There and Back

A journey. A return. Probably tired.

Tag: Gracie Barra

  • Stop Caring About Belt Stripes

    I’m laughing more when I roll. Getting swept to my back or tapping to a choke has never been more fun. I think I’m on to something. Grappling has always been fun. But for most of my BJJ journey I’ve had this sense of trying to ‘work towards something’ and focusing on ‘what’s next’ and when will I just ‘get it.’ Lately though, my fixation on promotion and grading has drifted away. I purposely missed the last two promotions and gradings. I just didn’t care. I mean it’s great to see people improve, and the folks that got stripes and new belts I made sure to congratulate them when I saw them next. But for me, stripes have lost their pull on me.

    I know a purple belt that never signs in. I’m in awe of his aloofness and his dedication to not recording his attendance. I wish I had that in me.

    The slog from blue belt to purple belt is a beautiful frustration of hits and misses and injuries and inadequacies. The visual reward manifests in white tape. To show yourself and others of your dedication. But does it represent actual skill? I bet it would be hard for instructors to keep track of all the students progress without the stripes. And I can see how, say, your first stripe is an indication that ‘hey you’re on the right track!’ And that the fourth stripe can be seen as ‘hey you’re almost there!’

    For me I’m not chasing stripes anymore. I’ll be honoured and thankful when I do get my next stripes, because I respect my head instructors decision and trust his judgement if he decides to give me one.

    My relationship with grappling is getting deeper (also jiu jitsu is not that deep). I don’t mean in a woo woo I’m a ninja sort of way (but yeah we are ninjas). I mean that my love for grappling is expanding to include not just my progress, in the form of stripes, but also to include the subtle ways we grip and toss and trip each other. The physical movements more than the visual upgrade. I am rediscovering the joys of training. Play curiosity presence over promotion. It is a relief not to put pressure on yourself to get a piece of tape. I highly recommend it.

  • Open Mat Reflections – January 24, 2026

    I submitted a black belt. Holy shit. It was with a cross collar choke from the back. I remember him saying oh shit right when I got a grip on the cross collar and put my other hand in like a half-Nelson-type grip/position. We weren’t going really hard, that’s actually one of the reasons I enjoy sparring with him. But it was definitely the top highlight in jiu jitsu of the last year I’ve been grappling.

    I can’t stress this enough: grip fighting is Jiu jitsu. Always start there! And never stop practicing it!

    Only went twice this month so far but rolled pretty well. My endurance and cardio are crap but hey it’s winter time and I got a bit of a belly.

    And I also heard Mikey Musumeci is learning wrestling from Dagestanis? I’ll believe it when I see it.

  • My Training Regime for an Upcoming BJJ Competition in October 2024

    Competing as a hobbyist is exhilarating. Doing your regular life routine but also preparing for a fight can be challenging but it’s worth it.

    Here’s my training regime for my upcoming comp in October (month and a half away)…

    Fitness Gym:

    All upper body lifting. Chest press, bicep curls, back rows, and shoulder presses. I must look the part and when I walk onto the mat I will strike fear into hearts of my opponents. 2 days a week should be good. My cardio is not the greatest so I’m not really looking to improve that much in that area. Too much work.

    Get those 10,000 steps in before bed.

    BJJ Gym Frequency:

    Open mat every Saturday. Roll all ten rounds. Pick white belts as my partners so I can build confidence from smashing them. No gi once or twice a week. Also go to fundamentals class once or twice a week with my wife because we always have a fun time goofing around.

    BJJ Skills to Work On:

    Gripping in gi and no gi. I get the grip fight in gi but my No gi gripping is shite. If my grip game is solid I can get to a good position and work to submit from there. Pretty confident with that part. Also a heavy focus on underhooks and open guard for No gi.

    Nutrition:

    I eat pretty well. Cook almost every night. Steak, pork, or ground beef with veggies and rice. But when I’m at work, that’s when I eat like crap. Gotta stay away from the fries and Tim Bits. Need to lose 2-3 pounds, is definitely doable.

    Mindset:

    I felt way more confident and comfortable at my last competition in January, when I didn’t care about the outcome of the match. It took pressure off me and my expectations were realistic and I had more fun. Also, a trick I do is not looking at the brackets and my opponents before hand, so I don’t look at their profiles on SmoothComp and then psych myself out. I have my wife tell me when my match is coming up. And only try to see my opponent right before I get on the mat.

    What are some ways that YOU like to prepare for a BJJ competition?

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday May 25, 2024

    The black belt head instructor was rolling with me and proceeded to dominate, as expected. At the end of the roll I said his pressure was amazing. He said it’s all in balance, pressure, and connection. I will try and explain what he said to me.

    For example, if you’re in Mount you want to catch your balance first, so they don’t sweep you. Then you want to put pressure on them to make it hard on them to move. Then you want to start making a connection to a limb for a break or their neck for a choke. It seems simple, and it probably is but it’s hard to execute.

    The more I think about it, it seems like these concepts of balance, pressure, and connection when added together, equal control.

    So how did the rest of my rolls go today?

    My ability to dominate white belts continues to impress. My ability to get dominated by higher belts also continues to impress.

    What can I say? I’m an impressive blue belt with one stripe.

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday March 24, 2024

    After rolling with a back belt (it was more survival than anything), a purple belt called me over. He asked me “do you study Jiu Jitsu?”

    I said “I dunno I watch it a lot, I used to wrestle in high school” (I always like to tell people I used to wrestle in high school). He said “you rolled really well with him” as he motioned at the black belt I just sparred with.

    What a great compliment!

    He then showed me a technique/ submission that I had on the black belt but didn’t realize at the time while rolling that I had it.

    For example, I’m in side control on top, both my opponents arms are trapped under me, I then would get a cross-face and then triangle my arms to tighten. It’s like a squeeze submission, very cool.

    I thanked him for showing me the technique and then went off to spar with my next partner. A good day on the mats for sure.

  • Being the Uke in BJJ

    Near the end of last year, the head instructor and owner the GB gym I go to, has used me as the Uke (AKA the demonstration dummy that the techniques are shown on in the middle of the mat so everyone can see what they’re learning that class) for almost every class I’ve been in since then. I’ve been wondering why he keeps picking me.

    What is an Uke in BJJ?

    The technical definition for Uke is…

    “When learning new moves, partners will take turns practicing on each other. The “uke” is the student who is allowing a partner to practice a technique on them. It is the uke’s job to be cooperative and not provide too much resistance, so their partner can successfully practice and learn the technique. However, a good uke is not a limp noodle!”

    https://eastonbjj.com/brazilian-jiu-jitsu/bjj-terminology/

    I haven’t got any special powers from being the demonstration dummy. Although I’ve been able to not show how much pain I’m in when my coach is done showing the move. Gotta stay strong in front of those white belts!

    When I first started BJJ, as a fresh white belt, I thought it was the highest honor and coolest spot to be in. I admired and looked up to the Ukes. I thought, there must be something special about them, they must know the technique perfectly if they are being used to teach it!

    After being the Uke dozens of time now, I can say for certain that that isn’t the case (at least for me). Often times after being smashed by the instructor, I can’t remember what the technique was that I was part of. I wonder if there are any new members who think the same things about me when I’m the demonstration dummy, that I used to think of the Ukes when I first started.

    PSA: be nice on your Ukes, they have feelings too!

    What Makes a Good Uke?

    About a month ago, I was scrolling around on the BJJ Subreddit (aka wasting time) and read a post titled, Question to the professors. What makes you decide on who to use as an Uke.

    Question to the professors. What makes you decide on who to use as an Uke.
    byu/bsam1890 inbjj

    Here are some of the top replies that people shared about why they pick certain people to be the Uke:

    “Same size as me, contrasting gi color, and skilled enough to give correct responses. Unless it’s, like, escapes or something where a bigger person is more compelling.”

    “order of importance:
    -Least wet person
    -smells of cinnamon and fresh baked bread
    -makes me look better”

    “I’m never picked. Too sweaty”

    “It depends. Often it’s the ones that bend the most. I usually go for lighter people so I can explain it in detail without much effort, especially if it’s dynamic.”

    “Not necessarily belt level. Sometimes it has to do with body type best to demonstrate the technique. Some people just make better ukes than others though regardless of the belt. They listen, anticipate, and respond correctly for the demonstration.”

    “Someone who I know is going to give me realistic/appropriate reactions to the technique I’m demoing. Nothing worse than trying to show how to prevent a common counter and the uke is going ham on shit that no one would ever do ever.”

    “I choose someone more or less my size (I’m short) but prefer a higher grade (purple or above) – mainly because they know how to react as I talk through a technique and secondly I do not have to show them the same thing again after demonstrating it.”

    “Whoever is my social anxiety blanket at the time…”

    “My prof uses the guy least likely to go unconscious.”

    “Good, not heavy, someone I like as a person.”

    So basically, if I had to guess why my head instructor picks me to be the Uke each time I train, it’s probably because we’re the same height, I’m a blue belt so I can react mostly correctly (although not all the time heh), I weigh less than him so it’s easier to do a technique, and I’m a decent person and not a shit head. All those sound good to me. Or, he picks me because I’m the closest person on the mat to him and it’s just easier. Who knows.

  • How to Be a Successful Lazy Grappler

    “Why do a takedown when you can pull guard?”

    – a lazy grappler

    As we were drilling a cool sweep in class recently, I think I heard my head instructor say to a couple of white belts, that sweeping is the fastest way to the mount. It got me thinking, maybe I’m doing this bjj thing wrong (wrong for my age and body type).

    I’ll be 39 this year. I’m in decent shape, don’t drink or smoke. And can recover fairly well. But I can’t keep up or out wrestle the younger people at my jiu jitsu gym. Ain’t gonna happen. No matter how much I try and finish a single or double leg takedown. Even a failed attempt at a single leg takedown, and I’m exhausted.

    Time for a new approach.

    The Lazy Man’s Guide to Grappling

    “If you’re going to get beat anyway then
    realize that this is an opportunity to take it easy”

    You know how they say, destroy your ego, well in the case of getting beat in a bjj round, if you’re going to lose a position or get submitted, take the L. Your ego won’t be hurt. Your ego will be so strong it doesn’t even care if your guard gets passed because you’ve survived and didn’t get hurt.

    “A grappling school is a learning
    environment and if you grapple long enough you will be able to hand
    out more whippings than there will be grapplers to accept them.”

    Our time will come, my fellow older blue belt. But that time won’t come if we get injured. And we’ll get injured if we keep rolling like an 18 year old college wrestler.

    “Once you have them clamped down then you can
    begin to rest and start thinking about what you want for dinner
    after practice. Depending upon experience they will be moving a
    little or a lot in order to break free, but it will be a lot less
    than you because you have established position. For them, not only
    have they not established a favorable position, they are operating
    from a deficit.”

    Position before submission. Don’t rush. Establish control before attacking. I constantly need to remind myself of those. If you go slow you can go fast (that sounds like some old school martial arts wisdom, it’s not mine I definitely heard it somewhere though).

    “To throw my grappling buddies off when I am
    on top, I sometimes act as if I am going after a choke or I will
    pull their gi out of their belt and pretend I am working on a new
    type of submission. In reality I am just buying time, as most
    people will try to defend by trying to remove my hand or keep me
    from tugging on their gi. I often have no idea what I am doing but
    I gain precious rest while pretending I possess awesome skills”

    There isn’t much time to rest and take it easy while grappling, so why not make time? I also often don’t really know what I want to do from any given position, either on top or bottom. “Fake it ‘til to make it” is a good strategy for the aspiring lazy grappler.

    “As a lazy grappler I don’t have the energy
    or motivation to spend two minutes trying to get you down. I need
    you down yesterday […]

    My mission is to, as quickly as possible, do one of the
    following: overwrap both of my opponent’s arms (one will suffice
    too), apply a bear hug or get a Greco Roman grip. Once I lock up an
    opponent I like to apply an inside or outside leg trip

    Bear hug and trip. That sounds low effort and low risk. I like the sound of that!

    If you want to last long, save energy, and stay cool calm and collected, while rolling jiu jitsu, I highly recommend becoming a lazy grappler.

    I’ve noticed some weird bjj training phenomena that has made my bjj game get better. Becoming a lazy grappler is one of them.

    Don’t take it too seriously, have fun, and don’t get injured. Don’t use too much energy, low-effort techniques are your friends, and move slow to prevent yourself from getting hurt.

    Now doesn’t that sound like a good plan for BJJ longevity!

    Check out The Lazy Man’s Guide to Grappling by Bakari Akil II PhD here https://www.amazon.ca/Lazy-Mans-Guide-Grappling-ebook/dp/B0045U9SA4

  • Gracie Barra GB3 Class: PART 2

    I did in fact get off work early and made it to GB1 Fundamentals and then the GB3 class.

    We learned K guard tonight. Then k guard to the matrix back take. Now that is some advanced leg entanglements.

    And as I said, I got smashed. Thought I pulled a muscle in my hand. But when I got home and showed my soon-to-be-nurse wife, she said it’s just a bruise. I’m lucky then.

    I’d definitely do another GB3 class.

  • Gracie Barra GB3 Class

    The head instructor and gym owner said I was ready for the GB 3 class. He told me that after I rolled with him. He got me in a sweet arm bar and then somehow took my back with this technique called K guard.

    You know what, I think I’m ready for that class too. It will be filled with a bunch of big purple, brown, and black belts but I’m ready for the challenge.

    During my first year of doing JiuJitsu as a white belt I tried doing the GB 3 classes a few times, they were rough. Not only was the warm-up challenging, but the techniques they showed, usually involving the legs, are what I considered advanced and way over my head.

    If I get off work in time maybe I’ll go tonight.

    I expect to get absolutely smashed. Poor little blue belt.

  • Getting Bronze

    A few weeks ago, I got third place out of three competitors at a Grappling Industries round robin tournament in Toronto, Canada. There was supposed to be seven of us, but the other dropped out, didn’t show up, or got injured earlier in the day.

    The two other competitors and myself, each won one match and lost one match. But I think the medals were determined by how each of us won and lost. I think. I didn’t look into it.

    I was happy with how my matches went. I didn’t get injured so that’s a win in and of itself. My main goal was to win one match, and I achieved it. Anything that happened after was okay with me. I one my first match by refs decision and I lost my second match by guillotine. The video of my matches is below if you want to see me get submitted (the match I lost was only 25 seconds haha).

    This is my second time at a Grappling Industries match. The first time I went was wild, I did seven matches. You can read about that here -> 8 Match BJJ Competition Extravaganza AND Why Getting Your Ass Kicked is a Great Way to Test Yourself

    With all its nuttiness and organized chaos, it’s my favorite competition to go to. You get a good bang for your buck – $90 for at least 4 matches and up to 8 matches, good deal.

    Okay, that’s enough chatter. Below is a video of my two matches. First the loss, then the win.

    Enjoy.