BJJ

When I heard about Submission Series 902’s first Brazilian jiu jitsu event on January 23, 2015, it brought to mind the interview I did with Jay Tan and Turi Altavilla. I spoke with them about their ... Continue Reading

What do Gray Cook, Kelly Starrett, and Dan John all have in common? They believe in the power of assessments and establishing baselines. Kelly Starret uses the ten-minute squat test, while Gray Cook uses ... Continue Reading

It’s that time of year again. Santa has asked us for gift ideas for all of the good boys and girls who train Brazilian jiu jitsu. There were so many amazing products introduced this year it was hard to ... Continue Reading

I’m still not able to roll at 100% because of my elbow injury, but I’ve been supplementing my training with weight lifting and yoga to stay in shape. A Stubborn Injury My elbow injury stuck ... Continue Reading

Recently, a video of a baseball choke made its way onto my social media feed. It had a great setup from the bottom, and I shared it with a training partner to see if we could drill it. I had actually been ... Continue Reading

I remember my first Brazilian jiu jitsu class at Titans Fitness Academy. I was so nervous. I had heard so much about what a competitive team they were and how hard they rolled. I was ... Continue Reading

Here’s my opinion as a strength and conditioning expert and a BJJ practitioner: Most Brazilian jiu jitsu competitors should not cut weight. <strong">Instead, they should improve their ... Continue Reading

After winning gold in the heavyweight and absolute divisions this past weekend at the New York Pro, I’m feeling pretty good as I get ready to head out to Masters Worlds this week.  I worked my game ... Continue Reading

The other night I was talking to a new jiu jitsu colleague, someone I had met recently as a result of visiting his academy and being warmly welcomed there. After a fun few rounds, we sat and chatted, as ... Continue Reading

Exercising can be like dating. You know you’d like to get involved in something, but you’re not sure what. Your friends introduce you to various sports and some of them are okay, but nothing hits ... Continue Reading

What weight class should I compete in? This is the hardest question to answer for many Brazilian jiu jitsu competitors. If you walk around a BJJ tournament, you will overhear competitors talking ... Continue Reading

Big news! I received my purple belt from Phil and Ricky Migliarese on October 11th! A few weeks ago, I found out that I was on the Balance promotion list for my purple belt. I was pretty excited ... Continue Reading

For the last seven months or so, I’ve been relatively injury-free. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, factor that has contributed to my competition success in 2014. It makes perfect sense, ... Continue Reading

A few months ago, I wrote an article stating my case for academies to offer women-only beginner classes. I argued that it’s much better for brand new women to roll with each other than with brand new men ... Continue Reading

It’s Tuesday morning. You wake up and don’t feel right. It could be brain fog or you’re just moving a little slow. Your joints are bothering you a little more than usual. But yesterday seemed like a normal ... Continue Reading

I competed in the IBJJF No-Gi Pan Am tournament on Saturday, and I ended up falling short. I was disappointed, but I bounced back quickly and got right back to training on Monday. Tournament Day I ... Continue Reading

I’m fortunate in that my menstrual cycle doesn’t affect my life in a significant way. It certainly doesn’t affect my BJJ training, but some women aren’t so lucky. A few months ago, a woman on ... Continue Reading

I made a New Year’s resolution at the beginning of 2014 to be more positive about situations. The second half of 2013 was definitely a rough point for me. School and a few other things in my life weren’t ... Continue Reading

Two students start training Brazilian jiu jitsu at the same time. One student attends class because that is what he or she thinks needs to be done. The other student shows up to the gym ready to train. ... Continue Reading