CONGRATULATIONS WORLD MASTERS COMPETITORS! This year EDH Jiu Jitsu had 4 competitors, 2 brown belts, 1 purple belt, and 1 blue belt competitor. The World Masters Championships were held in Las Vegas, NV and hosted by the IBJJF, Jiu Jitsu Con, and followed by the UFC event on Saturday.
Brown belts JON and ALLAN were up first on Thursday. Jon won his first and lost a close match at the end of the second match. Allan one his first two and lost in the semi finals to finish with a BRONZE!
GEORGE competed on Wednesday and he lost 7-2. George had a great focus on the process mindset and showed great perseverance and patience.
RYAN competed on Saturday winning his first two rounds. In the qtr final Ryan battled it out to the last few seconds of the match.
As a team, WE ARE ALL VERY EXCITED TO LEARN FROM YOUR COMPETITION EXPERIENCES. A special THANK YOU to Coach Aaron for flying out to coach all 3 days of the event!
This weekend is the US OPEN (25th anniversary) at Independence HS. This might be a great tournament to go and watch if you have never been to a tournament before.
Something teaching and competing have in common is they both force me to identify and improve my weaknesses in a way that casual training does not. I have learned from competing in Jiu Jitsu that if I neglect improving my weak spots then I will get beat there every single time when it counts. For example, I probably lost 5 matches by guillotine before I started spending significant time on the mat trying to figure out why.
What I’ve learned from teaching kids is they need to learn certain positions and techniques whether those things are part of my game or not. If I only taught them techniques that I like to do I would be failing them as a coach. For the last few weeks I have been teaching spider guard in the kids class. It has been really cool to see the kids learning and using the guard and also seeing where they are struggling with. Their struggle gives me the feedback I need to see where I need to improve my knowledge of the position. As a result, I use a lot of my own training time to drill whatever I am currently teaching the kids. Doing so helps me identify details I need to point out in class. The process has also been helping my own Jiu Jitsu a lot because I get to practice it on my own, explain it to a class and watch them practice the movement.
This process has been one of my favorite parts of teaching. I really enjoy studying Jiu Jitsu with a certain goal or purpose. It would be really easy to stay in my comfort zone and only practice positions and techniques that I like if I didn’t have to teach. Teaching gives me a feeling of urgency to learn more and improve faster, similar to getting ready for tournaments gives me a feeling of urgency to be in the best shape I can be and sharpen my gameplan.
As a result, I am contstantly analyzing a position or set of moves that I probably would not spend much time on. Spider guard is a really good example of one of those positions. I don’t really play spider guard and am not very good at it, but I’ve been forcing myself to use it and figure out the best way to teach it to kids. The results of following through with this process have been pretty amazing. Not only are the kids getting the hang of the movements and position but also my ability to sweep from spider and pass spider have improved significantly in just a short period of time.
On saturday night I volunteered as a fight inspector for CSAC at a local MMA event. The duty of the inspectors is to enforce state regulations and make sure that athletes are not cheating. I was amazed at how many details there were to be mindful of.
The first thing they had me do was inspect the cage and make sure that it was safe to compete inside of, also making sure that the stairs going into the cage were stable and that the tables surrounding the cage were the proper height. I then learned the evacuation route and walked through it with the medics making sure that there was enough space to safely evacuate an injured athlete. While the athletes were preparing for their fights in the locker room I learned how to do “bag checks”, inspect hand wraps, and drug test the athletes.
As I watched my mentor do a bag check I was amazed at how thorough the process was. He asked to see the fighters shorts, cup, mouth pieces, nails and asked the cutman to see all of the medicines he would be using to treat cuts. As the fights began all of the inspectors were assigned fighters to shadow. When that fighter went out to compete the inspector went with them, sat in their corner during the fight and went in the cage with their corner in between rounds. During the fight the inspector has to make sure that the coaches behave appropriately (no standing, putting fingers inside cage, no taunting or disrespecting other fighter) and in between rounds the inspector watches the fighter and corner interact making sure that the fighter is responsive while not blocking the doctors view of the fighter. If the fight ends in a knockout or some kind of injury it is the inspectors job to make sure nobody touches the hurt athlete before the doctor. If the inspector is shadowing the athlete who won they have to make sure that athlete does not jump around the hurt athlete or do anything that could further injure them.
Overall I thought the job was pretty fun. I learned a lot and enjoyed working at the event even though it was stressful at times. It felt very strange having that much authority at an event like that, especially since I was just a volunteer. It’s really fascinating for me to see all of the behind the scene stuff in a sport that I have been a fan of for a long time.
Colin doesn’t need to say much because he actions speak for themselves. He brings a focused spirit to class to learn and improve. In doing so, the people around him follow. This is leadership.
Colin shares the mat with his father and older brother at The Hills, and motivate one another to train. It’s great to see them all on the mat at once on occasions!
Something I have struggled a lot with and seen others struggle with is finding a way to feel motivated, especially to do things that I don’t enjoy. Even though it does seem easier to get things done when I feel motivated it doesn’t actually change anything about the activity. If I need to clean my house I am still going to do all of the same chores whether I feel like doing them or not.
Same with Jiu Jitsu, whether or not i feel motivated to go to practice is not going to change what takes place at that practice. Motivation seems like something out of my control. It’s nice when it is there but it does not stay forever.
However, when people have discipline they will get things done with or without feeling motivated. Discipline is a skill that we can practice where as motivation is a feeling that we experience. Developing a routine and sticking to it whether it’s with diet, exercise, learning are all opportunities to practice discipline. Anytime hanging out at home and watching Netflix or playing video games sounds better than going to the gym for training, I have an opportunity to practice discipline. This means being disciplined is totally in my control and that no matter how bad I am at it, I can improve with practice. Personally, I find it much easier to be very disciplined in things that I enjoy and areas where I feel motivated. I find that it takes much more effort and focus to practice being disciplined when it comes to things I don’t enjoy.
I know if and when I put in that focus and effort and practice being disciplined, the payout is always worth it. I used to really dislike weight lifting and strength training in general. I would never do it because i just did not feel motivated to lift weights. About a year ago I decided to just put it into my routine twice a week. Every Tuesday and Thursday I would show up and do the workout whether I felt like it or not until it became a habit. Now it’s one of my favorite parts of my routine.
Another thing I have always struggled to find motivation for is cleaning. For a long time I would neglect my chores because…. well, who wants to clean, right? Somebody I shared this with suggested that I plan to do my cleaning at specific times of the day and week, and make it a routine. So I made a commitment with myself and set up a weekly cleaning schedule. At first this was very difficult for me and felt like it took forever. Now that I have been doing it for a few years it is just a habit. Even with things I don’t enjoy much, I know if I practice being disciplined with those activities for long enough, they will become easier and easier and sometimes even enjoyable. If I depend on motivation to reach my goals, I will never get there. If I practice discipline to work towards my goals, almost anything is within reach.
We’re excited to open our classes for FULL ENROLLMENT.
To enroll please email us: edhbjj@gmail.com
Depending on the class, you will be placed on a waitlist. We have chosen not to open enroll at this time. Instead, we are gradually adding students into class. This will help us maintain the integrity of our training environment and not overwhelm the coaches with many new students joining all at once.
Please specify what type of classes you are looking to enroll in:
In addition to group classes, we also offer 1on1 and small group training, personal performance programs, and jiujitsu parties for team building and birthday!
心技体 read in Japanese shin-gi-tai, is a martial arts philosophy often seen in calligraphy on the walls of martial arts dojos. This philosophy is based on an interconnected idea that a practice in each singular area contributes to polishing the other areas of yourself.
Shin, 心 means heart. When the heart is full, the body is forged further and your skills are polished
Gi, 技 means technique. When you polish your skills, the heart grows full and the body is forged stronger.
Tai, 体 means body. When the body is forged fully, the heart becomes full and steady while your skills dyed into the self.
While this is one simple explanation, the philosophy of shin-gi-tai is quite multi dimensional and this explanation alone shouldn’t be an end to understanding but rather the beginning to a more complete understanding of your self.
I would challenge all martial artists to intermittently check in to the idea of shin-gi-tai in your journey and practice of martial arts. In fact, many other skills or activities like calligraphy, flower arrangement, and ceramics have also referred to shin-gi-tai as a component of developing the in the art.
Check in to the idea of shin-gi-tai and see how it does or doesn’t relate to your practice. How has your understanding of the philosophy changed or been reinforced?
Learning is the process of acquiring and developing skills. While the act of learning is a one time activity, the process of learning is a continuous activities of repetition.
Here we talk about the mindset of learning in a three part process.
LEARN
REVIEW
REFINE
At first glance this three part process seems very simple and basic. However, there are layers upon layers of repetition to each step.
First is LEARN. Anything new needs to be learned, but different teachers will emphasize different ideas, elements, or concepts. Therefore having an open mind to learning is helpful. We can sometimes fall into the trap of dismissing basic ideas, movements or positions because we have “already seen it.” This is a common trap in never quite being able to execute a technique and fully learn or understand the material. Approach training and the process of learning with an open mind.
Second, REVIEW the material often. Review is the step that people skip. They fall into a trap thinking they understand and start refining when they never took it upon themselves to put in the repetition under different circumstances. Revisit what the coach talked about, explore other material that is similar to the topic of conversation. Review and repeat. Don’t try to add your “flare” to the technique quite yet. Instead, try to understand what the instruction was all about by working it as much as possible.
Finally REFINE. This is when you get to truly own what you have been working on. I also think this is the process of mastery (again, not a final destination, but a mindset and mentality). Refine the details not just to better your understanding but also to better be able to adapt the technique with different types of opponents. Many people want to immediately jump to this stage because it’s fun to put your “flare” and make it your own, but unless you put in the energy and effort to review and repeat, the final process of refining seldom is successful.
Most importantly, I believe we need to understand that learning is a process and not a result of a few actions. This requires the student to have the mindset in how they approach the process and have the self awareness to know what stage of learning they are looking to develop.
This is a documentary video not just on SUMO, Japan’s national sport, but also an insight into the lifestyle of traditional martial arts as a cut throat professional competition.
While this is NOT what we look to replicate at our jiujitsu studio, there are valuable ideas, lessons, and philosophy we can take and understand from the documentary. Needless to say, if you understand stand up grappling, wrestling, and body position, it’s a fun technical look into the art of takedowns.
While this documentary centers around the career of KYOKUSHUZAN “SHU,” it’s also includes the similar difficulties experienced by other non-Japanese wrestlers.
Some ideas discussed:
Training for long term vs short term
Understanding the BIG picture
Rank and responsibility
Mental toughness
Size, strength, speed, and technique
Mentorship and apprenticeship
Again, this isn’t the type of culture we want to replicate at edhbjj. However, it’s important to understand the different dynamics that exists within an ultra competitive environment of martial arts. Better understanding these dynamics allows us to better what we do at our jiujitsu school.
There are two main ways you can learn and improve your jiujitsu while being off the mat.
Visualization of jiujitsu
Watching jiujitsu
This post will focus on some ways to observe, study, and analyze jiu-jitsu. In general, there are several different ways of watching jiujitsu. You can watch jiujitsu competition, jiujitsu technique video, and recently there are new and innovative ways that bridge the gap between these two distinctly different types of jiujitsu study. (Some people have filmed themselves training with voice overs, some have clipped together jiujitsu movements by the same of different athletes with a technical breakdown inserted into the video) These are great tools to help you boost your ability in watching and observing because it allows you to LOOK for WHAT you are LOOKING for.
If you’re new to jiujitsu and/or new to watching jiujitsu competition start with the WHITEBELTS. (even if you are not a white belt any more, if you have few hours of jiujitsu study, you are most likely lacking in the “skill” of analyzing jiujitsu). Here is what you should look for in watching the competition:
Patters in positions (What are the common positions you notice?)
Patters in movement (What are the common attacks you notice?)
Watching the BEST of the BEST competing in the PINNACLE of the SPORT is a fun way to experience jiujitsu (especially LIVE and IN PERSON) There’s so much energy in the arena, I would encourage everyone to to and watch the world championships at some point in their jiujitsu journey. However, this might not be the best or most efficient way to learn and improve for YOU. Watching the best in action is fun and exciting, but sometimes won’t translate directly to you being able to execute what you saw for yourself. At the highest level, there are many more variables of strategy, rule bending, and athleticism.
Much like the practice of jiujitsu, where you train and incrementally learn and rank up in belt, there is a skill to learning how to watch, learn, observe, and analyze the game. The more engaged hours you spend watching jiujitsu competitions the better you become at interpreting the information for yourself and others to understand. So, don’t shy away from watching ALL LEVELS of jiujitsu competition. You might find yourself able to learn better from watching a blue or purple belt competition. In theory, their technique and attacks are a little more simple and less disguised. You may find the activity more enjoyable than watching a 10 minute black belt match with little to know action (don’t hesitate to fast forward). When the times comes, you should also rewind, and replay multiple times!
A good phrase to remember when competing for yourself and also when watching others compete: “The best athlete doesn’t always win the competition, the athlete who competes the best is the winner.” Observing who is competing the best on that day, observing who finds a way to win regardless of the odds is another fun part of watching competitions.
