Gray-White Promotion:

Congratulations to James for earning his Gray-Belt. James is a quiet leader who is an excellent role model to his peers. He is respectful, well mannered, and gracious. After months of hard work and consistent dedication he has become a good, well rounded practitioner. Good job, James!

“Make progress not excuses”

Our jiujitsu program at edh bjj has a few components of training at is off the mat. One component involves building an elite mindset through discussion and reflection. Here is a response from a student named Shayne.

I believe that this quote is straightforward in its primary message but it also has different messages that many people will take different understandings from. For one, there is the obvious of, you cannot progress if you continue to fall back on your weaknesses and attribute your failure as part of who you are. Anyone can be good at anything, so long as they try hard enough is really what this quote is going for, but I also believe that this quote means that you have to combat the moral dilemma that everyone has inside of themselves. Everyone doubts themselves, everyone feels like giving up sometimes, but the only way to grow not just in jiu Jitsu, but in every aspect of life is to force yourself to do what’s hard, and to pursue your dreams and goals relentlessly.

Thank you Shayne for sharing your thoughts with us!

 The Thanksgiving Jiu Jitsu camp was a lot of fun. The kids who came all had a great time hanging out with their teammates, playing games and of course doing jiu jitsu. Both days of camp had the same schedule. Jiu Jitsu class first, mat games, break and snack, then board games and making gratitude lists.   

For the class we worked on a lot of stand up skills and basics on the ground such as single legs, sprawls, escaping side control and transitioning to mount. When class ended I made 4 teams, after each team picked their team names the games began. It was really fun to watch the teams work together as things got competitive. We competed in relay races, sumo matches, tug a war and then combined teams so that there were only two teams. Once there were only two games we finished off the mat games with snowball/dodgeball and log races. After the mat games we went outside to eat some snacks and take a break. When the kids came back inside I set up some board games and let them pick which games they wanted to play. While they were playing I talked to the kids about thanksgiving being a really good time to think about all of the things we have to be grateful for and told them to think of three things they were grateful for. When they were ready and had three things to write down they put their list on a sticky note and put it on the whiteboard.

Overall I really enjoyed doing the camp and look forward to the next one. If I was going to change one thing I would add more games for the 4 team tournament format. That seemed like it was the most fun part of camp. I also really liked the gratitude activity and will definitely have similar themes for future camps. 

Coach Danny

Grappling Industries Reno
I had a great time competing at the Grappling Industries Reno tournament. I took gold in the gi and was able to execute my gameplan really well against all of my opponents. I took gold in this event last year but still made huge improvements this time. I was able to get more submissions, more takedowns, and competed in a weight division higher than I did last time.

Doing small local tournaments like this are great practice and a great opportunity to get feedback before doing some of the bigger tournaments. I know that I have to be able to win matches at these smaller tournaments if I want to have any success at Worlds or Nationals. When I first started competing I had no idea how big of a difference there was between local tournaments and major IBJJF tournaments. Now that I have experienced both, I view the local tournaments as a chance to test out my game plan and see what I need to work on before doing a big tournament.

One thing that is really nice about Grappling Industries is that I get a lot of matches every time I compete at their events. They do a “round robin” format that guarantees a minimum of four matches. That is pretty rare for Jiu Jitsu tournaments, at IBJJF tournaments you may only get one match. At this event I had seven matches total. I was exhausted by the end of the day. It feels rewarding to see my improvements at each tournament and it is fun to figure out what needs to be worked on based on each performance. 

Jamie was also in action this weekend at jiujitsu tournament. After a 2 year break from competition, she was excited at the opportunity to compete and get back to competition. Jamie also competed in both styles (Gi and NoGi) and finished with a silver in the nogi division.

Thank you to Max and Kiet. Max and Kiet both made the drive from El Dorado Hills BJJ to support the two athletes in their competitive bouts. It’s great to compete, but it’s great to compete with a team knowing they are there to support you in and out of competition.

Coach Danny

SCHEDULE 

February 5th 2022

8:40 – Doors Open 

8:50 –  Weigh in – Group 1 – 5 

9:00 – Opening announcements 

9:05-9:45 – Competition –  Group  1 – 5

MEDALS  for Group 1-5 

9:30 – Weigh in – Group 6 – 8

9:50-10:25    Competition – Group 6 – 8

MEDALS for Group 6-8

10:00 – Weigh in – Group 9 – 12

10:25 -11:15 – Competition – Group 9-12

MEDALS for Group 9-12

11:00 – Weigh in – Group 13- 16

11:15-11:55 – Competition – Group 13- 16

MEDALS for Group 13-16

11:30 – Weigh in – Group 17-22

11:55-12:55 – Competition – Group 17-22

MEDALS for Group 17-22

11:30 – Weigh in – Group 23-26

13:00- 14:00 Competition Group 23-26

MEDALS for Group 23-26

GROUP 1:     2min     White belt         2016-2017 Emberly Deal 16  40lb  Lane Syputa 16 40lb  Akaash Chand 16   42lb  Marceline Norton 17  43lb

10m

GROUP 2:     2min        White belt       2016 Brayden Keane 16   45lb  Major Begbie 16   48lb  Will Fisher 16  49lb

8m

GROUP 3:     2min      White belt      2015-2016 Easton Criswell 16  50lb  Carter Eckert  16  53lb    Koa Saito 15 54lb  Alaina Johnston 16 55lb

10m

GROUP 4:      2min     White belt      2015 Dylan phelan 15  76lb   Exhibition 1:  2min Exhibition 2:  2min

5m

GROUP 5:         2min     White belt 2014-15 Luke Mcghehey 15   45lb  Hunter Wells 14 51lb

6m  

(9:50)

GROUP 6:         2min     White belt      2013-14 Jacob Cajucom 14 56lb  Elan Klippel  13   55lb

6m

GROUP 7:    2min     White belt   2014 Jack Fisher 14 59lb  Dalian Silva 14   60lb  Marco Del Pozo 14 61lb

8m

GROUP 8:     2min      White belt     2013-2014 Claire Mills 13  59lb  Renner Klick 14   64lb  Noah Schwegler 13   65lb

8m

(10:25)

GROUP 9:     2min   White / Gray-white belt     2013-2014 Bryce Miller 13 70lb  Nolan Zamora 13   73lb  John Paul Foster 14 74lb  Noah Farrag 14  75lb

10m

GROUP 10:     3min      Gray-white belt    2013-2014 Eva Mobley 13 60lb  Ryder Lockwood 14    64lb   Brett Mills 13 65lb

10m

GROUP 11:     3min     White belt      2012 Shane Perham 12   47lb  Katrina Vella 12  55lb  Bill Vella 12   57lb

10m

GROUP 12 :     3min      Gray / Gray-white belt      2012-2013 Ella Mobley 13 60lb   Chloe Stinnett 12   60lb Emma Truong 12  72lb

10m

(11:15) 

GROUP 13:     3min     White / Gray / Gray-white belt      2012-2013 Ella Truong   12    72lb  Weston Smith   12   75lb  George Bergamo 13  79lb Drake Scollard 13  80lb

10m

GROUP 14:     3min     White belt      2011 Julian Watts 11     75lb    Bradley Zamora 11   78lb

10m

GROUP 15:     3min       White / Gray white     2011-2012 Ethan Farrag 12  120lb   Hazel Velle  11   131lb

10m

GROUP 16:     3min     Gray / Gray-white belt    2010-2011 Gunnar Smith   10   79lb      Michelle Mobley   11   82lb Miguel Werthman 10   83lb

10m

(11:55)

GROUP 17:     3min   White belt      2010-2011 Cole Haddix 10 95lb  James Clapson 10 109lb  Allie Nicholas 11 105lb

10m

GROUP 18:     3min      White / Gray-white belt    2009  Eli Berg 09   105lb  Colton Cruz  09  110lb

10m

GROUP 19:     3min      White / Gray-white / Gray  belt   2008-2010 Creigha Cockrell 10 120lb Liliana Cardenas 09   120lb Cooper Nicholas 08  110lb  Colin Johnston 11 130lb

14m

GROUP 20:     White belt    2009 Eli Welch 09    150lb white  Exhibition 1:   2min  Exhibition 2:   2min

5m

GROUP 20:     3min      White / Gray-white / Gray belt      2007-2008 Aiden Himmelman 08  117lb  Jack Johnston 07 125lb

10m

GROUP 21:     White belt    2007 Antonio Esteves  07   187lb  Exhibition1:    2min Exhibition 2:   2min

5m 

GROUP 22:  4min    White belt     Wade Clapson 07   157lb  Shane Bailey  05    143lb

14m

(1300)

GROUP 23:     5min  White / blue belt    Adult +  Matt Garvin 88   139lb  Steven Nasrallah 87  154lb  Quinton Stocker 00   163lb

15m

GROUP 24:      5min    White belt     Adult + Wyatt Nethercott 92   215lb  Josh Smith 77 208lb

15m

NOGI: 

GROUP 25 :  4min  White / blue belt   Juvenile & Adult +  Matt Garvin 88   139lb Shane Bailey  05    143lb  Steven Nasrallah 87  154lb  Quinton Stocker 00   163lb

16m

GROUP 26:  5min    White belt    Adult + Wyatt Nethercott 92   215lb  Josh Smith 77 208lb

15m

The winter Jiu Jitsu kids camp was a lot of fun. We started with an hour of Jiu Jitsu class where I focused mostly on helping the kids improve their takedown skills. We drilled our usual attacks from the feet and introduced the fireman’s carry which is a great takedown in the gi. It was fun watching the kids improve their new technique as the class went on.

 After we ended class the mat games began. This was the highlight of the last camp so I added some games and spent more time playing than last time. We played relay races, sumo matches, sharks and minows, tug a war, and two new dodgeball games that I learned from coach Aaron. One dodgeball game keeps everybody playing by having the kids who are “out” run to the other side of the arena and still be able to tag the other team with the ball. The other one has 1 person start on each wall and everyone else in the middle. The people on the wall have to stay on the wall but can throw the ball at the people in the middle if they get tagged then they pick a wall and can throw the ball. We spent the most time on the two new games the kids liked them a lot. 

Snacks and Board games are what came after mat games. It is a pretty chill way to spend the last half hour of camp. I’ll have to invest in some more board games to give them some more options for the next camp in April. My goal is to do these camps for every major school break in 2022 and a couple others for small holidays. I would like to get twenty kids at each camp I think that will be a perfect number to make the camp as fun as possible. Spring Break will be the next one I’m very excited to start planning it and see how I can make it better then the last two.

Coach Danny

 2021 was a pretty good year. My goals this year were to compete in two major IBJJF tournaments and three local tournaments, get my purple belt, transition to making a living doing Jiu Jitsu and finish every match on my opponents back. I was able to accomplish a few of these; I competed in 5 tournaments, two of them being major ones (worlds and nationals), I transitioned to being a full time Jiu Jitsu coach, I finished a few matches on my opponents back but not all of them unfortunately. 

Worlds was my last tournament of 2021. My expectations for myself were very high. I lost my first match and was really disapointed with myself. My two biggest mistakes in that match were pulling guard after getting frustrated with not being able to quickly get a takedown and going for a choke instead of sprawling on my opponents single leg. I’ve also learned that I can do way better preparing for tournaments. I think my biggest lesson from competing this year is how far behind my guard is and that I badly need to improve it. Naturally, I’ll be working hard on that in 2022. Right now I’m working on categorizing my goals for next year and getting a little more detailed on how I will accomplish my goals for 2022.

Teaching BJJ this year was awsome and I have learned a lot. The most important thing I learned is the importance of an organized curriculum. Having that organized curriculum gives a clear path from belt to belt and stripe to stripe. This year also taught me the value of getting stripes for the kids, I always knew it was important but I didn’t really understand what it meant and why it was important until now. Teaching has forced me to think more about techniques that I already know so that I also know how to explain and teach them which has made my Jiu Jitsu better. Something as simple as the scissor sweep that I would never think about since I can just do it becomes something I have to study and learn why it works and what can make it fail so that I can explain those details to seven year olds. I love teaching the kids class and am grateful I get to do it. I can’t wait to see how much better everybody gets in 2022.

Coach Danny

Sisters, Ella and Emma, lead by example and have embraced the idea of being ok being uncomfortable. When they first started jiujitsu the class full of unfamiliar faces and contact was a bit overwhelming. They made adjustments and worked through adversity. Now the two are the leaders of the kids jiujitsu class. They may be smaller in stature but don’t let that fool you, they are relentless and persistent, a real force to be reckoned with.

Gray-Black Belt Promotion: Congratulations Ian on a well earned promotion! Ian has trained hard for the past 5 years and brings a positive attitude on the mat. He is quick to help others and follows instructions very well. We’re so proud of you, keep up the good work!

The Jiu Jitsu camp scheduled for Thanksgiving break will be a fun event for ages 7 and up. There will be games, activities and of course a lot of Jiu Jitsu. The Jiujitsu camp is also an oppurtunity for students to build stronger friendships with eachother which turns into us being a stronger team. Teamwork and team building will be the main focus of the camp. Having the campers split up into different teams will be a fun way to keep things competitive and fun while practicing working together as a team. Something I talk with the kids about a lot during jiujitsu practice is that if we get stronger as a team we all get stronger as individuals. To practice these skills we have to be good teammates.

The best way to be a good teammate, in my opinion, is by becoming friends with the people on my team. A lot of the games we play on the mat in Jiu Jitsu are team building activities that are competitive and require as much brain as brawn. The kids have fun playing these games and the more they are having fun the more they are learning. A few examples are; relay races and tug a war.

Another focus of camp will be gratitude. I think we should always be focusing on what we have to be thankful for but Thanksgiving gives us a day or a week where we are really reminded to think of these things. Helping kids think about gratitude and recognize things that they have to be thankful for helps them build an attitude that leads to living a happy life.

One thing I am grateful for is the oppurtunity to teach Jiu Jitsu to these kids. It is so much fun to watch them progress and grow in so many ways by participating in a sport and martial art that I love so much. It is an honor to be a part of that process.

I am looking forward to seeing what the campers get out of this experience and hoping they have fun, get a good workout, learn something and of course bond with their friends/teammates.

Coach Danny