Claudio Franca is hosting his annual tournament again this year.

April 25 & 26, 2009
Los Gatos High School
20 High School Ct Los Gatos, CA 95030

You can find more information on their website.

I am not one for goals and resolutions - mainly because I have rarely if ever accomplished them by writing them down.  However, I did want to take a bit of time to think about my jits game and put thought into where I really want to focus in the new year.

Here is my list:

1. Improve My Cardio: We roll every class of course, but we do take breaks, and that saves me.  I know that if we rolled hard for an hour straight I'd be gassed.  I just need to add some wind sprints and weights to my routine and I'll be there.  The added benefit of this is that it will improve my body composition and overall health as well.

2. Do A Competition: Everyone who does a competition comes back saying what a great experience it was for them.  I have never done one but I think it will help my jiu-jitsu out no matter the outcome.  Just going through the preparation and feeling the nerves of competition may not be enjoyable, but I do think it's time to jump into the fire.

3. Do Yoga: Although flexibility is not something I want to require in my game, I do think it helps bigtime in areas like guard retention.  Aside from that, it just feels good to be looser.  I really want to do this one more for health and spirituality, but since it helps my bjj too, it sounds like a winner.

4. Drill Positions Weekly: I am very lazy in this.  The guys in my club drill all the time and are making big improvements.  I read a long time ago that Eddie Bravo did this years ago and felt it really helped his game.  Obviously SBGi is huge into this.  I need to just get disciplined cause we all know it's way more fun to just roll.

5. Clarify Hubs and Transitions: I could say this in other ways, but what I mean is that I really want to become clear on what the control positions are, and how to move between them.  I also want to work controlling those positions very thoroughly and thoughtfully.  In 2009 I want to establish a core game of control and movement from everywhere - deliberate yet instinctual(reactive).  I know that if I can do that then the attacks will flow from there.

What are you working on in 2009?

Paul

As luck would have it, my family vacation to Southern California happened to align with the weekend of the IBJJF Mundials - The World Championships of Jiu-Jitsu.  This event is held annually, and for the last few years has been hosted by the Pyramid in Long Beach.  Since I was so close, I jumped at the chance to see this live and in person.

Having attended several bjj tournaments in the past, I was expecting a lot of ego and attitude throughout the event.  I happily found just the opposite.  Everyone was beyond friendly.  There was no attitude, anywhere - period.  Many of the smaller local tournaments are ripe with the Tapout vibe, but not here.  Perhaps it was that the level of players is so high, they have moved beyond all that macho noise.  Whatever the reason, it was awesome to see and experience.

From a competitive perspective, the highlight had to be the match with Kron Gracie (Rickson) and Sergio Moraes (Alliance).  Of course, Kron's promotion to black a few months back and his previous domination of the brown belt ranks made his showing here something to be very excited about.  I for one had no idea how it would go.  By chance, I happened to pick a row right in front of where Kron's match was to be held.  You knew something was going on when the crowd started to fill up the seats around me and even the stairs had people sitting on them as we all crowded around to watch this event.  Kron was followed by a video camera capturing the event like a documentary, and you could see Rickson in the first or second row, eagerly awaiting the fight.

The match was very exciting.  Sergio pushed the pace hard and was up on points before he finally submitted the new black.  The Alliance crowd went ballistic as did Sergio.  I really felt for Kron and Rickson as this happened.  I was in shock for minutes afterwards.  Of course, he'll be back stronger, but I guess some small part of me wanted to see him take it all.

There were other matches on Saturday as well - Galvao, Roger Gracie, Xande and more.  I stayed from about 4pm tp 6:30pm and really saw some great action, but the stands were even more incredible.  Especially given my lucky seat.  Within about 10 minutes I had Demian Maia, Xande, Fabio Gurgel and Fabio Santos all walking down my row to cut across the arena.  This is not even to mention guys like Saulo and Rickson hanging out and chatting in the competitors area and in the stands.  I was in awe of the talent there.  Impressive.

Given how professional it was run and the overall vibe of the event, I may make a trip down and compete next year.  I think it would be a great experience, win or lose.

See you on the mat.