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.

Coach Danny

Gray White Belt Promotion tonight!

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!

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:

Pee Wee (age 4-6)

Kids (age 7-10)

Juniors (age 11-15)

Adult (age 15+)

In addition to group classes, we also offer 1on1 and small group training, personal performance programs, and jiujitsu parties for team building and birthday!

We thank you for your patience and support!

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?

Eliot

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.

1. LEARN
2. REVIEW
3. 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.

Best,

Eliot

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.

Eliot

There are two main ways you can learn and improve your jiujitsu while being off the mat.

1. Visualization of jiujitsu
2. 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 WHITE BELTS. (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.

Getting Stronger Together

Eliot

As we continue to roll through 2021, taking on challenges and ambitiously working towards your goals, it’s important to stop and think about what you are avoiding.

What am I avoiding during my training?

• A bigger stronger person
• A new student with no technique
• A smaller person
• An experienced veteran who always wins
• A competitor
• My weak points

While the list goes on, it’s important to remember there are things that should be avoided in training.

• Bad hygiene
• High intensity without technique
• Rude behavior
• Illegal moves and holds

Today we’re talking about the first list, not the second, and the importance of addressing them with the skills and tools we have available. The more we work on addressing what we avoid, the BETTER we will get! It’s important so I’ll repeat that… The more we work on addressing what we avoid, the BETTER we will get! I use the pleural “we” because it usually involves you and your training partner problem solving and the ripple effect from that makes US ALL BETTER!

The first step is to think about and figure out WHAT you avoid (maybe both on and off the mat). This could be a conscious thing, it could be a subconscious thing. The next step is to think about WHY you avoid certain aspects of training.

ex: “I avoid warm ups because they are hard.” “I avoid people who roll hard because I don’t like to train hard.” “I don’t do leg locks because I have bad knees.”

Once you know WHAT and WHY, it would be good to think about the TOOLS and SKILLS you have available to work through or work with what you have been avoiding. Usually things involves the practice of COMMUNICATION (A constant practice and sometimes difficult thing but very useful and important).

Don’t hesitate to talk to a coach first. Your coach has experienced many things multiple times and might be better equipped with the tools and skills to address what’s being avoided.

In our mind, we might be thinking this isn’t going to be easy. We often avoid things because we know (or just think) something is going to be difficult. That’s why it’s important to consult with a coach or a training partner who has been around longer for help. They can guide you and hopefully show you how to better take on something you’ve been avoiding with ease.

In the process of learning jiujitsu and working towards your goals, it’s important to prioritize consistency. Consistency is the base of the pyramid when it comes to taking on big challenges, accomplishing an ambitious goal, and embracing a lifelong practice of health and wellness.

Coach Aaron coined a great phrase, “don’t let your intensity surpass your technical ability.” When talking about rolling on the mat. This has been a phrase we use to help students understand the importance of both technique and intensity. While this phrase may not seem related with consistency, it’s an important part of staying consistent on the mat.

Many times, students who only prioritize intensity lack consistency. Intensity can lead to injuries which result in time lost on the mat. Intensity can also lead to the student not able to recover enough to consistently make it to practice. Intensity is a part of the equation but consistency needs to be at the base in working towards a task.

Another way to look at it: If I were to assign you to write a 365 page book, in a day or a week… Many of us would probably fail from the overwhelming intensity it would take to complete. However, if we had an entire year to accomplish the project, writing 1-2 pages everyday, it would be difficult but doable. CONSISTENT action would allows us to finish the task with relative ease. A good way to flip what we are saying: BE INTENSE WITH YOUR CONSISTENCY NOT JUST YOUR INTENSITY.

Consistency might look different for different people. Where you are on the “map” will determine what your consistency looks like. If you eat 3 meals a day for 7 days a week, that’s a total of 21 meals. If you’re looking to eat healthy consistently, then it would be good to look at your total meals and see how many of them are good or bad. Maybe all of your meals are fast food takeouts. Then simply changing breakfast or dinner to home cooked meals might reflect a step in the right direction.

Things to remember when thinking about consistency:

• Focus on the process not the results
• Look at the big picture: 21 meals a week
• Define what consistency means or looks to you
• Be intense with your consistency not just your intensity.