Yesterday I competed in my first Jiu Jitsu tournament – the 4th U.S. National Cup, put on the by the Rocky Mountain Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation. In addition to fighting, I got to meet Cris Cyborg. Mixed-martial artist Cameron Dollar was also on hand, as was the legend himself, Relson Gracie.

My take on it?

It was awesome, even though it didn’t go my way. The loss of my match in this single elimination tournament left me with much to  think about and digest.

The fight was awesome; intense and resolute. I loved it. Still, I’ll be “haunted” – and I hope that adjective is not too dramatic to explain how I feel – by things I wish I had done differently.

But that is the point, isn’t it?

Part of the appeal of tournaments – especially your first ones – is that a main objective is to simply “learn how to compete”, rather than to win.  A coach explained this to me at the tournament. By the way, the Relson Gracie Colorado coaching staff was (and is) great. Thanks, Van and Jason.

While reflecting on my tournament, I feel myself getting pumped up. So much to build on from this experience, so much to learn, so much to accomplish…

Damn, I can’t wait for class tomorrow.

I would guess that headgears for martial arts have been around a long time; Wikipedia only had so much to say about the topic. Wikipedia did not have an extensive history of the martial-arts headgear. Yet.

I am often surprised by how many people don’t wear headgear when training Jiu Jitsu. I would think that the threat of cauliflower ear – being virtually incurable – would inspire heavy use of them. This is not really the case. In my experience headgears are often the exception rather than the norm. Other schools may be different, of course.

I own a headgear but I rarely wear it. I have been somewhat hesitant too: my particular headgear is a rather bulky piece of equipment. My headgear has a “hard” cup around the ears: when I wear it feel self-conscious that it will bump into the face and head of my opponent, making them uncomfortable. It also seems to run a touch large for me: even at its smallest setting, it still could be tighter.

There is another reason I don’t wear it very often – I don’t (didn’t) think it would happen to me. A Relson Gracie Colorado brown belt who often teaches has barely any cauliflower ear – and when I asked him about it he said it was mostly luck.

I generally don’t consider myself a lucky person, so I think it’s about time I start wearing my headgear when sparring once again. Cauliflower ear isn’t in an issue for everyone – not everyone gets it, and not everyone cares if they do get it – but for me, I’m going to try a little harder to stave it off.

I just need to grab a new, “softer”, less bulkier one. Hopefully Google will show me the way.

pic credit(s): http://www.flickr.com/photos/buildscharacter/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Flixster – Share Movies

“Dude, Al Bundy could kick our asses!” was how my friend Brad explained that Ed O’Neill – an American actor famously known for playing Al Bundy in the sitcom “Married…With Children” – was a Jiu Jitsu black belt under Rorion Gracie.

This got me thinking: what other celebrities or famous people practice Jiu Jitsu? I started to do research in Wikipedia, but I soon discovered that someone had already done the work. Wikipedia used to have a page titled “List of Celebrity Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Practitioners” but the Wikipedia community deleted it.

Thankfully, because of the wonders of the Internet (and Wikipedia’s liberal sharing policy) the contents of the article have been preserved at a couple places around the Web. Here is the article at a site named Wikibin; here is a direct link to a PDF version.

Some of the more interesting people on the list include Maynard James Keenan (lead singer for Tool), Milla Jovovich, Jason Statham, Paul Walker and Guy Ritchie.

Yesterday I attended Boulder Grappling Academy’s seminar featuring Relson Gracie. This was my first time meeting and learning from Relson. It was a great experience – I left feeling very excited about upcoming classes.

The school was packed and the event brought students from as far as Castle Rock, Colorado (which is about an hour and half from Boulder, depending on traffic). It’s great to see the attention it brought to the dojo.

The content of the seminar was interesting and pertinent. I learned new techniques and improved on some techniques I already knew. I enjoyed Relson’s teaching style – he added (often funny) comments and insights as he discussed details about techniques which are often overlooked or executed incorrectly.

In addition to learning techniques, one of my favorite parts of the experience was hearing Relson discuss some of the wider aspects and contexts of specific Jiu Jitsu techniques. It was insightful to hear his take on the effectiveness (and ineffectiveness) of some techniques gaining in popularity in the martial art.

I was also struck by Relson’s down-to-earth, friendly, and approachable personality. He is a living legend, on the same level as Muhammad Ali or Larry Bird, yet as friendly as approachable as your next door neighbor. It was obvious to me he was glad to be there, to teach, and to meet and talk with the students.

If Relson is holds a seminar near you I definitely recommend checking it out.

pic credit(s): http://relsongracie.com/gallery/view/id_6/field_/title_Relson-Gracie-Pose/