GRAPPLING INDUSTRIES
Congrats to everyone who competed at Grappling Industries this last week. Regardless of the outcome it’s always incredibly gratifying to see everyone stepping on the competition mats in order to improve their Jiu-Jitsu and hopefully learn something about themselves. I’m always particularly struck by the great attitudes and sportsmanship of our competitors.
A huge shoutout to the kids crew; Eli, Viggo, Lars, River, Gabe, and Tobie all showed a depth of composure, grace, and positive attitude that is truly beyond their years. Our wins and losses will be forgotten by the next tournament, but our attitudes and how we approach competition and those around us will be remembered by others for a long time and also embedded in our character.
WILD CARD WEDNESDAY!
The first Wild Card Wednesday was a huge success! We did some some new drills, trained a lot in the knockout style, did some intra-team competition rounds, and even screened the 1997 Jerry Bruckheimer produced Nic Cage / John Malkovich / Steve Buscemi / Dave Chappelle vehicle ‘Con Air.’
I will be plugging these classes into the schedule every now and again to get everyone some more training time, introduce some novel drills, and just to have some fun! It won’t always be on Wednesdays and the format will vary, but you should make sure to check out these classes when announced!
Fundamentals: last week in our Fundamentals classes we studied attacking, defending, and escaping the Armlock from the Closed Guard; as well as learning how to properly utilize the sleeve to drag the arm and attack the Back from the Closed Guard, and how to respond with a Pendulum Sweep when our partner defends the Back attack.
Advanced: in Advanced class we studied how to utilize the Pant Grip DLR to effectively off-balance our partner to the inside and connect to the X Guard and finish with a sweep.
No Gi: in No Gi this week we drilled attacking the Back from pressure passing and how to effectively utilize a Butterfly Hook from bottom Half Guard when our partner is chest-to-chest in order to off-balance our partner to either sweep or recover a more secure Guard.
This week in kids’ class, we worked the armlock and armlock escape from closed guard. We also finished getting our competitors tournament ready. Congratulations to Gabe, River, and Kitts for earning their next stripe and to Rachel for leveling up to her first colored belt The kids did a great job competing at the Wisconsin Dells Grappling Industries tournament over the weekend. It was fun to see all the kids out on the competition mats, being good sports, showcasing their skills, and doing lots of learning. Congratulations to Gabe, River, Viggo, Lars, Tobie, and Eli! You all did amazing and we are so proud to have you on our team.