NFL Football Legend Herschel Walker to Appeear on Fox and Friends and Howard Stern

Walker will discuss his latest athletic endeavor-mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting. Walker will make his MMA debut with world championship promotion STRIKEFORCE on Saturday, January 30 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, LIVE on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT). 

The 47-year-old Walker will compete in the cage the night before the ProBowl and one week prior to the Super Bowl. The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and two-time NFL Pro Bowl competitor, is wrapping up a 12-week MMA training camp at the world renowned American Kickboxing Academy (A.K.A.) in San Jose, California in preparation for the challenge. 

A 1999 College Hall of Fame inductee who was also selected to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century Team that year, the 6-foot 1-inch, 220 pound Walker holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and boasts additional training in the combat disciplines of Muay Thai and Kenpo. Walker recently re-emerged in the spotlight as a contestant on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice reality series.

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Carlson Gracie Black Belts list

Carlson Gracie, Sr. (August 13, 1935 – February 1, 2006)

The Carlson Gracie system is know to be the best transition to MMA and his brand of juijitsu favored a ‘warrior style’ of Jiu-Jitsu that encouraged physical prowess and barraging your opponent with a series of attacks which was distinct from that being taught by Helio which focused on emphasized technical proficiency.

Carlson opened up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the masses, and the masses responded, hungry to learn everything they could while Helio Gracie’s academy taught only the most basic positions to outsiders, reserving the advanced positions for the family elite. 

Carlson reigned as world champion for thirty years covering the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s and to this day his brand of jiu-jitsu is the most aggressive and is considered the best form of jiujutsu to this day.

This Black Belts was the last one updated by Carlson Gracie himself. Notice that he signaled the guys that he had expelled but he hadn’t taken out their names from the list so anyone claiming to be a black belt directly under Carlson Gracie must be on this list or else is not telling the truth. The highest ranking black belt under Carlson Gracie is Marcus Soares at 7th degree black belt.

Here the complete list: Alan Goes (expelled)
Alberto “Apaga Vela” Dos Santos
Alexandre Macedo
Alexandre Derizans
Amaury Bitetti
Andre Pederneiras
Anselmo Montenegro
Antonio Claudio Correia Buchaul
Antonio Ricardo Bittencourt Cavalcanti
Antonio Ricardo Jardim Liborio (expelled)
Antonio “Tuninho” Rodrigues
Armando Alves “Maninho” Goncalves Filho
Arthur Virgilio Neto
Ary Galo
Braulio Carsalade
Cassio Cardoso (expelled)
Carley Gracie
Carlos “Penao”Alexandre Da Conceicao
Carlos Antonio Rosado
Carlos “Bagana”
Carlos Eduardo De Oliveira
Carlos Rollyson
Carlson Gracie Jr.
Carlson Guimaraes
Christian Kennedy Grandi
Cleiton De Souza
Clovis Rodrigues
Crezio De Souza
Daniel Cristoph
Djalma Jose De Santana Filho
Edir “Monge” Da Silva
Edson Carvalho
Elair Gilberto Da Silva Reis
Elcio Figueiredo
Fabio Macieira
Felipe Figalo Barbosa
Fernando “Nutri-Baby” Da Silva
Fernando “Pinduka” Guimaraes
Fernando Rosental
Francisco “Grego” Trivelas
Francisco “Toco” Albuquerque
Gustavo Gussem
Gutenberg Mello
Henrique Chvaicer
Isaias De Souza
Jeronimo Ventura
Joao Antonio Fernandes Filho
Jose De Oliveira
Jose Eduardo Gomes De Oliveira
Jose Mario Sperry (expelled)
Julio “Foca” Fernandez
Leo D’ilha
Luis Fernando “Nando” Da Costa
Luis Carlos “Manimal” Matheus
Luiz “Bebeo” Duarte (expelled)
Luiz Carlos Vallois
Manuel “Maneco” Maria Cardoso Neto
Marcel Duque Estrada
Marcelinho “Cremulhao”
Marcelo Alonso
Marcelo Bustamante
Marcelo “Playmobil”
Marcelo Procopio
Marcelo Tadeo De Oliveira
Marcello Saporito| 
Marco Aurelio Kuhner De Oliveira
Marco Aurelio Valadares Lisboa
Marcos “Parrumpinha” Da Matta (expelled)
Marcos Flexa
Marcos “Conan” Silveira (expelled)
Marcus Vinicius De Macedo Soares
Mario Cupertino
Marvin Swhab
Mauricio “Saddam”
Miguel Kelner (expelled)
Miguel “Dentista” Monteiro
Murilo Bustamante (expelled)
Orlando Saraiva
Oswaldo “Paqueta” Gomes Rosa
Oswaldo Viana
Otavio Augusto De Oliveira
Paulo Filho
Paulo “Mamao” Albuquerque Filho
Pedro De Secco
Renato “Macaquinho” Frossard
Renato Tavares (expelled)
Ricardo De La Riva
Ricardo “Rey” Diogo
Ricardo Luis Perrone
Ricardo Juca Santos
Ricardo “Kiko” Velloso
Rinaldo Santos
Roberto De Souza
Rocian Gracie
Rodrigo Medeiros
Sergio Abhimery
Sergio “De Niteroi” Iris Jose De Almeida
Sergio “Bolao” De Souza
Vinicius Cruz
Vitor Belfort (expelled)
Wallid “Paraiba” Ismail
Walter “Soldado” Da Silva
Walter “Casquinha” GuimaraesWander De Sousa

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BLOWING THROUGH STICKING POINTS

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I first truly realized how powerful drills can be about 15 years ago.

At that time I was I was teaching a self defense class.  I had a student of average size and strength with severely below-average punching power.  He was a chronic “arm-puncher,” which means he just couldn’t get his body behind his punches to make them powerful. I tried explaining how to use his body.  I tried showing him.

Nothing helped  

Finally I grabbed a heavy medicine ball and stood back-to-back with him.  From that position we passed the medicine ball around and around, first in one direction, then in the other.  To do this drill you really have to twist your upper body, which is quite similar to the movement required to punch properly.

A few minutes later, when I put the focus mitts on again, I was shocked at the difference in his punches. He finally started moving his body properly, and punch after punch thudded into the target.

His miracle cure was a single drill.

Sometimes you can have the same miracle cure for grappling problems.

If someone is having a rough time with a technique, it’s often because they’re having trouble with a certain aspect of the technique - a movement or transition that their body just doesn’t want to do (yet).   If this is the case, then isolating that movement and training it often goes a long way towards solving the problem.

Here’s a concrete grappling example.  Last year I wrote about a ’secret’ of the Half Guard, about destabilizing your opponent by bringing your knees up to your chest.  (If you don’t remember this tip, you can read it again at the url below.)

www.grapplearts.com/2008/05/half-guard-secret.htm

Some people have a hard time getting this movement - maybe it’s because bringing both knees up to one’s chest explosively is just not a ‘natural’ movement.

So here’s a simple solo drill that I’ve found helps people to understand this movement, and then later apply it in grappling

1 - First lie stretched out on your back, with your arms and legs extended in a straight line

2 - Then QUICKLY bring your knees to towards your chest and slap the bottom of your feet.

3 - Then recoil back to the starting position and repeat.

It’s a little bit harder than it sounds, so start with about 20 repetitions.  For maximum benefit keep the following points in mind

A - Pull your knees up to your chest EXPLOSIVELY.  This is NOT a slow leg-lift type of exercise.

B - Touch the bottoms of your feet with your hands to make sure that you’ve pulled your legs up far enough.

C - Remember what this is for; as you’re doing the exercise visualize trapping one of your opponent’s legs between your legs.  Imagine pulling him over you and getting underneath his center of gravity every time.

This movement resembles an abdominal exercise, but don’t let that fool you.  It’s true that it does challenge and strengthen your muscles, but that’s only a side benefit. It’s main purpose is to put a killer edge onto a very sports-specific movement.

Think about the sticking points in your techniques that bother you. Then find, modify or invent grappling drills to make that sticking point a thing of the past.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

P.S. Check out my blog tomorrow - I’ll post this tip AND add a few photos to illustrate the exact exercise I’m talking about.

P.P.S. There are several resources you can consult for more information on sports-specific exercises.  I put my favorite drills onto DVD a few years ago, and there are also some free BJJ drills online.  Check out both resources by going to

www.grapplearts.com/Grappling-Drills-Info.php

and/orwww.grapplearts.com/2007/08/online-grappling-drill-videos.htm

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Learning To Crush The Bug

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A large part of jiu-jitsu is using your weight to immobilize your opponent; “crushing the bug” as it is sometimes referred to. When done properly, the application of your body weight from the top position can be enough to submit your opponent by making it impossible for him to breath. Even if your opponent doesn’t actually tap out,  one of these diaphragm chokes can take much of the wind out his sails and reduce his will to fight

A barrier to learning the nuances of body positioning and weight distribution necessary for this level of pinning is that most people have no way to gauge the effectiveness of what they are doing. In today’s newsletter I’m going to share the ABC method of teaching weight distribution, a powerful way to get immediate feedback on the effectiveness of your pins.

Imagine being back in school and writing a test, with a teacher standing right behind you. Would you score higher on that test if your teacher were to give you encouragement, saying “yes, that’s it”, whenever you started writing down the right answer? Of course yo would - getting immediate feedback always helps your performance.

So try this:

Start out by pinning your partner in side mount or knee mount - these are the two easiest positions to initially apply this in. Now get your partner to slowly recite the alphabet, saying “A, B, C, D…”, out loud. If he is able to speak easily then there is something wrong with your positioning; most likely you are putting too much weight onto the mat instead of onto your opponent.

Now adjust your position: try getting off of your knees, lifting your elbows, shifting your weight from his belly onto his diaphragm, etc. When it becomes hard for him to breathe and his recitation starts to sound labored - “A….. gasp….B…..gurgle……..c-c-c…..” - then you’ve got it right!

If you’re an instructor teaching a class then give the ABC method a try. It makes for a very effective demonstration, because it leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind that the pinning position is, in itself, an offensive weapon.

I have written other tips and articles on this topic, which you can check out by going to these additional resources:

Crushing the Bug
http://www.grapplearts.com/2006/03/crushing-bug.htm

Choking the Diaphragm
http://www.grapplearts.com/2005/07/one-more-thing-about-choking.htm

How to make side mount heavier
http://www.grapplearts.com/2006/04/how-to-make-side-mount-heavier.htm

Take care
Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

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Condolences

As you’ve probably heard, on January 29th Helio Gracie passed away at the age of 95. Without him and his sons this sport would not be where

it is today. My sincere condolences to his family, friends and students

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Strategies to have Great Private Class

Training in a group setting under the watchful eye of your main instructor is a good thing. Hopefully he cares about your development as a grappler, knows where you’ve been and is helping you progress. (And if that’s not the case then you should find a new school.( Seriously)

However if your game has gotten stale, then a private class might be just what you need to break you out of your rut. Of course you can take a private with your main instructor. But sometimes taking a private from a different instructor can give you new insights. In extreme cases, it can even lead to having a major breakthrough for a

technique, strategy or training method.

For the sake of this article, let’s assume you’re thinking about training with someone new. Maybe a famous BJJ competitor is coming through town on a seminar tour. Maybe you’re traveling and discover that you’re in the same city as a well-known instructor. Either way, before you plunk down your hard-earned cash you want to do a few things..

FIRST, TRY TO GATHER SOME INFORMATION!

If you don’t already know the instructor, you want to do a bit of a background check first. You can ask your training partners if they’ve heard anything him, or you can post a question (”What Are Instructor X’s Privates Like”) on one of the big forums like MMA.tv or Sherdog

Keep in mind that you can get a pretty good sense of someone’s teaching style from watching their instructional DVDs or Youtube clips (if they have them). The important thing is that his teaching style matches your learning style.

Here are some things you might want to find out before you reserve your slot.

* Is there a specific format to his private classes? For example, is he open to questions? Will he spar with you (or is that ALL he ever wants to do)?

* If you’re from another school or team, is this going to be a problem?

* How much will it cost? Do you also need to sign up for his organization? Is it extra if you bring someone else to be your training partner?

* Can you film the session? Most people will say no, because they don’t want their material to end up on Youtube in an uncontrolled manner. Some instructors take it so far that they won’t even allow you to take notes, which would be a deal-breaker for me.

THEN HAVE A PLAN

Have an idea of what you want to learn. What do you want to walk away with after the session?

My suggestion is to focus on a specific technique or area of your game. Let’s take something as ’simple’ as the armbar from the guard. If you’re working with someone who really understands that technique you can easily spend an hour on it and not yet have covered all the principles, entries, counters and recounters.

Another approach I’ve used is to have a list of questions on different topics. I did this for my first private with Erik Paulson many years ago - I wanted his opinion on different leglocks, the application details of the rear naked choke, setting up shoots, etc. It made for a bit of a scattered session, but I came away with answers to a lot of questions that had been vexing me for a while. For this approach I like to write my list of questions down, just so I don’t forget.

Don’t be afraid to be specific. Asking “what can I do from butterfly guard when my opponent is keeping his elbows back” is a hundred times better than just going in there and just saying “show me some stuff because I need to work on everything.”

WHAT TO COVER (AND WHAT NOT TO COVER)

Now I’ll talk about something that’s obvious in retrospect, but easy to screw up on.

Is this teacher known for certain techniques and positions? Is he an open guard wizard, for example? Does he have a killer clinch game? Can he hit leglocks from every known position? This is important to know, because you want to learn from the instructor’s strengths, and not force him to teach from his weaknesses. (And yes, everyone has weaknesses).

Once I made a hash out of a private with a very good instructor by breaking this rule. At the time I was mostly working on my bottom game, so I had lots of questions for ‘Instructor X’ about the half guard, the half butterfly and the deep half guard (he was famous, so I figured he had to know the answers, right?).

Well ‘Instructor X’ showed me a lot of half guard stuff. The problem was that most of that material didn’t ‘click’ for me in sparring later. It took a few months, but I eventually figured the problem - he was a top player and didn’t like the half guard! He didn’t want to disappoint me in the private and tried his best, but his answers

lacked the depth, sophistication and perspective he would have been able to offer had he been teaching one of his strengths.

If we had stuck to passing the half guard I would have come away with tons of good stuff, I’m sure.

Finally, also try figure out how YOU learn best. Do you need new techniques broken down verbally? Does a Q-and-A format work for you or do you just like to have material presented to you? How much repetition do you need to remember a new technique? Do you learn fastest if you physically feel someone doing it to you? Do you have to try something in sparring before you ‘get it?”

You’re paying the guy for his time and knowledge, but some of the responsibility comes back to you to make the most of your session.

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MMA Tip of the week by Jason Scully of GrapplersGuide.com

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Today we are going to be talking about the North South Choke.

There has been a large number of posts about the north south choke at GrapplersGuide.com and for good reason.  This is a very good submission to learn and in my opinion can be extremely high percentage when done properly and set up properly. 

My personal favorite north south choke is the “no arm” version.  If you haven’t seen the video of me demonstrating this technique on YouTube you can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XEYLpWacg0

Let’s list some very important details about this choke:

-When you go for this choke it is important that you block your opponent’s face from turning into your body.  You can do this by turning your hip right into the side of his face and you can also push his face over with your hand of the arm that isn’t around his head.  If he can turn his face into you then it’ll be easier for him to work an escape

-When finishing the choke place your forehead on the ground for better position.  It also makes it harder for your opponent to place his hand under your face in an attempt to push on it to make space for an escape.

-Make sure your WHOLE body is flat.  Sprawl your legs back and sink your body into the ground.  Your hips should be flat on the ground and you should be sliding down right into your opponent.

-Walk your shoulders and body backwards as you sink.  This will help you tighten it up.

-Keep your elbows close to your body.  In most positions and attacks having your elbows in makes your position tighter and stronger.

-You should have your bicep of the arm that is around your opponents head across your opponen’ts neck.  Your shoulders should also be shrugged up as this also makes the position much tighter.

-If your position feels loose keep walking your body back, flatten your hips, check that your head is down, and that his face isn’t turning into you.

-If he is able to turn his face into you when you attack for the north south choke you can use your fist of your free arm to push his face over but make sure you keep control of his head so he can’t move.

-Control of his head in this position is key.  If he can’t move his head then he won’t be able to move his body.

I highly recommend that you practice this submission. It can be used by grapplers of all sizes and when learned correctly can be extremely high percetage.  Just ask Marcelo Garcia.  He hit this move 3 times alone in the last ADCC tournament.  While the choke is called the “North South Choke”, it isn’t necessarily set-up from the north south position. It is mostly set up from side control.  I’ve had success setting up from from side control, north south, scarf hold, reverse scarf hold, and knee on belly just to name a few.

When you start getting used to this attack you’ll realize how fast you are able to execute it.  Along with that, if you can’t get this choke for some reason, it works extremely well in connection with the Brabo Choke.  If you don’t know what that is I’d definitely recommend you do a YouTube or Google search for “brabo choke” as it’s another great attack that you can set up from many situation.

Well that’s it for this weeks Grapplers Guide tip.  Make sure you post comments or questions on the North South Choke YouTube page so I can help you out or even send me a personal e-mail at thegrapplersguide@gmail.com

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Cung Le Seminar

Saturday August 2 2008
12pm To 4pm
(Autographs and photos following seminar)

Recent Strikeforce middleweight Champion who defended the legend Frank Shamrock, Cung Le will be coming to Vancouver Canada on Saturday August 2, 2006 to perform a MMA seminar. Cung Le will be doing a MMA seminar that will be unique and quite different from many seminars out there today.

Cung Le is a San Shou fighter and will give valuable insight in how to transform his style of martial arts into the world of mixed martial arts. Cung Le is one of the most dynamic strikers in MMA today and he style is something that the can only be learned from the master himself.

In MMA, Le is a striking genius as all of his 6 MMA fights has come by knock out. He has beaten high level fighters Jason Von Flue, Tony Fryklund, Sammy Morgan, and of course the MA legend Frank Shamrock at EliteXC / Strikeforce - Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le

Cung Le was undefeated in his professional San Shou career (17-0-0). He earned three bronze medals in his amateur San Shou world competition. He has been a three-time captain of the United States teams that competed in the Wushu World Championships. Le was the U.S. team captain at the World Martial Arts Championships in 1997 (Italy) and 1999 (Hong Kong).

Cung Le will be demonstrating his fighting style to the people of Vancouver and this is an event you can not miss.

For more information see below

Host: Richmond Martial Arts.

Call Johnny for more info or sponsorships: 604-780-4001 or email info@richmondkicks.com

Location: Richmond Executive Airport Plaza
7311 Westminister Hwy, Richmond, BC V6X 1A3
Hotel: 604-278-5555 http://www.executivehotels.net/airport/s_richair_home.cgi

Cost: $150 (early registration)
$175 after July 20 2008
(No refunds after sale)

To register please click button below, no personal cheques accepted.

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Top Ten Brazilian Jujitsu Grapplers

1) Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro

Right now he is the best grappler in the world. He just beat Roger Gracie at the World’s in California in the absolute division and he is a smaller body. Xande Ribeiro was the big name of the event, conquering the absolute after defeating Roger Gracie by 4 to 2, points earned by two takedowns, while Roger scored with a sweep.

Xande Ribeiro became blackbelt open class champion for the second time. Ribeiro has fought and won at every major level and after securing a win over Roger Gracie there is no doubt he is the best BJJ fighter in the world right now.

He was named as the Submission Grappler of the Year by onthemat.com

2) Roger Gracie

Roger is perhaps the biggest, strongest fighter in BJJ today. As a member of the Gracie family he has been doing BJJ since he was in diapers. The son of Reyla Gracie (who is the daughter of Carlos Gracie) and Mauricio Motta Gomes, one of the six Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts of Rolls Gracie, he has Jujitsu in his blood. His dad MOttoa Gomes was a six time BJJ world champion and most commonly known as one of the “Famous Five”

Roger is a big strong fighter that over powers his opponents. Hew has one at every level in BJJ and in 2005 he took first place in the 88–98kg and Open-weight categories by submitting all eight opponents ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

3) Ronaldo de Souza

Ronaldo de Souza or Jacaré as his is best known for his aggressive style in grapping. Jacaré is one of the top submission grapplers in the world, being the 2004 and 2005 Openweight World Jiu-Jitsu Champion and 2005 ADCC Absolute Division runner-up only losing to Roger Gracie. In 2006, Jacare drew with UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture in a grappling contest.

Right now Jacaré has been focusing on mixed martial arts and has stepped back from Brazilian Jujitsu. If he was only doing BJJ he would certainly be the top spot.

4) Andre Galvao

Is known for his base and incredible balance. He is very quick and fast when he grapplers but is very patient. Once Galvao has your back he is one of the best finishers in the game. He has great half guard sweeps. At the 2008 Pan Ams he won the middleweight black belt division as well as the Brasa black belt also won the absolute division as well.

5) Antonio Braga Neto

Neto is the 2008 Brazilian JJ Champion in the Superweight division. He is a very big fighter but surprisingly agile and quick on his feet. This year seems to be his coming out party and he is one of the best BJJ fighters to watch out for.

6) Robert Drysdale

Robert Drysdale has Brazilian roots. Born in the US, his family he moved to Brazil in 1987 at the age of six where he first got the taste of Jujitsu. He received his Black Belt in 2004 from the famed Leo Vieira from the Brasa Jiu-Jitsu Club in São Paulo, Brazil. He became the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship Open Division ADCC, submitting Marcelo Garcia.

7) Marcelo Garcia

He is one of the smallest people on the list but his technical skills are among the best. His rubber guard and ability to take on and beat bigger opponents is a testament to how great and technically sound a fighter he is. Garcia is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Gurgel of Team Alliance, and is considered by many to be one of the top jiu-jitsu and submission grappling fighters. He has five world championship titles in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, two of them as a black belt (in 2004 and 2006). He lost in 2007 to Robert Drysdale in the absolute division of the ADCC. Despite his small size he has beaten some of the best in Jujitsu like Renzo Gracie, Rolls Gracie, Pablo Popovitch, Kurt Pellegrino, Ronaldo “Jacare” Desouza, Ricco Rodriguez, Jake Shields, Shinya Aoki, Chris Brennan, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, and Mike Van Arsdale.

Rafael Lovato Jr.

Rafael became the youngest American to ever receive a black belt in BJJ at the age of 21 in 2004. Many consider Rafael to be the top American BJJ competitor, and one of the best in the world. He is the first American to submit a Gracie in a BJJ competition at the black belt level. He is a 2x Pan-American Champion and an American National Champion at the black belt level.
 
9) Sergio Moraes

Sergio Moraes’ star is on the rise. At the recent 2008 World Championship, the Alliance fighter took on Rickson Gracie’s son Kron and put a beating on him. He was up substantially in points before tapping him out.

10) Tarsis Humphries

With recent showings at the Mundial, Pan Ams and now ADCC is he getting the recognition he deserves. Humphries is a young black belt at 23 years old and fights for Alliance in Sao Paolo; run by “the general” Fabio Gurgel. He trains with Marcelo Garcia and is the best thin g coming from the Fabio Gurgel camp. At the recent 2008 Pan Ams he fought Andre Galvao for gold but got a shoulder injury during the match.

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Today Jason Scully from GrapplersGuide talks about how not to get into a slump when grappling.

I don’t know anyone who has been training in the sport of grappling for an extensive period of time that hasn’t experienced a slump or been in some sort of rut. When you are in a training slump you may experience the following:

• You don’t feel like your improving and have the feeling that you no longer will.
• You’re starting to feel frustrated.
• You feel unmotivated.
• You feel like you want to quit training all together.
• You feel nothing is going right.

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Being able to get through your slump in grappling could be the determining factor of whether you continue in your training or not. If you do continue and get through your first slump, then getting through other slumps will get easier. If you don’t get through your slump, then chances are that you probably won’t be grappling much longer. I’ve seen training slumps make and break many people.

There are many reasons why you may experience a slump and not everyone experiences the same thing. The first important step is to figure out what exactly is causing you to be in a slump in the first place. Once you figure that out, then you can work on dealing with the problem and you can get back on track with your training.

 Below you will find a list of reasons why many people experience slumps. You may not be experiencing all of them, but I’m sure if you’re in a slump you are experiencing some of them. If you’re experiencing multiple things I recommend that you focus on each one you’re dealing with one at a time. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm yourself anymore then you already are. That will just counter act what you’re trying to do. Even if you’re not experiencing one of the causes below or if you’re not in a slump, it’s a great idea to read all of them anyway so you can have an idea of how you can avoid the situation all together.

Things that can result in you being in a slump:

Injury or Illness- The first thing you should always rule out is having an injury or an illness. If you have become injured this can be a big burden for some people and it can not only affect you physically, but it can also affect you mentally. I know many people who got injured in training and they took time off to heal. While they were taking time off they decided that they didn’t want to do much involving grappling because it got them depressed thinking about not being able to train, but what starts to happen is they begin totally clearing grappling out of their mind while they were injured. They were building a slump for themselves and a habit of not training. When they finally got back on the mat it was much harder for them to get back into it and motivated to train because they already formed a habit of not wanting to train.

2. Overtraining - This is another big factor for many who are in slumps. When you are overtraining your body doesn’t react as well as it could. You feel tired, get sick easier, you’re body is aching, lose sleep, and so on. This all leads to you being less motivated and possibly depressed about your training and then you’re definitely going to be in a slump.

3. You Have a Win Only Mentality - Having a “win only” mentally is a trait that I see in many people who train in the sport of grappling. I see it more in those who haven’t been training for an extensive period of time, but those who do have this attitude in the beginning of their grappling career may have a chance of suffering mental burnout. When you have a win only mentality, all you focus on is winning and nothing else. When you’re grappling with your training partners you want to get the tap every time and you really don’t care how you get it. The more you don’t win the more frustrated you get. The more frustrated you get, the less you want to train because you feel like you’re a loser and you’re not getting any better. While you’re starting to get these feelings you never realize that it could be because you’re focusing more on winning then actually learning.

4. Closed Minded - Being a grappling instructor I have come across many students that like doing their own thing no matter what. You can tell them that a specific technique is perfect for them, but for some reason they don’t think so and they never even try to use it. They just shut it out and do their own thing. These people are very closed minded in their training. They act like they already know the answers when chances are they don’t. As time goes on they don’t improve and they don’t understand why. As they keep doing the same things over and over, their other training partners that are more open minded towards their training and who are experimenting with new things are the ones getting better.

5. Personal Issues - It’s not just things in your training environment and how you train that can cause you to be in a slump. Your outside life can also have a huge impact on the way you train. I know this from personal experience. There have been times in my grappling career where I have experienced personal difficulties and it was almost impossible keeping those issues from affecting my training. No matter how much your grappling is suppose to be an outlet for you to get away from everyday life, it doesn’t always work out like that. I’ve had personal issues in my outside life that I just couldn’t put on the side when I was training and I’m sure many of you have also. No matter how hard I tried, I kept thinking about them in class. This would lead to me feeling down, unmotivated, and sometimes very close to being injured. This is something that can lead to a slump because your priorities in your personal life outweigh your priorities in your grappling life.

6. Lack of Sleep - Not getting enough sleep is a huge problem for most people. This not only affects your grappling and leads to slumps, it also can affect your everyday life. When you don’t get enough sleep you feel tired throughout the day. Your judgment is affected along with your reaction time. You don’t think as clearly and it leads to a big lack in motivation. This all contributes to one being in a slump.

7. Bad Experience Training Followed By Negative Thoughts - In this situation you are feeling good about your training and everything is going well. Then you go to class one day and a new grappler or a lesser experience grappler gets the best of you. You can’t understand how this happened, or why. You start to feel disappointed in yourself and thinking negative thoughts. This rolls over to your other grappling sessions that day and you do even worse because you are filled with disappointment. This is a very common scenario that happens to many people who training in the sport of grappling. They have a bad experience and then they let it steam roll right over them by constantly thinking about it along with adding negative thoughts to the equations. This only leads to frustration, lack of motivation, and the beginning of a big slump.

8. Focus on Past Failures and Future Endeavors - Many people are stuck in a slump and have negative thoughts because they can’t get past previous failures they may have encountered and/or they’re worried about how they’re going to perform in the future. They waste a lot of energy worrying about these situations they currently have no control over instead of focusing on what they’re going to do in the present. This can lead to someone being in a slump because they lose focus in their current training sessions and it hinders their learning.

9. Down on Yourself - Another common scenario that usually leads to a slump is when you are constantly down on yourself. Instead of focusing on your successes in your training you only think and dwell upon the times you didn’t do so well and the times you got tapped out. This leads to you being constantly down on yourself. You start to feel that you’re not any good and that you keep “losing” so you’re probably not going to get any better. Having these thoughts and building upon them could lead to a major slump that can be hard to get out of.

10. Compare Yourself To Others - If you constantly compare yourself to others and you don’t focus on just your training alone, then this can lead to you possibly falling into an area where you are in a slump. Many people focus a lot on what their training partners are doing. They pay attention to their partner’s successes and to their partner’s failures and they compare those situations to themselves. If you see one of your partners who has been training just as long as you have doing very well in grappling but you’re not, this can lead to you wondering why that person is excelling and you’re not. While for some, this situation can be a source of motivation. For many others it only leads to self-doubt and frustration. When you start to experience these negative feelings it hinders your learning and then next thing you know, you’re in a slump.

11. You Achieved A Goal or Won Something and Then Became Unmotivated - This is another common situation that can lead to being in a slump. What happens to some individuals is they work hard, test themselves in a competition setting, and do well. After they do well they feel they deserve some time to relax and take off. This is definitely ok for most people, but for some it is counterintuitive. During the relaxing off time they start to get comfortable with not doing much. Then as time goes on it becomes a habit. It becomes harder and harder to get into the gym which leads to them not getting better and improving since the last time they competed. This is a very common scenario for some people after their first competition.

12. Overanalyzing and Not Trusting Your Gut and Instincts - Have you ever heard anyone say to you, “Don’t think too much”? Have they ever told you just to react and not overanalyze things. The reason you hear someone say this to you sometimes is because you’re constantly analyzing a situation and thinking about it while never actually getting started. You’re always trying to figure out the right thing to do before you even do it. Before you know it, time has flown by and you did nothing. This can definitely lead to a slump and a decrease in learning.

13. Your Practice Isn’t Suited Well For You - Another reason why you might be experiencing a slump is because you may have come to a point where you practicing environment isn’t quite for you anymore. In the beginning you should always improve because you’re fresh and you don’t know much, but as you are training more you are going to need a training environment that can adapt to your adjustments. For example let’s say you’re someone who loves training and when you go to the gym to train you want to get as much drilling in as possible and as much rolling. Then after training you’re more than happy to talk with your peers. However the training environment doesn’t match. It’s more of a club environment where the students sit and talk just as much as they drill. This is an environment that isn’t good for your particular training style. You may also have an instructor who tries to motivate you by yelling, while you don’t particularly respond well to this type of coaching style. If this is also your case, then it can cause you to shut down and really slow down your learning.

14. Laziness and Haven’t Been Training Enough - Some people want to do a grappling sport and be the best they can be, but at the same time they don’t want to put in the work to get there. They want to be good right away. They don’t really like hard workouts and they don’t drill as much as they could. These are the lazy people. They train once a week when they can train more and they drill 10 times max when they probably could have drilled the same technique 20 times. If you are this type of person there is going to be a chance of you being in a slump for the duration of your grappling career.

15. Your Partners Have Figured Out Your Game - One of the most common reasons why you might fall into a slump is because your training partners have figured out your game. They know exactly what your favorite techniques are and how you react. This makes it much harder for you to do what you want when you’re rolling live. It’s very important that you realize that this is happening and you work on adjusting your game so you can keep moving forward. You can’t keep doing the same things over and over because you won’t get the results you used to. You have to vary up your game to make your training partners have to catch up again.

The big question to ask is, “Are these easy to fix?” Some may be easier to deal with than others and some will be very hard to deal with, but you should be able to correct all of them. While focusing on getting out of your slump you want to do your best to be patient, always thinking about the positives and never the negatives. The reason many people have trouble getting out of slumps is because they are constantly building a mountain of negative thoughts in their brain. Be happy that you have the opportunity to train and be in this world in the first place and that will be your first step to dealing with slumps that get in your way.

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Today Jason Scully of Grapplers Guide has taken a video clip of Braulio Estima from the 2003 Pan Ams Jujitsu Gi Competition. He does a great video analysis of his fight.

What Jason does is great, in that he lets you watch the BJJ fight in real time and from there he will break down and analyze the fight in slow motion. This is a great train tool for any mixed martial arts or grappler in that they can watch and learn MMA training tips in slow motion. Think of this as a golfer analyzing a golf swing or someone else’s swing so that can correct changes of learn new techniques

I recommend that you watch the regular video first to see what you notice in the match. Then watch the video with the commentary and slow motion to see if you noticed what I noticed then lets get some great technical conversations from there. I think it will help a lot more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoASMc0O0LM

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2poD6hMiWOE

  Jason Scully owns and operates Grapplers Guide a website dedicated 100% to the Improvement of Your Grappling Performance

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