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/

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.

A couple of weeks ago I was rolling with an instructor at Boulder Grappling Academy – which is always fun (and sometimes painful). This session ended when the instructor executed a baseball/baseball bat choke from knee on belly. I failed to block grips and he snagged a deep hold on my collar – and a second later I emitted a grunt as my collar quickly tightened around my neck. It was an incredibly effective choke.

This is the best video I found demonstrating the technique:

I look forward to learning and blocking this move in the future.

Anyone who loves martial arts has probably seen the show Human Weapon on The History Channel at some point. One of the things I remember the show doing well was demonstrating techniques with computer animation.

So it should have been no surprise to me to find a short, 21-second clip from the show demonstrating the technique when I was searching for examples of it in MMA competition on Youtube. Check it out:

Obviously, segments like these only show the basic physics of a move. As a learning tool, however, videos like these could be quite effective – the 3d animation, the rotation around the virtual participants, and commentary could all point out specifics very differently than live-action instruction videos.

The show was great and if you missed it you can watch clips of it on Youtube. As I write this I recall that they may have released a DVD of both seasons. I guess I will see if Netflix has it…

I’m at a point in my training when I would like to get more taps. At tap-out here, a tap-out here – nothing revolutionary or dominant – but I’m consistently doing the vast majority of tapping whenever I roll. Still, I believe I’m progressing in-tune with the average student. I have learned so much in my training. It has been amazing.

I’m an analytical, thoughtful person. Because of this I have stepped back and taken high-level look at some ways I may be more successful when I roll.

When I talk with and learn from classmates and teachers, and take a high level look at everything that is said, there almost seems to be a “Jiu Jitsu Chi” – that if followed – leads to tap-outs. This “chi” seems to the combination of technique, timing (which may be part of technique), position (which also seems to be part of technique), patience… okay, so I guess it really does seem to boil down to technique.

This notion of of “Jiu Jitsu Chi” is only tongue-in-cheek. I don’t really think “Jiu Jitsu Chi” exists, but it does seem at this point in my training that technique is just about everything. Maybe we can call “Jiu Jitsu Chi” the successful application of technique.

I can analyze all I want, however, but it seems the key to winning is time on on the mats – after which winning will come more naturally. Via Aesopian:

How to get good isn’t a big secret. Get on the mats, get good instruction and do conditioning, drilling or sparring. Gameplans, flow charts, notebooks, journals and instructionals are gravy. Training is the meat and potatoes.

pic credit(s): http://www.flickr.com/photos/parrhesiastes/816843976/

When rolling, don’t forget to tap. Always err on the side of tapping out. It is not worth the injury.

Tonight I began rolling with brown belt – and about  9 seconds later – I was in a leg lock. For a split second I believed I could escape the hold – so I twisted to my left, naively thinking my leg would be freed and the situation would evolve to something different, but It didn’t. I should I have began tapping the moment my leg was captured. For my mistake I have sore left calf. I’m lucky it wasn’t worse.

It always important to tap when in peril. I’m lucky I didn’t injured. When in doubt, tap.

In class tonight we learned some side control (also called “kesa gatame”) escapes. Side control is a dominant position in grappling. I like Wikipedia’s definition – here is an abbriged version:

Side control … is a dominant ground grappling position where the top combatant is lying perpendicularly over the face-up bottom combatant in such a way that the legs are free and he or she exerts considerable control over the combatant on the bottom … from there the top combatant can proceed with elbows, knees, various armlocks, or transition into a mounted position.

Escaping side control is tough. The person defending side control (the person on bottom) has a lot work for him or her.

The techniques we learned where considerably awesome, however. This was surprised – but I guess I shouldn’t have been – that bucking the opponent is can be key to escaping form the position.

Anyhow, when I returned home, I was motivated to explore some other techniques online. I impressed by the number of creative ways to escape this position. For example, I especially like the first technique in the video below because of the ability to leverage your back strength as you capture your oponent’s head with your leg.

Here is another technique that looks extremely effective. I can’t wait to give a try next time I’m rolling and find myself the victim of a side control position.