A video about the “core” of Jiu Jitsu.

Thanks to Brad for showing me the video.

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

I was recently thinking about the different people I have rolled with at this point in my Jiu Jitsu career and the characteristics of a good rolling partner. On the one hand, the answer I came up with is “it depends” – it depends on (your) mood, what you and your partner are looking to get from the session, energy levels, etc.

On the other hand, there does seem to be some things common to good sparring partners.

Desire To Learn (Not Just About Winning)

Winning is always fun, but for rolling, it’s not always the goal. We all have fights with high intensity where both participants want to win – badly. These fights can be fun and invigorating. It is one of the things I love about the martial art.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

But there is a collection of moves that are good for winning but are more appropriate for tournaments or the street. Two examples of these kinds of moves are putting pressure on someone’s nose to set up a rear-naked choke and covering an opponent’s nose and mouth with an available hand to try to force someone to move.

I often enjoy myself the most when my sparring partner and I are both trying to learn or apply new moves, when trying to win at an agreed or implied intensity. In these sessions I often learn new techniques and improve the context of moves I already know. This is a huge part of my training: when I am complimented on my progress by other students, I’ll normally tell them it is greatly because of them – because of training, practicing, and rolling with them.

Being Relaxed

“Tweaking out” seems to be endemic to most people brand new to any type of grappling. I was guilty of this when I first started Jiu Jitsu. I have obviously moved on, but I think we have all experienced this in a sparring partner: you are rolling with a (likely new) Jiu Jitsu student, and he/she is wiry and excitable.

A good sparring partner is typically relaxed because they are comfortable. In contrast to “tweaking out”, their movements are under control, even though they may not know what to do next (should I try to escape? should I go for a kimura?), it is mostly intentional. Unintentional, spazmatic movements can be unsafe, which bring me to the next item that makes a good rolling partner.

An Appreciation Of Safety

While being a “spaz” certainly makes for less safe sparring session for both participants, so does trying specific holds or submissions without proper training. I am referring to moves such as ankle locks, knee bars, and wrist locks. The odds of injury are greater if you aren’t trained in them. At my school, people are usually cleared to do these moves at some point after white belt (typically blue, I believe).

Personally, I don’t mind when I am put into one of these positions by someone who knows what they are doing, such as a teacher or an advanced student. I do get concerned, however, when someone puts me in ankle lock without the context or training they should have before trying the move. It is not safe and probably not a good idea. Just like anyone else, I don’t want to get injured.

For my first six or seven months of Jiu Jitsu I was convinced it was smart to wear a cup when training. This was confirmed when I racked my training partner with my knee – on accident, of course – and when my cup protected me from various impairments to my reproductive compacity when people passed my guard with various knee passes which would have otherwise may have been quite painful.

I was able to overcome the discomfort and considered myself wise for wearing one – and for better or worse – my Jiu Jitsu was probably a little more fearless because of it.

My thoughts on the issue remained consistent until I had a conversation with an instructor. He mentioned the following two points about wearing a cup when training:

1. In a street fight you won’t have time to put on a cup – and if you find yourself somehow wearing a cup you should consider yourself lucky – lucky enough to go buy a lottery ticket. As much as possible, you should be able and used to defending yourself without having a dependence on a piece of a equipment. This is a common-sense reality of street fights.
2. When you don’t train with a cup, you get accustomed to it. He said you “develop radar” and sensitivity – you begin to make adjustments that reduce likelihood of injuries to groin.

I pretty much immediately stopped wearing a cup after the conversation. I was a bit nervous at first, but he is right: you really do begin to account for your sensitivities when you don’t wear protection down there. And the more I think about the arguments for not wearing a cup when training, the more obvious and true they  seem.

I have done a complete 180 on the issue and I think my Jiu Jitsu and self defense is better because of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronalddevillaphotography/ / CC BY 2.0

Yesterday I was forwarded this great video demonstrating Gracie Jiu Jitsu with Rickson and Royler Gracie. I don’t know the context of the video or where it is from, although the announcers reference Pride Fighting Championships. It demonstrates some Gracie self defense techniques followed by sparring.

I like this video for showing what clean, expert Jiu Jitsu looks like to novices and experienced practitioners alike.

Thanks Brad!

Sambo is an up-and-coming grappling-focused martial art with Russian roots.

Like Jiu Jitsu, Sambo has a lot of appeal and is experiencing impressive growth since its gain in popularity  in the US in the early 2000s. Wikipedia describes Sambo as a “modern martial art, combat sport and self-defense system” and broadly categorizes it as a “grappling/mixed martial arts style” of self defense.

Because Sambo has a lot of appeal to students of Jiu Jitsu and other grappling-focused martial arts, I reached out to Stephen Koepfer, president of the American Sambo Association, to get up to speed with Sambo and how it compares with Jiu Jitsu.

Thanks to Steve for answering my questions.

I have attempted to give a general introduction to Sambo. Did I miss anything?

I would add that besides the basic facts of where, when, and why Sambo was created, Sambo is a pretty broad term. Like the word “Karate” which encompasses many different styles, the word “Sambo” covers a wide variety of flavors, styles, and approaches. Sambo does not mean simply one thing.

You may have five different Sambo clubs that go about things five different ways and practice five different approaches to training. Of course there are common denominators, but you may have a combat Sambo club which mainly focuses on practical application such as the military style. You may have a club that is purely sport oriented and only trains throwing and grappling. You may have a competitive combat Sambo club which focuses on MMA type of competition. There may also be combinations of these. To consider Sambo as one specific thing is misleading.

Common to most Sambo clubs, however (I have trained in all these variants), is the lack of formality and utilitarian approach to training. It is very different from the experience in most of most martial arts originating from Asia. You don’t see bowing, titles, ranks, and all that sort of thing. It is a much more casual environment where people simply come to bust their butts in training. It is much more akin to a wrestling club in that respect.

If a Jiu Jitsu student were to take up training at a typical Sambo academy, what are some things that may be most surprising to him or her?

I find that the lack of formality is one thing that sticks out to cross-over students. Some people feel really freed up by it. Others seem to need the rank structure and formality.

In terms of technique and training, it depends on the club. At our club, many BJJ folks comment on the aggressiveness and quickness of the game, different ways of using movement and body weight, and importantly, the different way to play the game because of differences in rules.

The throwing and leg lock game usually brings most BJJ guys in the door, but they are often surprised that we do chokes too and that Sambo is more than throws and leg locks. It is a real misrepresentation to say that Sambo does not include choking. But, again, if a club is purely sport Sambo oriented, they may focus less on chokes. However, just about every US club I know practices choking.

I think the approach to training often seems backwards to many BJJ guys that train with us. Sometimes they may be used to a “here’s a submission, now go roll and practice it” type of approach. We focus much more on movement before itemizing a list of submissions. We train submissions and situational sparring, of course, but the idea is that you have to move properly first. We focus very much on improvisation and flow; learning to identify openings for submissions improvisationally while rolling, not hunting for a particular submission when you are a noob. We don’t want people submission hunting and missing other opportunities that may be staring them in the face. The idea is that if you can’t move properly and sense how another person moves in your space, you will not nail any submissions.

It is a different story when you are advanced and have learned what your go-to submissions are. It is the advanced guys who can either nail a submission on you even when you know what they are going for, or be able to nail a submission from any position they happen to find themselves in. You have to be able to do both.

Jiu Jitsu grew from Judo, which obviously is about throwing your opponent to the ground. From there, Jiu Jitsu focuses on grappling and ground fighting. Does Sambo also have a common set of techniques or strategies for taking the opponent to the ground?

Well, I would say that we want to throw people right into a solid position. I always say that a throw is not complete until you have position on the mat (in sport circumstances). The worst thing to do is nail a sweet throw and lose the guy on the mat. Therefore, we always train throws in combination with follow-up positions.

In terms of techniques, I would say we have many similar throws to judo, but we also have more wrestling style takedowns. Our angles of attacks are also bit different.

Jiu Jitsu seems to benefit from interest MMA, where Jiu Jitsu is commonly discussed by commentators and trained-in by fighters. Do you see same thing happening for Sambo, or has it already begun?

Yes, for sure. But, I have to say that it irks me when I see commentators call every solid throw or sub “good Jiu Jitsu”…even if the fighter never trained Jiu Jitsu before. The term Jiu Jitsu has become synonomous for general grappling in my opinion. Most fans can’t tell the difference. This is starting to change, however, with guys like Fedor Emelianenko coming into common fan awareness. Some commentators who are more educated, like Bas Rutten for example, will note differences, but most just call all the grappling they see “Jiu Jitsu”.

What are some popular Sambo moves or techniques to search for online at places like Youtube or Vimeo to get a taste of what Sambo looks like? Do you recommend any online resources to learn more about Sambo or find places to train?

I would suggest the series of videos I filmed for expert village.

Basics:

http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/Sambo-beginner.htm

Advanced:

http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/advanced-Sambo.htm

Sambo combinations:

http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/4424_Sambo-strikes.htm

For techniques, event, and training footage, you can also visit my youtube page: www.youtube.com/usSambo.

For info on Sambo, you can visit the American Sambo Association (ASA) forum at www.worldwidegrappling.com or the ASA website at www.usSambo.com.

Anything else?

Thanks for the opportunity to talk with you. I would add that I don’t think Sambo, or BJJ, or catch, or judo, etc., is better than the other. I really believe students need to find a coach and training method that works best for them. And of course, cross train. No system has everything, so get what you can get from wherever you can get it!

pic credit(s): Pictures are courtesy of Stephen Koepfer of the American Sambo Association.