Ten Reasons to Sign Up for the NoGi Tournament this Weekend

     Our NoGi in house tournament clinic is coming up this weekend. If you have been thinking about signing up but haven't yet, here are a few reasons to get your name on the list. There is no particular order of importance to the list.

1. $5 of your registration will go towards the Heart walk in September.

2. Your Jiujitsu will be tested and win or lose, your jiujitsu will improve.

3. You will receive personal feedback from your match. 

4. The referee will be there to protect the safety of the competitors. 

5. The awards were handmade and look really really cool! 

6. If you've never participated in a tournament you should at least do one in your BJJ career. 

7. Win or lose, your motivation to train will become more clear. 

8. Unlike a regular class, you will experience excitement, adrenaline, and learn how to control it.

9. If your friends or family come, they will get to see what real jiujitsu looks like.

10. It helps your instructor see an evaluate your jiujitsu. 

     Even if you don't sign up for the tournament, we highly recommend coming in to watch and support your teammates. Believe it or not, just coming to watch will make an impact on your jiujitsu. Not to mention your teammates will feel supported and appreciate you being there to cheer you on.

EDH Jiujitsu

916.595.4064

Check out Bishop BJJ: Jiu Jitsu as a Science

     One of my favorite jiu jitsu blogs I like to read is BishopBJJ. Their blog has some of the most comprehensive reviews, studies, observations, and breakdown of the most current jiu jitsu at the macro and micro levels. In addition to statistical breakdowns of who is doing what and what is working the most, they have some great breakdown videos that physically show us what is being performed and how we can incorporate those techniques into our game.
     Since Bishop BJJ helps us understand jiu jitsu on an individual level and as a whole, we can understand what the masses are doing and at the same time see those that have their own unique style of jiu jitsu. Being able to understand both elements allows us as jiu jitsu nerds, jiu jitsu competitors, and jiu jitsu fans to see and better understand effective elements of the game. Most importantly, the blog shows us how we can improve our jiu jitsu by studying what is effective. Some of the best instructional videos are not the technique videos we all pay money for, but the competition footage of the best at their best.
     The most recent breakdown is a video breaking down Tanquinho beating the open guard. Not only does the video incorporate a variety of footage from the past, but also incorporates the most recent footage available from the World Championships. The footage includes short explanatory notes within the video for the observer to learn and notice some of the key concepts to Tanquinho's successful passing.

Follow this link to view the video

     I highly recommend everyone include this on their monthly must visit website list and improve their game, teach better, and enjoy some of the fine details of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

Eliot Kelly

916 595 4064

EDH Jiu Jitsu

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

BJJ World Rankings

     What do you think about ranking athletes? Although jiujitsu competitors should not be judged based on rankings alone, it is proof that jiujitsu is beginning to have an audience. After all, rankings are more for the spectators and the excitement factor of watching the top ranked competitor being beat by a "nobody."

     According to this website we just found, one of our instructors, Eliot Kelly, is ranked 11th in the world amongst Brown belts. From the competitor's standpoint, rankings can provide a morale boost (and maybe even an ego boost!). But most importantly, they offer a new perspective on training and competition. Have I beat anyone ranked above me? CAN I beat anyone ranked above me? What are they doing in their training that I should be doing? Comparing yourself with people of similar ability (which is what ranking essentially does) should motivate a competitor to train to the best of their abilities and push themselves to a higher level.

Click on the link below to check out all the rankings:

World of Jiu-jitsu rankings 

EDHBJJ

"Eliot's ranked 11th in the world today... What about next week?"