Troy's Blog

Weddings, Cage Fights and Promotions Oh My!

2011-05-18T06:20:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang, sorry I have not posted in a while, but life has been busy. Congratulations to Ryan "Tank" Jones in his first round Victory at Shofight on May 13th. Defeating his opponent and making him tap from strikes 2:30 minutes of the first round. 50 of us attended the beatdown and represented the school in a strong showing. Congratulations to Jake "The Afro Samurai" Peebles in his third round Submission victory at the Cage Fights in Harrison on May 7th. Also Jake advanced by passing his White Belt Fundamentals on May 1st.
Congratulations to Danny and Crystal Fraser in the first ever Dojo BDJJ Wedding that took place on Tuesday May 17th. Officiating the wedding was Pete Ramsey and it was awesome, especially there wedding dance/fight. I am so happy for both of them and I know they are happy with each other.
Let's continue to keep up with great attendance in class because we have a huge testing coming up in late August.

Peace and let's keep rollin...........

Promotions

2011-04-04T06:39:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang, The start of this year 2011 has been full of surprises for me in my personal life, and I hope that my attitude about it has reflected how going through tough times can be better served with an upbeat attitude than a "Pity Party". Having said that, I have enjoyed teaching and we have experianced growth, no growth, interest and no interest............AAAH the ups and downs of Martial Arts, gotta love it. Congratulations to the following students; Crystal Rhyne-Wilburn, Gold Belt Hunter McCutcheon, Blue Belt Gabe Chism, Orange Belt Alex Nichols, Orange Belt Keep up the great work and great class attendance. Some really good tests done by all, but Hunter your Blue Belt test was exceptional. You are truley ate up with Jiu-Jitsu and carry that attitude in everything you do. Peace.........and let's keep rollin'

Promotions

2011-03-15T16:56:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Just wanted to congradulate the following students on their rank promotions;

Danny "Hightower" Fraser, Brown Belt 2nd Degree
Crystal Rhyne-Wilburn, Gold Belt

Keep up the great work and see you in class.

Peace and let's keep rollin'.............

Nixa, Missouri Tournament

2011-02-14T14:36:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

Great turnout at Nixa. It was a large Grappling gathering. I will tell you it felt good not to be in charge. Congratulations to our competitors;
Jake Peebles, 2nd Gi, mens division
Gabe Chism, 1st Beginner 11-12 Gi, 2nd Beginner NoGi 11-12
Hunter McCutcheon, 3rd Advanced 7-8 Gi
Alex Nichols, 2nd 9-10 beginner Gi, 3rd 9-10 Beginner NoGi

I am very proud of all the competitors and a great showing of support from all the parents, friends and family that attended. Look forward to the next one and hopefully more competitors will be there for BDJJ.

Peace.........and let's keep rollin'

School Field Trip

2011-01-16T12:33:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

We had our first school field trip with 16 of us that went to Fullcrum 360 Jiu-Jitsu, operated by Rick Koenig. Let me first say how warm the reception was that greeted us when we hooked up with their school. They had a sweet Dojo and a great group of students that were like-minded.
Top level Jiu-Jitsu, excellent class led by all of Fullcrum 360's Instructor's. Thank you goes out to Rick Koenig, Mike Leake, and Jeff Pardeck.

We have a tournament coming up in February and we are going as a school and probably with Fullcrum 360 Jiu-Jitsu. Keep up the great work.

Peace and let's keep rollin'..........

Updates, Healing and Training

2011-01-13T21:30:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

I heard from Todd Scarborough today and his surgery went well. It was a clean tear right off the bone of the bicep tendon. They repaired it and he will be back to training in about two months. Great class tonight and some concerns with the new schedule, so I made the following change;

Tuesday Kid's 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Adult 6:30pm to 8:00pm

Thursday Adult 8:00pm to 9:00pm

Friday Kid's 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Saturday (Invite Only) 6:00 am to 7:30am

Keep up the good work, Peace............and let's keep Rollin'

New Year

2011-01-08T08:21:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

Great classes this week. I have to report that Todd Scarborough pulled his bicep tendon this morning training positional control. Remember, never reach out to the far knee. Todd is as tough as they come and will be back after surgery. We have had full classes all week so let's keep up the committment to train.

Upcoming Notifications;

Thursday Classes changed to 8pm to 930pm.

Joint Dojo group training with BDJJ and Fullcrum 360 Jiu-Jitsu in Hollister January 15th at 11am to 1pm, no charge and we will plan to leave Harrison at 10am.

Andrew Cargill Seminar at Fullcrum 360 Jiu-Jitsu in Hollister: $50.00 February 5th.

Professional Photo Shoot, Thursday January 27th starting at 4pm, flyers at the Dojo.

Peace..........And let's keep Rollin'.....

2011 Starts with a Bang.

2011-01-05T10:10:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

We started off 2011 with two great classes between the Kid's and Adults. Can't wait for the rest of the year. As announced we are planning a group trip to Fulcrum 360 Jiu-Jitsu on Saturday January 15th. We will be training with Rick Koenig who operates his Dojo at the "Y" in Hollister, Missouri. The training will be from 11am to about 1pm. All are invited and it is free. Because we are guests at a Dojo, you will be expected to be fully dressed out in a Gi. If you do not have one, wear a rash guard and fight shorts.

Rick is a Purple belt under Ricardo Almeida a UFC fighter and 3rd Degree Black Belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie. Keep working hard and I will see you in class.

Peace.............And let's keep rollin'

Last Class of 2010

2010-12-29T16:08:00.003-06:00

Hey Gang,

Our last class of this year was Tuesday and we had a good turnout and a couple of fun classes. I am really looking forward to 2011 and our new schedule and the new curricullum rollout. Congratulations to;

Danny "Hightower" Fraser, 2010 Adult Student of the Year
Hunter "The Phenom" McCutcheon 2010 Youth Student of the Year

These two students set the bar high for what I am looking for and expect from students. What does it take to become Student of the Year. Make 80% of the classes or more. Have fun and when class time comes Have fun and focus on the business of getting better and learning. I can tell you from over 25 years of Martial Arts, the only way to get better is time in class. This is so crucial to your ground development. There are only so many ways to kick or punch, but there are thousands of ways to develop offense and defense in Jiu-Jitsu. See you in 2011.

Peace.........And let's keep rollin'.......

Promotions and Training

2010-12-15T20:08:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

I hope everyone is doing well and ready to really get into our Martial Arts training. I have been renewed since changing the schedule. Rolling out the new class format of training is also very exciting to me and I hope it will get you going as well. Congratulations to the following students on promotions;

Hunter "The Phenom" McCutcheon, Purple Belt BDJJ
Abby "Shotgun" Marshall, Gold Belt
Mason "Elvis" Marshall, Gold Belt

Keep up the great work and lets work hard.

Peace............And let's keep rollin'......

2011 Class Schedule

2010-12-12T15:34:00.003-06:00

Hey Gang,

Beginning the second week in January (the 4th). Our schedule will be the following;

Tuesday: Kids Class 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Adult Class 6:30pm to 8:00 pm

Thursday: Adult Class 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Friday: Kids Class 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Saturday: 6:00am to 7:30am (Adult Invite Only)

We will rolling Kodokan Judo into every class and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu into every class, like we do anyway, but with more reflex development in those areas. Those with a desire to belt in those two styles just need to let me know and we can get you ready.

Peace.......And let's keep rollin'

Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu 2011 Schedule

2010-12-06T10:46:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

New schedule for classes starting January 2011, hope this works for everyone;

Tuesday Kid's Class 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Adult Class 6:30pm to 8:00 pm

Thursday Adult Class 7:30pm to 8:30pm

Friday Kid's Class 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu 6:30pm to 7:30pm

Peace and let's keep rollin'............

Ode to Saturday Class

2010-12-04T09:06:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

Sitting here on Saturday December 4, 2010 at 9:05 am and it's Danny, Dekota and I. Lately class attendance has become a concern for me. Make no mistake about it, I love teaching Martial Arts and have done it for a long time. I am not sure everyone understands my committment and dedication and cost for putting on classes.
Having said that, I understand the season, family, work and other committments in your life that are way more important to you than a past time of Martial Arts. For me it is more than a past time, it is part of who I am.
Students are going to come and go and not make the determination and sacrifice to become a Black Belt, that is why it is special. I don't mind teaching for little or no money, I don't mind teaching a person or only a couple at a time. But I am using my vacation time to teach, time away from my other committments to teach, time away from my family to teach, there are other things I could be doing as well.
I love and enjoy having each and every one of you in class and hope you continue, but I am making a significant change with the schedule starting in January 2011. Tuesday's classes will remain the same, Friday's classes will remain the same, Sunday Gracie Class will be on Sunday's at 2:00 pm from now on starting immediately. Saturday 6:00 am will remain the same and will still be invite only.
Saturday 9:00 am will be no more. We will move that class to Thursday's at 7:30 pm, if you are there great, I hope you will continue your training and committment. We will meet Saturday's once a month to either train at another local Dojo or roll/spar for a couple of hours. These will be announced at a later time and depend on committment.

Peace.........And let's keep rollin'.........

2010 Midwest Sport Karate Champions

2010-11-29T17:55:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

Have not had a lot to post lately, classes have been plagued by the Holiday Season. Good news the 2010 Midwest Sport Karate Association grappling season has come to an end. Two persons from Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu have been named overall grappling champions.
Congratulations to

Ty Holton, with 75 and 80 points he locked up the Gi and NoGi overall Advanced boys 13-14 Grappling Championship. This is his second overall title in both divisions two years in a row.

Will Potts, with 80 and 80 points he locked up the Gi and NoGi overall Beginners boys 13-14 Grappling Championship. This is Will's first overall title.

Congratulations to both and see you in class.

Peace and let's keep rollin'........

New Month and New Ranks - Congratulations

2010-11-06T07:57:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Another month has passed and 2010 is almost gone. Congratulations to the following students on their new promotions;

Pete Ramsey, Brown Belt 1st
Danny Fraser, Brown Belt 1st
Jessica Clanton, Brown Belt 1st
Crystal Rhyne-Wilburn, White Belt Fundamentals
Melanie Bailey, White Belt Fundamentals

Awesome Job! Let's keep working hard.

Peace..............and let's keep ROLLIN'.....

Law Enforcement Seminar

2010-10-18T00:09:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Another great week of training and working together and having fun with Jiu-Jitsu and Martial Arts. We hosted a Seminar for Law Enforcment Officer's with the Carroll County Sheriff's Department and had about 15 Officer's show up and train. We educated them in Ground Survival for the Law Enforcement Officer, Handcuffing Techniques and Baton usage. We had nothing but positive feedback from the students and Lt. JC Nelson. This is our second Seminar with the Department and Lt. Nelson only commented that more will come. I want to thank Pete, Danny and Jessica for their help with this class, you guys did an awesome job.
Everyone is working hard and really progressing well. I am very pleased with the growth of our Gracie Jiu-Jitsu class.

Peace...........and let's keep rollin'.............

New Certified Gracie Blue Belt

2010-10-04T23:02:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Congratulations goes out to Josh Valentin on his 91% evaluation and newly certified Gracie Blue Belt. That makes number 5, with three more in the mix working toward that goal. Josh is also automatically promoted to Blue Belt in Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu upon receiving his Blue Belt. It is hard work going for belts in three styles of Martial Arts, but well worth the journey.

Peace.............and let's keep rollin'............

Promotions and Tournaments

2010-09-22T05:59:00.003-05:00

Hey Gang,

Running right through this month fast and furious as usual. We have some promotions to handout and tournament victories to recognize;

Nick "Hollywood" Fraser, Blue Belt
Jason "The Heat" Fraser, Blue Belt
Nina "Legion" Ramsey, Purple Belt
Hunter "The Phenom" McCutcheon, Orange Belt
Gabe "Thriller" Chism, Gold Belt
Carson Ricketts, Gold Belt
Alex Nichols, White Belt Fundamentals

And congrats to "Iron" Will Potts for his 3rd place Gi Victory at the Nixa Tournament. Speaking of tournaments, why I have decided not to continue to run the grappling tournaments at the MidSouth Sport Karate Tournaments. Breaking down simply is we do not have enough participants to make it worth my while. To run a grappling tournament takes all the fun out of going to a tournament. We have to set the brackets, weigh the competitors, ref, judge and score the whole event, not to mention putting up with all the complaining, whinning and shady coaches, instructors who are there to sandbag there students to victory and forget integrity. Thanks to Daniel, Jessica and Pete we have been doing just that ourselves, with only 2 - 3 of our youths competing. Not worth it. Plus we are a street self defense school. Having given this alot of thought we will continue to support the Tournament Circuit run by Master Binky Furstenburg. We will go to some tournaments as a group/School, when we have enough competitors. It also takes away from our class time on Saturdays and with very little competitors it does not set well with me to take class time away from you.

Peace.........And let's keep rollin'........

The "Truth" according to Bruce Lee

2010-09-13T09:23:00.002-05:00

The Tao of Jeet Kune Do teaches how Bruce Lee arrived at his personal truth, which he called jeet kune do. The path he used is a clear and concise method that every martial artist can easily apply to his own search. Here’s how:Seek the truth. You have to consciously want to know the truth and look for it. Seek the reality of combat for yourself.
Don’t rely on what your instructor, past masters or other martial artists tell you is the truth. Do your own homework. You won’t learn by copying your neighbor’s homework.
Take every opportunity to study what really takes place in an assault or self-defense situation—not just physically but mentally, too.
What impact did fear, anxiety and anger have on the situation?Become aware of the truth. Know what you’re looking for and don’t be in denial when you discover it.
Martial artists who have devoted years to training in a traditional system and practiced according to what they’ve been taught is the truth sometimes have difficulty accepting that they might have spent years studying a lie. Not only might they have studied a lie, but they also might have spent years training according to that lie.
The important thing is to not dwell on the lie. Be thankful that you’ve become aware of it, then adjust your training to what you now know is real.Perceive the truth. Perception is everything—in life and in the martial arts. Make your perceptions as total in nature as you can. Gather as many facts as possible on the subject or situation before forming a perception.
Experience the truth. When you discover what you perceive to be a truth, put it to the test. In most cases, that means putting on the protective gear and going full contact in a realistic scenario.
This is an extremely important part of discovering the truth, one that many people fail to do. Lee was fond of saying that you cannot learn to swim without getting in the water. Likewise, you cannot learn to fight without fighting.
A word of caution about determining whether the truth you’re experimenting with has any value: If that truth involves using a new technique with which you’re unfamiliar, don’t be too hasty to discount it if it fails. We all know it takes time to master a new technique. The failure of the technique could stem from poor execution rather than poor design.
Master the truth. Once you’ve perceived a truth, experienced it and found it to be true, master that truth. This involves drills and repetitive execution. As you should have done while experiencing that truth, practice it from all angles against many different attackers in as many scenarios as possible. Add it to your training regimen.
Forget the truth and the carrier of the truth. What did Lee mean by this? If the truth you learned was punching skills, the carrier of that truth may have been boxing. Once you’ve developed your hand skills, there’s no longer a need to associate them with boxing. It was merely a vehicle to get you where you wanted to go. Boxing is a truth that belonged to whoever created it. One person’s truth may be another person’s limitation.
By not being bound by this system, you avoid those limitations. You have absorbed what is useful and rejected what is useless.
Repose in the nothing. You cannot rest in the satisfaction of the truth that you’ve discovered because that truth will change with time. Long ago, empty-hand defense against a sword might have been a truth, but today it’s highly unlikely you’ll be attacked by someone wielding such a weapon. But a knife or baseball-bat attack is quite conceivable. The truth of a sword attack has changed—or perhaps “evolved” is a more appropriate term. The fact is, the truth you discover today may be that the truth you learned yesterday is no longer true.

Peace........and let's keep rollin'...

New Month, New Students, New Beginnings...

2010-09-13T07:36:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

August was a great month for BDJJ and the next few will be just as good. I would like to welcome our new students, Crystal Rhyne, Melanie Bailey and Kia Keele. Crystal and Melanie have also joined Razorback Jiu-Jitsu our Gracie Garage and Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu. Several returning students have come back to the fold and I would only encourage them to continue their journey. Every time you stop training it is a personal set back. Congratulations to "Iron" Will Potts for competing in the Nixa Tournament and winning 3rd in his Gi Match. And Congratulations to Josh Valentin on becoming a Police Officer. After years of wanting to get into Law Enforcment he has been sworn in as a Deputy with the Boone County Sheriff's Department. I know that he will be a great assett to their Department.

I know this is a busy time of year for everyone and lots of training has been missed by some of our students. I don't sweat it as much as I used to. Our kids are doing sports, school and other activities and I know they will get back to training more than once a week when these sports end. Parents we are busy as well and when you return great. We have completed the Green Belt video curriculum and the Brown Belt. They should both be on the website to view in the next couple of weeks.

Keep training and working hard.........Peace, and let's keep rollin'...........

Respect, A Big Part of Martial Arts

2010-09-03T01:34:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

I was notified by Grand Master Rhuel Luttrell today that the upstairs training area was trashed by some of our Youth either before or after their class on Tuesday. This was very upsetting to Grand Master Luttrell and I was very embarassed. Martial Arts is supposed to make us better people, more respectful and honoring ourselves, others and property.

From now on the main training area, the back training area and the upstairs is off limits before and after class. The only time the back area will be accessed will be to use the restroom. I hate that we have to resort to this kind of restriction, but it's obvious that trust will have to be earned.

Let's get back to training hard and I will address the Youth Class on honoring and respecting the Dojo.

Peace.......And let's keep rollin'.........

Restricting Youth Black Belts

2010-08-31T00:27:00.002-05:00

Okay Gang,

I have wrestled with this for a long time, questioning my own resolve and reasons. That is why I consulted Grand Master Luttrell on this. Rhuel shot me straight and said I was doing an injustice to our youth by restricting earning a Black Belt before 16. Rhuel thought I was being this way because I did not want anyone to think Ty was given anything the easy way. When you hear the truth, you can't deny the intensity of it.
Rhuel adheres to a full Black Belt at 16 in all styles except Kenpo and that requires 18 years of age unless there is mitigating circumstances where they had proved themselves in a real life situation against an attacker defending themselves or someone else. A Jr. Black Belt can be earned at age 14, and if they keep training they can obtain a full Black Belt at 16 years of age.
I believe this is a good idea and as of today we are adopting this philosophy in Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu.

Peace..........And let's keep rollin'.......

First Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt

2010-08-29T08:44:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

If you missed the testing you missed a landmark event in Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu. But there will be others, this was the first. We had a great turnout of Guests and Honored Martial Artist at the Test. Everyone performed at a high level and set the bar high for future tests in all belts. Congratulations to the following students;

Daniel "The Iron Dragon" Chism, Shodan Black Belt & Assistant Instructor Certification
Ty "The Man" Holton, Red Belt. Brown Belt in Kodokan Judo
Robbie "The Grizz" Freiburger, 1st Brown Belt
Pete "Pistol" Ramsey, Brown Belt
Danny "The Bone Collector/Hightower" Fraser, Brown Belt
Jessica "The Proffesor" Clanton, Brown Belt & Assistant Instructor Certification
Josh "Kahawahi" Valentin, Purple Belt
Sam "Smith, Purple Belt

I could not ask for better students to teach, learn from and grow together as Martial Artist and friends. Daniel was presented a Black Dragon Katana as a symbol of his achievment for his home when he is not wearing his Black Belt or at the Dojo. I especially want to thank Grand Master Rhuel Luttrell for his belief in me and the system and giving it a place to grow. IT was the best birthday I can ever remember, honost. After the testing everyone went outside where my wife had set up a birthday/Black Belt celebration cake and awesome strawberry/ice cream punch. It was great weather to visit and talk and celebrate everyone coming together for a common goal.

Peace.........And let's keep rollin'............

Uke vs. Tori

2010-08-25T09:44:00.003-05:00

BJJ Training Partners: Distinguishing the good from the bad.

At Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu regular training is essential, but unlike some forms of martial arts that rely heavily on repetitions of choreographed forms or katas most of what you learn and practice at BDJJ is performed with a live partner. That provides a much more realistic and dynamic training experience that accelerates learning and helps build muscle memory and mental agility and responsiveness. But it also means that it is important to have a safe and reliable training partner who is trustworthy, respectful, and dependable.

In Grand Master Helio Gracie’s own writings he emphasizes the importance of being a good training partner. He recommends, for example, that when practicing techniques in the role of the “attacker” it is important not to change or alter the attack. When applying a choke or lock do it firmly but not so forcefully that it interferes with practice and mastery of the defensive moves. He also recommends that the person taking the role of “defender” should go through the motions slowly and deliberately in order to get comfortable with the technique and mechanics of each move.
Here are some qualities to seek in a good training partner – and to look out for and avoid when it comes to bad training partners:

A good partner will challenge you to push yourself, exert yourself, and try harder. A bad partner will push you beyond the limits of safety by exerting too much strength or pressure and ignoring your taps and other verbal and non-verbal communications. A one-second delay in responding to a partner can lead to a lifelong injury. Intentionally neglecting or ignoring a partner in order to feel more powerful or victorious is unsafe. Instead “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Treat your training partner just as you would like to be treated, in other words, and everyone will benefit from the experience.

A good partner will never lose his or her temper or let ego overwhelm them. A bad partner is ruled and dominated by egotistical pride and will sacrifice responsibility and respectful sportsmanship for the sake of feeling puffed-up and macho. A good partner is confident and smart. A bad partner lacks self confidence and intelligent technique and tries to compensate by not playing fair and using dangerously poor, potentially harmful techniques.

A good partner is sensitive to the other person’s body mechanics and that makes them a more proficient BDJJ practitioner. A bad partner doesn’t understand the value of sensitivity and relies on brute strength and blind force. That makes bad partners easier to defeat – but it also means that they are hazardous to your health on the training mat.

Our facility is not a slugfest arena or school yard. You’re in a professional training environment. You’re not trying to win; you’re striving to learn. The goal is not to compete with each other but to complement each other’s development. Proceed at a pace that is slow enough to ensure excellent form and everyone’s safety. Speed comes from repetition so you don’t have to artificially force it. Go too fast and you risk sacrificing proper execution which just means you develop bad habits really quickly. Always remain alert and aware that BDJJ techniques can cause pain or even serious injury.

Keep this in mind. If you injure your training partner then you won’t have anyone with whom to train. That pretty much just defeats the whole purpose of showing up to learn Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu, doesn’t it? Choose a good partner. Be a good partner. Excel and advance together, in the true family spirit of Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu.

Peace...........And let's keep rollin'............

ASDAK Double Black Belt Testing & Promotion

2010-08-23T08:33:00.003-05:00

Hey Gang,

Just wanted to say thanks to those of you who went to support Mary Still and Hannah Metcalf in their Black Belt Test under Grand Master Rhuel Luttrell in Bok Fu Quan Fa Jiu-Jitsu. Rhuel has not certified any women in this style as Black Belt since 1977. They performed great and earned their Black Belt.

I also was promoted to my 8th degree Black Belt earning the title of Hichi-Dan. I was very honored to earn this rank at my age. Like Rhuel said it is only by teaching Martial Arts that you ever get promoted beyond 3rd Degree Black Belt. I was also honored to have received a Certified Master Rank Examiner. The only way to earn this title is to be recommended by a Teacher, who had earned that rank. The other qualification is to have one student who has earned the Rank of Black Belt, which will be Daniel Chism on Saturday August 28th. The rank is only given to those teachers who hold the rank of 7th, 8th or 9th Dan Rank.
The certification allows me to test anyone in any style of Martial Arts as long as I have the criteria to work from and test them from.

We have one week to prepare for testing on Saturday, let's be at our best and work hard.

Pease...........And let's keep rollin'..............

Mr. Arkansas Pics

2010-08-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

Hey Gang,

Just to let you know I have downloaded the pics from the 2010 Mr. Arkansas Competition of Ty Holton and Todd Scarborough. They are under the gallery of "Life Outside the Dojo."

Proud of both of them and I know they appreciated all the good will and sentiment sent to them.

Peace.........Let's keep rollin'..........

2010 Mr. Arkansas Championship

2010-08-16T08:36:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

I know a bunch of you are curious about the show this weekend so here is the rundown. It was a great experiance as a father watch his son do things I have never had the opportunity or the guts to do. He competed against three 19 year old men, one 16 year old young man and a 14 year old young man. He went on record as the youngest to ever compete in the Mr. Arkansas Championship. He took 6th out of the group and earned a very cool sword. We learned alot and he is hooked and already gearing up for next year.
Todd Scarborough was great and won 2nd in his Division, Robbed, and took Most Muscular. How do you get 2nd and win most muscular? Kathy, Todd's wife, won 2nd and 3rd in her divisions. Todd did an awesome routine for his individual performance and that boy can dance. Ty did not miss a beat during his performance and really got the crowd involved.
I received a backstage pass for the event and it was really cool to see what was involved. Make no mistake about it these are all athletes. I did not know what to expect, but they were all very humble, friendly and really made Ty feel welcomed and helped him out alot making the experiance for him, something he will carry for the rest of his life.
Thanks to Pete, Danny and Jessica for taking over for me on Friday and Saturday. :)

Peace..............Let's keep rollin'.....

New Month, New Challenges

2010-08-02T09:53:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Happy to report another great week of Jiu-Jitsu and Another to come. We have been working hard preparing for testing at the end of the Month. Remember August 28th at 5:00 p.m. for Daniel Chism's Black Belt Test and a number of others who are preparing to test that night.

More Vids on the Website, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Basics. You will notice they mirror our Basics because that is where I adopted the techniques from. As you are aware we went to Carroll County Sheriff's Office and put on a course entitled, "Ground Survival for the Law Enforcement Officer". It was a hit and Lt. J.C. Nelson asked me to become the Defensive Tactics Instructor for their Department, I accepted. On October 16th from 9am - 5pm we will host Defensive Tactics instruction for their upcoming Deputy Reserve program. Up to 15 to 20 Deputies will attend. I will tap a few of you to assist in the Basic Jiu-Jitsu Application portion of this instruction.

Peace.........And let's keep rollin'............

Dan (Rank) History of the Ranking System

2010-07-22T08:41:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Just wanted to post a little history on the Ranking System of Martial Arts. This should interest all of you and especially with next months big testing cycle and Daniel Chism's upcoming Black Belt Testing;

The dan (段 dan^?) ranking system is a Japanese mark of level, which is used in traditional fine arts and martial arts. Originally invented in a Go school in the Edo period,^[1] this system was later applied to martial arts by Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo and later introduced to other East Asian countries.

In the modern Japanese martial arts, holders of dan ranks often wear a black belt. Dan ranks are still given in arts such as the strategy board games Go and Renju, the art of flower arrangement (ikebana), and tea ceremony.

The character of Dan (段, dan^?) is used in Japanese to mean step or grade, and is commonly equated with degree. However, the origin of the Chinese character, pronounced duán in modern Pinyin, was used to mean "phase". Dan rank is often used along with the lower rank system, Kyū (級, Kyū^?) rank. There are other methods of assessing rank in Japanese martial systems, of particular note is the older, menkyo system.

Traditionally, the level of players has been defined using kyu and dan ranks. ^[3] Kyu ranks are considered student ranks.^[4] Dan ranks are considered master ranks.^[4] Especially in amateur play, these ranks facilitate the handicapping system, with a difference of one rank roughly corresponding to one free move at the beginning of the game. With the ready availability of calculators and computers, rating systems have been introduced. In such systems, a rating is rigorously calculated on the basis of game results.

Dan (abbreviated online as "d") ranks are for advanced amateur players. Although many organisations let players choose their own kyu rank to a certain extent, dan ranks are often regulated. This means that players will have to show good results in tournaments or pass exams to be awarded a dan rank. Serious students of the game will often strive to attain a dan rank. For amateurs, dan ranks up to 7th dan are available; above this level, a player must become a professional player to achieve further promotions.

Although players that have achieved professional dan ranks are nominally stronger than amateur dan players, in practice some of the strongest 7th dan amateur players have a playing level on par with that of some professional players.

While the use of the kyū/dan system, and colored belts is common to both martial arts of direct Japanese or other east Asian origin, and to arts that are derived from these, or from other areas, it is not universal.

[edit] In Japanese arts

In modern times, a dan-ranked practitioner of a style is usually recognized as a martial artist who has surpassed the kyū, or basic, ranks. They may also become a licensed instructor in their art. In many styles, however, achieving a dan rank means that while one is no longer considered a beginner, one is not yet necessarily an expert. Rather it means that one has learned the basics.

The total number of dan ranks is style-specific (1st through 5th and 1st through 10th are common in Japanese arts). The lower dan grades can normally be attained through a grading examination or sometimes through competition. The higher dan grades usually require years of experience and contribution to the relevant martial art. This may be through instruction or research and publication. These grades can only be awarded by a higher-graded representative of the principal dojo or sometimes by a steering committee. There is no set achievement level that is universal. Ranking systems are specific to the school or style, so ranks do not necessarily translate across different martial arts styles. In fact, dan ranks do not necessarily indicate one wears a black belt. In certain martial arts such as iaidō, kendō or jōdō, no external signifier of rank is worn, though it is by far the most common and recognizable symbol by the general public.

The highest dan ranks are sometimes reserved for the founder or leaders of a style and only high ranking students can be promoted to them. This has led to upper level ranks becoming extinct in some arts. For example, in judo there are only seven living tenth-level dans in the world and only nineteen have been promoted to the rank since its inception.^[5] In other styles the dan ranks are not the highest level that might be attained, with instructor certification and judge/judgment authorization being understood as higher-level or more sophisticated.

[edit] Ranks in Japanese

Many arts use between one and ten dan ranks:

shodan (初段:しょだん): first degree black belt (technically, shodan is "beginning degree" and ichidan is "first degree"; the latter term is less commonly used)
nidan (二段:にだん): second degree black belt
sandan (三段:さんだん): third degree black belt
yondan (四段:よんだん): fourth degree black belt
godan (五段:ごだん): fifth degree black belt
rokudan (六段:ろくだん): sixth degree black belt
shichidan (七段:しちだん): seventh degree black belt (alternatively, nanadan)
hachidan (八段:はちだん): eighth degree black belt
kyūdan (九段:きゅうだん): ninth degree black belt
jūdan (十段:じゅうだん): tenth degree black belt

In certain styles, shodan implies that all the basics of the style have been mastered. At sandan the student is deemed capable of teaching independently as a teacher or instructor, often called sensei. At Godan, the budōka may receive certification as a master level practitioner (Shidōin). Generally, the lower dan ranks are validated on the basis of knowledge and physical skill. The higher the dan rank, the more leadership ability, teaching experience, and service to the style play a role in promotion. For example, in British judo, to gain promotion from 1st to 5th Dan, judo players must demonstrate theoretical technique and competitive skill in graded competitions. Promotions from 6th to 10th Dan are awarded for services to the sport of judo.

In Kendo the dan system was recently changed so that 8th dan is the highest attainable rank. Unlike Judo, all dan promotion within the ZNKR, IKF and its member countries is by examination. Whereas dan grades are awarded for technical ability, there is a parallel Shogo system awarding Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi, against suitability as a role model to some members of the Kodansha ranks of 6th, 7th and 8th dan. Renshi and Kyoshi are awarded on written examination and Hanshi by election. There is some debate amongst non-Japanese kendoka about the fairness of the Kyoshi test, which unlike the equivalent for Renshi, must be written in Japanese.

Although the dan system is distinctly Japanese, it has been adopted by many other martial arts styles. The dan system and the well-known symbol of a black-belt have been absorbed into common usage to represent a person with above-average or highly-trained skills in a particular discipline. A unique variation is Okinawan Isshinryu Karate. The oldest practitioners are Americans who have taught thousands of people in the US since 1956. Consequently, there are over 10 Isshinryu associations and several legitimate 10th dans in the Isshinryu system world wide- as many as 15 at last count- all with 40- 50 years experience as instructors.

[edit] Chinese arts

Since 1998 the Chinese Wushu Association together with the National Sport Commission and the Chinese Wushu Research Institute has established a graduation system based on nine Duan levels:

Symbol: Duan Wei (level)

Beginning Level:

So-called basic duans for students with some years of experience.

1. Qingying—yi duan: Blue Eagle
2. Yinying—er duan: Silver Eagle
3. Jinying—san duan: Gold Eagle

Testing

2010-07-21T08:16:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

We have had alot of people testing lately and one thing I have noticed is that people may be seeing the next belt as where they are at instead of refining their techniques to make sure that is where they belong. Allthough you may have passed your test, as you continue to advance the critique gets harder. Having said that, I am proud of the work you have put in and let's try and internalize what we have learned and not just make the moves. The only way to do this is trying to get to 10,000 times.
Congrats to the following students;

Hunter "The Phenom" McCutcheon, Gold Belt BDJJ
Carson Ricketts, White Belt Fundamentals BDJJ
Chance Ricketts, White Belt Fundamentals BDJJ
Gabe Chism, White Belt Fundamentals BDJJ

Peace.........and let's keep rollin'.........

Everything I Need to Know I Learned In Martial Arts

2010-07-19T12:04:00.002-05:00

* When you get knocked on your butt, get right back up and smile
* Wearing a uniform doesn't mean you're not unique. It means you belong to something greater than your solitary self.
* There's a huge difference between being confident and being arrogant.
* Respect those who know more than you do-which is a whole lot of people.
* You can learn something from everyone, even if he or she is a lower rank than you.
* Set big goals and take determined steps. Step, Step, Step, you'll get where your going.
* If you're a good student, you'll learn what's taught to you. If you're a wise student you'll know how little you really know.
* Observe and learn from nature. like a cat always land on your feet. like a snake, be flexible and bend without breaking. Like a bird build a strong nest and protect your family. like a fish that has swallowed a hook, fight back. Like a flower bloom and bring beauty to the world.
* There is a bully in every group, strive to give them the attention they crave.
* Daily repetition and practice will transform and ordinary person into an extrodinary being.
* Fight when you must, seek peace and harmony the rest of the time.
* Age is something to be honored and respected.
* Truly strong people don't need to tell the world about their strength, it shows.
* Protect those who are weaker
* Mentor those who wish to learn.
* Discipline your mind and your body will follow
* Truly, madly, deeply love your chosen art. This love will transform you and make you a more lovable person to all who come in contact with you.
* Love God and he will love you back.

Growing, New Online Curriculum

2010-07-19T11:52:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Wow, another great week. The Black Dragon San Shou Jiu-Jitsu Curriculum is now in print and on video from White to Purple Belts with more coming and we should have the entire Curriculum in video by the end of the summer. Thanks to Bone Crusher Danny Fraser for editing, getting the music, directing and uploading, he is a one man army.
Congrats to;

Sadie "Monster" Smith, White Belt Fundamentals, a job well done.

I must say everyone is working hard and looking so crisp and technical rolling and working their Belts, I am impressed. We are gearing up for a big test in August (Date to be announced), if anyone feels they are close to ready to test, see me in class and we will get you where you need to be. This testing marks significant mile stones in several students Martial Arts journey. Daniel Chism, has been traing under me for four years and will be the first BDJJ Black Belt in the system, Ty Holton will be testing for his Red Belt and his Judo Brown Belt and will have two years to prepare for his Black Belt, because he has to be 16 to achieve the Rank of Black Belt in BDJJ, and Judo. I will be testing three Brown Belts during this time, Pete Ramsey, Danny Fraser and Jessica Clanton.

Peace....... and let's keep rollin'............

Spc. Clayton McGarrah R.I.P.

2010-07-15T06:26:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Honor and Respect is something we talk about and strive to do everyday inside and outside the Dojo. Yesterday I joined the Patriot Guard Riders in Honoring Spc. Clayton McGarrah. I knew Clayton, and know his Father Bo and his Mother Michelle, they are good people. I have to tell you that ride was something that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
We estimated over 450 motorcycles and throngs of people were out in support. 20 of us met at FedEx Freight and rode to the rallying point, (American Legion) on Hwy. 7 South. There we were met by hundreds of bikers and more arriving behind us. We had our meeting then all the bikes started up and we rode to the church for the funeral. We had a honor guard with flags leading into the church and everybody else was hydrating and waiting to help one another. After the funeral we rode in a huge procession to the graveside service at Maplewood Cemetary. I have to say seeing all the outpouring with people lining the road on both sides holding flags and signs of support and waving and giving a thumbs up sign was overwhelming.
I was filled with Pride, Patriotism, and humbled at what we accomplished as a whole. All I can say is God Bless America and the common person.

Peace..........And let's keep rollin'.................

Ground Survival for the Law Enforcement Officer

2010-07-11T20:18:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Let me start off by saying what a great Jiu-Jitsu weekend we had. First off let me thank Lt. J.C. Nelson with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office who has the forsight to see the benefit of learning how to survive on the ground and how it could benefit their Deputies, along with Chief Mark Bailey with the Alpena Police Department. We had a great turnout of Officer's and I had nothing but positive feedback in return. I also wish to thank Instructors Pete Ramsey and Daniel Fraser and future Instructors Jessica Clanton and Josh Valentin. Without their help it would not have been possible to put on this seminar.

We conducted the Seminar at the Carroll County Sheriff's Office and went over a huge amount of techniques in those training hours. Everyone had a great time and Lt. Nelson was interested in keeping this training going. We also had a great workout in the 6am-9am classes. I look forward to Tuesday.

Peace............and let's keep rollin'...........

Happy Holiday

2010-07-05T17:02:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

I hope everyone had as good a 4th of July holiday as I did. We had class Friday and Saturday. Small classes (as expected), but we got alot of good work in. I was invited to Todd Scarborough's for a UFC Fight Night. The fights were all great. Great Striking and better Jiu-Jitsu, and some Judo. Thanks Todd We had a blast.

Sunday it was a Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu affair, thanks to Danny Fraser. Again 2nd year there and I appreciate it, we had a blast. Look forward to seeing everyone back in class on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

Peace.............and Let's keep rollin'.............

Great Tournament in Nixa, Missouri

2010-06-27T06:42:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

The Golden Lion Open in Nixa, Missouri turned out to be one of the biggest turnouts we have had over the past two seasons. All together there were over 100 competitors. We had a huge kid's turnout and a large adult turnout to test their skills on the mat and get a chance to roll outside their own Dojo's. Out of our school we had 3 competitors. I want to thank Danny Fraser, Pete Ramsey and Jessica Clanton for coming out in support and helping organize and run the two rings, without them there would be no tournament. I can't begin to explain how important this is in running a grappling tournament. The Jiu-Jitsu was at a high level and as busy as we were running the show we saw some amazing talent. Congratulations to our competitors who won the following;

Hunter "The Phenom" McCutcheon, 7-8 boys beginner class -2nd Gi, 3rd NoGi; Hunter performed so well and fought very hard, I have never had a student his age progress so well and have a greater desire to learn and pay attention, can't wait to see what he will do with more time.

Will Potts, 13-14 boys beginner class, 1st Gi, 1st No-Gi; Will pulled off a sweet triangle in his final match in nogi it was awesome, he fought like it was payday. We really need to think of a nickname for Will, suggestions are welcome. Will also won all his exhabition matches.

Ty Holton, 13-14 boys advanced class, 1st Gi, 1st No-Gi; Ty pulled off a "Heaven and Earth" submission during his nogi match, the first I ever saw. He even taught it to the person he faught who wanted to learn it after the match, that is great sportsmanship. Ty went up against a huge 190 lbs, solid, 13 year old in an exhabition match losing to a wicked Kimura. Ty was the only competitor who stepped up to volunteer to fight him.

I am proud of everyone who came and helped out, Charlie and Celeste McCutcheon, Rob Yarborough. Can't wait for class, this is my last week on evening shift and I will be back for all classes.

Peace,.........and let's keep rollin'............

Another Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt

2010-06-22T21:18:00.003-05:00

Hey Gang,

We had a great class this evening, Josh Valentin is back from his two month training to become a Police Officer, an endeavor, I greatly appreciate. He brought one of the other new Police Officer's with him, so let's welcome Carl onboard and hope that he joins. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jessica Clanton on her advancement to Blue Belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Ryron and Rener Gracie of the World Famous Gracie Academy in Torrence, California. She is the 100th Gracie Blue Belt outside of a Certified Training Center and the 2nd woman who has earned her Gracie Blue Belt outside of a Certified Training Center. I can't tell you how proud that I am.
It is hard enough to earn a Black Belt in any Martial Art, (easy if it's a McDojo), but Jessica, Pete, Danny, Josh and Ty are all going for multiple belts in Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu, Kodokan Judo and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. They are really pushing themselves and it shows in how adept they are getting in those styles.
We are set for a Seminar in July putting on a training session for the Carroll County Sheriff's Department. The training is called "Ground Survival for the Law Enforcement Officer". I am greatful to have Pete, Danny, Jessica, Tony, and Josh help in teaching this course to about 20-30 Officer's. I see great things in our future.

Keep up the great work, Peace, and let's keep rollin'.................

Advancements

2010-06-21T16:34:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Another great training week went by and the hard work is really showing. Having dedicated students willing to learn, teach and have fun goes a long way into what BDJJ is all about. Congratulations to the following students in advancing to their next rank;

Tony Conway, Blue Belt BDJJ
Trenton Conway, Blue Belt BDJJ
Sam Smith, Orange Belt BDJJ

Keep up the good work, peace, let's keep rollin'...........

Hard Work and New Students

2010-06-17T21:47:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

We have been working hard, injuries are down and we have had a new student or two come in and we are happy to have them as part of our Martial Arts family. Pretty soon the injured should be coming back to class to work including myself.

Congratulations to the following students on their advancement;

Devin Brumley advanced to Blue Belt
Hunter McCutcheon passed his White Belt Fundamentals

Keep up the hard work and see you in class.

Peace and let's keep rollin'........................

B.J. Penn, Author of The Book of Knowledge

2010-06-14T16:29:00.003-05:00

I have been reading a booked authored by BJ Penn and UFC Martial Artist and superior Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and Striker. I would just like to share an insight he gave in his book regarding fighting in MMA. I share this because it mirrors our philosophy in Black Dragon San Shou Jiu-Jitsu;

You cannot win an MMA fight on grappling alone, especially when you were competing against the best fighters in the world. The main hold in my game had to do with bringing the fight to the ground. In Jiu-Jitsu, I had never learned any takedowns. Understanding that wrestling was as technical in the takedown department as jiu-jitsu was in the submission department, I began training with as many wrestlers and MMA fighters as I could. In addition to picking up a whole slew of takedowns, I also learned little tricks on how to blend those takedowns with both striking and submissions.
I cannot express in words how much branching out helped me. I truly believe that you can learn something from everybody, whether that somebody is a white belt or a black belt. Some techniques and strategies you acquire will fit nicely into your game, and others won't suit you at all. But it is extremely beneficial to keep an open mind and absorb what you can from people who are willing to share. If you only train in one place, you only have one idea.

This book has given me a better idea of who BJ Penn is and where he came from. Keep up the great work and work hard.

Peace.............Let's keep rollin'.............

Richard "Mack" Machowicz Part III

2010-06-07T16:18:00.002-05:00

Mack never mentions using a specific punch or kick to destroy those intended targets. It goes back to his premise that principles are more powerful than techniques, he says. "They enable you to overcome someone who's technically better."
Mind set begins long before you find yourself in a fight. In Martial Arts we train for physical discipline, but more important is using that discipline in daily life. You will use that discipline your life than you will in the Dojo. If you don't practice the mental approach in everything you do, the odds of being able to use it in a fight are minimal. If you have the approach of not-dead-can't-quit attitude, it will show up under stress and pressure. So when the guy puts his hands around your throat, it's familiar, you know the feeling, the fear. The mental connection to applying those principles will allow you to maintain your edge and actually improve it.

Great article and one I agree with or I would not have shared it. Keep up the hard work.

Peace.............and let's keep rollin'

Richard "Mack" Machowics Part II

2010-06-03T16:07:00.002-05:00

In a fight, you can't fixate on what might go wrong; you should focus on what you need to accomplish. "Rarely if ever will you experiance combat, and most likely you will never see combat in a literal sense, but the principles that make for effectiveness in battle are relevant to the daily challenges you face. When you start going after the things you want in life, you'll experiance doubt, second guessing, hesitation, adversity, pain, stress, pressure and fear. what better way to learn how to manage that than to train in a physical discipline that brings those things into existance? The dynamic you experiance in the Dojo is a small part of your life. To go after what you want in life you better be comfortable with being uncomfortable - which is what Martial Arts training is all about.
In Martial Arts you need a calm and composed mind, you need patience, which Jiu-Jitsu is all about. If you get panicky when you're in an armbar or a choke, it's all over. Learning how to be patient when you have a Gracie on your back or a 250-pound guy on your chest is the best way to survive. Life is a marathon with sprints. It's patience, patience, patience, and when you see an opportunity you sprint.
It's not fancy techniques that win most matches; it's the well placed punch to the head. It's those basic attacks - the knee, the punch, the rear naked choke-that work. it's not the sophistacated techniques that win/survive; the sound principles.

More to come. Peace and let's keep rollin'.................

Tradition, Reality Fighting, MMA and the Big Picture

2010-05-26T18:00:00.002-05:00

Richard "Mack" Machowicz authored the book, Unleash the Warrior Within. He is also the host of the show Future Weapons. He is a former Navy SEAL, Hand to Hand Combat Instructor, studied Muay Thai, Kali, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Paul Vunak's take on Jeet Kune Do. Machowicz also founded the Martial Art Bukido. He recently was interviewed in Black Belt Magazine and had interesting insight in todays world of Martial Arts. Below is some of the interview;

Real fighting is not about Art or Style-Bruce Lee was big on that. It comes down to what works and what doesn't for you. There are physical attributes that a 225 pound guy can bring to the table that smaller persons may not have. Mack explaines that fighting is composed of three dynamic elements, everything in life is a movement or a target, which is most important. Most people say movement because that is what they have spent years working on. As a person grabs your arm, most try to do a wrist break technique. Take out the persons eye.

Once you shift you intention to the target, you actually affected the target. You did not think about movement or your weapon. When your connected to the target, weapons show up without thought because you already know how to do this. How does a person with years of martial arts training transcend technique and focus on the target. You have to start using your body to see, hear, touch. If you go into a situation where you think you already know what's going to happen and what you're going to do and it's not based on what's really happening, your not being present.

Move to come on this interview and blog, Peace, let's keep rollin'..........

Running Out of White Belts

2010-05-25T20:35:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Just wanted to say that the hard work is paying off. I would like to congratulate the following students who have tested and advanced;

Sam Smith, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Sammy Smith, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Will Smith, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Mason Marshall, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Abby Marshall, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu

Keep up the good work, Peace, and let's keep rollin'............

Law Enforcement Training / Great Weekend

2010-05-24T16:57:00.003-05:00

Hey Gang,

I thought we had a great week of training and a super Saturday training with full classes in both the Kid's and the Adult classes. We had some promotions and I want to announce two more;

Congratulations to;

Mason "Elvis" Marshall, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Abby "Shotgun" Marshall, Gold Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu

We did not have a Judo class, but we had GrandMaster Scott and GrandMaster Luttrell and myself judge one of Mr. Scott's students from Mountain Home who tested for his Shodan in Kodokan Judo and received a Black Belt - R, (Recommended). In six months it will be determined if he receives his full Shodan. Thanks to Pete Ramsey, Danny Fraser and Jessica Clanton for working with the student during his test, you guys rock.

One of our own has been in training to become a Police Officer and is going through the Boone County Sheriff's Department's 100 hour Reserve Officer Course. I have received several reports from my friends and brothers who are teaching and they have been impressed with Josh Valentin thus far. Tony and Trenton Conway and Ty and I ended up at their class after our classes ended Saturday afternoon. They are going over Ground Fighting, Handcuffing, Gun Retention and ASP and PR-24 training. That is what I taught for years when I was a full time Law Enforcement Officer. The Instructors are top notch and some of the best Officer's I know; Sergeant John Contreras, Sergeant Calvin Dees, Sergeant Mike Henderson and Deputy Dearing were all teaching the class.
They asked me to come back after their lunch break and invited me to Assist in the training, I got to tell you I jumped at the chance. I believe it's some of the most important training they will receive.

We went over two mount escapes and passing the guard, they even got to beat each other up playing Good Cop bad Guy scenerio's. I saw a lot of good potentional for Officer's and I was very humbled and honored to be a part of their training. Several said that they will come back as students after the course ends, let's hope, the more the better. Let's keep up the great work.

Saturday night Todd and Kathy Scarborough came over to my house to check on Ty's techniques and change his weight lifting schedule. As some of you know Todd and his wife are bodybuilders and the most knowledgable people I know about fitness and life. Todd, Kathy and Ty are all competing in the Mr. Arkansas in August 2010. So far Ty has gained 20 lbs. in 5 months and is taking the training very serious. Anyway Todd and Kathy took us out to dinner and then we went on a motorcycle ride. Trailing those two sculpted physics makes me want to train harder and eat better.

See you in class...........Peace and let's keep rollin'........:)

Promotions and Injury Gremlin's Loose at the Dojo

2010-05-18T20:32:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Our thoughts still go out to Dave Breedlove and wish him the best healing from his broken leg. And healing thoughts need to go out to Stacey Wheeler as she heals from her fractured foot and pulled tendon. She is a trooper because not many people would come just to watch and take in what is being taught, way to go Stacey.

Congratulations to the following students on their promotions;

Pete "Pistol" Ramsey, Green Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Jessica "The Professor" Clanton. Green Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Danny "High Tower" Fraser, Green Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Nick "Hollywood" Fraser, Purple Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Jason "The Heat" Fraser, Purple Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu
Nina "Legion" Ramsey, Orange Belt Black Dragon San-Shou Jiu-Jitsu

The should be two more promotions to come, but they have missed the last few classes, so we will wait and see. Everyone has been working hard and really performing well. I was very pleased with the discipline in the kids class on Tuesday, keep it up.

Peace, and let's keep rollin'..........

Injury Bug, New Students and May

2010-05-03T16:30:00.002-05:00

Gang I thought that the month of April went well and we trained very hard. Congratulations to Jael "Jelly" Ramsey and Hunter McCutcheon on being named co-Students of the Month for April. We need to send out healing thoughts and prayers to Dave Breedlove who received a Spiral break of his Fibula that may require surgery. The break was on a very easy move in our Kodokan Judo class but his foot stuck on the floor and that was that. We try to be careful in everything we do but things happen.
You may ask, well why do bones always snap, crack and pop when Danny "The Bone Collector" Fraser is the Tory. I must say, having been a recipient of three broken bones that it was my fault, but I think when your 6'8", it may have something to do with it.

Anyway, let's keep working hard and learning from one another.

Peace and let's keep rollin'............

The Lab Class: Expanding Jiu Jitsu Beyond its Limits

2010-04-21T02:09:00.003-05:00

This is an article written and sent to me by Ari Bolden of Submissions 101. It is an excellent idea that I plan on implementing in class soon.

Bruce Lee said "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless--like

water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, You put

water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, You put it in a teapot,

it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water

my friend."

This article revolves around what I like to call the "Lab"

class.

It was brought about by something I heard Eddie Bravo say several

years ago. Eddie was explaining that his students were mad

scientists on the mat and they were constantly pushing the limits

of the 10th Planet system. His students were coming up with new

transitions, moves and theories around jiu jitsu and grappling in

general.

Any teacher will tell you that we learn from our students. It's

not just our own teachers that are pushing us along the path-it is

our very own students that help us redefine how we look at

grappling. If you truly want to have an open mind about jiu jitsu,

you may want to implement the Lab class once a month at your school.

What is it?

The Lab class is a specific class designed to let students get

their creative juices flowing. If you have open mat at your school,

you can BET that your students are trying things that you DON'T

teach them. They are bringing in ideas that they saw on You Tube or

read in a book and trying them on their own time. Why not benefit

from this and have the whole class participate. The Lab will help

you rediscover moves that you have forgotten about and also help

the students realize where dead ends occur and what is actually

viable.

In the Lab, you are a guide (not so much a teacher). You let

your

students play around with techniques and YOU ask a lot of WHY

questions. You need to use this Socratic Method to help them break

down all the avenues in their own minds. You also may have legit

question yourself and need another perspective to help you

understand.

Lab classes are totally free flowing and they may wander down

paths that you had no idea existed. You may start at one topic and

end up somewhere totally different. Just go with it. I can ASSURE

you that your students, no matter what level they are, will feel

empowered hugely by these classes. The reason is that they are

using their mental powers to break down walls and discovering

things for themselves and having other people in the lab make or

break their techniques.

I typically will introduce something to get them started. Let's

say you are working off options in the crucifix or crack head

control (10th Planetjj) positions. You tell your students to break

up in pairs and see what they can come up with from those

positions. You let them drill and play around with stuff for about

15 minutes. Then, you call everyone back to the circle. You go

through each pair and say "what do you have?"

Now, what you will find is one of 3 things.

The first is that they have discovered something that is legit.

legit, that someone else has already discovered it. It could be a

way to take the back or a choke from catch wrestling that they

aren't aware of. As a teacher (or a GUIDE), you tell them that this

is a LEGIT move and that they indeed rediscovered something. Tell

them of your own experiences of thinking that you too had thought

you had invented something only to find out that it did indeed

exist. While it can be argued that this is the case with all

techniques (I don't necessary believe this), you must praise your

students for being open and having self discovery. They will feel a

sense of pride in knowing that they put the puzzle together and

found a neat solution to a problem by themselves. Just because

someone else 'invented' the move, having discovered it for oneself

is a milestone. Don't understate this.

The second point is that they have invented something that SEEMS

to work but in actually fact doesn't. Last night, one of my guys

thought he invented a choke of a high guard (from crack head

control). I watched him do it and saw his partner tap. He did it

again and his partner tapped AGAIN. I explained to him "in order to

make this move legit and have it named after you (use humor to help

guide your students...remember, you are having fun in the LAB),

the move must survive resistance and living rolling. If you can

pull it off in live rolling, then we'll take a real closer look at

it.

I knew the move had flaws but I also knew it would get a

different

reaction when just looking at it from the outside in. I had these

guys demonstrate the move in front of everyone. The class went

"oooooooh", "wow" " cool" and "I like that". What looks good from

the outside doesn't always mean it works. I simply had my guy put

the move on me and sat there. No tap and thumbs up. I had him try

on a few other guys. Same result.

It is at this point that you ask the students in the lab why

isn't

it working? They begin to re think their initial thoughts and help

break down the process of getting out of the move or how to stifle

it. Again, the lab is about having your students BREAK things down.

The last thing you will find in the Lab is that your students

actually discover something new (or that you have never seen).

While this COULD fall into the first category of rediscovery (we

must admit as teachers that we don't know everything), it is

possible that they are onto something totally cool and new. One of

my students saw an opening in a 10th Planet technique to get up a

gogoplata. I hadn't seen it nor had Eddie or anyone else. It was

right there in front of our eyes and no one saw it. But guess what?

It is legit and works in LIVE rolling. Chalk one up for youth and

exuberance!

So, once a month, see what your students are up to. Check in

with

them in a LAB class. You'll see that they are doing stuff like the

rubber guard, 50/50, inverted guard, crushes and more. They may

have been working on stuff that you were not aware of. This is a

good time to check in and either guide them back on the path or

realize that you need to be looking down theirs.

Promotions

2010-04-16T07:22:00.002-05:00

I want to recognize the following individuals for their advancement in BDJJ and Kodokan Judo, and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Their tireless effort is noted by everyone. It's one thing to try and climb the Martial Arts ladder to Black Belt in one style alone, where many fail. It's on a whole other level when you are trying to advance in three. Congrats and keep up the great work.

Pete Ramsey, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt, Kodokan Judo Brown Belt
Daniel Fraser, Kodokan Judo Green Belt
Jessica Clanton, Kodokan Judo Green Belt
David Breedlove, Kodokan Judo Green Belt, Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt
Josh Valentin, Black Dragon San Shou Jiu-Jitsu Orange Belt, Kodokan Judo Yellow Belt

Peace, and let's keep rollin'............

Promotions and Martial Arts in General

2010-04-12T01:35:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

Congratulations to Josh Valentin on his promotion to Orange Belt and Congratulations to Ty Holton on his Promotion to Brown Belt 3rd Degree. I also want to thank the students for their effort in class over the new year. I think we have been working really hard to improve and it has been showing in class. Constant drilling of technique and cooperative learning is making a difference.

I recently cancelled the Wednesday Gracie Garage Class for a few reasons. Number one the persons who are onboard have been advancing in record time because we utilize the Gracie System in our regular classes. Number two we need time for ourselves and our families and I do not want to burn everyone out. The Friday Gracie Class is still good to go.

I can't tell you enough how proud I am of you in your growth as Martial Artist. You are a great bunch to have the honor of teaching, and I have learned a great deal from you. Keep up the great work, spread the word.

Peace...Let's keep rollin'......

Battle of the Dragon's Tournament Nixa, Missouri

2010-03-29T06:15:00.002-05:00

Hey Gang,

We had a good turn out for the Grappling portion of the Nixa Tournament and we saw a lot of high level Jiu-Jitsu. I was very proud of our participants and our MASK Team for making it happen. The results of the tournament are as follows;

Jason "The Heat Fraser" Boys Intermediate 3rd Gi
Ty "The Man" Holton Boys Advanced 2nd Gi, 1st NoGi
Will Potts Boys Beginner 2nd GI

Special Shout out to Nick and Jason Fraser. The last two tournament Nick did not feel like competing but went out and did exibition matches (winning) and both Jason and Nick helped by doing exibitions matches to two young new Jiu-Jitsu competitors. These matches really excited the crowd and it showed great character on their part. Both are named Student of the Month for March for their outstanding inner character.

Let's Keep Rollin', Peace..........

Razorback Jiu-Jitsu - Gracie Garage First Blue Belt

2010-03-17T00:57:00.002-05:00

Congratulations goes out to Danny "Hightower" Fraser for being the first to earn his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt. Danny has been working hard for the past year to earn that belt and received a great evaluation with many compliments by Rener Gracie. Again Danny a job well done.

Congratulations also goes out to Sammy "The Bull" Smith and Will Potts who completed their White Belt fundamentals in Black Dragon San Shou Jiu-Jitsu. Good job and and excellent test.

Let's keep working and Rollin'............Peace.

Sensei C.L. Bergeron

2010-03-12T01:21:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

Those of you that came to Fight Night on Thursday I appreciate it. C.L. Bergeron is a very important person in my life. Not only in Martial Arts, Police Work, and Civilian Work. It seems we are always doing the same things.
C.L. awarded me my first Black Belt. An Endeavor that took 10 years. As you saw, he loves to teach and knows what he is talking about. I thought Rhuel did a fantastic job getting as many students as he could to come down and welcome C.L. He had nothing but good things to say about all of you.
Congratulations to Sam Smith for completing his white belt fundamentals. We have been working hard lately in class, let's keep up the good work.

Peace, Let's keep rollin'...........:)

Ryan Jones Wins his First MMA Match at the Brick Yard

2010-02-22T11:39:00.002-06:00

Hey Gang,

About 10 of us went up as a group to the Brick Yard in Mountain Home, Arkansas to watch some rowdy MMA fights. Ryan Jones, Rhuel's Grandson was the first fight of the evening and if you blinked you missed it. I have seen Ryan fight in Boxing, KickBoxing but this was his first MMA match in a cage. This was also the most polished I had seen Ryan. He was ready.

We will post the all the fights on our website soon. Ryan's fight lasted about 15 seconds. Ryan's was the only fight not decided by a ground game. Congratulations Ryan I am very proud of you. Every fight that night was about the Ground Game. The fighters that knew the ground game decided the winner. All in all alot of good fights and a great time for all that went.

If you missed Saturday's class, too bad. We fought for an hour and a half in both stand up and the ground.

Peace, let's keep rollin'.........:)

M.A.S.K. February Tournament 2010

2010-02-15T09:01:00.002-06:00

Hello to all, we kicked off the first tournament of the year in Nixa, Missouri this past weekend with great results. It was one of the best showings we ever had. The kid's division was a little small but those that did compete had a great time. All together 115 competitors overall. There was alot of talented Jiu-Jitsu grapplers that showed up. I think we only had 6 competitors that were beginners overall. Most were Intermediate level and Advanced. Thanks goes out to Pete and Jessica for bringing there puzzle mats for the 2nd ring, it was greatly appreciated by all.
Thanks to Brandy Harrison, and Jessica Clanton for helping as Judge and Scorekeeper, Thanks to Pete Ramsey refering ring 2 and helping bracket the divisions. Thanks to Danny Fraser for handling ring 1 for the majority of the time by himself and setting the brackets. Give Danny a computer and it's magic. I appreciate all the effort. The results of the tournament are as follows;

Jason Fraser, 11-12 boys, Intermediate 1st Gi, Absolute Grand Champion
Ty Holton, 13-14 boys, Advanced 1st Gi, 1st NoGi
Logan Cook, Adult Middle Weight, 1st Gi, 2nd NoGi
Will Potts, 13-14 boys, Begginer, 2nd Gi

Congratulations, Peace and let's keep Rollin'.............

Charity Martial Arts Event & Razorback Jiu-Jitsu

2010-02-08T08:31:00.002-06:00

Hey gang,

I want to start by saying how proud I am at the participation in the Charity event we took part in on Saturday. For those that were not aware, we were asked to put on Jiu-Jistu classes as part of an effort to raise money for Tony "Rocky Horror" Conway's church for a Mission Trip. God says in the bible that the best gift to have toward your fellow human being is "Charity" (Love).
Anytime we can give back to others, go for it.

The event gave our students the opportunity to showcase their skills and help teach others, an important part in your martial arts journy. I can't express how proud I am to be your Instructor. Also our Gracie Garage (Razorback Jiu-Jitsu), had a very special guest on Friday, Mr. Rick Koenig. I had spoken during class that Rick and I had been communicating through emails and he has moved from New Jersey to Branson, Missouri. Rick is a Blue Belt under Ricardo Almeida, who is a third degree black belt under Master Renzo Gracie, and a current UFC fighter under contract. I was very happy to finally meet Rick and I look forward to a growing relationship as Jiu-Jitsu practioners and friends. I want to share an email I received from Rick following his participation in class. I am sharing this not to toot my own horn, but to toot yours, for your willingness to embrace someone you had not met. Believe me when I say that when you enter a Dojo for the first time, you can either feel welcomed or rejected, or ignored. But, because we espouse egoless training we can be friendly, open and willing to accept others. below is the email;

TROY, IT WAS A PLEASURE TO FINALLY MEET YOU & SOME OF YOUR STUDENTS LAST NIGHT. I CAN HONESTLY SAY FROM BEING AROUND A LOT OF WORLD CLASS ATHLETES & INSTRUCTORS YOUR CLASS IS THERE WITH THE BEST...IT'S WHAT YOU DO & HOW YOU DO IT! I LOOK 4WARD TO GETTING OVER THERE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE DUE TO IT SEEMS WE BOTH ARE AIMING FOR THE SAME GOAL IN JIU-JITSU. LIKE I MENTIONED LAST NIGHT IM REALLY LOOKING TO COMPETE IN THE NEAR FUTURE & THE TORRANCE GRACIE JIU-JITSU IS THE PATCH IM WEARING...YOUR ACADEMY JUST FELT RIGHT & BROUGHT ME HOME FOR AN HOUR...I CANT EXPRESS HOW GOOD THAT MADE ME FEEL. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO LEARN SOME SACRAFICE THROWS FROM YOU KNOWING YOUR BACKROUND...WHEN I RETURN TO JERZ TO COMPETE I WOULD LIKE THEM TO KNOW OF THE MAN TROY HOLTON : ) THANKS AGAIN MY BROTHA & I WILL SEE YOU SOON.

PS...IF YOU COULD EMAIL ME & LET ME KNOW OF THE THE TIMES & DAYS THAT ARE THE BEST FOR ME TO SWING BY I WOULD MUCHLY APPRECIATE IT. YOUR FRIEND & STUDENT.
RICK KOENIG II : )

You can be proud of yourselves and each other, I am.

Peace, and let's keep rollin'...........

New Belt Promotions

2010-02-03T12:47:00.002-06:00

Congratulations goes out to members of BDJJ.
Jessica Clanton - Blue Belt
Brandy Harrison - Purple Belt
Josh Valentine - Yellow Belt

Jessica and Brandy set the bar high for everyone when they tested for their belt qualification. Every one of these belts is well earned. I noticed everyone has been working very hard and is working together very well together as it should be.
Every week I am seeing improvement and development and the repition is paying off. The kid's class has grown and they are getting better and better.

This weeks saturday class will be at the Youth Center as we promote a Charity for a Church Mission Trip. As I said in class, anytime we can give back tot he community, please take the opportunity to do so.

Peace and let's keep rollin'........

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu vs. Japanese Jiu-Jitsu

2010-02-01T15:43:00.002-06:00

Here is some information on the difference and development of the two;

Jitsu began as a battlefield martial art, developed by the Samurai to deal with armed opponents when they had lost their weapons. Over the generations, it has been developed by many different people into many different things. “JuJutsu,” “Jiu Jitsu,” and “Ju Jitsu” are all variations on the translation of one thing; yielding art. The one thing that many of the styles of Jitsu have in common is that they involve movement, locking or throwing to achieve positive result. My intention today is to tell you a little about the two popular forms of Jiu Jitsu, being Brazilian and traditional Japanese.

Japanese Jiu Jitsu

Traditional Japanese Jitsu is more in line with the original form of the art. A defender will block or evade an attack and then use that momentum to perform a technique, which could be any number of things. Many Dojos around the world will use this martial art as a way to practice self-defense from realistic situations involving multiple attackers or weapons, as what was effective hundreds of years ago, can be adapted for use today.
As an example of a technique that might be used, a defender will deflect a punch to the fast and redirect it downwards. They will then turn their body away while holding to pull the attacker forward before turning back toward their assailant and twisting their wrist inwards, inflicting pain and diffusing the attack. This technique is called “Kote Gaeshi” or quite simply, “Wrist Twist.”
Another example would be "Ippon Seoi Nage" in which an attacker's momentum is carried over the top of the defender and plunged toward the ground. Expect to find your training in Japanese Jiu Jitsu to reflect what you might expect from a very old martial arts dojo. Etiquette is likely to be stressed and Japanese commands will be used quite often. Although there may be shouting, the environment should be encouraging and fun. It’s a fantastic way to learn self-defense.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

There is a saying that 90% of fights end up on the ground. Knowing how to defend yourself while on the ground should then become paramount in your defensive training. This is where Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has developed from; the ground game. In the last few years, this particular style has become incredibly popular, due to fun training environments and competitions appealing to all.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (or BJJ) uses movement and body position while on the ground to subdue opponents with hold downs or locking techniques, designed to generate a win through tap-out. BJJ is very deep, involving countless counters, techniques, ideas and movements. It is a constantly evolving art, as players begin to become knowledgeable of regular techniques and learn to counter them.

BJJ Dojos can vary in type. You may be required to wear a Gi to train in or you may not. The environment could be traditional and use etiquette or everything may be very laid back and relaxed. As with all martial arts though, you will get out of your training what you put it. Concentration on the ground game can be incredibly rewarding and fun.

So what’s the Difference?

The difference is really that BJJ focuses on the ground while JJJ focuses on stand up techniques and self-defense. There are rarely competitions in traditional Dojos, but in BJJ, they are likely to be commonplace. In terms of which will be more fun or more effective; again it depends on what you put into it. Any martial art can be useful or useless, depending on how you train and how you listen, to the instruction. Whatever it is you choose to train in – pay attention and train hard. The rewards will be intrinsic.

Peace, and let's keep rollin'........

Believing in Your Rank

2010-01-25T08:30:00.001-06:00

I was recently loaned a Book by Chase Payne a Martial Artist I respect and trust. This book is by Saulo Riberiro entitled Jiu-Jitsu University. Riberiro is said to be the best Black Belt ever promoted by Royler Gracie. What I loved about the book was his Martial Arts philosophy, which in many ways mirrors my own. Below is a portion of the book related to rank.

If you worry about the time and speed of your promotions, you lose yourself. Remember, before you are ranked in any of the belts, you want to feel like one. You must feel that your skills are there. You cannot fool yourself. Attaining a belt is just proof that your teacher is connected with you. You will know when you deserve it. My role as an instructor is to be there to say, "it's time." But you should already realize this on your own. Jiu-Jitsu is not math, and promotion is not based on attendance or calender dates. A regimented promotion schedule based on dates or attendance is the worst way to gauge development. Jiu-Jitsu is more complex than this. There is no sense in chasing a belt and getting it as fast as possible. Often, people do not see that black belt will be their longest belt. Remember, it doesn't matter if you get it in four years or fifteen. Either way, you will have the rest of your life with a black belt around your waist. Building the black belt is what matters.

I love this book and will purchase it on my own and share it with students who are interested.

Peace and let's keep rollin'.................

Highest Ranking Student Gets His Red Belt

2010-01-20T10:38:00.002-06:00

Congratulations goes out to Daniel "The Iron Dragon" Chism for being ranked during Tuesday's class as the only Red Belt currenlty in the BDJJ Cirriculum. I asked Daniel to participate in Tuesdays class for the promotion and he obliged. Daniel is in his fourth year of training under BDJJ. Daniel has taken private lessons for the first couple of years then moved into the Saturday 6am class. Daniel has been a Brown III for one year and has proven he knows the material and has studied hard.

This next year he will be preparing for his Black Belt Test. He knows most of the Black Belt Cirriculum and is preparing his test material. 25 techniques, complete with take downs, transitions and variations, so it's really more than 25. Plus he will stand and Fight 3-5 advanced belts, roll with 3-5 advanced belts. That is the test. Daniel will be the first Black Belt I ever promote in the BDJJ Style and the first ever in over 25 years of teaching. I am proud to be his instructor and his friend.

Peace, Let's keep Rollin'..........

M.A.S.K. Tournament Banquet / Promotion

2010-01-18T09:16:00.002-06:00

This first month of 2010 has started off with a bang. We had our M.A.S.K. Tournament Banquet at Mr. Yen's Chinese Restaurant in Springfield Missouri on Saturday January 16th. I think BDJJ had the largest tournout with 17 including our Champions and Guests. It was great food, great company and I think Master Binky Ferstenburg put on a great event. It was very classy and ran with precision.

We had Eight out of eleven of our Champions recognized;
Daniel Fraser
Chuck Smith
Ty Holton
Jericho Clanton
Dekota Smith
Jason Fraser
Nick Fraser
Nina Ramsey

I also took the opportunity to name Black Dragon SanShou Jiu-Jitsu's Student of the Year. First to be eligible you would have to have been a student for the full 2009 year, then attendance showing your desire, then your character toward others. Your ability to grasp the concept of what has been taught to you. And setting yourself apart from others in positive ways whether by act or your nature. I am thankful for every one of my students and care a great deal for each and every one of you, and I hope that it shows. I am honored that you would choose me to lead you through this portion of your Martial Arts journey which I hope becomes part of your life and not something to do to pass the time.

Two people have become very important this past year with my goals as an intstructor and I could not have been successful without them, Daniel Fraser and Pete Ramsey. These past two years have been very important to me and it has been my most enjoyable in the Martial Arts. But, Daniel Fraser broke two of my ribs in three places so I named Pete Ramsey as Student of the Year.

Peace.......Let's Keep Rollin' and see you in class. :)

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and It's Importance in BDJJ

2010-01-07T15:23:00.002-06:00

ART AND SPORT
In the beginning, there were no tournaments associated with the practice of Gracie (Brazilian) Jiu-Jitsu. The dangerous and unforgiving “street” fight was the only testing ground. In 1967, the first Federation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was established in order to give practitioners the opportunity to test their skills in a safe setting. The fun and excitement of competition, coupled with the prestige that accompanied tournament victories, drove the vast majority of instructors to focus entirely on preparing their students for the jiu-jitsu game. This shift away from jiu-jitsu for self defense had a profound impact on the practice of the martial art.

THE PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCE
While nearly all Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools succumbed to the lure of tournament glory, the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy remained true to the practice of techniques that would work in a real fight. The Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy training objective was, and remains to this day, to enable practitioners to defeat an all-out attack from a larger and more athletic opponent. In comparison, the sport jiu-jitsu objective is to win against an opponent of similar size in a closely-monitored and controlled match. The fundamental philosophical difference between street self-defense and tournament competition affects all aspects of jiu-jitsu training and mindset.

THE TECHNICAL DIFFERENCE
Every technique taught at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy is energy efficient, uses natural body movements, and is street applicable or “punch proof.” Several hundred techniques in the curriculum will work both in a tournament match or a street fight. But, the curriculum also contains many techniques developed exclusively for street fight scenarios with no applicability in competition. On the other hand, most Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools have eliminated “street only” techniques from their programs in order to maximize training that will lead to victory under the point-based system, rules, and weight classes that govern sport jiu-jitsu tournaments. This technical difference between the Gracie Academy curriculum and other Brazilian jiu-jitsu programs reflects the philosophical difference between street self-defense and sport competition and carries over to the award of belts as measures of proficiency in the system.

THE BELT DIFFERENCE
The Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy belt system is distinct from that of sport-oriented schools. Although the belt colors are the same, the belt qualification requirements are very different. Sport-oriented schools promote students based on their mastery of techniques that will lead to victory in a tournament setting. In most cases, sport belt holders are very comfortable in sport jiu-jitsu matches and controlled sparring sessions. However, when confronted by a larger and more athletic opponent who doesn’t play by the rules, they are often shaken by the unpredictable, violent attack and find themselves unable to respond. The Gracie Academy promotes students exclusively on their mastery of the techniques that will ensure their victory in a street fight. The Academy rigorously tests each student’s skills and reflexes at each stage of their training. The Gracie Academy Blue Belt Qualification Test, for example, requires students to demonstrate a high level of accuracy, efficiency, and reflexes in the execution of the most important street self-defense techniques. Because we feel that “street readiness” is our first and foremost objective, most of the techniques that we teach at this level are “street only”. As a result, a Gracie Academy “street” blue belt will win on the street but may not fare well in a sport jiu-jitsu match. On the other hand, a sport jiu-jitsu blue belt will perform well on the mat, but may have difficulty dealing with unpredictable and chaotic circumstances of a real fight.

THE GRACIE CONNECTION
Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu and it's Razorback Jiu-Jitsu a recognized Gracie Garage is an extension of the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA. Our Goal is to become recognized Gracie Certified Instructors and a Certified Gracie Training Center.

Peace and let's keep rollin'.....

Welcome to 2010 and lots of Snow

2010-01-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

We broke in the New Year on Friday January 1st with our first ever open Gracie Garage. We had an excellent turnout with 12 participants. Several persons from outside Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu, which is the purpose of the Gracie Garage which is to promote and expand the love and desire to train in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

I want to thank Rhuel for helping put our Gracie Garage / Razorback Jiu-Jitsu on the map. I know that 20 persons had signed up or gave notice that they are planning on joining the Gracie Garage. As with anything related to Martial Arts and attendance, well see when they are there.

I am excited and as for the weather, I will be at class ready to teach on Tuesday and if we don't get an avalanche I will be there Friday and Saturday as well.

Peace, let's keep rollin'............:)

New Year R U Ready to Roll?

2009-12-29T16:13:00.002-06:00

Well 2009 is almost over and with that we had a great year. We are about to embark on our most eager challenges. We have the Razorback Jiu-Jitsu/Gracie Garage beginning this Friday January 1st 2010. We have 17 who have verbally committed to this class.

I am sorry to say that over the past four months we have lost 9 students who either quit, or stopped coming to class on a regular basis. I used to call them and ask them why they were not there or encourage them to keep coming. I stopped doing that the past couple of months and 2010 will never see me do that again. If people give up or quit or have something better to do with their time, or can't find 3 hours a week for Jiu-Jitsu then God bless them. I will continue to give my best to those students who want to be in class.

Starting in 2010 if a student is not paid up as a member and misses classes and drops in, there will be a $10.00 drop in rate, it's not fair to the students who are paying dues or me as an instructor. Either !@#$ or get off the pot.

I am excited about the new year, let's do all we can to learn from each other and grow as people and Martial Artist and Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.

Peace, and let's keep rollin'............

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-12-23T16:18:00.002-06:00

I hope you holiday's are going well and I wish nothing but the best for all of you. I am excited about the new year and the new classes. I am equally proud of each and every one of you. This is not the type of sport to take lightly otherwise you find yourself behind.

Recommit yourself this new year and I will do the same. We all have alot to be thankful for and I am thankful to have all of you as students, friends and family.

Let's keep rollin'........:)

Interview with Rener Gracie about Gracie University

2009-12-09T20:03:00.002-06:00

The FightWorks Podcast: Hey family, we are here on the line right now with Rener Gracie, of the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California. As I think the Mighty 600,000 know, there has been an awful lot of chatter online in the last couple of weeks, due to a couple of recent interviews we had on the Fightworks Podcast. That started with Relson Gracie, I think on the 22nd November, and then a week later, on the 29th November, we had Renzo Gracie come on and give a couple of opposing viewpoints to the points Relson raised the week before.
In that conversation, there were some comments made about the Torrance Academy. So, I thought it would only be fair to get a representative from the Torrance Academy on the show to address those, and then move on. So, family please welcome Rener Gracie. Rener, how are you?

Rener Gracie: Thank you bro, appreciate it man, and it’s good to be back. Congratulations on all the success of the show, and thanks for having me.

The FightWorks Podcast: Thank you very much, we appreciate it. Ok Rener, so I’m going to turn it over to you, although I may interrupt you a bit.

Rener Gracie: Feel free.

The FightWorks Podcast: So, I’m guessing you heard the show.

Rener Gracie: Absolutely, I heard the show. So let me take the time to say, first of all, I apologise to my Uncle Renzo. Listening to the interview a week or two ago, it saddened me to know that words which supposedly originated here at the Academy offended him so deeply. I have nothing but respect for Renzo: he’s an amazing fighter and teacher. I just wanted to say that I would never say anything intentionally to demean him or anyone he is associated with.
After listening to his interview, it became clear to me that what bothered Renzo is that someone from the Academy here, either myself or one of my brothers, supposedly told one of his students – correct me if I’m wrong – that we teach the pure Gracie Jiu Jitsu, compared to what everyone else teaches, which is not pure or whatever. That’s kinda what I got from it.
Although I don’t remember the specific incident Renzo is referring to, I do want to acknowledge that we do sometimes use the term ‘Pure Gracie Jiu Jitsu’ to describe what we teach here at the Academy. Now more than ever I can see how that can be offensive to other jiu jitsu instructors, in the family and outside the family, especially when I don’t take the time to explain to the student in that incident.
I have never really openly explained what we mean by ‘pure.’ That’s kinda what I wanted to take the initial time to do here.
When people ask us what the difference is between what we teach and what is being taught elsewhere, and we say that we teach pure Gracie Jiu Jitsu, we’re not claiming to be better fighters, or that we have secret techniques that no one else knows, and we’re really not saying that we have a better capability to produce world champions, here at the Academy.
All we’re saying is that we are teaching the art in accordance to the original fight philosophy of my grandfather, Grandmaster Hélio. If you recall, during Renzo’s interview, he shared his belief on who created the art. If I remember correctly, he stated that Carlos was the first one to learn from the Japanese, as we all know, and that most of the innovative techniques came from Rolls.
Then he went on to say that the only contribution made by Hélio was that he added the defensive aspect, to the art. Do you remember that?

The FightWorks Podcast: I remember most of what you’re saying, but I’ll put it the way I remember, and you correct me: somewhere in the middle is probably what Renzo said.
Carlos Sr was the first to be expose to, and learn jiu jitsu, from Maeda, the Japanese.

Rener Gracie: Sure, sure, sure.

The FightWorks Podcast: From there, after Maeda was doing his own thing somewhere else, presumably, Carlos exposed Hélio to it, and from there at some point down the line, Hélio took it on as his own. As Renzo said, he was the Einstein of taking what Carlos passed him, and refining that into the defensive stuff you’re talking about.

Rener Gracie: Yes.

The FightWorks Podcast: Then from there, Rolls added some different twists.

Rener Gracie: Correct. The truth is, the way it came out to me is that the main thing he attributed to my grandfather was adding the defensive aspect to it.

The FightWorks Podcast: That’s maybe the self defense aspect, is that what you mean?

Rener Gracie: I think more than that. I think what he meant, and I know what he’s talking about, is the survival aspect: the idea that you can beneath somebody and be ok, not have to impose yourself upon them. The overall idea that you can be patient during the fight, and not have to go and attack before you defend. Basically, defense first, then attack later.

The FightWorks Podcast: As a smaller person.

Rener Gracie: As a smaller person, exactly. Now, what Renzo did not say, when he mentioned that my grandfather developed the defensive aspect, was that this defensive mindset enabled my grandfather to survive the Japanese champion Masahiko Kimura for thirteen minutes, and survive against the much younger Waldemar Santana for three hours and forty minutes, when he was about forty years old. It was the defensive mindset that enabled Rickson (when he was younger), to defeat Zulu back in the day, and it was that defensive mindset that put Gracie jiu jitsu on the map back when Royce beat Dan Severn in UFC 4.
Now, what people don’t realize is that when my grandfather added the defensive aspect, he added a philosophy, which was “if you don’t lose, you will eventually win.” That philosophy, more than any other technique or strategy, is what differentiates our jiu jitsu from its Japanese counterpart.
If you think about it, that philosophy is what make our system unique from every other martial art on the planet. As you know, other arts, what they teach is, if you don’t win fast – you’ve got aggression, punch, kick, eye gouge, break him right away – if you don’t win in a hurry, you might lose.
In fact, other martial arts, based on the fact that they teach so much about aggression and overcoming, and basically overwhelming your opponent with aggressive behavior, shouldn’t even be called self-defense. They should be called self-offence, if you ask me.
So when people reference sometimes, in the family and outside the family, that Hélio created Brazilian or Gracie jiu jitsu, it is not because he was the first one to learn the Japanese techniques, or that he created a certain number of moves and added it to the art. It is because the people who say that acknowledge that he added what Renzo called the ‘defensive aspect’. Or, the one thing that made the art useful for smaller people against larger people in real fights.
Now, the problem is that the defensive mindset that is so characteristic of this amazing art is not being taught at 99% of Brazilian jiu jitsu schools. Here’s why: any instructor whose primary objective is to prepare students for MMA or sport jiu jitsu competition cannot teach the defensive mindset, the survival mindset as the ultimate fight strategy, because patience will not lead to victory in the sportive setting. Any time there is an artificial time limit, you have no choice but to adopt a fully ‘offensive mindset’ (as I call it), otherwise you will lose when the time runs out, by points, or by judges decision.
Now, this offensive mindset is ok when you’re fighting someone in your weight class, and you can count on the clock to save you when you’re exhausted. But, as family history and all the fights show, the only reliable way to defeat a giant is to adopt the Grandmaster’s 100% defensive philosophy.
If you got into a fight with Brock Lesnar, for example, and you tell yourself, “I’ve got to win within five minutes, I’ve got to win within this five minute round right now,” what are you going to do? You’re going to fight for your life to make something happen, exhaust yourself in the process, and then expose yourself to get smashed. Like the people who’ve crossed his path, right?
The only reliable strategy against someone that strong is to enter the fight with 100% concern with avoiding defeat at all costs, and wait for them to create an opportunity for you.

The FightWorks Podcast: Which is what you’re saying came from your grandfather.

Rener Gracie: Exactly, and that is the critical mindset which is no longer being taught. Now, it wouldn’t be so bad if schools, Brazilian jiu jitsu schools, taught the defensive mindset for the first few years, and then once it was clear the student had the patience to survive against a giant – and we’ve found that it takes between three to five years for them to really embody this patient, this Grandmaster mindset – at that point, began teaching them the offensive mindset needed to prevail in a sportive setting.
That would make sense, and that wouldn’t be so bad, because then you know that the student is ready for the worst case scenario. Unfortunately, that isn’t a reality, because every sport school is so concerned with creating sportive competitors out of every person who walks in the door that they don’t want to spend any time on any strategy that will not lead to a gold medal.
So when people ask my brothers and I, for example, why we don’t fight MMA, it’s not because we don’t believe in what we’re teaching, quite the opposite. It’s because we have to abandon the one principle that we believe in most: patience.
In order to prevail, we would have to adopt a super-offensive MMA mindset, to entertain the crowd and to please the judges. Obviously, it wouldn’t be worth it. Now, we’ve trained with many UFC fighters out there, and we know the calibre of the guys that are out there. We would win some and we would lose some, like everyone else who plays the game, but for my brothers and I it’s not worth it, to abandon the one thing that our grandfather stood for, just for the quick paycheque.

The FightWorks Podcast: Let me interrupt you Rener, because I don’t want to go too far down the conversation, because you said something earlier that was interesting. I’d like you to clarify a little bit, maybe. It sounded like you’re saying there is a significant difference between the approach to teaching jiu jitsu at the Torrance Academy compared to, based on what you said, 99% of the schools out there.

Rener Gracie: Yes.

The FightWorks Podcast: Is it safe to say, I mean, are we comparing apples and oranges? I know they are two separate ways of thinking about jiu jitsu, but are they really two separate things, almost?

Rener Gracie: I mean…I guess so, I mean it’s becoming that. I would like to think that the schools who do sport jiu jitsu, could be like in the old days, when they had these pure Gracie jiu jitsu schools, who had guys who participated in sport, but the self defense and the survival aspect was the primary focus, and the sportive participation was kind of a by-product.
But now, everyone is so concerned with creating a world champion, something that people in my family do incredibly well – some people in my family, some people out of my family – that there is no time to focus on the aspect that we think is the most important thing about jiu jitsu, the Brazilian way or the Gracie way. The number one thing is being forgotten, more for the sportive aspect.
Let me give you an example, three weeks ago a woman who was a blue belt came down from a school in North California, to do a class with us. During the class, Ryron of course tries to spar with the students who come visit. Ryron was sparring with this girl in the class, and he sidemounted her. When he sidemounted her, he established full control, tight sidemount.
She went berserk, completely crazy to get out. She fought for her life! After about thirty seconds, she exhausted a 100% of her energy, and she gave up, tapped out, “ok, I give up.” Then Ryron asked her, “what were you doing?” Her response was, “I was trying to escape your sidemount,” of course.
Now, it was very clear that she didn’t make this stuff up. There was some sport jiu jitsu or MMA coach out there telling her that when you get trapped on the bottom of sidemount, you must escape at all costs.
Imagine if that same woman got in a real attack, a sexual assault, and a man held her down – got her in the side mount or mount, or whatever – tight, against her will. She would resort to the exact same “escape at all costs” strategy. That would immediately deplete all her energy, at which point she would be helpless against the attacker. That’s when it really starts to get serious.
The major difference between the Gracie Academy and all the sport BJJ schools lies not within the techniques that we practice, although I’m sure there are techniques out there that my brothers and I don’t know, innovative new sport techniques, some that we haven’t learned, just as my brothers and I have developed tricks of our own that we haven’t shared yet.
Essentially, we’re all using the same leverage, we’re all breaking the same arms, we’re all choking the same necks. The real difference lies in the fight philosophy that we promote from the very beginning. We teach our students to avoid defeat at all costs, then attack as soon as the opportunity arises, whereas sport jiu jitsu schools teach to attack as much as possible within the artificial time limit.
So, even though the terms ‘Brazilian’ and ‘Gracie jiu jitsu’ both originated from the same place, when people ask us what the difference is, we say that Brazilian jiu jitsu is the sportive practice of the art, that’s kinda what it has become, whereas Gracie jiu jitsu, or pure Gracie jiu jitsu, is the version of the art that is taught according to the defensive philosophy of the Grandmaster Hélio Gracie.
This is the same philosophy that each and every member of the Gracie family relies on, including Renzo, when facing an opponent who has a significant strength or size advantage. So, all the family members have the philosophy and they know the philosophy, but sometimes they have no choice but to push it aside and omit it in their teachings to prepare world champions.
Ultimately what it has come to is that if we don’t find a way to preserve the philosophy of the Grandmaster, the defensive mindset that put Gracie jiu jitsu on the map, we’ll be lost forever. So my brothers and I, as well as the Valente brothers at Gracie Miami in Florida, who also learned directly from my grandfather, have essentially dedicated our lives to the preservation of this pure Gracie jiu jitsu. Not so that we can create world champions, out of amazing athletes, but so that the underdogs of society always have an art that they can count on.
The FightWorks Podcast: Ok, so here’s another question for you. So, I’m sure you would agree that the guys who are at black belt, who do compete out there, are probably pretty secure compared to everybody else out there in a self defense situation. They’re probably going to be just fine.

Rener Gracie: Correct.

The FightWorks Podcast: So if we pare it back and peel back the onion, brown belts are also probably pretty safe out there, and – I hate to do this to you – but white belts, from what you’re saying, are probably not as exposed to the kind of thing that will keep them safe in a self defense situation.

Rener Gracie: Correct.

The FightWorks Podcast: So somewhere along that spectrum is going to be a person, guy or girl, who has been training jiu jitsu in a “sporting academy”, and somewhere in there they are going to learn the stuff that’s going to make them safe.

Rener Gracie: Yeah, good question! That’s a really good question. I think the blue belt lady who came here is a great example, you know what I’m saying? It’s a great example of how she basically didn’t reach that point yet. That’s the problem, I think it’s flipped. What you’re saying is “Rener, somewhere deep in their career, they’re going to be ready for a street fight scenario.”
At the Gracie Academy, that’s the first and 100% priority before anything else, and then somewhere deeper in their career, they’re going to be so skilled at the street fight scenario and the mindset, and they’re going to have so many techniques – we’re teaching essentially the same thing, the difference is the philosophy – that somewhere deeper, a purple or brown belt from here can go against any sport purple or brown belt out there and fare just as well.
So it’s like, yes, they cross paths somewhere down there, right? The question is, which path should they start on? You know what I’m saying? At the Gracie Academy, we realize that people should start on the path that they came for. Any time somebody walks in the front door of the Academy, we’re assuming – and I think it’s pretty accurate – that they’re coming here to learn how to defend themselves against a larger, stronger opponent in a real fight. Protect themselves, protect their family: they saw Royce in the UFC, and they want to learn that.
They’re not going to the school saying “Hey, I want to get my white belt and win my first gold medal.” You understand? So that’s why we’ve chosen the self defense/survival path first, and then let the competition, if the student ever wants to compete, be a by-product of their several hundred or thousands of training hours, they have the skills, they have the reflexes, and they transfer.
But, in the beginning, what we can’t do is teach the students that if they’re trapped in the bottom of the sidemount, they have to escape at all costs, they have to get out. That’s happening every day at schools around the country because they’re training them for the three, five, seven minute time limit that exists in a tournament jiu jitsu match. They have to, otherwise they have no chance of victory.

The FightWorks Podcast: There’s folks out there who have heard the stories, or have been exposed to folks who – and this is going to play right into what you’re saying – of guys who may be blue belts or even purple who may not have been exposed to a correct escape from a headlock.

Rener Gracie: Yes! Thank you! There are purple belts who come here who don’t know how to block a punch from the guard. There are people who go to our online University – which by the way we have to talk about in a minute or two, because Renzo also bashed that pretty hard, which I understand – but there are people who go to our online University, who train for several years at a sport jiu jitsu school, then they show up at Gracie University.com, and they’re like, “wow, I never learned how to escape the mount against somebody who is punching me!”
This is major stuff. So, later in the interview, Renzo expressed his concerns regarding our efforts to make the complete curriculum available online through Gracie University.com. Since he’s not the first family member to express his concern, I’d like to take a few moments, if you’d let me, to clarify the matter.

The FightWorks Podcast: Yeah, we’ve got about ten more minutes, so let’s slip into that.

Rener Gracie: First of all, in order for you to understand Gracie University.com, you must understand why my grandfather fought in the ring. He didn’t fight to show that he was the baddest. He fought because he modified these techniques, he fought to develop his own conviction in the techniques, to believe in them, and to show his viewers that it worked, so that they would let him teach them.
His passion was to teach, so much so that one week before he passed away, he was teaching a class on a Brazilian television show. His passion was to empower others with the art. With that said, the three phases of the overall Gracie family objective can be understood.
Phase one, of the Gracie family overall objective, was to create the most effective system of self defense that the world had ever known. My grandfather did that, his brothers, everyone added to it, everyone added to it. That’s great.
Now, phase two was to show the world the necessity for the art, by proving it’s effectiveness against other disciplines. That was done by my grandfather, a lot of it, but also by the other uncles: Royce, Rickson, my father when he created the UFC, Renzo every time he fights, these guys are proving it’s effectiveness against other styles, to show the necessity for it.
Phase three, was to teach this system to the world. Phase three of the Gracie family purpose is to empower others. Any Gracie will tell you that. We are here to share, and empower the lives of others.
My brother and I were born and raised during phase two. Ryron and I was raised during phase two. As we matured into adulthood, we had to choose what we were going to spend our time and energy on. What we would dedicate our lives to, basically.
The following two things were most significant in helping us make our decision: first, by the time we were eighteen years old, every UFC fighter had adopted or added Brazilian jiu jitsu to their arsenal. Secondly, and more significantly, as of 2003, the entire US Army had adopted Gracie jiu jitsu as their primary hand-to-hand combat system.
Together, these two points were evidence that phase two was accomplished. The world had accepted Gracie jiu jitsu as the premier martial art, and though I will admit that our egos wanted to fight professionally, to continue proving the effectiveness of the art in the ring, we realized that eventually someone in the family had to stop focusing on proving it and start focusing on sharing it.
That’s when my brothers and I decided we would dedicate our lives to teaching the pure Gracie jiu jitsu to the world. At first we weren’t sure how we were going to do that, since the traditional way of certifying instructors was too slow, and would take forever to accomplish the mission, not to mention it’s hard to find instructors who could uphold the integrity of the art.
That’s when we decided that the only way we could reach the world was through the internet and DVD. Now, we weren’t the first ones to think of this: there are many others who have produced great videos and DVDs, and online courses, including Renzo and several other members of our family, but the one thing we realized was that all those were produced to complement the live training that somebody received at a school of martial arts.
If someone didn’t have a school to train at, these DVDs or online videos would be of little help. My brothers and I knew that the only possible way to teach the world through video would be if we organised the entire art into a linear curriculum, from white to black belt, something that had never been done before, and then capture every detail of every technique in the exact order and lesson format that one would experience if they were to receive private lessons from us for ten years straight. So we developed Gracie University.com and we went for it.
In order to track the progress of each student, we also created a revolutionary video evaluation process through which any student can digitally record themselves performing the techniques, upon completing each section of the curriculum, then upload those videos to Gracie University.com for us to evaluate. If they perform all the techniques perfectly, they can qualify for an official belt promotion through this process, and if not, we send them a detailed evaluation report outlining each and every mistake they made at the exact time code at which it occurred.
Unlike ever before, students in the middle of nowhere can learn self defense through the internet and get ultra-specific feedback from their instructors without ever having to spend thousands of dollars having to travel to a school.

The FightWorks Podcast: So, and I want to make it clear for our listeners, whether or not you guys would say that this should take the place of a school nearby. I mean, does this replace the necessity to train with a person live? If somebody has the access to something like that locally, they should…

Rener Gracie: [interrupts] If they have the access to a quality school, that will probably make it easier to reach the top, yes, of course. The goal here is to make it possible for somebody to learn completely on their own, but of course, if you have a school, if you’re next door to the Academy, you should be training here, correct.
Put it this way: you’ll get to the top faster, if you have somebody guiding. If you’re on your own, you have to figure things out on your own, it takes much more discipline and dedication.
Since this had never been done before, we knew we would face opposition from a large segment of the population in and out of the family, and we couldn’t have been more accurate, basically. As soon as we released the Gracie Combatives course, our white to blue belt curriculum, on DVD and online, we received a visit from two of our uncles – I’m not going to say who – who told us that the course should not be released because it was too good.
They said “Rener, if you release these DVDs, why would people go to a school to learn?” They saw the DVDs of course. “You’re giving away the teaching secrets, everything that makes the Gracie family unique.”
What my uncles did not understand at the time, and what all instructors around the world still don’t understand, is that we’re not doing this to take students from the brick and mortar jiu jitsu schools, Gracie or not. We’re doing this to make the art learnable for those who live hundreds of miles away from a legitimate school, or cannot afford to pay $200 dollars a month.
My grandfather always said that the world would be a better place if everyone knew Gracie jiu jitsu.

The FightWorks Podcast: We’re not going to argue with that. [laughs]

Rener Gracie: All we’re trying to do now by giving everyone, literally, the opportunity to learn.

The FightWorks Podcast: Yeah, and I’ll agree with you, and you hear this: we get emails on the show from people who say “I live in the middle of nowhere, I’m so jealous of you guys in Southern California, and all these other places that have great jiu jitsu all over. We have maybe a blue belt in town at best.”

Rener Gracie: Right!

The FightWorks Podcast: So there is a need, I can’t argue with that.

Rener Gracie: Let me take it one step further. By, my brothers and I, releasing the curriculum online, and on DVD, in such a comprehensive and engaging format, we are actually helping every instructor in the jiu jitsu community, right? Here’s how. MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world, we all know that, but I’m willing to bet that more than 95% of the viewers would never even consider practicing anything that has to do with the UFC, not even jiu jitsu, since their only perception of the art is what they see in the cage, and they want nothing to do with that.
At Gracie University.com, we’ve made Lesson One of the Gracie Combatives course free for anyone to view. In doing so, we’re giving everyone in the world the opportunity to experience the amazingness of Gracie jiu jitsu, in the most structured and technical format ever put on video, all from the comfort, all from the comfort and safety of their own home. Invariably, once they see it, they fall in love.
Basically, by giving people all over the world their ‘intro classes’, as we call it, in their homes, my brothers and I have created students out of tens of thousands of people in 144 countries who would have never otherwise considered practicing the art. Of the students who fall in love online, some have the desire and the necessary discipline to learn from home, but most of them, as you said, will want to end up joining a local school, to help them make it to the top.
The FightWorks Podcast: Which is what we want from everybody anyhow.
Rener Gracie: Yes! So rather than fear we’re going to take food off their table, every jiu jitsu instructor, in the family and outside the family, on the planet should be thankful that we have dedicated our lives to creating more students for the art as a whole.
You know what I’m saying? My dad taught me, from a very young age, my father taught me, that any time you do anything revolutionary, you will have half the world on their side, and you will have half the world against you, and as usual, he was right.
Every major advance in the last twenty years, Caleb, from calculators to online courses, has been met with resistance from those who only saw the limitations of those advances. Gracie University.com is no exception. Those who don’t understand it hate it, but those who are now learning pure Gracie jiu jitsu because of it think it’s the best creation of all time.
So I’m willing to live with the 50-50 support from the population, as long as everyone goes to Gracie University.com and watches Lesson One for free before they choose which side they’re on.

The FightWorks Podcast: Ok, so we’ve got to wind down, so let me start to close, but I think one of the questions that raised some eyebrows, or that people first thought about when they heard about your course is that technically, from what you’ve described, it is possible to receive a black belt having never trained with somebody live before, in person, only over video. Is that accurate?

Rener Gracie: Yeah, when you say “haven’t trained with someone live,” I mean, a little more specifically, they’re training with one, two, three, five, ten people, they’re training with a lot of people. They’re not just watching and sending in a written test, they’re actually learning and doing the techniques.
Now, regarding the black belt. No. The black belt cannot be earned, they have to come to the Academy. What happens is, through the video evaluation process, the highest rank someone can get, if they want to train online, at home, in their living room, for ten or twelve years straight, whose to say they can’t learn the art, right? The highest rank they can earn is a brown belt with four stripes.
So they can go all the way up, they can earn these stripes, they can test every single stripe along the way, that they test for, and if it’s perfect all the way up, and they know the techniques…now, the tests are pretty extensive. Now basically, they show them sparring, gi and no-gi, demonstrating every technique, right? They can get to four stripe brown belt, if they train, but it’s going to take a long time, several years.
If they get there, we invite them out to the Gracie Academy so they can participate in a five-day, live black-belt qualification test, here at the Academy, 100% free to them. There’s no cost to participate in that, because of course by then, they’re family right?
So the answer is yes, someone can climb the ladder from home. It’s hard for anyone to understand how that is possible, until they see the lessons. They’ve got to see Gracie Combatives. Once you see that, you have to see the Master Cycle, our path from blue belt to black belt.
The Master Cycle, bro – I mean, it’s not even released yet, on the air, it will be there in a few months – but, it’s incredible. We don’t just teach the techniques, you know? What me and Ryron do is every single morning, we come in, we load up the cameras, we shoot lessons, and we don’t just give the techniques, we give the techniques and all the reflex development drills, the sparring exercises…we demonstrate everything and say what they’ve got to do.
We teach them how to raise the intensity…I mean it’s literally as if you were in my living room, and I was verbally coaching you every step of the way, and you had a partner and I was watching you. It’s linear, so every single class builds on the previous lessons. So they’re not just like there…
There are lots of online learning sites right now, by the way, that are great, lots of information, but there are so many videos that a student who jumps on board doesn’t even know where to start, right? They just see three hundred, five hundred, a thousand videos, and they’ve just got to kinda choose their own path, and that’s not worth doing.
As you can see, in Lesson One of Gracie Combatives, we’re taking them by the hand and we’re showing them the exact path, with the details and everything in between, so it’s pretty incredible.
I understand, because it is so unique, this whole process, I understand all the hatred from the instructors especially out there, and all the animosity and the split support. But guess what: when I get an email from someone right in the middle of nowhere, who is like “Rener, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen, I’ve been following you guys since ‘93 and I’ve been waiting for this. This is a godsend and you guys are incredible”?
Forget about it, I don’t care what anybody says negative about it, if that person, all the people out there on their own are learning, it is a 100% worth it to me and my family, because that’s what my grandfather would want. My grandfather, ultimately, would say “Hey, let’s make it available to as many people as possible.” He didn’t even know that technology could do this, right? He killed himself, broke his back, to basically teach thirty or forty private classes a day.
His claim to fame was “Rener, I used to change my gi twenty times a day,” just teaching private classes. In other words, “Rener, look at what I’m doing to help life, to help other people.” He could fight professionally, and just chill between classes, and between fights, like many other professional fighters do. But no, he was fighting one day, and the next day he is back on the mats, teaching the President of Brazil. His passion was teaching, his passion was sharing it.
We found a way, and naturally there is going to be some anger, which we accept and understand, as long as the people learn all over the world. I’m 100% ok with that.

The FightWorks Podcast: Yeah, like you said, if there are folks who otherwise would never even touch it, who find this as a vehicle to get into jiu jitsu, who can argue with that.

Rener Gracie: Yes, and the thing is we’re creating more students, the instructor should be grateful. Now, if you recall, at the end of Renzo’s interview, he seemed pretty upset, and he even challenged my brothers and I, saying that he wanted to come down here and show us the real jiu jitsu.
I hope that in this interview, I was able to clarify any misunderstanding that caused this anger towards us, but if not, I just wanted to say that I would rather give Renzo whatever title he is looking for before I would ever fight him or any other member of the family with malintentions.
Now, with that being said, if he wants to come down and choke us out a few times, like uncles are supposed to, my brothers and I would be honored, and the invitation is always open.
The FightWorks Podcast: [laughs] I was just about to ask you if you had any closing statements referring back to the interview, but you just nailed it there. Unless there is anything else, I think it’s probably time to wrap up.
I think you addressed a lot of the concerns that Renzo had, right? You talked about his concern about the student visiting and the online stuff, so anything else in general you want to say to our audience, the might 600,000, before we let you go?
Rener Gracie: No sir, thank you for the opportunity, and thank you for the call. It’s all good, it’s all family. Again, in the end, we’re all after the same thing: a world of Gracie or Brazilian jiu jitsu, everyone on the same page, everyone learning this incredible art, all our lives getting better because of it. I appreciate the support, the students, and I’m here to share. My life is dedicated to sharing, and that’s what it’s all about.

The FightWorks Podcast: Ok, Rener Gracie, thank you very much.

Rener Gracie: Thank you, bro.

Peace and let's keep rollin'..........:)

Great Year for BDJJ

2009-11-30T08:58:00.002-06:00

We are closing in on 2009 and it's been the best year I have had as an instructor. We have had alot of students come through the doors, but I have learned over the years only a few show the dedication needed to become a Black Belt. I hope those students who have been missing have not burned out. I welcome all back any time.
Congratulations to Josh Valentine on completing his White Belt fundamentals. Josh has come in with a desire to learn and help others. He has completed his fundamentals in the shortest time I have seen. But, that is what dedications produces.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. See you (ALL) in class.

Peace.........let's keep rolling.

Martial Arts Traditions Old and New

2009-11-11T11:16:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone. I am excited about the new year. Beginning in January we will have our kid's classes from 530pm to 630pm Tuesday and Fridays. They can still attend classes on Saturday for Judo and if other kids are at the 9am class they can practice with them. We will also begin our Gracie Jiu-Jitsu classes on Friday at 630pm to 730pm and an escrima class from 730 to 800pm.

I would also like everyone who has a Gi to wear it to class. Also if you have attended for at least two months by January I would like to see those that have not purchased a Gi get one. I remember the days when those that did not wear their Gi's did not train. Please let's be unified.

We will also be getting more traditional as far as ettiquette goes in the Dojo. Why, because I miss those days when the my Instructor's taught we were in a position to listen, and it is respectful and humbling both for the Instructor and the Student. Those of you who have attended Seminars or trained at other schools are aware it is more formal. It is the way it should be. I also would like to go back to using Japanese commands to bring the culture to us and for us to show respect back to the culture that brought Martial Arts to us. I know when I have been to other schools, even locally and enter, the Instructor brings his class to attention and they bow to me and I bow back as a show of respect. It's very humbling to me when it occurs.

Meanings;
Meaning of the karate belt (Obi)

Crossing tie-

The crossing tie in the back represents Confucian principles behind the martial arts. Kyu (colored belts) students wear a Confucian tie.

Single unit tie-

The single unit tie represents unity of both belt classes to make a Dan (black belt). Dan (black belts) practitioners wear a single unit tie to separate themselves from kyu belt students.

Square knot-

The square knot represents wholeness in karate. As you are practicing karate, it becomes a part of you as you become a part of it to become one or whole. Karate forever changes your mindset and gives you tools to become a leader and stand out from others.

Evenness of belt ends-

Even belt ends represent even knowledge in hands and feet. Uneven belts in the Dojo not only disgraces the student wearing the belt, but disgraces the school and teacher.

Respect your belt-

Never throw your belt on the ground as this shows disrespect to every student and teacher in marital arts whether in past, present or future. Also by throwing your belt on the ground shows you are ungrateful to your teacher who gave you knowledge of karate. Never play with your belt as a jump rope or otherwise as this tells your instructor that you are not serious about training. Students who are not serious about training should not consider learning karate because lack of maturity.

Wearing the Gi jacket top-

Wearing your Gi jacket top the right way means everyday wearing. A students lapel should always cross from the left shoulder to the right waist. By wearing your Gi jacket top from right to left means you are attending a Japanese funeral ceremony in which you are expected to commit the ultimate act of seppuku or disemboweling yourself to die an honorable death.

Entering and exiting the Dojo-

Always bow at the entry point when entering or exiting the Dojo to show respect. By bowing, it shows respect to Sensei or a Shihan, but it honors all who trained before you, and all who train after you.

Remain quiet and respectful to your teacher while s/he is teaching-

Always show respect to your teacher when s/he is discussing a lesson while in class. When you are in the Dojo, the student is expected to remain silent unless Sensei is talking directly to you. When too many talk, play, and not pay attention, not only does this show disrespect, but it distracts others from learning what Sensei is teaching. Students usually sit on the floor close to the wall but never touch their backs against the wall while sitting. Leaning against the wall disgraces the student as this shows the student is lazy and undisciplined. Martial arts is about discipline and respect. Likewise students who talk and play around may miss an important step or piece of information which could prevent them from being hurt. Usually students that do not listen in class often hurt themselves by not listening to Sensei.

Never walk on the Dojo floor with shoes-

This is an ancient Asian custom which not only shows respect to Sensei, but also emphasizes cleanliness. Before anyone enters the Dojo, always take your shoes off before you step on the floor. Likewise, if you enter an Asians house, you are expected to take your shoes off as well. Taking you shoes off before entering the Dojo or house shows respect, but keep in mind you can unknowingly track into such places such as gum, dirt or even animal feces on the bottom of your shoes.

Razorback Jiu-Jitsu - A Gracie Garage

2009-11-04T17:26:00.002-06:00

It's Official we are now recognized as a Gracie Garage from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy. A brief history;

The Original Gracie GarageUpon arriving in the United States in 1978, Rorion Gracie’s mission was to spread his family’s system of self-defense to the world. He asked the head instructors at several martial arts schools if they would allow him to teach Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at their facility, but every one of them declined. The world did not yet understand the critical importance of ground fighting, and individual instructors were unwilling to allow an unknown martial artist to teach at their school.
Never one to quit, Rorion and a few of his friends rented a small house with a two-car garage in Hermosa Beach, California. He lined the floor of the garage with grappling mats and began teaching private classes to anyone and everyone he met. He offered one free private class to each new student, and the opportunity for every established student to earn an additional free class for every referral. Solely by word of mouth, the number of students grew rapidly, and the demand necessitated additional instructors. So, in 1985, Rorion invited his brother Royce to help teach in the garage. By 1989, Rorion and Royce were instructing 130 active students in the garage and had 80 more wait-listed. It was at this point that Rorion and Royce decided to open the very first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in the United States, based out of Torrance, California.
The Primary Objective and the Major ChallengeOur primary objective here at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy is to share Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, in its purest form, with as many people as possible. To accomplish this, we organized our 600+ techniques into a linear curriculum, standardized our teaching methodology, and trained a team of highly qualified instructors so that we could export the Gracie Academy learning experience through a network of Certified Training Centers. While this approach significantly increased our ability to reach beyond the walls of the Gracie Academy, we still were not able to meet the demand for the art. This inspired the creation of Gracie University. But even though, Gracie University provides students all over the world with access to our system, in the comfort of their own home, we still believe that the best way to learn and enjoy the life-changing experience of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is through group study – at the Academy, a Certified Training Center, or a “Gracie Garage.”
The New Gracie GarageWe created the Gracie Garage branch of our learning network to serve communities that lack a Certified Training Center. Derived from the original garage concept, the new Gracie Garage is an unofficial training facility at which people gather to practice Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Since Gracie Garages have no certified instructors, we expect members to use the Gracie University curriculum or the instructional DVDs as their primary source of instruction. And although they are unofficial establishments, we expect and demand that safety and teamwork remain the most important priorities of a Gracie Garage, just as they are here at the Gracie Academy.

Congrats to;
David Breedlove; Gold BDJJ and Yellow in Kodokan Judo
Nina Ramsey; Gold BDJJ

Peace.........Let's keep rollin'.

Brown Belt 2, Blue Belts and Assistant Instructors

2009-10-28T00:42:00.003-05:00

Fantastic class last night. I want to congratulate Ty on making 2nd Brown. Also congrats to Pete Ramsey and Danny Fraser on their Blue Belts. Also congrats on their recognition as Assistant Instructors.
Explaining what Pete and Danny mean to me is easy. When as an Instructor you get students so dedicated they hate missing class and so passionate they take it upon themselves to help others along the way is special. I have been in this a long time and was teaching as a Green Belt. Not everyone wants to teach or has the ability to teach. I am blessed because I always see students helping others with techniques and motivating them to stick with it. As you have seen many students don't have the drive to push themselves to stay with it.
Keep up the good work everyone and lets get some more people different colored belts.

Keep rollin'........PEACE.

M.A.S.K. Tournament Circuit Wrap-up

2009-10-26T00:28:00.002-05:00

Our first season in the M.A.S.K. Tournament Circuit came to a close on Saturday October 24th. It was a low tournout overall, higher in the Grappling Division, but our lowest of the season. The competition was as exciting as ever. We met some new competitors and had a great time. Special Thanks to Danny Fraser and Pete Ramsey running the Judging table. We only had two compeititors from our School, Jason and Nick Fraser, but they put on a show and pulled off some great moves. Jason pulled off the first collar choke of the year in the kid's division and escaped two triangles to win another match. Nick executed a perfect reverse Kimura from the guard to submit his opponent. Jason won first in Gi and Nick won 2nd in Gi. Overall for the year the following won overall in the Gi and NoGi Grappling Divisions for the year and named M.A.S.K. Grappling Champion;
Nina Ramsey...Girls beginner 9-10
Nick Fraser...Boys beginner 9-10
Jason Fraser...boys beginner 9-10 Runner Up
Jericho Clanton...Girls beginner 11-12
Dekota Smith...boys intermeditate 11-12
Ty Holton...Boys Advanced 11-12
Teira Cushman...Female Intermediate 15-17
Adult Divisions Gi and NoGi Grappling Champions
Pete Ramsey...Men's Lt. Heavy Beginner
Jessica Clanton...Female Womens Beginner
Daniel Fraser...Men's Super Heavy Beginner
Charles Smith...Men's Heavy Intermediate

That is 11 Grappling Champions from Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu the most in the League. All will be honored at the MASK Banquet in January 2010 and receive a plaque and Championship Jacket. Great job I am proud of everyone.
Let's keep rollin'........Peace!

Jiu Jitsu Heaven

2009-10-11T21:36:00.004-05:00

I am very pleased to see the new faces at the Dojo and even happier to see old faces returning to train. I hope the new people attending have found a Martial Arts home. Let's continue to make them welcome and make every training day fun, exciting and challenging. We have some new belts to announce;

Devon Brumley - Purple Belt BDJJ
Brandy Harrison - Orange Belt BDJJ
Jessica Clanton - Purple Belt BDJJ
Jericho Clanton - Blue Belt BDJJ
Jason Fraser - Orange Belt BDJJ
Nick Fraser - Orange Belt BDJJ

And I know there are more to come.

Tournament Season Wrapping Up

2009-09-20T22:23:00.003-05:00

Well we had a great turnout at Binky's M.A.S.K. Tournament at Nixa, Missouri on Saturday September 19, 2009. Binky spent a thousand dollars and purchased a 20 x 20 grappling puzzle mat that we were fortunate enough to use at the tournament. We had a great turnout of grapplers both youth and especially adult competitors.
Thanks goes out to Daniel Fraser, Chuck Smith, Brandy Harrison and Daniel's Mother for assisting at the judges table. Despite all the distractions they performed smoothly and I received many complements on their behalf. Next year Binky said he will purchase another 20 x 20 grappling mat for the kids competition. We (BDJJ) had our lowest turnout of the year for competitors do only to injury and illness. Competition was very tough at this tournament with a lot of new competitors as well as the return of 10th planet Jiu-Jitsu out of Springfield, Missouri. The results of the tournmanet are as follows;
Chuck Smith, Intermediate Men's First Gi, Third NoGi
Jason Fraser, Boy's Beginner, 3rd Gi
Nick Fraser, Boy's Beginner, 1st Gi, 2nd NoGi
Ty Holton, Boy's Advanced, 1st Gi, 1st NoGi, 11-12 Absolute Champion

One more tournament to go and hopefully a better turnout. Let's all give our prayers and best wishes to Sam Smith who just joined us a couple of months ago. He is likely out for 6 months with a torn ligament in his knee. He is upbeat about it and looking forward to rolling in the future.
Let's keep rolling..........Peace

Which Martial Arts or Fighting Style is the Best?

2009-09-03T11:53:00.002-05:00

The reality is that there is no best type of martial arts. Rather, each type or style possesses its own unique strengths and weaknesses. It’s really about the style that suits what you’re looking to do and learn, rather than a global best kind.
That said, there are some things to consider when looking for the best fit of martial arts for you.
Physical Condition: Some martial arts types, such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA, require a high level of physical fitness. Further, it’s recommended that you actually come into the gym or school in reasonable shape or risk some very hard early days. Along with this, if it’s just that you’re out of shape, no problem. All you’ll need is the drive to get yourself back in excellent physical condition before getting involved in such a program. Work that cardio and core, if you will.
On the other hand, if age or injuries are a significant factor, you may want to stay away from high contact schools or those that have very high intensity workouts. Further, depending on where your particular injuries are and how they flare up, you may want to give the next consideration some thought.
Striking, Grappling, or Both: Do you want to fight standing up via the use of punches, kicks, knees, elbows, and more? Then consider the striking arts of kickboxing, or kung fu, karate, and Tae Kwon Do, for example. Do you want to grapple? Then get involved in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling, or judo (although judo is a throwing style, there are many schools that also go heavily into ground fighting as well).
Then again, perhaps you want to do both, in which case an MMA gym or school that teaches multiple styles may be right for you. Remember to think about your physical condition, as was noted previously, when deciding on the kind of martial arts to partake in. For example, if you have a recurring neck injury then Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, an art where people are continually trying to choke you from various positions, may not be for you.
Schedule and Distance: Just remember that before joining a martial arts school, distance and the schedule matters. If the schedule doesn’t work for you, it will eventually wear on you. In addition, if the school is too far away then that’s not exactly going to make it easy to keep going either.
Set yourself up for success.
Self-Defense Martial Arts Arguments: Simply put, this is something that you should know when talking with instructors and looking at schools, as it’s sure to come up. Are you looking to learn a martial arts style that claims it will teach you self-defense? Then you’re in luck.
Pretty much all martial arts styles claim to do just that. However, be aware that there are those in the martial arts community that believe sport martial arts do not really teach real-world self-defense skills, as sports are designed to allow practitioners to continue fighting, whereas real world self defense requires that practitioners end a fight quickly. After all, if sport martial arts allowed killing moves then there would be fewer athletes around after tournaments, no?
On the flip side, some sports martial artists believe styles that do not allow sparring at full go or near full go do not prepare martial artists to truly test themselves in real life situations. In other words, if you only practice moves partially either by stopping short, etc., then they’re likely to not work in real life. Such is the case with some traditional styles and schools. These people also point to mixed martial arts tournaments like the UFC, where many of the traditional martial arts styles did poorly early on.
Then again, some of their finishing moves were illegal at the time.
Of course, there is more to the argument than the aforementioned and this article is hardly about taking sides. But just be aware that you may hear some of these ideologies being thrown around in your search for the best martial arts type for you. Thus, it's something to consider.
Sport Martial Arts: Some people are looking to engage in martial arts as a sport. Along with this, many styles of martial arts have a sport associated with them. For example, judo was actually invented by Dr. Jigori Kano in order to be just that—a sport. Further, there are numerous Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, karate, kung fu, and Tae Kwon Do tournaments available for would-be practitioners.
However, not all sport martial arts are considered equal in terms of the contact involved. Kickboxing, for example, will likely involve a significant amount of stand up sparring and contact. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will involve little to none of that, but will certainly test your grappling skills at a full go pace. On the other hand, there are several karate schools out there where there is almost no full contact sparring going on. Included are tournaments that involve only mild contact.
These are some of the considerations for would-be sport martial artists.
In the end, there is a best martial arts type out there for you; it just needs to be found. Good luck in your search.
At the Academy of Self Defense and Karate Grandmaster Rhuel Luttrell realized the significance of a well rounded Martial Artist, and Fighter. By implementing various striking arts, throwing and grappling. Anyone can find what they are looking for at his school. Plus it is street effective.
None of the arts practiced are strictly for sport Martial Arts they all have effective real world significance.;
Boxing, Kickboxing, Tora Ni Tsuita Combat Judo, Bok Fu Quan Fa Chi'na, Shotokan Karate, WuShu Kung Fu, Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu and Kodokan Judo.

Congratulations

2009-08-27T08:40:00.003-05:00

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Todd "The Pittbull" Scarborough and his Wife Kathy. I also want to Congratulate Megan Martin.

Todd recently competed in Mr. Arkansas and came back with 4 championship swords and his wife received two championship swords, outstanding. Since entering competetive bodybuilding Todd has won the following since 1982;
Mr. Teenage Arkansas
Mr. Arkansas 1984 (The youngest ever to win the title at age 19)
Mr. Arkansas 2003
Masters Mr. Arkansas 2005 and 2009
Top 10 Masters Nationals in 2005.
Todd came one vote short this year for Mr. Arkansas and in my opinion along with many others should have won his third Mr. Arkansas. Megan Martin recently opened her own business, Core conditioning and Pilates Academy next door to Rhuel's Dojo. If you have met Megan you know she is a sincere person and pationate about what she teaches, so we wish her all the business she can handle.
Website; If you wish to check the Gallery just click search and it will bring down the pull down tab on the right so you can check all the gallery pics and videos.
Peace, Let's Keep Rollin.................

Don't get Frustrated or Overwhelmed

2009-08-19T14:03:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to touch base with everyone on my style of training. We do alot of techniques some days and others review and sometimes one or two techniques. We have alot of new faces in class, not all have joined and some are visitors. We hope all will join and be part of our BDJJ family.
I get bored teaching basics and it's boring to learn just basics. We do basics to build a solid foundations and when I teach basics I try to put it in a real situation that will lead to other techniques. Even when I teach striking and punching I try to place it in a real situation, it makes learning more fun and becomes an adventure. Don't get overwhelmed or frustrated if your new. Ask some of the students who have been with me a few months, I hear them say, "Don't worry it will come to you." There is a method to the madness, stay with it and you will see your development improve with every class.
That is another thing I want to touch on. Some people have natural abilities in things, athletics, computers, anything. I have seen alot of good athletes lose interest. In order to advance in any Martial Arts, or sport you have to be putting in the time, that is where you lose people in any physical endeavor. I require a minimum of two times per week that is three hours per week to develop and advance. If you are coming once a week or missing classes, your deveopment slows and so will your advancement. Time in class and on the mat are the only ways to get better and make the techniques second nature.
I realize people have a life outside the Dojo (sad, but true). I know some of you only have time for one class per week, or have things come up. I am not calling out anyone, I just want to say that your development depends on you. I remember my Military recruiter telling me before I enlisted, "In life, you will get out of it what you put into it". That my friend is a life leason on everything we do, from relationships, friendships, school, work, sports, anything.
Peace and let's keep rolling...........:)

New Web Stuff, New Dojo Room

2009-08-14T08:19:00.002-05:00

Things are going well and the tournament season is almost over. That's good so we can save money for the upcoming Christmas Season. Anyway, Josh hooked us up with a link page where I listed my favorite and most visited web sites. Also on Saturday go upstairs and check out the new grappling area Rhuel put in. and as soon as he puts in the other room we are good to go. It's really nice. I will be purchasing fans this weekend for the upstairs room. It's really hot up there put thats okay.

Peace and lets keep rollin'...........:)

Pressure Points, Dim Mak, George Dillman

2009-08-12T10:03:00.003-05:00

I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine who was inquiring about pressure point techniques. I do have an opinion and be advised it is only an opinion. I have been certified in pressure point tactics as a Police Officer and have studied them and applied them in controlled settings, yes they work in that setting. However, when you are dealing with pain compliance there is a hitch. Who are you usually dealing with in an altercation? Someone on mind, nerve, numbing intoxicants, such as, drugs, alcohol. Then pain compliance does not work.
I do believe in joint locks (Chin Na) applications as effective, not so much in pain compliance when dealing with persons under the influence, but in controling the person. They use to teach pressure points to Police and other Law Enforcement, Special Military Service persons, Seals, Delta, Rangers, Green Berets. Now they teach more Knee's, Elbows, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In fact Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is now very much part of all Military Training.
I have seen Police Officer's right out of the Academy try to apply pressure points, using batons, hands, fingers, and knuckles with no success, why? because the fight is living, moving and the persons they are dealing with are under the influence. I have never used pressure points, mace, I have always relied on Chin Na, chokes and the ground game, (if it went there).
George Dillman, The Yellow Bamboo Cult and Dim Mak are all a bunch of garbage. Check them out yourself and decide what you think.

Great New Look at the Dojo

2009-08-10T09:06:00.003-05:00

Rhuel put in the new floor and did not waste anytime. He is also putting in the same type of Judo floor in the adjacent room, should any spill over occur. Please respect the Dojo. No drinks other than water and absolutely no food or shoes on the mat.
The floor is great, but a little rough. I would recommend rashguard tights if you want to wear shorts, and long sleeve rash guard shirts if you want to go without your gi. I would like everyone to wear their gi at the beginning of class and as class progresses I always allow you to change when you ask. Great new videos on the website, check them out. Class on Tuesday adults will now last 1.5 hours (that's an hour and a half). This gives us more time to work. Class on Saturday may increase in the future or I may split the adults and youth. Let me hear from you as to what you would like. We have several new members, let's congratulate them;
Megan Martin
Sam Smith
Sammy Smith
Kim Holton

Let's keep people coming to share what we love. peace, lets roll.........:)

Recognition, Vanity, Pride

2009-08-05T07:29:00.002-05:00

I am writing this regarding my recent induction into the United States Black Belt Martial Arts Hall of Fame. This is my third induction. I remember before I ever was inducted how important it was (I thought) to get into the Hall of Fame. Don't get me wrong, it's an honor just to be nominated. But now I know the real meaning to me.
I feel more honored that someone who knows me, what I have done and continue to do with Martial Arts honored me by presenting my name before the Hall of Fame. These people at the H.O.F. don't know me or what I am about, but he did. That is the real satisfaction. But, I have learned over the years unfortunately Martial Arts is a balance of politics, religion, self absorbtion and Vanity. I hope that I have brought humility, understanding, self awareness and a mutual respect for each other that we can use martial arts to build one another up and love what we are doing in the martial arts.
Last, but not least, the only people that matter to me regarding Martial Arts is Grand Master Rhuel Luttrell and the students who come in and train and know that I am giving you my best and that you know that I have a true love for each and every one of you as a person.
Peace and lets keep rolling......

Tiger / Dragon Classic Tournament

2009-08-03T08:29:00.002-05:00

We have succsefully hosted our first tournament as part of The Academny of Self Defense and Karate. Mr. Luttrell will put in a new floor in the next few weeks with some of the money earned at the tournament. I was proud of everyone who participated either as a competitor, working the Judges Tables or cheering on Members of the school. Special thanks to the following persons for their help;
Chuck Smith
Tony Conway
Daniel Chism
Brandy Harrison
Devon Brumley

Results of the Tournament;
Jessica "Rodeo" Clanton; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi, Absolute Women's Champion
Ty "The Man" Holton; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi, Absolute Youth Champion
Tierra "Spider" Cushman; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi, Runner Up Absolute
Chuck "Sidewinder" Smith; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi, Runner Up Absolute
Pete "Pistol" Ramsey; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi
Danny "Hightower" Fraser; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi
Jael Ramsey; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi
Abby "Shotgun" Marshall; 2nd Gi
Mason "Elvis" Marshall; 2nd Gi
Dekota "Viper" Smith; 1st Gi, 1st NoGi
Jason "The Heat" Fraser; 1st Gi, 2nd NoGi
Nick "Hollywood" Fraser; 2nd Gi, 3rd NoGi
Max "MadMax" Scarborough; 2nd NoGi

Let's keep rolling and building our BDJJ School, Peace.......:)

Summer Vacation - Home Again

2009-07-20T08:54:00.002-05:00

I must say I really had a chance to decompress and relax while on Vacation in Florida. That would not have been possible without Pete and Daniel teaching class for me in my absence. This is the first time I have had students I was able to trust with the cirriculum and the confidence to carry on in my absence. I thank them on a great job.

I am very excited and can't wait to get to class. We need these next two weeks to prepare for our tournament on August 1st. I want to congratulate Mason "Elvis" Marshall on Student of the Month for June. And I want to congratulate Pete and Danny for Co-Students of the month for July.

Peace.

Congrats and See Ya Soon

2009-07-07T09:57:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday and that we all remember those that are still fighting this war on two fronts, they are the true hero's facing death every day. I must say this was the best fourth of July I can remember in a long time. Much of that is because of Daniel inviting my family and I to spend it at his reserved area where he works, right on Lake Harrison.
I told my story of earlier in the day chasing bad guys with guns and one stealing a truck 300 yards from me in a residential area. Plus the guy who drove by flipping me the bird. What an adventure that day was. Danny, I appreciated the invite because it was pleasent company, a great fireworks show and most of all cool weather and I was able to relax. Pete, Jessica, Brandy, Devon and Malcom all showed up to enjoy the show as well.

I just wanted to congratulate the following students on well deserved belt promotions;

Daniel "Hightower" Fraser - Orange Belt BDJJ
Jessica "Rodeo" Clanton - Orange Belt BDJJ
Chuck "Sidewinder" Smith - Blue Belt BDJJ

There are going to be other promotions at the end of the summer to those who show there ready and have good attendence, because rolling/work time makes you better. Thanks to Pete and Danny who will be teaching while I am lying on the beach rollling with the waves. Check out the new uploaded photos from our latest tournament in Nixa, Missouri.

Peace and lets roll.........

Nixa Tournament July 2009

2009-06-29T16:26:00.005-05:00

We had a great turnout from BDJJ at the tournament and the competition was fierce. I believe there were at least 65-70 grapplers on hand competing in this tournament. In fact we out numbered the other Martial Artists competing in the other events. There were a number of under 18 competitors and one as young as 6. I was proud of everyone who competed and everyone who came to support the competitors and the event itself.

Special thanks to Brandy Harrison, Jessica Clanton, Josh Wilson and Chuck Smith. I received several complements on how well they did judging and setting up the brackets, when I stayed out of the way.

Results of the Tournament;

Pete "Pistol" Ramsey, Beg. Lt. Heavy 1st Gi and NoGi
Daniel "Hightower" Fraser, Beg. Sup. Heavy 1st Gi and NoGi
Chuck "Sidewinder" Smith, Int. Sup. Heavy 1st Gi and NoGi
Jericho Clanton, Girls 11-12 Beg. 1st GI and NoGi and GrandChampion
Nina Ramsey, Girls Beg. 9-10 Beg. 1st Gi and NoGi
Nick "Hollywood" Fraser, Boys Beg. 9-10 2nd Gi and 3rd NoGi
Jason "The Heat" Fraser, Boys Beg. 9-10 2nd NoGi and 3rd Gi
Dekota "Viper" Smith, Boys Beg. 11-12 3rd Gi
Ty "The Man" Holton, Boys Adv. 11-12, 3rd Gi and 3rd NoGi

I was proud of everyone and remember our Tournament is coming up on the 1st of August in Harrison, be there and let's roll........

New Classes Coming

2009-06-22T17:05:00.003-05:00

In July I will start a weapons class after the adult class on Tuesday. In August this class will begin two days a week on both Tuesday and after Saturday's Judo class. We will start with the Bow Staff and/or the Escrima. I know there have been interested members wanting to start their weapons training. You will need to purchase a plain wooden competition bow staff or escrima.

Peace.

A Moment of Understanding - Bruce Lee

2009-06-01T16:42:00.001-05:00

Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise. It is a subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding and instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from emotions and desires. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. After four years of hard training in the art of gung fu, I began to understand and felt the principle of gentleness - the art of neutralising the effect of the opponent's effort and minimising the expenditure of one's energy. All these must be done in calmness and without striving. It sounded simple, but in actual application it was difficult.

The moment I engaged in combat with an opponent, my mind was completely perturbed and unstable. And after a series of exchanging blows and kicks, my theory of gentleness was gone. My only thought at this point was "Somehow or other I must beat him and win!"
My instructor at the time, Professor Yip Man, head of the wing chun school of gung fu, would come up to me and say "Leung(Lee's Chinese nickname was Lee Siu Leung), relax and calm your mind. Forget about yourself and follow the opponent's movement. Let your mind, the basic reality, do the counter-movement without any interfering deliberation. Above all, learn the art of detachment."

"That was it!" I thought. "I must relax!" However, right then I had just done something that contradicted against my will. That occurred at the precise moment I said, "I must relax." The demand for effort in must was already inconsistent with the effortlessness in relax.
When my acute self-consciousness grew to what the psychologists refer to as the "double-blind" type, my instructor would again approach me and say, "Leung(pronounced Loong), preserve yourself by following the natural bends of things and don't interfere. Remember never to assert yourself against nature; never be in frontal opposition to any problems, but control it by swinging with it. Don't practice this week. Go home and think about it."

The following week I stayed home. After spending many hours meditating and practicing, I gave up and went sailing alone in a junk. On the sea I thought of all my past training and got mad at myself and punched the water! Right then, at that moment, a thought suddenly struck me; was not this water the very essence of gung fu? I struck it but it did not suffer hurt. Again I struck it with all of my might, yet it was not wounded! I then tried to grasp a handful of it but this proved impossible. This was water, the softest substance in the world, which could be contained in the smallest jar, only seemed weak. In reality, it could penetrate the hardest substance in the world. That was it! I wanted to be like the nature of water.

Suddenly a bird flew by and cast its reflection on the water. Right then as I was absorbing myself with the lesson of the water, another mystic sense of hidden meaning revealed itself to me; should not the thoughts and emotions I had when in the front of an opponent pass like the reflection of the bird flying over the water? This was exactly what Professor Yip meant by being detached - not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling was not sticky or blocked. Therefore in order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.

I lay on the boat and felt that I had united with Tao; I had become one with nature. I just lay there and let the boat drift freely according to its own will. For at that moment I had achieved a state of inner feeling in which opposition had become mutually cooperative instead of mutually exclusive, in which there was no longer any conflict in mind. The whole world to me was unitary.

Bruce Lee's handwritten essay from one of his courses at the university of Washington.

The Tao of Gung Fu - Bruce Lee

2009-05-28T16:38:00.002-05:00

Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise or self-defence. To the Chinese, gung fu is the subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding or instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from desires and emotions. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. The word Tao has no exact equivalent in the English Language. To render it into the Way, or the "principle" or the "law" is to give it too narrow an interpretation. Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism, described Tao in the following words:

The Way that can be expressed in words is not the eternal Way;the Name that can be uttered is not the eternal Name.Conceived of as nameless it is the cause of Heaven and earth.Conceived of as having a name it is the mother of all things.Only the man externally free from passion can contemplate its spiritual essence.He who is clogged by desires can see no more than its outer form.These two things, the spiritual (Yin) and the material (Yang),though we call them by different names, are one and the same in their origin.The sameness is a mystery of the mysteries.It is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.

In Masterpieces of World Philosophy: "Tao is nameless beginning of things, the universal principle underlying everything, the supreme, ultimate pattern, and the principle of growth." Huston Smith, the author of The World's Religions, explained Tao as "The Way of Ultimate Reality---the Way or Principle behind all life, or the Way man should order his life to gear in with the Way the universe operates." Although no one word can substitute its meaning, I have used the word Truth for it---the "Truth" behind gung fu; the "Truth" that every gung fu practitioner should follow. Tao operates in Yin and Yang, a pair of mutually complementary forces that are at work in and behind all phenomena. This principle of Yin-Yang, also known as T'ai Chi, is the basic structure of gung fu. The T'ai Chi, or Grand Terminus, was first drawn more than three thousand years ago by Chou Chun I. The Yang (whiteness) principle represents positiveness, firmness, masculinity, substantiality, brightness, day, heat, and so forth. The Yin (blackness) principle is the opposite. It represents negativeness, softness, femininity, insubstantiality, darkness, night, coldness, and so forth. The basic theory in T'ai Chi is that nothing is so permanent as never to change. In other words, when activity (Yang) reaches the extreme point, it becomes inactivity; and inactivity forms Yin. Extreme inactivity returns to become activity, which is Yang. Activity is the cause of inactivity and vice versa. This system of complementary increasing and decreasing of the principle is continuous. From this one can see that the two forces (Yin-Yang), although they appear to conflict, in reality are mutually interdependent; instead of opposition, there is cooperation and alternation. The application of the principles of Yin-Yang in gung fu are expressed as the Law of Harmony. It states that one should be in harmony with, not in rebellion against, the strength and force of the opposition. This means that one should do nothing that is not natural or spontaneous; the important thing is to not strain in any way. When opponent A uses strength (Yang) on B, B must not resist him (back) with strength; in other words, B does not use positiveness (Yang ) against positiveness (Yang), but yields to A with softness (Yin) and leads A in the direction of his own force, negativeness (Yin) to positiveness (Yang). When A's strength goes to the extreme, the positiveness (Yang) will change to negativeness (Yin), and B can then take him at his unguarded moment and attack with force (Yang). Thus the whole process is not unnatural or strained; B fits his movement harmoniously and continuously into that of A without resisting or striving.

The above idea gives rise to a closely related law, the Law of Noninterference with Nature, which teaches a gung fu man to forget about himself and follow his opponent instead of himself; he does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influence. The basic idea is to defeat the opponent by yielding to him and using his own strength. That is why a gung fu man never asserts himself against his opponent, and never puts himself in frontal opposition to the direction of his opponents force. When being attacked, he will not resist, but will control the attack by swinging with it. This law illustrates the principles of nonresistance and nonviolence, which were founded on the idea that the branches of a fir tree snap under the weight of the snow, while the simple reeds, weaker but more supple, can overcome it. In the I'Ching, Confucius illustrated this: "To stand in the stream is a datum of nature; one must follow and flow with it." In the Tao Teh Ching, the gospel of Taoism, Lao-tzu pointed out to us the value of gentleness. Contrary to common belief, the Yin principle, as softness and pliableness, is to be associated with life and survival. Because he can yield, a man can survive. In contrast, the Yang principle, which is assumed to be rigorous and hard, makes a man break under pressure (note the last two lines, which make a fair description of revolution as many generations of people have seen it):

Alive, a man is supple, soft;In death, unbending, rigorous.All creatures, grass and trees, aliveAre plastic but are pliant too,And dead, are friable and dry.Unbending rigor is the mate of death,And yielding softness, company of life;Unbending soldiers get no victories;The stiffest tree is readiest for the ax.The strong and mighty topple from their place;The soft and yielding rise above them all.

The way of movement in gung fu is closely related to the movement of the mind. In fact, the mind is trained to direct the movement of the body. The mind wills and the body behaves. As the mind is to direct the bodily movements, the way to control the mind is important; but it is not an easy task. In his book, Glen Clark mentioned some of the emotional disturbances in athletics:

Every conflicting centre, every extraneous, disrupting, decentralizing emotion, jars the natural rhythm and reduces a man's efficiency on the gridiron far more seriously than physical jars and bodily conflicts can ever jar him. The emotions that destroy the inner rhythm of a man are hatred, jealousy, lust, envy, pride, vanity, covetousness and fear.

To perform the right technique in gung fu, physical loosening must be continued in a mental and spiritual loosening, so as to make the mind not only agile but free. In order to accomplish this, a gung fu man has to remain quiet and calm and to master the principle of no-mindedness (wu hsin). No-mindedness is not a blank mind that excludes all emotions; nor is it simply calmness and quietness of the mind. Although quietude and calmness are important, it is the "non-graspiness" of the mind that mainly constitutes the principle of no-mindedness. A gung fu man employs his mind as a mirror---it grasps nothing and it refuses nothing; it receives but does not keep. As Alan Watts puts it, the no-mindedness is "a state of wholeness in which the mind functions freely and easily, without the sensation of a second mind or ego standing over it with a club." What he means is, let the mind think what it likes without interference by the separate thinker or ego within oneself. So long as it thinks what it wants, there is absolutely no effort in letting it go; and the disappearance of the effort to let go is precisely the disappearance of the separate thinker. There is nothing to try to do, for whatever comes up moment by moment is accepted, including nonacceptance. No-mindedness is then not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling is not sticky or blocked. It is a mind immune to emotional influences. "Like this river, everything is flowing on ceaselessly without cessation or standing still." No-mindedness is employing the whole mind as we use the eyes when we rest them upon various objects but make no special effort to take anything in. Chuang-tzu, the disciple of Lao-tzu, stated:

The baby looks at things all day without winking, that is because his eyes are not focussed on any particular object. He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself with the surroundings and moves along with it. These are the principles of mental hygiene.

Therefore, concentration in gung fu does not have the usual sense of restricting the attention to a single sense object; it is simply a quiet awareness of whatever happens to be here and now. Such concentration can be illustrated by an audience at a football game; instead of a concentrated attention on the player who has the ball, they have an awareness of the whole football field. In a similar way, a gung fu man's mind is concentrated by not dwelling on any particular part of the opponent. This is especially true when he deals with many opponents. For instance, suppose ten men are attacking him, each in succession ready to strike him down. As soon as one is disposed of, he will move onto another without permitting the mind to "stop" with any. However rapidly one blow may follow another he leaves no time to intervene between the two. Every one of the ten will thus be successively and successfully dealt with. This is possible only when the mind moves from one object to another without being "stopped" or arrested by anything. If the mind is unable to move on in this fashion, it is sure to lose the combat somewhere between two encounters. The mind is present everywhere because it is nowhere attached to any particular object. And it can remain present because, even when relating to this or that object, it does not cling to it. The flow of thought is like water filling a pond, which is always ready to flow off again. It can work its inexhaustible power because it is free, and it can be open to everything because it is empty. This can be compared with what Chang Chen Chi called "Serene Reflection." He wrote: "Serene means tranquillity of no thought, and reflection means vivid and clear awareness.

Therefore, serene reflection is clear awareness of no-thought." As stated earlier, a gung fu man aims at harmony with himself and his opponent. Also, being in harmony with one's opponent is possible not through force, which provokes conflicts and reactions, but through a yielding to the opponent's force. In other words, a gung fu man promotes the spontaneous development of his opponent and does not venture to interfere by his own action. He loses himself by giving up all subjective feelings and individuality, and he becomes one with his opponent. Inside his mind, oppositions have become mutually cooperative instead of mutually exclusive. When his private egos and conscious efforts yield to a power not his own he then achieves the supreme action, non-action (wu we). Wu means "not" or "non" and we means "action," "doing," "striving," "straining," or "busyness." Wu we doesn't really mean doing nothing, but letting one's mind alone, trusting it to work by itself. Wu we, in gung fu, means spontaneous action or spirit-action, in the sense that the governing force is the mind and not the senses. During sparring, a gung fu man learns to forget about himself and follow the movement of his opponent, leaving his mind free to make its own counter movement without any interfering deliberation. He frees himself from all mental suggestions of resistance and adopts a supple attitude. His actions are all performed without self-assertion; he lets his mind remain spontaneous and ungrasped. As soon as he stops to think, his flow of movement will be disturbed and his opponent will immediately strike him. Every action therefore has to be done "unintentionally" without ever "trying." Through wu we, a "reposeful ease" is secured. This passive achievement, as Chuang-tzu pointed out, will free a gung fu man from striving and straining himself:

A yielding will has a reposeful ease, soft as downy feathers, A quietude, a shrinking from action, an appearance of inability to do. Placidly free from anxiety, one acts with the opportune time; one moves and revolves in the line of creation. One does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influences.

Establish nothing in regard to oneself. Let things be what they are, move like water, rest like a mirror, respond like an echo, pass quickly like the nonexistent, and be quiet as purity. Those who gain, lose. Do not precede others, always follow them.
The natural phenomenon which the gung fu man sees as being the closest resemblance to wu we is water:

Nothing is weaker than water,But when it attacks something hardOr resistant, then nothing withstands it,And nothing will alter its way.

The above passages from the Tao Te Ching illustrate to us the nature of water: Water is so fine that it is impossible to grasp a handful of it; strike it, yet it does not suffer hurt; stab it, and it is not wounded; sever it, yet it is not divided. It has no shape of its own but moulds itself to the receptacle that contains it. When heated to the state of steam it is invisible but has enough power to split the earth itself. When frozen it crystallises into a mighty rock. First it is turbulent like Niagara Falls, and then calm like a still pond, fearful like a torrent, and refreshing like a spring on a hot summer's day. So is the principle of wu we:

The rivers and seas are lords of a hundred valleys. This is because their strength is in lowliness; they are kings of them all. So it is that the perfect master wishing to lead them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, men do not feel him to be an injury. And since he will not strive, none strive with him.
The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble. They want to get ahead, to stand out. Such ambition has no use for a gung fu man, who rejects all forms of self-assertiveness and competition:

One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk. One who advertises himself too much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him. One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated. These are condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity. Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremes.

Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.Stop your sense, let sharp things be blunted,Tangles resolved, the light tempered and turmoil subdued;For this is mystic unity in which the wise man is movedNeither by affection nor yet by estrangement,Or profit or loss or honour or shame.Accordingly, by all the world, he is held highest.

A gung fu man, if he is really good, is not proud at all. "Pride," according to Mr. Eric Hoffer, "is a sense of worth that derives from something that is not organically part of oneself." Pride emphasises the importance of the superiority of a person's status in the eyes of others. There is fear and insecurity in pride because when a person aims at being highly esteemed and achieves such status, he is automatically involved in the fear of losing his status. Then protection of his status appears to be his most important need, and this creates anxiety. Mr. Hoffer further states that: "The less promise and potency in the self, the more imperative is the need for pride. One is proud when he identifies himself with an imaginary self; the core of pride is self rejection." As we know, gung fu is aiming at self cultivation, and the inner self is one's true self. So in order to realise his true self, a gung fu man lives without being dependent upon the opinion of others.

Since he is completely self-sufficient he can have no fear of not being esteemed. A gung fu man devotes himself to being self-sufficient and never depends upon the external rating by others for his happiness. A gung fu master, unlike the beginner, holds himself in reserve, is quiet and unassuming, without the lest desire to show off. Under the influence of gung fu training his proficiency becomes spiritual, and he himself, grown ever freer through spiritual struggle, is transformed. To him, fame and status mean nothing. Thus wu we is the art of artlessness, the principle of no-principle. To state it in terms of gung fu, the genuine beginner knows nothing about the way of blocking and striking, and much less about his concern for himself. When an opponent tries to strike him, he "instinctively" parries it. This is all he can do. But as soon as his training starts, he is taught how to defend and attack, where to keep the mind, and many other technical tricks—which makes his mind "stop" at various junctures. For this reason whenever he tries to strike the opponent he feels unusually hampered (he has lost altogether the original sense of innocence and freedom). But as months and years go by, as his training acquires fuller maturity, his bodily attitude and his way of managing the technique toward no-mindedness come to resemble the state of mind he had at the very beginning of training when he knew nothing, when he was altogether ignorant of the art. The beginning and the end thus turn into next-door neighbours. In the musical scale, one may start with the lowest pitch and gradually ascend to the highest. When the highest is reached, one finds it is located next to the lowest. In a similar way, when the highest stage is reached in the study of Taoist teaching, a gung fu man turns into a kind of simpleton who knows nothing of Tao, nothing of its teachings, and is devoid of all learning. Intellectual calculations are lost sight of and a state of no-mindedness prevails. When the ultimate perfection is attained, the body and limbs perform by themselves what is assigned to them to do with no interference from the mind. The technical skill is so automatic it is completely divorced from conscious efforts. There are big differences between the Chinese hygiene and the Western hygiene. Some of the obvious ones are Chinese exercise is rhythmic, whereas the Western is dynamic and full of tension; the Chinese exercise seeks to merge harmoniously with nature, whereas the Western dominates it; the Chinese exercise is both a way of life and a mental cultivation, while the Western exercise is merely a sport or a physical calisthenic. Perhaps the main difference is the fact that Chinese hygiene is Yin (softness), while Western is Yang (positiveness). We can compare the Western mind with an oak tree that stands firm and rigid against the strong wind. When the wind becomes stronger, the oak tree cracks. The Chinese mind, on the other hand, is like the bamboo that bends with the strong wind. When the wind ceases (that is, when it goes to the extreme and changes), the bamboo springs back stronger than before. Western hygiene is a gratuitous waste of energy. The overexertion and over development of bodily organs involved in Western athletics is detrimental to one's health. Chinese hygiene, on the other hand, throws its emphasis on conservation of energy; the principle is always that of moderation without going to the extreme. Whatever exercise there may be consists of harmonious movements calculated to normalise but not excite one's bodily regimen. It starts out with a mental regimen as a basis, in which the sole object is to bring about peace and calmness of mind. With this as a basis, it aims at stimulating the normal functioning of the internal process of respiration and blood circulation.

Handwritten Essay by Bruce Lee dated May 16th 1962

Self Defense - Bruce Lee

2009-05-26T17:27:00.001-05:00

What would you do if you were attacked by a thug? Would you stand your ground and fight it out? Or, if you will excuse me, would you say that you would run like hell? But what if your loved ones were with you? What then? That’s the all important question. You have only to pick up a newspaper to read of attacks made, not only on lonely commons, but also in built-up areas, to understand the need for self-defence. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed" is an old, reliable proverb, and the purpose of my notes on self-defence is to not only forewarn you, but to forearm you with practical knowledge about meeting any foe, regardless of his size and strength.
Some tips on Self-Defence

Self-defence is not fun. You are liable to find yourself fighting hard to avoid serious injury and so you must expect to be hurt. The method of self-defence I am going to describe will not prevent your being hurt, but it will give you a very good chance of emerging the victor without sustaining any severe injury. You will have to accept this, and should a blow from your opponent break through, it is essential, at least for the time being, to ignore the pain and, instead of giving up, use it as a spur to counterattack and victory. (Bear this in mind: when being attacked by a thug the fact is that he has but a one-track mind, which is bent on your destruction, rarely considering what you can do. If your acts show him that he is up against something he did not expect, it will cut down his attacking ego over 50 percent and will neutralise his attack, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side.)

This may not sound very encouraging, but the chances of attack can be very greatly reduced when you are walking, especially alone at night or in lonely places, if you are always alert. Keep an eye on any person who appears to be following you or who approaches. Keep to the outside of the path or in the middle of a lane. Listen for approaching footsteps and watch shadows; that is to say, as you pass a street lamp you will see the shadow of anyone behind you thrown up on the ground in front of you. The same thing happens as a result of lights in houses and the headlights of passing cars. As soon as you see a shadow in these circumstances, immediately glance around and see who it is. Always, of course, avoid patches of deep shadow.

In made-up but quiet streets, I repeat, walk on the outside of the pavement. This obviates the chance of anyone jumping out of a house or garden entrance at you to snatch your purse, handbag, or briefcase or worse. For exactly the same reason I suggest walking down the middle of a lane where there are no made-up paths and perhaps no street lamps. If you consider it advisable, you may even cross the road to avoid a person of whom you are suspicious. If he follows, he at least makes his intention fairly obvious. Although I am again repeating myself, I must emphasise that the success of an assailant’s attack depends on surprise, and if you’re sufficiently alert to prevent a surprise, your counterattack is already halfway to being successful. The main thing is to see the attack coming, which enables you to shout, scream, or just concentrate on dealing with the attacker. Make as much noise as possible as this naturally tends to frighten off lawbreakers.

I hope I have not frightened you and made you think it is not safe to walk along the streets. That is certainly not my intention, but newspaper reports lead one to believe that attacks on innocent people are increasing.

The Basis of Self-Defence
There is only one basic principle of self-defence: You must apply the most effective weapon as soon as possible to the most vulnerable point of your enemy. Although I say there is only one basic principle, it is better to break it into sections and look at it more thoroughly:
1/ What is the most effective weapon2/ Speed3/ The point to attack or counterattack

The Weapon
Given a chance I would always choose the leg. It is longer than the arm and can deal a heavier blow, and it is much more powerful. So, should anyone approach you, your kick would make contact before his punch, if both commence at the same speed.

Speed
There is no time to consider the type of defence or weapon to use. Obviously, if your kick does not commence, his punch will land first, and your defence is useless. Only training can produce results (I can help you with this). If you do not consider a few minutes training worthwhile, and you think the chance of assault is small, you are one of those people who encourage thugs to attack, and no one can help you should an emergency arise.The Point of Counterattack
Among the most vulnerable points for your counter if you are attacked by a man are the groin, eyes, abdomen, and knee.

Bruce Lee’s handwritten essay dated 1962.

Percentages

2009-05-22T21:55:00.003-05:00

Techniques are all about percentages. What I mean is that there are things in Martial Arts and fighting that are probably going to work, things that are possibly going to work and things that are totally illogical and don't make sense.

You are not going to do 10 moves on a persons body if there arm is left straight out after punching or grabbing them. This is because of simple body mechanics or autonomic reflex reaction. This is gaps in logical teaching, nobody stands in place during a fight it just does not happen. Remember that a fight is a living thing. Having said that, you should learn everything you can related to fighting because then you can evaluate and you never know what will work and what will not.

Nerve strikes and pressure points, the biggest of the absolute techniques that will work all the time (so the experts say). If you think pressing on a certain part of the body will stop a fight, then you have never been in a fight. Drugs, alcohol, pain resistance effect the percentage. I have been taught in Police Work pressure points over the years and I have used them as much as pepper spray, NEVER! I have seen Officer's get tunnel vision trying to use pressure points and then wonder why it's not working. It works perfect in a contained, controlled situation, but the percentage is very low in the real deal. I still recommend learning them to know the body and be educated to make an informed decision.

What increases percentage fighting success, live training and working hard. Still never overcomplicate moves. We try to stay away from that in BDJJ, but we still learn some of them. Direct, simple attacks tend to be more successful.

Peace...

Reflections on Gung Fu - Bruce Lee

2009-05-22T16:20:00.002-05:00

Gung fu is so extraordinary because it is nothing at all special. It is simply the direct expression of one's feeling with the minimum of lines and energy. Every movement is being so of itself without the artificiality with which we tend to complicate them. The closer to the true Way of gung fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Gung fu is to be looked at without fancy suits and matching ties, and it remains a secret while we anxiously look for sophistication and deadly techniques. If there are really any secrets at all, they must have been missed by the "seeing" and "striving" of its practitioners (after all, how many ways are there to come in on an opponent without deviating too much from the natural course?). Gung fu values the wonder of the ordinary, and the idea is not daily increase but daily decrease.

Being wise in gung fu does not mean adding more but being able to remove sophistication and ornamentation and be simply simple, like a sculptor building a statue not by adding, but by hacking away the unessential so that the truth will be revealed unobstructed. Gung fu is satisfied with one's bare hands without the fancy decoration of colourful gloves, which tend to hinder the natural function of the hands. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity while halfway cultivation runs to ornamentation.

There are three stages in the cultivation of gung fu: namely, the primitive stage, the stage of art, and the stage of artlessness.

The primitive stage is the stage of original ignorance in which a person knows nothing of the art of combat. In a fight he simply blocks and strikes instinctively without concern as for what is right and wrong. Of course, he might not be so-called scientific, but he is, nevertheless, being himself.

The second stage, the stage of art, begins when a person starts his training. He is taught the different ways of blocking and striking, the various ways of kicking, of standing, of moving, of breathing, of thinking. Unquestionably he is gaining a scientific knowledge of combat, but unfortunately his original self and sense of freedom are lost, and his action no longer flows by itself. His mind tends to freeze at different movements for calculation and analysis. Even worse, he might be "intellectually bound" and maintaining himself outside the actual reality.
The third stage, the stage of artlessness, occurs when, after years of serious and hard practice, he realises that, after all, gung fu is nothing special and instead of trying to impose his mind on the art, he adjusts himself to the opponent like water pressing on an earthen wall, it flows through the slightest crack. There is nothing to "try" to do but be purposeless and formless like water. Nothingness prevails; he no longer is confined.

These three stages also apply to the various methods being practiced in Chinese gung fu. Some methods are rather primitive with basic jerky blocking and striking. On the whole, they lack the flow and change of combinations. Some "sophisticated" methods, on the other hand, tend to run to ornamentation and get carried away by grace and showmanship. Whether from the so-called "firm" or "gentle" school, they often involve big, fancy movements with a lot of complicated steps toward one single goal (it is like an artist who, not satisfied with drawing a simple snake, proceeds to put four beautiful and shapely feet on the snake).

When grasped by the collar, for example, these practitioners would "first do this, then this, then finally that", but of course the direct way would be to let the opponent have the pleasure of grasping the collar and simply punch him straight on the nose! To some martial artists of distinguishing taste, this would be a little bit unsophisticated; too ordinary and unartful. However, it is the ordinary that we use and encounter in everyday life.

Art is the expression of the self; the more complicated and restrictive a method is, the less opportunity there is for expression of one’s original sense of freedom. The techniques, although they play an important role in the earlier stage, should not be too complex, restrictive, or mechanical. If we cling to them we will become bound by their limitations.

Remember that man created method, and method did not create man, and do not strain yourself in twisting into someone’s preconceived pattern, which unquestionably would be appropriate for him, but not necessarily for you. You yourself are "expressing" the technique and not "doing" the technique; in fact, there is no doer but the action itself. When someone attacks you, it is not which technique that you use, but the moment you’re aware of his attack you simply move in like sound, an echo without any deliberation. It is as though when I call, you answer me, or when I throw something, you catch it. That’s all.

After all these years of practice in the different schools I have found out this: that techniques are merely simple guide lines to tell the practitioner that he has done enough! Of course, different people have different preferences and therefore I will include different techniques of both the Northern and the Southern schools of gung fu. Observe closely the differences as well as the similarities of utilisation.

An article written by Bruce Lee that was never published written on December 21th 1964 to illustrate the different techniques used by the different schools of Gung Fu.

Psychology in Defense and Attack - Bruce Lee

2009-05-21T17:12:00.002-05:00

Size is never a true indication of muscular power and efficiency. The smaller man usually makes up for the imbalance of power by his greater agility, flexibility, speed of foot, and nervous action. Bear this in mind once you go into action and grapple with an opponent: strive to keep him off balance, regardless of his size. So keep moving faster than he and pay absolutely no attention to his size, fierce facial contortions, or his vicious language. Your object is always to attack your

opponent at his weakest points, which are mainly gravitational, throwing him off balance, and applying leverage principles so that his body, and the limbs of his body, are used to work toward his own defeat. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

In combatting a man with your bare hands, you must learn to use your head, knees, and feet as well as your hands. The "crowding"act gives you every opportunity to use these parts of your body, especially your elbows. Another simple method while crowding with your opponent is to step on his foot.

It has unexpected results. The one point to bear in mind when you are being attacked by a thug is the fact that the thug has but a one-track mind. He thinks but in one groove, which is bent on your destruction, barely considering what you can do, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side. With efficiency comes confidence and self-reliance.

Bruce Lee on Gung Fu

2009-05-20T16:37:00.001-05:00

Gung fu, the centre of the Oriental arts of self-defence, is a philosophical art that serves to promote health, to cultivate the mind, and to provide a most efficient means of self-protection. Its philosophy is based on the integral parts of the philosophies of Taoism and Ch'an (Zen) - the ideal of being harmonious with and not against the force of the opponent. Just as a butcher preserves his knife by cutting along the bones, a gung fu man preserves himself by complementing the movements of the opponent.

The word gung fu means "discipline" and training toward the ultimate reality of the object - be it health promotion, mind cultivation or self-protection. There is no distinction to make between the opponent and the self because the opponent is but the other complementary (not opposite) part. There is no conquering, struggling, or dominating, and the idea is to "fit" harmoniously your movement into that of the opponent. When he expands, you contract; when he contracts, you expand. Expansion then is interdependent with contraction and vice versa, each being the cause and result of the other.

Gentleness/firmness is one inseparable force of one unceasing interplay of movement. If a person riding a bicycle wishes to go somewhere, he cannot pump on both the pedals at the same time or not pump on them at all. In order to move forward he has to pump on one pedal and release the other. So the movement of going forward requires this "oneness" of pumping and releasing. Therefore, gentleness alone cannot forever dissolve away great force, nor can sheer brute force subdue one's foe. In order to survive in any combat, the harmonious interfusion of gentleness and firmness as a whole is necessary, sometimes one dominating sometimes the other, in a wavelike succession. The movement will then truly flow, for the pure fluidity of movements is in their interchangeability.

So neither gentleness nor firmness holds any more than one half of a broken whole which, welded together, forms the true Way of martial art. The tendency to guard against is from getting too firm and stiff. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. This is why a gung fu man is soft yet not yielding, firm, yet not hard. The best example of gung fu is water. Water can penetrate the hardest granite because it is yielding. One cannot stab of strike at water and hurt it because that which offers no resistance cannot be overcome.

In actual application, gung fu is based on simplicity; it is a natural result of four thousand years of exhaustive experimentation and is of highly sophisticated complexity. All techniques are stripped down to their essential purpose without wastage or ornamentation, and everything becomes the straightest, most logical simplicity of common sense. The utmost is expressed and performed in the minimum of movements and energy.
The method for health promotion is again based on water, as flowing water never grows stale.
The idea is not to overdevelop or to overexert but to normalise the function of the body.

Bruce Lee's handwritten essay on Gung Fu, untitled.

curriculum and Bruce Lee

2009-05-20T16:24:00.003-05:00

Hello again! A shout out Thanks to Josh and Daniel (Hightower), for putting together the Kodokan Curriculum and the BDJJ Curriculum on pdf format on our website. This will allow all to have their own copy and check out what they need to work on.

I watched an amazing new documentory on How Bruce Lee Changed the World. I have watched numerous movies, documentories, biographies and have read the Tao of Jeet Kune Do many times. This documentory just proves how forward thinking and how inovative Lee was. Way ahead of his time in thought and the Martial Arts. He is the Father of MMA. Throwing out all the things that traditional martial arts limits it's practitioners on. He began using protein shakes (he made himself), before it was the norm. He began incorporating weight training into his sport before it was the norm in all sports. He used electric shock to stimulate his and build muscle.

Anyway I came across some of Bruce Lee's writings and thoughts on Martial Arts and I want to share them so they will be posted in the near future.
Peace.

The Clinch

2009-05-14T22:31:00.004-05:00

I would like to talk about "The Clinch" which we work from alot. Why? Most striking based combat arts are only geared toward sending a powerful kick or punch to there opponent. When they are close enough to strike you, you are close enough to strike them. That is the problem with a striking based art. ONE lucky shot from your opponent and bad things can happen.

With BDJJ and other grappling arts we are either comfortably away from the contact strikes or in "the clinch" rendering the striking art ineffective at that point. If someone tells you they can't be placed in the clinch, they have a grandiose opinion of their abilities or they have never seen a real fight let alone been in one. So keep in mind you are either all the way out or all the way in. The transition from either point is where practice and mat time works timing, footwork, technique and speed. I plan to work this on Saturday's class so be ready.
Peace.

Ready to Work

2009-05-03T08:05:00.003-05:00

Well another month passed and several students have reached their year of training aniversary with BDJJ. Congratulations and as you know one in ten thousand reach the beginning level of Black Belt. Several other students are approaching their first aniversary, keep up the great work.
Congratulations to Jason "The Heat" Fraser and Nick "Hollywood" Fraser on their accomplishment of achieving their Gold belt in BDJJ. Also great job to Jessica "Rodeo" Ramsey on student of the month for April.
How does one get student of the month? Great work in class, an outstanding accomplishment in and out of the Dojo, attendance, competition, really anything that makes that student stand out during the month. So get to it.
Peace.....

Alive Training vs. Dead Training

2009-05-01T02:15:00.002-05:00

What do I mean by Alive? In Black Dragon Jiu-Jitsu and Kodokan Judo and other martial arts there is what we call training “alive” and in Judo you have what is known as “live toes” (which means not have your feet flat, either on the mat or standing). I believe that fighting and training should be the same. The only time to go static (dead training) is when you are learning a new technique or doing a flow drill, (flow drills are with a partner and doing mat work at no power and constantly in motion).

Dead training is classic Martial Arts, it looks good but it is with a cooperative partner. Alive training is as real as it can get with an uncooperative partner and wherever the fight takes you is where you fight, ground, standing, whatever.

If a person does grappling and practices dead training all the time it will not make you able to fight. On the mat with an uncooperative opponent is the only way to develop timing, footwork, and speed and motion awareness. This takes hours of mat time to develop.

Training with focus mitts is great if you are incorporating footwork and motion. In a real fight your opponent is moving and is not static, you will not be able to put into effect any fighting techniques from static training.

What is required to incorporate “alive training” into your regime; #1 is Energy, utilizing an uncooperative opponent, #2 Timing, you can only build timing by mat work and standing work with an uncooperative opponent, #3 Motion, you have to have motion to train. Every time you hit someone or do a technique there is an opposite reaction, resistance.

Unfortunately no matter how many times you train with dead patterns or dead training methods you will not get better. So try to incorporate this into your Martial Arts. It does not matter what style of Martial Arts you take if you don’t incorporate “alive training” you will be at a disadvantage.

Life at BDJJ

2009-04-30T01:07:00.002-05:00

Just wanted you guys to check out the gallery, I have posted a bunch of photos with more to come in the next week. Check out how we do.
Peace

Tournament Lebanon Missouri

2009-04-27T00:16:00.004-05:00

I want to thank the six competitors we had at the Tournament and all together we brought 11 BDJJ students to the Tourney. We brought home three Grand Championships and Six first place trophies in the GI and NoGi brackets and three Second Place trophies. I thought everyone did a great job. Now the competition has been increased and they are gunning for everyone at our school, but in a good way. When you are at the top of your game other great competitors want to match with you to be on top.
The question I have is how good do you want to be? You have to answer that one. Hard work, having fun, doing your best in class. I want everyone to have fun, I also want you to be your best. I saw alot of poor Judo throws from students who have been slacking in their Judo studies. But in the end it is up to you, I don't want to force anyone. But you can only improve with work.
We have two months to prepare for the next tournament, lets see what you will bring to class and the next competition.
Peace, let's roll.

Unbeatable Defense

2009-04-23T07:41:00.002-05:00

On February 13, O Globo, the most prominent newspaper in Brazil, published the following article by brothers Pedro and Gui Valente in its prestigious opinion section. The Op-Ed by the Valente brothers was a homage to Grand Master Helio Gracie.

The article titled, "Defesa Imbativel" or "Unbeatable Defense" describes the philosophy used by Helio Gracie to create Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.Many jiu-jitsu practitioners, fighters and even instructors, while devoting great respect and admiration to Grandmaster Helio Gracie, currently believe that his technique was becoming obsolete. This occurred due to the adaptation of his jiu-jitsu for tournaments with specific rules that limit the time of the match, prohibit the utilization of certain risky moves, institute weight divisions, and confer points for positional dominance. Consequently, the art of defense, which is essential in a street confrontation against a heavier and stronger opponent, lost great part of its purpose. A tournament match, through the scoring of points, primarily values offense and aggressiveness and as Grandmaster Helio always emphasized defense above all, his jiu-jitsu was being considered outdated.Sun Tzu, however, taught thousands of years ago, in his book "The Art of War", that when there is insufficient strength, defense should be prioritized and that offensive tactics should only be used in a situation of physical advantage. Grandmaster Helio, without ever having studied Chinese philosophy, applied principles of Taoism and Sun Tzu with great wisdom and precision. After extensive research on old jiu-jitsu and judo books, we have concluded that Helio Gracie was the first martial arts' master in history to materialize these millenary Chinese philosophies and apply them to hand to hand combat through his brilliant method of self defense. He understood very early, by fighting against much heavier and stronger opponents, that attacking, when at a physical disadvantage, represents a useless and risky effort. Offensive strategy should only be employed with the element of surprise or in a situation of superiority. In light of the fact that Helio Gracie developed his Jiu-Jitsu to empower the weak, his teachings prioritize defensive tactics, which depend on patience (through technical knowledge) and endurance (through rational nutrition and a healthy life style), waiting for the opponent to make a mistake or fatigue and only then seeking victory.The pin rule, which is utilized both in judo and in wrestling, of Greco-roman origin, is based on the idea that when a fighter is held down by an opponent with his back on the ground, he shall either escape immediately or is finished. Helio dared to disagree with this traditional sportive concept and created an invulnerable defensive system that allows a small fighter to stay in an unfavorable position while avoiding being beaten, submitted or knocked out. He always stated that by developing the reflexes of his defense, one would only loose when making a mistake, since the defensive technique itself is invincible.As he got older in the last fifteen years and naturally lost a good portion of the little physical strength that he possessed, he was forced to develop his jiu-jitsu (with which a few privileged students had contact with) even more, and make it more efficient so that he could continue his habit of facing challenges and putting his teachings to the test. Up to when he was 94 years old, Helio would lie down on the mat and tell any fighter or jiu-jitsu practitioner who visited him, independent of size or weight, to pick any position they preferred, mounted or side mounted, and try to defeat him, without him attempting to escape, only defending. No one succeeded. All this was done in order to prove to his students and everybody else that his defensive method would enable any person, even the weak, to become unbeatable.An excerpt extracted from the classic "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, demonstrates the philosophy that explains the new Jiu-Jitsu that he created. "The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity to defeat the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity to defeat the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without having the opportunity to do it. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; the ability to defeat the enemy means understanding when and how to take the offensive. We must stand on defense when there is insufficient strength and only attack when the enemy is weakened or makes a mistake. A warrior wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory."

Pedro and Gui Valente are professors at the Valente Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in North Miami Beach, FL

History Lesson

2009-04-22T00:19:00.004-05:00

Jiu-jitsu History
The Beginning
"Where did it all begin?"
I don't think anyone can answer this question with certainty, but there are plenty of good hypotheses. Every culture has some form of hand to hand combat in its history. Combat without weapons usually appears in the form of wrestling and sometimes boxing. Looking at the history timeline, one good hypothesis is that the wrestling techniques of Jiu-Jitsu could very well have come from Ancient Greece. Olympic games were one of the Greek's strongest traditions. It is most likely that along with Greek ideas, came one of its most popular sports, Pankration. Pankration was a sport that involved both boxing and wrestling techniques and became more popular to the Greeks than either of those sports individually. Pankration would later be overshadowed by the Roman Gladiators, and then banned from the Olympics by Christian leaders of the Roman Empire. Even though new rulers would come and go, Greek customs and ideas still reached India, where Jiu-Jitsu's foundation was likely to have been born. During Alexander the Great's conquests (356 - 323 B.C.), he brought the Greek culture to the areas he conquered. His conquests stretched all the way to India, where he introduced the customs and ideals of Greek culture to the people of that area. Jiu-Jitsu wasn't being formally taught in Japan for over one thousand years after this. Many say that the Greek influence in India led to the development of Kung Fu or more appropriately, Wu Shu (martial arts) in China.
The Chinese have a great deal of stories to support the history of their martial arts. The general idea embraced by most historians is that systemized martial arts techniques came from India along with Buddhism (Bodhi Dharma). The concept here is that the Shaolin temple was built in the center of China and this is where Bodhi Dharma introduced Buddhism and Boxing (senzuikyo). (ref. Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts, Sugawara and Xing) The story that supports the idea of Jiu-Jitsu coming from China takes place around the time of the fall of the Ming Dynasty. It states that a man named Chingempin came from Japan to live in Tokyo at a Buddhist temple where he met three Ronin (masterless Samurai) named Fukuno, Isogai, and Miura. Chingempin told the Ronin of a grappling art he had seen in China. The Ronin became particularly interested in pursuing the study of this art, so he then began teaching in Japan, and this art became Jiu-Jitsu.
The next theory is that there was many forms of wrestling that had developed in China. One of the most notable is Horn Wrestling, called Jiaodixi. This form of wrestling was practiced by the Mongolians and later evolved into Jiaoli, which was wrestling without the horns. This form of wrestling can be seen in Native American cultures (evident in the typical Native American Buffalo head wear) and most likely arrived there by way of Mongolians migrating through now modern Alaska. Jiaoli evolved and became Xiangpu and it is said that this form of wrestling became Sumo in Japan. Another theory says that there were practitioners of Chikura Karube, a wrestling sport developed around 200 B.C. It is said that Chikura Karube later became Jiu-Jitsu in Japan.
The last story mentioned here is that Jiu-Jitsu is Japanese and from Japan. This story follows the same basic idea but differs in that Chingempin introduced an early form of Jiu-Jitsu (not yet called Jiu-Jitsu) called Kempo in Japan, which consisted mostly of strikes and very little grappling. From there, the Japanese developed it into a more effective grappling art. One thing is certain about these stories, and that is that the Japanese were responsible for refining a grappling art into a very sophisticated grappling system called Jiu-Jitsu.

Tracing the history of grappling techniques for this book was quite interesting. In doing so, I decided to look for some common threads between the stories, which are:
All ancient cultures had some form of grappling and unarmed fighting techniques.
The Greek culture gave its fighters the greatest financial and social rewards. The ancient Greeks conquered quite a bit of territory during the time of Alexander the Great, including the area that Jiu-Jitsu's techniques were said to have come from.
Wrestling did exist in China and Mongolia before Jiu-Jitsu did in Japan, and it is interesting to note that this is where Native American wrestling most likely came from by way of migration over the Alaskan Ice Bridge.
The pinning and throwing techniques of Jiu-Jitsu are very similar to, and in some cases, the same as those of Greco Roman Wrestling.
Development of Jiu-Jitsu
Jiu-Jitsu itself was developed in Japan during the Feudal period. It was originally an art designed for warfare, but after the abolition of the Feudal system in Japan, certain modifications needed to be made to the art in order to make it suitable for practice. During Feudal times, Jiu-Jitsu was also known as Yawara, Hakuda, Kogusoko, and an assortment of other names. The earliest recorded use of the word "jiu-jitsu" happens in 1532 and is coined by the Takenouchi Ryu (school). The history of the art during this time is uncertain because teachers kept everything secret to give their art a feeling of importance and then would change the stories of their art to suit their own needs.
After the Feudal period in Japan ended (Jiu-jitsu was no longer needed on the battlefield), a way to practice the art realistically was needed, which is why Jigoro Kano (1860--1938), a practitioner of Jiu-Jitsu, developed his own system of Jiu-Jitsu in the late 1800's, called Judo. Judo was helpful because it allowed practitioners the ability to try the art safely and realistically at the same time. The most important contribution Judo made to the practice of "Jiu-jitsu" was the concept of Rondori. Rondori was a form of sparing and contained a set of sportive rules that made practice safe, yet realistic. Because of the sportive outlet (rules that made practice safe), students of Jiu-jitsu from Kano's school were able to practice more frequently due to the fact that they were not always recovering from injuries. This multiplies the amount of training time for student's of Kano's school and drastically increased their abilities. Judo (Kano's version of Jiu-jitsu) was watered down from the complete form (of Jiu-jitsu), but still contained enough techniques to preserve its realistic effectiveness. The one problem that occurred was, in Kano's opinion, ground work was not as important as achieving the throw or take down, therefore ground fighting was not emphasized in Judo and became weak in that system. Judo also began placing too many rules and regulations on the art to make it more acceptable as an Olympic sport. Leg locks were not allowed, and when a fight went to the ground, a player had only 25 seconds to escape a hold or pin before the match was lost. These are a few of the rules that hindered Judo as a realistic form of self-defense. Then why did Judo flourish and why was it so great? Even with all the rules and restrictions, the time-tested principle of "pure grappler beats pure striker," still holds true. The fact remains that most fights, even those fights occurring between strikers with no grappling experience, end up in a clinch. You see the clinch in just about every boxing match, and hundreds of punches usually need to be thrown to end the fight with a strike, which gives the grappler plenty of opportunity to take his/her opponent to the ground, where a pure striker has no experience and is at the grappler's mercy.
After a match-up between older styles of Jiu-jitsu and Judo at the Tokyo police headquarters, Judo was named the national martial art in Japan. It was the official art used by law enforcement in the late 1800's, and continues to be popular to this day. During World War II, many U.S. soldiers were exposed to the art of Judo and brought it back to America with them. The first issue of Black Belt magazine here in America (1961), featured a sketch of a Judo throw and was a special Judo issue.

It wasn't until the birth of martial arts in Hollywood that the mystique of martial arts myths were catapulted to the public eye on a large scale. Here in the U.S. especially, Bruce Lee was one of the greatest catalysts for martial arts in the world today. Bruce Lee was actually a student of Judo and did many studies on grappling while he was alive. He criticized traditional martial arts as being ineffective, but ironically spread more myths about martial arts through his movies than almost anyone in martial arts history.
Jigoro Kano was the founder of Judo, however, Judo is simply a style of Jiu-jitsu and not a separate martial art. Kano was not the first to use the name Judo, the Jiu-jitsu schools he studied at, which would be the source of much of his Judo's techniques had used the phrase before he made it famous in the late 1800's.
The first use of the name Judo was by Seijun Inoue IV, who applied it to his Jujitsu of Jikishin-ryu. Students of Jikishin-ryu Judo were not only expected to master its ninety-seven techniques, but to also develop into generous and gentle-mannered individuals.
Kuninori Suzuki V, the Master of Kito-ryu (Kito means to Rise and Fall) Jiu-jitsu, changed the name of Kito-kumiuchi to Kito-ryu Judo in 1714. The most important contribution that kito ryu would offer Judo was the principle of kuzushi (off-balancing), which is the key to the throwing techniques of modern Judo. Jigoro Kano studied the judo of Jikishin-ryu and Kito-ryu, and incorporated some of their concepts into his original system, which he named Kodokan Judo.
Judo is made up of many styles of Jiu-jitsu whose masters Kano had studied with. The most notable were Jikishin-ryu, Kito-ryu, and later Fusen-ryu would be incorporated for its groundwork (ne waza) as Kano would ask the style's head master, Mataemon Tanabe for his syllabus. Yokiashi Yamashita (Kano's Chief assistant) would add his knowledge of Yoshin Ryu ju jitsu and Tenshin shinyo Ryu ju jitsu, both of which, he was a master.
In 1912, Kano met with the remaining leader masters of Jiu Jitsu to finalize a Kodokan syllabus of training and kata. Aoyagi of Sosusihis Ryu, Takano, Yano, Kotaro Imei and Hikasuburo Ohshima from Takeuisi Ryu. Jushin Sekiguchi and Mogichi Tsumizu from Sekiguchi Ryu, Eguchi from Kyushin Ryu, Hoshino from Shiten Ryu, Inazu from Miura Ryu and finally, Takamatsu, a Kukkishin Ryu master, whose school specialized in weapons training.
Before the formal meeting between Kano and the grandmasters of Japan's greatest Jiu-jitsu schools, a defining event occurred, which is one of the most historically important pieces of the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu puzzle. By 1900, the Kodokan had been challenging other Jiu-Jitsu schools in sport competition and winning with throwing (standing) techniques. Much of the Kodokan's status was built on the throwing skills of Shiro Saigo, a practitioner of Oshikiuchi, the art of Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu. Jigoro Kano had actually enlisted the help of Shiro Saigo in order to win a famous tournament at the Tokyo police headquarters in 1886. This tournament, mentioned briefly earlier in this chapter, was Judo (Kano's style of Jujitsu) vs. "old" Jujitsu. It is interesting to note that Kano's champion was not originally a Judo student at all, but a student of an older Jujitsu style, which in reality, defeated the purpose of having a Judo vs. Jujitsu tournament in the first place.
As I stated earlier, Judo was a collection of Jiu-jitsu styles, once such style was the Fusen Ryu. Fusen was a school of Jiu-jitsu which specialized in Ground Work (Ne Waza). In 1900, the Kodokan challenged the Fusen Ryu school to a contest. At that time Judo did not have Ne Waza (ground fighting techniques), so instead they fought standing up, as Kano had been taught in both the Tenshin Shinyo Ryu and Kito Ryu systems he studied. Both Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu had excellent striking skills and effective throws.

When Kodokan Judo practitioners fought the practitioners of Fusen Ryu Jiu-Jitsu, the Kodokan practitioners realized that there was no way they could defeat the Kodokan Judoka standing, thus they decided to use their superior ground fighting skills. When the Kodokan fighters and the Fusen Ryu men began to fight, the Jiu-Jitsu practitioners immediately went to the guard position ( lying on their backs in front of their opponents in order to control them with the use of their legs). The Kodokan Judoka didn't know what to do, and then the Fusen Ryu practitioners took them to the ground, using submission holds to win the matches. This was the first real loss that the Kodokan had experienced in eight years.
Kano knew that if they were going to continue challenging other Jiu-Jitsu schools, they needed a full range of ground fighting techniques. Thus with friends of other Jiu-Jitsu systems, among them being Fusen Ryu practitioners, Kano formulated the Ne Waza (ground techniques) of Kodokan Judo which included three divisions: Katame Waza (joint locking techniques), Shime Waza (choking techniques), and Osae Waza (holding techniques). This all occurs shortly before Judo arrives in Brazil, and serves as an excellent suggestion as to why Brazilian Jiu-jitsu contains a higher percentage of techniques on the ground than most styles of Jiu-jitsu or Judo. Thus, we find ourselves faced with the impending development of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil.
Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil
Eventually, in Japan many different variations of the art (Jiu-Jitsu) took shape, including Karate, Aikido, and Judo. But these arts were missing essential pieces of what the complete art of Jiu-Jitsu originally held. Soon the day of the Samurai came to an end, the gun replaced the sword, and new sportive ways to practice martial arts were developed. This lack of reality created years of confusion in the martial arts community, a confusion that legendary Bruce Lee would later refer to as the 'classical mess'. The 'sport arts', such as Judo and Kendo were wonderful in the way of offering their practitioners a safe way to realistically train the techniques of their system, but often limited their practitioners with too many rules to maintain effectiveness as a combative style. The more traditional combat schools were simply practicing techniques no longer suitable for modern day combat, and with no way to safely test them, practicing these arts became like swimming without water. It wasn't until the sport art of Judo and the combat art of Jiu-Jitsu were introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil that the real art of Jiu-Jitsu would be brought to life again. Japanese Jiu-Jitsu (practiced as Judo) was introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil (@ 1915) by Esai Maeda, who is also known as Conde Koma. This name came about when Maeda was in Spain (1908). While in Spain, Maeda, having some financial troubles, used the Japanese verb "komaru", meaning to be in trouble, to describe himself. Maeda decided this didn't sound right, so he dropped the last syllable and changed it to "koma." The word "conde" comes from the Spanish language, meaning "Count." Later in his life, Maeda would be given the Brazilian title of "Conte Comte," or Count Combat.
Maeda was a champion of Judo and a direct student of its founder, Jigoro Kano, at the Kodokan in Japan. He was born in 1878, and became a student of Judo in 1897. In 1904 Maeda was given the opportunity to travel to the United States with one of his teachers, Tsunejiro Tomita. While in the U.S. they demonstrated the art of Judo for Theodore Roosevelt at the White House, and for cadets at the West Point Military Academy.
Maeda eventually parted ways with Tomita, and settled in Brazil. Maeda was staying in Sao Palo City to help establish a Japanese Immigration colony. At this time Brazil held the largest population of Japanese people outside Japan. He was aided in Brazil by Gastao Gracie, a Brazilian of Scottish decent, who's first experience with Jiu-Jitsu was most likely through managing an Italian boxer named Alfredi Leconti, who fought a friend of Maeda in November of 1916.

For some time in Japan, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu were almost synonymous. Judo was known as Kano's Jiu-Jitsu. Regardless, this answers the question, "why do they call it Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and not Brazilian Judo?" Because they were essentially the same thing at the time, remember, the Gracie family was learning Jiu-Jitsu and Judo while Kano was still struggling to show the difference between the two and popularize his art. In the early 1900's there was very little difference between the two. In fact, Judo was merely a collection of Jiu-jitsu styles, whose strongest points were put together to make what then became Judo. The Gracie family was introduced to Judo at a time when the Kodokan had recently suffered a great defeat to the grappling style of the Fusen Ryu. This can be compared to the Ultimate Fighting Championship of the early 1990's, when most martial artists were attempting to fight Royce Gracie standing. They would all eventually find themselves on the ground, where they were at a loss as to what to do. Consequently, grappling became very popular over the next ten years and many styles began to incorporate grappling techniques into their curriculum. Royce Gracie was simply doing what had already been done in the early 1900's by the Fusen Ryu to Judo practitioners of the Kodokan, so we can easily draw the conclusion from the experience in our own time that when Meada arrived in Brazil, he was a student of a Kodokan that was adding "new" grappling techniques to its system.
To show gratitude to Gracie for his help in the colonization, Maeda taught Gastao's son Carlos the basic techniques of Jiu-Jitsu. Carlos Gracie then taught his brothers Oswaldo, Jorge, Gastao, and Helio. In 1925 the brothers opened their first school, and Jiu-Jitsu was cultivated into a more effective martial art and sport known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. What made this version of Jiu-Jitsu more effective was the constant exposure of its practitioners to real situations. Between their own schools, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players would compete in a sportive way to keep the techniques of their art sharp. The Gracie family would issue a challenge to all others to fight without rules. In these no rules or 'vale tudo' fights, the Gracie family and their students would evaluate the techniques of their fighting art.
Through the last fifty years, many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools have opened and broken away from the original members of the Gracie family, making subtle differences in styles within Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Machado Jiu-Jitsu, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are all different schools of the same art. The Gracie family itself has hundreds of members who do not all associate with one another.
The formal teaching of Jiu-Jitsu to Brazilians by the Gracie family began in 1940 when Helio opened an academy in Rio. Over the next 18 years, if you wanted to learn Jiu-Jitsu from the Gracie family in Brazil, you had a choice of four academies, all of which were located in Rio. The Gracie's were not the only one's teaching Judo and Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, but they were certainly the most popular, teaching over 2000 students in that 18 year period. A good example of this is Mehdi, a Judo master who came to Brazil from France in 1949, and still teaches there now. There have been Judo schools in Brazil since the early 1900's and Sao Paulo still has a very large Japanese population. Mehdi's list of students include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts Mario Sperry, Rickson Gracie, and Sylvio Behring, just to name a few. This is another example of Judo's influence on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and that Helio Gracie did not invent it. The Gracie family developed the art of Judo into a more effective rules-free style. I learned about a Grand Master named "Fadda," who learned Jiu-Jitsu from a man named Luis Franca. Like Carlos Gracie, Franca also learned Jiu-Jitsu (Judo) from Meada. Fadda took the Jiu-Jitsu he learned from Franca and started his own school of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil. His popularity is not as great as the Gracie family, but nonetheless, he is an example of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu being refined and practiced outside the Gracie family. His students compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and consider their art separate from both Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and the older styles of Jiu-Jitsu in Japan. This stands as evidence that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is not the same thing.

In 1967, the first federation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was created by Helio Gracie, and the system of belts as we know it was developed (white, blue, purple, brown, and black). Around the time the Carlson Gracie team was born in the early 1970's, the Gracie family made their first split. Carlson Gracie was the son of Carlos and a very reputable Vale Tudo fighter. He claimed many victories while defending the Gracie family name, including avenging one of Helio's very few losses. There were now two sides of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Family, students under Helio and students under Carlson. Helio's side would argue that Carlson's style of Jiu-Jitsu involved too much strength and that it was Helio who developed the technique further due to the fact that he was much smaller than his brother Carlos, who taught it to him. The fact remains that it is basically the same Jiu-Jitsu with a few natural variations in teaching methods in the actual application of techniques. Robson Gracie created a new federation in 1988 and Carlos Gracie Jr. created the Confederacao Brasiliera in 1993. Carlos Jr.'s federation is the most active one worldwide and is responsible for the development of the World Championships. The idea of the Mundial (World's) is to attract foreign competitors in hopes of making Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu an Olympic sport. This was all done around the time Royce was winning the first UFC (early 1990's) and giving America its first prominent taste of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Members of the Gracie family are not the only ones to operate federations and associations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who may organize tournaments or give rank within the art. In an interview with Andre Pederneiras, a fifth degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and founder of the Nova Uniao team, he was asked about his involvement in the promotion of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and organization of the art's first tournament. He stated that he had organized the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in 1993
No matter where you live or what style of Jiu-Jitsu you practice, we all owe some degree of respect to the Gracie Family for introducing us to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracie family is responsible for a large part of the modern advancement or improvement of Jiu-Jitsu. The term Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is used to describe the difference between the 'old' Jiu-Jitsu (jujutsu/jujitsu), and the Gracie family's advancement of the art through the 1900's. Now that 'Gracie Jiu-Jitsu' has spread all over Brazil and to the United States, many champions of the art are being born that are not Gracie Family members. These champions are contributing to the art's progression by improving on techniques and developing new ones. The bulk of basic movements may still be Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, but as the art develops, the term 'Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu' becomes more appropriate. As more and more innovators contribute to the art outside of Brazil, it eventually may be appropriate to simply call the art 'Jiu-Jitsu'.

The Gracies face opposition
The Gracie's were not the only ones doing Jiu-Jitsu in the world during the 1900's, and certainly not the only one's doing Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, they were just the most popular. Early members of the Gracie family in Brazil were political figures and very involved in the community where they lived. Among Helio's first students were Governor of Rio, Carlos Lacerda, and President, Joao Figueiredo. There were many Japanese immigrants practicing Judo and Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil and a new form of "free fighting" was also developing in Brazil at this time. The Brazilians developed a system of fighting called Luta Livre (Free Fight), and if you ask a Gracie, they might tell you that Luta Livre is from Jiu-Jitsu, if you ask a Luta Livre practitioner, he might tell you something different. There is a large rivalry between the two styles, but the truth of the matter is that the styles are very similar. I heard from a few sources that Luta Livre was developed from Wrestling and Judo in Brazil. Luta Livre is practiced without the gi or kimono. fighters of the mid 1900's named Valdimar Santana, who was responsible for one of Helio Gracie's only defeats. I've heard some Brazilians call him a Luta Livre fighter, others say he was a Judoka, and the Gracies say he was a Jiu-Jitsu player. During Valdimar's fight with Helio Gracie, after over an hour, Helio's corner was forced to throw in the towel. I've read that Valdimar Santana was one of Helio's students, but have heard different as well. Carlson Gracie would later avenge Helio's defeat by defeating Valdimar Santana in a No Rules fight. The other famous victory over the Gracie family in the early part of the art's development occurred in 1951. After defeating a famous Judo player named Kato, Helio issued a challenge to another Japanese fighter named Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was concerned about taking the fight because he felt Helio would be hard to submit. A friend of Yamaguchi named Masahiko Kimura (5'6" 185 Lbs.) stepped up to face Helio in his place. The fight between Helio and Kimura resulted in a win for Kimura by TKO after Helio's side threw in the towel. Kimura applied udegarami (a shoulder lock now called the Kimura), an arm lock to Helio's left arm, breaking it. Helio was commended for not giving up, but still suffered a defeat, nonetheless.

To the Gracie family's credit, I have not seen members of the Gracie family 'lose' very often. There are incidences in sport Jiu-Jitsu where a Gracie family member will lose to another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player, but that is Jiu-Jitsu losing to Jiu-Jitsu. Dan Henderson's victory over Renzo Gracie is one of the few I can recall where anyone outside of the sport of Jiu-Jitsu or the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu defeated a Gracie family member.
Jiu-Jitsu has now developed beyond the Gracie family and with all appropriate respect and thanks to them, it moves forward and progresses through the teachings of instructors from all parts of the world. It wasn't until this happened that people from outside the art of Jiu-Jitsu started claiming victories over Gracie family members. By introducing the Brazilian style of Jiu-Jitsu to North America, the Gracie family opened the door to great financial rewards and the problems that would come with success.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was introduced to the United States in the 1970's, but was not made popular until 1993, when Royce Gracie defeated opponents from other martial arts in a contest called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This type of fighting was known in Brazil as Vale Tudo (anything goes) and would later become known as NHB (No Holds Barred) here in the United States. The effectiveness of the art form over so many others made Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu known to the martial arts community and the world. This was America's first look at Mixed Martial Arts fighting. Unlike many other martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gained its reputation and popularity through effective fighting, not Hollywood movies.
In November of 1993, a large number of Americans would get their first look at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ... it wasn't pretty. For years in the United States, the Martial Arts community had been plagued by the mystique and misconception created by Hollywood. This couldn't be farther from the truth, and in 1993 we would all find that out. To make a long and over-told story short, Royce Grace, a thin Brazilian, was pitted against champions of Kung Fu, Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling and a variety of other Martial arts in a contest called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Unlike the American No Holes Barred contests of today, Royce had to fight up to 4 times in each tournament. There were no weight classes and Royce was usually the lightest, sometimes being outweighed by 80 lbs. or more. There were very few rules: no eye gouging, no biting, and no time limits. Although this would be The United State's first look at Brazilian Jiu-jitsu vs. other styles of Martial Arts, it was not the first time a ground fighting style would have the opportunity to show the superiority of Grappling vs. Striking alone.
In 1963, Gene Labell (a Judo player) faced a champion Boxer named Milo Savage, gaining a solid victory for Grappling enthusiasts everywhere. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was the catalyst for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the US, but after the initial boom of popularity, there would be a whole new world of problems to face. The same entrepreneurial and capitalist ideals that made America great would be a hindrance to the authenticity and quality of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the United States. Carley Gracie (Carlos' son, Carlson's younger brother and Roll's older brother) was the first to bring their Brazilian style of Jiu-Jitsu to the U.S. The idea was born through his training of American Marines in Rio (in the early 1970's) and by 1972, he was teaching Jiu-Jitsu in California. Rorion was the next to come, opening his academy in California and trade marking the Gracie name. This action would lead to a huge problem in the family; Rorian was not allowing any other members of the Gracie family to use the name, and was also accused by family members of distorting the truth about the history of the art, since he had claimed his father (Helio) was responsible for the birth of the art.
I have found through the research of this book that everyone has his/her own story, so it was most logical to go with common denominators to find the truth. Carley would later challenge Rorion to fight, as they had done when they were younger (Carley claims to have defeated Rorion previously a total of eight times), but Rorion preferred to battle it out in court. This was the second major split in the Gracie family after the first split between Carlson and Helio, but it would be the first of many to happen in the United States. Rickson came to teach as well, along with the Machado Brothers (who are related to the Gracie family as cousins), both eventually separated from Rorion due to some sort of business differences. Actually, it was Rickson (considered by many to be the champion of the family) who felt he should be the first Ultimate Fighting Champion, but Rorion was in control of the early UFC's and decided it would be Royce who would make the point to the American public, and the rest is recent history.
Japanese and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
"What is the difference between Japanese (classical) Jiu-Jitsu (jujutsu) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?"
The first and most important reason can be found in the art's history and is primary to all others discussed afterward. When you research the history of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, you will understand that it came from "Judo" in its time of renaissance. In the early 1900's, Judo was being developed from a variety of Jiu-jitsu styles in order to make it the most complete and effective martial art in the world. Some older Jiu-jitsu schools only focused on one area of fighting (some practiced primarily standing techniques) and had been left without a realistic battlefield testing ground for hundreds of years. If you recall the history of Judo's beginning, you know that it was made up of mostly standing techniques at first, from Kito Ryu Jiu-jitsu and a few other styles. This alone was not enough, so the groundwork of Fusen Ryu was added, making it more complete. When you say "traditional" or "Japanese" Jiu-jitsu, you are referring to only one of these Jiu-jitsu styles, which is incomplete alone. When you say Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, you are referring to the best techniques from a wide variety of styles.
Our Jiu-Jitsu in the United States was underdeveloped compared to the Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil. Only now are we beginning to catch up, and we are still suffering from the inadequacies of the 'older' and more traditional schools of Jiu-Jitsu in this country. Why? Lack of realistic practice is the reason. There was too much of: "you stay perfectly still while I try an extravagant technique on you and you play along." There are many techniques which is where Judo is great, and some traditional schools teach techniques that were designed thousands of years ago whose applications have not been modified or thought about since. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is simple to learn, so simple that a dedicated student of one year can easily beat martial artists of other styles who have many years of experience.
Some styles of martial arts spend hundreds of hours working on a rigid stance and one hundred standing techniques that cannot possibly be mastered in a reasonable amount of time. A interview with Royce Gracie and he gave a response that supports this point quite well:
"We don't believe in teaching a ton of moves every class and the student walking away with limited knowledge. We prefer our students to know 20 techniques at 100%, than 100 techniques at 20%."
(Interview with Gene Simco for www.jiu-jitsu.net)
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu focuses on techniques that are easy to learn in a very short period of time. The techniques taught in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are also effective and have been tested on knowledgeable martial artists who are not cooperating. A small amount of simple but high percentage techniques makes the difference. If all you do is practice five or six techniques, you will be very good at them in a year or so, but if you have to divide your time between a hundred or more techniques, you will most likely be a jack of all trades and a master of none in a year's time.
The differences in the two styles of Jiu-Jitsu are not necessarily in the technique, but in the practice and application. First of all, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has a very sophisticated ground-game, where Japanese Jiu-Jitsu places importance on standing techniques, as does Judo. Judo as a sport does not allow leg locks, where Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu does. Sport rules for Judo dictate that if a player has been pinned by his/her opponent for twenty-five seconds, he or she will lose the match. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has no time restraints on ground positions and stalling most often occurs while standing. Older styles of Jiu-Jitsu (often spelled jujutsu or jujitsu) are usually preceded with their style name or Ryu (the Japanese word for "style"). These Ryu of Jiu-Jitsu were developed long ago and have no sport application to allow them to develop technically. The lack of realistic practice is what makes some styles ineffective or obsolete.
To really understand the differences between Brazilian and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, one must research the history of both arts. In particular the birthing of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Carlos Gracie, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's founder, who was an avid boxer. Most Japanese Jiu-Jitsu fighters were studying traditional Karate strikes, which are much different from that of a boxer. Maeda, the man who introduced Gracie to Jiu-Jitsu, was also a student of Judo, which at the time was considered an updated version of Jiu-Jitsu, or Kano 's Jiu-Jitsu. As discussed previously, the Judo that the Gracie family was introduced to was a Judo whose focus had turned to ground fighting in recent years. This ground fighting came from only one style of Jiu-jitsu (Fusen Ryu), the other styles that made up Judo had not focused on ground work, so as their practice continued, they stayed to their traditional roots, which considered mainly of standing techniques. While older styles of Jiu-jitsu stuck to their core curriculums, Judo soon forgot about experience and turned its attention to gaining world wide exposure as an Olympic sport, which would eventually restrict the once great art and cause it to focus once again on primarily standing techniques. Maeda was also exposed to western wrestling, as he had encountered one wrestler in particular at the West Point Military Academy in New York, and had more experience fighting throughout Europe and the Americas than any other Japanese fighter of that time.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a progressive style of Jiu-Jitsu; once a technique is developed and used in competition, other Jiu-Jitsu players begin to design counters to that technique, and counters to those counters, which allows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to evolve freely. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players do not prepare for the untrained opponent; they assume that their opponent may be more technical.
The problem with some 'older' styles of Jiu-Jitsu is the same problem with old cars, or anything that has not been updated or modified.
Comparing "old" Jiu-Jitsu to "new" Jiu-Jitsu is like comparing old cars to new. Both a Ford Model-T and a Ferrari will do the same job, but a Ferrari will do it more efficiently. The ability of Jiu-Jitsu teachers can be compared to the mechanics certified to work on these cars; if you take a mechanic from 1910 and show him a Ferrari, some things would look familiar, but he would not understand the new design and complexity of the modern variation without proper training.
In the style of "Japanese" or Traditional Jiu-Jitsu, not much is technically different. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has more techniques on the ground whereas Japanese Jiu-Jitsu has more standing techniques. I think that although things improve in the evolution of Jiu-Jitsu, you also lose some details that the "ancient" schools sometimes hold "secret". Without proper modification, these "secrets" don't mean much, but when you combine them with the refined practice of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you've really got something.
The End