Gabi Garcia MMA Fight Tonight (or Today? Right Now?)

Oh, it already happened. Garcia won, MMA Junkie reports:

“The anticipated MMA debut of 10-time jiu-jitsu world champion Gabi Garcia (1-0) played out like the spectacle many had expected when she stopped Seini Draughn (0-1) by first-round TKO after a sloppy, back-and-forth women’s heavyweight fight… After some wild striking exchanges, Garcia clipped Draughn with a backhand that caused a knockdown. Garcia got on top and pounded away with hammerfists until referee John McCarthy called an end to the contest.”

Feel free to check out the rest of the rest of the article, which includes the rest of the summary of Garcia’s fight, as well as the results for Kron Gracie and Feder Emelianenko’s fights.

Have a great day everyone, and see you in the New Year!

 

Article on Top Submissions for 2015

Hey guys, Dirty White Belt has some interesting stats on the most completed submissions for 2015. As always, basics rule and the top submission was the good old arm bar.

Check it out, and have a great day everyone!

BJJ Goals for 2016: What Are Yours?

Instead of the whole resolution idea, let’s talk about goals or themes we want to focus on for the new year. What are some goals you want to achieve in the new year?

Personally, I have some weaknesses that I would like to work on: primarily my balance. I’m pretty awful at balancing on one foot- which doesn’t really matter much when you have your back on the ground, but it’s something that has always bothered me and I imagine effects my takedowns (particularly judo) to a degree, so my plan is to take the time to improve it. I may not be able to pistol squat on top of an exercise ball anytime soon, but I will at least be able to keep on foot off of solid ground for longer than 10 seconds.

How about you? What are your goals for the new year? Let me know- otherwise, have a great day!

Article on BJJ 2.0 and Self Defense

I find it funny that the subtitle to this article on Science of Skill is “What is the world coming to?” because that’s what people I think have been saying in each previous generation since the dawn of time.

Anyway, the author points out some very common misconceptions about jiu jitsu and self defense, and offers his own opinions about them. One in particular is that there is no striking in jiu jitsu- make no mistake, there is definitely striking in jiu jitsu (in regards to self defense at least) it’s just something people typically don’t focus on.

What do you think? Check it out and let me know-otherwise, have a great day everyone!

Christmas Eve and the Last Rolls of the Season

Hey everyone! the year is winding down, and we’re getting into the last training sessions or rolls of the year. How many do you think you’re going to be able to fit in? One? Two? Ten?

Ahh, ahh, ahhhh…

Anyway, let me know- otherwise have a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Ode to December 23rd

Totally unrelated to jiu jitsu, I know, but this is all I can think of right now: the comedy duo Paul and Storm’s ode to December 23rd:

Have a great day everyone!

Explaining vs. Showing: How Do You Best Learn Jiu Jitsu?

So, anyone who has talked to me for longer than 12 seconds knows that I’m a visual person: I think in very visual terms, when I speak or write I like to build an image for my intended audience, and when I learn something, I need to “see” it with my mind’s eye to understand it. It’s one of the nice things about jiu jitsu class: in addition to explaining the technique, more often than not the instructor will go through the motions of the technique, offering the best of both worlds, showing the technique and then providing additional explanation and focus on certain details.

I’m bringing this up because I know there are some blogs out there that go tremendously in depth in their explanation of a technique, and basically provide a how to: and more often than not it’s all Greek to me. Not that I lack the capacity to eventually imagine what the person is trying to explain, or that the person is somehow failing in their explanation- it’s just I can’t “see” what they are trying to explain very easily.

It’s just a learning preference: I imagine there are people out there who love the step by step, written instruction on how to do something. If so, let me know who you are, and what appeals to you about that method: I’m genuinely curious.

Otherwise, have a great day everyone!

Article on Focusing on Competition, Not Winning

Hello everyone- Girl Jitsu has an interesting article (it mentions a study that was performed, so of course it caught my interest) on competitiveness. The take away from the article is to focus more on the competition itself, and less on the results- a sentiment I whole heartedly agree with. Your focus in competition should be performing well, not whether or not you will end up on the awards podium.

Anyway, check it out, let me know what you think- otherwise, have a great day!

 

Happy Friday! Back in Action Edition

Happy Friday everyone! I’m back from my trip to Madrid and Barcelona: it was crazy amounts of fun, but now it’s time to get back to work, training and all of that good stuff.

I heard that Ryan Hall won the Ultimate Fighter title: hooray! And…Er… Can someone fill me in on what I missed since last Thursday?

Let me know- otherwise, have a great weekend everyone!

BRB, Going on an Adventure!

Hey Everyone,

I’ll be travelling for the next week- I’m going out of the country for the first time in almost 10 years: crazy!

Anyway, I’m going to probably have very limited internet time, but will try to update instagram (@skirtonthemat) and all, like I usually do when I travel.

So have a great week everyone, train hard, and feel free to jam out with me (this song has been stuck in my head for the past 12 hours or so):

(also, heads up, this has some f-bombs being dropped in the beginning)