First it was “are your elbows in? Or are your elbows out?” That really solidified my defense and put me in a position to advance my position and start going for sweeps and subs. Now the key concept has moved to “are you on your back or in your side?” This has defensive applications and has made my submissions more effective and available. 

I’ll drink coffee anywhere, but where do you practice archery around here?

I love this question! It reminds me of the conundrum "If you could only eat one thing, what would it be?"

I would say arm bar! similar to Kimura's , you can hit them anywhere! On top of that, for self defense situations, you can isolate the dangerous limb and disable it without the liability of choking someone unconscious. And if the other limb becomes the dangerous one, you can switch to that one next! If necessary, you can apply the same lessons learned from the arm bar and apply it to the legs. Knee bars anyone?!?! Plus the variations from different positions and entries almost make it an endless pursuit.  Even if you spent a year only practicing arm bars, I think you would be discovering new ways to hit it.  It's the same reason if I could only eat one food, it would be "sandwiches". Egg sandwich for breakfast, cold cults for lunch, steak sandwich for dinner, meatloaf sandwich when you have leftovers, pepper and egg sandwich during lent, and burritos when you want to bend the rules.

Feedback. Verbal and non-verbal. 

We can judge the pace and slowly increase the intensity without saying anything. But when we reach an impasse, it’s awesome to be able to say “I don’t know what to do from here” or ask “why isn’t  this working?” and have them help you work through it. 

Friends, family, religion.

These are the 3 demons you must slay to succeed in jiujitsu. 

I’d recommend PEDs and gunpowder in your ground beef.  

oss!

This may come as a surprise, but I’d vote omoplata!

Oh no you’re doing open guard standing! Just ignore me hanging on to this sleeve… and that foot hooked behind your armpit… that’s definitely not a threat!

Being in the moment. 

If I don’t have an AirPod in playing a podcast or the tv playing needlessly in the background, I’m really just resisting getting sucked into my phone. But when your under mount fighting for your life, that is all that you are focused on. There are no nagging thoughts or inconsequential distractions. 

This mindset is transferable from everything from making your pot of coffee in the morning to spending time with your family. Everything becomes more engaging and memorable, and when it’s over, you appreciate the moment, remember it, learn from it, and appreciate it. 

Far side arm bar from NEONBELLY is my second favorite arm bar! It isn’t hard to set up, even on experienced grapplers and looks fancy with a couple simple movements.

I think Spider-Man would like this armbar too; you have to stay attached while doing some fancy spinning. 

This week’s Mat Chat is very important! What communities do you belong to? What does that mean to you? What makes a team? What makes a team successful?…

Just in time for our next team competition… October 19th we are doing Tap Cancer Out Tournament. You can help people in need and have the opportunity to win a medal!

Follow this link to register! https://wecan.tapcancerout.org/team/600687

This week’s topic is near and dear to me: Rules!

We have rules for all sorts of reasons! Although it can be easy to think rules are burdensome, I think rules can make life easier. I have all sorts of rules I follow every day because they keep me happy and safe. For jiujitsu, I have all sorts of rules I made for myself both on and off the mat. My top 3 off the mats are: 1. Wash up before practice AND immediately after to keep me and my partners safe from infections. 2. Wash my uniform after each practice so it’s clean for the next one. 3. Show up to the academy with indoor shoes and trimmed nails. 

Do you have any jiujitsu rules your always follow???