Martial Vitality

Last weekend I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Jiu-Jitsu seminars on Saturday and Sunday. The instructor was Henry Akins , a Rickson Gracie black belt known for his concept of hidden Jiu-Jitsu . Ryan Ford, host of the Grappling Central podcast , organized the event. Day one lasted for three hours and covered passing the guard. Henry assumed that an opponent in closed guard has already had his guard opened. We started with one person on the ground and the guard passer standing up. The goal of guard passing is to close distance with the opponent and eventually make chest-to-chest contact. Henry built his guard passing approach on something Rickson told him: "Guard passing is weight distribution and angles." It took Henry a long time to figure out exactly what Rickson meant, and he ended up in a lot of people's closed guards trying to practice this approach. However, having experienced Henry's method, I believe it makes a lot of sense. When an opponent uses his le...

This week I was on the official instructor roster at First Defense Krav Maga for three noon classes. I wrote last week about how I was managing my nerves in preparation for the classes. I'm happy to say all three classes went well! I taught the first class with a ground focus, the second had a kicking focus, and the third involved striking and striking defenses. I designed the classes to meet requests from students I expected to attend the sessions. I was pleased to hear that they appreciated the coverage for their topics. I took three lessons away from teaching these classes. First, it pays to prepare solid class plans. I spent a lot of time preparing my lesson plans for each class. I estimated the time for each activity and added options in case we ran through it faster than expected. I also imagined how to cut material in case we progressed slower than I expected. A combination of each situation occurred during the course of the week, but I was ready for each case. Second, it ...

Last week I taught the noon Krav Maga class at First Defense Krav Maga . Our head instructor was out, so rather than cancel he asked if I would like to lead. I decided to focus on the ground techniques in the Krav P2 curriculum, and add in some "white belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" flair. I added the Gracie punch block series (from guard). I also taught how to transition from mount to an S-mount as the opponent tries to roll under you. If the opponent continues to roll, you can let them and then take their back. The students liked the class. As a result, I think, I am teaching again next week. Our head instructor is flying to Las Vegas for nine days of national training and meetings, so I'm teaching all three noon classes next week. I'm nervous, but as I told a friend, feeling nervous confirms three facts: 1) I'm alive; 2) I'm growing; and 3) I care. I could give a talk to an audience about my cybersecurity  methods with little to no preparation, but I've been ...