Great Week of Judo

On Monday at the Jiu-Jitsu School in Columbia Maryland where I train we had a Judo seminar with 2012 Olympic hopeful Nick Delpopolo and Jiu-Jitsu & Judo Black Belt Dan Simmler. The seminar centered around how Judo is applied to Jiu-Jitsu. We went over some very good throws and learned a lot about gripping. Over the past few days we have spent a lot of time drilling the techniques. I cant wait to put them to use in a tournament situation.
Nick's Judo was awesome. He is the top rated judo practitioner at his weight in the U.S. and rated 15 in the world. Below is a video of Nick winning Ippon of the day at the 2012 World Cup in Portugal.

that ain’t my America... or is it?

I often joke around with a few of the guys at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Columbia Maryland were I train about who is to blame for things in the news that we don’t like. Usually us older guys say things to the younger guys like, “that ain’t my America”, “Don’t be mad this is the America you wanted” or “don’t blame me this is your America”. We are almost always joking and I rarely give much thought to the quotes. However occasionally I do encounter things that make me feel like the America I once knew is truly gone or at least fading. This Christmas Eve was on of those times.

On Christmas Eve I was driving with my family to visit my mother. To get into the Christmas spirit we decided to put on some Christmas music.

I went station by station until I finally found a song that sounded like a Christmas song. After listening to the words for a short time I realized that the song was actually an environmentalist song about how bad Christmas was. Saying things like how bad it was that we cut down trees to make cardboard Rudolph’s to put in our yards. I immediately changed the station and once again started the station-by-station search.

After going through many station I once again found what sounded like a Christmas song. Again I listed for a short time. The song started out saying nice things about Christians but then started talking about pagans. I was a little confused so I listened a bit longer. The gist of the song ended up being that Christians needed to be more sensitive to pagan views during Christmas. What the @$#%! At this point I was starting to get a little angry.

I continued once more through the channels. As I was looking for the music I starting to think that maybe I am getting old and out of touch with the new generation of Americans. Maybe this isn’t my America anymore. It was very depressing. Finally I reached another Christmas sounding song and literally only a few stations from where I started. I thought to myself “Please, please, please don’t be more liberal garbage on Christmas. I want to be happy!” The song that came on is below. I never heard this song before, nor is it the greatest thing in the world but it was just what I needed to get back in the Christmas Spirit!

I listened to Christmas music for the rest of the weekend on this station. It was a very nice holiday. I still didn't get to hear my favoit song (Oh Holy Night), although I did get listen to many classics and the entire family was happy!

Freedom!

Why are we so willing to allow the government to take are rights away?

Over the past year alone the federal government has been very aggressive in trying to limit our freedom. I have written several blogs about these issues. I have talked about the expansion of the “Obstructing a Police Investigation charge”, the new laws outlawing the video taping of police so no one can document their corruption, The Obama administrations attempt to read and confiscate private e-mail, and the regulations on what food we can and can’t eat. There have even been attacks on the toys in Happy Meals.

This administration has taken control over the auto industry and is fighting to mandate what heath care you buy.

We already have red light cameras everywhere and over the last year or so we have seen the rise of speed cameras. If you have ever been to Britain (where you do no have the right to privacy, or any rights for that matter) there are literally cameras everywhere. There, Big Brother is always watching and now he will be watching us a well.

When we go to the airport we get the option of letting them see us naked or having them feel us up. This has got to at least be a unreasonable search... right?

In more recent news there is a push by the feds to mandate blood test if you are suspected of drinking and driving. If the officer has no proof of a crime they say he should be able to force you to submit to a blood test to prove your innocence. Wow…

And now that the “Wikileaks” scandal has gotten all over the media you can rest assured that the feds will be placing heavy regulations on the internet.

The problem is that any one of these issues by themselves is not enough to get people mad. Also there is always a good face put on it weather its to make your life easier or to protect you from something. Big Brother only wants to take care of you! Politicians always use incrementalism when taking freedoms. If your rights are slightly taken away a little at a time there is no outrage.

It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.
- David Hume (1711-1776)

People often forget that the Boston Tea Party was over a small tax of a good less then our sales tax here in Maryland. Now we pay 30% of our income, an additional 6% sales tax, plus tariff taxes on many goods, gas taxes, property taxes, etc. The point being this did not happen all at once but slowly over time.

The loss of liberty is a very slippery slope and unless we are willing to stand up for our rights we will continue to slide down that slope right into a totalitarian regime. If we do not stand up for ourselves who will? This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. - Mark Twain

Recently I was talking to a very close friend of mine that I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Columbia Maryland with. After discussion one of these issues, he started aggressively asking me questions about my thoughts on other issues like death penalty, abortion, etc. (maybe a topic for another blog). The thing is that I don’t know everything nor do I protest to but when I take a step back and look at all of the liberties the government has seized and/or is trying to seize it makes me very sad. Not just for my on freedoms but for the future of this county.

It seems like now days freedom is a foreign concept. I can only pray that they next generation wakes up. I will leave you with one last quote.

“Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.”
- Francois Voltaire

FamLI

This past weekend was very exciting. I got to go down to Virginia to see one of my close friends and teammate, Jon Delbrugge, fight in his second MMA Fight.
It was total domination from the very beginning. Jon came into the fight 1-0 and was facing an opponent who was 2-0 with decent stand up. Jon took him down almost immediately and ground and pounded him with devastating blows for the knock out in less then two minutes

I have been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Columbia Maryland with Jon for a couple of years now and it is amazing how close of a bond you develop with your teammates. When you train hard every day for a long period of time the people you train with become your family. I cannot describe how excited and happy I was for him.

McDonalds Still Under Siege!

Back in early July I posted a blog about a “Nanny State” liberal organization called the CSPI (The Center for Science in the Public Interest) called I'm Lovin' it. The CSPI threatened to sue McDonalds if they did not remove the toys from there Happy Meals. They were arguing that McDonalds shouldn’t be allowed to put toys in meals that are not healthy (healthy as deemed by them) because then their children would want to eat the unhealthy food. Look everyone knows that McDonalds isn’t the healthiest place to eat but it should be up to us what we and/or our children eat. Heaven forbid they have to say no to their children. McDonalds isn’t doing anything misleading by giving a toy.

When word of this reached the public there was a huge backlash in support of McDonalds. After this McDonalds’ CEO Jim Skinner sent a letter to the CSPI basically informing them that they would continue to include the toys and would fight them in court if they choose to do so. In light of McDonalds calling their bluff, the CSPI backed down. Or did they….

Now it would appear that the liberals have decided if they can’t beat McDonalds head on they use a back door. They have been spending a lot of money lobbying politicians to get the toys outlawed. Yes outlawed!!

Last week with an 8-3 vote the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a law banning toys to be given with Happy Meals. Mayor Gavin Newsom promised to veto this measure. However, if the 8-3 vote holds it will be enough to override his veto. They is expected to go into place in December 2011.

So it would seem that the new goal for the Nanny State wackos is get as many cities and towns to outlaw the toys as possible and then possibly a nation wide ban. What gives them the right to dictate to us what we eat? Allowing big brother to tell us what we can and can’t eat is a very dangerous and slippery slope. We cannot keep giving away our rights as individuals and parents.

For me personally I very rarely eat fast food. I train Brazilian Jiu-Jistu in Columbia Maryland and I am always watching my weight for tournaments. Because of this I know I can’t have a lot of fast food. However there are times when you are in a rush or traveling with the family and need to get some quick food at a low price. I see absolutely nothing wrong with getting fast food once in a while. It will not hurt you or make you obese to eat fast food one time and what is wrong with seeing your child’s face light up when they get a little toy. You can say that my family is the exception and that too many families eat it regularly but how is that anyone’s business but their own.

I know that many people look down on McDonalds and may not care about this but I guarantee that if we allow the government to regulate businesses in this manor it will only be a matter of time before more and more is taken away and who knows for what reason. There is already a large assault on personal freedoms from political correctness to smoking to snacks, trans-fats, salt, etc. What will be next and for what reason? You never really even know what the reason behind this is. Sometimes it’s an excuse to raise taxes and other times it might be a crazy vegetarian group much like a new report put out by the Nanny State liberal group PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) that list milk as a junk food. Yes that’s correct they listed Milk as a junk food! The PCRM is a front for a radical vegetarian group (not a Physicians group at all) bent on scaring people away from dairy.

The bottom line is that we must do more to take on personal responsibility and stop the over regulation by our government. If you don’t want your child to eat a happy meal don’t buy it. We can’t rely on the Nanny State to protect us from everything, even ourselves.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

Personally I believe that the larger problem of obesity in America comes from lack of exercise but I should be careful saying that because they might mandate that next…

Big Brother is at it Again, Again!!

Obstructing a Police Investigation? Believe it or not this is actually a charge and it is being used to skirt the bill of rights. This is just another way Big Brother is trying to limit your rights and freedom.

In resent years we have witnessed time and time again people being arrested for crimes and then going to jail for obstructing an investigation rather then what they were arrested for in the first place. Most notably Martha Stewart, no she was not convicted of insider trading, and Scooter Libby, no he did not leak the name of a secret agent (that was actually a democrat named Richard Armitage who was never charged with anything). In Martha’s case she was charged and convicted of lying to the investigator. I am not sure what she lied about exactly but it obviously had nothing to do with insider trading since she was found innocent of that. Libby’s case on the other hand was a little more public. The worst part about Libby’s situations was he was forced to testify by a Grand Jury which is fact finding and you are not afforded 5^th amendment protections (you must answer although you can say you don’t recall). When he missed stated a date of a phone call he made a year before he was charged for lying and trying to mislead the investigation. During the investigation Richard Armitage admitted to being the leak but for some reason the grand jury proceeded.

The reason for bringing this up is I was talking to a good friend of mine that I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with in Columbia Maryland, Dave Zwanetz. He is a criminal defense attorney and today he had a client come into his office with one of the most egregious abuses of power I have heard of in recent times by a police officer. This is even worse then the motorcyclist being arrested for video taping a traffic stop (as talked about in my blog back in July Big Brother is at it again!) Dave makes a lot of videos to help inform the public of their rights and here is the one he started for this incident.

I cannot believe that this happened and can only hope that Dave’s client sues the crap out of this officer once the case is thrown out. Or even better I hope that this leads to the officer being fired for his criminal abuse of power. This needs to be fought all the way. If we let one officer get away with this what will stop others from doing the same!

“Well the election didn’t go that well for me here in Maryland but nation wide we did pretty well. We took the house...” was the response I gave when my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor asked me about the election results at my Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland. He then asked, “Why do you say WE when the republicans do well, when you say you are a Libertarian?”

The simple fact of the matter is that when I say we I mean we as a nation, including my instructor who is neither a Republican nor Libertarian. It is no secret that I am a conservative Libertarian. So from my prospective the closer the country pulls to those views the better for everyone.

On the ballot in my district there were only two Libertarians both of which I voted for and both of which lost. I do vote for a lot of Republicans but that’s usually only when the alternative is the Fascist that call themselves Democrats or when they are more like a Libertarian then a Republican. I have even been known to vote for the constitutional party as well (which I did and he also lost. lol). However nation wide a lot of libertarians and Libertarianesque Republicans won. A lot of new school small government Libertarianesque republicans also took seats in the house (Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ken Buck, & Ron Johnson to name a few).

For this election even if no small government Republicans had been elected it still would have been good for all Americans. Currently the Democrats have been running amuck in DC. Controlling both houses and the presidency is never good (just look at the Bush years). There needs to be checks and balances. One party cannot be in total control.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834-1902)

If we can get gridlock in DC it would be a very good thing for everyone. The only fear is if the two parties start working together. There is an old saying that I am not exactly sure of its origin but supposedly was told by a republican staffer to a group of Russian legislators.

“In America, we have a two-party system. There is the stupid party and there is the evil party. I am proud to be a member of the stupid party. Periodically, the two parties get together and do something that is both stupid and evil. This is called bipartisanship.”

So yes we did do well nation wide, at least seemingly so. Only time will tell. But… no my political party did not…

Election Day is here again! I must say I do love Election Day. They should make this a paid holiday. You can truly experience the full range of emotions from exciting to anxiety, filled with joy to plain pissed off. The only other thing that gets me this excited is doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland were I train.

It can be very exhausting waiting to see if the candidates you voted for win, especially when you allow yourself to be emotionally invested like I do. For many people this is their big chance to help make a difference that only comes once every couple years.

I always try to do my part (Voting, Boycotting, Protesting) even though often it feels like my efforts are in vain. I honestly think that I would feel worse if I did not even try.

This year I have been more optimistic then I have been in a long time. The polls are showing that many small government candidates have a shot at getting in (both Libertarian and Tea Party type Republican candidates). People who seemingly want to make a difference and not just want to be apart of the old school establishment. I have even seen Democrats running on a Libertarian platform. Of course it will be an up hill battle even if they do win and you never know if they will stay true to their word but there is a huge groundswell in this country supporting small government. It is clear that people are getting sick of the politics in Washington D.C. and this may be our chance to make a difference.

Well my wife and I have already voted so now it’s just a waiting game. I am very anxious to find out the results. Here in Maryland we have a couple big races but it’s always tough. Maryland is almost two to one Democrat so that the fact these races are even close is a miracle. Even most of the Democrats that I know are fed up. So much so that they are either voting Republican or they have said that they are not voting at all. However, I know that that is only anecdotal and not to mention that Baltimore is well known for voter fraud (the dead always vote and Baltimore always goes Democrat).

So I will just wait and see and hope and pray for the best like everyone else.

Compromising Beliefs for Profit

“Is it hypocrisy to be for small limited government and low taxes yet make your money off of the government?” was the question posed to me by my instructor at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu School in Columbia Maryland were I train. He added, “What do you think about people who compromise their beliefs to make money?”

We were speaking to a mutual friend of ours who is a criminal defense attorney and happens to be for limited government. The argument was that if the government was restricted and people were freer then he would have much less work and make less money. So therefore he profited from large government.

I’m not so sure that necessarily agree with this logic. First of all there is a big difference between being for limited government and being an Anarchist. There will always be a need for his services. With that said, lets say he would not be needed (or needed much less) in a free society. The fact of the matter is that we do already live with a very large overbearing government. People like our friend are needed to help protect the average man. I think that this is very much so consistent with his beliefs. Sometimes you need to be apart of the system in order to change it or even protect someone from it.

Our friend’s firm has protected people from the most egregious of government abuses. In very recent time it proved in court that a police officer falsified evidence, arrested a man and lied under oath to try to have him convicted for no other reason then she was having a bad day (that officer is now facing charges). Yes he does make money for what he does but is that wrong. Shouldn’t he get paid for not only the time and effort he puts into someone’s case but the time and preparation he has put in to becoming a good attorney.

To put it simply, just because he could make more money with a larger, more intrusive government doesn’t mean that he is hoping for more regulations. The fact that he rails against an overbearing government despite possibly hurting his own pocket says a lot about his character and unwillingness to compromise… unless its just for show… then he would be a douchebag and should go buy a 3 series…hahaha

I don't think too highly of anyone who would take money to do something that was completely against his/her own beliefs.

A Nice Weekend!

Another good weekend for the Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland were I train. A large portion of us went to Miami for the Miami International Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. We had two guys go up to Vermont for their first MMA fights.

Both of the guys (John "Devastator" Delbrugge & "Big Sal" Al Washington) we sent to Vermont did extremely well with first round finishes. Big Sal showed some impressive quickness and agility finishing his guy with a close guard armbar at the end of the first round. Devastator did exactly what we have come to expect, demolishing his opponent and tapping him out with a rear naked choke only 54 seconds into the round. Great job to both of my team mates!

Miami was tough but as usual our team team did well. We sent a pretty large team to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament and almost everyone metaled. Also "Big" Phil Thorn won the blue belt open weight division.

For me it was the first tournament I had done in a long time since getting hurt. It was also the first tournament I have done at my new weight (154lbs with Gi). Overall I did ok taking 3rd. It was disappointing but I learned a lot and I got some stuff to work on. It was great to be back on the mat and I got away relatively injury free, which is always nice. I cant weight to get back out there again but for now back to training!

Privacy?… A right?…

What is this country coming to? We are constantly surrendering more and more freedoms to the government. From high taxes to Bush’s “Patriot Act” to Obama trying to regulate the internet and sue Yahoo to surrender private e-mail accounts to the federal government without a warrant, we are constantly allowing our freedoms to be taken away.

Many people remember the Patriot Act. After 9/11 the government jumped at the opportunity to take as much of our freedoms as they thought they could get away with and for the most part many of us were perfectly will to give away. The Patriot Act included a lot of things like warrant less searches and wiretapping. Some of which was eventually thrown out by the courts and some that was not.

Barack Obama and many democrats railed against the patriot act and ran on repealing it. However once Obama was elected he fought to expand the powers. First his administration ordered Yahoo to give them access to private e-mail. When Yahoo refused he sued them in curt to have access to e-mails without a warrant. Thankfully Google and several others came to Yahoo’s aid and banded together to fight the lawsuit. Near the end of August the Obama administration finally backed off and the case was dismissed. Now his administration is trying to regulate internet content. His administration has stated that the FCC has the authority to regulate the internet and is set to outline a plan to regulating broadband lines. I’m not sure what exactly or how they plan on doing this but I will give you more when I know more.

The Federal Government is not the only ones hard at work to take your freedoms. Just a few months back a Maryland man (Anthony Graber) was arrested for video taping a traffic stop where he was pulled over for speeding on a highway. He was on a motorcycle. The cop cut him off nearly knocking him off of his bike then jumped out of his car and pulled his firearm on him. Graber was cooperative but latter posted the video on Youtube. He was then arrested for Maryland’s new wiretapping laws, which make it illegal to video police officers. Keep in mind that it is not only still legal to video anyone else in public, not to mention that the police officers themselves tape the stops with there own on board cameras. I think the most surprising to me was that this law is actually in many states. Talk about protecting their own.

What got me started on this little tirade today was a news story I came across about a young man named Yasir Afifi. Yasir, a 20 year old college student, took his car in for an oil change. The mechanic spotted a strange device attached to the bottom of his car (a little box with antenna). After they removed it he posted images of it on line and asked if anyone new what it was. Two days later the FBI showed up at his door and asked for their GPS tracking device back. Apparently the FBI has been putting GPS tracking devices on peoples cars with out them knowing and more importantly with out a warrant. This has started a major issue over privacy rights. Similar cases have been heard in many courts already with many different verdicts, which left me very surprised that I had not heard about this sooner. We cannot allow the government the right to trace our every movement with absolutely no probable cause (if they had it they would get a warrant).

Often I talk to my friends at the Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland were I train about these issues. Our school is very diverse. We have people from all walks of life from doctors & lawyers to people who work retail to contractors and so on. Everyone is always outraged but often nothing gets done. It is not easy to stop the government from taking more and more power but we should do what ever we can (Voting, boycotting, protesting, writing letters to congressmen, etc.). Often we feel like it does not make a difference but if we do nothing then we are the ones to blame.

Why Learn to Protect Yourself - Self Defense Part 2

The ability to defend yourself is very important. In our modern day times many people either have a false sense of security or believe that as long as they don’t go into a bad neighborhood, nothing will happen to them. Others believe that the police will protect them. This could not be further from the truth!

Living in a nice neighborhood with a security alarm will not stop all criminal. If anything having a nice house and car may invite criminal to attempt a break-in. I train at a Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland. Two years ago the owner of the affiliation (Master Lloyd Irvin) and his family were held at gun point in his home. The criminal broke in at 4 am and surprised them. Lloyd Irvin used his martial arts training and was able to disarm one of the thugs and scare them off. Had he not been trained at gun disarming who knows what might have happened. Not that I necessarily suggest trying to disarm an attacker, but you never know what the situation will call for. Also you never know when or where something might happen. Some criminals are opportunistic and others are calculating. Some will attack in broad daylight, others at night. Some in nice public places and others will wait till you are alone to attack. I have heard many horrible stories over the years (some surprising and some not) and most were not in seedy places.

I think the biggest false sense of security comes from the police. We have all heard the slogan “protect and serve”. Who do they really protect and or serve? The fact of the matter is that police can’t be everywhere all the time (nor do we really want them to be). Chances are that if the police are there… Something already happened. The police won’t show up until after someone calls them and sometimes it takes a while. This does not even take into account that the police do not have to put themselves in harms way to save you. After the Rodney King riots in LA thousands of cases flooded the courts where people were charging that they were being attacked and that the police stood idly by watching only mere feet away. The courts basically ruled that it is neither the police officers duty nor obligation to protect you. If an officer feels that he/she could be putting him/herself in danger he/she is not obligated to assist. So if the police can’t or won’t protect you, who will?

The simply fact of the matter is that it is your responsibility to protect yourself and your family. No one can be there to protect you at all of the time, not the government, not a passerby, nor a neighbor. You even cannot always rely on another family member to be there or to be able to help you. Well I guess if you got enough money you could have a personal body guard but for the rest of us only you can protect yourself at all times.

In the previous post I talked about martial arts training and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a very good ways to learn to self-defense. Martial arts will build the confidence, give you the strength & conditioning and the skills to defend yourself. However there are also other ways to protect yourself. For one can arm yourself. It is no secret that I am a strong supporter of the second amendment but you can also arm yourself with mace, a stun gun, etc. The important thing is to be properly trained. It does you absolutely no good to have a weapon if you can’t use it. It can even be a liability if the attacker takes it from you. If you choose to arm yourself I suggest taking a course and practicing using it as much as possible. Much like martial arts, seeing the technique a couple times will not allow you to be proficient enough to use it live. If your state allows for concealed carry (which I am a strong supporter of) take a training course and practice the techniques as often as possible. You should be going to the range regularly to be proficient.

Self Defense

Often people ask me about self-defense courses. Personally I don’t like them. In general the people that want to take a self-defense course are looking for a quick answer. The problem is there is no quick answer if you want to be able to defend yourself, especially if the attacker is larger and stronger. You need to develop a skill set and this takes time. You not only need to know the moves but have drilled them enough so that they are effective. The problem with most self-defense courses is that you are learning a very small skill set over a very short period of time.

At the Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland where I train we teach many different disciplines. I would suggest that anyone who wants to learn how to defend him or herself study a Martial Art. It takes time so be prepared to stick with it. Training is not always fun for everyone but you need to just keep reminding yourself of your goal.

If I had to pick one Martial Art that will help absolutely everyone be able to defend themselves it would with out a doubt be Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Jiu-Jitsu takes time to master but once you start becoming proficient you will notice that it is very easy to control someone. I have personally witnessed a 19-year-old girl weighing roughly 115 lbs defeat a man that was nearly 50 lbs heaver then her and she was even not a black belt. Jiu-Jitsu is all about body mechanics. You learn how you can use leverage, off balance your opponent, and move & position yourself to control your opponent. It is also submission based so you do not need to rely on strength or power to knock someone out.

Another advantage in taking Jiu-Jitsu is the live sparring. In striking arts you cannot spar every day for injury reasons and also many people just don’t want to get beat up on. Since there is no striking in Jiu-Jitsu you can safely spar everyday (if you wish). This allows you practice the moves and positions with real scenarios and with real reactions from your opponent. It also allows you to gauge your progress and know how effective it really is. The sparing will also inevitably get into good shape, which can only help you in an actual situation.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in MMA

It is no secret that Mixed Martial Arts promoters prefer the fights to stay on the feet. The rules are set up in ways that strongly favor the stand up disciplines (Boxing, Muay Thai, etc). For one there are multiple short rounds. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not always a fast art. It can takes time to set submissions. Also the ref will stand it up if it looks like they are not working. Many people will try hard to stall so that the ref will stand them back up. Often you will see wrestlers score the takedown and then stall so they can be stood back up to score another takedown (not a bad strategy if you have good takedowns but how is that any more exciting then if they were to stay on the ground). Another thing is that they are required to wear gloves. The gloves not only allow you to hit harder but the gloves are thick so it makes it hard to grip and to slide your hand under your opponents chin for the choke.

With all that said Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is still a common place in MMA. When most people think of Jiu-Jitsu they think of submissions but Jiu-Jitsu is much more then that. The “guard” is often used defensively. It helps to control your opponent so that you don’t take a lot of damage or to get back on top (Sweeps). Also being good at Jiu-Jitsu allows you too be able to pass your opponent guard, mount or take their back. Often you may see someone with good Jiu-Jitsu skills pass the guard and mount but finish the opponent with strikes.

Surprisingly enough at the highest level of MMA competitions you see many fighters that are purple belt level in Jiu-Jitsu or even lower. It is obvious when you see a true world-class black belt. When guys like Demian Maia or BJJ Pen fight it’s clear they have a large advantage on the ground (Both on Top and Bottom).

Jiu-Jitsu can also be used as a “Hail Mary” play. Recently some very high profile fights have been ended with a submission from the fighter that was loosing. Fedor Emelianenko lost to Fabricio Werdum via Triangle after Fedor knocked him down and jumped on him. Brock Lesnar defeated Shane Carwin with an Arm Triangle after being pummeled in the first round. And even more recently, Anderson Silver defeated Chael Sonnen with a last minute Triangle after loosing almost every round of a five round fight.

All of the current champions in the UFC have trained extensively in Jiu-Jitsu and have proved that you need to be well rounded to be champion. No matter how good you are on the feet you never know when you might end up on the ground. This is one of the reasons that at the MMA School in Columbia Maryland were I train we put a very strong emphasis on being well rounded.

It is clear that there will always be a place for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in MMA. After all if you take out the Jiu-Jitsu its just a kick-boxing match.

Dragging.... But its Friday!

Last nights practice was a rough one. At the Baltimore Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school were I train, we train very hard and this week was been no exception. My body was feeling it by Thursday night and is not exactly recovered yet. Luckily it is Friday so at least I do not have to work tomorrow. However I do have to do a circuit both tonight and tomorrow, which will not be fun, but I do get to sleep in a little and then I get a full day to recover before Monday.
I'm finally starting to feel a little stronger since being sick and my weight is still right on. So I am looking pretty good for the Miami Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in a couple of weeks. I can't wait!
I will be heading into Jiu-Jitsu class tonight around 7 and probably get done class and my circuit by 10. So after that I get to sleep. I can't wait for that either...ha!
On another note I have to take my children to a birthday party on Saturday and then my daughter is having a small party at my mom's house for her birthday. My daughter will be having another party closer to her actual birthday but my mom lives kind of far and couldn't make it. So a weekend filled with training and chasing after the little ones. I will be sneaking naps where every I can...

Joint Practice

Another great practice last night (Wednesday) at our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Baltimore. Competitors from one of our sister schools (Ivey League MMA) visited. It was a great time. We turned the heat up as high as it would go and trained for about two and a half hours. For the last half an hour or so we were running suicide sprints. It was a blast! I love hard practices. It seems bad while you are doing it but it is very satisfying after you finish. You feel like you can do anything... well after you get a good night sleep.
I have been training very hard this week trying to get ready for the Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Miami at the end of this month (Not that I don't always train hard). Its just hard coming off of being sick for over a week and jumping right back in but there is very little time to get ready. I will be training as hard as I can for the next two weeks. Luckily my weight is right on from being sick.
I can't wait for my wait to get back out there and fight. It's been a rough year so far between injuries and getting sick and a few early bad performances. Got a lot to prove!

Training Hard!

Another day Training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Baltimore! I'm starting to feel a lot better. Last night I went in for the intermediate class. Our instructor was in a little bit of a mood and pumped it up a little. It was great. It wasn't quite as tough as an advanced class but it was still a lot of fun. We got to run "Match of the Days" (tournament style matches). I didn't do so hot (don't really want to get into what happened. Ha!) but it was still a lot of fun.
Afterward I did my first circuit since being back. That was tough! I felt like I was starting all over. I was very tiered but I willed myself through it. I got less then three weeks to get ready for my next BJJ Tournament so I really need to push myself.
The action wont stop tonight. We have visitors coming up to our Jiu-Jitsu school in Baltimore from our sister schools for our advanced class. It is always a good time when the competition team all meats up at one school. The heat will be turned up and the training will be hard. I love it!

Well I'm back!

For those that don't know I was extremely sick over the last couple of weeks. It was horrible and even included a visit to the hospital. All I could think of while I was sick was getting back to class at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Baltimore where I train. Well... I am back. Last night I attended my first advanced class since being sick. I held up pretty good although I felt noticeably week and I tiered easily. I hope to be back to full strength by the end of the week.
Do to being so sick I missed the tournaments last weekend. It was very upsetting. I worked really hard to recover from an injury and get ready for the tournaments and then got sick. Oh well. I am now registered for the Miami Open, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament at the end of the month. I am very excited to finally get back out there. First I will need to get back into shape.
After class tonight I will be doing my first circuit since getting sick. Circuits are miserable but necessary, especially if I am going to be in shape by the 23rd of this month. At our MMA school everyone who competes are on circuits.

Busy! Busy!

It has been very crazy for me over the last couple of weeks. Things have picked up at my job. My daughter started her first day at kindergarten. I have been working to help people negotiate contracts. I have also started our new conditioning program at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Baltimore where I train.
Over the last month D'Angelo Kinard from Advanced Sports Performance has been working on a new conditioning routine for our competition team and it was final installed on Monday. We will be doing three circuits a week and ever so many weeks we will change up to other circuits.
The first circuit I did on Monday was brutal. It was a complete body workout. My back legs and shoulders are very sore plus it was very cardio intensive. It was very hard doing the submission grappling class (No-Gi) and then the advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class right after it. By the end I was completely drained!
Today I am on a leg Circuit and then No-Gi and advanced class. On Friday it’s all upper body. Once my body gets used to the new conditioning routine I will go back to running on Tuesdays and Thursdays before class. I am going to compete in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament at the end of this month. It will be the first tournament I have done since injuring my arm. It will be great to get back out there. This long layoff has been miserable.
The new training is definitely not fun but if it helps me achieve my goal of winning at the worlds then it will be well worth it. It’s like my coach keeps saying, “You are older so you have to work twice as hard”. That is what I intend to do. One thing is for sure by next June (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships) I will be a machine... Hopefully not a broken one!

Its Football Time...

Football season is here again and it has got me thinking a lot about training. I always thought of professional football and other professional sports as seasonal. The football season is only 4 months, with an additional month and a half of training camp and preseason. Then there is another month in the post season for the teams that make it. So do football players really only train for 6 months out of the year… I really doubt it.
Ever since I started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu I have had a new prospective. The Jiu-Jitsu season goes mostly all year long but has its grand finale or “Super Bowl” in early June. In order to be ready for the BJJ Worlds (Mundials) in June you literally need to train all year long. You do things in stages to build yourself up and peak at the end of the year but you are still training. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitu School in Maryland where I train is very competitive. We train very hard all year long and do the smaller BJJ tournaments through out the year to refine our skill. We do this because we know that if we are not someone else is.
I would imagine it is the same way in profession football. Everyone knows that every year new guys are coming into the league to try and take their jobs. You better believe most guys will do everything in there power to prevent that. I am sure there are some guys that just get by on talent but I would bet that those are the guys that don’t last long!