Interesting article in GRACIEMAG

The top 3 mistakes even BJJ Pros make that can ruin your training

by Graciemag Newsroom — January 12, 2010.

One day, a curious teenage daughter asked her mother, “Mommy why do you always cut off a third of the loaf of bread before baking it?” “Because that’s what you’re supposed to do,” responded the mom.

“I just don’t understand why you can’t bake the whole thing,” said the young girl. “Well my mother is the one who taught me this. I’ll just call and ask her to settle this once and for all,” said mom.

Ring. Ring. “Hello,” says a voice on the other end. “Hi mom. It’s me, your daughter. I just wanted to know why you’re supposed to cut off a third of a loaf before baking it.” “Oh no sweetie,” her mother chimes. “You’re not supposed to. I just always did that because our oven was too small and I couldn’t fit the whole loaf. I wish I didn’t have to waste all that bread.”

A training partner passes along an exercise or nutrition tip. Then you pass it on to several others. Before long the same tip gets circulated around the whole academy so you figure it must be true”

It’s easy to fall into the same trap the mother in the story fell into with your fitness and BJJ training program. A training partner passes along an exercise or nutrition tip. Then you pass it on to several others. Before long the same tip gets circulated around the whole academy so you figure it must be true. But training mistakes and half-truths could be stopping you from reaching your full potential. Here are the Top 3 BJJ Fitness Mistakes and the Truthsthat can help save your workout plan.

BJJ Fitness Mistake #: Kettlebells (or any other tool) are the “secret” you’ve been waiting for.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoy training with kettlebells. They’re fun and are effective in many full body lifts. Kettlebell exercises also help develop grip strength which is crucial for BJJ players.

The problem occurs when something that is simply a “tool” becomes the end-all be-all. If someone tells you that their way of training is the only way to train effectively, run, don’t walk the other way. Don’t buy into it. This is nothing more than slick marketing. After all, if their way is the only way then you have no choice but to buy their product, right?

Check out this quote that I read on Ross Enamait’s blog that I couldn’t agree more with:
“Too many people in this world want you to believe that their way is the only way. Don’t buy into the nonsense. It simply isn’t true. There have been successful athletes who have engaged in an infinite number of training styles.

Almost anything that you do will work if you are passionate, diligent, and consistent with the work. Often times, it isn’t the individual workout that is most important, but how you attack the workout. How much passion and intensity do you apply to the work?”

BJJ Fitness Mistake #2- If you want to get better at BJJ, work more on your strength and conditioning

The principle of specificity says that in order to get better at a sport or skill, you must perform that sport or skill. For example, if your goal is to increase your number of max push ups then you need to work on push ups. Of course other exercises can supplement your training but much of your training would need to be focused around the push up.

The same goes for martial arts. I’ve been training BJJ for a long time and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the best guys are usually the ones who spend the most time on the mat. Not everyone’s primary goal is to be a better martial artist and that’s fine. But whatever your main goal is, that’s what you should be focusing on.

I once heard a yoga instructor tell someone who was interested in getting better at BJJ that they should do less BJJ and more yoga. I’m afraid if this person would’ve listened to this advice, the end result would’ve been someone who is better at yoga, not BJJ.

BJJ Fitness Mistake #3- Avoid running because it’s not sport specific

I’ve seen a few “experts” over the last year or so recommend that their combat athletes remove running from their training. They claim that it won’t help with combat sports and the impact on your joints isn’t worth it.

While most strength and conditioning coaches aren’t taking such an extreme stance, many are only having their athletes perform sprints and no middle or long distance runs. The main problem I have with this is that aerobic training can help improve recovery time. Creatine phosphate (a high energy reserve) can be synthesized better in aerobically trained individuals than their aerobically challenged counterparts. Therefore some aerobic training can be beneficial to even a football lineman.

I do all types of running myself…long distances, hills, sprints, stairs, you name it. I run different patterns including backwards and sideways. I try to mix it up and have fun with it. There are many benefits to different forms of running including the following:

• Circulation – Your heart and lungs will improve their efficiency and deliver nutrients throughout your body more easily.
• Endurance - Even if you are training for a shorter event, longer runs will help you to have the endurance to handle the shorter more intense workouts.
• Improved mental state – Running is a great way to organize your thoughts.
• Mental Toughness - Running is a great way to develop mental fortitude. Much of the time you’ll be by yourself when running so it’s up to you to push yourself to go the extra mile.
• Fat loss - Running is an ideal way to burn some extra fat.

Of course running should be a part of the overall picture and good form should be practiced. While there are some fighters that choose not to run for various reasons, there are many that do. For a great book about how humans are designed to run, read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

These are just a few of the mistakes people make in their BJJ fitness program. Think logically and critically when implementing something into your training program. Do your homework and find out if the information is coming from a credible source. Doing a bit of extra work could help prevent you from making common BJJ fitness mistakes.

(Author: Billy Hofacker – Serra BJJ manager)

References:

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2008/09/17/training-for-the-fun-of-it/

Thursday Lunch Class

After a light warm-up we moved strait into technique. First was a way to take the back off of your opponent's attempted shot:

Christmas Party Pics.

We finally received some pictures from our Christmas party at Nori Nori. Thanks to everyone that attended.

Monday Night Class

In tonight's class Jacare built off what was shown in the afternoon session.

This is one of my favorite passes set up from a sweep from the Sit Up Guard

Wednesday Lunch Class

Today we started with Jacare's Yoga Warmups, my favorite:

After that we went strait to the ground, starting with the De La Riva guard:

After the De La Riva Sweep we moved into 2 sweeps from the sit-up guard:

Variation 1:

Variation 2:

A note from Yellowknife, Canada

Hi Master Jacare,
I just wanted to let you know that Saturday Jan 9th was my first class here in Yellowknife. I had 13 students turn out for opening night which was not bad considering it was -32 degrees Celsius and I did not advertise the opening due to scheduling issues. Everyone was loving the new technique I learned from you while down in Atlanta, especially the help you gave me recomposing from side control. I have allot of interest in the club and wanted to see if we can set up a 2 day seminar in September. I would like to do one sooner, however, I want to get a good student base prior to getting you to fly all the way to Yellowknife. Also by September it will still be warm in Yellowknife and not the 24 hours of light per day plus I will be in a much bigger location. I am currently renting a room, month to month from a organization until I can find a suitable large permanent space. I just wanted to keep you posted on my progress and let you know that the school is up and running. I am sending a picture of the first class, and you can see I need to order some GI's for these guy's soon.

Best Regards
Faron

Taking the Back

For tonight's class Jacare focused of taking the back from the turtle position.

Tuesday Lunch Class Warm-Ups

Today we started with a little warm-up it was focused on doing applicable movements:

For technique we covered the baseball bat choke:

Monday Night Class

Today we had a good sized class. The warm-ups where tough to watch, I am glad I was working hard on the blog and not out there:





















Part of the killer warm-ups:




This was followed by a double leg to a trip:




After the double leg Jacare taught a triangle from the guard:

Go train with Alliance in Ecuador

Alliance’s Black belt Fernado Di Pierro is offering a training camp in Ecuador starting January 18th.

Called “Vacaciones En El Cage” (Hollydays in the Cage), the program of training includes Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, judo and muay thai.

Those interested should contact thecagegymshop.com.

LSD for BJJ

Interesting article in Gracemag, thought I'd share.

Enjoy!

LSD for BJJ – Is it such a bad thing? - by Graciemag Newsroom — January 5, 2010.

Firstly , the answer may be ‘no’.

And secondly, I should probably mention that we’re talking about Long Slow Duration training… not the hallucinogenic drug!

In recent times, many combat sports athletes have moved away from any form of long distance cardio work in favour of high intensity intervals and short bursts of all out work. Treadmill sprints, tabatas, barbell complexes and more. While these methods are extremely useful, they may not be right for everyone or at every stage of a strength and conditioning program. So why the need for LSD work? Won’t this type of training make us slow and lose explosiveness? If done correctly, the answer is no!

This fear comes from the understanding of how our muscle fibres work, so bear with me as this may be a little confusing! We have two types of muscle fibre. Type I fibres that generally have a very good oxygen supply and a high resistance to fatigue, and type II fibres that have a much more limited supply of oxygen but are able to produce power much more quickly than type I. We rely on these type 2 fibres for our strong, explosive actions such as snapping on that quick submission or going for that initial takedown, while the Type I fibres will keep us going for longer, slower actions. With traditional forms of aerobic work, the intensity gets so high that the type II fibres are brought into play to assist the Type Is in keeping us moving. If a high volume of this type of work is carried out, eventually the Type II fibres will begin to adapt and take on the characteristics of our less explosive Type I fibres. This is what we don’t want, but with the type of LSD work explained in this article, along with the fact that we will still be doing explosive work in our training and skill sessions, loss of explosiveness is of little concern.

First let’s take a very brief look at the three pathways our bodies use to produce energy.

The first two systems are anaerobic in nature, meaning they don’t use oxygen to create energy.

Anaerobic alactic – Capable of extremely high power production, this is the system primarily used in short sprints, powerful jumps, knockout punches and explosive takedowns. However, this system only produces energy for a very short amount of time before it is depleted; up to 15 seconds of all out work and it is exhausted.

Anaerobic lactic – Once the anaerobic alactic system runs out of steam , the lactic system takes over. This system is also capable of high power output which may last up to roughly 2 minutes, but this comes at a cost. As power is produced, the body also produces lactate. The lactate releases hydrogen ions into the system which may be responsible for the burning sensation we feel after short bouts of high-intensity activity. For this reason, we cannot rely on this system for an entire match.

Aerobic – Once the anaerobic systems are depleted, the aerobic system must take over energy production. While this system cannot produce energy as quickly as the anaerobic systems, it can do so for long periods of time without fatigue. With BJJ matches lasting between 5-10 minutes, we will rely on this system a great deal, despite many believing combat sports are primarily anaerobic in nature. The aerobic system is also responsible for clearing any waste products produced by the anaerobic systems, and so is very important for recovery too.

These three systems do not turn on and off like a switch; instead all 3 will be producing power at varying rates throughout all stages of exercise.

The brief explanation above explains why we need to build a powerful aerobic system. The ability to increase aerobic power output means that we can produce more power before having to rely on the anaerobic systems, which in turn means we will not fatigue as quickly.

To increase aerobic power output, we should first look at increasing the efficiency of the heart and how much blood it can pump with each beat. LSD is one of the most effective ways to achieve this but it is more specific than simply going for a jog. At certain heart rates, the left ventricle of the heart is maximally filled with blood. When filled for long enough, the walls of the heart will adapt and stretch, resulting in a greater volume and more blood being pumped with each beat. Imagine a balloon filled with water. If it is full for long enough, the balloon will stretch and become larger. This training method works on the same principle. However if the heart rate is too low, there will not be enough blood to maximally fill the left ventricle. If heart rate is too high, blood enters and leaves too quickly for maximal volume to be achieved.

For this reason, it is vital that a heart rate monitor is used for this type of training. I use a Polar F4 that can be picked up for around £40. It is a worthwhile investment and can be used for many other training methods so I highly recommend it! If your resting heart rate is currently higher than 60 beats per minute, this method will definitely be of great benefit to you. For more advanced athletes fighting in longer matches, you may want to get the resting heart rate down to 45-55 beats per minutes.

So the basic principles are as follows:
Keep the heart rate between 120-150 beats per minute (bpm)
Each session should be between 30-90 minutes long
1-2 sessions per week

This type of training can be carried out with various types of exercise. Jogging, cycling, rowing or even light sparring, BJJ drills and mobility circuits. Just choose something that you are comfortable with. For beginners especially, I prefer low/no impact methods such as cycling as it will reduce the risk of injury to the joints that can be associated with long distance running.

This type of work almost feels too easy, but don’t let that discourage you! This is actually a good thing as it means we are generally only using our Type I fibres to perform this type of exercise, meaning there is no chance for the Type II fibres to adapt and become less explosive.

Give it a shot for 4-6 weeks and see how you feel in training/sparring. Also take note of how hard you are working to keep your heart rate in the correct range. When you first start it may take very little work to get the heart rate up to 150, but after time you will have to work harder to get up there. This means you areproducing a higher power output at the same heart rate, which is exactly the effect we are looking for!

Saturday, Alliance doesn't take the weekend off!

Saturday is always eventfull here at Alliance.


We had a huge adult class at 12:










I think Alec has more fun then the kids he teaches at 10:30:




















The teens and ladies class at 11 is going strong:




















Professor Jacare always here, always teaching, and always leading the way!










Professor Jacare teaching a lapel choke from side mount:

Training for the European Championships!

Jonathan Tooker:

Matt Daniel:

Alliance is training hard for the upcoming European Championships! Atlanta Ga is sending brown belts Matt “Tequila" Daniel and Jonathan “Jamanta” Tooker to represent the team. All of the coaches will be there as well. On Jan 27th Jacare will travel to Lisbon, Portugal to meet Fabio Gurgel, Alexandre Paiva, and other Alliance instructors to lead our team in the first big tournament of the year. Part of our training plan is providing our European locations with the best instruction available, Alliance Black Belt Champions. With this in mind Tarsis Humpherys is in Zagreb, Croatia conducting seminars and belt testing. As of today we have Black Belt Champions teaching and training in Croatia, Italy, Finland, Germany, Greece and France. These include: Michael Langhi, Soluco, Tarsis, Alex, Bruno Malfacine, Batista, Monstrinho and Lucas Lepri. In France Paulo Sergio Santos, Jacare’s black belt and Hugo Fevrier, Alexandre Paiva’s black belt are teaching and training every day. We will continue to send our best to all of our affiliates to bring the entire teams skills up!

After the European Championships we have a few significant events. On Feb 20th Alliance Headquarters in Atlanta will host an indoor Alliance tournament open to all our students. The focus of this tournament is to prepare for the future competitions. These in house events are great first competition experiences. In April we will have our annual Pan Am camp one week before the start of the tournament in California. The Alliance superstars from all over the world we will be coming to our head quarters in Atlanta to train and do a final tune up.

Remember that you train with the best team in the world. Team Alliance is the reigning and 4 time world champions (98, 99, 08, 09). Alliance’s plan for 2010 is to win the Grand Slam of Jiu Jitsu, and the European Championship the first step in the Grand Slam. Train hard!

Thursday Lunch Class

Today we started with Jacare's yoga warm-ups. This was followed by Cobrinha teaching a throw:

Phillepe Gentry Fighting!

Alliance's own Brown Belt Phillepe is fighting this Saturday. He is the main event and is fighting for the ISKA Amateur 145lb title! Come out and support him if you get the chance! If you sign in at Alliance you get a $5 discount on admission. There is a poster for the event farther down on the blog. See you there!

Alliance Atlanta In-House Torunament

Jacare is planning to hold an Alliance Georgia tournament on Saturday February 20th. So Atlanta, Powder Springs, and Athens try to make it out! More details to follow.

Wednesday Nights Class

Wednesday night class focused on situational drills and live rolling. Specific techniques where not emphasized.

Alec and Ian:

Pedro and Colin:

Jeff and Mark:

Cherine and Colin:

Brant and Joey:

Eduardo and Cobrinha:

Patrick and Si:

A great Muay Thai turnout:

Wednesday Night Warm-Ups

We had a great turnout; we did running, rolling, throwing warmups. Attendance is staying strong through the new year.

New Blue Belt

Congrats Edward!

Wednesday Lunch Class

Half way through week 1 and the classes remain full! Today's class started with a stretching warm up to get some blood flowing on this cold day. Jacare opened up the class with some takedown drills, techniques from Guard and we finished off with sparing.

Jacare showed a single leg takedown from pulling guard, demonstrated here by Rush and Alec



Cobrinha showed a variation of the technique.



The technique of the day was the Brabo Choke from Closed Guard.

ADCombat.com Interview with Jacare - by Kid Peligro

How to Improve your Game - Alliance Team Founder Romero "Jacare" gives you today's tip:

The legendary Romero "Jacare" , one of the 6 Rolls Gracie Black Belts, founder and leader of the powerhouse (4 times World Champion) Alliance Team gives you the BJJ Tip today:

"Try to develop a balanced game. I try to watch my students when they spar and see what they prefer to do. I watch if he or she is pulling guard a lot or if they always try to start. I watch if they have difficulties in their defense or attacks etc. Then what I do is I try to correct with instruction and I encourage them to balance their games by forcing them through sparring to be in the positions they don't like. For example, if they like to play guard I put them on top and vice-versa. That forces them to practice their weaknesses.

My students often ask me how do I manage to pair people up so well for the sparring and my answer is simple: "many years watching, always paying attention to details and learning how to get the best out of each one of them so they can be the best they can be. Of course they have to understand where and what they are having trouble iwth and put themselves into the positions that they are weakest at."

When you've created a team like Alliance with so many World Champions and top stars and you talk about BJJ . . . people listen.

Thanks "Jacare" !

New Gracie Mags in Stock

Alliance in the news

Alliance boards elite squad to take the empty throne in Lisbon

by Marcelo Dunlop — January 4, 2010.

The star from Pernambuco Braulio “Carcará” Estima (Gracie Barra) will be the greatest absence from the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship on the 28th and 31st of January in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

“I’m on a tour of seminars through Canada and the US from the 12th of January to the 24th of February. And, on the 6th, I’ll be in Vegas with the group for the Rolles (Gracie) fight at the UFC. So this time I won’t be able to participate in the European Championship,” said Estima, the current absolute champion of the competition after beating Alexandre de Souza, from Santa Catarina, in the final. Curiously, the two met again at the heavyweight final at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in California, months later.

Even without his presence, this seventh European Championship will be the one most filled with talent since its first edition in 2004.

Medium-heavyweight Tarsis Humphreys is one of the favorites for absolute gold. Photo: Alicia Anthony.

Alliance’s team, for example, will go to Lisboa with Fabio Gurgel, Tarsis Humphreys, Bruno Malfacine, Michael Langhi, Lucas Lepri, Antonio “Batista” Peinado, Bernardo Faria, Felipe “Monstro” Pacces, and Stephen Hall.

“This year we’ll be going with our elite squad to try to win everything. We will also be holding a series of seminars throughout the Old Continent as well,” he told GRACIEMAG.com Peinado, who boarded the plane on the 1st of January to give classes in Frankfurt and Berlin.

For warm ups we did some guard passing:

After technique was rolling:

Denise and Nina:

Ryan and Jason:

Tracy and Marc:

Ulli and Rush:

Jordan and Phillepe:

Austin and Colin:

Cobrinha and Alec:

Welcome Back!

Despite the fact that it is warmer in Colorado than Atlanta right now, we still had a great turnout for our first evening class of 2010.

For the technique Jacare showed a simple setup that gives you a handful of options to pass your partner's Guard

First Class of 2010

Today was the first class of 2010. We had a great turn out:

After warm ups Jacare talked about dedication in the new year:

This was followed by a defense for a single leg takedown:

Following the defense Cobrinha showed a variation on the defense: