Summer Graduation at EDH Jiu Jitsu

     Congratulations to everyone from El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu on the new ranking belts on the mat! Yesterday marked the summer promotion ceremony for 2013 at EDH BJJ. At EDH BJJ belt promotions take place twice a year, once at the beginning of summer in early June and once at the end of the year in early December. Belt Graduations reflect the consistent effort of challenging yourself on the mat and applying those lesson off the mat in our daily life. The most important element of training is getting on the mat no matter how good or bad, long or short your day felt. The dedication to train your mind and body to become stronger is something we can all embrace as a constant force.

     While the belt graduation is a celebration of the individual being promoted to a new rank with new responsibilities and expectations, it is also a celebration of the team. The team is essential in raising the spirits of the individual and elevating the performance of one another. The team is essential in challenging the body to step into the unfamiliar and lead the way. So take the time to celebrate everyones achievements to collectively improve one another both on and off the mat. Celebrate that you didn't let your friend walk away from becoming a future black belt or a future world champion. Celebrate that you were there for your friend when he was going though a rough patch and the one thing that stayed consistent was the mats on the floor and the friendship on the mat. Kids, thank and celebrate that you have parents and friends who help you get to jiu jitsu on time to train. 

     Below are the list of kids and adults who graduated to the new ranks. Please take the time to give them your congratulations and celebrate their promotion. Just as you helped them work their way to their goal, they will be there to support your work your way to black belt excellence. In attendance were Professor Marcos Torregrosa of Yemaso BJJ and several of his students from the Sacramento area as well as his good friend Carlos who was visiting from Puerto Rico after finishing with a Bronze at the World Championships.

From the kids:

GRAY BELT

Jake - Ty - Max - Owen- Ryan - Ethan

YELLOW BELT

JT - Nico - Angelo - Michael

From the adults:

BLUE BELT

Aaron - Allan - Morgan - David

BROWN BELT

Jerel

EDH BJJ 

916 595 4064

Jiu Jitsu in the Hills!

Belt Graduation and Open House at EDH BJJ

     Today EDH BJJ will be having the 2013 Summer Belt Graduation and Open House Event. This event is open to all family, friends and local jiu jitsu club members to join. The event will be a great opportunity for students to celebrate and share their graduation to new belts. The open house portion of the event will also allow those who would like to experience some jiu jitsu to step on the mat and learn from their friends or family. The Belt Graduation is a unique experience celebrating the hard work and accomplishment of the individual and at the same time, celebrating the team effort and group contribution to helping the individual achieve their goals. In addition to understanding the technical elements of the martial arts, jiu jitsu students at EDH BJJ are expected to make a contribution to the improvement of those around them and to jiu jitsu. Please join us as we celebrate those taking a step close to black belt excellence both on and off the mat. Here is the schedule for tonight:

Kids Belt Graduation: 

 6:00pm

Adults Belt Graduation: 

7:00pm

     At El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,  the Belt Graduation and Open House Event will take place once in the summer and once in the winter. Please feel free to join us for this special event on an annual basis. Thank you and congratulations to all!

EDH BJJ

916 595 4064

See you on the mat! 

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

Submission Jiu Jitsu Tournament at the Family FitNFun Expo

     El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu just had their second annual submission only tournament of 2013. This tournament was an incredible opportunity to revisit the roots of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu where the focus was not on winning by points but by gaining the submission as the only way for victory. There were many different types of submissions at the kids and adults levels in this tournament with some of the matches going the distance, ending in a draw. The beauty of a submission only tournament is seeing the two grapplers attack and counter attack not for the dominance of position but with the intention of finishing the match with a submission. 
     The tournament was a unique opportunity for the participants at the outside venue, along with the Family FitNFun Expo at High Hill Ranch in Carson, CA. The 3rd annual expo was a wonderful celebration of health, fitness, nutrition, and physical education. Although there were some technical difficulties with pre arranged shading, the tournament was an exciting combination of fun, picnic, music, and plenty of other activities provided by the expo. We hope to improve some of the kinks of the tournament and host another outside tournament in 2014. 
     A big congratulations to all the competitors this weekend! Not only did they compete in front of their friends and family but also in front of an audience new to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, helping to clarify any misconceptions people may have associated with the fastest growing martial art and form of self defense in the world, Brazilian Jiu jitsu. 

El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu 

916 595 4064

See you on the mat! 

     

2013 IBJJF World Championships: What I learned

The World Championships in Jiu Jitsu were another spectacular event this year. There were lots of exciting matches with a number of upsets, showing that jiu jitsu really is a sport for everyone! This was my first time competing as a black belt in the heavy (pesado) weight division and I had a blast! I won my first match by points against a tough competitor from Gracie Barra named Ulpiano Malachias by points and lost my second match to GFT (Gracie Fight Team) tournament leader Rodolpho Vierra. A great opportunity to learn and compete against the best of the best. This was my first tournament with the IBJJF and I'm looking forward to getting more competition experience heading into the second half of the competition season this fall.

     As a black belt, I felt my strength and conditioning was well prepared for the much anticipated 10 minute matches. Although it's only an extra two minutes from the 8 minute brown belt matches, it can feel like day and night when it comes to the heat of the battle. One distinct feeling I got in my match with Rodolpho Vierra was the overwhelming grip strength and explosiveness. Being able to control and fight the grips are an essential part of elite jiu jitsu competition I realized a few years ago as a brown belt when I had the opportunity to compete against Jiu Jitsu World Champions, Antonio Braga Neto, Andre Galvao, and Xande Ribeiro. They all had an elevated awareness for grip fighting and using their grips to dominate positions. I've been fortunate enough to have some world class Judo fighters help me train my grip fighting and set ups for attacks from about two years ago. This training has definitely paid off but it will be essential to continue to work on this area.

Eliot Kelly

(916) 595. 4064

EDH BJJ

What do you say when someone asks about jiu jitsu?

      When someone finds out I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I can almost guarantee that they will eventually ask me the question: "what is jiu jitsu?" As an instructor and a lover for the grappling arts, it's still a challenging question to answer. If it were football, baseball, karate, or even wrestling people would understand what you were talking about, but jiu jitsu seems to still maintain a degree of mystery and even misunderstanding. 

     Some things are clear. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the fastest growing form of martial arts in the world today. Not only is it a practical form of self-defense training, but also a great workout, fun, dynamic with constant new discovery. 

So what do you say?

     There are several different ways to express the physical art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into words. One place to start is with the history of how jiu jitsu came to be known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Another place to start would be with an example: "Have you ever seen or been in a fight before? What happens in the fight if the person doesn't get knocked out in the first few seconds? It goes to the ground. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that teaches a person how to defend themselves when the fight goes to the extreme. The training involves..." Or do you take on a more organic approach, using the concept designed by the 31FIFTY team "JIU JITSU FOR A BETTER WORLD," and explain the benefits of how jiu jitsu will make us, you, and your friends better in more than one way. Clearly, there are multiple ways to introduce jiu jitsu to someone who might not have any knowledge about it, but the most important thing to consider is if your explanation would get that person more or less interested in jiu jitsu. As we train and improve ourselves and our training partners, it's important to remember that we are also ambassadors for the great martial art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. 

SEE YOU ON THE MAT!

Eliot Kelly

916 595 4064

EDH BJJ 

Thoughts on Coaching: What you say matters

     This week we are going to look at how your words as a coach make an impression on the competitor. Many times as coaches we get caught up in the moment as adrenaline and emotion run high. However, as coaches we need to be maintain a certain degree of calmness. What are your thoughts on this coaching tip?

"While your players are competing, try to limit your instruction. It can be distracting. Instead, use trigger words, one or two-word phrases, to remind them of previous instruction."

     I've gone back and forth thinking about this in my time as a coach and always wonder if there is in fact a better way to coach in the moment. I say in the moment, because you are in fact coaching the competitors for what is taking place in the moment. While the window of opportunity to execute a technique may be large at the beginning stages of the game, the more advanced the competition becomes the less helpful in the moment coaching seems to be. Speaking from personal experience, I have had moments where I can hear a coach yelling instructions while I'm setting up exactly what they are saying and think, "oh nooooo!!!! Now they know what I'm setting up..... Why did you have to say that!" Leaving myself more distracted from the competition instead of focused and alert. 
     What would be the best form of in the moment coaching? I feel being a reinforcer or giving contextual support can be extremely helpful. Stating the facts of a situation can be very helpful as well. Some examples would be: stating the time, pointing out what the opponent is doing, and giving feedback during breaks. Coaching like this will help elevate your competitors level of awareness and help them perform at a higher level. 
     One of the most important times to give coaching is immediately after the end of a match. I've found that this is a time when athletes are most vulnerable to negative and positive feedback. The feedback can come from within, from someone around them, or from their coach. Therefore it only makes sense to pull the competitor aside after every match, win or lose, to give them the feedback that they should receive. 

Eliot Kelly

Wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, Judo

(916) 595 4064