PROFESSOR CAIO’S RETURN
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to attend Professor Caio’s seminar on the 2nd. We’d also like to thank everyone for being accommodating to the last-minute schedule changes as a result of flight cancellations. It wasn’t ideal cramming two long seminars into one short day, but everyone made it work!
Professor taught an incredible and detail-packed seminar, as always. In the No Gi seminar we focused on the finishing and control mechanics of the toe hold, outside and inside heel hook, and transitions to those positions from the Single X Guard and 50/50. In the Gi seminar we studied the Lapel False Reap position and learned many variations of sweeps and back attacks, each in response to specific partner reactions.
SEMINAR COMPLICATIONS
Seminars can be tough – regardless of whether or not you are a beginner or more experienced. There are many reasons for this. The material covered might be too advanced, not fit in with your current game, or just overwhelming in the volume and variety of techniques covered. What you should do if you are newer to Jiu-Jitsu is focus on one or two of the techniques that feel most natural to you and are easiest to grasp and perform. If you can take merely one or two techniques – or even small details from within those techniques! – away from a seminar and implement them into your daily training, that is a huge win! Because of our limited mental bandwidth it is generally a mistake to try and absorb it all. If you attempt this, you will usually end up retaining very little.
That being said, seminars are also a great way to inspire, motivate, and bring up the entire team. Seeing high-level Jiu-Jitsu from the biggest names in the art is important, because it allows you to see the pinnacle of the art and what can become of it with consistency, hard work, dedication, and a lot of time! Aside from the individual techniques taught and repped, you hopefully were able to gleam some insight into Professor Caio’s mindset, approach, and philosophy of Jiu-Jitsu that can help you develop your own.
We will have more seminars to announce later in the year, and we hope that you all can benefit and take something away from each of them!
FAIXA PRETA
The biggest news in the history of the academy! I am so happy and proud to see Tyson Roessler, Matt Poster, and David Palay recognized for what they are: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts. Each of them has poured so much time, energy, consistency, blood, sweat, and tears into this art. Each one of them is a shining example of what a Black Belt should be. Steadfast and consistent over the years – even after long periods away – returning to the mats with a growth-based mindset and maintaining a consistent schedule through the ups-and-downs of Jiu-Jitsu and life. All of them are to this day still looking to improve and expand their Jiu-Jitsu and training hard every single week. Most important of all, they are good people. Jiu-Jitsu has been transformative to each of them, and they each regularly share that with others. They are open, generous, and kind, wanting to elevate everyone and bring the entire room up with them. They contribute so much more than their incredible Jiu-Jitsu. They are the bedrock of the culture at Sanctuary Jiu-Jitsu and embody the ethics and values that we champion. I want to congratulate all of them on earning their Black Belts. It is so well-earned and deserved.
CURRICULUM: WEEK OF APRIL 3RD
Fundamentals: This last week we finished up our One-Legged X (OLX) – or Single-Leg X (SLX) – curriculum. On Monday we worked the Tripod Sweep, Ankle Lock from Tripod Sweep, Ankle Lock Defense, and Ankle Lock to Leg Drag Pass. Wednesday we studied Mounting with the Hip Switch and the Long Step Pass, both from OLX. On Friday we transitioned to the X-Guard curriculum which starts where X-Guard started historically: the Butterfly Guard. We worked the Belt Grip to Hook Sweep from Butterfly Guard, the Technical Stand Up Sweep from X-Guard, and a Belt Grip Hook Sweep Variation. Next week in Fundamentals we will continue with our study of the X-Guard position with various sweeps and passes and moving on to our Side Control curriculum.
Advanced: This week we reviewed the Lapel False Reap position that we learned in the seminar this last weekend. Next week we will be studying the Armbar from various positions, focusing on controlling and finishing the submission.
No Gi: We reviewed the toe hold, outside and inside heel hook, and various transitions to those positions from the SLX position from Professor Caio’s seminar. Next week we will be reviewing the Twister Side Control position and Twister submission.
KIDS’ CORNER
The kids learned a new game last week! The game of Jiu-Jitsu Detective warmed up the kids for class while learning important lessons about non-verbal communication, problem-solving, and leadership. We also experimented with several advanced guards – spider, one legged x, and butterfly. As we learned about these complex positions, the attitudes, effort, and listening skills of our young athletes were impressive.
REVIEW OF THE WEEK
Thanks to Olivia for this review! We strongly encourage cross-training among our members, and also love having people from other academies across the world come and cross-train with us! Cross-training is a great way to expose yourself to different people, styles, techniques, methods of instruction, and just meet great people who can become lifelong friends! Jiu-Jitsu is a collaborative art and sport, and insularity is the quickest way to atrophy your game and your enjoyment of Jiu-Jitsu. We always let visitors train for free for as long as they’re in town. It can be really hard leaving Jiu-Jitsu behind when you’re traveling, so we want to ensure that no one has a barrier to access great training while they’re away from their home gym. We even have clean gis available free of charge so there’s no need to stuff your suitcase with a bulky gi and worry about laundry while you’re staying in a hotel!
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Stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for more information on this exciting announcement ….