Tag Archives: brazilian jiujitsu

BJJ DEMO at CSU Sacramento Japan Day from El Dorado Hills

El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was in attendance for another great public demonstration of jiujitsu at the CSU Sacramento Japan Day event.

This is one of the biggest student organized events on campus featuring the Japan Club and activities related to Japanese language and culture.

The BJJ demo showed the many different aspects of jiujitsu, athleticism, art, performance, choreography, technique, discipline, leverage, and more. Each performance was choreographed by the students with little to no input from a coach. The students were challenged to take on the performance to showcase their knowledge of jiujitsu and at the same time help others understand what it means to do jiujitsu. Some emphasized the self defense aspect of the art while other emphasized the sport and exciting movements to captivate the audience. It was also an opportunity to talk about the migration of jiujitsu from Japan, Brazil, and now all over the world. A fitting demonstration sponsored by the department of world languages and literatures at CSU Sacramento.

Leg Attacks! Workshop in El Dorado Hills

NoGi Jiu Jitsu // Submission Wrestling 🤼‍♂️ @jamieg.sharpshooter will be sharing the sharp details she’s acquired from her R&D // Research & Development // Refinement & Dedication // Routine & Discipline //

On May 5th and May 12th Jamie will be leading a class teaching the details of attacking and defending the ASHI GARAMI. The Ashi Garami, a Japanese phrase meaning leg entanglement, is a way to secure and control the entire body through a system of leg attacks. Jamie has been studying the position for a while and has developed a deadly system to dismember the leg from the ankle, calf, knee and connect it into other attacks.

In addition to the offensive system, Jamie will be teaching some safety tips on training with leg entanglements and tactfully defending against an opponent in attack.

The workshop will take place on Saturday May 5th and 12th during the 11am all level adult class.

Belt Promotion: PeeWee Gray White Belt Sam

Congrats Sam! PeeWee jiujitsu class gray white belt promotion:

Sam brings focus to the peewee class where things can get kinda crazy at times. His leadership is in his ability to focus, concentrate, and show others how to train. Even in a class with four year olds with are brand new to the art of jiujitsu, Sam’s actions speak for the coaches. When Sam speaks every body listens.

Sam started jiujitsu with the invitation from his friend, and you will find them challenging each other, laughing, learning, and growing into the mat as a martial artist. Friendship on the mat is an incredible experience. Your friend becomes a person you want to beat, a person who will encourage you, and someone you will respect more each and every day you train.

Teamwork in an individual sport and martial art

Individual sports and martial arts are unique in that they often require an immense amount of teamwork to build a successful individual performance or development. This concept is unique in individual sports because in the heat of the moment only one person is responsible for the success and failure of the battle. However, to prepare and execute in battle it takes an entire team to do so. In life, just like in these individual sports, there are individual responsibilities that contribute to the success of the entire group. The ability to recognize your individual responsibility and contribute to the team is essential. This contribution might come in the form of being a leader, a follower, a silent voice of action, or mustering people together with your words and action. Needless to say we work on both of these skills on the mat at edh jiujitsu.

Only those that work together can be the strongest! Here, we aren’t just building grip and leg strength. At our martial arts academy in El Dorado Hills we don’t just teach technical and physical skills, we also teach skills of collaboration and working with others. This is a skill that is important on the mat but even more important in life off of the mat. One example of teamwork being taught is through “tug of war” a team of strong individuals won’t beat a team of averaged strength individuals all working together. In doing so we talk about leadership, in this example the leader is the one getting everyone to pull all at once. We also talk about being led, in this case those that agree to all pull at the same time.

It’s intriguing to see the different personalities come out when we do these training sessions. Some follow, some lead, argue, quit, persevere, but in the end we all begin to see the strength and value in working together.

Belt Promotion: PeeWee Class Gray-White belt

Sohan started Jiu-Jitsu with a strong spirit and work ethic. He was one of the first students to join the peewee class (a jiujitsu class for students age 4-6) in el dorado hills. In the year of training he has furthered his spirit with the ability to focus on a deeper level.

With his charisma and leadership qualities, others quickly follow in his path. As a result. with his development of focus, hustle, and technique, others also developed their sense of these qualities. Sohan is super spirited and competitive with all of the activities we integrate to learn the art of jiujitsu. We look forward to channeling his competitive spirit with focus and a positive attitude. Congrats!

BJJ Tour: US Open Results from El dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu Competitors

The 21st US Open took place at the Cow Palace in San Francisco this weekend. El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu had multiple competitors from kids to adults, white belts to brown belts in action on the mats. The tournament was a great event to measure everyones progress from the beginning of the year and set some new markers going into 2018. The US Open, along with the BJJ Tour, is a great and professional tournament organization that has been dedicated to improving and enhancing jiujitsu viewership and competition from the beginning of jiujitsu in the United States.

Kids Jiu Jitsu Competitor Results

  • Slater – Godl
  • Ian – Bronze
  • Mateo – Silver
  • Mia – Bronze

Adult Jiu Jitsu Competitor Results

  • Dave – Competitor
  • Mark – Competitor
  • Coach Kunk – Gold
  • Aaron – Silver
  • Jarrod – Gold
  • Ryan – Competitor

Time Management leads to Peak Performance

By Aaron Martinez

 Ironically, I’ve been trying to find the time to complete this piece for over a month now, and that ended up being a good thing. I realized the entire point of Time Management was to find organized amounts of time to complete and maintain the priorities in your life. My schedule is a complete mess and my goals rarely coincided together in a convenient pattern. I bet most other responsible people can relate to this. Especially in BJJ there is a constant struggle with your daily life of work, school, family, and routine; constantly getting in the way of your time on the mat.

Prioritize

The first step to organizing your time and deciding when you have the time to train consistently will completely depend on your schedule. Since I started training I have gone through three completely different careers, and with each one a distinctly different schedule to train.

When I first started, it was simple. I worked at a desk in a bank and we did not have kids yet. So, every night after work and on the weekends I was free to train. My training schedule was only limited to what my White Belt level conditioning would allow. I trained every other day.

A few years I earned my Blue Belt, I was laid off and had a completely open schedule to train. My friends teased me, calling me the professional Blue Belt. I trained as much as possible, at least once if not two times a day. I eventually started a small Pest Control business and was able to make my own schedule. I’d schedule work during the day and went back to training at night and on the weekend. Not too long after that we had our first daughter, and for the first time training was not the priority it had been since I started. Training and work now conflicted with helping my wife with the baby, and I had to clearly state my top priorities to myself: 1. Family 2. Work 3. BJJ. I gave up going out drinking with my buddies or making the trip to see a ball game. I had my priorities and I struggled to find time for just those three.

Schedule

I clearly defined my top priorities, and now I had to develop a schedule that would allow me to accomplish my long term goals while maintaining my day to day life as Family man, business owner, and BJJ Practitioner. I’d wake up before 5am and work until the morning classes started. After the morning class I’d work until my wife had to go to her job, and I’d come home and take care of my daughter until bedtime. It was different than before, but I was able to nurture all three Priorities on a daily basis as a result of my schedule.

After earning my Purple Belt my other daughter was born, which altered my schedule again. In addition to my three priorities I had to make sure the schedule made sense. I didn’t want to just take care of my daughters. I wanted to be as present as possible with my attention and awareness. I couldn’t just kill myself at work and on the mats, and then expect to be the best father I could be. I also wanted to make as much money as possible, while still progressing at Jiu-Jitsu. So, the schedule took more thought and planning. I had to make sure there were blocks of time to rest and recover.

Organizing and Optimizing

Once again my belt changed and once again my schedule changed. At Brown belt I knew I had to take training and competing more seriously than I had in the past. I wanted to incorporate weight training into my schedule. Going to a gym was out of the question. My schedule had no time for it. I bought some equipment and found a trainer who designed fitness programs remotely. Is this the best way to work with a trainer? Of course not, but this was not one of my Priorities. I wanted to weight train to help with my priority of being a BJJ practitioner. I had to Optimize the time I had available. Instead of spending 30 minutes driving to a gym and 30 minutes driving back, I could spend that hour working out at home.

My BJJ training schedule was also organized in a manner that allowed for heavy competition training, followed by drilling the next day.  This allowed for recovery, but also kept me on the Mat every day. When I was at work I wanted to focus on work, and it was the same for my time with my family. I made sure I got everything I needed by training at least six days a week. And when a competition was around the corner I would change my schedule accordingly. I’d take a little less work and get a little more help from the in-laws to allow more training.

BJJ as a Priority

The reason I always made BJJ such a high priority behind Family and Work, was that it encompasses so much life into one activity. The physical fitness is obvious, but also the social aspect, and the mental health benefits that come along with training. Training BJJ has helped me prioritize my life, learn to create schedules, and organize time better. I didn’t learn to do all of this to train BJJ. Training BJJ helped me develop this to have a better life

Letting go of the rest

Trying to find the time to write this reaffirmed what I had come up with in the past. There are things that you want to do that aren’t priorities, and that will not get done or will take longer than anticipated. And that is okay. You have to be okay with taking care of your priorities and doing your best to accomplish the rest.

There will also be emergencies and roadblocks that will keep you from maintaining your priorities temporarily, and that is also something you have to be okay with. If you injure your back right before Worlds, there is nothing you can do. Use that time to nurture your other priorities. Spend as much time with the family and when you are healed you have even more attention you can focus on BJJ.

Conclusion

Everyone’s schedule is unique and their priorities might be completely different. If you are finding it difficult to accomplish the things you want out of life, it usually is a matter of managing your time as efficiently as possible.

Reflection from IBJJF Pans NoGi

A week after the ADCC, I found myself on the east coast getting tuned up for the IBJJF Pan NoGi Championships in NYC. A BIG THANK YOU to the Armor Kimono guys who have been sponsoring my Gi and some NoGi Jiu Jitsu.

I had one match in the division. Jackson Sousa of Checkmat in the finals. He had also just come from the ADCC tournament with a third place finish. I lost the match 2-0 on points from a sweep. Here are some take aways from the match:

  1. Scoring first sets the pace of the match. (especially when the referees only call double penalty)
  2. Use forward pressure but don’t reach forward to assert that pressure
  3. Pressure works with time. So start using it from the beginning

 

This was my third time facing Jackson in competition. The first two I lost in the gi, one by points and one by submission. This was our first nogi match, but was the closest match we shared. Although I didn’t win, I was able to close the margin, and “improve” from my previous matches. Jackson is a class act, and went on to win the open class later in the afternoon. Congratulations!

In the open class, my first opponent lost his temper when I asked the referee for him to take the grease out of his hair. He gave me the double birdie, and was disqualified.

In my second match, I faced Diego from ZR team. He had a super sticky guard and although people told me I was the aggressor on top pushing for the pass, he won the referee decision 0-0 after 10 minutes. I realize that the guard player is not obligated to stand up, but I find it ironic that the top player is obligated to try and pass but the guard player can defend and counter attack, make no attempt to sweep, and still not be penalized. I don’t questions referee decisions anymore, but I do think there is a need to better define the “lute” call and reward the athlete that is forcing the action in a match. Otherwise the defensive athlete, playing a safe game and conserving energy, is being rewarded for doing nothing. In my opinion, the athlete that is progressing forward, forcing the action to score or submit should be rewarded.

Eliot Kelly 

NAGA in San Jose

EDH Jiu Jitsu had three competitors in action at the competition arena this weekend in San Jose, CA. Jamie, Ricky, and Danny all made their show in the NoGi divisions of the NAGA San Jose Grappling Championships. (North American Grappling Association).

Jamie won gold in the intermediate blue belt division and was called up to compete in the expert division for purple belts and above. Overall she made some impressive improvements from her last competition, and challenged herself to play outside of her comfort zone.

In the expert division,  the final score of the six minute match was 8-3. Congratulations to Jamie on her performance and constant improvement. For those who are not in the know, Jamie trains 2-3 times daily both on and off the mat. Her dedication to improvement and pursuit of success is unmatched.

Danny and Ricky competed in the men’s division of the NAGA championships. Ricky fell short in his first match. Danny pulled through to the finals and finished with a Silver medal. He also made some impressive improvements from his last tournament experience at the Grappling X in Elk Grove, CA in November.

Regardless of the outcome, preparation for competition done right always leads to continued improvement. It’s exciting to see everyone give their best in the arena and make no excuses about their performance. We look forward to seeing these competitors in action again soon!!

IBJJF San Jose Open Gi & NoGi Results

Zack wins Gold

On January 28th and 29th at the San Jose Community College the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) San Jose Open took place. The tournament was a two day tournament in the Gi and NoGi. This was a great opportunity to test their skills in a local northern California competition. Probably the biggest tournament outside of the BJJ Tour Championships; US Open, American Cup, and All Star Championships. Members of EDH BJJ, competing as Yemaso BJJ,  finished with the following results:

Gi:
Mark Swisher – Competitor
Jamie Gomez – Bronze
Zack Smith – Bronze
Allan Scott – Silver
Aaron Martinez – Silver
Jerel Tengan – Silver
Eliot Kelly – Gold

NoGi:
Jamie Gomez – Bronze
Zack Smith – Gold
Aaron Martinez – Silver
Jerel Tengan – Silver
Eliot Kelly – Gold & Silver (absolute)

Eliot win Gold

The tournament was a great opportunity to start the year with a competition. A few high lights of the tournament came with Zack Smith taking Bronze in his division but coming back the next day to win the Gold in the NoGi division. This showed great persistence and determination. Another big victory of the weekend came from coach Eliot Kelly winning gold in the Ultra Heavyweight division beating Vinicius de MagalhĂŁes of Vinny Magalhaes BJJ in the finals. Vinny is an incredibly talented prize fighter in MMA, Jiu Jitsu and Grappling. He is an ADCC champion, IBJJF World Champion, EBI and UFC competitor.