NY times best seller Sam Harris on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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In case you missed it NY times best selling author Sam Harris wrote a fantastic piece on training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

To quote:

“… a similar form of self-deception can be found in most martial artists, because almost all training occurs with some degree of partner compliance: Students tend to trade stereotyped attacks in a predictable sequence, stopping to reset before repeating the drill. This staccato pattern of practice, while inevitable when learning a technique for the first time, can become a mere pantomime of combat that does little to prepare a person for real encounters with violence……I can now attest that the experience of grappling with an expert is akin to falling into deep water without knowing how to swim. You will make a furious effort to stay afloat—and you will fail. Once you learn how to swim, however, it becomes difficult to see what the problem is—why can’t a drowning man just relax and tread water? The same inscrutable difference between lethal ignorance and lifesaving knowledge can be found on the mat: To train in BJJ is to continually drown—or, rather, to be drowned, in sudden and ingenious ways—and to be taught, again and again, how to swim…..Whether you are an expert in a striking-based art—boxing, karate, tae kwon do, etc.—or just naturally tough, a return to childlike humility awaits you.”

The article also features a comment from Portland Gym head coach and SBG Founder Matt Thornton:

“ I agree we need all three ranges—stand up, clinch and ground—for self-defense; and, in general, we want to avoid going to the ground in a fight. However, the best way to ensure that you will end up on the ground is to never train there in the first place. It’s the non-grapplers who are easiest to take down, and being in a “fight” means it isn’t necessarily up to you where you end up. So, it’s a bit of irony that wanting to stay off the ground in a self-defense situation should dictate a serious commitment to grappling.”

You can read it here:  http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-pleasures-of-drowning

Portland SBG training methodology #5, the five types of drills.

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In the last few posts we’ve discussed SBG’s “I” method, and it’s use in drilling and training. We also talked about the first of the three stages in the “I” method, the introducation stage. Now we will get into the heart and soul of drilling SBG style, and explain why these training methods set SBG apart from the rest.

One you pass the I-troduction stage it is time to move on to the critical second part, the Isolation stage. This is the stage where students are actually drilling. This is the stage where students get to work the movements against Alive resistance. And this is the stage where students actually acquire the critical element of ‘timing’.

Timing is not gained from repetitions without resistance. As such we don’t usually refer to any form of repetition without resistance as a drill. All of the drilling at SBGi is done Alive; and this linking point between technique, and what actually occurs in a live roll against a fully resisting opponent is know for us as the isolation stage.

Contrary to popular misconception, the majority of classes at our Gym are not ‘sparring’; the majority of any class I teach tends to be the isolations stage, it tends to be drilling.

As an example, if we are teaching a 60 minute BJJ class, the first 15 minutes or so may be devoted to the introduction stage, the following 30 minutes will be devoted to the drilling or isolation phase, and the last 15 minutes may be devoted to sparring, the integration stage. Of course this is just a sample break down. But most classes are quite close to this example of time. There are many ways to drill Alive, and once drilling Alive is understood, the amount of great drills available for any particular movement is limited only by the Coaches own imagination.

 I sat down many years ago and tried to list all the different ‘types’ of drills that can be created. These are the 5 types of drills we use.

1- Objective drills

2- Isolation drills

3- Call out drills

4- Re-set drills

5- Pocket drills

Each type of drill isolates a different group of skill sets, or a particular type of timing; and each has its time and place, depending on the material you are working and the focus of that particular class.

You’ll find that many instructors and coaches are only familiar with one or at best two of the above listed drilling methods. This greatly limits the drilling possibilities in class. Familiarizing yourself with all 5 types of athletic drills is mandatory for an SBGi Coach.

Each type of drill could easily warrant an entire article on its own. But for simplicity sake I will give a brief example of each for ground (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, BJJ), clinch (takedowns/ wrestling) and stand up (boxing kickboxing). Keep in mind that many drills are combinations of two of more of the types listed above.

Don’t get two hung up on the semantics of it. The point of listing them to begin with is to help open up your imagination/mind as a teacher and a coach. We want all our staff to easily be able to create fun and highly useful drills on the spot; regardless of the material that is being worked. My own students are constantly coming up with all kinds of variations on different drills, and it’s always something I enjoy seeing and learning from.

In the next article we get into each type of drill, and how it’s best applied.

Portland SBG training methodology #4, mastering the introduction stage.

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At this point in our series of articles it’s worth stating another obvious point. All rules create exceptions.

There will always be one or two athletes in any class no matter how terrible the Instructor is, who will get better using the material presented. I would offer that these individuals get better despite the Instruction, and certainly not due to it.

At the very least I think we can confidently say that given a more proper teaching method, not only do all the students on the mat get better, poor athletes and good athletes the same, but so do the natural ‘star’ students. As JFK said, “a rising tide raises all boats”. If the whole group is getting better, then every individual athletes game evolves as well. As such, I am always focusing on the best ways to teach the majority, not just the already gifted minority. 

This brings me to another point, I am always using the example of brand new students when talking about these teaching methods. I am assuming in these examples a group of people who have had no prior BJJ or grappling experience. Again, if you are working with a room full of solid blue belts, everything becomes much easier. The points I made above, may in this case seem far less critical. However, common sense again tells us that if the suggestions above make a big difference when working with brand new people (and I assure you from 18 Years of fulltime teaching, day in and day out that they do), then they will also help more advanced athletes, blues, purples, brown belts as well.

When I am teaching my Instructor courses for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ, and Mixed Martial Arts MMA, and the lowest skill level of the students is at least high blue or purple, I still follow the same progressions I listed above. I still teach things in the order they arise on the mat, in the order in which I want them used (habits), and I don’t create problems that have not arisen yet.

Often times this means that I begin a class that I am teaching to purple belts (as an example) with a ten or fifteen minute review of the fundamentals of any given position or posture. After the review I get into the newer material I am interested in working with them. This helps make sure all my advanced belts always stay sharp on the fundamentals of each position themselves, and it also helps remind them of what I want them to do when they are teaching brand new people. And on a side note, it helps keep my own game sharper as well.

Rickson Gracie with SBG_UK’s Karl Tanswell. Rickson is a master of the fundamentals 

It’s easy for a purple or brown belt that is teaching a group of beginners to forget all the things that made a huge difference to him/her when they first started and jump right into a cool submission or counter-movement that they themselves are working on. This often leaves new white belts lost in translation.

By always reviewing the fundamentals in every class, you keep your upper belts reminded of the key points they may otherwise occasionally forget to pass on.

So this is the Introduction stage.

Some key points:

1- Use little to no resistance when introducing the move.

2- Encourage verbal communication between training partners at this stage.

3- Make sure the movement can be done properly without resistance before. proceeding to the drill stage, which for us (SBGi) always incorporates resistance.

Some key points on the material you introduce:

1- Stick the fundamentals of the delivery system being taught.

2- Make sure all the students can perform the move before proceeding, if this process takes more then about 15-20 minutes then the movements are probably to complex at this stage for the level of the group.

3- Introduce the movements in the order in which they occur in an Alive roll.

4- Remember the habits you want your students to develop, and emphasize these points by organizing the order in which you introduce the material, and the amount of time you spend on each piece.

5- Don’t create problems for your students before they arise naturally on the mat.

Before we move onto the next stage of the ‘I’ method I need to make a critical point here.

At SBGi the Introduction stage is always followed by the Isolation stage.

Of everything mentioned above, none of it is actually drilling yet. What we do not want to do is introduce a few new movements/techniques to students, repeat them in some form of dead pattern or repetition, and then roll. That exactly what I am not advocating.

This example of bad teaching is the often known coaching method of “here are a few random movements I just pulled out of my ass, they may, or may not even be related, lets do them a few times without resistance, okay now lets roll”. I have seen far too many teachers run classes this way.

A few final points before we leave the introduction stage.

There are two good ways to know as the teacher when it’s time to move forward into the drilling stage. The first is to look around the room and observe if everyone in the class has the movement. And the second is to listen.

Because we place a lot of emphasis on helping your training partner out at my Gym, and because we encourage verbal communication during the introduction stage, the room is filled with conversations about the movements we are working. Everyone on the mat actively helps his or her partners. This is a great plus for new people, who find themselves in a welcoming environment where students go out of their way to help newcomers. But it also has the added benefit of allowing a smart teacher one more method of telling when it’s time to drill.

By keeping your ears open to the conversations occurring on the mat, you will easily be able to notice if the group as a whole has the movements figured out up to this stage, or if some still need a bit more time. It’s always worth taking the time to walk around the mat and listen to the conversations.

Finally, I usually end the introduction portion of the class with a question and answer period that is related to the material we just worked.

This does two things. One, it allows any final questions to be asked before we enter the drill stage. And two, it lets everyone know in the class that the time for conversation is now ending. We are now moving forward into the timing stage. The part of the class where it’s time to let the body do its thing, and give the mouth a rest.

Between working the technique without resistance (introduction), and rolling live at the end (integration), exists the extremely important drill stage (isolation), and this stage is the key linking point between the techniques/positions/movements introduced to the student in the class, and the entire game (rolling) that occurs at the end of class. And this is the stage I will talk about in our next entry.

Stay Tuned.

Portland SBG training methodology #3 as it arises naturally

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In the last two posts I discussed why it is critical to place the highest value on core fundamentals, and we also discussed how the sequence those fundamentals are offered in matters. It is important to remember that as much as that may all seem like common sense, we shouldn’t assume that people who have never had any formal training whatsoever as teachers would automatically get it right; most teachers do not.

I have watched many classes from very high level BJJ players who simply begin with any random technique they may have been working on at the moment; and although that may be fine for a guest appearance, or at a seminar, or when working with a group of already seasoned brown belts, when your working with the same people week after week who are starting from scratch, learning simple concepts such as the relative importance of the order of the material can make all the difference in the world. And it can mean your students may be able to compete at a solid blue belt level within a Year, as opposed to two or three.

How do you know what order to place the material in?

Here are three simple rules of thumb I often use:

1- Teach things in the order in which they arise naturally on the mat.

2- Teach them in the order in which you want your students to apply them as habits.

3- And don’t create problems before they arise naturally on the mat.

Regarding number one, if I am teaching how to open the closed guard to a brand new group of people, I am not going to start with a couple specific leg opening movements and then proceed later into base and posture. That would be out of sequence with what they will experience when they are rolling. So obviously there we would start with base and posture, and then proceed to opening the legs. Point number one and point number two tend to blend together when you are teaching. They are like two sides of the same coin.

As a good Coach what you obviously want is for your students to develop the habit of defending and applying things in the same order in which they actually occur during a live role. And that means always trying to solve things as early as possible, not at the last possible minute.

 Here is another example of point number two (you can see where it relates to point number one throughout). Lets use the example of leg lock counters.

If I show a group of people new to leg locks how to counter an achilles hold, and I start with the lock almost completely on, then I have skipped at least five different steps.

The natural by product of teaching this way is that you will have a room full of beginners who will often start their counter movements at a point in which they are just about to tap. As a teacher who wants his students to be catching these things as early as possible, this would not be good.

Instead, first I would start with where to put your feet. I would follow with how to clear your foot once someone grabs it. I would follow that with how to stay attached, and not allow your opponent to lay back and get position for the leg lock (assuming you could not prevent them from grabbing it in the first place, and once grabbed you were unable to free your foot), and only after all of those things would I proceed with the last ditch counter-submission movements.

Rickson had a very simple order in which he taught his curriculum. He called it:

 defense – offense – defense.

What I believe he meant by that was that he started with the fundamentals of a given position. In his case he started with escapes. As you have to teach top in order to teach bottom, we can call that first segment titled ‘defense’, fundamental positions. Your first, and by far your best means of defense is to always seek the advantage found in positional dominance. That is what BJJ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is about.

Following positional dominance he taught the second section of core ‘offense’, chokes, armbars, etc. All of these flow off of maintaining position first, as it’s the position that gives you the leverage for the submission. This is a point all BJJ players know and learn very quickly.

Last he would teach ‘counter-offense’, this is the third section labeled ‘defense’, which is to say the counters to the submissions. This is a very logical progression, defense – offense – defense. And it relates to the same points I have made above.

The last rule of thumb was not creating problems before they arise naturally.

Again lets assume you are working with a group of brand new students. The lesson for the day is the triangle. The students have already worked some fundamentals about the guard, and as such they are well prepared for introduction to this fundamental submission.

Here is the question, if the triangle is a new movement for the majority of the group, would I want to drill the counter to the submission in the same class?

My answer to that is almost always (remember warnings not rules) an emphatic no.

What I want to see first is the students in the class tapping each other out in live rolls using a triangle. In a good class, this can often occur the same day. But that stated, I would probably give the group at least a few weeks to work the submission before I started drilling the counter to it. After a few weeks every time I got to the Q & A section at the end of class I am quite sure there would be at least a few people who would raise their hand and tell me they were having trouble getting caught with triangles. The problem has now arisen, and as such it would be time to work the counter to it.

What I don’t want to do is drill the counter to the triangle before anyone in the class is really able to pull off a triangle in a competitive roll. If I do, I may actually be doing a disservice to my students. I will be shortchanging their ability to play with, and grow into this submission.

Of course I am not suggesting that you will not mention key points that will involve what others may do in an attempt to counter the movement you just taught, i.e. with a triangle you will probably discuss the need to keep the opponent from getting posture. You may also work what to do if the opponent tries to pick them up and slam them, or tries to hide their own arm, make a frame, etc. But, the distinction here is one of perspective. We are working from the perspective of the person applying the triangle, so the majority of drill time will be aimed at this objective. That does not mean you will not expose your students to the things that may come up while attempting the movement.

Again, as common sense as that idea seems to be, we cannot assume that anyone teaching BJJ will automatically understand it.

As good Coaches it is our job to help our staff learn how to best impart this information to others. I have seen many coaches introduce a new submission to the class, and then five minutes later teach the counter to the very same submission. The natural by product of that is that a good percentage of the students never actually learn to use the submission, as everyone counters it before they have even gotten a chance to develop it. A few weeks go by, and the move is forgotten. Perhaps only to be picked up Years later when some of the students are purple belt, and they say “Oh ya, I remember seeing that 4 Years ago but I could never do it?”

By sticking to the guidelines listed above, teaching things in the order they arise, creating habits in the order we want them to be executed, and avoiding the creation of problems before they arise naturally, we can help create that optimum environment for growth that will allow the students to thrive.

Portland SBG training methodology #2 sequence matters

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In our last post we talked about how the SBG emphasis on fundamentals that we apply here at the Portland Oregon Academy, create the environment that provides the space and freedom for individuals to develop their own, unique, “styles” of play.

Now let’s get into specifics regarding actual methodology.

The starting point for understanding the SBGi teaching model we use at the Portland Gym is the “I” method.

The “I”method is a simple 3-step process. You begin with introduction, the starting point for any class. Proceed directly into isolation, which is the drill stage, and consequently the stage I will be discussing the most in this article. And you finish with the integration stage. I call this the context stage, it’s the point where you take that class and work it back into the big picture of whatever game you are working on, BJJ, MMA, self defense, etc.

‘I’ Method:

Step #1 = Introduction

Step #2 = Isolation

Step #3 = Integration

Here is a practical example for using the “I” method.

The Introduction stage

Let’s say you are working on escapes from mount position from BJJ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You begin by introducing the core escapes to the class. For sake of example lets say that is an elbow escape, and an upa (bridge & roll). During the intro stage students are encouraged to talk to each other, switch back and forth and work the material without using any resistance right now. If there is a place for repetition in training, this is it.

The objective for the Coach is two fold, first everyone in class should be able to demonstrate and work the movement in a manner that is technically correct when no resistance is being applied.

And second, every student should understand why/ how the movement is meant to work.

This process usually takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes. If it takes more time then that then you may be teaching something that the class is not ready for, i.e. a triangle escape in a class of people who may not know how to do a triangle yet.

The biggest factor in time for the introduction stage is usually just class size.

As a teacher I like to make sure everyone on the mat gets it when no resistance is applied; and I have yet to meet a student who was not able to get it at the intro stage, provided you are patient in communicating with them. However, obviously class size will affect the time this process takes.

An important point here regarding the I-ntroduction stage is the proper method for correcting students. There are good ways and bad ways to do this.

As an example, one of our coaches attended a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminar awhile ago at another gym that was taught by a former world champion. This champion is well known in the BJJ community, and widely considered an expert “teacher” as well. What method did he use often for instruction? The answer is ridicule, and that alone should give you a clue as to exactly why being a world champion has absolutely nothing to do with being a good, or even decent teacher.

What this instructor would do is call up people from the audience and ask them to demonstrate a particular BJJ move. Then once they finished, he would immeadiately say something along the lines of, “Oh no,
that was all wrong”, and then proceed to show the “right” way to do it, inevitably making some changes on however it was taught by the person previous to him.

Our own SBG coach didn’t jump into the nonsense of this scene, but observed it from the sidelines. It should go without saying why this should never be your teaching model; unless of course you want to be known as a dick.

                       

When teaching well, as we do at SBG, you want to encourage the students progress, not ridicule them, or make them feel small. If you notice during the introduction phase that they are doing something incorrectly, praise them for what they are doing well, even if it’s just for honestly trying, then correct them with kindness, and then finally, praise them again should they follow your guideince. The acronym we use for this method is PCP, or praise, correct, praise, and it’s important to remember if you actually care about the students you are coaching.

Another key factor about the introduction stage is how the curriculum itself is introduced to the student. And this brings me to a major point as it relates to teaching:

The order in which you introduce things can determine the habits your students develop.

This point really can’t be emphasized enough. Here is a concrete example. If I begin a BJJ lesson with a‘darce choke’ (as one of infinite examples), and these are individuals who are just starting out in BJJ (first few lessons), then I may in fact be helping them to develop habits which will be counter-productive to their game.

Why?

Because we have skipped quite a few steps, which in an alive roll occur prior to the choke arising.

In this example, we have not yet taught them about the importance of maintaining the far side underhook, we have not taught them the first thing to do when your opponent re-pummels and gets the underhook from crossides bottom, we have not yet taught them how to do a proper whizzer, in fact, there are at least five steps that occur between the time your opponent gets the underhook on bottom and the point at which you are in a position to do something like a darce choke.

So the question is, do you really want your students giving away the far side underhook, and then skipping all the steps needed to re-pummel and keep their opponent on his/her back?

Because if you don’t teach them the material in order, then most students will automatically let all that go, and just attempt to jump into the darce choke. Why wouldn’t they, if at this point it’s all you have taught them?

Now you might say so what, won’t we get around to working the rest of the material as well at some point anyway?

The problem with that theory is that in BJJ everyone starts developing habits on day one; and again, the order in which you introduce material to new students will have a direct effect on the habits those new students develop on the mat.

This is why we pay so much attention to those little details in curriculum at the Portland Gym.

That of course does not mean that a student should not be introduced to a darce choke. To the contrary, what it means is that there is a better way to work the student towards acquiring that choke in a live roll.

 

You might want to first start with emphasizing the importance of not giving away the far side underhook to begin with. After that, you might want to work re-pummeling right away if that underhook is lost.

Finally, a good movement to follow that, is a counter series for when the opponent (bottom person) gets the far side underhook. At the Portland Gym we start with the “diaper check”, which is placing the hand inside the bottom persons thigh so that they cannot gain any leverage with their underhook, and then re-pummeling.

After all that I would probably follow with the use of a proper whizzer (overhook) position from top. Something that is pretty detailed within itself. And from that whizzer position many submissions and movements open themselves up, one being the darce choke.

 

Again you can see one of the key teaching principles of SBG being applied above, Posture – Pressure – Possibilities.

By learning the proper posture, and the appropriate pressure to apply from that posture, the possibilities, in this case a choke, present themselves.

Skip the above step and jump straight to the possibilities, and you short change the student, and leave out the heart and soul of what makes BJJ work.

As a Coach who cares a lot about helping my students be as good as they can be, I know what habits I would like them to acquire once they get crossides top. And because I want them to develop those habits, I teach them in the order in which they arise naturally in a competitive roll. Only after I see that they have learned one set (with resistance) do I move on to the next series, not because we are looking to slow down their progress, but rather, because we are looking to speed it up.

In our next entry I’ll get into a very simple three step rule of thumb that will help provide you as a teacher or student with the best order, the most appropriate sequence, to place your curriculum in.

Portland SBG training methodology #1, fundamentals equals freedom.

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We’ve been doing MMA Mixed Martial Arts at the Portland SBG before the sport of MMA even existed within the USA. We are also Portland’s oldest BJJ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy. That said it isn’t just the twenty years of experience, or multiple BJJ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts on our mat that make our programs so unique. What really sets SBG apart worldwide not just within Portland Oregon, are our unique training methods.

As such, we’ve decided to devote a series of blog posts filled with details on that subject. Whether you are brand new to MMA Mixed Martial Arts, BJJ Brazilian Jiu JItsu, Boxing, Kickboxing, or simply Martial Arts in general, this series should help smooth your journey, and make the training process for you a faster, and smarter one.

As most of you who follow SBGi to some degree know, our main message is that of Aliveness. If Aliveness doesn’t come first, then everything else unravels to some degree and what we are left with isn’t even the same animal. We always start with that vital principle.

After that comes the curriculum itself. And this gets into our entire teaching thesis. The basic premise being that the entire curriculum, stand up (boxing kickboxing), clinch (wrestling & Muay Thai) and ground (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ) revolves around the fundamentals of the delivery system. And because of this, each individual athlete is given the freedom needed to develop his/her own style; one that is optimum for their own body, mind and temperament.

In a Gym like the Portland SBG that focuses on fundamentals, as opposed to a technique-by-technique template, each and every purple belt (as one example) will roll using very different types of games. And this not only produces better athletes/technicians quickly, it also helps impart and preserve the core Art (delivery system) itself. 

For us at the Portland SBG it is about giving students not just the game, but also the understanding behind why the game works the way it does; a point that is for us, is very important.

Learning to think critically/rationally, and understanding why things work the way they do as opposed to simply how something works, is crucial if you truly want to understand something.

Of course certain core movements and techniques help form that curriculum, but as you will see in this series, sometimes these can be as simple as a posture, or a concept.

To be clear this teaching thesis is not new, and certainly not something we claim to have invented. Speaking for myself as the founder of SBG and Head Coach for the Portland Gym, my first big BJJ influence (and the person who gave me my blue belt) was Rickson Gracie. And I owe a lot of credit to my understanding of how important focusing on fundamentals is to him.

*(My Coach who awarded me my purple, brown and black belts is Chris Haueter, and he had a massive influence on me as well. I will talk about that influence later on in this series)

If you have ever watched Rickson teach BJJ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you will notice he seldom (if ever) shows anything that your average blue belt has not already been exposed to at some point. Yet each and every time, a new detail or key point is revealed in his class about that core movement. And that is for me, the definition of a great Instructor.

We have many visitors at the Portland Gym who travel from all across the USA and World. And this point about the wide variety of styles represented on my mat always gets noticed. It’s no secret; it is just the natural by product of focusing on the fundamentals.

This concept of maintaining a curriculum that revolves around the fundamental movements of a given delivery system/range and training that curriculum in an Alive manner, is something we do because it is the best method we have come up with so far; it’s not about dogma, it’s about results; and training smart is a science. 

Not only is it most efficient way, but it also allows the athlete the most possible freedom of expression. That freedom is very important because it provides the space needed for the athlete’s body to learn to move in a manner that best suits their physiology and personality;? and here is the key point, for every body that is going to be different.

Obviously there are as many styles of teaching as there are teachers. So find a teacher, Gym, and vibe that suits you. This article is about the SBGi teaching/Coaching method, in particular, the one we use when teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts MMA, in Portland. However, if a detailed discussion of how we try and Coach is not of interest, or if you are of the “just do it”, or “there are no superior models” mindset, then this probably won’t the series for you. We at the Portland SBG do believe there is always room for improving things, and this goes for the field of education as well. We are of course not alone in that belief. And teaching/ Coaching methods have, like everything else, evolved over the decades. This is our contribution to that process. 

In the next article that we will post in the next few days we will get into specifics as it relates to the “I” method, which is the heart and soul of the SBG drilling methodology.

The ‘Art’ of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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The Art of BJJ is much bigger then just gi, no-gi, IBJJ rules, or even MMA.

In the past when I have talked about the larger delivery system of Jiu-Jitsu I’ve demonstrated it by writing a large square on the board, one corner had ‘GI’, the other ‘No-Gi’, the other ‘MMA’, and the other ‘Self Defense’. The point was that each corner of the box represents one aspect of the same, when seen as a whole, delivery system; Jiu-Jitsu.

I think all of us at some time, will temporarily loose grasp of the totality that is well done Jiu-Jitsu.

Throughout the course of a career we may spend a considerable amount of time focusing on tournament style gi BJJ, or instead no-gi style submission wrestling, or any of the variations that exist within them. However, if we want the larger picture, the view that encompasses the whole delivery system of BJJ, we need to make sure our games can adapt to all four corners of the square. And the quickest and really only way to ensure we can do that is by focusing our games around, and on, proper
fundamentals.

And as you should know if you are familiar with the SBG methodology from our Portland Oregon Gym, in Jiu-Jitsu that means only two things, posture and pressure.

Good examples of those that have trained the entire box would be Rickson Gracie, who seemed at home gi, no-gi, MMA, and fighting in general. As well as our own athletes like John Kavanagh, Rick Davison, and Gunni Nelson.

As far as teaching and coaching go, it is close to impossible to cover all the bases with absolute beginners. The fundamentals of movement, various positions, objectives, how to roll, etc, all take a certain amount of time for the student to grasp in any sort of meaningful way.

However, once they past that blue belt phase, and enter into their mid range and upper belts, finding a class time where they can experiment and learn to develop strategies that will allow them to transfer the fundamentals of their game to all four corners of the square, can be extremely useful.

To make it work, students will have to feel comfortable trying new things, and taking risks with their partners.

In order to facilitate that, I think it is important the coach establishes an environment where people are not keeping score. The moment one person starts to brag about how they passed another persons guard on such and such day, is the moment that person will no longer feel open to trying new things. It all becomes a competitive, roll only to win class at that point; and although I think that is extremely important as well, that is not what I am looking for with this particular class time.

I don’t refer to this type of training as “slow” or “flow” wresting, because that implies something different; instead I call this ‘advanced‘ rolling, because that is exactly what it is. And although many people may find it hard to train this way prior to a decade or so of BJJ mat time, there is no reason one cannot begin trying, just after blue belt.

Here are five objectives I have written out to help create that training space:

1- Have fun. Have a playful light attitude, and operate at a pace you can play for hours.

This is probably the most important thing. If the pace is too fast, or too tense, then the students wont have a chance to see openings, or experiment. The tendency then is to go back and work your A game, I think that is vital too, but we have separate rolling and competition times for that every week at my gym. In fact we have lots of them. That is not the purpose of this particular class.

A simple sign to test if you are rolling to hard is if you are gassing out quickly. And by quickly I mean within a ten minute round. Rolling at the pace I would like to see students use here, should mean that an intermediate to advanced player should be able to go for an hour straight, or longer.

Here is a video of SBGr Gunnar Nelson, in 2007 when he recieved his purple belt from Matt Thornton. Note how relaxed Gunni was, even back then. Watch his energy level, and finally, look at the time. He took on one opponent after another for nearly a full hour, without a single break.

httpv://youtu.be/ChyxPAIk34o

2- Experiment with new ideas.

That is essentially what this type of class time is specifically for. Learning how best to deal with certain kinds of games, and certain kinds of environments, requires experimentation.  And in order to experiment people have to feel open to making mistakes, playing slow, and most of all relaxed enough, to see the possibilities.

3- Develop strategies for all types of players, fast & aggressive, big and heavy,
stallers, take down artists, frame based guards, upright, spider, rubber, and
upside down guards, etc.

This get’s down to the major objective to the class. As Gunni said to me recently, he has a game for big heavy players, for fast aggressive players, for MMA, for gi, etc. And yet, when you watch an extremely high level player like Gunni roll, you don’t see a whole different set of “moves” or “techniques” for each kind of opponent. Instead what you see, and this should come as no surprise to SBGr’s, is perfect posture and pressure, also known as fundamentals, applied with the right strategy for a particular kind of opponent.

In some ways this may be a ‘post’ black belt objective. But there is no reason why everyone can’t start that process at blue.

4- Fill in the corners of the box.

To a degree this objective fits in with the previous one, but where we are looking to develop our games against different types of players above, here we are looking to develop it within different kinds of environments.

When was the last time, as one example, that you worked your Jiu-Jitsu while someone was looking to strike you?

When was the last time you put on a gi?

When was the last time you took one off?

As most of you know, I am not a big believer in “street” training. Nine times out of ten I think it’s a scam, which tends to be operated by people too lazy, and too soft, to actually put in the time required to develop real, meaningful skill at the various delivery systems.

But that stated, thinking about how a particular posture, position, or strategy might actually play out when defending yourself in various environments can help sharpen your game down to the real core movements that matter in those kind of environments, and situations. This is where I think some of the older school players, like Rickson, really stood apart.

5- Work your weaknesses.

I placed this last on the list, not because it isn’t important, but because the purpose of the class is the expansion of ones game, not the refinement of your A game. That, as I have stated, is really important as well; but there are other classes and other times where that should be the focus. However, it is still nice to have a time when nobody is keeping score, where you can take stock of the things you are bad at, and improve those. This is an excellent environment to consider adding that thought into how you play.

Those are the five objectives for the class. I think it is important to remember that as we seek out answers for various types of games, and differing environments, the key word isn’t going to be ‘gentle’, ‘flow’, ‘power’, or even ‘speed’, the key word is going to be ‘efficiency’.

To me, efficiency of movement is the true ‘Art’ of Jiu-Jitsu. I consider the ‘gentle’ art to be a mistranslation. I think the more appropriate term is, the Efficient Art.

Accomplishing as much as possible, with as little energy, muscle, and risk as possible, is the sign of mastery. Once we ‘get’ that, then it should be self evident that when we find solutions to these various venues, they will by their very nature be efficient, simple, fundamental answers based on posture & pressure; the only two things that matter in the delivery system of Jiu-Jitsu.

And remember, the only “goal” that ever really matters, objective #1, have fun.

 

SBG Portland BJJ Competition Team Results!

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From the Seattle Tournament held Saturday Nov 12th:

“We only brought 4 competitors from Portland this time. Kind of a smaller tournament overall, thats ok. I decided to take some time off as well. The Pan-Am tournament is where it is at. That should be our focus now. For everyone old and young!

Individual results:
…
Thang Le: 1st place out of 8 competitors in gi! Fantastic job. 2nd place in no gi once again out of 8 competitors. Close match. 2 medals for Thang!

Amanda Loewen: Anybody with a guess? Yes thats right, she dominated again. Up 2 weight classes to roll with the 163 blue belts: 1st match… triangle in less than a minute. 2nd match… couldn’t look… too brutal!

No points scored against her the whole time, 1st place. 1 medal for Amanda, unfortunately no one wanted to mess with her no gi!

Jeremy Brill and Dave Walker gi: Same bracket for these two, Dave had one loss to the 1st place guy then I believe 2 victories. Not sure if the bracket was done right as he didn’t get the chance for 3rd. No medal for him here but he nearly had 1st. Good Job. Jeremy won 1st match, then went on to place 4th overall I believe. No medal but a fine performance, especially after just receiving his blue belt. I believe that bracket had 9 or 10 competitors.

Jeremy Brill no gi: Gnarly match against the guy that took first. Nearly submitted him in a triangle/ arm bar in the air. Just lost on points. Then the highlight was for third. Locks the dude up in a triangle. I’m coaching, “ok, nice! Lock it in tight, work the arm across, watch the angle, pull the…” TAP TAP TAP! “Or just do that!” As he rams his fist in the throat to tighten up the choke. Third place for Jermy and a well deserved medal.

Dave Walker no gi: Dave decided to do advanced this time. The same group of guys and same weight I would have been competing with. 2 wins 1 loss. He did an awesome job and subbed a meat-head wrestler with a tight arm bar from guard for the 3rd place finish! Exciting match. There were some huge dudes in this bracket that were no doubt bigger and stronger. Large bracket too. Just displays Dave’s proper use of Jiu Jitsu to get it done! Fantastic Job Dave. 3rd place medal for him!

Oh and SBG Montana Killed it too, (duh). Too much for me to write in a day, but the highlights were Kisa Davison with a super tough game taking first, and Dakota Tackett who just turned 18 taking 1st in both blue belt gi and in no gi! Pretty sure almost everyone they brought placed. Including the small mob of kids they have.

In summary, everybody who we brought placed. Everybody we bring always does well.

If you look at our points per competitor ratio at all of the tournaments we are in you will see ours is the highest. That is probably the best measure of the quality of training at a gym.

Way to go SBG!

Occupy Portland, Self Defense and Author Sam Harris

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Across the USA, the occupy movement is holding ground in protest of economic disparity, and the financial scandals that affected the entire globe. Regardless of where you stand politically on this issue, what can’t be ignored is that a growing body of people are feeling insecure about the future, their economic future, and their safety. Economic figures are tied into crime figures, and fear of an unknown future can lead to all sorts of things, both good and bad.

At SBG we are not experts on the economy, but we are experts on personal safety.

There is good reason for optimism, and every reason to believe that the odds of an individual being able to maintain better personal safety may in fact increase, rather than decrease in many parts of the planet, as the years go by. To support this we would recommend Steven Pinkers excellent new book, ‘The Better Angels of our Nature’; which details the rapid decline in violence over the decades.

However, even with that optimistic note, it is still prudent to be realistc as it relates to the potential for violence. And it is here that the recent article by the best selling author Sam Harris really hits home. Sam recently wrote what was for the most part, an excellent piece that everyone should read, located here:

http://www.samharris.org/blog/

What Sam missed however, was that the fact that despite wanting to avoid fights, despite wanting to escape if caught in a confrontation, and despite wanting to remain mobile and on your feet, the reason it is called an “attack” is because it occured without your consent; and as such, where you end up isn’t always up to you. Though you don’t want to be on the pavement, statistically, it is where many fights wind up. And the best way to ensure you get stuck there, is to have never trained in a functional, and most importantly ‘Alive’ delivery system, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Said another way, there is no such thing as a “street” escape from a mounted position, or a “street” choke, or a “street” knee. These tools and skills, if not trained Alive, will not be functional when things turn physical, whether you train solely for ‘self-defense’, or “sport”. And this was the point SBG Head Coach Matt Thornton wanted to get across to Sam in his response, which is written below.

A credit to Sam, within a couple hours of sending the letter, Matt recieved several e-mails back from Sam (some of which are included below), thanking him for his points, and agreeing with the reasoning. Readers will be happy to know that Sam Harris amended his article, and also took his first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lesson that day.

Sam Harris modeled the perfect attitude here, and one we at SBG like to hold true as a value. When the evidence points to something you miss, or somewhere you may have been wrong, you go with the evidence. That is, if what you are interested in is the ‘truth’, in the fact sense of that word.

Sam Harris walks his talk.

Matt’s reply:

“Let me start by saying that while I agree with 98% of what you stated regarding personal self-defense, the 1% I think you may be missing is huge; and I would like to make my case to you regarding what that huge gap is; because I, like you, think this is an important and potentially life saving topic.

Before I begin let me add that your writing has been a major, positive, influence in my life. You will find quotes from your work in many of my articles (links below), and having come from a fundamentalist background, I am proof positive that your message of reason works. I am evidence to that fact. This only reinforced my desire to write you on this topic, as I agree with most of your other positions,  I do not want to feel like you haven’t at least ‘heard’ the argument I am about to make;  and, I don’t think there is anyone more qualified to make that argument then I am.

I’ll be brief regards my bio, but I do feel I need to mention a few things just so I can establish my credentials.  My name is Matt Thornton, any YouTube or Google search will give you tons of videos, most all of which have been posted by others, on who I am, and what I do.  I received my black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu about ten years ago, and I have run a fulltime gym in Portland Oregon where we teach all aspects of ‘functional’ Martial Arts, self-defense and sports, including the sport of MMA, for the last twenty years.  I have also travelled across the world for the last fifteen years, teaching hundreds of seminars related to all aspects of functional training. My list of students and clients runs the spectrum, and has included people like UFC legend Randy Couture.

Here is a link to a recent newspaper article that had a brief bio on my career as a Martial Artists & skeptic:  http://www.sbgi-pdx.com/sbgi-core/coaching-staff/1-content-articles/92-willamette-week-best-of-portland-2011.html

In 1991 I met Rickson Gracie, who introduced me properly to what BJJ is all about. At that time I had already had years of boxing, as well as various forms of Martial Arts. It was my experiences in the boxing gym, with Rickson, and in actual physical conflicts,  that lead me to the realization that something immense was missing in the world of “Martial” Arts, and that ‘thing’ was not so much ‘what’ they trained, but rather ‘how’ they trained.

That difference I am talking about is what distinguishes something like Traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, from something like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; and the thing I want to emphasize so strongly in this letter to you,  is that the distinction remains, regardless of whether one claims that Japanese Jiu-Jitsu is for self-defense, or the “street”, and BJJ is for “sport”. The bottom line is this, regardless of environment, whether street or cage, when things go bad and the conflict turns physical, one works, and one will not. That is an empirical statement that can, and has been, tested outside the realm of simple anecdotal ‘evidence’. And understanding ‘why’ that is, why some delivery systems are functional against resisting people and some are not, is in my opinion the key to understanding fighting in all its forms.

I adopted the term ‘Aliveness’ as a one word meme about eighteen years ago, its spread, and it worked. A meme which could, when understood, allow the user to differentiate between Martial Arts which were simply fantasy based, (see religion), and delivery systems which are functional (see science), which, under the pressure of an attacker with sincerely bad intentions, work.

In short, the Aliveness principle, when understood, is a rock solid bullshit detector for physical training*, whether that training is for competitive sports, self-defense, or military and law enforcement application.  

*(I have friends in Academia who feel it has application in other fields as well, but that is a different letter)

Before describing exactly what Aliveness is, let me just add one more point of urgency to this letter. One of the many beneficial things about training with Aliveness is that you learn very quickly not just what you ‘can’ do, but just as importantly, what you cannot do. That is a point that is often overlooked in many Martial Arts and self-defense workshops; which sadly, often breed delusion, and promote a very dangerous sense of pseudo-ability.  That is a problem which can be fatal once that delusion of false ability is struck in the face by the physical reality of an angry, non-compliant attacker.

Speaking bluntly, this list of fantasy based delivery systems includes the vast majority of Martial Arts, many of which label themselves as RBSD, self-defense, or “street” orientated.

I realize your article was targeted specifically at life threatening self-defense situations, not combat athletics. But I believe that by the time you finish this letter I will have made the case to you that regardless of circumstance, of assaults versus matches, of street versus sport, the incorporation of the training principle I am about to lay out remains the key component for success,  once it all turns physical.

Let me offer a practical example.

Someone is harassed in a grocery store parking lot; wisely, the try and de-escalate the situation and walk away. Before they get a chance to run, or get help, the attacker grabs them, and they fall to the ground. Now granted, the defender wants to escape; they don’t want to be on the ground. But one of the reasons a fight is a fight is the fact that you don’t always get to control that. Statistically most encounters do end up on the pavement, and this attack put the defender there before they could escape. Grant me for our hypothetical that this can, and does, occur.

Option #1: Now the attacker, finding themselves on top, does what even school kids do when suddenly finding themselves there. They sit up on the rib cage, what we in BJJ call the “mount” position, and begin dropping punches into the defenders face. It would be natural to panic here, not knowing what to do the average human will try and strike back, which doesn’t usually work from this position due to the lack of leverage, or worse, they will roll belly down to protect their face, and end up exposing their neck. That is a natural and potentially fatal error. Assuming the aggressor has watched an MMA fight at some point in his life, he ‘may’ know how to apply a proper blood choke. This will effectively put the life of the defender in the attacker’s hands. Obviously none of these options are good.

Option #2: Let’s change the scenario slightly, and let’s say that the defender is a woman. And let’s say for sake of argument that woman also has about two years or so of Alive training in the delivery system of BJJ; a delivery system that is based solely on what works, on function, rather than tradition or dogma. She finds herself mounted, experiences the adrenalin dump just like the above mentioned defender does, but because she ‘is’ used to working against ‘resisting’ opponents on the ground, her body starts reacting automatically, she applies an “elbow escape”, a move which is often very hard for someone not proficient in BJJ to stop. As she does this she ends up with her legs between her and the attacker, she can use her feet to kick, to create space, and finally to get to her feet safely, without getting clocked on her way up. A fundamental skill all good BJJ gyms teach, and one you will see used daily in the cage or ring by skilled MMA fighters. As she is able to get to put up a fight, and get to her feet, she escapes.

Three points here. First, when someone is sitting on your chest (mount position), there are only about three fundamental movements which will work to escape. Those three core movements, what we at SBG call the ‘delivery system’, do not suddenly change when the fight moves from the mat in the gym, to the parking lot of the grocery store. Said another way, there is no special “street” escape from mount. And that fact doesn’t change, regardless of what position a person may suddenly find themselves in when assaulted. Circumstances will dictate tactics, but the core body mechanics, which as I said are as much a science as anything is, and which are based on how we as human beings are built, remain the same.

Point two, when attacked, both defends will likely ‘feel’ the same things. As we both know the adrenalin dump is simply a natural evolved trait. The difference is, our female ‘athlete’ is used to contact, after several years of training she will have performed that movement countless times against fully resisting opponents. Not in a kata, a pre-arranged form, or a repeated series of movements; but against fully resisting opponents who are trying to make her fail, who are trying to beat her. And what is trained that way, what is trained ‘Alive’, is what the body will fall back to when the adrenalin dump occurs.

This is an important point, it isn’t the amount of repetitions that make that functional reaction ability happen, rather, it is the amount of hours spent rolling against resisting opponents that make that happen. Said another way, you could take those exact same ‘moves’, which as I have stated have proven themselves to be functional, and then train them as you would say Aikido, or most Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, and despite the function of the movements, and despite the hours of “dead” repetitions, the practitioner will still find themselves lacking the skill to ‘apply’ those movements.  And that is the difference between BJJ, Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Judo, and all “functional” Martial Arts, and things like Aikido, traditional Karate, or as I stated 99% of what is labeled as Martial Arts. Once you remove Aliveness, what you have left is fantasy, not function.

Sadly, one of the many excuses, and believe me I have heard them all, for not training in an Alive manner that one often hears, is that the system that is being taught is for the “street”, rather than for “sport”, and therefore, too deadly to be trained with that kind of Alive methodology. Let me just say bluntly, that is always absolute bullshit. There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, that cannot be trained in a safe, functional, Alive way. The Coaches just have to understand how to do it, and most do not. As a result, regardless of how functional the movements may appear to be, the people training them will find themselves unable to apply it, if they haven’t been training in an Alive way.

All combat sports tend to train in an Alive way, due to the simple fact that they compete. But here again is the point, if the Iowa State wrestling team trained all the same movements they do know, but they used the training methods you would commonly see in an Aikido Gym, I promise you they would quickly find themselves unable to perform the sport. And that is the wild thing about Aliveness. Athletes have known it and used it forever, but for various reasons, the vast majority of the Martial Arts world simply forgot about it. It has only been with the advent of MMA, thanks to the early efforts of the Gracie family, which have started to wake ‘some’ of the public up to these truths.

 The last point to make about that scenario relates to escaping. Yes, you want to run away from fights. Yes, we do not want to find ourselves on the ground. But, the best way to ensure you will ‘not’ be able to do that is to never train in a functional delivery system on the ground, i.e. BJJ.

I have a female student named Amada Loewen at my gym, she regularly competes in BJJ tournaments against men her size or bigger. Athletic men who also know BJJ, and are ranked at the same skill level as her; men who are trying as hard as they can to control her, to beat her. And she wins (you can YouTube her matches). Now should she for some reason find herself having to fend off an attacker who has taken her down, and who isn’t equally skilled in BJJ, I think they would very quickly be in for a rude surprise. And nobody will be better at getting back to their feet and getting away then she is, because she fights from there every week against fully resisting people.

Anyone can train with Aliveness. I have men and women in their fifties at my gym. I have children at my gym. I have police officers interested solely in work application, and I have professors interested solely in self-defense application. I also have a few younger, pro athletes. The level of resistance will vary. Just as you don’t start someone bench pressing with 400lbs, you don’t have to risk injury to train Alive. You dial that resistance up progressively. You train smart, meaning injury free. But you never take out Aliveness. It is the one key factor that makes everything work. We have adopted specific methods for working with all manner of people, for drilling in an Alive, functional manner. These include what we call the “I” method, which is the basic three phase coaching model we use for everything, whether it is military application, personal self-defense, or an MMA bout.

Finally, let me conclude with one last point, and one which in terms of numbers is probably even more important.

Having done this as a fulltime career for the last twenty years, and having travelled literally all over the world to teach, I can tell you that of all the various Martial Arts paradigms, I only find one to be ‘healthy’ for the overall wellbeing of humans  over the long term.

What I can tell you is that by and large, and yes I am painting with a broad brush, the RBSD movement is filled with a lot of fear, paranoia, and out of shape human beings. The Traditional Martial Arts culture is filled with delusion. And the Martial Arts in general are infested with superstition.  Pete is a philosopher who specializes in critical thinking. One of his classes in on the Martial Arts, and each semester I am the guest speaker there. We start by showing some videos of various Martial Arts lunacy, things like no-touch knockouts, chi power, pressure points, etc. Then I talk about Aliveness. But here is my broader point. Let’s take you out of the equation for a moment. Imagine that instead of a well-adjusted, rational, professional adult, the student we are talking about is an adolescent male. Maybe they are a bit geeky, picked on, etc. Many kids who gravitate towards Martial Arts early will find themselves in that demographic. For that person, traditional Martial Arts can be a horror show. They give a false sense of security, without offering anything by way of function.

The RBSD arts, things like Krav Maga, etc, will appeal to that demographic because it’s all advertised as “street” effective. And knowing this, they exploit these kids by promising what they want to hear. But over the long run it will take a kid like the one described above, who is scared and socially awkward, and make them paranoid, delusional, and even more awkward. By the way, when people get ready to take the “instructors” tests in these arts, which usually involve some form of full contact fighting, they come to places like my gym to train for it. They will have had years of training in these systems, and wind up being demolished standing, in the clinch, on the ground, and in every scenario they attempt by students with less than 6 months of Alive, functional training. The difference in skill level is dramatic. Which always makes me wonder why they bother with it in the first place?

But back to our kid, give me that kid for a year. I will teach them nothing more than “sport”, whether that is BJJ, MMA, Judo, etc. And then see the change. They become more confident. They learn what they can do, and what they cannot do. They have actual, functional skill, should they ever find themselves attacked. And they will be far less likely to engage in street fighting in the first place simply because combat athletics has filled that evolutionary niche for them. Said simply, they become happier. It is better for everyone’s wellbeing.

So to re-cap:

Yes, you were absolutely right about everything you stated regarding avoidance.

But, if that conflict turns physical, then it will be Alive training in functional delivery systems that work against an aggressive, fully resisting attacker. And Alive delivery systems are also “sports”.

You can train BJJ solely for self-defense, or solely for BJJ competition, or solely for application in the MMA arena. However, the root movements of that delivery systems, such as the escapes from mount mentioned above, do NOT change simply because the environment changes. Circumstances will dictate tactics, but the mechanics of the delivery system remain the same. And anyone interested in training in some form of ‘functional’ Martial Arts really need to understand that.

And finally, sports are healthy for people. Much of what you will find, and I think with some more research on your part we would agree on this, within the world known as ‘Reality Based Self Defense’ training, RBSD, is unhealthy, and non-functional, i.e. they use the same dead pattern training model found in traditional martial arts. And if that is the training model, then the “move” regardless of how functional it ‘could’ be, won’t matter much when things turn physical.

Yes, all combat sports require lots of effort, sweat, to learn. But there is no such thing as a “street” punch, or a “street” knee, or a “street” choke. Those skills come from the functional delivery systems, and your ability to apply those skills will be based on the amount of hours you have invested in Alive training.

I hope I have made my case Sam. Again, nothing you said was wrong. I agree with 99%. But just as you’ve mastered answering the same old arguments that are put forward for religious superstition, I have, after decades of promoting this style of training, mastered answering the same old fallacies related to training with Aliveness. And one of the most widely used, which I am sure you probably didn’t even know, is the “well that is for sport, and we train for the street” fallacy. And that is what I wanted to make sure you didn’t fall for.”

-          Matt Thornton

Sam’s reply:

“Many thanks for this, Matt. As you might imagine, I got a little pushback from BJJ practitioners about that endnote. I have since added an amendment.

Everything you say here makes perfect sense. And you might be amused to know that I got my first lesson at the Gracie Academy this morning…”

Best,
Sam