FOCAL POINT
On Wednesday evening I talked about why we don’t have medals and trophies on display in our academy. It’s not that we don’t have them, and it’s not because they aren’t important milestones and achievements for people to be proud of. It’s because Jiu-Jitsu provides us with so much more than the ability to “beat” other people. Jiu-Jitsu saves lives, vastly improves our quality of life, and provides many people with community, meaning, and purpose. Those things aren’t represented in medals, they are represented in people. Instead of showcasing medals and trophies, I want to showcase the most important and meaningful part of our academy. When someone walks in our door, I don’t want them to see what they see when they walk in every other academy, I want them to see what makes us unique: you. I want everyone to know that Sanctuary is a Jiu-Jitsu academy that puts people first. We put people before medals, trophies, belt rank, team, and even Jiu-Jitsu itself. It is people and our connections and relationships with them that matter the most in this life. Jiu-Jitsu is merely a conduit, and an incredibly powerful one, but the importance of human connection and quality of relationships should never be sacrificed because of Jiu-Jitsu. I often repeat the words of Professor Caio: “It’s not about how good you are at Jiu-Jitsu, but about how good Jiu-Jitsu is for you.” At Sanctuary our values, ethics, and culture put people first.
I stole the idea from B Team Jiu-Jitsu (and from a lot of Doggie Daycares, apparently), to put pictures of all of our members on a focal wall. They are small Instax (think mini Polaroids) pictures, and you only get a single take so make sure you do it right! I would like to get everyones photo on the wall, but if you’re not comfortable with that it’s totally fine. I’ll be approaching everyone in the next month or so to get a photo. Also, if you’re looking particularly presentable on any given day, don’t hesitate to ask me to take the photo then and there!
ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS
As mentioned last week, there are a lot of new faces at Sanctuary. If you’re new and feeling lost and/or overwhelmed: it’s completely normal. Jiu-Jitsu is a very complex and challenging martial art/sport. I will offer you the advice that I offer everyone who is just starting or coming back from a long hiatus. First of all, I would suggest that you focus on consistency over volume. Set the small and achievable goal of going to class and training 2x per week for 3 months. During that period if you feel up to training 3-6x per week, that’s fine too, but I’ve seen a lot of beginners become overzealous and burn themselves out and/or get injured and never return to the mats. If you increase the volume of your training beyond 2x per week and start to feel burned out or demotivated, listen to your body and mind and reduce your training back to 2x per week. After 3 months you will have seen a lot of improvement and you will feel good about having reached your goal. You can then steadily increase the volume of your training, but consistency is still key! This low-volume and steady consistency will keep your body and mind fresh and ensure that you are actually enjoying your training and having fun. This will motivate you to train more, and the more you train consistently the better you will get at Jiu-Jitsu.
ADVICE FOR THE MORE EXPERIENCED
Upper belts hit roadblocks too! It can be very challenging to have been training for 3-5 years and suddenly feel stuck, unmotivated, or even like you’re regressing. If you’re in this boat, I would recommend making sure that you aren’t just coming to class, going through the motions, and just “training to win.” Make sure that you have actual goals in terms of positions/techniques that you’re working on implementing and improving. If you don’t know what you should be working on: ask me! This will make training more enjoyable, will increase your knowledge and skill, and will reduce the likelihood of suffering the extreme ups-and-downs of ego inflation/injury. Instead of focusing on “winning the practice,” focus on actually practicing your skills. That way, when you fail you will interpret that failure as a small obstacle on your path to success instead of a value judgement upon your Jiu-Jitsu as a whole. “I suck at Jiu-Jitsu” becomes “I allowed my partner to establish their grips, which enabled them to pass my guard. Next time I need to be more aggressive in denying grips and establishing my own guard.” The former is called a fixed mindset, and the latter a growth mindset. Setting small goals and working towards them in a problem-solving trial-and-error process cultivates a growth mindset, and a growth mindset is key to success.
JIU-JITSU IN THE PARK
It’s just ONE WEEK away! Our first Jiu-Jitsu in the Park outing! It’s on Monday, May 29th from noon – 2 P.M. at the Warner Park Rainbow Shelter. We will have food (burgers & brats) and beverages for all, and we will also have mats set up for rolling! This is a members-only Open Mat and you don’t need to bring anything aside from yourself, your Gi (or No Gi gear), and you can bring a dish to pass if you’d like! You’re welcome to bring family as well, of course! If you would like to attend, please RSVP by clicking the link below. We really hope you can all make it and are really looking forward to this!
COMPETITION CLASS
Competition class has been incredibly successful and well-attended. The change in pace is a really good way to get out of stagnant training routines by doing something hard and unexpected. Because of this, we will be instituting a regular Competition Class. It will be every Friday at 7 P.M. This time slot has been a No Gi class for years, and consisted of 45 min. – 1 hr. of positional rolling. Now we will alternate weekly from Gi to No Gi Competition Class. On No Gi weeks we will open the Competition Class with a very brief review of the No Gi curriculum that we’ve been working on during the 10 A.M. No Gi classes on Tuesday and Thursday. The remainder of the class will be competition training.
Fundamentals: this last week we continued with our study of the Back position. On Monday we learned the Armlock from the Back and studied how to defend the armlock as well as escape the back position by passing the choking arm over the head. On Wednesday we studied various movements and escapes from the Turtle position, ultimately transitioning to X-Guard and reviewing the Technical Stand-Up sweep. During Friday class we learned the most important and fundamental choke in Jiu-Jitsu: the rear-naked choke, including a detailed grip-fighting breakdown.
Advanced: in our sole Advanced class of the week we learned how to set-up and sweep from the De La Riva X (DLX) position.
No Gi: in No Gi this week we studied the Front Headlock position and various entries into the Inverted North South position and ultimately ending with a study of the Anaconda Choke.
This week in Kids’ Class our primary focus was protecting against chokes and escaping the Back. We also learned an armlock attack from the back. We are learning how to turn the amount of energy we put into our attacks and defenses up or down depending on our goals and the situation. Being a good partner is paramount!
Congratulations to Kaleo for earning his next stripe. Kaleo has done a great job assisting Kids’ Classes as he continues his own Jiu-Jitsu journey in adult classes. He has been with the kids’ program since day one and we appreciate his contributions!