BANKS' STATEMENT

I Have No Teacher

2011-11-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have no teacher, I make observation my teacher.
I have no lineage, I make experience my lineage.
I have no credentials, I make ability my credentials.

I have no rank, I make constant improvement my rank.
I have no secrets, I make attention to detail my secret.
I have no strategy, I make opportunity my strategy.

I have no style, I make his weaknesses my style.
I have no luck, I make training my luck.
I have no enemies, I make ignorance my enemy.

FaceBook Posts

2011-10-30T07:09:00.001-07:00

These are a few FaceBook posts I've written in the recent past. I hope they help.

Abyss

Every time I think I've reached a certain depth of understanding in Jiu Jitsu I find a way to dig myself deeper. I've concluded that Jiu Jitsu is an endless abyss of learning. But no matter how deep I dig, Jiu Jitsu digs more deeply into ME, and I'm faced with my own vulnerabilities. There's no other way to say it: Jiu Jitsu is a beautiful art; a life changing art that has never, not even once, let me down. I can't imagine a life without it. I look around and wonder how people get by without it in their lives. When I was younger I thought I was going to change the world. I woke up from that dream, but now I have another one: share Jiu Jitsu to everyone I meet. It changed my life. Maybe it can change lives.

Gratefulness

If you live a life of gratefulness, there's no way you can be unhappy. Only the ungrateful person can be an unhappy person. If you don't know what to be thankful for, start with being thankful you're alive. Then start cataloguing whatever comes into your mind: your kids, your friends, your health. If you don't have those, search long enough and you'll find something. I'm sad when I hear people say they hate life, or complain about their life situation. If they stopped and truly counted their blessings they'd become happy; and probably feel a bit silly that they had ever complained. Want to be truly grateful? Be truly thankful. And if you don't know what to be thankful for, you're not looking closely enough.

Better People

"To be better people." That's what I've said for years. It is for that reason alone that we train in MMA and jiu jitsu. Each and every one of us messes up; says the wrong thing, does the wrong thing, thinks the wrong thing. But we are all fighters. The cage is nothing more than a metaphor for life. Those who will never step in the cage are still fighters. They fight to be better people, day by day. Yeah, it's great to learn a new armbar setup or another takedown. But if we don't learn to be better people, we shouldn't be in this. Train to be better people!

Open Up

‎"The emptiness of the sky prevents it from falling." This is from the 39th chapter of the Tao Te Ching. It means that we need to open up. We need to stop clinging to our points of views as if they're the only ones; stop believing they're ordained by God. When stress builds up, give it space. Open up to it and experience it for what it is. Live life with an unclenched fist. Soften up. Rocks crumble and eventually turn to sand. The sky can't fall because it doesn't contract and cling. Loosen up. The sky isn't falling. Learn from it.

Technology

My friends will tell you I don't like technology; this isn't true. But I think it needs to be kept in perspective. We spend all our time plugged in. We need time to just unplug. Leave the cell at home once in a while, and if you get all stressed out that it's not with you, you can be pretty sure you're addicted to it. Leave the computer off for a day or two. Can't even imagine doing that? Then I have a feeling you really need to. We need to make time to unplug, to distance ourselves from the noise. Otherwise, we gain the whole world but lose our souls.

Smile

Don't do a single thing unless you're smiling. Jog with a smile. Wash dishes with a smile. Train with a smile. Get yelled at with a smile. If you're not smiling, slow down and let your smile catch up; you have outrun your smile. Take a few breaths, let your smile return, and continue on. Life isn't about working harder with a grimace, but living more playfully with a smile.

Look Somewhere Else

If you're in MMA to beat people up, or to prove you're a badass, I don't want you at the gym. MMA is a medium through which we can test ourselves and become better people. If that's not your goal, you've missed the point. Find another gym.

Argument

I've learned there are two times you should never argue: when you're right and when you're wrong. If right, what's the point? If wrong, why push it? When two people argue, all they do is cling more savagely to their own point of view. The effort they put into defending it makes it an even stronger opinion. No one gains a thing. So when someone tries to argue: breathe, smile, don't say a word. Let them deal with their own struggle. Whether you're right or you're wrong, why battle?

Perspective

Life isn't about rushing home to find out who friended you on FaceBook; or spending mindless hours on a forum badmouthing someone you haven't even met; or walking the mall, ignoring your child, texting people you never see. Life is about living fully, in the moment. It's about throwing yourself headlong into life, fearless of failure, because if you truly live, you can't truly fail. Love fully the people you're with, because one day they won't be there. You can always buy another BlackBerry.

Kaizen

2011-10-28T03:32:00.000-07:00

Kaizen is a Japanese word for “constant improvement.” Though it can refer to improvement on any level, such as improving business practices or technical proficiency, I consider it more of a character development concept. It's all about introspection and transformation. What follows is a personal account of my own kaizen.

In early 2010 I took a hard look at myself in the mirror. I didn't like what I saw. Even though I already made huge strides in my life, such as realizing I was a drunk and quitting alcohol completely, losing a great deal of unwanted weight, and focusing on being a better dad, I had some huge gaps in my character. I won't divulge those character flaws right now, but just know that my shortcomings were myriad and massive. When the face at which I stared looked at me disapprovingly, I knew I had a lot of work to do. So I began an almost panicked assault on recognizing and correcting every deficiency I could find in myself.

In April, just a few weeks after having this epiphany of sorts, I took a cruise to Central America. It was during this cruise that I began to understand some things; and I began to make some hard decisions. First, I began to understand accountability. I realized that no one is a victim. Complain all you want about what people have done to you, it is you and you alone who is responsible for all the pain and drama in your life. No one else is to blame for your shortcomings. Second, I started to believe in myself. Rather than beat myself up for my defects, I believed I had the strength and resources to change my life. And finally, I realized it was going to take a consistent effort. No matter who got angry with my decisions, I would follow them through to the end. This was my ABC of Kaizen: Accountability, Belief, Consistency.

So, the first thing I did when I returned to the United States was make some huge changes in my environment. Even though I knew I couldn't blame anyone, I recalled a phrase of Buddha's I read years before: “Choose your friends wisely. It is better to walk alone than with a fool for company.” So I got rid of friends who were negative influences in my life. I especially got rid of an eighteen year long friendship after realizing my friend was nothing but an albatross around my neck. The man had become little more than a woman-beating drunk who always complained about his difficulties in life. I cut the rope and I started to walk more upright. Even after the man retaliated by calling up people to slander my name and create a whole story about me, I stayed the course. I understood that in the end it was all going to be worth it.

I started surrounding myself with quality people. And I made sure that the people in my life had my same basic goals for self-improvement. The more these friendships developed, the more I felt empowered. My belief in myself continued to grow. I became more goal-oriented and could see huge changes. I threw myself headlong into jiu jitsu. I knew I had a long way to go before I could feel truly worthy of my students. I made sure I trained with numerous sparring partners and focused on fine-tuning my skills. I wasn't satisfied with remaining mediocre. As Brandon Lee said: “What level of mediocrity are you willing to settle for?” I decided to raise the bar. And you know what? I discovered jiu jitsu at an entirely new level. I not only grew from a technical standpoint, I learned how much jiu jitsu could improve me spiritually. The people with whom I surrounded myself, and the inspiration I got from fellow jiu jitsu practitioners (such as my new friends at Gracie Barra Orlando), made me realize how much I still needed to go. Jiu jitsu is now the biggest journey I have ever taken and one with which I will never be truly finished. It continues to evaluate me, correct me, transform me. The art is just absolutely beautiful.

During that first year, 2010, it still wasn't easy. I still had a few things smack me in the back of the head to wake me up. I lost a student who I cared about. It showed me that I really needed to become more professional. I needed to not let the boundaries of business and friendship to blur. This was a huge wake up call for me, spurring me on to even higher standards. (I've learned that life isn't about a series of punishments, but a series of lessons. I'm continuing to become educated).

Today, two years later, I still have a long way to go. Though I have made huge strides with the help and inspiration of my friends, family, and students, I won't forget it all hinges on consistency. How many times do some people lose weight quickly only to put it right back on? It doesn't matter what you can do in a few months, it matters what you continue to do for a lifetime. This is what kaizen is all about. It's about admitting the problem, realizing the solution, and to attack the situation immediately and forever, without giving up. It's about making self-reflection and self-improvement a lifestyle, not a mere premise for more self-help books. I hope this personal account helped.

Miscellany

2011-06-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

The following is a series of short paragraphs and ruminations regarding different aspects of MMA, Jiu Jitsu, and all things in-between. At present it's unfinished. I have more to include. But for now, here we go ...

Cauliflower Ears

Cauliflower ears are largely a matter of genetics. When I tell people this I get a lot of bewildered looks. One guy even responded with "My Dad doesn't have Cauliflower EARS!" To which I asked "Does your Dad wrestle or practice MMA?" When I say that bumbled ears are a matter of genetics, I mean that certain people are more predisposed than others, which is largely a matter of heredity. But you won't know it until you do it. I know people who have grappled for over 30 years who still have almost perfect ears, and I know others who have hideous ears after only 30 days. If getting cauliflower ears is a concern for you, wear ear protection or else just don't grapple or do MMA. If your looks concern you that much, find another sport.

Smile

Some people hate it when they're told to smile, but that's exactly what I'm telling you to do. Smile! Look at pictures of fighters and jiu jitsu competitors. How often do you see them smiling? They try their best to look tough. As Rickson said, and I think I'm paraphrasing "Tough isn't what you are, it's how you train." A few months ago one of my top fighters was told to not smile for his weigh-in picture. The professional photographer said "Let me see your fight face. Don't smile. Look tough." (I will have to check with my fighter to see if those are his exact words, but they are pretty close). My fighter refused and said he was going to smile. In other words, Geane (the fighter) didn't have to try to look tough. (He has a 5 - 0 record against some very tough opponents, so he already knows he's tough). He knows that he doesn't need to try to be a badass, because being a badass isn't what MMA is about. Or at least it shouldn't be. It should be about doing something you love. It should be inviting to others, not marginalizing. It should give you reason to smile, not stroke or reinforce your ego. Smile! It's about life, not violence.

Reality Check

Go to any NFL coach and tell them you will play for them in about six months, even though you've never played a game of football in your life. Sounds pretty dumb, huh? So imagine what I'm thinking when guys right off the street tell me they want to fight professionally in that same amount of time. I ask them "Have you wrestled?" No. "Have you kickboxed?" No. "Have you competed in jiu jitsu tournaments?" No again. But they're dead serious when they come in and think they can jump in the cage in about six months. I find that very insulting. This is a professional sport like any other. It requires dedication, sweat, blood, time. Maybe it's in a man's hard-wiring to believe he can fight and all he needs is a little brushing up. But you're an idiot if you think that. The absolute barest minimum, at Banks MMA, is one year. And that's pushing it. Please don't come in here and think I will be letting you fight any time soon. And I don't want to hear about your street fighting days, the drunken bums you slopped around in the bars, or the times you stood up to your father. Those all make for nice drinking stories, but they're not material for your portfolio. Expect to work your ass off for a long time. That's the advice I give to all who plan to fight for me.

Friends

Since our environment greatly influences us, we need to make sure our environment is conducive to our goals and happiness. Too many students fall into problems because of situations at home or with their friends and bosses. When I see students having a hard time, I tell them how important it is to get rid of certain people from their lives. A recent event in my life reminded me just how important it is to have the right people in your life, and the wrong people out. I ended an eighteen year friendship with a guy who was always drunk, angry, hated women, pathologically lied, and was arrested more than once for aggravated assault and beating a girlfriend. I didn't realize how badly this man influenced my life. I felt dragged down. I was unable to make positive changes in my life. Last year I decided to ignore all his phone calls and end our friendship. Other than a small immature outburst from him a month or so later, my life improved dramatically. Everything I tried for years to accomplish started coming easily to me. And that's what I recommend to everyone who can't seem to get things right. Get rid of false friends, even if you feel loyalty to them. (I tried ending the friendship years ago, but not until I decided to just ignore him did it ever stick). Take an inventory of the people in your life. Decide who are true friends and who are anchors. Start cutting the albatrosses from your neck. Even though it will be hard to do at first, you will see improvements soon. Your MMA training will greatly improve. Make better friendships. For as the old saying goes, "It's better to walk alone than to have a fool for company."

Kaizen

I'm a very flawed individual. There's no denying that. I have character defects the size of Minotauro Nogeira's head. Ask a handful of people what kind of guy I am and you'll get a handful of answers. They will range from "He's a really nice guy" to "That F'n deadbeat still owes me money!" to "What an arrogant, bombastic, narcissist!" Truth is, they're all true. Well, the second two, anyways. But what allows me to go on is the principle of kaizen. It's Japanese for improvement, and Musashi defines it by saying "Be better today than you were yesterday." That to me sums up Bushido. Notice Musashi didn't say "Be a good person." Because who defines what a good person truly is? Some people consider me a good person, most people don't. But who cares? The definition of good is subjective and malleable. But kaizen (improvement) is a process of evolution. It's the only real principle I teach. Someone recently criticized me for espousing Bushido while I myself fall so short of its standards. Well, he's right, and yet kaizen isn't about perfection. It's about growth. I can truly say I'm a better person today than I was yesterday. And will be even better tomorrow. And that is all, I think, you can possibly hope for. Stop comparing yourself to someone else's standards. Stop trying to be good. "Be better today than you were yesterday." Let those who hate you go on hating you. Who cares? Don't demean yourself by defending your actions or words; or for apologizing for who you are. Does a scorpion apologize for stinging? You are what you are. Accept it. Grow. Be better. Always pursue higher standards, even when those standards seem lower than the norm. Kaizen! Evolve.

Active Guard

2011-01-05T04:14:00.000-08:00

Last night someone said "You have a real active guard." They were referring to, I think, the way I stay busy on the bottom. I never really thought of my guard as "busy." I simply thought of it as a GUARD. Let me explain. To me, an inactive guard isn't a guard at all. It's simply "on the bottom." The only type of guard, in my opinion, IS an active guard. Or else I call it "losing."

The first thing everyone needs to learn, if he's going to have a good guard, is how to replace guard. (I've spoken about that at length before so I won't go into it here). The second most important thing is breaking your opponent down while in the guard. I see a lot of guys lock their legs and call that a guard. I call that "the missionary position." (People, we're not having sex, so if you're going to call it a guard, do more than have someone between your thighs). You have to know how to use your hips, legs, arms and even your head to keep him off balance and always in a state of reaction. And since a real guard is a fighting guard, and not a grappling guard, it has to have strikes that cycle well and set up sweeps and subs.

I was recently reading something called the MMA Encyclopedia, trying to catch up on some of the big names in the sport. Since it's an encyclopedia, it contains definitions for all sorts of things. Defining the mount, they call it a FIGHTING position. Defining back control, they also call it a fighting position. But how do they define the guard position? They call it a GRAPPLING position. I think this is part of the reason we see so many poor guards in MMA. I think the sport still views the guard as a grappling technique from jiu jitsu. And what's even worse, I think people still think of jiu jitsu as grappling, when in fact it's fighting, not just rolling around in pajamas.

I mention this because I think how we look at the guard is how we will use it. Thinking of it as a grappling tactic, we forget to strike. I can see why some people say fighting from the guard is a losing battle. The way people tend to use the guard, they're right. But to me, the guard is the single most important position in all of fighting. If you sink all your time into it, and really think of it as an all out active fighting position, the rest of your game would seem somewhat superfluous. Hell, I PULL guard any chance I get. But then again, what I pull is active. Maybe that's why I have the confidence to pull it when others are hesitant to be on bottom. (In fact, if I ever find myself on top, I know I must have done something wrong. You won't have to sweep me. I'll do it for you).

So, if you're going to use the guard, use the guard. Locking your legs isn't the guard. You have to have a good tie up clinch to go with it, as well as a consistent barrage of strikes. If your guard is inactive, you don't have a guard. Period.

Brunettes

2011-01-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

I love brunettes. Spanish brunettes, especially. And Japanese women? Don't even get me started. But my proclivity for these dark haired beauties doesn't blind me from the more fair haired of the populace. In other words, blondes and redheads can catch my eye from time to time. Now that we've got that settled:

The triangle is my brunette. I love everything about it: its simplicity and complexity (the two are not contradictions); its high percentage of effectiveness; its finality; its versatility; its origins; its potential; its ... Hell, I even like the smell of it. (Well, not really). And those who train with me know I almost have a fetish for it. But let's remember the blondes and red-heads, shall we?

Although my whole goal is to keep throwing the triangle, or to methodically set it up, that doesn't mean I don't use armbars, shoulder locks, guillotines, and heel hooks. In fact, I very seldom get the triangle. That might sound odd, but it's true. My effort to get the triangle usually finds me a plethora (I hate that word) of other options. For instance, I will often set up the triangle with an armbar. Many times the armbar finishes the situation before the triangle is even needed. Other times I will go for a triangle only to transition to an armbar. But in both cases it was my effort for the triangle that precipitated my opponent's tapout.

A few students have expressed concern that if everyone knows what I'm going for (the triangle), everyone will be ready for it. They think that I have shown all my cards. Wrong. The triangle is merely what gives me confidence to plod along. It gives me a clear goal. Let me explain it this way: Has anyone ever discovered the Holy Grail? No. But the effort to do so has uncovered unimaginable riches. Almost every expedition for the Grail has uncovered a cache of gold, priceless artifacts, or historical insights. In other words, going for the triangle doesn't limit you, it unearths an incalculable vista of possibilities.

I advise everyone to choose one submission. (In my case it's the triangle). Then structure your whole system around that. For instance, Rickson bases his entire system on the mount. (Yes, I'm aware the mount is not a submission. It's just an example). The mount is the centerpiece of his entire game. (Even though you know he will be working for the mount, you haven't really gained any insider information that will shut him down). And as you always work for that submission, you always have a clear goal, which helps to keep you confident and determined. And the very pursuit of it might help you find submissions and opportunities you'd otherwise miss.

I love brunettes. But I will accept a blonde or two. Master the triangle. And you might just go home with a colorful manage a trois.

Success

2010-09-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Note: This post was originally published November 21st of 2009. As I reviewed my entire blog, I realized how important this one is.

A "false friend" had the following on her myspace account. It's attributed erroneously to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Scholars can't agree who actually wrote it, but it doesn't really concern me. I read it years ago, but it had slipped my mind for quite a while. I think it's good to consider, though, because it's at major odds with what contemporary society considers success.

What is Success?

To laugh often and much;
To earn the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal
by false friends;

To appreciate beauty;
To find the best
in others;

To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden, or a redeemed soul;

To know even one life has
breathed easier
because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

Breakfast

2010-06-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

Breakfast is one of the two most important meals of the day. Period. The other one is your post-workout meal. In other words, it's what you eat after the gym. But let's concentrate on breakfast, because so few people seem to get it.

Don't show up to class without first eating breakfast. It's just utterly ridiculous to get to class on an empty tank. You slept about eight hours, and you haven't eaten for at least that long. Now you're going to add a few more hours on top of that without food? Eat breakfast.

When I tell my guys to eat breakfast, they make it sound like they don't have a clue what I'm talking about. People! It's not rocket science! Here's what I'm eating while I write this: a bowl of oatmeal, two eggs, a glass of orange juice, a glass of water, a banana, and whole wheat toast. And I will admit, I'm on my second cup of coffee. I don't recommend the coffee, but that's just the way it is.

Have a bowl of cereal with skim milk. An egg or two, however you like them. (And if you don't like them, start liking them. And forget about all that nonsense of not eating anything but the whites. Crack some eggs and get to it. Yoke and all). Have some fruit juice. REAL fruit juice. If you don't want the cereal with milk, eat oatmeal. I recommend that over the other anyway. And get creative. Don't force yourself to eat the same thing day in and day out.

Eat breakfast. Quit being a complete idiot and eat.

True Jiu Jitsu

2010-03-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

I have taken some heat in the past saying I don't believe in sport jiu jitsu, and that such a sport mindset can get you killed. I even suggested that true jiu jitsu isn't just grappling, but striking, too. A lot of people said I didn't know what I was talking about. I will let the words of Royce Gracie speak for themselves:

"When I tour the country and give seminars, I am surprised by how many people who are experts in sport jujitsu but do not know the most basic self-defense techniques of jiu-jitsu. The problem with this is that you can get a false sense of security from what you know. Just because you can handle yourself on the mat doesn’t mean you’ll know what to do when attacked. In that case, sport ju-jitsu can actually be a detriment because you’ll be overconfident. We were shocked by how many longtime students had completely forgotten, or even worse never learned, the very important self-defense aspects. For my father Helio,the self-defense moves are far more important than the sport moves. Every time I see him, he always tells me that students are not being taught enough self-defense moves.”– Royce Gracie, Grapple Magazine

That is why I have always been hard on what passes for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Gracie Jiu Jitsu isn't sport jiu jitsu, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu isn't fight jiu jitsu. That might seem overly simplistic, but that's the way I've always seen it. When someone says he practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I know he means jiu jitsu for NAGA, or some other mat event. Go back and read Royce's words.

No Guard

2010-02-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

No guard, no jiu-jitsu. That's something I try to remind everyone in my jiu-jitsu classes. Even though there are numerous styles of classical jiu-jitsu that don't use the guard, the way I see it is that jiu-jitsu begins with the guard. It's not the mount, side control, or even the back position. It's the guard.

The most important skill in jiu-jitsu, to me at least, is guard replacing. Guard replacement simply means getting to guard from any and all positions. After all, if you can't get guard, how are you ever going to use it? If you suck at guard replacements, what's the point of learning to submit from it?

Guard replacement is a rather simple science, but like all skills it requires dedication to repetition. It should be the skill that precedes all others. Learn how to get to guard while you're mounted, side controlled, etc. Work three or four solid replacements and then you're on your way to learning how to use the guard. Instead of learning the upa, (the bridge-and-roll mount reversal), learn how to go from being mounted to getting your guard. Once you have confidence in replacing your guard, only then try to learn other escape methods.

Since we're on the subject of the guard, let me say that the second most important skill is breaking your opponent's posture and establishing solid control. Instead of learning how to submit, learn how to shift in such a way as to set him up for those submissions. We tend to be too eager to learn submissions at the expense of the foundation that provides for them.

Learn to replace guard, and then learn how to break your opponent down in the guard. Only then worry about your submissions. Just a thought.

The Triangle Part Two - Three Triangle Principles

2010-02-25T06:27:00.000-08:00

Be sure to read the post beneath this one first. This is part two.

The triangle is a very simple submission. Few might agree with me on that, but oh well. I should be accustomed to that by now. Anyways, the triangle can be done in just one step, or up to three, depending on the application, set up, and positioning. But it should NEVER take more than three steps. If your triangle requires more than this, go back and look at your triangle. Start cutting out the superfluous movements.

The triangle, the way I see it, is based on three principles (ESR). Expose, Secure, Rotate. You must expose the head and one arm. You must have an immediate hold on your opponent with your legs and hands (Secure). And you must rotate your body in order to sink it in deep and to avoid getting slammed. Notice I didn't mention getting his arm across his neck or pulling down the head? That's because if you get these three principles down, those things are usually unnecessary.

The three principles that make the triangle work do not require three distinct steps. In fact, there are ways of getting all three in a single motion. This isn't always the case, but it often is. Also, once you learn how to use the three principles the way we teach them here at the gym, you will avoid things like getting slammed Rampage Jackson style, or getting stacked and dumped wrestler style, or fighting for his arm to cross his neck standard jiu-jitsu style. And you won't sap your resources by yanking down on his head to force the tap. Though we sometimes will pull the head if it's the expedient thing to do, we seldom do that. I find it far more efficient to do it the way we do it.

When you are taught the triangle, start looking at how many steps you're being taught. If there are more than three, your instructor may not have simplified the triangle enough. That's not a slam against him, it's just that I believe anything more than three is too much. Usually you should get the triangle in two motions. Often just one. Look at ways of simplifying it, making it faster.

Learn the triangle well. Because like I've said before, the rest are just details.

The Triangle Part One - The Rest are Just Details

2010-02-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

Master the triangle. That's what I tell everyone who comes into the gym. Master the triangle first and only then worry about the other stuff. That might sound overly simplistic, but I've used that advice for myself and others and it works. I would never be arrogant enough to believe I have mastered anything, but the effort to do so is there. So when I say "master" it, I'm simply saying get really damn good at it.

Master the triangle. In your effort to get a kickass triangle, everything else will be child's play. Forget about the arm bars, kimuras, key locks, ankle hooks, rear chokes and guillotines. That might sound blasphemous, but it works. I'm not saying don't use one of those techniques if it's staring you right in the face. And I'm not suggesting that you should never learn the other stuff. I'm simply saying that if you work on getting your triangle down, to just plain sick ability, all else falls into place.

One of my newer students was taught this. I had him focus on the triangle to the exclusion of all other techniques. Of course he had to know how to replace guard so he could actually be in position to pull the triangle off, but it was the only submission we worked. A student came in from another gym to roll with us. He had two years of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training. My guy, with only three months of training, all of it focused on the triangle, and weighing only 135 pounds, caught the guy four times in three minutes. At the end of it, the guy stammered in frustration "Is the triangle all he knows!?!" I told him yes, it was. (Many of you at the gym witnessed it. But those who didn't it, it was Geanne who did that. Good job young man).

Also, a student named Christian, after only two months of training, caught another jiu jitsu trained guy (one year of consistent training) with two triangles in a row. None of this is to boast. By no means. We are always improving and always have things to work on. And I'm not suggesting we are some kind of badasses compaired to other gyms. We're not. But the facts are the facts. I'm simply using them to illustrate my point.

And to re-emphasize my point: master the triangle. Don't worry about arm bars and all that other stuff until you can pull your triangle off from all positions against all kinds of fighters. Pull it off from the guard, the mount, back control, and even when caught in his side control, north-south, and others. Practice the standard set ups, and then the not-so-standard set ups. I guarantee you that your game will jump up considerably.

In the Spartan Gym the very first submission you will learn is the triangle. You will learn it until you're deliriously bored with it. But then you will start catching those people you thought were un-catchable. Then it won't seem so boring. Master the triangle. The rest are just details.

Nutrition

2009-12-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

I am asked about proper nutrition every single day. It's actually got to the point where I almost don't want to be asked anymore. So, without further ado, these are a few of the things I recommend. (I am not a doctor, nor a nutritionist, but I have consulted both of them in my research. Don't take my word for the following nutritional guidelines. Check with your doctor).

You should eat from three groups: Carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Good Carbohydrates:

Brown rice
Sweet potato
All fruits
All vegetables
Yams
Whole-wheat pasta
Brown rice pasta
Soba noodles
Beans
Lentils
Whole wheat bread
Whole grain bread
Whole wheat couscous
Quinoa

Good Proteins:

Lean beef
Poultry
Fish
Beans
Lentils
Legumes
Broccoli
Low-fat cottage cheese
Low-fat yogurt
Eggs

Good Fats:

Avocado
Olive oil
Canola oil
Salmon
Sea bass
Nuts
Nut butters
Tofu

I hope that helps. Now quit bugging me.

Finding Jiu-Jitsu

2009-12-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

This was previously published on the 4th of July, 2009. I received a few favorable comments about it and decided to repost it with a few adjustments.

I hate stew. I don't know if it's because I was forced to eat it as a child, or if I came out of the womb with an aversion to it. Still, I hate stew. It's chunky, thick, and messy. I guess what I truly dislike about it is that it tries to be too many things at one time. It's got broth, meat, corn, potatoes, etc. It contains whatever the "chef" decides to toss in. You don't know what you're getting. I'd rather just eat everything separately, not as a huge lump of garbage.

Many jiu-jitsu instructors seem to like stew. I mean, at least the few who are open to different ways of doing things. Some of them will throw in some sambo and judo. Those who teach MMA fighters will usually toss in some muay Thai, sprinkle in some boxing, and mix in a whole lot of wrestling. What you end up with is a mosaic of styles, none of them assimilated into the whole. You end up with a stew.

My goal has always been to find jiu-jitsu, not add to it. What I mean by that is, I try to find the jiu-jitsu in other styles. I look for the jiu-jitsu in boxing, wrestling, muay Thai, sambo, judo, karate, etc. Jiu-jitsu is all about efficiency. It's about not using strength, weight, or size. It's about finding the essence of everything and having things fit that essence. I do it with everything, or at least try to. I try to find the jiu-jitsu in poetry, relationships, working out, kayaking, art, and everything else that interests me.

Jiu-jitsu is the "smooth art." It isn't a block of wood onto which you can tack anything you like. Not everything fits into it smoothly. Only jiu-jitsu fits into jiu-jitsu. You have to find the right puzzle pieces, or else the picture will come out all wrong. That's why you have to find the jiu-jitsu in everything if you're going to join those pieces.

I hate stew. But I think a lot of people are creating stews out of jiu-jitsu. Go to their websites and you'll see "this art" added to "that art" in their jiu-jitsu. You can actually see where the various arts join. Almost as if they were badly welded together and you can see their hideous fault lines. They end up looking like those half men/half beast creatures of Greek mythology. But if enough time was taken to find the jiu-jitsu in the other arts, they would simply absorb smoothly without effort. I can't really tell you how to do this. I think it comes with time. It comes with an intimate knowledge of one's jiu-jitsu. You have to understand what jiu-jitsu is before you can find it elsewhere. But if we're to avoid making yet another stew, we need to know our jiu-jitsu, then find it in everything we do.

Bushido - Erik Paulson

2009-11-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

When it comes to lack of respect in the mixed martial arts, I'm a broken record. I have been harping for years that MMA needs a huge injection of respect, honor, humanity. I have gone on endlessly about MMA being a sport mostly made up of thugs, trash talkers, punks, immature kids. I know, I've become a bore; an old man pining for the old days. Oh well. But I ran across an interview with Erik Paulson recently. It was refreshing to see I'm not alone in my concerns. Below is an excerpt of the interview.

Kaplowitz: Do you think that having a traditional martial arts background helps you in mma?

Paulson: I think it’s good if you’re going to promote martial arts; if you’re going to promote the fighting. A lot of guys go, "I’m just a fighter." Well what’s your history? What’s the Bushido code? The Bushido code has been lost a lot in fighting because guys just talk smack, get tattoos, and simply train hard. That’s great for publicity, for TV, for show, but in the end what are you passing on? What are you passing on to the youth? What are you passing on to all the other people out there? What’s the message that you’re bringing? You have to pass it on. You have to have information, not just be tough. You have to have an art behind you that you’re teaching and passing on, otherwise it just gets completely lost. The respect factor, the discipline, is about showing up on time and being at the gym when you say you will be. It's about being accountable for what you say. The moral code is also about how you conduct yourself outside of the gym, and I think all of that needs to be emphasized. You know, don’t talk, be the one talked about. That’s the biggest goal — don’t talk, be the one talked about.

Kaplowitz: So do you think that the moral code is what’s missing from some fighters today?

Paulson: Absolutely. 100%. And who is to blame? The coaches! Their coaches are to blame. Hey, so you're a good fighter, you’re tough. But these guys are getting on the Internet and blabbing; just talking, talking, talking. But to their coaches it's like "No problem. It's okay." They don’t respect their elders at all. They don’t respect guys that were in the game before, and "Oh I can beat them up so therefore I don’t have to learn from them." Hey, could Mike Tyson beat up his boxing coach? Of course! But guess what? That guy made him a great boxer and he taught him a lot about life. You know, who’s your idol? "I want to be like this guy." Yeah, well, you’re a role model, and if you’re a role model you better act like a role model. Don’t flip off the crowd, don’t swear in front of everybody, don’t do bad things, don’t get in trouble and then laugh about it. Be ashamed of it! If you get in trouble be ashamed and show the public that you’re ashamed. "I’m sorry, I apologize.”

Wow. Nicely said.

An Often Asked Question

2009-11-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of questions from prospective clients. Some of them are the result of not thoroughly checking out the website, others are because I didn't explain things well enough. Whatever the reason, I get one question a lot: Do I have to be a fighter or have aspirations of fighting if I want to join your gym? Good question.

You do not have to be a fighter. Nor do you have to have plans of one day becoming a fighter. But ... and here is the big but ... you are going to train with fighters. You are going to train with aspiring fighters. In other words, you're going to train like a fighter.

When I say that, I get a lot of wide-eyed expressions. Let me be clear. I'm not going to throw you in with Yosmany. I'm not going to toss you in against someone who is going to hand you your ass. I would be an irresponsible instructor if I did that; liable for malpractice even. In other words, I know the beginners from the intermediates from the advanced. This doesn't mean you won't be pushed beyond your comfort zone, but that we'll do it progressively, intelligently, safely.

The one thing that separates us from other gyms, I think, is the way we train. We don't sink money and extras into the facility. If we did, we would have to charge more. Instead, we concentrate on the training. We get to know everybody very well ... their weaknesses, strengths, personalities. We're not a big gym, so we can tailor our training to your particular proclivities. And we're able to be as safe as a full-contact sport can be.

You're going to train like a professional fighter, with professional fighters. But it will be more than worth it.

Activating Good Nutrition

2009-11-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

When I began teaching at the gym, I was over 200 pounds. A lot of my clients can't seem to remember that, because it was only a few weeks later (maybe just over a month) that I was down to 170 pounds. But it's true. I wasn't 200 pounds of muscle, either. I was out of shape. So when I talk about this with others, how I lost over 30 pounds in just a handful of weeks, people want to know what I did. They tend to assume I radically changed my diet. Wrong.

What I did was quite simple, but it seems to escape a lot of people. Instead of going on some radical diet, cutting out carbs, eating soy bean soup, or whatever, I simply increased my activity. "Output must equal input." It's really that simple. If I'm eating 10 lbs of food a day, I need to burn 10 lbs of food a day. It really is that simple.

Now don't get me wrong. Eating right is VITAL. But I think a lot of people put the cart before the horse. Or at least they try to do too many things at once. A friend of mine, who seems to lose weight at will, but puts it right back on, is one of those types. She will cut out carbs, watch EVERYTHING that goes into her stomach, throws herself into a rigorous gym routine, looks great for a month, and then balloons back out a month later. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is simply: too much too soon.

Here's my point. Get up and start doing things. In the beginning, forget all about your nutrition. (I know that many of you personal trainers will disagree with this. But you're wrong). Anyhow ... eat whatever you want. McDonalds? Arby's? Wendy's? Sure. At least in the beginning. The reason I say this is because activity has a way of putting things in perspective and giving rise to better habits. If you walk everyday, or do some other form of activity, more than you used to, you will see improvements in endurance and weight loss very quickly. Why? Because your output is getting closer to your input.

I don't recommend that you keep eating crap. But let's begin small. Eat what you want, but get outside and do something. After you do something long enough, you'll begin to become inspired to make additional modifications. But little ones. And slowly. For instance ... I began jogging. And then, slowly, I started to cut out the crap food little by little. But it was almost effortless. That's why I recommend starting with some form of activity ... and THEN eating right comes almost naturally.

But before you go out and say I know nothing about training because I recommend that you eat fast-food, let's be clear on something. Proper nutrition is extremely important. If you continue to eat poorly, you're going to continue performing poorly. And feeling poorly. I don't recommend bad eating habits. At some point you're going to have to cut out the crap. However, I feel that proper nutrition has a way of working its way into your life simply by getting up and doing things. Jogging? Walking? CrossFit? CageFit? (Of course I recommend THIS one). Sure. Just get up and get going. Better nutrition choices will come to you a lot more easily. But if I'm wrong, at least you got off your duff and actually did something. Right?

Get Real

2009-11-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

If you think you're going to be a professional fighter in only a couple of months, think again. It's very insultive when people come in here thinking that. Do they actually think what we have dedicated our lives to can be picked up by just anybody off the street? Ain't gonna happen. Would you go up to the coach of an NFL football team and say "Look, I've never even once thrown the pigskin before, and I've never even played flag football, but in three months I want you to make me a pro football player." Right. You would be laughed out of there, or maybe they'd call a psychiatrist for you. In other words, you would never do that. And you should never expect to be so foolish with MMA.

The problem is, every guy thinks he can already fight. Many of them come in here and think they just to need to brush up on a few things. They think their schoolyard exploits entitle them to some kind of fighter status. (Kimbo Slice anyone?) It's probably in every guy's makeup to think he is is a badass, but only a handful of us really are. That hurts, I guess, when it's realized. The moment you realize you aren't as badass as you thought, you get discouraged. I see it all the time in the gym. And then you start wondering "Will I EVER be as tough as MMA demands?" Probably not. Sad but true.

The sooner you realize what you are, and what you are not, and what you may never be, you can get on with your life. Make the best of it. But please, don't fall apart when you meet the harsh reality of training. It slows down class, and it keeps the rest of us from learning time. Work your ass off, but don't crumble when you discover you don't have much ass to actually work off.

Sleep On It

2009-11-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

I was asked the other day how to become properly conditioned. Well, the simple answer is: train with us at the Spartan Gym. But I know what the inquirer was getting at. My answer may be helpful to others ...

Getting in shape requires three things: exercise, nutrition, and rest. A lot of people understand the exercise part, fewer seem to grasp the nutrition part, and almost no one seems to get the rest part. Getting into shape is not just about working your ass off to exhaustion. You have to have a smart conditioning program, you have to eat right, and you have to sleep! Working out consistently after only a few hours sleep each night is foolishness, but it seems to be a trend.

Working out does not build you up. It tears you down. After the body tears down, it goes "Holy shit! What was that? I better prepare myself to deal with that if it happens again." And then it craves rest. In other words, working out rips you down; rest builds you back up. Without rest, all you're doing is tearing yourself apart. Rest means recovery. And not only recovery, but recovery with a vengeance.

If you want to know what exercises you should be doing, come in and we'll set you along a strong path. And I really need to list a nutritional plan for my fighters. (You guys persistently ask me for it). I hope to have that up soon. But until then, workout, don't eat shit, get plenty of water and ... REST!

A Spartan Creed

2009-10-19T02:15:00.000-07:00

Take the following for whatever it's worth. I wrote it a while back.

Let it not be said that we
Winced in fear of men's words;
Nor in fear of their might or madness.

Let it not be said that we
Lived by the instruments of war;
But that, if forced, could wield them.

Let it not be said that we
Battled for the glory of our pride;
But for the defeat of our weaknesses.

Yet let it be said that we were
Men who lived willingly, and died gladly,
By one simple yet iron code:

In battle, victory;
In defeat, dignity;
But above all else, the tireless forging
Of character.

Let this be our lasting legacy.

The Real Deal

2009-10-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Seventy percent of those who say they want to fight are lying to themselves. It takes a special (or should I say, insane) person to want to fight. There are posers everywhere. And many of them don't realize they're posers. They may truly believe they want to fight, but they don't. These are the guys who tell everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) about their upcoming fight; worry more about their posed picture on a website than actual training; and seldom show up to class. And when they do show up, they stay little more than an hour. It takes more than that to fight professionally.

Before you come in here telling me you want to fight, be honest with yourself. You might be a great guy who is very sincere. But do you know what you're getting yourself into? Fighting is a lot more than having your friends drive from Miami to watch you step into a cage. It's more than posting your training pictures on MySpace for your family to see. It's more than going to the gym and pressing some weight around, grunting and groaning for all to see and hear. It's about working your ass off each and every day. It's about pushing through your limitations, not whining about the occasional discomforts of sparring or drillwork. It's about bonding as a team. And how can you be part of a team if your teammates seldom see you in the gym? Fighting is about getting bloody; getting sweaty; feeling sore beyond belief. It's the hardest fucking thing you will ever do, and if you don't realize that, you're gonna get hurt. Bad.

It is my job to make sure you're training. And training hard. It's my responsibility to call off a fight if you aren't laying it on the line each and every day. Many of us have other jobs, so we have to miss a few classes here and there. But come on people! It's called a phone! Call your trainer and tell him something came up. Keep your gym in the loop. It's disrespectful beyond belief to think you can just do what you want, whenever you want, and never be held accountable. Your girlfriend can wait. And if she doesn't understand your need to train, dump her. She's a bitch.

I tell my guys that we don't train to BE fighters, we train because we ARE fighters. We all have our personal fights. Trust me, sometimes it's a fight just to get up in the morning. But we all have to push through and make sacrifices. No sacrifice? No success. It's that simple. Don't come in the gym and waste your time, or mine, if your blood isn't black and gold. (Our Spartan colors). Don't waste your talents on fighting if there's something else out there your heart is set on. Not everyone can fight. Wake up. But be delusional on your own time. My time is too important to me. I have to get fighters ready for the cage. Are you a fighter or a poser? Decide now ... and get the hell out of my way.

Pay Attention

2009-07-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

"Vegas" and "vegan" mean two entirely different things, but they're only separated by a single letter. This is the divide between doing a technique almost right and exactly right. A small adjustment can mean the difference between victory or defeat. Or in the real world, between life and death.

The guillotine choke. It's a very popular submission, and many people seem to know it. But if you look closely, many people just perform a front head lock, sit back into guard, and yank. Numerous opponents have lost to this crude method, but it doesn't make it a properly performed technique. I won't go into all of the details, but if you lean slightly in the direction of your choking arm, you will have applied a lot more efficient pressure. Arm strength will be far less necessary.

The rear choke. Here's another good example. How many times have I seen a student in class loop his arm around his training partner's neck and just squeeze? Then I show them proper positioning, how to close off both carotid sheaths, how to roll the shoulders, press with the chest, and inhale all at the same time. They're amazed at how much faster and easier their choke is. There's other details to the rear choke of course, but that should give you an idea.

Jiu-jitsu is all about efficiency. A good way to know if you're doing a technique right or not is the amount of muscular effort you use. If you're using strength, find a way to use less of it. The less strength you use, the closer you're getting to the ideal. Take for example the armbar. If you're much stronger than your opponent, you might get the armbar through sheer force. But what if you fight someone stronger than you? When rolling with people in class who are lighter, weaker, or less skilled, always spar them as if they have the weight, strength, and skills. This way you'll always focus on technique, rather than athleticism. If going for that armbar you're grasping his arm wrong, you'll need strength to finish it. But if you're grabbing in all the right places, and have put everything where it needs to be, the armbar shouldn't require much effort.

Details. Jiu-jitsu is a very technical art. There's no way around that. That's why jiu-jitsu can be practiced for an entire lifetime without becoming a bore. MMA tends to be far less technical (though I think that's slowly changing). But jiu-jitsu is all about efficiency, and in order to achieve that ideal you have to do things right, not NEARLY right. Again, it's like the difference between "laughter" and "daughter." Pay attention to the details.

Drills!!!

2009-06-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last night, during a light end-of-class rolling session, one of my new students tapped another student. Big deal, who cares, I know. But this specific incident illustrates something I've been trying to impress upon my students for a long time now.

Just under three minutes into the round, the student pulled off a perfectly executed triangle choke. It came fast and unexpected. The submitted student admitted that he never saw it coming. The student who did it said he didn't think he had the skill to do it, and was amazed he pulled it off so smoothly. The only one who wasn't surprised, I guess, was me.

The student who pulled off the submission has trained the triangle for two days. That's it. So he didn't know he had it in him. But I didn't understand why he didn't understand. We had been working that technique for two days straight. And I consistently tell my students that "drills breed skills." Everyone wants to spar. There's too much sparring in a lot of the MMA gyms. You need to spar, don't get me wrong. But if you're sparring without first having skills, then you're practicing bad habits. It's that simple. (A lot of gyms use sparring as a filler. They don't want to lose students so they keep them active. Or even worse, the instructor doesn't know the fundamentals himself).

If you take the triangle and drill it for two whole classes, you'll have a fairly decent triangle. You really will. I know it's boring, but "it's through the corridor of boredom that we reach the room of skill." (Corny, I know). I've visited a lot of gyms where students don't grasp the fundamentals. (And the triangle is THE fundamental). That's because they've been spoiled with the more exciting aspects, such as sparring and learning technique upon technique. That's too bad. They should really drill, drill, drill.

If I haven't got my point across yet, I never will. I've harped on this for years. But let me say this: Drill the triangle from the guard for two or three days. Then drill the armbar from the guard for two or three days. Then drill the omoplata for two or three days. After that, drill them together for about a week. Then, and ONLY then, spar. You will be amazed at your submission abilities. Then, go back and do it again. Two or three days on the triangle, etc. Then mix them back up. And I don't mean work a thousand setups for each, I'm talking about just sticking to the basic triangle, armbar, and omoplata, with the basic setups. Nothing fancy. If you do this, despite the boredom, your game will jump exponentially. And then sparring will be much more enjoyable when you get to it.

Base

2009-06-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

Everyone should have a base, a foundation upon which his MMA game rests. Wrestling is a very popular base. As is Muay Thai. But for me, Jiu-Jitsu is my base, and it's what I try to instill into all of my fighters. But I will never try to replace a person's base if they come from a different background. If a wrestler comes in, we will work on his wrestling skills in an MMA context ... and build-out from there. If a boxer comes in, we'll maximize his hand skills while rounding him out. As is the case with any other base.

The Jiu-Jitsu guys seem fewer and far between. When someone comes in to be a fighter, I seldom find them with a Jiu-Jitsu background. I don't know why this is, but it's happening a lot lately. I get a lot of high school wrestlers, just like a lot of other gyms get. And next in line are the Muay Thai guys. But where have the JJ guys gone? Maybe they're sticking with NAGA, or other such submission tournaments. Or maybe there are so few good JJ schools out there that the exposure is minimal. But I find that hard to believe in a way. I thought JJ was taking over?

Everything has to have roots. Wrestling is a decent root, but I've found very few wrestlers who could fight from their backs. Muay Thai is a good root, but there has to be a lot of mat time to make up for the lack of grappling experience. To ME, and this is just opinion, give me a guy who can fight from his back, and we're already three quarters the way there. This is why Jiu-Jitsu is so important to me. I feel it's better to learn the guard and then build from there. Of course this is just my opinion, but it's based on a lot of observation.

I like to give my guys a solid Jiu-Jitsu base first. Those who come in without ANY background tend to be my best learners. I start them at Jiu-Jitsu then work our way up. They tend to be the best fighters. But I still spend a lot of time on Jiu-Jitsu with the guys rooted in other arts. And usually when a guy comes in with "jiu-jitsu" skills, I have to spend weeks and months breaking him of his sport jiu-jitsu habits. They're often shocked to find out their no-gi grappling, no matter how badass it is, is greatly compromised under the heat of striking. (When I say I teach Jiu-Jitsu, it's the jiu-jitsu that's designed to handle everything. Sport Jiu-Jitsu is one thing, Jiu-Jitsu for MMA and the street is another).

Have a base. I prefer Jiu-Jitsu. But if you can't get that, get wrestling, Muay Thai, boxing, sambo, maybe judo. (For God's sake don't come in here relying on your tae kwon do). But what's better than coming in with a base at all is starting from the ground up. In other words, Jiu-Jitsu. Just my opinion.

The Most Difficult Thing

2009-06-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

This isn't about boxing, so bear with me ... A boxer only has a few skills. He's got the jab, cross, hook, uppercut, overhand, footwork and body movement. That's it. But look at a good boxer and he'll seem to have hundreds of options. That's because he's spent time with these fundamentals. He knows the ins and outs of them. His intimate knowledge of them allows him his own personal variations and on-the-spot adaptations. He hasn't spent years piling on layers of techniques; he spent those years refining the nuances of each technique. That old adage "Less is more" rings most true.

I tell my students from day one that "The slower you go the faster you will learn." I'm trying to stress taking time with the fundamentals. But for whatever reason, call it youth, testosterone, or performance anxiety, few students heed the advice. Too few. Three years later they look back and think, "Geesh, Bill is still harping on slowing down." Can you imagine their progress three years later if they actually heeded my caution?

MMA is (rather you want to admit or not) a fairly simple sport. Of course there are more things you have to worry about (punching, kicking, clinch, ground and pound, submissions), but if your instructor has taken his time and really considered the whole art, MMA can be boiled down to just a few moves. Once this is done, each student can work on these few techniques just like a boxer works on his.

The other night I was teaching the evening Jiu-Jitsu class. I showed the students that just like a boxer uses one stance, the groundfighter can use just one "stance" for everything. Once this "stance" has been worked out and used in a variety of situations, you will seldom be caught with your "guard" down. Just as a boxer shouldn't drop his hands, a groundfighter should never drop this multipurpose/adaptive position. I was trying to show that you don't need a lot of things. You just need to get really good at a few things.

Surgical precision. Airtight technicality. Call it what you want, but it's important to stay focused on a select group of techniques so you can gain depth and range of understanding. As Royce Gracie said "I'd rather you be 100% good with 20 techniques than 20% good with a hundred techniques." (This might be a slight paraphrase).

The hard part is knowing what should be concentrated on; knowing what the highest-percentage techniques are. (Good thing that hard work has been done already). The easier part is slowing the hell down, concentrating on each technique as if you aren't going to learn any more. This is easier said than done, but it's vital. I read an article recently that read: "You shouldn't practice something until you get it right, you should practice it until you can't get it wrong." A subtle shift in thinking, but a huge change in results.

The most difficult thing is convincing students to slow down and work on precision. But as instructors, this is our most important goal. However you need to do it, do it. Focus on a core of related yet comprehensive techniques. Make sure each student has a firm grasp on them. And rather than show flying armbars, scissor leg takedowns, and all that twister stuff, how about focus on things like replacing the guard, escaping from all positions, escaping from all major submissions, dealing with ground and pound, breaking the opponent's posture, and a series of simple yet highly effective submssions? Ten or twelve techniques is all anyone really needs. If you haven't been able to boil your teaching into this small arsenal, you don't grasp the material yourself. Krishnamurti said "Simplicity is the height of perfection." Until you make things precise, how can you expect your students to?

Convincing students to work on the fundamentals is the most difficult thing. But it's the most important thing. No excuses. Drill the fundamentals even at the risk of having your students leave you for a more "exciting" school. A school that teaches a handful of different techniques each night doesn't truly understand the art. Each and every night a lot of review is necessary. Don't stray from the core.

MMA and Values

2009-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I love MMA. I really do. It's how I make my living, and I have no intention to bite the hand that feeds me. But the red flags are going up a lot more lately. Tell me I'm not the only one who fears that the sport of MMA is seriously lacking in the traditional principles of humility, respect, and self control. Everywhere I turn there's that brash, immature, in-your-face garbage that undermines what I think the martial arts are all about. For instance: fighters talking crap about their opponents; The Ultimate Fighter television show (just mentioning the name conjures images of young punks getting drunk and vandalizing property); and forums full of bickering kids overflowing with misguided angst, most of them clueless.

MMA has shown the world, hopefully, that you have to be an integrated fighter if you're going to be as effective as you can possibly be. Hopefully MMA has woken people up from their dreams of kata and dead routines. In this respect, MMA has done wonders. But when we strive for effectiveness, is it truly necessary to jettison tradition? When we throw out every last visage of tradition, don't we throw the baby out with the bathwater? Why can't we have combat effectiveness while retaining the principles upon which the martial arts have stood? I'm not saying we should all bow, speak Japanese, and eat rice with chopsticks. But come on people. I see students in MMA gyms all the time being discourteous, unsanitary, and just plain rude. And the instructors just go on like it's business as usual. Sad thing is, it IS just business as usual.

Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe I'm just pining for a past that's long gone. Maybe martial evolution has no place for the concerns of yesterday. But I hope I'm wrong. I hope we can reduce the mud-slinging and take a higher road. Quit turning to violence (or the threat of violence) just because someone pissed you off. We should be more than just fighters. Fighters fight for themselves, warriors fight for a higher good. Well don't they? Shouldn't we work toward becoming warriors and not merely fighters? Anyone can fight. Fighting doesn't take a special person.

I hope someone can find a balance between function and tradition. It's got to be out there somewhere. I just haven't found anyone who seems to get it yet.

Why We Fight

2009-04-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

"We survive on adversity and perish in ease and comfort." - Livy (The Roman historian).

That's one of my favorite phrases. The reason I love it so much is because it captures the essence of why I teach people how to fight. Fighting in the cage is just a metaphor for fighting in life. I tell my guys that "We don't fight to prove ourselves; we fight to test ourselves." We fight to face our fears, and become better people in the process. Winning or losing isn't nearly as important as fighting itself.

I often tell my guys "We don't train to become fighters; We train because we ARE fighters." It takes guts and heart to come to class each and every day. It takes effort. It takes discipline. Maybe it takes a dose of insanity. Training to fight is a fight unto itself. Just as we need to fight back the urge to pull over and beat the guy senseless who just cut us off. Just as we need to fight to get out of bed some mornings. Just as we need to fight the urge to just give up when the weight of the world seems to be crushing us. Going to the gym each and every day is fighting. It's not just training for it. It breeds spirit. It builds determination. It's fighting.

People ask me why I teach people to fight. I tell them I'm just making fighters better. I'm not making fighters. I'm sharpening them. Fighting in the cage is just another lesson. It's just another place where we can discover our weaknesses. Cage fighting is nothing more than a mirror in which we can see ourselves. A mirror in which we can see what we have in us. And what we don't have in us. It's not about conquering our opponents, it's about conquering ourselves. Cage fighting is the Philosopher's Stone that transforms us.

A good friend of mine told me once that the best way to take over a group of people is to give them all they want, all they believe they should have. To spoil them. Once they are spoiled, they go soft. When a people have something to fight against, they dig deep. They become ferocious. They discover their true depths. But when the enemy doesn't fight them, they soften. They perish in comfort.

We fight because we are fighters. We fight because conflict brings out who we are. We fight because the struggle reveals us. We fight not to prove ourselves, but to temper ourselves. We fight because life is in the struggle, not the complacency.

"The present is where the past and the future collide. It's where they battle each other. Only fighters can thrive in the subsequent melee."

Kyle Maynard

2009-04-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

I hope to keep this one brief. Otherwise my intentions will be misunderstood. But I've had a lot of guys ask me about it, so I figured I'd write it and get it over with.

Kyle Maynard's recent MMA "fight" was an embarassment to MMA. That's just the way it is. It wasn't a fight, it was a staged event. When rules have to be manipulated to such a degree as to change the face of MMA for one person, it's no longer MMA. I have nothing against Kyle himself. He seems like a genuine guy who truly believes he has a right to participate in MMA. Maybe he does, but not against someone with ... um ... limbs. What weight class did he fight in? What restrictions were placed on his opponent so as to not send Kyle to the morgue?

Look, we all have the right to aspire to whatever makes us happy. But let's not delude ourselves. And for God's sake let's not keep playing this political correct bullshit. Somethings some people just can't do. Period. And lowering standards isn't a viable option.

Look ... if you allow me to sit next to the pilot of a plane, but tell me all I can do is watch him fly it, and then, after landing, the pilot tells my friends and family that I helped fly the plane, I would be embarassed. Sitting in the cockpit doesn't make me a pilot. Getting in the cage doesn't make you a fighter. Changing the standards to make someone feel like he did something is dishonest. And it dilutes the sport.

Sayings

2008-10-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

I love sayings. In fact, I believe an aphoristic education can supplant almost everything we've been force-fed in public school. Just as the Chinese had to study the Analects of Kung Fu Tze (Confucius), I believe it would serve us well to study the maxims and aphoristic thoughts of the various thinkers. So, without further ado, here's some sayings I think are of value:

The man who works with his hands is a laborer. The man who works with his hands and head is a craftsman. The man who works with his hands, head and heart is an artist.
- St. Francis of Assisi.

A man whose purpose for teaching is money isn't worthy of that money.
- Helio Gracie

Jiujitsu is the art of making the most efficient use of mental and physical energy.
- Jigoro Kano

Cry in training, laugh in battle.
- Samurai Maxim

If you wish to avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.
- Elbert Hubbard

Inferior minds usually condemn everything beyond their grasp.
- La Rochefoucauld

The dog barks, but still the caravan moves on.
- Arab Saying

As long as I'm acting from duty and conviction, I am indifferent to taunts and jeers. They will do me more good than harm.
- Winston Churchill

All my life I've known better than to depend on the experts.
- John F. Kennedy

We learn by teaching.
- James Howell

It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.
- Oscar Wilde

Take them for what they're worth. Maybe they're worthless. I don't know.

A Recommendation

2008-09-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Those who know me well know that I love to read. I've had some critics suggest that I must have got my training from books. I suppose they're jealous that I can read. But it's true, I won't hesitate to get a hint here or a hint there from some book or magazine. In fact, I tell people if they want to learn how to fight, watch YouTube then do everything opposite of what they saw. But in all seriousness, I think there's value in keeping your eyes and ears open. I don't think a person can truly learn the martial arts from books, but for those who already know what they're doing, books can be great guides in the fine-tuning of one's strategies. That said, I want to suggest a few books and phrases of interest. These have kept me on point in my search for martial excellence.

The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi. This is the book I read when I was seven years old, and the book which started it all for me. (Try the recently released William Scott Wilson translation).

The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. The strategies in this book, if read with an alert mind, will open up a whole new world of thought for you.

Anything by Dave Lowry, a writer for Black Belt Magazine. I have a few magazines from as early as 1975 and 1976 when he began for them, and I have always enjoyed reading his insights. I don't agree with everything, of course, but he makes me think. Go to the bookstore and you'll find a few compilation books with his articles.

Read, read, read. Even if the knuckleheads accuse you of being book-smart but street-dumb. Anyone who imitates his instructor, without keeping himself open to other ideas found in books, is never going to learn to his fullest potential. And to close, here are a few random quotes I really like:

Some make excuses. Others make victories. - Yupon

An exchange of strikes is foolishness. It proves nothing. The best fighter doesn't give his opponent an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities. - Miyamoto Musashi

A master will never allow himself to be called one. - Aristotle

With all of the so-called masters around here, where are all the masterpieces? - Dave Lowry

Conditioning is the best submission hold. - Karl Gotch

Fatigue makes cowards of us all. - Vince Lombardi

In other words, think. And how can you think if all you're doing is parroting your instructor's views? Books, magazines, and all other types of media will help you grow. And isn't this the true purpose of martial arts?