If you walked in to class and Professor asked you to pick the topic to work on, what would you choose? 

For me, it would be anything takedown related. I’ve been very focused on stand up grappling for the past couple of months and loving it! Anything to learn or drill from judo or wrestling is fine by me. 

What’s the most unexpected lesson/skill jiu jitsu has taught you—on or off the mats?

Mine would the ability to talk in front of people.   Always hated that growing up and would do anything to avoid that situation.  Slowly transitioned to teaching and now don't even think about that in front of a class.   

What is your strategy on how you set goal post for tracking progress/improvements? For higher belts, has this process continued to evolve or has it remained the same? Is there anyone who just approaches each drill, each training an each roll as they occur and just live with the results vs looking for progress? 

Jesse made me think today about if thinking about progress and working towards it actually hinders our ability to maximize the moment?

Have you reached a point in your Jiu Jitsu journey where you have a game/system when you are rolling? What factors contributed to developing it? Has it remained the same or has it changed as your experience has changed? 

Question of the week! Is it ever a mental challenge to train hard with someone you are friendly with? How do you find that balance between pushing yourself and others while still being a good training partner? 

Tap Cancer Out Tournament is coming up fast! Here are some things you need to do before then as well as some important dates and deadlines.

Immediately!

Create a login and fighter profile on Smoothcomp ! This should include information such as name, age, rank, and academy.

RSVP to the team dinner at Competition Team Dinner | ROL Academy

Tuesday 10/7 - Registration Closes

Friday 10/10 5pm-6:30p OPTIONAL EARLY WEIGH IN

Friday 10/10 - Last night to fundraise and earn perks for $1000 or less. You can pick up your swag when you arrive at the tournament in the morning. If you raise $2k and earn a gi, they will email you and have it shipped to you.

Saturday 10/11 - COMPETITION! Team dinner at 6!

Let me know if you have any questions!!!

Good luck to all our fighters! Thanks to everyone for your support!

What’s the number one intangible skillset to have when training Jiu Jitsu?

For me resilience stands out. There are days/weeks when I feel progress is not visible or noticeable but training must continue. I feel that I have to be resilient regardless of doing things incorrectly, getting smashed, not seeing visible results, etc.

The real progress starts with consistently showing up.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

Here’s the question of the week.  How do you train to stay calm and composed under extreme pressure, like in bad positions?  Getting smashed  or pretty close to being submitted.  

Great question last night from the Striking crew - why do we strike the pad across the body when throwing straight punches (jab/cross), instead of the same pad on same side?