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You are here: Home / Archives for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

I've been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, otherwise known as BJJ, since April of 2008. I currently hold the rank of black belt. I was awarded this rank in March of 2020 at The Foundry in Maine, one of the oldest and most respected clubs in New England. I continue to train regularly and teach once a week at our school. In this blog category, you'll find commentary on events I've attended, my perspectives on milestones I've experienced, and some of my opinion that I've developed during the time I've trained. I also like writing about technique and theory and offer many posts on those subjects. Add to that a few fairly old videos of yours truly rolling and you've got yourself somewhat of a full-fledged BJJ scene. For the record, I've trained Jiu-Jitsu full time in Glastonbury, CT, St. Augistine, FL, and in Farmington, ME, along with visiting appearances around Palm Coast, FL, Middletown and Hartford, CT.

The Jiu-Jitsu Quarantine Has Been Lifted

June 2, 2020

Yes, that’s right. Here in the state of Maine, we may now hold our beloved Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes once again. There is one caveat though. We can’t touch one another. Which has thrown a monkey wrench into the entire thing, I’d say. Not that anyone in particular wants to touch anyone else, but still. What’s […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

I’ve Been Promoted to Black Belt

March 14, 2020

BJJ Class Photo - Foundry Farmington

I thought I’d take a moment to mark the occasion. I seem to have an issue with doing this, so I figured I’d hop on it to get it done. Okay, here it is – on March 10, 2020, I was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I know. For those of you who […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Earning First Stripe on My Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt

December 21, 2016

Koral Brown Belt

I have one rule that I developed since I began writing on this blog again a few months ago. That rule is to write about as much as I possibly can. I was just talking to Laura about this rule a few minutes ago when I mentioned that I randomly wrote about some whiskey around […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Third Stripe On My BJJ Purple Belt

October 7, 2014

BJJ Purple Belt With Three Stripes

I was just moving over some posts from my old blog to this one when I ran across a few of my older bjj belt stripe and promotion pictures. I thought about them for a while and figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put up a shot of my purple belt sporting my […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Launch Fuel Review – Q5 Combat

February 14, 2014

I’ve got to tell you something. And I’m going to be honest with you here when I say that I’m just a regular guy. Sure, I train Jiu-Jitsu, but really, I haven’t ever gotten into the whole “health” thing when it comes to physical fitness in between BJJ classes. I don’t work out, I have […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Triangle Defense with Dean Lister

January 31, 2014

A few years ago, I visited a NAGA tournament to support a few classmates of mine. While I was there, I saw a kid, probably no older than seventeen or eighteen, competing in another area while wearing a bright red gi. I wasn’t sure what to make of the gi, but when I watched this […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Back From a Long Break

January 30, 2014

I have no idea why I stopped writing. I think it was because I needed to get some things in my life together. Moving from Florida to Maine would do it – I think. Anyway, this is just a quick post to say that I’m going to be diving back into this blog. Can you […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Takedowns, X-Guard & the Shoyoroll Gi

August 23, 2013

All right folks, I’ve got a few random thoughts this morning that I need to get out there. Just some areas I’ve been working on in my game as well as an update that has to do with a gi company I’ve never heard of, but that’s apparently quite popular with the rest of the […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

North-South Escapes For Jiu-Jitsu

August 2, 2013

I’ve been having a small problem while rolling lately and that problem is getting caught up being the bottom player in the north-south position. This usually happens towards the end of the night, when I’m utterly exhausted. I’m pretty sure I got caught on Tuesday evening, as well as last night. When I’m out of […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Combat Base Guard Pass, Butterfly Guard Defense and Rafael Lovato Jr.

July 31, 2013

We had some more awesome training last night. You know that when everyone stands in a circle at the end of class clapping, it was good training. That’s what we did and that’s what seems to happen more often than not. I’ll admit that I’m sore from it all, but it’s a good sore. During […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Grip Fighting For Jiu-Jitsu

July 27, 2013

If someone asked me what I think the most important aspect of rolling while wearing a gi is, I’d surely reply that it’s the grip fight. There’s no doubt about it. And just to reinforce what I’m saying here, I want you to think about the very first thing you do when you’re rolling gi. […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Working the Butterfly Guard and Sweep

July 24, 2013

It’s funny, because even before I reached the butterfly guard section of Jiu-Jitsu University, I began thinking of how I needed to get back into working on it. It’s one of the more simple guard and sweep combinations out there as well as one of the most effective. I tackled a few areas of them […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Origin Pro Comp 2013 Gi – Quick Review

July 12, 2013

Okay guys, I received my new Origin Pro Comp 2013 gi jacket today and I wanted to write a post for a quick review. Since there are probably a few reviews already floating around out there, like here and here, I won’t give you the regular rundown. What I do want though, is to give […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

52 Triangle Choke Set Ups With Jason Scully

July 11, 2013

As you may already know, I have a certain affinity for the triangle choke. I think a lot of people do. Whether or not you have the perfect build to be throwing triangles on people, you should really, at the very least, know how to perform many of the set ups – as well as […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Butterfly Guard Pass

July 10, 2013

Last night was another hard training night. We learned, drilled and then rolled to oblivion. I’m not sure how long we did what we did, but what I do know is that while we were hanging out after class, there were a few guys patting themselves on the back. Whenever we train like this, we […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Defending Guard and Goals For Tonight’s Class – July 9, 2013

July 9, 2013

First, a piece of good news. I just received an email from Pete, up at Origin in Maine, telling me that my new gi jacket has been shipped and is on its way. That’s pretty exciting. I don’t know – I have to tell you that I’m still liking the idea of those guys hand […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Guard Pass Defense

July 7, 2013

I want to talk about a concept today that I’ve probably already talked about a hundred times. I want to discuss it again though because it’s one of those areas of BJJ that many of us just can’t seem to get straight. It’s one of those areas that gives us trouble every single time we […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

When We Forget Why We Train

July 3, 2013

I’ve been getting into Jiu-Jitsu blogging for a few months now and I have to tell you, it’s been better than I imagined it could be. It’s like a small club. I’ve found many well thought out websites authored by many well thought out individuals. I’ve subscribed to their blogs by email and many mornings […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

The Guard and Goals For Tonight’s Class – July 2, 2013

July 2, 2013

Since I haven’t rolled in a few days, I’m in a bit of agony right now. It doesn’t take long for withdrawal to kick in and when it does, I get jittery. Anyway, I have a few things I’d like to work on tonight. After having time to reflect on what I’ve been doing for […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

The Cross Grip

June 30, 2013

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the cross grip is very important. Many, many techniques follow from this one movement and clamping of the hand. I was reading an article yesterday that mentioned how important it is to avoid applying “muscle to muscle.” Basically, if an opponent is attempting to force you somewhere, don’t counter their force with […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Triangle, Cross Grip and the Side Escape

June 28, 2013

I went into last night’s class focused on maintaining my guard. I’ve been dwelling on the topic for a while and to be honest with you, I’ve been a bit perturbed. If you aren’t aware, I’ve got these long legs that should be virtually impossible to pass and yet, at times, people do. Annoying, to […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Defending the Guard

June 26, 2013

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to move on from my strength fight when someone’s passing my guard. This doesn’t only have to do with last night’s conversation about bigger guys, it has to do with players in general. Small or big – because small guys have games of their own. The principles […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Side Escape Concept by Dan Faggella

June 26, 2013

He calls it a “weird” tip for escaping side control, but it’s really not weird at all. It’s a concept and it’s the type of thing all of us should really be focusing on more than we are. I’m sure you’ve seen my ramblings about how there’s not enough discussion on concepts in BJJ. If […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

How To Get Better At Jiu-Jitsu

June 26, 2013

Wearing Jiu-Jitsu Gi

This is terrible. I’m going to write a post that people simply aren’t going to want to read. They aren’t going to want to read it because, unfortunately, it ends badly. I’ll even give you the punchline to the title of this post right here, so you can close this page if you want to. […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

How Do You Stop Bigger Opponents From Passing Your Guard?

June 25, 2013

Defending and Passing Jiu-Jitsu Guard

Okay, first order of business – I wanted to quickly talk about how I’m having good luck with Saulo’s running side escape. I’ve been practicing this side escape for two classes now and I’m telling you, it works. I can’t believe I took so long to put this in my bag of goodies. Here, watch […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Saulo Ribeiro Works!

June 21, 2013

I’ve been reading Saulo Ribeiro’s “Jiu-Jitsu University” very closely. I’m not taking notes or anything like that, but I’m digesting what the man’s trying to tell me. At first, I didn’t think I’d remember anything because there’s a lot of content and I’m reading fairly quickly, but I’ll tell you this – somehow it’s being […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Lasso Guard Training Pictures

June 21, 2013

Good news. I finally remembered to bring my camera in last night. I handed it to Christy and she took it from there. Took it so far that I have at least 200 really good pictures of training from last night. I edited them slightly – cropping and stuff like that and then saved them […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Goals For Tonight’s Class – June 20, 2013

June 20, 2013

Alright, I’m back to working my grip game. On Tuesday night’s class, we went over two back escapes with minor variations of each. Thank you Kevin for covering this in class. Defending back is extremely tricky business, so the more practice, the better. I think not freaking out is probably the best thing to learn […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Goals For Tonight’s Class – June 18, 2013

June 18, 2013

Tonight is all about back. I intend to put much more focus on taking back from guard as well as allowing partners to take my back in order to practice my escapes. Also, if I see someone go to turtle, I would like to practice taking back from there as well. I may even throw […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Ordered My Origin Gi Jacket

June 13, 2013

Just a quick update to let you know that I ordered my Origin Gi Jacket. As I may have mentioned before, I only need a jacket because I already have about 6 pairs of pants. Some old, some brand new. The last thing I need is more gi pants. FYI – Origin doesn’t have an […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Defending and Escaping Back Control

June 12, 2013

After you’re finished reading this post, check out two more really nice back escapes. Last night, we did a few passing guard, defending the back and defending turtle position drills. Passing and defending guard is a given. Those are probably two of the most common situations we come across in Jiu-Jitsu. It’s really a no-brainer […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Two Really Nice Back Escapes

June 12, 2013

I’ve been looking into finding one or two “go-to” back escapes for my game. One of the things I DO NOT want to do is to confuse myself with having too many options as someone is climbing all over me in an attempt to choke me. While options are nice, there are occasions where simplicity […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Is Jiu-Jitsu Like Algebra?

June 11, 2013

Do you remember your algebra and geometry classes from high school? Or, if you were on the cutting edge, middle school? Or (again), if you were perhaps like me (on the dull edge), in college? Well, if you remember these things from any school, you may remember that they have many parts, such as elementary […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Drilling In Jiu-Jitsu

June 11, 2013

This post is simply a continuation of my “Debunking Jiu-Jitsu” series. I’ve been told time and time again that drilling is the key to success in Jiu-Jitsu. “If you don’t get it now, drill it a hundred more times. And if you don’t get it then, drill it a hundred more.” There’s a mantra out […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Benefits of the BJJ Triangle and Advice For Younger Players

June 8, 2013

I’m going to confess right off the bat that I love using the triangle during my rolling sessions. Whenever I remember to actually focus on what I’m doing out there, I like to keep my legs in my back pocket to use when I need them. When rolling, people oftentimes forget about legs and to […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Very Good Night of Rolling

June 7, 2013

When’s the last time you had a really good night of rolling? A really good night doesn’t happen as often as we’d like. There’s usually some sort of barrier to that – a mismatch of weight, strength, skill. Last night was really good. There were only four of us who showed up. I’m thinking it […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

I’m Thinking Of the Origin Pro Comp 2013 Gi

June 6, 2013

I have been wearing my Koral Gi jackets for way too long. I must have told you about them somewhere along the lines, but if you aren’t aware, the collars are curling in an extremely annoying way. I know I put them in the dryer a long time ago. That must have done it. Koral […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Goals For Tonight’s Class – June 6, 2013

June 6, 2013

I have some goals going into tonight’s class. Things I’ve been looking into for a few days and things I know two people up at Fighting Chance can help me with. First, I’m going to work on my “double sleeve grip, standing, spider guard triangle.” This is sweet and I’ve done a lot of it […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Working My Grip Game

June 5, 2013

I went into class last night with every intention of working my triangle. I had a few setups in mind and I wanted to see how they worked out. Unfortunately, I ended up rolling with some bigger guys and had to switch up my plans. Bigger guys are extremely difficult to triangle. I had an […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Open Guard Zones, Grip Fighting and Tactics

June 2, 2013

After last night’s post, I was all up in arms about this open guard thing. I told you that I was going to research it a bit to see what others were saying about the whole concept of the position. I think my goal was to find out if I was doing anything wrong or […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro

June 2, 2013

I just ordered a copy of Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro and Kevin Howell. I’ve been meaning to pick this book up for quite some time, but for whatever reason, I kept avoiding it. Perhaps it was because I didn’t want another book floating around the house, or perhaps I was just being cheap. I’m […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

A Discussion On the Open Guard

June 1, 2013

I’ve been thinking about the open guard a lot lately. Probably because I think mine isn’t as good as it used to be or perhaps because I’m finding some pretty stiff competition when I’m trying to pass one. Whatever is causing these thoughts to swirl around my mind most likely isn’t as important as what […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Breaking the Lock Down and Practicing Passing Guard

May 31, 2013

Last night, we did more of what I described in my last post. We had three guys on the mat and three challengers attempting to pass their open guard. It’s a tough exercise, especially when you’re trying to put into action what you’ve just gone over. I already told you that we went over the […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Practicing the Half Guard Escape and Sweep

May 29, 2013

Another good time last night, but nowhere near as grueling as the past few classes I’ve had to endure. While we did sweat, the doors were open to offer a slight (warm) breeze and we didn’t free roll at all. Not that I mind that – I actually prefer the strenuous side of BJJ. But, […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Low Level X-Pass by Jason Scully

May 28, 2013

Before heading off to class tonight, I’ve been reviewing some videos on the x-pass. I’ve seen a few pretty good ones over the weekend, so I have a couple of ideas I want to play with. Mainly leg position while blocking the potential de la riva guard and some simple hand position on the opposing […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

X-Pass, the Brown Belt and the Black Belt

May 24, 2013

Wow, what a night of rolling. I kind of knew what to expect because Kevin updated the Fighting Chance Facebook page with some info. It said, “Come train tonight….get ready for the holiday weekend. We are going to train hard so we can play hard! See you on the mats, Vida Jiu~Jitsu!!” Okay, another one […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

The Ambush Choke & the Baseball Bat Choke

May 24, 2013

We all know that many chokes in BJJ are similar to one another. Collar setup, wrist setup and the choking arm. What varies slightly is what does what. Does a tight collar grip help more with a particular choke or does a loose one help? Are you going to apply it from the bottom or […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

A Few BJJ Training Tips

May 23, 2013

I’m always on the hunt for great training tips. As you may know, if you’re into BJJ as much as I am, learning this art can sometimes be frustrating. It feels like once you’ve got a handle on things and once you feel somewhat comfortable, you meet a new player or instructor who turns things […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Learn Checkers To Improve Your BJJ Game

May 23, 2013

This post is in the same vein as my previous one about chess. Not completely, but since we’re talking about board games here, there’s definitely a relationship. And trust me, there’s a point to this post, but it’s toward the end. Bear with me and read the entire thing – you may get something out […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

Brown Belts Are Good – Really Good

May 22, 2013

I’m sitting here right now feeling like I was dragged through town by a Jeep. Like I had a rope around one of my ankles and like someone thought it would be funny to see how much pain or how sore they could make me. Well, it worked. I’m sore. I’m dabbling with the idea […]

Filed Under: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

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