As you know, Dave Meltzer covers the business of mixed martial arts better than anyone. But, as you might also know, his technical knowledge of the sport is very much a work in progress. This is true of all of us, of course, whether we’re casual fans, devotees, or martial artists who train in grappling or striking arts ourselves. Mixed martial arts is a sport marked by such rapid technical innovation and evolution that we’ve all found ourselves behind the curve at one time or another. We’ve all had our, “wait, what on earth was that?” moments as we’ve been exposed to techniques for the first time. But unlike most of us, Dave Meltzer unfortunately has his “wait, what?” moments recorded for posterity. And the June 23rd edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has a real doozy.
Recapping the June 15th Dream 4 event, Meltzer offers this somewhat baffling analysis of the finish to the Shinya Aoki / Katsuhiko Nagata Lightweight Grand Prix match: “[Aoki] remained on top, doing very little until using what was called a gogoplata from the mount, but really wasn’t, as it was more of a forearm choke except using the shinbone instead of the forearm.”
Highlight videos from the 2008 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships are dropping like flies, so catch this one before Carlos Gracie Jr. does. It details the best performances from Team Brasa, including Andre Galvao, who took home the gold at the under 194.5 lb division.
BJJ highlights can be a little odd — it’s a groundfighter’s game, so there’s lots of little jostles for position to set up a sweep or triangle have to replace high impact strikes and takedowns which aren’t going to mean much of anything to someone without a lot of training. They’re a ton of fun but I’m always reminded how, for better or worse, we’ll probably never see our brand of jiu-jitsu join Kano’s in the Olympics.
On that subject, it’s nice to see some good throws tossed into the mix of BJJ competition, something that seems to be on the rise. Between 00:38 and 00:59 there’s three particularly nasty ones, which is actually more than the entire 2004 Pan-American championships DVD I own.
Also, watch for Galvao’s match with Roger Gracie at the end — you can also turn the volume back up at that point.
Inoue and Sotiropoulos both begin and end their seminar with classic jiu-jitsu escapes. Among the simple and fundamental movements that every black belt masters, escapes are especially valuable to the beginners in attendance who often find themselves in bad positions.
Inoue remembers when he learned how important it is to win the battle for positional dominance, and how it led to one of the most controversial moments of his fighting career.
The first bout between Enson Inoue and Joe Estes took place twelve years ago in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, but Inoue laughs, “I remember it like it was last month.”
The PRIDE & Shooto legend and the budding UFC & TUF6 star talk to Total-MMA about their different martial arts paths and fighting spirit they share
“We always say, we’re cut from the same cloth,” Enson Inoue says with a smile. The pioneering MMA legend is about to begin conducting a jiu-jitsu seminar with current UFC star George Sotiropoulos at Fisticuffs Gym in Vancouver, WA. The two are friends from the days when Sotiropolous was cutting his teeth in Guam, fighting MMA at a show promoted by an old friend of Inoue.
“When I first met George, I looked at him,” Enson begins. “He was to fight this guy Sergio, this famous jiu-jitsu guy. And look at George, he doesn’t look like this mean dude. He looks like a nice guy, you know. I mean, he’s not a nice guy.”
“Hey! Come on now!” Sotiropoulos yells in a sarcastic protest.
Enson continues, mimicking George’s Australian accent: “‘Hey! I know you, Rites of Passages! Yeah!’ He wants to shake my hand… and I think, oh my God, this guy’s gonna get his ass kicked.”
In all my years of training there is one glaringly bad habit that I have noticed many people have. People fall in love with their training partners and they end up training almost exclusively with that one person on a regular basis. It’s not the worst habit in the world and it won’t have that much of a negative effect on you, but by not diversifying your training partners you are seriously inhibiting your growth as an athlete. I try to switch training partners all the time, and especially in Brazilian jiu-jitsu where you need a well rounded game right from the get go. To this end I am going to give you a quick look at a single rolling session, where we worked on the guard game (someone pulls guard and then the contest goes on until the bottom man either sweeps/submits the top guy or the top guys passes guard) and the different guys that I make sure to grapple with in order to help my game.
Rickson Gracie in Choke: it’s the much loved (and much hated) 1999 documentary which spotlighted the Gracie family champion’s preparation and participation in the 1995 Japan Vale Tudo. What brought this DVD back into my player? Was it all the recent excitement about his 19 year old son Kron Gracie and his gold medal winning performance at the 2008 Pan American games? Was it Rickson’ recent appearance in the (excellent) jiu-jitsu episode of Fight Quest? I don’t know, but like YAMMA it happened… and sadly, I ended up enjoying it a little less than I thought I would…
The more I hear from BJJ black belts the more I hear about basics, basics, basics. That’s less than I expected about gogoplatas and flying armbars, and more than I thought about defensive posture and guard passes.
Here’s BJ Penn’s take on the matter as he begins his BJJ 101 instructional series, hosted on his site. Maybe we all can’t be BJJ mundial champions, but I think we can all use some pointers from one:
I’m approaching my 33rd birthday, and it’s no surprise that it doesn’t much feel like my 23rd. Mostly, that’s actually a good thing: unlike my early 20’s, I’m happily married, working a decent job, and about the happiest I can remember being. But, sometimes, it’s not so good. I don’t miss those days, but if you press me I’ll admit sometimes it’s a pain when you just can’t move as easily, or eat and drink as carelessly, as before.
In attempts to slow the process, I’ve given Brazilian jiu-jitsu a try… and the so called “gentle art” doesn’t always seem so gentle.
So if you’re anything like me, you’re looking for inspiration, and you just might be in luck. A few minutes listening to Felicia Oh, the 2007 Pan-American black belt champion, could turn your day around. In her blog, Oh responded to the notion of quitting BJJ when you reach your late 30’s:
“I turned 40 a few weeks ago. I started BJJ when I was 33. So, it would seem that it is never too late.”
It’s a new day for Mario Sperry, the newest coach for the International Fight League.
The two time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion and 13 year veteran of MMA is busy creating not only a new competition team and school, but one in a new home, in a new country, and for a new organization. While plans for his Las Vegas school are being finalized, he’s imparting his wisdom to students at seminars across the US, like yesterday at Marcelo Alonso’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Seattle. The occassion marked Sperry’s fourth visit to the Emerald City to visit his old friend from the Carlson Gracie Team.
“Mario Sperry demonstrates an entry into an armlock at last night’s Seattle seminar”
Working with MMA and BJJ champions like Rodrigo Nogueira and Ricardo Arona may seem like a world apart from conducting a seminar where he may be expected to help introduce the “gentle art†to a new student. But in conversation with Sperry, the two appear to have a surprising amount in common.
“I’ve always believed that jiu-jitsu is a very simple art,†the world champion begins, taking a break as the seminar breaks between its gi and no-gi instruction. Read the rest of this entry »
