When she was a little girl in Unai, Minas Gerais, Ana Laura Cordeiro had to open the oven to go train. That was where the mother of the future champion, wary of that Jiu-Jitsu thing, hid her daughter’s gi. Today, Laura is an undefeated fighter, teaches self-defense for girls in California and is one of the greatest [...] […]
It’s International Women’s Day, and without further ado GRACIEMAG.com gives them the floor. What do women who do Jiu-Jitsu these days struggle with? What peculiarities do Jiu-Jitsu women have to live with? Fair warrior Michelle Nicolini, a collector of titles and participant in all the IBJJF tournaments, was chosen to speak a bit about her routine, in […]
Black belt Caio Terra in recent years has been waging fierce battles against Bruno Malfacine to decide who the roosterweight king of the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds Championship is. In 2008, Terra came out best in the final, while the so-called ‘Bad Boy’ secured his double in 2009.While Malfa carries on training in Brazil, at Alliance, Caio works on [...] […]
The news is fresh, and it’s for the better. With the pretext of further popularizing Jiu-Jitsu in the Arab Emirates, the government opted to organize the April-17 World Cup Pro on Corniche Avenue, on the Abu Dhabi beach front. In front of the famous turquoise sea, an arena like the ones used in beach volleyball tournaments [...] […]
I’ve had the opportunity to be a student at “small” academies that grew into big ones and also have had the good fortune of watching my own Howard County Martial Arts academy develop into a “big” school as well. One thing that I’ve noticed is how different it is to run a successful big program vs. a successful little program (in terms of developing students).
Running a successful small program is fairly easy, if the instructor is (A) Not crazy, (B) Actually qualified to teach, and (C) Wants to produce skilled students (as opposed to just make money). When there are 50 students in your program, its easy to keep track of everyone’s progress. If you need someone to improve their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, just spend some more time with them. You know everyone’s weaknesses and strengths and can adjust the training regimen accordingly.
Now, running a successful big program is a little different. When there are 500 students to keep track of, you better have a SYSTEM because there is no way you are going to effectively apply your time on a one-to-one basis to all 500 students. The inability to break the link between the head instructor’s time and the effective teaching of the students is one of the main reasons why there is a trend for programs to develop their best fighters at the START of their business. If you think about it, this is very strange because you would expect that with more income coming in (with the larger student base), the later students in the program would be better than the first few; after all, the school probably has more classes, more advanced students, more sponsorship activities, more instructors, more training partners, etc. etc.
Developing this system is very difficult – as evidenced by the number of schools that have seen an inverse relationship between their school growth and “talented” student level. Of course, there are schools that have done it i.e. Lloyd Irvin Camp Springs. Lloyd had a few good competitors when LIMAA was a small school and as his school has grown, his competition team has not only gotten bigger but also began competing at higher and higher levels (Brandon Vera in the Ultimate Fighting Championships). Because of the success of his school, he can provide his students with a large professional facility, expansive schedule, and job and sponsorship opportunities so the dedicated students can continue to develop their skills and pursue their competitive goals.
more on this topic tomorrow…
*** REMINDER – Houston International Open Results will be posted to our Crazy 88 facebook fan page as they come in so become a fan if you aren’t already one! ***
Firstly, there is a difference between an Association and a Team. An Association is oftentimes a business relationship and is usually centered around a head instructor. Big teams can consist of multiple associations i.e. Team Gracie Humaita consists of Pedro Sauer as well as Saulo Ribeiro who run separate associations but will often fight under the same banner at International tournaments.
Secondly, every Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association is different. The first major distinction is whether the Association accepts new members (schools) who are not trained by members of the Association. While most teams require some sort of training relationship prior to a business one, some Associations just require a monthly due and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ranking of some sort.
To use a hypothetical situation – consider Dan Gable / Iowa Wrestling (probably the highest and most marketable pedigree in the United States for wrestling); only members of the Iowa Hawkeye wrestling program who were coached by Dan Gable can truly say that they can teach that “style”. Now imagine if Dan Gable decided to allow any wrestling camp or team that would pay him $500 / month to represent “Dan Gable wrestling”. Those are the two extremes of Associations – one is purely a training pedigree, much like degree from a University, while the other is more of a money for benefits exchange.
Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling and Dan Gable - The Most Marketable Names in Folkstyle Wrestling
So what are these benefits? Firstly, joining a reputable associations is a good way for the new member to get the recognition and reputation of the association without necessarily being of the same quality. Imagine a school that does not have any history of producing competitors and also lacks an instructor with solid credentials; the school owner would greatly benefit by joining an association that has those things. Some associations also offer marketing assistance such as website templates and also training guides such as a consolidated curriculum. Depending on the reason why the new member joined the association, either of those benefits could be huge. A seminar blue belt with a karate school would definitely benefit from having a well-constructed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu curriculum while a struggling MMA school, might need the marketing help.
If you’re considering a school that is associated with someone else, research what was the affiliate’s relationship with the main school / instructor prior to joining the association? Do not mistake yourself into believing that the affiliate school offers the same training, same philosophy, or overall same quality as the main school if the relationship was formed very recently or if the main association head is very far away. Evaluate the credentials of the BJJ where you will be training apart from the credentials of the association. Ask yourself, if the head instructor is in California, how much possible contact can there be between him and his new affiliate instructor in Maryland? If readily available, look at what the requirements for association membership are and think what those requirements imply about both the association head and the affiliate school.
At our Baltimore martial arts school, we like to have an active competition team in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi, Thai boxing, and MMA. Of course, if you compete, you will inevitably lose. And like everyone has told you, its what happens after the loss that is important. So let’s look at five common errors beginners make when dealing with losses…
Not realizing its a lot easier to switch directions than get started. You’re going to learn a lot from competing and become more motivated from the experience. Competing is a valuable form of feedback and allows you to make course corrections so be happy that you got out there and can now learn from it. This also relates to the next point.
Making too much of a loss. It doesn’t mean you are going to lose forever. It doesn’t mean you should quit training. And you do not have to kill yourself. Stop being a drama-queen. Remember, one win at the higher level of competition outweighs any losses at the lower level.
Lawyer Dave in High School decides he hates Jiu Jitsu and everyone in it!
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Taking too much time off after a loss. To a certain extent, you need to desensitive yourself to the stresses of competing and one of the best ways to do that is by competing a lot. Its too easy to get caught up in your head and over-analyze if after every loss, you are taking two to three months off. Also, the limited competition schedule often makes grapplers make more of each competition than it is; it’s really not a huge deal that you lost BUT it might feel like that if you are doing one a year vs. one a month. Even in high school sports, there are usually a 2 competitions a week so you can definitely handle one a month.
Not separating what can be controlled from what can not be controlled. Winning and losing are not solely in your power; your opponent and the referee are going to play a huge role as well. If you lose, your focus needs to be on what IS in your control rather than what isn’t. Focus on your training, your strategy, your technique, your conditioning, your mindset, etc.
Jimmy shouldn't dwell on the fact that Superman is a psychopath BUT he can always work on becoming a better gift buyer!
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Not accepting the most obvious solution. I have one very talented very technical student who ALWAYS gasses in tournaments. He loves the classes and is a monster in the room and brings that same ability to the competition mats… for the first 2-3 matches. After that, he enters the “so fatigued that you have to stay on the mat to rest as soon as the whistle blows” mode. I always want him to do conditioning – he always wants to work on the specific technical areas. Obviously, there is a link between better technique (more efficient) and fatigue but this is not a Roger Gracie vs. Blue Belt matchup where no amount of conditioning is going to overcome the skill difference.
Customers find comfort in the fact that a business has been in existence for a long time. This is apparently a mark of dependability and continual success and so one feels comfortable developing a relationship with the proprietor with less worry that the business will undergo some bizarre twist of fate that causes it to fail, disappear, etc.
What level of competitor has the program produced?
How many of those competitors has the program produced from scratch?
These questions have to considered in addition to how long has the program been in existence?
A quality training program must consistently produce top competitors.
Why competitors? Because that provides proof and a point of comparison with other schools. Never judge a school based on the # of colored belts it has because every school has different standards; a Black Belt at one school might be the equivalent skill level of a Purple Belt at another.
Why consistently? Because any school, given time, will eventually run across an athlete that has the genetic and societal background that will make him good. When I wrestled in high school, each high school always has that one kid that is good despite the rest of the team sucking. This kid usually came from a family wrestling background and comes in with years of basement and garage wrestling experience. This kid’s performance is in no way indicative of the school’s wrestling program however. Look the program that has ALWAYS been putting up good competitive numbers.
Why is the level of competition important? Lots of people can coach Championship Little League teams. Fewer can coach Championship High School Teams and once you get into the collegiate and professional levels, there are only a few programs that can coach that level of athlete. The same goes for Mixed Martial Arts schools. Nowadays, there are lots of little schools where you can roll around with your friends and shoot the breeze afterward. But if you want to be a UFC fighter or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion (or an athlete competing at the highest level in any sport), look for programs that have actually produced that level of competitor. Trust me… if a program COULD produce that caliber of athlete – they would!
Remember that the numbers of competitors and titles for each school should go UP with each year that the school has been in business.
Some of the best advice I ever received from Lloyd Irvin was regarding rivalries.
To many times, competitors get focused on a single opponent rather than focusing on the big picture. A common situation would be as follows: Adam loses to Bill. Adam then focuses all his efforts on beating Bill. He trains with Bill in mind. Studies film on Bill. Formulates a gameplan to beat Bill. Finally, the day of the rematch comes and Adam wins. Sounds great, right?
Now what if both matches were in the first round of the novice division?
When a competitor focuses on a personal rivalry, he becomes defined by his rival. In some cases, both individuals rise to the challenge and it creates epic battles such as Ali vs. Joe Frazier or in current BJJ, Rafael Mendes vs. Cobrinha. On the other hand, it can sometimes limit the competitor by taking the competitor’s eye of the final prize.
Now in the examples above, both guys were at the absolute top of their sport – but that is often not the case. A White Belt should not be focusing all his efforts on defeating the White Belt from the last tournament but rather focusing on developing the skills necessary to face and defeat the multitude of blue belts that await him at the next level (and who most likely are better than his white belt rival). Would you rather be the BJJ World Champion or the guy who beat the returning Champion and then was eliminated next round? Set your sights on the end goal, and don’t worry about the little speed bumps on the way.
This is one of the reasons I send my Baltimore Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitors to different tournaments all over the United States rather than have them fight the same guys over and over in the Mid-Atlantic. Because we were competing so much, a lot of the competitors started to focus on facing so-and-so from another local school – which was pointless. I want them to focus on developing the abilities and gaining the experience to win the big international and national IBJJF tournaments rather than being the best team in Baltimore. After all, constantly producing IBJJF champions would lead to that title but that title doesn’t lead to IBJJF champions.
That is why we make a solid effort to send the team around the United States. Next up is the Houston International Open!
Since everyone is snowed in and is supposedly working out at home and watching a lot of film, I thought I could provide some tips on watching competition footage that have helped me out over the years.
In the beginning, I could not watch Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition videos and preferred instructional videos; nowadays, its the other way around. These old videos were the old Paqueta ones that used to have matches edited to take out the boring parts and I still would have a hard time watching them. I would only like matches with a lot of drama behind them or matches that were very high-scoring. Basically, I watched the matches as a fan rather than a student which brings me to tip#1.
Don’t be a fanboy. If you are caught up in the excitement of the match or can’t get beyond “wow, so-and-so is so good”, watch it again later when you can watch the match more studiously.
Watch the same people over and over. You need to watch to see what is NOT happening just as much as what is. If Fighter A hits his Omoplata on everyone but then against Fighter B, he can not – you need to figure out why and what Fighter B is doing. And the only way for you to know that Fighter A loves Omoplata is to have watched plenty of footage on him before.
Watch everyone. One thing that always impressed me about Team Lloyd Irvin Black Belt, Brad Court, is how he knew the games of so many different competitors not just the famous ones. There are techniques that the guy who lost early does better than the guy who took 1st. At my Columbia MD martial arts school, I have noticed this a lot where students will watch less qualified “internet-famous” guys vs. guys with better credentials.
Always ask yourself what you would do in any particular situation. I remember when I was a Blue Belt, I was watching some camcorder footage of some other Blue Belts from my team, and I noticed that both of them were doing the exact same thing from the top of butterfly guard – and I was not. Now I had seen that footage at least 2-3x before that instance but that particular point had never jumped out at me. So always ask yourself, even when watching mundane positions, what you would do in that position? If they are doing something different, ask your instructor later.
I uploaded a bunch of video from the 2010 European Championships onto the Crazy 88 fanpage so make sure you watch (and analyze) the footage. Lots of good matches on there including some of our guys as well as some Black Belt action.
Competition is important because it helps keep BJJ instructors honest.
Every instructor has a different set of criteria from one another and most likely, a different set of criteria for each belt. For example, some instructors use an attendance system for some of the early belts while others focus primarily on competition results. This often causes significant differences in the actual skill levels of students wearing the same belt color. A blue belt from school A, which focuses on international competition, will be significantly “better” than a blue belt from school B, which promoted the student for attending 96 classes. The student might not necessarily know more techniques but in sparring, the competition experience will pay off, and more likely than not, student A will win..
The situation is very similar to the one faced by high schools. How do you compare “A” students from one school to the next. The valedictorian of Philips Exeter, one of America’s top prep schools, is not the same as the valedictorian of an inner city school. How much of a difference is there?
Philips Exeter - All the snarkiness of an elite college but a high school!
~800 students, 115 teens with children or expecting - Stay Classy Robeson High!
What the educational institutions decided to do was create a standardized test (best known of which is the hated SAT) by which they could compare these individuals*. Think of international competition as the SAT for us instructors – we get to see how the training regimens and teaching methods we use stack up against Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructors from across the world! If our students do well, that means that as an instructor, we are able to produce students at the highest level i.e. Ivy League students. If our students don’t do so well, it means we need to improve**.
That’s why I think competition is so important.
* Standardized tests, just like competitions, are not the perfect solutions to this problem but they do provide a point of comparison to be considered. To completely discount them would be worse than only focusing on them.
** Instructors need to be able to bring up every student’s abilities, not just the elite competitors BUT it definitely says something when a school can produce champion after champion just like it says something when a school can turn out-of-shape non-athletes into solid athletes. They are two equally important sides of the same coin.
I think another similar aspect is the preparation required for each. There isn’t any training manual or book you can read that will prepare you for what you will encounter when you get on your first bull or fighting in your first advanced no-gi division; its just OJT! But there is a method to the madness.
You learn from day one that every day in the training room is just that — training! You work on positions or submissions that you are weak in or you tweak your game plan, but the idea is to get better here. I can remember my first day in class and being allowed to spar… I had no clue what to do, but I figured out pretty quickly what NOT to do! There is a significant advantage to the person who can get over the mental block of putting himself in a “combat sports” situation.
Rodeo Brian used to think this was a good idea!
I think a perfect summary to my comparison is a saying we had in bull riding and during my time at Crazy 88. We used to say “People don’t pick bull riding, bull riding picks people.” I believe the same is true for Jiu Jitsu. Only a certain type of person would be willing to come out day in and day out and get choked, kicked, punched, elbowed, and still want to come back tomorrow… you should be proud of yourself.
PS – Congratulations to Team Lloyd Irvin’s Phil Davis who won his UFC debut last night by unanimous decision!
When Julius asked me to write a little artcile for the newsletter, I had no idea what to write about. After some thought, the answer became obvious. Many of you know me as Rodeo, Coach Rodeo, or as Julius likes to call me, Rodeo Brian. What you may not know is WHY I was given that nickname.
Luckily, neck cranks are legal in Man vs. Cow matches
In a previous life, I used to ride bulls, in part for fun and in part for many. I think you might find it interesting if I shared my thoughts about how the two are similar. While I am not suggesting to anyone that if you can or are willing to do Jiu Jitsu, you should run out and jump on the first bull you see, but I hope to give you alittle insight into how riding bulls has helped me in Jiu Jitsu at Crazy 88. While I think the list is long, I will just talk about a couple of the big things I think the two sports share.
I think the most obvious similarity between the two sports is that both are individual sports. They are unique in that, unlike football and other team sports, it is just you and your opponent. This is hard for some people to take; there is a certain level of anxiety that one needs to overcome in order to put himself in that position.
Some athletes like the “crutch” of having someone to blame for their failures. We see this time and time again in professional sports, where one athlete calls out a teammate in the news and throws him under the bus for a loss. In bullriding, there is no one to blame for getting bucked off and not making the whistle; the same is true about Jiu Jitsu If you are not prepared, you have no one to blame for yourself.
This man did not approve of blaming teammates for losses
*** more tomorrow ***
PS – Make sure to watch Team Lloyd Irvin’s Phil Davis make his UFC debut tonight! Phil trains out of Brandon Vera’s school in California and enters the Octagon with an impeccable wrestling pedigree!
During Crazy 88’s trip to the European Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships (part of our goal to continue to be Baltimore’s top BJJ team), I saw a funny Volkswagon commercial. In each scene, there is a salesman talking with a prospective buyer. Each salesman points out a particular feature of the car in comparison to a Volkswagon Golf.
“See the interior – just like a Volkswagon Golf!”
“Yeah, the safety ratings are just like a Volkswagon Golf!”
“Nice engine huh? We designed it after the Volkswagon Golf!”
etc. etc.
*** I FOUND THE COMMERCIAL ON YOUTUBE ***
Now I don’t know if VW Golfs are good are bad but the point is made – if everyone seems intent on just copying something - there must be something to the original!
For an example right from our BJJ school - ever notice how every gi is compared to a Koral (the original “luxury” gi) and every light gi is compared to Vulkan (the original gi sold on virtue of its lightness)?
Anyway, with the success of Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Team Lloyd Irvin (most of the marketing I use is derivative of my mentor Lloyd Irvin’s), I’ve noticed quite a lot of “flattery” from other martial arts schools in the area.
So far I’ve noticed…
More and more local MMA / BJJ school switching over to the 30 Day Free Trial
Google adwords campaigns with a single word (usually location) changed
“Fake” prospective students coming in to experience the new client tour / 30 Day Trial
Website text directly cut and pasted
New website designs copied; we are always putting up new websites to test what google likes and the successful ones get copied a few months later… LOL!
Anyway, I guess its true that its not IF your competitors copy you, but WHEN and also that we must be doing something right if everyone wants to copy us.
PS – I will give a free sweatshirt to any current students who can find a direct example of any of the above. Email me your submissions! I am keeping a list!
