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West Side Jiu-Jitsu is full of friendly people. It is. I’ve been thinking about it lately and I’ve come up with a theory about why. Why does West Side have a lot of friendly people that train here? The answer is simple—it’s because mean people can’t handle being beaten by people they [...]

Being Technical, to me, is the great goal of jiu-jitsu; it should be what all students strive for. To be technical is to have mastered movement, to be so accurate in your execution that nothing can stop you from imposing your will on another human being.
It is technique that enables the meek to become [...]

Getting passed out in class is a little weird. I wouldn’t call it embarrassing, but it’s just weird. Tonight one of the students went out, via a collar choke. It happens. Sometimes we think we have more time than we actually do, and you find yourself waking up to a smiling [...]

Jiu-jitsu as life is and interesting concept, I can definitely relate my life to jiu-jitsu’s lessons. I wonder if monks and ministers or any other holy man who is devoted to one thing has ever regretted their decision to follow? So far I haven’t. Jiu-jitsu is life.

The final thing we should look at about creating space is that it is usually easier to create space while in transition. If someone’s passing your guard, don’t wait until they establish mount or cross body before you start creating space, do it while they’re transitioning; do it while they’re moving. That’s when [...]

Creating space also helps up break someone’s base, it helps us sweep or reverse our opponent. Imagine having someone in your guard; you shrimp to the side and slide your shin across your opponent’s belly. You are going to attempt a scissor sweep, but before you actually scissor your legs, you straighten your [...]

Creating space is crucial in jiu-jitsu. The ability to create space is something we all need to master in order to elevate our game. Space is freedom. There are three tenets we must remember when we think about space: 1) create space, but then immediately fill the void, 2) create space to [...]

My son loves Star Wars; that’s mostly what he got for Christmas. He likes the bad guys—the Darths— Maul, Vader. I’m a fan of the bad guys too, but it’s not because they’re bad, it’s because they’re fearless. Darth Vader’s not a pussy.
When I look at the guys I like in MMA, [...]

Anything that can flow has a rhythm. Any process that can be done smoothly has a tempo that it follows and that includes training or rolling with a partner. When were out of sync; when we’re slow and spastic with our movements, I would suggest listening to some music. Let your body [...]

Being a big dude sucks in jiu-jitsu. When you’re brand new everyone wants to train with you, they want to school the big fella’; they want to feed their ego a little by making the big boy tap. It’s understandable. But when that big boy starts getting good, a lot of those [...]

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