Road to the American Cup 2

Tonight's training was intense! We started the practice of with the usual wrestling type warm up and  then proceeded to do some grip-fighting excercises.

We went over a guardpass with some unique details that Marcos pointed out. For my game plan and style of BJJ which I am starting to call  Big Man Jiu-Jitsu, I was able to modify Marcos' technique to suit my body type. After repping the guard pass for a while we moved on to drilling.

We drilled the Morote Gari or double leg take down. The Morote Gari was my throw when I started Judo back in 2007, before the rule change after the 2008 Olympics. I love the Morote Gari, the power if the throw as well as the ability to completly pick your opponet off the ground and take and then bring them back with force and power. That is what Big Man Jiu-Jistu is about! We pulled out the crash pad and Team Yemaso put in serious work. Uke stood in a standard stance and Tore shoot in and took them down. We drilled non-stop for a minute and a half.  We cycled through our group until we each had a chance to drill twice. My lungs were on fire and my heart rate was through the roof, but I felt strong and powerful.

After that we hit the mats for some Newaza randori and rolled for about thirty to forty minutes. We bowed out to end class and then our usual crew of guys stayed after to get in a few more rounds of No-Gi Randori.

I feel strong and my game is slowly improving. I have been working on maintaning  guard and setting up sweeps to gain side control. I feel my guard game is improving greatly and I know I will bring a greatly improved game to the American Cup this year and I am hunting for a repeat Gold Medal.

OUUUUUSSSSS!!!!

Road to the American Cup

Sorry for not be able to write for a while.My school work had kept me busy, but we are in the middle of the semester and I am now able to write.


Due to my lack of funds I have not been able to compete as much as I projected I would for this year. The American Cup 2010 was my first Jiu-Jitsu tournament and I won gold as a white belt. I hope to repeat that success this year again at this years American Cup as a Blue Belt. This will be my first time competing as a Blue Belt so I am looking forward to the challenge of new competition at the higher level.

I have come very far in the last year in terms of not only technique but also strength, power, and mental fortitude. I have excellent training partners and feel I am in a even better position to win gold gain this year in not only my division but also in the absolute.

Weight Training

I finally went to the gym for the first time in four months. The problem I find with weight training is that compared to Judo and BJJ is that it is very boring. I go to 24 Hour Fitness which is where everybody goes and I see bad form, kids working out only their arms and chest, and men and women wearing things that they shouldn't.

I do not like to spend alot of time in the gym, I like to get in there hit the weigths hard and get out. My workouts are sport specific, meaning that the focus is on movements that are common in grappling, which is mostly pulling movements. So I do alot of deadlifts, Wide grip lat pull downs, low cable rows etc.

I have my workouts spread throughout the week by a "Pull" day, "Push" day, and a leg day. I based this on the Four Pillars of Human movement. One is Locomotion, which is walking, running etc. I run on a daily basis so that takes care of training locomotion, and even though there is not alot of locomotion in BJJ or Judo, the cardiovascular benefits are great as is the fat burning that locomotion training provides.

The other pillar is the Push/Pull pillar which is the most used in grappling, with more emphasis on the "pull". Both must be trained to keep a muscular balance and avoid injury. The next is "level change" which is using the legs to move the body up and down. This comes in play when changing levels for a double or single leg takedown or in Judo when using hip throws such as Harai Goshi or Ippon Seoi Nage.

The last Pillar is Rotation which is the most neglected factor of movement. So far the best way I have found to train rotation in the body is by using Kettlebells, which I will start to implement a kettlebell workout once a week.

On Friday I trained the "pull" factor. My workout went as follows: Deadlifts: 225 pounds x 8 Reps, 275 x 6, 295 x 4, 315 x 3. I could had gone much heavier but I did not want to tire my back out too much. Wide grip pulldowns: 155 x 8, 175 x 8, 195 x 8, Close Grip Pull downs: 175 x 8, 8, 8, Low Row cable pulls: 165 x 8, 8,8.

That was my workout for Friday. Simple and not very complex, but it is short and brief and to the point. I rather spend the extra time on the mat!

Be Blessed!!!

BJJ Training

This will be a wrap up of the week's training. On Friday (1-14-2011) we had our Competition Team practice which consists of drilling one offensive move or series of movements.(For more on the importance of drilling see here: http://wwwthegentleway.blogspot.com/2010/12/drilling-basics-is-road-to-victory.html) I have been working on building up my bottom game for the last three months and drilled a series of Spider Guard to a Tri-Pod Sweep to Side Control.

After surviving the drills, we had three rounds (10 minutes) of rolling. I was thoroughly gassed but as always I left glad that I came and put in the work on a Friday when so many others are thinking about going out to go party.

TEAM YEMASO!!!

Be Blessed!!!!

BJJ Training

This is for BJJ training for 1-11-11. I was too tired to write yesterday.

First BJJ lesson of the year!!! After everyone made fun of my glasses, we did our warm up and then went into technique. Marcos show the De La Riva Guard and a sweep from the De La Riva.

The De La Riva is an awkward guard to me. It seems like you can tear up your knee with it; Marcos addressed this and said that our knees will toughen up and condition themselves to the rigors of the De La Riva.

I have always wanted to learn the De La Riva Guard. It seems like it is the next step in the guard fighting process, after mastering the basics of the closed, open, and spider guard. We drilled the move for about 30 minutes and Marcos was joking around with me and said that my De La Riva was looking good and was calling me Joaquin "Demente", who is a player that I look up too for his aggressive "Big Man" BJJ.

After drills we rolled. I rolled with one of the many Mikes we have at Team Yemaso, this Mike I call Asian Mike because he is Filipino. Mike is a Purple Belt and he is never afraid to roll with me and we had a good battle going back and forth. I almost submitted him but he transition out of it. Asian Mike pushes me and I like to think that I push him as well. Great Roll!!!

I also got to roll with Mike U. who is my greatest opponent at Team Yemaso. He has gotten very good, so good that most of the things I try do not work and I find myself constantly getting swept or reversed and then submitted. Somewhat discouraging, due to the fact that the battles used to be more 50/50.

I know that Mike U. has greatly benefited from private lessons with Marcos. I decided that I will start taking private lessons from Marcos at least twice a month; in one lesson alone I developed a game plan that I used to crush all the Mike in class and everyone else, until they all took privates and figured out counters to my game plan. So now it is time to step it up to that next level and I strongly believe that private lessons will aide in that goal.

Be blessed!!!!

Judo versus Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: An Apple Vs An Orange

Please note that this is an essay that has been formatted to the MLA standard of writing therefore this essay is an academic work. I completely own this essay in it's entirety, including the research. Anyone may use this essay in whole or parts, all I ask is that academic credit is given to me in the form of a citation. Please let me know if you enjoyed the essay and your opinion on the subject matter. Thank you.

Judo versus Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: An Apple Vs An Orange



By Joaquin Jauregui

An objective and fair comparison between the combat sports of Judo and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) would reveal that each art has its own set of strengths and weakness, and that these strengths and weakness are created by the rules of each sport. An argument to attempt to establish which art is better is akin to arguing which fruit is better: An Apple or an Orange.

Judo and BJJ each have their dedicated followers and of course of if you ask a Judoka which art is better they would most likely say Judo and a BJJ fighter will say the opposite. A Judoka might say that BJJ fighters have no throwing skills and that all they want to do is lay on their backs. A BJJ Fighter might say that Judokas only focus on throws and that they cannot finish their opponent because of their lack of advance groundwork. Both arguments are valid and invalid, because each side is seeing the other side through the rules of their separate competitions.

Modern day Judo or Olympic Judo focus is on performing throws; as stated in the International Judo Federation Official Referee Rule Book an Ippon (Winning score) is awarded: “When a contestant with control throws the other contestant largely on his back with considerable force and speed.” (Sec. Rules, International Judo Federation) A throw for a Judoka is the fastest route to victory and is therefore practiced the most in the Dojo. Judokas can also win a Judo match by submitting their opponent, by either a choking technique or a joint locking technique against the elbow or by pinning an opponent. Though three of the four ways to win a Judo match are on the ground a premium is placed on scoring and Ippon via a throw. Referees also have a practice to only allow a Judoka three to five seconds to get a pin or a submission. As any Judoka or BJJ fighter knows, groundwork is a game of inches, not miles; three to five seconds is simply not enough time to work your game plan on the ground. “I do not know when or why this three to five second time constraint came from!” stated Sensei Victor Anderson, who is a Forth Degree Judo Black Belt and a National Level Qualified Judo Referee. “Nowhere in the rule book does it say that there are any time constraints on Ne-Waza. If the players stall then we are supposed to call “Matte” (Halt or Stop in Japanese) and stand them up. If a Judoka is working for something or both players are rolling and making transitions than let them continue.” (Anderson)

Due to this practice of limiting time for Ne-Waza in tournaments, many Judo clubs simply do not spend much time teaching Ne-Waza let alone any of the complex guard sweeps, guard passes or submissions that BJJ fighters do. Why would they? Why focus on an aspect of the competition that you may only spend a few seconds in during a match and the probability for winning is relatively low? The logical thing would be to simply train throws, because that is most likely what is going to win your matches and make you a successful Judoka.

This leaves many Judokas with a very basic and limited ground game, but a very good skill set for grip fighting and throwing techniques. Many BJJ Fighters will claim that BJJ is better because many of the BJJ fighters are able to dominate many Judokas on groundwork and right they should as most BJJ schools teach about 90 percent ground work and 10 percent throwing or takedowns, if even that. Many BJJ fighters will simply pull guard if presented with an opponent who they are unable to takedown. This is allowed in BJJ competitions but is not in Judo, so a Judoka who is skilled in groundwork cannot simply pull guard to initiate groundwork. The Judoka must throw his opponent to the ground with skill and then use what limited time he has to achieve a pin or submission. If we were to compare BJJ to Judo in a Judo Tournament, than most BJJ fighters would be at a great disadvantage and BJJ would prove to be the inferior style. If a Judoka was to fight in a BJJ tournament then most likely he would lose, as a BJJ fighter can get thrown cleanly to the ground and only be down by two points and still win by using his elaborate groundwork game, and not be worried about a referee stopping the groundwork to stand the opponents back up. In a BJJ tournament Judo would prove to be the inferior sport, as groundwork is placed above all else and throwing can be negated all together by a BJJ fighter simply pulling guard.

In Sociology when objectively studying a culture, who must take care not be ethnocentric, meaning that we must judge a culture’s way of life by the culture’s standards, not our own. When comparing Judo to BJJ and BJJ to Freestyle wrestling and Freestyle Wrestling to SAMBO we must look at the rules and regulations of the particular style of grappling and judge it by its’ own standards and not by those of our chosen sport. After all an apple and an orange are both fruits but are still very different, and who can say one is better than the other?













Works Cited

Anderson, Victor. Personal Interview. 3 Jan 2011

Intjudo.eu. Rules. International Judo Federation. Web. 3 Jan. 2011

2011 Strength and Conditioning Program

sOne thing I am always on the look out for is what specific strength and conditioning programs elite level BJJ and Judo fighters use. It is nearly impossible to find information. I have no doubt that it is kept under wraps as their training programs are akin to a trade secret.

I have been designing a nutrition and strength and conditioning program for 2011. I will periodically post my progress and try to find out what works and what does not.

I do believe in the periodization training principle popularized by Tutor M. Bompa in his book Periodization for Sports. In a nut shell periodization is that in order to receive maxium gains a workout regimen must be have a specific goal in mind: Hypertrophy (increase in lean muscle mass) Strength, Power, Speed, Fat Loss.
I believe that power, Strength and hypertrophy can be attained in the same program.

For the next twelve weeks I will embark on a program that will increase my endurance capacity and increase muscle mass and power and strength. I only recommend gaining muscle mass for the heavier weight divisions, since I have a very large and heavy build I compete in Ultra heavy weight and have the potential to fight any size of monster out their so to gain 10 to 15 pounds of muscle would not hurt ( I have the luxury of not having to worry about making weight). On the same token, I want to get what speed and agility I have, I am faster and more explosive then all of the other guys I have fought so far, I want to keep it that way.

I will update my progress and put up some before pics, midway and after. I plan in hypertrophy all the way to the Pan-Ams, this will give me a good 3 months of weight training.


(Top Photo) Demente success is attributed to a good combination of mat time, gym time and good nutrition. ADCC Champion Jeff "The Snow Man" Monson (Bottom Photo) owes alot of his success to time in the weight room


If anyone needs advice please let me know, I have access to vast amount of books and articles as well as ten years of weight training experience, I have also taken courses in nutrition in college.


Be Blessed!!!

2011 Sugestions

Thank you to Mike, Kobi, and Stuart for being my official followers, and everyone else who has taken a peek at what I got going on here.. This Blog is new so I hope it grows over the next year.

Next year I will be able to chronicle my trials and tribulations as a newly minted Blue Belt on the competitive circuit as well as my journey to move up the ranks in Judo.

Besides my dissertations and essays, what else would all you people like to have on here? I was also thinking of logging my strength and conditioning workouts, nutrition and weight loss progress. Is that something that people are interested in?

Please advise as I am always open to suggests to improve on the mats and this blog.

Be Blessed!!!

The Last Roll of the Year!

Yesterday was my the last time I will step on the mats for 2010. Our class was taught by our very knowledgeable and experienced Purple Belt Mike Uhlinger, who now has been getting the best of me lately. (See Mike I mentioned you.)

Mike went over a very complex sweep and it's variations. The sweep was an off shoot of the spider guard, I felt sorry for our brand new White Belts as they were completly lost on this technique. We did static drills with the sweeps than we did live drills with the sweep. (The importance of live drills I will write about at another time)

Of course after all that we rolled. I spent most of the time trying to survive Mike's onslaught as he took my back, and trying to pass Hera's guard. Rolling turned out to be a rather frustrating endeavor, as I at one time used to pass Hera's guard pretty easily and also used to passed Mike's guard and submit them both. Now either everybody has gotten better or I have relied too much on doing the same thing over and over again and my game as gone stagnant.

Either way I am sure that by this time next year I will have further evolved my game and be a better fighter for it.

Be Blessed!

Drilling the basics is the road to Victory!

I at first had the idea to write this post on the theory that sequencing is the key to learning, but after talking to my friend Kobi via Facebook; I decided that for White Belts and Blue Belts (and everyone for that matter) drilling is what is important.

For the White Belt, drilling the most basic moves is going to lay the foundation for your Jiu-Jitsu and foster growth for years. Drilling moves such as armbars and kimuras form the guard, basket weave pass, knee on belly, and all the forms of choking form the back and sweeps and reversals, throws, break falls and rolls, must be mastered before any sort of game plan can be created.

Doing 50 armbars from the guard may seem boring and it is defiantly exhausting, but think what you have done within those 50 repetitions. You have conditioned your core and legs for the explosive movements needed to perform the armbar, and most importantly you have built muscle memory for the armbar.

Muscle memory is a physiological term that refers to the synaptic response that occurs with repetitive movements. The body is highly adaptive, when a movement is performed enough the body adapts to it and builds a specific neuropath way; when this occurs the movement can be performed quickly, efficiently and with minimal effort and thought.

Strategically speaking, as you drill your basic moves you are also improving your ability to recognize the opportunity to apply the drilled technique. As an added bonus not only will you be able to recognize and apply the technique from where you drill it, you will start to see the opportunity for the technique from various other angles.

I began to drill the kimura lock form the guard like everyone else. At first I had to think about the steps and my body positioning. Needless to say my movement was slow and inefficient, but as time went on my technique increased in speed and efficiency. My mental awareness no longer had to focus on the movement so when rolling all I had to think about was finding the opportunity to perform the kimura. As more time passed I did not even have to look for the kimura I just seemed to see it from all angles and I simply reacted and went for it. It took several months to reach this level but, it is well worth it as I have found success with it at tournaments.

Ever watch the higher belts roll and everything they do seems to be immediate and just seems to flow? The same can be said of when Eric Clapton rips on the guitar, or a gymnast does their floor routine or as we type on our keyboards without looking at the keys. It takes practice, sometimes years of practice, but that is what is needed to become the best, practice.

I know, I know, drilling is boring, we all want to roll so when we get to the tournament we can win. Well if you do not drill the basic moves you will find your progress lacking, and then you will be tapped in sparing and tournaments. Do not discredit the importance of drilling the basic movements in Jiu-Jitsu. At our school we dedicate an entire practice to drilling one move for the entire class. When we roll after our drilling practice, we are all amazed by how much our technique and game plan has improved by simply drilling the same movement over and over again.

It seems that a premium has been placed on rolling and it is fun, it is my favorite part of class, but if you do not drill your movements then your game will become stagnant and you will become discouraged because nothing you do will seem to work. Drilling the basics is the key to growth. Pro Baseball players still go to batting practice, Golfers still go to the driving range, and even Pro Boxers still hit the heavy bag and practice mitts. Why as Jiu-Jitsu players should we be any different?

The result of constant drilling of a basic movement!

Get on the matt and drill the basics and experience how much your game will improve!



Be blessed!!!

The reality of the Blue Belt.

Now begins my training for the 2011 competition year, so yesterday I go to practice with the intent of destroying everybody. Life as a BJJ fighter tends to have a sense of humor, and with that I get taped by every one I roll with, and all my core bread and butter tactics are nullified.

I came to realize after this the reality of the Blue Belt. All the Blue Belt means is that you have shown your dedication to the art, have mastered some of the basics and may have medaled at a tournament or two as a white belt. By now means I'm I any where close to being where I want to be at. As time goes on I keep seeing how little I know and how much farther I have to go in BJJ. It is a journey of a life time that has no destination, as there is always more to learn, and as of right now I feel a little stagnant in my game.

I am some what dejected by this, but I know this will aide me in my evolution. Royler Gracie said in his book, Submission Grappling: Theory and Technique, that at the times when you feel your game is the most stagnant are the times that you are about to make a huge push to the next level.

Let's work on all of us getting to the next level! Be Blessed!

Sacrament Kimonos, Susan G Komen rashguard!

In addition to the pink "Sobrevivente" (Survivor in Portuguese) gi. Sacrament Kimonos is also going to release a pink rashguard.

Once again part of the proceeds will go to the Susan G Komen Foundation to support breast cancer research.

I plan on rocking one throughout the year. As it is said REAL MEN WEAR PINK!!!

Please check out Sacrament's website for more details at http://www.wix.com/sacramentkimonos/sacramentkimonos

Be Blessed!!!

Sacrament Kimonos and Susan G Komen!

There is a new gi manufacturer, their name is Sacrament Kimonos. They are based out of Sacramento CA, and will have their initial release in January 2011.

I have had some contact via Facebook with the company and have suggested a breast cancer inspired gi. Sacrament Kimonos loved the idea and are in the works to release a Susan G. Komen Foundation breast cancer gi.



I will be purchasing one as soon as possible. I plan on wearing to practice and tournaments to represent all the women in my life that I love.

Please support Breast  Cancer research and Sacrament Kimonos, their website is http://www.wix.com/sacramentkimonos/sacramentkimonos

End of the Year Medals.

Professor Marcos "Yemaso" Torregrosa and myself.

Promotions!

Yesterday was a great day in my life. I was honored by Professor Marcos Torregrosa and promoted to the rank of Blue Belt in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The first step towards becoming a Black Belt.

What a great way to end a great year of Jiu-Jitsu.

TEAM YEMASO