Bullfighting & Jiu Jitsu by Brian Neal pt 2

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:13:47 +0000

Continued from yesterday’s post by one of Children’s Martial Arts coaches, Brian Neal…

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!

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Bullfighting & Jiu Jitsu by “Rodeo” Brian Neal pt 1

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:46:50 +0000

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!

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Baltimore » rodeo

Bullfighting & Jiu Jitsu by Brian Neal pt 2

Bullfighting & Jiu Jitsu by “Rodeo” Brian Neal pt 1