Tag Archives: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Is Jiu Jitsu a Martial Art or Sport? EDH BJJ

What is the difference between a martial art and a sport? People will have differing opinions on what defines a sport and a martial art. In my opinion, the main difference between a sport and martial art is the idea of training in self defense. A martial art has principles of self defense, while a sport lacks reference to the ideas of self defense. Which opens up an entire different topic of conversation. What is self defense?

In modern society, real self defense is probably more related to taking proper care of your self. A healthy diet with an awareness of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. A check up on your mental health from depression, anxiety, and addiction. These are all issues that we should “train and check” as a form of self defense because they are much more common attackers than a stranger attacking you on the street. But let’s get back to the practice of jiu-jitsu.

Interestingly, Jiu-jitsu is a form of self defense and also an evolving sport. When I first took an IBJJF rules course in 2011(?) with Alvaro Mansor, he explained the IBJJF rules were designed with the intention of preserving and practicing self defense. While the sport of jiu-jitsu may have evolved away from some of the practical ideas of self defense, I believe the rules of the sport still encourage the ideas of self defense. In a very unique way, the practice of jiujitsu as a sport supports the practice of self defense.

Jiu-Jitsu as a martial art is more than just self defense. For jiu-jitsu to be considered a martial art, it should contribute to the idea of “getting stronger together.” A martial art involves character shaping, community building, a collection of principles that directs everyone toward a common mission. The idea of character building exists in sport as well. (In many cases, the coach and team will define how intentional they are in teaching these skills).

At El Dorado Hills Jiu-Jitsu we look to practice jiujitsu as a martial art. Encouraging the practice of self defense while embracing the competitive technique, strategy, and athleticism of the sport. We strive to build a community of practitioners who challenge one another, mentor the new comers, communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, and more.

Eliot

EDH BJJ compete in JJWL Competition

 The team went to Stockton to compete in a Jiu Jitsu World League tournament this last weekend. We had three Juniors class competitors, one Juvenile competitor and three adult/masters competitors. Out of our seven competitors we took home three gold medals and two silver medals.

Our Juniors class competitors all looked great. They were able to execute techniques that we have been working on in class and that were a part of their individual gameplans. I saw them hit good takedowns, sweeps and use excellent top pressure and guard retention. Our Juvenile competitor fought hard in some action packed matches. He won a silver medal and it was exciting to watch.

The Masters competitors dominated their divisions. They displayed some great Jiu Jitsu all around. I was most impressed with the guard passing and a couple of the submissions by those guys.

My matches didn’t go well which was frustrating but I am excited to get back to work and compete again in November. Going to tournaments is always fun when there are a few or more people from the team competing, overall I had a great time coaching and competing. 

Danny

Match Night at edh bjj

 We had our second match night last week at El Dorado Hills BJJ. Overall there were a lot of improvements since the first match night a couple of months ago. Especially in the PeeWee class, their Jiu Jitsu is looking better and better every month.

What I really Like about match night is that it gets the kids real match experience which will help them do well in tournaments. It is also much easier to organize and put on a match night than it is to do an in house tournament so we can do it more often. This is great because a huge part of competition is just experience, so the more matches we can get the kids the better.

I’m very grateful for all of the volunteer help we received for both match nights. It is so incredible to see the team come together and help us in building the next generation of grapplers! There were enough Volunteer referees for me to be able to oversee and take notes on the matches themselves which is great. We would not be able to make these events happen without the team stepping up and helping out, it’s pretty awesome that we have people who are willing to do that.

Hopefully we’ll be doing these match nights every couple of months and will continue to see the kids improve as a result. They have a lot of fun doing it which is good, if they are having fun they are learning.

Coach Danny

Black Belt Promotion and Jiu Jitsu Seminar in El Dorado Hills, CA

EDH Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Promotion and Seminar took place on June, 30th celebrating Allan Scott’s black belt promotion. Allan is an avid competitor and practitioner, with an enthusiasm for health, fitness, family, travel, and a sweet tooth on a special occasion. Allan earns his black belt promotion after 10 years of dedicated practice to the martial art of jiujitsu. He started his journey in jiujitsu at the age of 49 and received his promotion shy of his 60th birthday.

Some of Allan’s accomplishments on the international competition include:

  • World Master Gold medalist (blue belt)
  • World Master Gold medalist (purple belt)
  • World Master Bronze medalist (brown belt)

Allan is proof that consistent practice and intentional training in understanding positions, movements, and strategy are the keys to a successful experience on the mat. We’re excited to see him continue to challenge himself in training and continue to mentor others on their journey.

Coaching jiujitsu in the kids bjj class

Coaching Kids Class
Coaching kids can be very difficult in BJJ. It can be hard to tell where the line between “over coaching” and not helping enough is. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and here are some of my thoughts.

There should always be a head coach and there should not be confusion about who the head coach is. This means when the head coach is giving instructions to the group other coaches should not be doing any coaching/talking. If the class is practicing techniques that are “review” from a class recently then there should be minimal interference from coaches, this means the coaching should be mostly done vocally not physically. Kids learn Jiu Jitsu by moving so the more they are moving with their partner without interruption the better. Learning NEW techniques can be a little different though. Some kids, especially new kids may need physical help at first to move through a technique, but the sooner they are moving on their own with their partner the faster they will learn. Even if it isn’t perfect (it probably won’t be) we can try to make corrections with vocal coaching and the head coach can bring it in and show a technique again if necessary.

When kids are doing matches or “sparring” the coach’s job will shift to more of a referee’s role. A referee’s job is to ensure nobody gets hurt. That means there should be absolutely no physical coaching/interference during matches, that will not set them up for success if they decide to compete in Jiu Jitsu. There should be interference if there is a submission or dangerous position that may result in somebody getting hurt. The arm being straight on an arm bar or a head outside single leg come to mind as situations where the coach needs to stop the match. Vocal coaching is still beneficial.

I feel very lucky to have so many parents willing to step up and help make the class better. The more we can all be on the same page the better we can make the class which will make us all stronger as a team. 

Coach Danny

Match Night at EDH Jiu Jitsu

Match Night
Last week at El Dorado Hills BJJ we did a match night for the PeeWee, Kids and Juniors classes. It was a lot of fun for the kids and coaches. The goal of this event was to get everybody some tournament-like experience in class and that goal was definitely achieved.

We split the class into different groups based on size and experience level. Each group had at least one coach/referee. Once everybody was set we started the clock and ran a round robin style mock tournament where everybody got at least two or three matches. It was fun watching the kids compete with each other and show good sportsmanship. The coaches got a lot of valuable feedback from the matches as well.

There was a lot of volunteer participation which was really cool to see. It can be intimidating playing the role of a ref so I’m glad people felt comfortable stepping up and taking part. We could not have done it without everybody’s help. I think we’ll be doing several of these match nights a year since it was so successful which I am excited for because I thought it was a lot of fun. 

Coach Danny

JAPAN DAY JIUJITSU DEMO

We will be performing a jiu-jitsu demonstration at JAPAN DAY and need about 10 volunteers to perform at the event. ALL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME! It will be important to participate in the practice session on Friday, 4/22. PRACTICE:

  • FRIDAY, April 22nd –  5:30-6:00ish

Please bring Gi and NoGi. (you can decide what uniform you want to wear)If you don’t have a partner we will make partners and choreograph during this time. EVENT DETAILS: 

  • Website: CSUS JAPAN DAY
  • Date: Sunday April 24th
  • Meeting time: 12:30 Martial Arts booth
  • Demo time: 1:30pm
  • Location: Library Quad
  • Parking: Free 

DEMO EXAMPLES: (please watch) 

These are some examples you might enjoy watching with the family! 

ASSOCIATION: AJJ SYNDICATE WINS BIG at the JJWL Golden Cup III

TOURNAMENT RESULTS: 

A couple weekends ago the team went to JJWL (Jiu Jitsu World League) in Stockton to compete. Emberly from the peewee class made her tournament debut!

From the Kids class Dailan, George, and Drake made a strong appearance. George finished with bronze and Drake finished with silver. 

From the Adults, Jamie, Jarrod, Mike, Matt, Ted, Danny, Joe, – Purple belts Jamie won nogi silver and Jarrod won gold. – Blue belts Mike won bronze, Matt won silver and nogi gold, Danny won bronze, Ted won double gold.- White belt Joe won nogi silver.

Thank you to all the teammates and family in attendance! Tournaments are a great reminder to focus on the process and build from each experience. 

American Jiu Jitsu Syndicate:

The tournament was also an impressive showing of our organization: AJJ Syndicate. 
The team won the Adult and Master team competition and took third in the kids and juvenile team competition. Congrats! 

Some reflections about competition and my overall experiences

 I plan on competing as much as possible in 2022. Competition is one of my favorite parts of Jiu Jitsu. I love the feeling of stepping on the tournament mat to challenge myself against another competitor. I think the benefits of competing are huge. The lessons I’ve learned at tournaments have been so much more meaningful to me than anything I’ve learned in the practice room. It feels like the true test of where my Jiu Jitsu is at.

I did my first Jiu Jitsu tournament in my first 6 months of training. It was such a fun and intense experience I could not wait to do it again. I remember feeling so nervous as I waited for my bracket to start. My anxiety peaked when me and the rest of my bracket were standing by the mat waiting for our names to be called but once my first match started my nerves dissapeared and I was full of excitement. I lost my first two matches (it was a double elimination tournament) and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to do another one so that I could do better. Six months later I did another tournament and got silver. I think the dissapointment of losing those first two matches made me improve much faster than I would have if I never competed, it made practice so much more important to me because now I was working towards a specific goal. I just wanted to win a match.

I think everybody who trains should experience competition at least once. It’s such a fun and rewarding experience. It is also stressful and a little bit scary but that is part of what makes it so special. I’m very excited to test myself on those mats again this year and excited to watch my teammates do the same. 

Coach Danny

jiujitsu class for age 4,5,6

PeeWee class at EDH Jiu Jitsu
When I first started coaching I was very intimidated by the peewee class. It seemed like it was going to be so difficult to get a group of four to six year olds to listen and move as a team. That’s because I didn’t understand the goal and expectation of that class.

The goal of that class is that they have fun, exercise, and learn something  new. The expectation of that class is that they are present, not perfect.
When I first started coaching I was a helper in the peewee and kid class. Pee wee jiujitsu felt especially overwhelming to me. The class has a fast pace and kids at that age have much shorter attention spans than the kids jiujitsu class.

When I started leading the peewee class it felt like a huge step up in responsibility. Once I learned the formula and understood the goals and expectation that class became very fun for me to teach. Watching kids at a young age progress every week and learning basic Jiu Jitsu positions while having a fun time feels very rewarding.


In the peewee class we want them learning basic Jiu Jitsu positions and basic movements. We teach these positions by playing games with the coach and with the students paired up, playing games with each other. The games involve significant elements of jiujitsu and are competitions where students work together or against a team mate for the win. With this method we check all of the boxes for that class; they’re having fun, they are learning, and they are getting a work out.


My expectation as a coach isn’t for the student to be perfect. If we expected four to six year olds to behave perfectly in class that would be an unreasonable expectation. We just want them to be present (and mentally checked in) while in class so they can learn and improve.

Something we talk to the kids a lot about is focus. The more they practice focus the easier it is for them to stay present. At the beginning of class we take deep breaths and talk about using our eyes, ears, and body as tools to help us focus. The deep breath is a really helpful tool to help them refocus. Another thing we talk about is hustle. To have hustle they have to be present, if they have good hustle, that means they are moving with focus. I really love seeing all of the students progress every week with their jiujitsu knowledge, their ability to focus, and their hustle. 

Coach Danny