photo credit: San Diego Shooter

I have to credit SBGi with first opening my eyes to the importance of posture.  For a long time I was caught in the technique arms race fueled by books and dvds.  Devouring everything in my path and hoping to remember it all.  Needless to say, it failed.  SBGi emphasizes posture first and technique second.  This concept helped me to focus my game on more simple elements and begin to put the pieces in place.

In our recent classes with Dave, he has opened my eyes to an even more fundamental element of bjj - movement.  We have all been to classes or seminars where everyone shrimps down the mat.  This is a fundamental movement.  We all know we should do this, we all know it somehow is important, but I know for me, I have always ignored training this movement.  Why?  Simple - It's just boring to do movement drills.

In class last week Dave did a few demonstrations that were really impressive and have caused me to refocus on movement drills a bit more.  The main one was his performance of the shrimp movement from side to side.  He did this effortlessly without letting his hips hit the ground.  He then continued that same movement by going a full 360 degrees.  This means starting on his back, shrimping away, going to the knees, and returning to the beginning position.  It was like watching a gymnast - smooth, fast, precise.

His second demonstration was all about using your shoulders and elbows for movement.  He "walked" up and down the mat on his shoulders and then again using his elbows  - connecting these movements by showing how they enable his mobility when rolling.  In both, he was scary fast.

This is clearly the type of natural, instinctive movement that top players have and more and more I can see it when I watch him roll.  Obviously a Judo background helps, but I believe anyone can get there with focus.  I plan to try.

Spring Camp 2009!
Every Year SBGi holds it’s annual Spring Camp at various locations around the USA. And people travel from all over the world to attend! I cannot say enough about the quality of both the instruction and the people in SBGi. If you can make it, you will definitely not be disappointed.  Oh, and this year the cost is the same as last year.

Where and When:

Portland SBGi HQ
Fri March 20th evening, and all day March 21st & 22nd

Coaches:

Brian Walsh - teaching a coaches clinic on how to better work with fighters on the mitts.
Matt Thornton - BJJ gi and no gi
Karl Tanswell - MMA, coaches clinc on cornering fighters, gi BJJ
Eric Hemphill - Submission underground, sneaky BJJ
Travis Davison - BJJ gi and no-gi
Cane Prevost - Gi BJJ and a coaches clinic on 'I' method
Christian Montes - How not to puke during an ironman :)

You can sign up online.

Christian Montes runs Ronin Athletics.  A felllow SGB location.  This is one of his top game attacking progressions.  Check it out.

 John Frankl is a bjj black belt who hails from Santa Cruz.  He has trained with Rickson, Claudio Franca, Roberto Maia (Boston) and others.  He currently lives and works in Korea, but thankfully gets back to the Bay Area a few times a year to visit family.  For the last few years, John and I have stayed in contact and I make sure to clear my calendar when he is in town.  He is one of my favorite instructors.  Solid technique, humble demeaner, and just an all around nice guy.  Would you expect anything less from SBGi?

To get more of Frankl Gold, subscribe to his YouTube Channel

I have been a part of martial arts since I was a child.  Always having it in my soul, but never really taking the time needed to truly make it an integral part of my life.  One could say it is the demands of the everyday, a lack of discipline, or a host of other challenges.  My belief is that I had yet to stumble upon a practice that garnered my full attention or respect.  In high school I advanced through the ranks in Tae Kwon Do and relished in the status that provided, yet all the while I knew something was off.  Deep inside, there was a feeling that all my training, when put to the test, would find itself wanting.  With the advent of the UFC and more recently large scale MMA, it became clear that my gut feeling was on the mark.

One dimensional training is hopelessly inadequate when it comes to real world application.  Around the start of the UFC, like many others, I became interested in Brazilian Jiu-JItsu as Royce Gracie dominated his opponents through ground fighting.  I began my training with Carley Gracie, a wonderful teacher, and human being.  After only a few months of classes, work took me away from his location in San Francisco and life again swept me away.  However, the one constant has always been my desire to achieve a level of proficiency in functional martial arts.

In that quest, I trained for several years with Crosley Gracie.  Perhaps the most gifted fighter I have ever known.  He is currently fighting MMA in Japan and I fear for anyone who opposes him in the ring.  He is skilled, complete, and very tough.  I remain friends with him to this day and periodically (very periodically) find time to join him at his Brentwood academy, which is over an hour from my home.

Around this time, I also made the acquiantance of another very skilled, Ralph Gracie student, named David Camarillo.  David made his mark by combining his Judo depth with the ground game of jiu-jitsu.  He is incredibly quick and deadly as well, but his true skill is in teaching.  He knows how to break the game down and make sure it is understood by all.  Dave puts his students first and it shows.  I train with Dave whenever I can although his academy in San Jose is quite a drive.

In my effort of expanding my jiu-jitsu knowledge, I recently made a trip to Portland Oregon.  This is the home of Straight Blast Gym, a mma academy owned and operated by Matt Thornton, a bjj black belt under the Machado Brothers.  This was an amazing trip.  We covered some basics of ground fighting, boxing, and clinch fighting.  Clinch and boxing were completely foreign to me, and it showed.  However, this trip has taught me that ground fighting, although essential, is not enough.  You need a complete game in all three phases of combat.  This trip also gave me the confidence to start this club, Prajna Sports Norcal BJJ Academy.

Norcal BJJ  is a group of like minded individuals looking to train in a fun, supportive atmosphere.  If you have ever trained in martial arts, you have run into everything from the dogmatic teacher, to the endless dead patterns (ie. kata, punching in a line), and a heaping helping of macho attitude.  These have no place in our gym.  We are about making each other better and having fun.  After all, for most of us this is our free time, who wants to deal with jerks.  There are plenty of schools for tough guys looking to beat up on others, our just isn’t one of them.

And so it begins, we know not where it will take us, but if you want to feel safer, have some fun, and get in a good workout, drop us a line.

-Paul