachings alive within his new system. Since its foundation, Judo had always been approached by practitioners with a scholarly or philosophical dedication. Students would incorporate other arts (such as wrestling) into their ‘game’ to ensure they were continuing to develop. Jigoro Kano even fireman carried and pinned a rival Ju Jitsu teacher during a demonstration, to show that the practitioner must always be willing to learn and use techniques to better themselves.

Sadly, the current Judo competition atmosphere seems to have moved away from this. While Judo schools still teach leg attacks and takedowns, they are no longer allowed competition. In fact, you cannot even touch an opponent’s legs anymore, or else you will be disqualified. Some say it is to preserve the art, others have valid arguments against certain takedowns (scissors takedowns can blast knees EASY), yet most I speak with say it is for the same reason- a fear that traditional wrestlers will dominate the competition. While I don’t subscribe to that theory as a primary, it has sparked a huge debate over the integrity of Judo.

This book is an amazing look into the philosophical ideologies of early Judoka including the founder himself.

The Way of Judo – A portrait of Jigoro Kano and His Student by John Stevens

Also this website has a transcript of Kano’s own writings on Judo

http://judoinfo.com/kano2.htm

BJJ

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or Gracie Jiu Jitsu for some of you who prefer, is a gentle art. It focuses on technique and leverage. By design, you should be able to negate your opponent with minimal effort and gentle repose. This gentleness and focus on using an opponent’s own movements against them, is what allowed both Grandmasters Carlos and Helio Gracie to participate and train until they left the world for the big mat in the sky. It is not uncommon to find 50yr+ white belts in a BJJ academy. The bjj lifestyle is supposed to be about patience, commitment, dedication, and bettering yourself. When competitors do go hard, they are less brute force, and more heavy pressure (there is a viable difference between the two).

By design, BJJ strives to keep its practitioners safe. It is an art that is self defense at heart, sport secondly. While ‘modern’ BJJ seems to be more sport than self defense, it doesn’t change the original ideology of being able to survive in any situation. With self preservation at its core, it is a small wonder that BJJ has started to really regulate the techniques allowed at the lower levels. Keeping the practitioners safe is within the base ideology of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That being said, some schools do not adequately prepare their fighters against neck cranks and, more pressing, leg locks. Many do not even begin to play with leg locks until blue or purple belt. If a white belt attempts an MMA fight or a No-Gi tournament, it may place them at a potentially large disadvantage.

Sambo

Sambo is an acronym created from the phrase; Samozashchita Bez Oruzhiya, or self defense without weapons. It was created to be a complete military self defense system, designed to equip the Red Army’s soldiers with a system that would allow them to negate any enemy in hand to hand combat. It is no small wonder that Sambo practitioners are extremely intense when they work on the mat. Still in use today by the Russian military, most of Russia’s top Judo players, wrestlers and MMA fighters all have experience in the sporting arm of Sambo .   With the original system designed for military purposes the intent of survival and elimination can still be found in the drive of even the sporting competitors.

Similar to MMA, Sambo utilizes strikes, takedowns, and submission holds to render an opponent unable to continue. It is best known in the grappling world for its dedication to leg locks and slick transitional takedowns. Knee bars, calf locks/slicers, heel hooks, ankle locks etc, all make the Sambo practitioner dangerous. Students of Sambo learn these techniques very early and use them often. Whereas BJJ tends to wait for higher level belts before these techniques are taught. Yet, even as these techniques are taught, there is a strict competition limitation (depending on the type of Sambo competition; in sport Sambo there are limitations, in Combat Sambo there are not). For example; Novichok (novice) practitioners may compete in sport Sambo  or Combat Sambo but the allowable locks would differ in each, the leg locks used in sport Sambo are much more similar to those used in BJJ competitions with the exception that Sambo promotes leg reaping, while all leg locks are legal in Combat Sambo including heel hooks.

While I don’t like using Wikipedia as a source (even if colleges are starting to allow it), this article is really well done

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_(martial_art)\

THE MOVES THEMSELVES

Now that we have explored some of the founding ideologies and can see some of the differences between four different grappling arts; let’s look at some of the moves themselves and what each of the four’s views on them are. I’m purposely hitting on the most controversial. I also am adding my personal ‘fat guy’ view on each one.

SLAMMING and SPIKING

Slamming is a big no-no for a lot of grappling competitions. The difference between a throw and a slam boils down to two things, intent and control. If the intent is to do gratuitous harm to your opponent and you chuck them with all of your might and don’t arrest their momentum, they get slammed and you get kicked off the mat.

Spiking on the other hand is when you deliberately throw your opponent headfirst into the mat. Anyone can immediately spot the dangers of this, but for the sake of completeness, let me show you a video on what can happen. Warning, not for the feint of heart;

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/8/21/4646258/video-15-year-old-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-competitor-suffers-broken-neck

NO ONE endorses spiking, except in possible self defense situations (and even those that do endorse it for self defense are rare).

Catch wrestling’s view

Every catch wrestler I have asked loves slams. They have been slammed and have slammed people. There are no qualms to putting every ounce of strength into a throw to capitalize on damage. However, that being said, they always strive for control. Rarely have I seen a catch wrestler launch an opponent without either maintaining grip on impact or body positioning on impact. They do this so they can secure the pin or position immediately following the throw.

JUDO

When I talk to Judoka about slamming they often look at me like I’m completely stupid. I gather the reason for this, is they take great pride in maintaining control during their throws. If they lose control, they could potentially get disqualified. However that being said, I have seen some powerful throws that had forces of impact far higher than any slam I’ve seen, and they were legal.

BJJ

No slams, and throws must be super controlled. In reality, it is no different than Judo.

Sambo

The most vicious slam I have ever seen was the Randal-plex done to Fedor. Fedor was belly to belly thrown and spiked by Kevin Randal. The commenter even said ‘we may have just watched the first death in MMA’. Yet, in true Last Emperor fashion, Fedor shook it off as nothing and ended up winning the battle. When asked afterwards if he thought he was in danger after that throw, he replied ‘no, it happens all the time when I train’. That is the reality of Sambo training. Slams are ‘just part of the game’. Just like with catch wrestling, Sambo views slamming as not only valid, but trains them as part of their game plan. In fact Sambo allows all throws of Wrestling, Judo, and regional styles of traditional  wrestling form around the old Soviet Bloc, in fact Sambo even contains takedowns from Bear wrestling (Zacep Goloni). In fact some of the highest amplitude throws come to international Judo competition via Sambo including the Georgian pick-up, Flying armbar, Fireman’s Carry, The Belly to Belly (Brosk Cherez Grud) and many belt grip and over the back grip throws that have been performed with notable Russian style. Although many of these techniques existed before Sambo, they were not seen in competition and certainly not used in an offense all or nothing manner that the Russians are famous for.

The Polar Bears View:

Slamming force for me has always been something I expect when I’m thrown. I have been slammed many times over my career and honestly it has been a nice change of pace practicing BJJ and not having to worry about excessive throwing force. If you are going into MMA, train getting slammed, if you are staying in the BJJ/Sub Grappling scene, train slams just in case. How do you train slams? Get thrown. Get thrown a lot-on GOOD MATS, or a throw pad. Learn how to fall and practice break falls from a competent instructor. I hate getting slammed, at 265lbs (still losing though!) that is a lot of force to come down on my body. Yet, when I am slammed (and it happens) I know I can fight through it. Also, by learning how to take a slam, you also learn how to manipulate your body, which; just in case, can help you to maneuver your body to stop from being spiked should you find yourself in that situation.

HEEL HOOKS (and other toe/leg locks)

The long debated technique, pinnacle of forbidden knowledge. Heel hooks are extremely dangerous; causing damage to the knee joint, ACL/MCL, lower leg tendons, and ankle. These attacks are extremely effective and often times easy to snatch because people don’t prepare for them early enough in their training path. The same can be true of other leg locks and toe holds.

Catch

Teaches them and loves them, in fact they love every leg lock as they use them to set up pins. Escaping leg locks tends to force people into bad position and wrestlers use that position to secure dominance. Catch loves all leg locks in fact. Here is Erik Paulson’s (dude’s a beast!) heel hook from mounted, in my opinion pretty legit;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahktYM6Q4sU

Judo

No leg attacks, OUTLAWED

BJJ

Depending on the tournament, brown or black belts are the only ones allowed to do heel hooks. Very rarely do I even hear of schools teaching heel hooks to belts below brown. Toe holds are forbidden until purple belt in most tournaments and often the only leg attacks that are legal are straight ankle (white) and straight knee bars (blue).

Sambo

Taught early, used early, and used to great effect; the heel hook is a staple in the Sambo practitioners diet. In fact all leg locks are. Yet, while they are learning the move, they are also taught to tap when they feel the pressure of the move, not the pain. It is an important point that I personally feel should transcend to all grappling arts at a young level.

My view

I hate heel hooks for junior practitioners during live rolling. I hate them because junior practitioners are stupid (yes, I include myself in that list). Pride hasn’t been tempered yet and in arrogance we tend to fight pressure when we really should just tap. That said; I do believe everyone should learn to defend them, avoid them, and use them. In a self defense situation, the heel hook should be a last resort, but it should be a resort none the less.

Straight leg locks however, I feel less passionate about juniors not using them. The pain from a Straight ankle lock especially comes on quick but the chance for real damage is low. I trust even the newest practitioners to tap when placed in these positions. Non twisting locks should be a staple of every practitioner from a very early place in their training path.

Toe Holds and Kneebars are techniques that both require care when training with your partner. The Kneebar (in Sambo) is seen as the hardest leg lock to master and the pinnacle of the art. A master of the Kneebar will snap knee ligaments before you can feel any pain.  However the true intricacies of the Kneebar are not widely known or taught and generally the novice practitioner applies direct backwards pressure to their opponents knee, much like an armbar effectively  alleviating much of the risks of the lock, as opposed to a master who will target one side of the knee.  Toe holds similarly (and even ‘ straight’ ankle locks) are fairly safe at the novice level; however care must still be taken, a master can put twist on even a ‘straight’ lock or increase the pressure of a toe hold and severely damage the ankle.

SCISSOR TAKEDOWN

The reason the scissor takedown is included is because it used to be THE flash takedown in the 80’s and early 90’s action movie scene (it even shows up in Three Ninjas…go watch it, terrible right? But wasn’t it great?). So why is it outlawed? Honestly, because people can’t control their opponent’s reaction and/or can’t be trusted to maintain control.  If your opponent steps back when you shoot, or you hit their knee instead of their calf (or waist depending on leg) you run the HIGH risk of blowing out your opponent’s knee. It isn’t a safe takedown. So it has been outlawed in numerous grappling tournaments.

Catch

I haven’t actually seen much of the scissor takedown in catch, except by Erik Paulson (dude’s a beast!). What I have heard though, is it is taught to intermediate practitioners. I actually don’t know this for certain though, so any of you catch guys/gals out there please shoot me a line. I love the education!

JUDO

It used to be common on the mats until it was outlawed in 1980. Kani Basami was outlawed due to an increase in prolonged injuries on the Judo circuit.

BJJ

Since the IBJJF creation, scissor takedowns have not been legal. *note, I had a forum mod tell me they used to be legal, but I could find no supporting documentation*

Sambo

Legal and used effectively to set up some of the slickest, meanest, most evil of ankle locks and heel hooks (here is one from Master Instructor Vadim Kolganov)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyYXN8vje54

My view

I have a really hard time with this one. The value of the scissor take down lies in its sneaky setup, but for me, it is hard to outweigh the risk of losing position for the possibility of the quick finish. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful move and no one can argue with its dynamic flash; but the risk is far too great for me to have it firmly in my arsenal. I believe at brown belt, or higher levels, I will probably feel a little different, but the risk of damage will still be there. Risk of losing position and risk of permanently damaging my opponent, will keep this technique out of my box of tricks for some time I feel.

NECK CRANKS

The neck crank is one of the more dangerous techniques out there, because just a little bit too much pressure can actually break the neck. This can lead to paralysis and in rare cases even death. The good news is it is easy to feel when that pressure is getting close in most situations. The bad news is, unless you tap, your opponent won’t know.

Catch

Catch loves neck cranks, they adore neck cranks. Nothing makes someone scramble and panic so much as to feel the pressure on their neck slowly pop each vertebra. Since catch wrestlers tend to be bulky, it makes sense that they would gravitate towards the more brutal neck crank than the more finesse based chokes of other arts. Further, when applying certain chokes, catch wrestlers have the option to turn a failed choke into a neck crank (or jaw crank). Here again is the man Erik Paulson with a sweet crank;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA6ASgx0vpA&list=PL4FD0FCD305BEA22D

JUDO

To be honest, I have never heard of a neck crank in Judo before this blog. Come to find out, they do exist in the art, although they are not allowed in competition. This is partly due to the limited amount of time one has on the ground in Judo, and also due to the extreme dangers they posses. However, it is good to know the art continues to teach them.

BJJ

Neck cranks in BJJ are illegal until the higher levels. The reason for this is because young practitioners won’t tap to pressure until they feel pain. By then it can be too late.

Sambo

Interestingly, Sambo doesn’t genuinely teach neck cranks until after the practitioner graduates out of their novice level (this depends on what style they are learning: combat or sport). The reason for this: spinal locks and chokes are not yet allowed in sport Sambo and thusly cannot be utilized. However they are included in the combat Sambo curriculum and they do have some pretty nice cranks (check this one out, also some cool kimura notes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1_zU5xxUs

My view

I love neck cranks. I tap early because I understand the pressure and I lock them slowly for the same reason. Plus, I am fairly good at turning cranks into air chokes and chokes into cranks. I think they need to be taught early and utilized early; however I do believe it needs to be reserved for those who have been in the art for a while (after a year or so). The reason for this, is people will have started to learn the difference between a clean choke and painful yet unsuccessful neck crank. They will realize the difference between the pressure of a failed choke and the pressure of a properly applied neck crank.

Closing remarks

I am interested to hear from our community here on what they feel. This wasn’t written to stir up the controversy, but more to invite the debate and exchange of philosophies. Even though I am only a blue belt in BJJ, I have been in this culture for many years. I started fighting for self defense and that is where a lot of my personal ideology comes from.

Safe rolling in 2014 everyone! OSS!