Bully proofing starts on the mat

     The Gracie family is famous for bringing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the United States, and helping the Martial Art spread across the globe. Rener Gracie, now teaching Jiu-Jitsu in Torrance, CA has been doing much more to help the local community by teaching kids Jiu-Jitsu. He has been applying the Jiu-Jitsu concepts of Self-Defense and applying them to help Bully Proof kids. 

     Every once in a while I will read an article in the Japan Times about some kid who decided to commit suicide because the bullying became too bad. Let's figure out a way to not let this ever happen again. For starters, we will be talking about Bullying during the months of August and September in our Jiu Jitsu programs at EDH Grappling. 
     In a recent article by vita coco, they were talking about how the Gracie Bullyproof Program. 
“At the foundation of the Gracie Bullyproof program is the belief that a confident child is a ‘bullyproof’ child,” observes Rener. “By giving children the non-violent self-defense skills to neutralize the violent physical attack of an aggressive bully, we give them the unshakable confidence to address bullies and defeat them WITHOUT violence. We’re teaching kids to fight fire with water.”
     thebullyproject.com is a website you can checkout to use as a resource to raise awareness, become an activist, or get help. At the root of it, bullying is an issue that we need to address as a family, team, and community. If we can get the entire Jiu-Jitsu community to start talking about the issue of Bullying in their kids and adults programs, this would make a huge difference! The change starts on the mat!   

To join EDHBJJ's Anti-Bully Campaign, contact us or drop in for a class

Eliot Kelly

EDH BJJ

916 595 4064

Are you a dirty dish?

     Today at our Martial Arts School, we talked about how we become what we associate ourselves with..... Essentially, we are the product of our environment! A good friend of mine shared this quote with me back in the day, "tell me who you're with, and I'll tell you who you are." We applied this concept to dishes.

     If you are a clean plate, but end up in the dirty dishwasher or sink full of dirty dishes, guess what, your plate is no longer considered clean. People will need to wash you (the plate) off before using it. Just by being around the other dirty dishes, your plate becomes soiled. Interestingly, if you are a dirty plate and end up in the dry rack or in the cupboard, people will pull you out and wash you right away. It's a quick fix to getting cleaned up. Therefore, if you need to get your plate cleaned, get yourself around other clean dishes, the chances of your getting cleaned up is much greater!

Eliot Kelly

EDH Grappling

916-595-4064

EDHBJJ, we learn Jiu-Jitsu and associating with positive people!

10 big mistakes you must avoid in Jiu-Jitsu

10 big mistakes you must avoid in Jiu-Jitsu | GRACIEMAG

     This is a good refresher for the regular jiu-jitsu player and a MUST for the brand new jiujitsu student to read through. Although Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a Martial Art, there is a growing competitive sport element that is dramatically changing the dynamics of the Martial Art. The article address the important positional concepts we need to keep fresh in our minds, while also maintaing a degree of respect and tradition. 
     The most important concept for beginners to keep in mind is number four:

4. COMPETING IN TRAINING

The mats of your gym are not competition fighting areas. There you have to train, lose, tap and learn. Only by losing and working on your weaknesses you will become a complete fighter. Trying to “win at training” only limits your game. After all, you will just try what you already do well.

     There are no hands raised at the end of practice, no medals handed out after training, and no on site press covering the action. Keep that in mind as you train to improve yourself, and not to beat the person you are training with. Beginner's have a very difficult time with this concept, and it's not saying you need to let the person win. The important thing is to concentrate how you can improve yourself during training, and not necessarily get the best of someone every single time. 

Eliot Kelly

916 595 4064

edh grappling

Women's Self-Defense: El Dorado Hills, CA

     I've come across many workshops advertising Self-Defenese Training sessions for women in the last couple of days. I think it's great that many Martial Arts schools are donating their time to offer some type of training for the community members. After all, the most important element of Self-Defense is AWARENESS. However, a one time 2 hour session is just not enough.
     Our weekly Women's ONLY Jiu-Jitsu & Self-Defense Class is meant to train women on a consistent basis to keep the techniques fresh and ready to be used. We see the need for ongoing training as an essential part of a fit and healthy lifestyle. Therefore, we not only talk about self-defense, but also incorporate all the other aspects of sport, fitness, and core training/ strength training into our workout routine. If you are interested in trying one of our classes contact EDHBJJ!

Eliot Kelly

EDH Grappling

916 595 4064

Late Night JiuJitsu

     What do you consider late night training?? When I first started learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu the only classes within reasonable distance started at 9:30pm and ended at 11:00. Many of the students, instructors included, worked overtime and there was no earlier times available. However, about 6 months after I started training the U.S. economy tanked and people started getting laid off left and right. Unfortunately, there were a few students who were out of work and had to go back to Brazil... But, class start time shifted forward to 8:30 and made for a much earlier night. Here is an online graciemag article about late night training: Click Link. I remember going to another gym for a late night session that started at 1:00am and went for about an hour. I was ruined the next day, but really had a great time going along for the ride. It's definitely something I can say I'm glad I was there to do!
     Anyway, those late night sessions were all that I had. I had no choice but to accept the time and go train. It made for a late night, but I sometimes think back to the good ole days and remember how "hardcore" I was for wanting to learn Brazilian Jiujitsu at such a late hour. The Good Ole Days! At the moment, our classes at El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu end at 9:00 pm, but our goal is to have classes 24 hours a day!

Eliot Kelly

EDH Brazilian Jiujitsu

916-595-4064

The Wrestling Dojo of EDH Grappling

     The Wrestling Dojo is a unique and innovative concept designed and developed by Eliot Kelly. The idea behind the system came from his experiences as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor and Martial Arts mentorship from 7th Degree West Coast Martial Arts Black Belt Gary Merlo. The system is designed with the idea of applying the spirit of MARTIAL ARTS towards the sport of WRESTLING.
      In general, wrestlers are told what they need to work on in practice and each team has some type of curriculum in place for the wrestlers to learn. However, what's missing is a system to help identify the current level of the practitioner, other than the number of years they have wrestled. The first step would be in creating a ranking system that reflects a wrestler's technical skill, experience, and dedication.
    Also, the spirit of Martial Arts is much more than simply the accumulation of knowledge. It has to do with the shaping of CHARACTER, LEADERSHIP, and INTEGRITY. The Wrestling Dojo would provide the opportunity for students to apply what they learn on the mat off the mat. A ranking system that successfully incorporates the Martial Arts spirit will help the older/experienced students mentor the younger/newer students as well. As a result, building a sense of community and the spirit to help others in their progress towards success.
     Finally, The Wrestling Dojo would give wrestlers from multiple schools an opportunity get together, train, learn, and go back to their schools to win a State Championship. The more we can do to raise a community of wrestlers who want to 'make a difference' on and off the mat, the more success we will find at the higher caliber of wrestling.

Eliot Kelly

Creator of The Wrestling Dojo

(916) 595. 4064
EDH Grappling

Jiujitsu in the Olympics?

     I just recently ran across a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Training online discussion board talking about students training at multiple schools at the same time. (click here for the thread) I'm not going to talk much about the article. Instead, I'm going to relate some of the comments on the thread if BJJ were to become an Olympic Sport. I think it's really interesting that there is this BIG push by people to introduce Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Grappling, who knows what it will be called, into the Olympics. Basically, the thread says that the more traditional types believe that it's one school or nothing, and other instructors are happy as long as their students are doing jiujitsu as a positive addition to their healthy lifestyle.
     Competing in the Olympics has been a childhood dream of mine, and I would love the opportunity to make a run for a spot on the Olympic Team and compete for the Olympic Gold. However, I have a feeling introducing BJJ as an Olympic Sport would could only come about with some serous changes in the way people approach training.
     First of all, the idea of only training with your team would disappear. It would be longer about the team, it would be about getting the medal, and putting yourself in a room with the best training partners to become an Olympic champion. Representing your county is now the team you need to train with. That means getting the best guys in your country together to train. This leads me to my second point, unless your academy is in the same country you are a citizen of, you are now potentially training and teaching someone to compete against your own country. Technically, for those traditional thinkers... You are betraying your country. Finally, the World Championships or Mundials wouldn't tally 'team' points but instead tally 'country' points. People would have to enter as a representative of their country and not their team. The World Championships we speak of at the moment is more of a World 'Team' Championships than anything else.
     Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of training with the team and competing as a member of the team, but there will have to be some serious changes if we are going to see jiujitsu in the Olympics in the near future.

Eliot Kelly

EDH Grappling

916 595 4064