Team:

Be sure to wish our fellow students and training partners Allen Shumate and Scott Sale good luck as they prepare for upcoming competitions. Allen is competing at this Saturday's Bluegrass Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open and Scott is competing at the E.G.O. tourney in Indy the following weekend.

To step into the unknown and test yourself is a difficult thing to do...it takes courage. Both Allen and Scott have put in a lot of mat work and have prepared themselves physically and mentally for what's to come.

Scott and I will be on-hand to coach this weekend, and, if you're interested in coming to support the team, click here for directions to E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.

Please note that due to another event taking place at the state park, a fee of $5 will be charged to park.

If you're unable to come but would still like to train, classes at our Academy will still occur at their regularly scheduled times.

Allen, Scott -- stay mentally sharp throughout the entire competition. Follow your strategy but be ready to adapt if the situation calls for it. Relax, look for the submission, and survive. Come after your opponents without reservation.

Have fun out there.



See you all on the mats -- this Thursday!

Team:

Xande Ribeiro, multiple time gi and no-gi world champion, explains two of his signature moves in this clip. Very polished and refined stuff. Check it out...



See you on the mat -- this Thursday!

P.S. -- everyone watch their base!

Team:

Don't miss the opportunity to train with Professor Bruce Shepherd this Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. Space is limited, so please let Scott know if you'd like to attend. Cost is $25. If you haven't trained with Professor Shepherd before, we highly encourage you to participate and take advantage of the opportunity.

Here's more information on Professor Shepherd, courtesy of his website:

Bruce Shepherd is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Professor, second-degree, under Marcelo Ferreira. Bruce is an official U.S. representative of Professor Ferreira, who is a sixth-degree Black Belt Professor under Francisco "Chico" Mansur, one of Grandmaster Helio Gracie's original Black Belts.

He is a two-time U.S. Nationals Champion, European Cup Champion, Indiana State Judo Champion, and has won several awards and honors.

We highly encourage you to attend this one. Professor Shepherd is a wealth of knowledge and we welcome him to the Academy. Again, please let Scott know if you're coming because of limited space.

See you all on the mat -- Thursday night!

Team:

Excellent work today! Scott covered O Goshi (large hip throw) and Koshi Guruma (hip wheel) as part of the stand-up portion of class. We then transitioned to the ground where he covered three mount escapes -- standard upa, the escape for when your opponent bases out wide with his hands, and an escape for when your opponent straightens their back and sits up while mounted.

For the blue belts and above, Scott continued the half-guard series by covering a sweep plus a variation.

Let's all push hard to get the details down on these techniques.

You'll have another opportunity to do this tomorrow, Sunday, at open mat. Starting at noon, every one is welcome to come into the Academy and work technique, practice their throws, or just train.

To make the most out of your time, however, we recommend having a game plan. Instead of working 20-30 techniques once, work one to five moves several times. Repetition is the mother to all skill.

Keep up the great work, team. We'll see you all on the mat -- tomorrow at noon!

Technique, Speed, Timing....

Team:

Just a reminder that we're set for open mat tomorrow (Sunday, Sept. 21) at 12:30 p.m. Come in with a game plan for what you want to cover and work as many repetitions of each technique as you can. Be ready to sweat and have fun.

We'll see you on the mat!

Team:

Excellent work on the mats this afternoon! We'd like to also congratulate Randy, Deke, Matt, Rob, Shane and Jeff on receiving their first stripes. Much effort and dedication to solid technique is paying off, guys. Keep the focus on polishing your game and the belts and stripes will happen on their own.

Here are several videos of the throws we covered in class today, courtesy of Olympic Judo champion and coach, Mike Swain:

Ippon Seionage (one-arm shoulder throw)



 Morote Seionage (two-arm shoulder throw)



Osoto-Gari (large outer reap throw) -- this is courtesy of Dan Camarillo



Tai Otoshi (side body drop)



Armbar Defense from Guard

In addition, Scott covered an armbar defense from guard that is required for blue belt. Let's assume that your opponent attacks your right arm while you're in his guard. As soon as his leg comes around your head, your free arm (in this case, your left) cups the back of his neck (or grabs the gi behind the neck). The hand of the arm your opponent attacks can also grab the bicep of your free arm.

Keep your opponent's hips off the ground. Prevent him from extending his hips by placing your left knee on the lower part of his back. You want to keep him stacked and negate any of his leverage; stay in tight. Once you've placed your free hand behind his head and your knee on the lower back/hips area, begin to escape the arm that's being attacked.

Do this in short spurts -- never pull away -- and stay in tight to collapse his leverage. Once your elbow has cleared his hips, you're free to pull your arm out. Make sure you stay in tight. Your right arm (the one that was originally being attacked) can now pass around his leg and place your right hand (thumb in) the lapel of your opponent on the opposite side. Work yourself around your opponent by dropping your right hip. Make him feel all of your weight. End in cross-side.

Remember the details and work this move repetitiously.

Keep up the good work everyone. Congratulations to those who earned stripes today, too -- there's no turning back now, guys!

See you on the mat -- tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.!

Team:

My apologies for the frequency of the posts being so sporadic the last several days. LG&E, the company for which I work, is going through the largest restoration period in its history. Working as one of the spokespersons, I've been "in the weeds" with all the media calls lately. I do plan to be in on Thursday though, and regular posting should resume in a few days.

Until then, here's a great video I found on Roy Dean's site. Think you're too old to do martial arts? Take a look at this...



See you on the mat -- this Thursday!
 

Team:

Huge congratulations go out to Scott D., Kevin W. and Tim B. on their impeccable performance during Sunday's blue belt test. They each showed tremendous heart and solid technique. The foundation they've built in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is very strong and their dedication to the art was evident.

They're Spencer County Martial Arts' first blue belts! Make sure to congratulate them the next time you're in!

Here are a few photos of their big day:



See you all on the mat -- tonight!

Team:

Nice work on the mats last night. Specific details on guard passing were covered and you should strive to incorporate them into your game. Here are a few of the tips Scott mentioned:

Posture: Be sure that you have a straight spine. Keep your head still as you work to gain leverage.

Pressure: This is critical. Keep pressure on your opponent’s stomach and ankles at all times.

Proper Technique: This comes with repetition. Knee to the middle, slide the other knee out at an angle, and use your hips to break open the feet.

Control the Hips: Once you break open the feet, it’s important to next control your opponent’s hips and neutralize his ability to submit you or re-establish his position.

Weight Application: Sink your hips as you pass to cross-side. Completely immobilize your opponent.

Remember, if your opponent attempts to block your hips as you pass, you can “pop” your hips to make the transition easier, or use your knee (the one on the same side as you’re passing) to remove his hand and ease the transition.

We ended class with several rounds of free training, starting from guard. Keep up the excellent work and we’ll see you on the mat – this Saturday!

Team:

This is by far my favorite post of all-time, and you'll soon see why. It's past midnight and I want to train jiu-jitsu right now because of this.

Attached are a few recent videos of Professor Pedro Sauer rolling with one of his black belt affiliates in China. Flawless technique. Fast is smooth and smooth is fast. A true master at work:







And, for nostalgia's sake, here's the footage of Professor fighting a former Mr. Utah who challenged him. The video quality is poor, but you won't have to watch it for long. Professor makes quick work of the guy, who had a considerable size and strength advantage.



Reminder: Professor Sauer's Winter Training Camp Comes to Louisville, Nov. 7-9

Don't forget to mark your calendar for Nov. 7-9. Professor's winter training camp is coming to Louisville. Make plans to attend at least one of the sessions if you can. Training with Professor is an incredible experience, and, if this will be your first seminar, you'll be in for a real treat. Expect to learn great technique and make new friends, in addition to seeing some old ones! See the sidebar for complete information.

Now go train jiu-jitsu -- see you on the mat, tonight!

Team:

Excellent work on the mats last night! Scott reviewed two throws (O-Goshi and the Leg Throw, then transitioned to knee on the belly attacks. All material covered in last night's class is required for blue belt (a the full curriculum can be found on the right-hand side of the page).

Specifically, the knee on belly attacks involved the two variations of the arm bar and the cross-collar choke. When you pop-up to knee on belly from the cross-side, control the opponent's arm nearest you with your outside arm.

Slide your hand (thumb out) into the opponent's lapel with the other arm and drop your elbow. If your opponent elbow escapes his hips away from you, work the cross collar choke. If your opponent simply tries to turn away from you, transition into the standard arm bar.

Lastly, if your opponent pushes on the knee you have across his belly, scoop his bicep, spin around him and work the arm bar from the other side.

We ended class with several rounds of free training. Keep up the excellent work, team. We'll see you on the mat -- this Thursday!

Team:

This is a relic. Some of you have seen this before, but we wanted to post it again for those who still haven't seen Helio Gracie in this early demonstration of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu:



See you on the mat -- tomorrow at 3 p.m.!

Team:

Nice work on the mats this afternoon! Don't forget about tomorrow's open mat, either. It starts at 3 p.m.

In today's class we covered throws and knee-on-belly escapes. Specifically, the ippon seoinage and morote seionage were taught, and three escapes and defenses against your opponent taking his knee across your stomach were covered.

Here's a rundown of the throws, courtesy of Mike Swain:





Lastly, I want to tell you that all is well after the car accident. Thankfully, there were no major injuries -- the car can be repaired or replaced, but she can't! I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers, and sorry I had to leave early.

We'll see you all on the mat tomorrow at 3 p.m.!

Team:

Here's some good information, courtesy of Gracie Magazine:

Sengoku announced today more details on the event scheduled for September 28. Making his debut in MMA, Xande Ribeiro will take on Japan’s Takashi Sugiura. Despite not being very experienced (only three MMA bouts), Sugiura can brag about the fact that he fought twice at Pride FC.

Interestingly enough, both these fights were against Brazilian athletes. At Pride 21, in June 2002, he was defeated by Daniel Gracie in a split decision. But at Bushido 4, in July 2004, he beat Paulo Cesar “Giant” Silva by technical knockout.

Check out the updated card and stay tuned for more on Sengoku 5.

Ryan Schultz vs Jorge Masvidal
Yuki Sasaki vs Yuki Kondo*
Siyar Bahadurzada vs Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos*
Logan Clark vs Jorge Santiago*
Paul Cahoon vs Kazuhiro Nakamura*
Roger Gracie vs t.b.a.
Xande Ribeiro vs Takashi Sugiura

* Middleweight Grand Prix fights

Team:

New month, new book! Think of your training as a college course. You not only want to feed your mind in class but also out of the class. With this in mind, each month we'll share with you a different book that will complement your training.

There are so many books out there on Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Some are better organized and more detailed than others.

We highly recommend this book. The information is presented in a concise and accurate fashion, and is color-coded by belt rank. It's well-arranged and contains photos with detailed text to enhance the learning process.

In addition, there are some good sections on theory that clarify, among other things, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu's built-in strategy for achieving increasingly advantageous positions to the detriment of the opponent.

Don't let the word "basic" scare you away. Remember, as a house is only as strong as its foundation, so is your jiu-jitsu. Keep your jiu-jitsu simple and practice the basics repeatedly. You'll be more successful and have a lot more fun...and be a lot less confused on the mat!

Borders sells this book for about $20, but I've found used versions online at Amazon for as low as $17. In fact, click here to go directly to Amazon's site.

See you on the mat -- tonight!

Team:

Here's an excellent clip of one of the masters of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Jean Jacques Machado:



See you on the mat -- tomorrow night!