Martial Vitality

Thursday I attended a Jiu-Jitsu seminar by Grandmaster Relson Gracie, hosted by Professor Marco Moreno of The Basics Gracie Jiu-Jitsu . I want to share a few thoughts on the seminar for anyone who wants to attend one in the future. Marco runs a great academy. It isn't huge but he has what appears to the plush green Gracie mats installed. I trained there once before, when Marco hosted a Rener Gracie seminar. Everyone was friendly and approachable. The cost was a bit higher than other seminars I've attended recently. It was $100 for two hours. I figured it was worth it to spend some time with a Jiu-Jitsu red belt who lives in Hawaii. I only had to drive about an hour to participate, which is cheaper and easier than a flight across the country and the Pacific! Relson taught a kid's class before my seminar. I did not see the class but I saw him interacting with the kids afterwards. It is clear he loves teaching Jiu-Jitsu and interacting with young people. We had about 50 attend...

This post is mainly for those with access to  pedrosauertsd.com . If you're a student at a school that is an affiliate of Professor Pedro Sauer's association , you may also have access. I don't know how it works with affiliate schools, so I apologize if this post is for a very narrow audience! By chance I heard Prof Mike Horihan mention that he had loaded new fundamentals videos into the pedrosauertsd.com site. I remembered seeing Professor Sauer and Prof Jeff Curran posting to Instagram about recording these videos. Professor Sauer said one night in class that about 20 years had passed since he and Jeff had recorded the original fundamentals instructionals! I wanted to offer a few comments on what I found in the new videos. First, the easiest way to access the new videos is to select the "Fundamentals" check box in the "Programs" part of the web site, as shown in the first screen capture. Uncheck "Video Pool," "White to Blue," and ...

Saturday I attended a Jiu-Jitsu seminar by Rigan Machado, hosted by Patrick Tray of Trident Martial Arts . I want to share a few thoughts on the seminar for anyone who wants to attend one in the future. The location was top notch. Trident is in Woodbridge, VA, and features two huge training areas. They are meticulous about mat hygiene. I've trained at Mr. Tray's school before, about 1 1/2 years ago for a great series on ground, striking, and weapons scenarios. The cost was very reasonable -- $79 for early registration and three hours. Saturday was a gi session and Sunday was a no-gi session. I could only attend Saturday. If I had paid at the door, it would have cost me $99. If I had registered early for both sessions, the cost would have been $149. In addition to Master Rigan, Master Marcos Santos from Texas  was present and helped teach material. Mr Tray and several of his black belts (like Mikey Custodio) participated and helped teach. Ben Gilbert, who is a full instructor f...

I had a chance to apply Jiu-Jitsu in a striking class recently, and I wanted to share the results with you! One year ago this week I started practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Prof Pedro Sauer's school in Herndon, VA. Right away I started with the Gracie Combatives program, and mid-year I began regularly attending the Pedro Sauer fundamentals curriculum classes. Two years ago this month I began practicing Krav Maga at Nick Masi's school in Herndon, VA. Last week ground combat was the focus of the classes. I participated in the Thursday night "fight" class, which is several notches above the intensity of the Wednesday sparring class. Once in a while we go to the ground in a Krav session, but we tend to avoid extended ground contact or pressure. I had only done this sort of dedicated ground striking session once before, and that was in 2016 before I started Jiu-Jitsu. I did not perform very well. I'm 46, 5'9, and less than 145 lbs. If I have to depend on speed,...