Dojo Wrestlers Write to ESPN Asking For more Wrestling

     The Wrestling Dojo of El Dorado Hills, CA is not just a place where wrestlers learn how to become better on the mat. The summer wrestling camp series of the Dojo Wrestler features many different off the mat activities to train the wrestlers awareness, develop responsibility, and build champions on and off the mat. The Dojo Wrestlers from this summer covered many different topics as seen below. Why do wrestlers need to wear singlets, A creative writing assignment on a wrestlers poem, research presentation on a great wrestler, and many others including todays in the dojo assignment, letter writing to ESPN.
     Recently, ESPN has become more active in covering all collegiate sports at the national scene, including wrestling. However there is definitely more prime time wrestling that could be shown! Covering the Big 10, Pac 10, and conference tournaments to qualify for the National Championships would make for great television. Some of the bigger tournaments during the heat of the season, Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, National Duals, Virginia Duals, Midlands would be great tournaments to cover during the season and create hype and anticipation as well. Even some conference rivalry dual meets would make for a great 60 to 90 minute program for viewers. More importantly, it would help wrestlers enjoy the sport as a spectator. By clinching more prime time for wrestling on ESPN, we also believe that more people would better understand the sport and appreciate the hard work and dedication required to be successful. We hope these letters reach out to the hearts of the producers at ESPN and help them see the value in promoting the sport of wrestling at all levels for all viewers. By taking a proactive instead of a reactive approach to promoting the sport of wrestling, Dojo Wrestlers expect to get a bigger community involved in their local wrestling matches and take away any possibility of their program ever being dropped from the athletics department.
     The letter writing assignment also gave the wrestlers an opportunity to share the wrestling shows they have seen on television. One show, "The Season" about the 2002 University of Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling Team, and another "The Streak" about a high school wrestling team in Florida that has gone undefeated for over 30 years.

Eliot Kelly 

916 595 4064

Dojo Wrestler

Summer Wrestling Camp News at El Dorado Hills Wrestling Dojo

     El Dorado Hills Wrestling Dojo Summer camps are about to wrap up the fourth week of camp for the summer of 2013. The theme for this summer is "elements of danger," a term loosely used by Lennie Zalesky while coaching at UC Davis and branded by Jon Clark, who redefined the meaning of dangerous wrestling with his always exciting wrestling matches. Although "elements of danger" might be taken as wrestling moves that are dangerous to do in a match, that would be inaccurate. Elements of danger is a concept or style of wrestling that keeps the opponent second guessing what will happen even when they are in the lead.
     Many wrestlers become satisfied with developing a great double, a stand up and a tilt. If you can do this on anyone at any level, in theory there is no one that can stop you from winning. However, that may not be the case for everyone, and no one would be interested in watching wrestling. The sport would become very boring to watch if all we saw were double legs, stand ups, and tilts. Elements of danger are feet to back, high percentage, low risk, high return moves. Not only does it get you a big lead and potentially the pin, but also excites the crowd and gets people to enjoy watching the sport of wrestling. Developing these elements of danger will definitely wow the crowd and get you closer to victory!
     In our first four weeks of wrestling we covered several elements of danger concepts while building on some key fundamentals of wrestling. Here is a simple breakdown of some of the techniques we covered in the four weeks. If you were in camp and we are missing anything, don't hesitate to add a comment!

Week One:

Over Under Position - Knee drop 

Over Under Position - In-N-out 

Under Hook Chop Attacks

Week Two:

Double

Hi-C - electric slide to tombstone

Single - electric slide to three toes

Set ups

Week Three:

Granby - Jump

Peterson - Eugene Special

Step Around - Big Harn

Brace Back

Week Four: 

High thigh leg riding series

Leg Ride defense

     In addition to developing skills during the Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-10:30 am sessions, this summer MATCH HOUR was introduced to implement the new technique in the heat of the battle situations from 6:00 to 7:00 pm every Friday. Match hour is an opportunity to wrestler not only with other middle school and high school wrestlers in a match situation but also wrestle with experienced wrestlers in the area. The first 15 minutes of match hour consists of drilling and warming up and stretching for injury prevention, and the remaining 45 minutes is devoted to wrestling. If you would like more information on becoming a Dojo Wrestler give us a call 916 595 4064.

Dojo Wrestler

916 595 4064

EDH Wrestling Dojo

El Dorado Hills Wrestling Dojo Teaches Responsibility

     The Wrestling Dojo is running an open enrollment wrestling camp for the entire summer of 2013. The Wrestling camp includes two skills sessions on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 am to 10:30 am and one match hour on Friday from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. The ten week long camp is in place for wrestlers from different schools to come together to train, on a weekly basis, review the technique from other summer camps and get in the routine of having fun on the mat and learning new and exciting technique. In addition to wrestling, the Wrestling Dojo includes a curriculum that helps the wrestlers apply the skills and concepts they learn on the mat in their everyday life off the mat. This martial arts centered wrestling curriculum makes the ordinary wrestler into an extraordinary Dojo Wrestler.

     One concept we will be talking about and reviewing over and over again is the importance of responsibility. Responsibility is an essential ingredient for student athletes to find success at the high school and collegiate level. For example: Wrestler A and Wrestler B both have a tournament coming up at the end of the month. They are both great students in their classes and also train to beat the best of the best wrestlers in town. Wrestler A (having gone through the Dojo Wrestler program) knows it is their responsibility to let the teacher know that there is a tournament coming up at the end of the month and that he/she will unfortunately have to miss class. The teacher is pleasantly nice about it and lets him/her know that there happens to be a test on that day, but since he gave notice with plenty of time in advance it won't be a problem and that they will be able to figure it out. Wrestler B on the other hand waits until the day before the tournament to let the teacher know that he/she will not in class tomorrow and that he needs to have a make up test. The teacher, slightly agitated that the student waited until the last minute, tell him/her that there is no class policy to give make up tests and he/she can either choose to go to the tournament or stay in school and take the test. No wrestler would want to be in the shoes of Wrestler B, but as a student athlete it is the students responsibility to let the teachers know well in advance that they will be missing some classes during the school year and some of them will fall on the date of a test.
     There are plenty of other examples and reasons of how a student athlete will benefit from being responsible. During this summer camp wrestlers will graduate from camp knowing the importance of responsibility both on and off the mat. El Dorado Hills Wrestling Dojo is a location where all wrestlers from all schools are welcome to learn about responsibility of being a student-wrestler.

Dojo Wrestler

916 595 4064

See you on the mat!

What is precision when doing jiu jitsu, wrestling or just training?

     What is precision? In jiu jitsu, wrestlng, and training there is a need to find a degree a precision. To better understand precision we looked up the word using http://dictionary.reference.com/

Some words we associate with precision is accuracy, exactness, punctiliousness, strictness. Similar to how precision is defined in relation to mathematics, we could say that when we talk about precision is jiujitsu, or training, it is about the degree to which the correctness of a movement is expressed.

pre·ci·sion

 [pri-sizh-uhn]  Show IPA

       noun

    

1. the state or quality of being precise.

2. accuracy; exactness: to arrive at an estimate with precision.

3. mechanical or scientific exactness: a lens ground with precision.

4. punctiliousness; strictness: precision in one's business dealings.

5. Mathematics . the degree to which the correctness of a quantity is expressed. Compare accuracy ( def 3 ) 

     If we were to look closer at what is meant by precision we should take a look at the word accuracy. While precision relates to a general application to different fields, accuracy is a word that describes the condition of being exact. Which is a better word to be used and emphasized during coaching is hard to say. However, it might be practical to use both words PRECISE and ACCURATE when talking to the students.  

ac·cu·ra·cy

  [ak-yer-uh-see]  Show IPA

noun, plural ac·cu·ra·cies.

1.

the condition or quality of being true, correct, or exact; freedom from error or defect; precision or exactness; correctness.

2.

Chemistry, Physics. the extent to which a given measurement agrees with the standard value for thatmeasurement. Compare precision (  def 6 ) .

3.

Mathematics . the degree of correctness of a quantity, expression, etc. Compare precision (  def 5 ) .

     One of the most essential moments for precision and accuracy is during drilling. Drilling is done when a new technique is learned or as a means to increase the amount of exposure and repetition with a specific movement or technique. During drilling students need to have an elevated sense of mindfulness towards ACCURACY and PRECISION. Having an awareness and appreciation for these two words will help them effectively learn the technique desired and be able to implement the technique in the heat of the battle. Although accuracy and precision are not the only ingredients of a successful training session. They count for the body of a successful workout. 

     In addition to helping a student learn proper body placements and making us a more effective competitor, accuracy and precision will help us evaluate our progress. Being able to look at your jiu jitsu, wrestling or training in general objectively is a difficult thing to do. We are often blinded by our ego and desire to win, how we are feeling at the end of a practice or what someone said to us while training. The best way to evaluate a workout is by understanding how accurate we were with our implementation of technique. By judging our accuracy and precision we are able to see the mistakes and take the necessary steps to correct them for the future. The key to successfully finding your mistake is to not to only look at the end product but the process of how you came to that point.

     Interestingly enough, precision and accuracy are not the only elements of jiujitsu or wrestling. There are so many other variables and factors involved in process the outcome of a match, roll, or fight. However, there is no secret that focusing on accuracy and precision will significantly increase the learners ability to implement the technique. There is also the added benefit that a learner will be able to better understand and explain the technique or concept at the end of a training session by placing their attention on these two elements. BE PRECISE! BE ACCURATE! 

El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu

916 595 4064

Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Wresling, Self Defense

Dojo Wrestler Summer Wrestling Camp: Learning Phase

     At our wrestling camp today, we really focused on the concept of skills, (technique), strength, and speed, three elements essential to developing an expert wrestler. When we first learn a new skill we are so excited and ready to implement it into our wrestling that we often neglect the initial step of skills development. I refer to the the initial step in skills development as the learning phase. In the learning phrase the body is being prepped with very little resistance and a very large window of opportunity to execute the technique. The neurons have to be allowed the time to sync with what the eyes have seen and the mind has visualized. This initial learning phase can be seen in other sports as well.

     Take for example the weight lifter. An olympic weight lifter will strip the weights off the bar and devote the first 30 minutes of a training session solely to technique. Lifting the weightless bar may not seem very intense or practical since the goal is to add a few hundred pounds to the bar for competition, but that's not the case. The expert weight lifter knows that having precise form and technique, skills, you can call it whatever you want... But the lifter knows that having precise technique will allow for another 10 or even 20 pounds to be lifted. Therefore it is essential for the lifter to devote time to the learning phase where the neurons are given time to train what the mind is wanting to perform. Knowing that the learning phase will give them the extra boost when the weight is piled on, an expert lifter will spend just as much focus during this training as any other part of training.
     A Dojo Wrestler is expected to do the same. Knowing that their skills will be tested in the heat of battle, a dojo wrestler trains during the learning phase with the same diligence and intensity as live wrestling. Once muscle memory is set and the neurons are firing at the same level as the mind, then it is appropriate to increase speed and resistance to simulate match situations.

Homework assignment: 

Write down technical instruction

Make a Wrestling Poem

Become of Dojo Wrestler this summer! 

916 595 4064

Summer Training = Winter Champions

Summer Wrestling in El Dorado Hills : Dojo Wrestler

     Dojo Wrestling is back for a second summer in El Dorado Hills! All Wrestlers looking to improve their wrestling over the summer are welcome! This summer there will be a unique feature with MATCH HOUR every Friday from 6:00 to 7:00pm. During match hour wrestlers will have the opportunity to wrestle as many as 8 matches within the hour. Former Collegiate Wrestlers, Pac 10 Champions, All-Americans, and even Olympians have stepped on the mat as a Dojo Wrestler. 

     Click on Flyer for Details

Dojo Wrestler

Summer Wrestling in El Dorado Hills

916 595 4064

See you on the mat!