Thursday, 21 July 2022

Saturday, 2 July 2022

The Key to Success in BJJ Training



The Key to Success in BJJ Training


BJJ Melbourne

An old training partner of mine once jokingly told me that one of his pet peeves about JiuJitsu is that you cannot buy anything to make yourself appear legit. It doesn't matter if you're not very good at other sports, such as cycling, you can buy an expensive bike and gain instant respect and credibility.

BJJ was much tougher. It wasn’t possible to make yourself seem more credible by spending money on JiuJitsu. The mats don’t lie. You can buy an expensive GI or name-drop all the legends you trained but if you are lacking in actual jiujitsu skills you will be found out and exposed as soon as you start rolling. This happened quite a few times at my old gym. A new visitor with a questionable rank would turn up and get destroyed on the mats by the competitive blue belts and purple belts.
Our gym, The Carlson Gracie Boiler Room, was small and basic. Sometimes up to ten people from all over the world from Brazil & Eastern Europe lived and slept there. The training was very intense, and the majority of people who tried a class almost never returned. We just wore cheap judo gis. It didn't matter how you looked - what mattered was how many times you got tapped out on the mats and how you did in the last tournament.
Inevitably, this would change. Any sport that becomes more mainstream will always attract different types of people. In the past, BJJ was only for people who really wanted to fight. Sparring sessions at my old gym were the closest you could get to having a street fight without getting seriously injured or arrested, which is why people turned up night after night.
In some ways, I miss this type of culture in BJJ and MMA. In the past, it was about who could actually fight and about testing yourself rather than fancy gyms, sponsorships, and social media influencers.
Even if you're fighting and competing, you still need to be aware of all these new developments, but I always encourage my fighters not to be distracted by the bright lights and to concentrate on the hard work on the mats.
‘It's tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you've been sleeping in silk pyjamas’
Marvin Hagler

Come train with us at DKMMA - 324 Darebin Road, Fairfield, Melbourne.

www.DKMMA.com.au

Friday, 1 July 2022

My BJJ grading criteria

BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU GRADING REQUIREMENTS 

BJJ Melbourne

After my last article, I have been asked what I would consider the criteria & benchmarks for progression through the ranks to black belt in BJJ. Obviously as previously discussed there are no standard grading criteria across the board in BJJ. The requirements can vary greatly from school to school. But here are some of the things which I consider most important and useful when deciding if a student is ready for promotion:
Consistent attendance:
I only grade students who train regularly and consistently. Jiu-Jitsu isn't something you do every day for two months and then take six months off. Promoting students who train like this would send the wrong message to the consistent students. Ultimately this would damage everyone's chances of progressing. Regular attendance is important, but the student must also be improving.
However, if they are regularly attending training and still aren't improving, then it implies my coaching is ineffective. Those who come to class regularly will improve, and it has nothing to do with how talented they are or even how good I am at coaching, it has more to do with Jiujitsu being such an effective system that practically anyone can develop the skills with dedicated practice.
Success in Competition:
Competition is one of the easiest and most reliable indicators of your ability. If you win your division in a decent-sized competition. (Ie. you won several matches to get to the final) then in my opinion you deserve to get promoted to your next belt.
I don’t see any point in holding students back so they can keep winning white belt divisions again and again.
Sparring Performance at the gym:
The majority of BJJ students have very little interest in competition. Most just want to learn and develop the skills. Sparring in class is how they gauge their improvement.
Rolling in the gym isn’t the same as competing in a tournament. There isn’t the same level of intensity or pressure. Instead of trying to win at all costs, the best competitor in the gym might be working on his weak areas or trying out new strategies. If a non-competitor student can consistently hold their own against students with a higher belt, then it is obvious they should also be promoted to the next belt.
Technical Ability:
Some students can do well in competition at the lower belt levels or do well in sparring at the gym but if they rely more on their strength and athleticism rather than really understanding techniques then in my opinion they aren’t ready to progress to the next belt. Demonstrating and executing JiuJitsu techniques correctly rather than just muscling through them is essential. i
How you Roll:
Being able to roll or spar properly is important for progression in most styles of martial arts but especially in Jiujitsu. There are very few advanced techniques in BJJ. In other martial arts, you don't learn certain advanced techniques until you reach a certain belt or rank. In BJJ you generally learn everything at the same time, but what changes is the way you roll.
Beginners often roll in an uncoordinated way and hurt their training partners with accidental elbows and headbutts. Experienced grapplers roll in a smooth and controlled manner avoiding erratic unpredictable movements and without cranking on submissions. They know how to apply as much or as little pressure and energy as it takes to achieve the objective. They don't try to bully or dominate the lower belts.
Being a good fit for the Gym:
It could be argued that this may be a selfish motive for the coach to promote students, for after all, what difference does it make what the student's attitude is, so long as they are winning medals and can beat everyone at training?
As mentioned previously the majority of BJJ students don’t care about competition. Very few could tell you who the current world champions are let alone the champions from five years ago. In order to learn BJJ, you'll need to surround yourself with a supportive team. Establishing the right team culture is crucial. If one student has the wrong attitude, it can bring the entire team down, so having the right attitude and mentality is more important than talent or medals.
Fitting in with the culture of our school is a very important factor for me. Having students who win competitions is important, but it is not important enough to spend hours every night with people you do not like because of their attitude or because they are competing or training for the wrong reasons. In addition, I've found that these types of people result in the gym losing more members.


Thursday, 30 June 2022

Bushido Fight Night 3 - The Last Samurai : Melbourne MMA

                


Bushido Fight Night 3 - The Last Samurai

Saturday 30th July at Thornbury Theatre.

Confirmed matches so far:
  • Tom Andrews vs Sam Marles
  • James Andrews vs Mark Furnari
  • Jaiven Callander vs Jokota Franks
  • Laurance Lockington vs Ben Sayer
  • Dariean Menchini vs Titus O’Donnell
  • Toby Montfroy vs Jake Bradley
  • Liam Gusti vs Tom Hardwick
  • Ashley Rodgers vs Tom Pratt
More matches to be announced soon.
If you would like to fight on one of our future events contact us via our website here:

Bushido Amateur MMA Melbourne




https://www.eventbrite.com.au/.../bushido-contenders...

Next Bushido Contenders amateur mma event is coming up on Saturday 9th July.
This is undoubtedly the best first step for any aspiring MMA fighter or for any martial artist wishing to test their skills and training under a safe modified MMA rule set.
Bushido Contenders is the perfect first step for any aspiring MMA athlete and many of the fighters who have gone on to have success on the local fight scene began their fight careers on this event.


Rule Changes for Teens MMA.
The next Bushido Contenders Amateur MMA Competition is coming up on Saturday 9th July
After consulting with some of the coaches who have been supporting our events over the last few years we have decided to make the following rule changes for the under 18 year olds division.
All matches will be 70% contact. Referees will give a warning for excessive contact and second warning will lead to disqualification.
All matches will still be 2 x 3 minute rounds however a submission will end the round but not the match. Ie. if one fighter gets subbed in the first round, we have one minute round break then another round.
As with adult matches all takedowns and Submissions must be applied in a controlled manner to avoid injuring the opponent.
We hope that by bringing in these rules we can encourage more teens to take part and also make it a more useful experience for everyone.

Sign up via this Link:

How to get your BJJ Black Belt.


                                    

BJJ differs from other martial arts in that there are no clear requirements for getting your black belt or if there are, they vary from school to school. 

https://dkmma.com.au/beginners-bjj-course

Other traditional martial arts, on the other hand, usually have very clear-cut criteria about what you need to do to achieve each belt on the way to becoming a black belt. In karate, for example, there are certain techniques you have to be able to demonstrate and katas you have to perform before you can move up a belt. Even in Judo, which is the closest thing to BJJ, there is a progression path used all over the world for accumulating competition points, demonstrating certain techniques, and then performing the Nage no Kata to obtain a black belt.

Grading requirements can vary greatly from place to place in BJJ. Some schools measure belt advancement solely by the amount of time served and classes attended, while others focus on the number of techniques demonstrated for each belt. Others, such as my original academy (Carlson Gracie London), based belt progression on performance in competition. If you didn’t win a tournament at your current belt then you don’t progress to your next belt.
Your instructors will pick the best grading criteria that work for them, and your school will probably have its own variant, but in general, there are several keys to making progress in BJJ.
Don't focus on the belt.
Instead, focus on improving and learning. It usually takes 8-10 years of consistent training to achieve black belt status. Some people get it faster if they train full-time. Others, like myself, will take longer. (12 years in my case). If you enjoy the training and it becomes a part of your life, you won't care if it takes 3 years or 25 years. The journey is more important than the destination.
Avoid Burn-Out
Aim to train consistently rather than overdo it at the start. Don’t train 7 days a week for 3 months and then quit. Train 3 times a week for 7 years and then you’ll achieve your goals.
Compete.
I’ve been training in BJJ for approximately 22 years. The people who compete always make more progress and stick with their training. You don’t have to be a full-time competitor or quit your job to focus on BJJ competition but my advice would be to compete at least a few times at each belt level along the way to get accurate feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. 5 to 10 minutes in real competition can be the same as 6 months of relaxed training in terms of your development.
Real Training
Be clear about what counts as training time. If you’ve been training in BJJ for 8 years but have had several 6-month breaks or periods where you only trained once a fortnight then that doesn’t count as 8 years of training. Also, if your training session consists of you trying to overpower and tap out the new white belts rather than focusing on your learning and development then that also doesn’t count as real training.
Be a good training partner.
Your coach has your best interests at heart. They want you to make progress and eventually get your black belt because it reaffirms to them that they are doing a good job as a coach. However, they also want what’s best for the other nineteen students on the mat. If you’re a crappy training partner or even worse a dangerous training partner who risks injuring the other students there’s a good chance the coach doesn’t want you on the mats and won’t promote you. Learning how to be a good training partner is perhaps the most important BJJ skill you can learn.


Come try out my BJJ classes at DKMMA in Fairfield, Melbourne.

https://dkmma.com.au/beginners-bjj-course

Wednesday, 16 February 2022

Why we created Bushido Fight Night : Melbourne MMA








Originally, we started out as a no headshots inter club competition at our gym. The no headshots format gave aspiring fighters an opportunity to test their skills. The inspiration came from the amateur Pancrase and KSBO competitions I competed in the UK over twenty years ago.

We ran eight of these tournaments, and the coaches and fighters involved gave great feedback about the professionalism and organization of the events. It was suggested that we do a full pro-am fight night and try to bring fighters on the card who had already been successful in our no-headshot events.
The event planning and organization for our first ever Bushido Fight Night took a lot of time and effort. The hardest part of putting together the card was contacting coaches and gyms since we were in the middle of a four-month lockdown. Several of the fighters on the card had participated in our amateur events and were familiar with the level of professionalism we would bring to the event.
Following months of preparation and one postponement, the show finally took place on Saturday 27th November, and it was a huge success in terms of organization, quality of fights, and attendance. All the teams and fighters involved provided us with great feedback.
The reason I decided to promote an MMA event was that I wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the sport. I’ve been involved in the sport of MMA for a very long time and have been on the other side of the cage as a fighter and coach. In September 2000, I had my first amateur fight and had been training in martial arts for seven years at the time. Throughout the years, I had many amateur and professional MMA fights and had my last professional fight 2009. In the years that followed, I became a full-time coach and have trained many successful fighters who have competed all around the world
I've seen many fighters, gyms, and MMA promotions come and go during that time. As a result, I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't, and I felt that my unique experience and perspective would be of great value when I run my promotion.
In addition, I wanted to portray a legitimate sport instead of glorifying violence for its own sake. Our changes included red or blue uniforms so amateur fighters could be distinguished from professionals. To prevent mismatches, we also make sure that the fighters who are matched on the show have the appropriate skill level and training. For all matched fighters, we provided discounted access to physiotherapy and diet and weight-cutting programs in order to ensure a level playing field. We wanted the fights to be evenly matched in order to give all fighters and teams a positive experience.
Last but not least, we wanted to emphasize the martial arts aspect of MMA. It should be about martial artists and combat sports athletes testing their skills and their training in the cage. There shouldn't just be wannabe tough guys trash talking and swinging for the fences and trying to impress their friends with how tough they are. The goal of Bushido Fight Night is to focus on skill, honor, and respect for the opponent while still putting on a great display of martial arts fighting.
Bushido Fight Night 2 is coming up on Sunday 13th





BJJ Grading FAQs

What time does it start Grading Starts on Saturday at 11am and will finish at 12.30 What do I need to wear? Wear a white gi and make sure yo...

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