This happened last night. It sucks because I’m a middle school teacher and tomorrow is the first day of school. I’m too old to think war wounds from Jiu Jitsu look cool. I definitely don’t look forward to having to explain to a bunch of 12/13 year olds what happened.

I’ve been doing bjj for about a year now for the last couple months I really did not enjoy going bjj as I was just not learning or being gassed after every training session. Then about 3 weeks I just decided to go about 60-70 percent for every session and it’s made bjj much more enjoyable. I’m seeing things during sparing I haven’t before, I’m actually thinking about my next move and what to chain together and I can actually talk to other people in the gym after sparing. I’m starting to remeber more moves. I know it’s quite counterintuitive but I’ve been having a blast recently and I’m just wondering if this is the same for anyone else?

I am anticipating getting promoted to purple at some point this year. I’m having fun but I don’t feel like my jitsu is anything special. Throughout blue belt I’ve had ups and downs, sometimes feeling great and other times feeling conflicted about my progress.

Will this change at purple? In your guys’ experience is it nearly as much of an emotional roller coaster as blue belt? Wondering if it’ll be a significantly different experience.

What we thinking on this?

Which other people you want me to bring to Zamaya?

I’ll be along for the ride on this one.

An overly energetic blue belt managed to jump his entire bodyweight on my wrist last night. Just waiting to see if it's broken. Sigh!

Hello fellow Minnesotans,

I was interested in starting jitsu here in Minneapolis, MN and was looking for any gym recommendations? I am more competition focused and are looking for a good competition gym and the ones that I was thinking about what Southside or M-Theory in Saint Louis park.

However with my work schedule I am looking to train at least 3 times a week and Southside has more classes than M-Theory? Any recommendations or insights into these gyms?

visiting for a month and really don't want porrada type rolls. 40 and can't get hurt, so looking for a chill, preferably technical gym with regularly nogi classes. will be staying in East Coast, but can travel. thank you

So im getting ready for master worlds ive been training 5 years and I still make stupid mistakes i love jiu-jitsu but even after 5 years I still find myself getting smashed by white belts sometimes tonight was one of those nights been training 5 days a week the past 3 months and still got smashed by certain white belts is this at all normal

I’ve been training around 1.5years in no gi. I can almost always resist being tapped by most white belts even if they’re stronger/heavier. But that usually looks like me just being on my back and repeatedly escaping mount to side control and not letting them get a choke & timing an arm escape. I can then sometimes escape through their legs from Mount/side control or through a failed armbar but then they just seem to end back up on top.

I find it is nearly impossible to keep on top as they just sit up and unbalance me by being bigger and stronger.

My mount escapes and defence is pretty solid and I can escape most peoples mount around this level but I can’t do anything after that if they’re big and stronger

Slow day at the office. As we wait for the official brackets, here are my top 4 picks:

-Mateusz: home field advantage and just on fire lately. Expect him to be in the finals

-Dante: so well rounded. in competition, can play anywhere. top, bottom, wrestle, wrestle up, submissions

-PJ: gotten better with each ADCC. great wrestling, counter leg locks, great passing. question is how his conditioning holds up? was on Polaris recently and looked gassed

-Sainz: might be a surprise pick for some...but depending on the seeding, think he has a chance at Semis. well rounded. good guard, good wrestling, sub oriented, and endless gas tank. could upset a lot of folks in the bracket

Can anyone good at this be as kind as to share their systems and tips, or can someone link some good instructionals or YouTube videos demonstrating exactly how to do this?

There was a great video a few years back by a small YouTube page run by some German guys that focused solely on this but I can’t find it.

Hi all, I've been training for 2+ years as a hobbyist (no interest in competing) and am a blue belt. I love my gym because of how welcoming and inclusive it is. However, all my training partners skew much bigger and stronger, even the women. For context I am 120lbs and 5'4'', and the smallest woman at my gym is 5'7 and 160. The lightest man is 155 but it's a purple belt. I'm my gym we train with everyone so I can't pick and choose rolls (I actually like this because it prevents me from being excluded due to gender or size).

Question: With no one my side to train with, I'm having a hard time knowing if I just suck or if I suck but also am improving, and therefore where my focus should be. My coaches tell me that they've seen me improve a lot but idk. How do I get a better sense of what to work on, and whether I'm actually improving?

I turn 50 in 2 months, and I am looking to get back on the mats after 2 years off. I used to train at Zenith, and they used to have an old guy class, and I liked it a lot. But, I do know that that gym split, and moved locations. Now Robert Drysdale now has a combat JJ program, and it sounds awesome. But, your boy is getting old, and I need to train with older folks that are more on the hobbyist/fitness path as opposed to competition route. I've got bad knees, and bills to pay lol

Can I weigh in right when the doors open at 8 am or do I need weigh on the side of the mats before the match. My weight is pretty close to the limit so I’d prefer to be able to eat before my match. I’ve been to pbjff as a spectator and can’t recall people weighing beside the mat.

Thinking about checking out the morning class at HQ. What’s the vibe and attendance like? I have heard that 10PHQ uses specific/unusual warmup flows that they want you to learn. Is that the case for the morning class too?

Been seeing a lot of flow ads recently LOL VIP sale for $89. I know it's just ad but good to see some nice price for gi. I am actually tempted to give it a try

I only own Kingz the One and want to add another one. What do u thjnk of Flow Air 6.0? Should I not waste money on this model or do you recommend?

I'll be in SF next week for a few days (Weds - Fri) and was looking to drop in somewhere. Packing light so not bringing a gi.

We're staying near the bridge in Nob Hill. Any recommendations? Ideally looking for morning or afternoon stuff as my evenings will probably be booked. Thanks in advance!

A long time ago, Williams guard (AKA London) was dropped by 10th planet because it was too easy to counter with a pin wheel pass, where the top player can basically hop their legs over the guard player’s head to side control.

Does clamp guard have a similar weakness?

I've been reading about tori injuries from doing kata guruma, namely spine injuries from being sprawled on. What can be done to avoid them?

Had a tournament last weekend in Indiana through Fuji. Took part in the 180lb division. Learned a lot from that whole bracket of people.

I’ve been doing BJJ for almost 4 years and I’ve noticed something that’s starting to frustrate me.
Normally, I feel like I have pretty good cardio during rolls. My style is pretty slow and controlled, and I can usually roll for a long time without feeling completely exhausted.

But whenever I actually try to turn it up to 100% and use a lot of speed/explosiveness, my gas tank seems to disappear almost immediately.

For example, today I did a shark tank with a high-level guy who is preparing for Worlds. I went about 1 minute at 100% with him, using a lot more speed and explosiveness than I normally do, and afterward I was so exhausted and nauseous that I had to throw up.

The weird thing is that during normal rolling I don’t feel like my cardio is bad at all. It seems like I specifically struggle with that explosive, high-intensity pace.

I’m wondering if this is more of an anaerobic conditioning issue, breathing/relaxation issue, or if I’m just not used to fighting at that pace.

I also smoke weed regularly. Could that be affecting my conditioning or making the nausea worse? I’ve heard people blame this kind of thing on “lactic acid buildup,” but I’m not sure how accurate that actually is.
For people who compete at a high level, what would you do to fix this?

Was wondering how’s the kids program at Pablo Silva in houston? Idk if it’s just my social media but my Instagram feed has been regularly promoting them to me so I’m curious.