My Judo

Although I am mainly a brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner, I am also a great fan of Judo which I started even before I found out about BJJ.

Both martial arts are really important to my training as I focus primarily on the gi game which I want to develop first.

Judo has been a great martial art to cross train in as I continue to develop my top takedowns and takedown defense. Although I still have a long way to go, after about two years of training, I feel I am gradually improving and can pull of a few moves that would give me the advantage in a BJJ match and I think also the element of surprise.

Judo I think is losing popularity nowadays but to me, it still has a lot to offer both in terms of improving my technique and also my physical conditioning.

To me it feels Judo has a different mental game though. BJJ guys tend to be more dedicated to the sport while Judo guys tend to be more focused on athleticism.

Just looking at the number of blogs and youtube videos there are for BJJ and Judo, you can make the conclusion and yet it is well known that there are probably ten times as many Judo practitioners as there are BJJ guys.

For me though, BJJ and Judo are a part of one whole. I don't care much about Judo rules but want my technique to dominate and this is where I want to achieve progress.

Judo blackbelts have a certain skill set which gives them success in certain aspects of the game and the goal I think is to take the best parts out.

Saulo Ribeiro is one elite BJJ player who basically took the core Judo techniques and adapted them to his game and has done very well and this is what I want to do and believe in.

Nevertheless I can understand the issues that some people have with Judo. The strange enough competition rules is the obvious flaw.

Just one example is the "standing up" rule that gives you an idea of how unrealistic Judo really is especially in newaza (groundwork). Basically the thing with it is if you are a BJJ guy and catch your opponent in an armbar or triangle, the guy can literally just stand up and as soon as both of his feet are on the ground, the referee can signal the end of the match.

Of course in reality it often takes some time to get the submission to take effect. The triangle choke in particular. Judo however does not allow you to fully apply the triangle choke if the guy is strong enough to get up to his feet which is not a difficult feat to accomplish considering it is not required to actually lift the guy off his back.

You may say then "why do Judo, especially groundwork if it is so unrealistic?". My thought is this. If you want to dominate Judo and Sambo guys like Rigan Machado and Rickson Gracie did in the 80s-90s, you need to be that good to be able to handle your opponent from standing and make sure that on the ground he has no chance and by that I mean no chance at all to even get his feet up. When you sink and armbar or triangle you should control your opponent and not allow him to do anything. BJJ gives you all the techniques required and it is just a matter of perfecting the techniques to such a level that you totally control your opponent on the ground.

Archetypes in BJJ

Guys, I always thought that eventually someone will put together something like this.

Check it out here (very funny): http://www.kampfkunst-board.info/forum/f24/bjj-stereotypen-32554/

In fact I am pretty sure it covers all of us at least a little bit. For me, I feel sometimes like the "this is my first lesson guy" because I hate to answer the question "how long have you been doing BJJ".

When I started doing BJJ it was especially not great. I had two years of Judo experience already and so when I said I was new to BJJ and then submitted the guy with an arm-triangle or something, it was kind of like "by the way, I've done judo". But its not like you have to disclose your martial arts background to every partner who asks you just before a sparring match whether you have done BJJ before.

By the way, check this link out for some comedy :)

Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle

Here is a short video series about jiu jitsu, the martial art that has taken over the life of so many people and transformed them. 600,000 now I understand are practicing the martial art and I think the number is growing fast.

Reasons Why Fedor Lost!

Here are some of the primary reasons Fedor lost this fight however:

1. Fedor has never trained with decent sparring partners for grappling. Instead he trains in Stariy Oskol with Sambo guys that are nowhere near as technical as somebody like Fabricio Werdum. These guys don't have a guard as technical and as difficult to pass as Werdum's so I think this is part of the reason why Fedor got so confident there. What Fedor needs to do is something that is normal for many top fighters. Anderson Silva, GSP, BJ Penn, Machida and Lesnar all train with elite BJJ players and ADCC level grapplers. Fedor needs to leave Stariy Oskol and train with good sparring partners.

2. Training facilities and trainers. Fedor's conditioning may be decent but his coaches are part of the reason why he lost. Not many people know that Fedor was not made by his current trainers he has today in fact. They inheritted Fedor, the awesome machine that could dominate Pride. He now needs to consider whether he may really benefit from modern MMA training and coaches.

3. People around Fedor. Fedor has a lot of people around him who are there to get his money and use his fame. Starting from Rinat Layshev, Igor Petrukhin, Vadim Finkelstein and ending with a crazy guy they have over there who things sauna and "Banya" is training. They are extremely arrogant and talk so much shit it is unbelievable and thank god for Fedor people outside of Russia don't hear this crap. They were saying that Sambo is the best martial art in the world, Fedor is the best fighter in the world, and on and on. These guys are screwing with his training and his mind.

4. Religion and priests. We never knew Fedor like this but when priests start to accompany you to fights that is the worst sign you can have. "God wanted Fedor to lose?", if Fedor is not insane, he will be soon with these guys. I am telling you that those priests have been messing with Fedor's head for ages. Now Fedor has to go and prey instead of training. Good luck Fedor if you carry on like this.

5. Bring the wife. Fedor has not been taking fighting seriously for a few years now. He is told by his mates that he is unbeatable and that he can relax i gather. That is why he lost in Sambo last year - he did not train, and he was doing movies before the Arlovski fight that even his trainers started talking before being told to hush hush.

remember he got married just before the Rogers fight? Now he brings his fight to San Jose, bad sign.

Lastly, Fedor went in to MMA to make money for his family. This was a mean machine who was training with nasty guys like Volk Han. I think Fedor forgot where he came from and how hard he had to work to get there, who made Fedor. He should really look for outsiders to help him here. Speak to Mousasi and GSP, speak with guys that have accomplished something. Train with Roger Gracie.

Fedor has to do a lot of work before he goes in and fights again. The fact that they already want the next fight in September and that he will never leave M1 is a bad sign.

Five Top BJJ Players Getting Famous

5. Pablo Popovitch

Hats off to the guy that beat Marcelo Garcia in the ADCC which is what he did in 2009. Pablo Popovitch, if you ever seen him fight, is an incredible grappler. Incredibly skilled, talented and powerful grappler that has been for years been overshadowed by the Marcelo Garcia phenomenon. Pablo really does deserve praise and someone to follow this year.

4. Braulio Estima - Gracie Barra is proud of its champions and Braulio Estima's performance last year has been more than impressive. Not only was he able to dominate everyone in his own division at ADCC 2009, he looked also unbeatable in the absolute taking gold thanks to his inverted triangle choke he does so well.

Braulio is a true champion and a very accomplished BJJ fighter having been BJJ champion many times before. Although for years outshined by guys like Xande and Ronaldo Jacare, Braulio is really showing his worth nowadays and will surely do well in mixed martial arts as well.

3. Demian Maia - there are few talents in BJJ who can make UFC fighters look like amatuers. This is what Demian can do literally playing with his opponents once the fight reaches the ground. Although Maia could not takedown Anderson Silva in his last fight, surely he has a great career ahead of him in the UFC once he improves his wrestling and striking.

2. Ronaldo Souza - Jacare is one of the most athletic and yet incredibly technical fighters. Having dominated the jiu jitsu and grappling scene for years, he turned to MMA with great success. Ronaldo is able to take down even the most versatile fighters with ease and once on the ground, they are helpless to resist him. His last fight against Villasenor in Strikeforce confirms this.

With his takedowns looking the better than most wrestlers and striking rapidly evolving, Ronaldo Souza will very soon be the middleweight Strikeforce champion. Good luck to him.

PS: Jake Shields I think got scared of how good Souza really is and has run off to the UFC.

1. Roger Gracie - when you look at what Roger Gracie has accomplished so far, he can't help giving credit to his achievements. He is the first fighter to win the BJJ Worlds Absolute 3 times and the only guy to submit all of his opponents in 2009 worlds by taking mount. He is also the only guy to submit all of his opponents in ADCC 2005 winning both his own weight and absolute. This guy is truly the greatest BJJ specialist ever and one of the best grappling stars in the world.

Roger is an extremely humble and hard working guy and is a great pleasure to see him compete. I just wish he fights MMA more.

I would personally also love to see him fight in Sambo just for fun, as Rigan Machado and Rickson did just to see how he would do. The rules are different but it would be interesting to see how BJJ vs Sambo does these days.

Jiu Jitsu Prevails: Fedor loses to Werdum

How unbelievably arrogant were the M1 Global commentators in the Fedor vs Werdum Strikeforce show. The crap that comes out of the mouth of Finkelstein, Igor Petruhin and Rinat Layshev and their friends is unbelievable.

Propoganda message number 1: "Sambo is the best" - yeah they go on and on that Dana White nor any of the brazilian know what Sambo is. That Fedor can do anything he wants to a jiu jitsu fighter because he is the best in the world, no one can submit this guy, blah, blah blah. I think at some point even Fedor decided he could do his sambo tricks on Werdum.

Basically what happened was Fedor went in and forgot who he was dealing with. When he fought Nogueira he understood how dangerous Nogueira is from the guard. He was very cautious despite trying to GNP Nogueira.

This time however he tried to pass Werdum's guard with no respect for Fabricio's guard game and submission abilities. What happened, well, it turns out Sambo and Fedor are not invincible after all. I guess Fedor forgot the Arona fight and what happened there.

For some reason he decided he could do more than just land strikes from the guard. He tried to pass the guard and naturally Werdum landed a nice triangle choke. Vai Cavalo locked it in quick and real nice and once its locked, well, unless your name is Roger Gracie you are not getting out. That means even if your name is Fedor Emelianenko, you are still going to tap. That is what happened.

After that basically the guys commenting the Russian side of the show started to feel embaraced, embaraced that Fedor lost, embaraced by how little chance they gave Werdum and tried to explain that this was like an accident etc etc

The thing is though, these guys give so little respect to guys like Fabricio Werdum, who is just as much of a star in jiu jitsu as Fedor is in Sambo. Fabricio shook Fedor's hand and spoke about how much respect he has for Fedor.

The M1 team however do exactly the opposite. All they talk about is Fedor, Fedor, Fedor. That is a genius, a professor, the best fighter in the world, unbeatable and on and on and on. Not only do they not show any of the other fights in Russia but they don't even talk about Fabricio Werdum when he enters the arena.

I'm not even sure whether they actually know anything about Werdum. All they seemed to talk about when Werdum was entering the arena was that how little cheering there was.

Fedor, I think the guy is great but with all this crap around him and some of the crap that he believes in, he is wrong about some things. He got arrogant I think in this fight and gave too little respect for Werdum.

At the same time the problem is that these guys believe that Sambo gives you all the ground game that you need. BJJ on the ground is superior however and this has been proven. When did we ever see someone good from Sambo win the ADCC. Sambo is great for throws, but on the ground, it is simply not a complete art.

Now I am not saying Fedor can't win fights without jiu jitsu, but what I am saying is that if Fedor was as wise as his people say, he would train in proper facilities where he would benefit from being exposed to elite BJJ guys, elite Wrestlers etc. You can't just sit there in Stary Oskol and practice Sambo and Boxing all day long thinking this is all I have to know.

Guys from Greg Jackson's gym and many other top gyms in the US these days have a much better training programme then what Fedor could have.

Honestly how can one train for an ADCC champion without at least a BJJ specialist as a training partner. He should have gone to Roger Gracie's academy in London and practiced. He has no one to test him back in Stariy Oskol. I just hope Fedor steps down from whatever throne Finkelstein put him on and starts thinking about how to get better.

Of course he should listen to his coaches, but shit, they should have told him this ten years ago. They have the money, just not the will. They paid for it this time.

Buvaisar Saytiev Amazing Move Plus Wrestling in General

When it comes to wrestling, I have great respect for the sport. Below is the video from one of the modern greats.

Saytiev is truly one of the greatest in the sport today and for him to pull off such amazing moves is just extraordinary. The guy started winning big in 1995 and is still at the top of his game.

Having never done freestyle wrestling myself I have to respect the sport having trained with some wrestlers in no-gi grappling at my academy. There takedown defense I particularly respect as well as their top control. These guys are very quick and well-conditioned and it just shows how great this sport is in producing powerful and agile athletes.

Sadly, while MMA has experienced a tremendous boost in growth and other sports like Judo and Sambo have benefitted from popularity and support from the authorities, others have been declining.

Taking a look at wrestling, I found this particularly to be the case. I was looking at the number of clubs available for adults in two major capitals of the world, London and Moscow and frankly I was amazed. Basically there is probably one or two clubs total per each of these cities where an adult can go and train wrestling which is aweful. I don't know what those federations are doing but certainly they are doing very little if anything at all to boost the number of clubs offering GrecoRoman and Freestyle wrestling.

There is a lot of discussion in fact to whether you can do wrestling from the adult age having never done it before. Some say you can't but I think this is a problem with the motivation schemes that some of the trainers especially in Russia have. The trainers do not want to take you unless they can make a champion out of you in five or ten years time. Of course if you are 25 or even 20, they can't and in this case they can't make any money or get any title themselves as a world-class trainer.

A similar thing goes on in Judo but thankfully there are so many Judo enthusiasts out there teaching the sport, it is growing immensely without any need to focus on elite athletes or money.

Frankly BJJ has an edge here. It is not troubled with all this necessary insurance or affiliation. Just look at Judo. If you have great skills and you are from abroad and just want to come over and compete at some local tournament, there is a whole lot of paperwork you have to deal with. Why do you have to be a member of the British Judo Association? If a guy breaks his neck, his BJA membership will not help him that is for sure.

BJJ is free from this, at least for now. The only crazy thing in this regard I have seen is that in the UK for the BJJ AbuDhabi Pro Trials you have to have an EU member passport which is absurd. So if you are Russian, Ukranian, Belarussian - you can't compete at all. Ridiculous.

Fedor vs Werdum on 26 June

Many believe that Werdum does not have a chance against Fedor in this fight but having red some different perspectives, I have to agree with Fedor and Couture in saying that indeed Fabricio Werdum could be a dangerous opponent for Fedor, especially on the ground.

While I don't believe Vai Cavailo will be able to do anything to Fedor from the guard. Werdum needs to take Fedor down and pass his guard which I believe he will not have much of a problem doing.

The key will be to keep Fedor on the ground and go from submission to submission. I believe Werdum could try to either submit him from side control. After all we have seen Mark Hunt lock in that americana. Another possibility would be to take Fedor's back and try to submit him from there.

While many believe that Fedors ground fighting is incredible, I would have to disagree. Fedor is a great armbar specialist but talking about his positional ground game, I think it is nowhere near top-jiu jitsu level. Fedor had trouble passing Cro Cop's guard and Ricardo Arona showed that Fedor can be dominated on the ground with elite BJJ.

While it is a difficult to task to beat Fedor, I agree with Arona that this is the key for Werdum, to escape the danger standing and go for the takedowns. Fedor's KO power of course makes him exceptionally dangerous and I think no one can really predict what will happen.

I thing for sure though, Fedor is extremely quick and Werdum will have to be as quick in this fight to control and take advantage of his strengths.

Watched the Arona fight just now. I think this one really shows how many different holes Fedor has in the ground game. He does not really have a guard, could not stop Arona from passing it at all, trying to do this guillotine choke which clearly was not doing anything. He gave his back and got mounted so many times and if Arona could strike to the head from the mount, Fedor would have been in a lot of trouble here.

Arona's takedown's are probably on part with Werdum's so Werdum should use this strategy to gain a dominant position and work from there. This is a dangerous opponent for Fedor, maybe even as dangerous is Lesnar. I think people don't realise that Werdum cannot be submitted and the only way Fedor can win this I think is by keeping it standing and trying to KO Fabricio. Very excited about this fight.

Academy Life

BJJ is a life long pursuit for sure. Of course the turnover in the academy is great at the beginner level but over time you develop a relationship with the core team in the academy.

What I want to say is that of course you must treat your team mates with the same respect that you also expect from your partners. It will take something like ten years to get your black belt before you might decide to setup your own academy and therefore you should develop a relationship with the guys and of course your instructor who will show you the way forward and help you achieve the progress that your seek.

Everyone is different of course. Most of us have a background in some martial art. At my academy where our instructor is very keen on no-gi grappling, there are many guys who have a background in Greco-roman wrestling or freestyle wrestling. These guys tend to be very hard working and also well conditioned and there are of course a lot of things that you can pick up from guys like this especially in the takedown department.

Since I train at a Gracie Barra academy in Russia, there are plenty of guys with a Judo and Sambo background. Since both of these martial arts are very closely interrelated, many have cross trained in both.

These guys have a lot of judo throwing experience and in the case of sambo pracitioners the thing to watch out is leg locks and in particular straight ankle locks and heel hooks.

Many BJJ guys, blue belt and below in other countries don't even come across leg locks until purple, but in Russia the situation is quite a bit different. You constantly have guys coming over to train or sparr who are extremely proficient in leg locks and therefore a part our training is devoted to leg locks and especially defense.

Jiu jitsu makes you comfortable from working from you back and I think that is what BJJ pracitioners should take advantage of of course.

The Academy is a place where you will spend many many thousands of hours training with your partners so it is good to make friends. This I think also helps motivate you to come. You come to meet your friends and practice the sport you love.

Strikeforce signs Kharitonov and Overeem

Big news for Strikeforce that has come to my attention. I think I managed to miss this one last week. According to MMA Junkie, on the 17 June, Scott Coker announced that Valentijn Overeem and Sergei Kharitonov, two great Pride heavyweights have signed with Strikeforce.

I am thrilled about this of course, to see more competition in the Strikeforce Heavyweight division and more Russian representation at the top.

Sergei especially has been long considered one of the top heavyweights until recently and actually I have been surprised that it took so long. Now all they need is convince Ricardo Arona to return and this organization would be doing great.

Of course the key would be to focus on raising new talent of course but now they at least have a chance to test themselves against the top guys in the sport. With Fedor retiring, a new generation of fighters needs to come to Strikeforce in the heavyweight division.

Personally I would love to see several fights in this category now including Kharitonov vs Brett Rogers or Valentijn Overeem vs Bobby Lashley. It would be a great show if we got to see some of these big guys face each other.

As a jiu jitsu fan however for me it is always exciting to see some jiu jitsu talent in action and that is why I would love to see Jeff Monson and especially Ricardo Arona in the mix at Strikeforce. This is the place where they should be competing right now. For Arona, there are a few interesting matches at LHW including guys like Gegard Mousasi.

Kharitonov has a strong Sambo background though and his punching power is on par with Aleks Emelianenko, so I think its going to be interesting how he does in his first fight.

Strikeforce HW division I feel now has a lot of technical and powerful strikers and it would be great if apart from Fabricio Werdum there could be some more wrestlers/jiu jitsu players. I don't really count Bobby Lashley as I think he needs a few big career fights to prove he has what it takes to transition to MMA.

Training Regularly - Difficult to Do When You Don't Feel So Good

Training regularly is the only way to achieve results in jiu jitsu and that is why I make every effort to come to training on time unless there is something extremely important that needs attending.

Sadly I caught the flu or some nasty infection that keeps reoccurring which is a real shame. Although I do everything possible it is just sad to miss training.

Well, at least Fedor vs Werdum Strikeforce event is coming up this weekend which always promises to be an exciting night. Since Fedor is fighting, the event will be on pay-per-view in Russia, something that never happens here since MMA is misunderstood by the majority of the public. BJJ vs Combat Sambo here we go, great fighters, poor commentary, I am looking forward to it!

The Triangle - Symbol of Jiu Jitsu

Triangle is an extremely effective technique in both jiu jitsu and judo. The first time I tried it, I loved how effective it was provided you achieved the correct position. How wrong was I for thinking that I have mastered the technique after a year of training.

The triangle choke is perhaps one of the most effective and deadly techniques in jiu jitsu. It is the definition of a high percentage technique especially considering the fact that it is almost impossible to escape it once you have locked your opponent in its deadly trap.

The thing to note in the triangle is the detail and the variety. By detail I mean the amount of detail there is to the triangle choke. It is a vital submission to master but you have to be able to apply it perfectly, like second nature, with speed and precision, doing everything perfectly, moving the hips, locking in your opponent, using your hips and groin muscles to apply pressure, controlling the arm and apply pressure to the back of the head.

If you think that's all the detail to the basic triangle from the guard, you are mistaken. Not only you must master the basics but also understand how your opponent will try to escape and prevent this.

By variety I mean of course the number of situations and variations there are. The reverse triangle submission is a favourite move of Braulio Estima, the ADCC 2009 champion in the Absolute as well as multiple time BJJ World Champion.

You can apply the technique from the cross body (top and bottom), from the guard, from the mount and from the back. You can transition from one position to another and from the classic triangle to the reverse triangle as well as from other submission attempts back into the triangle.

The classic combo that I was taught at my academy was of course from the guard. First go for the armbar, then switch for the omoplata and then back to triangle then armbar. A great exercise where you practice controlling your opponent and transitioning from one effective submission to another. (among other things)

Please check out some of the youtube videos below that give a test of variety to the triangle choke.

Believe the Judo

Those of us that love Judo and believe it is a strong martial art that can benefit your BJJ, here is a great demontration of the powerful Kouchi Gari through that can be used with devastating effect landing your opponent on his back in side control.



The important thing when you use your Judo against a BJJ guy from standing is that in the gi, there is little he can do to defend against your attacks. Knowing your grips and being able to surprise your opponent from standing gives you the edge and while some may try to pull guard, it is actually tough to do against an experienced Judoka who is also knowledgeable in BJJ.

In the end the fight will go to the ground and my base is still jiu jitsu but even if you consider the basic hip through and carry it out successfully delivering a clean through with full force on your opponent, very often you will full and stun him for at least a second that would give you a chance to start working your BJJ.

Judo groundwork is different and it is fair to say I think that although BJJ is more effective the reason why Judo have a different focus on the ground is simply the time constraint. It takes a while to pass the guard against an experienced grappler and although some of the jiu jitsu techniques are no doubt more effective, if you have less than a minute to do everything, you won't have time to be subtle and play for position as you would do in a jiu jitsu match.

Judo and BJJ

I am a great fan of the judo game. I love working to gain a strong grip and take the opponent down and then work my jiu jitsu to find the submission.

There are many judo sceptics nowadays who say that you have to train wrestling, muay thai and bjj to be a complete fighter, but in my opinion unless you want to be a professional fighter in MMA then you should do what you love and have the passion for.

BJJ in the gi is a great art that teaches you all you have to know about ground work and working for the position before submission. I believe this is the most effective martial art for ground work and yet there is so much more in gi grappling than just ground fighting.

Takedowns make BJJ this great. Yes, you have freaks like Roger Gracie who lose the stand up game only to defeat each of his opponents, but you have to remember that all the great BJJ fighters like Roger Gracie, Ronaldo Jacare Souza, Saulo & Xande Ribeiro, Terere, Fabricio Werdum and many others are very good judo players and this is not a coincidence.

Getting taken down by a proficient Judo fighter can be demoralizing for one thing. If you have a strong Judo back ground you are immediately at an advantage over other guys. You can take them down at will and gain an attractive starting point from where you can work your jiu jitsu.

If you don't believe it, test yourself against a black belt in Judo or master Sambo practitioner. If you stand with these guys, it will take them less then a minute to through you to the ground so if you never trained in this, take a grip and fall down.

Your opponents however may not want to collapse or jump into guard and here you may find the difficulty. Failing to jump into guard you may already be at a disadvantage facing a judo player.

Practice both. There is a lot to learn from Judo players even though some of the techniques you may need to modify. Guys like Jacare were so successful because not only they had amazing BJJ but also they could hold their own standing.

Draculino Demonstration

Draculino is an absolute legend in the BJJ World and one of the top names in Gracie Barra. His technique is flawless and learning from him is a real privlege for anyone.

Those of us that do not have the opportunity to train with him at Gracie Barra Texas can still enjoy his new instructional website or just take a look at some of the videos on youtube with him.

Here is one of the best technique demonstrations I was able to find on youtube. Draculino not only demontrates ground fighting techniques here but also shows the whole transition from standing to submission on the ground which I think is particularly valuable. The volume of techniques shown in this demo is also impressive.



I have to say I am doing well with the technique where you attempt the kimura from side control, trap the arm and then turn into taking the back. Draculio shows this technique in several of his videos and I have to say that this is a real high percentage move once you gain side control, so practice it and get better.

Wrestling, MMA, BJJ Near Me

Ok, I have to say that it is extremely exciting to find out that there is a new MMA/BJJ/Wrestling club opening near me in the UK. (West Sussex)

Sounds like there is plenty of opportunities to improve wrestling, MMA and BJJ. I am more and more interested in improving my takedowns and for this I have really wanted to focus on my wrestling. This is a great opportunity therefore and I will definitely go there in september when I visit.

Just look at the top MMA guys out there that have been dominating the UFC. GSP, Rashad Evans, Brock Lesnar,,, then you have King Mo Lawal in Strikeforce. Just shows that if you have a great takedown, that is a really great start.

I'm really more focused on my Gi game but wrestling and leg takedowns are really important to me since I want to have the ability to take my opponent down at will. My jiu jitsu is rapidly evolving with training and this is something I have really wanted to improve.

Check the club website here

Wrestling goes extremely well with your BJJ and Judo especially if you are interested in grappling or no-gi. Free style wrestling improves your takedowns and takedown defense and I think a really strong, confident takedown can give you the edge that you really need in competition and you can at the very least get 2 points and demoralize your opponent a little bit.

Roger Gracie takes the absolute BJJ Worlds for the 3rd time!

Roger Gracie is an incredible competitor. He always goes for the submission and his skills are god-like. The BJJ Worlds 2010 has confirmed this once again.

Check out the results here

Roger is simply unstoppable and now the greatest ever in jiu jitsu. Watch the clip below.



Taking the back is actually one of my favourite moves in BJJ as well. Its just such a great position to be in if you can maintain it and attack your opponent at the same time.

Roger is really the man and someone we should all be looking upto when it comes to BJJ. Some of the guys out there have really great takedowns and that Ricardo Demente guy is a real rising star it looks like. Roger is really head and shoulders above them all technique wise though. I am definitely going to visit his academies when I come to London next.

Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin

July 3 2010 will be an important day for MMA that will determine who is the top dog in the heavyweight division in the UFC and in my opinion, in the world too. Shane Carwin will collide with Brock Lesnar in UFC 116 in the main event in one of the most anticipated bouts of the year.

Don't miss it. I know I won't and check out the trailer too. See below:

Official card

Main card
Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar (c) vs Shane Carwin
Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Welterweight bout: Chris Lytle vs. Matt Brown
Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar
Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Preliminary card (Spike TV)
Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic

Preliminary card
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs. Dave Branch
Welterweight bout: Daniel Roberts vs. Julio Paulino
Heavyweight bout: Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola

I really believe Shane Carwin is going to take this fight but he will need to use all the skill that he has. The fight for sure is going to end in a knock out and both of these guys have powerful hands.

What really Shane should do is to keep this fight standing, use some of his power striking when he breaks the clinch and take down Lesnar if possible.

If Lesnar takes this fight to the ground however, I think it would be better to stand up rather then go for any submission against him. I still think it would be possible to catch him but it would be risky as Lesnar can easily catch you on the ground with some power strikes to the head and he also has great control as we have seen in the last Frank Mir fight.

Wanderlei Silva is out with an injury last minute and has been replaced by Chris Leben.

Plenty of fireworks in the main event but the rest of the card is not exciting in my opinion unless you are a great fan of some of these other guys which I am not.

Ultimate Fighter TV Series

I heard about the TV series for a while now but did not really get a chance to watch it. This weekend however I watched Season 1 and I have to say it is much better then I ever expected. The quality of the production is great and you get to see some fights with Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez and Forrest Griffin before they became famous in the UFC. The coaches are Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture with Dana White regularly featuring so its pretty great. Really enjoyed it.

The show is entertaining most of the time. The beginning part, the build up to fights and the fights themselves I think are the most exciting. You get a little bit bored with their physical team exercises that have them compete and I would rather see them show some of their favourite moves, or see them sparring on the ground against someone famous.

I think there is so much that they can do to make this show interesting that they should do well for a long time.

Rio Sports Tour BJJ Camp - Girls Only

Rio Sports Tour is constantly organizing new camps in Rio for training and now it looks like Leticia Ribeiro is running a camp there soon.

Check out the video below:

She truly is the one of the best female bjj players around today. I am sure some of us guys would love to go too of course! :)

Here is the link to the Rio Sports Tour website by the way : http://riosportstour.com/

I was thinking to come when I save up enough money but for a couple years I think I won't be able to visit. The previous camps I am sure have went very well looking at their testimonials so if you really do have a chance to go I am sure it is awesome. By the way, if you can, bring a friend or even a group. More fun that way for sure.

Fedor Next Fight Poll Closed!

So it looks like after 85 votes we can really get a sense who the fans want Fedor to fight next. Everyone's impression has been confirmed.

I have the greatest respect for Fabricio Werdum. He is one of the jiu jitsu greats and his stand up is rapidly improving as we saw in the Antonio Silva fight.

Nevertheless, MMA is NOT jiu jitsu as many jiu jitsu guys would like to believe, and at this game Fedor who is ranked #1 in the world should be fighting someone in the top-5. His contract does not allow him to do so and some of the fans would like to see him fight at least a decent opponent.

I therefore took some top-10 heavyweights in the world and put together a poll to give us all a chance to see who really is the fighter that Fedor should face next.

My view of course is that he should fight the best. The UFC wants to sign Fedor and it is the organization that has the top fighters. Fedor cannot hope to stay at the top defending his record against barely top-10 opponents.

Alistair Overeem's display of skills against Brett Rogers was impressive but is he really a top-5 fighter? It looks like a portion of the fans will settle for second best and have Overeem vs Fedor but the fight that everyone really wants to see (apart from M1-Global) is Fedor vs Lesnar. Make it happen Vadim!

If Shane Carwin (undefeated) goes in and KOs Lesnar, we could have a new #1 ranked heavyweight very soon. A win over Werdum would prove little for Fedor on the other hand.

No Visa - No BJJ Comp

I am sad to report that despite living for more than 10 years in the UK, I have missed the Gracie Invitational and Seni 2010 due to problems with issuing a VISA.

Its time to get rid of VISA's and let people that want to compete, do so. Not only are VISA's expensive, the UK and the EU just doesn't gain any additional security by having them. Time to have a competitive economy and attract people to live here, spend money and generate taxable income. There is not other way.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10166837.stm