The SF Brazillian Jiujitsu Thread - fans, competitors, filthy casuals, all are welcome

[razorfrazer]

I’ve been paying attention to Mica for a while now and the Ruotolos since Keenan and Josh started name dropping them years before 2020. I think like 2018 or even 2017. Tainan I’ve been following since I saw him wreck really good Black belts that I know as a new purple belt. This new generation is insanely good.

155. Geez. I used to have to make a 15 lb cut to make 155 in my birthday suit, and that was over 20 years ago now, These days, I would be super lean at 170. How tall are you? I bet that that is the big difference. I’m 5’11”.

Yeah, I’m loving the false reap, and for the same reason, have either been using only the knee cut with one arm or shoulder firmly in hand, or if I see the false reap myself, switching direction to pass using a leg drag. I don’t wanna get heel hooked! Still having some trouble body lock passing effectively, since my close passing has always been double unders and over unders. But even old guys can learn. We started building out a second gym, but unlike the first one, which I more or less built with my coach by hand back in 2016, I’m not so involved in this one, which is farther away. Sorta sad, but it is what it is.

That leg drag is for real though. I’ve always grabbed the lapel, and this is so much smoother and tighter. I add a step of cupping that lower knee before going to the jacket to prevent guard retention.

tournament went okay ! here's some footage from the Absolute division

Absolute Finish

Creamed this first guy, and was doing pretty well in the finals vs my 250 opponent but made a small mistake and got my guard passed.

ended up losing a close match in my gi weight division. The absolute matches right before certainly didnt help my odds. Crushed my ribs pretty bad and honestly wasnt in really great condition for this one. Still had some very good matches though ! Ive been running two 5k's a day since for my shame of getting that tired.

5'9ish 153 for me LAGUY. Been hitting the weights pretty hard 2-3 days a week . Havent really started to laod on weight yet but I will soon.

Unless any cool opportunities come I'll be competing mid august !

Also getting to teach my first seminar this weekend at a MMA/BJJ club. I'm going to do the seminar on 50/50 position.

Hope your doing well

 

[LA Guy]

tournament went okay ! here's some footage from the Absolute division

Absolute Finish

Creamed this first guy, and was doing pretty well in the finals vs my 250 opponent but made a small mistake and got my guard passed.

ended up losing a close match in my gi weight division. The absolute matches right before certainly didnt help my odds. Crushed my ribs pretty bad and honestly wasnt in really great condition for this one. Still had some very good matches though ! Ive been running two 5k's a day since for my shame of getting that tired.

5'9ish 153 for me LAGUY. Been hitting the weights pretty hard 2-3 days a week . Havent really started to laod on weight yet but I will soon.

Unless any cool opportunities come I'll be competing mid august !

Also getting to teach my first seminar this weekend at a MMA/BJJ club. I'm going to do the seminar on 50/50 position.

Hope your doing well

Doing well, thanks. That was a clean finish. I like that entry, and one that I do a fair bit of, unusually from key master half guard our pretty close to what you did there. Works extremely well, for me, against white and blue bells, decently against purple, but especially in a gi, the browns and up just grab the collar and sprawl hard, or get calf grips and sprawl back to prevent the entry. What was that first guy’s experience level. I mean, your entry was solid - actually the very first leg entry I learned as a white belt, but, and no offense to him, but he seemed really confused for a brown belt, and seemed entirely reliant on his size for stability.

Still, good on both of you for doing absolutes. I did it once, won, lost, and vowed to never do it again. Then I did it again 😂. Won, won, lost, won, and even though I tied in third, once again vowed to never do it again. Weighing in at that time at 175 with the gi, it was just so brutal with the 75 lb difference. I train with super and ultra heavies, but it sucks so much worse in competition. Three matches in three hours with much bigger dudes, and then you get cold just to go out there a fourth time, just wears on the body. At your size… good on you man.

The larger man just has everything to lose, so good on them too.

 

[razorfrazer]

Morgan Frazer on Instagram: "If you ain’t from here don’t come here @ibjjf #ibjjf #bjj #brazilianjiujitsu"

124 likes, 13 comments - razorfrazerjj on August 15, 2022: "If you ain’t from here don’t come here @ibjjf #ibjjf #bjj #brazilianjiujitsu"

www.instagram.com

got to debut a bunch of new stuff ive been working on.

 

[LA Guy]

Morgan Frazer on Instagram: "If you ain’t from here don’t come here @ibjjf #ibjjf #bjj #brazilianjiujitsu"

124 likes, 13 comments - razorfrazerjj on August 15, 2022: "If you ain’t from here don’t come here @ibjjf #ibjjf #bjj #brazilianjiujitsu"

www.instagram.com

got to debut a bunch of new stuff ive been working on.

Super slick. Good finish, but if you get someone who is better at hand fighting, check out Lachlan Giles latest stuff. It improved my finish rate a ton. Presently, he punches the shoulder forward right before sliding in the hand. That way, both hands are hidden the entire time, and it’s hard for the opponent to even start reaching back to grab the choking hand, since his shoulder is being punched forward.

But man, that is nice work.

 

[LA Guy]

In other news, I’ve been using Felipe Peña’s trick to keep any really big dudes from getting chest to chest!

 

[LA Guy]

Tennis elbow in the left elbow and knees are jacked. Anyone who tells you that jiujitsu is good for your health is lying, selling you something or high on their own supply. My knees *and* elbows pop a bit every single kettlebell squat snatch. Taking a week off open sparring just to heal up a bit. A lot of the top competitors in BJJ have serious chronic injuries. Every single guy I came up with in MMA who stayed a bit too long, I see signs of some brain impaiment in their now mid to late 40s. Getting punched, kicked, and kneed in the head is not good for your brain, kids.

No one I know got past the first round of the Pan no gi, at anything from brown to black belt. So many killers at black belt too.

 

[LA Guy]

@razorfrazer - when you realize that there are levels to the game, and you (meaning me) are not there.

I think that I told you that I was trying the false reap on my coach, who, until about that time, simply did not do a lot of leg stuff at all (he has since, especially since he has decided to compete), but at that time (earlyu summer, I am not sure that anyone had tried that on him before. His intuitive defense was pretty much exactly the first part of what the B-Team is teaching here,and took me to side control with all my frames facing away from him and with potential back exposure.

 

[Donut]

Didn't know this thread existed but always great to find others that are interested in martial arts. Loving the BJJ videos shared here. Would love any other tips for a white belt to get better!

I started with Shotokan as a kid around 11/12 then stopped around 16. Took a long break through university but once I graduated and started making some money, I started Muay Thai and some Boxing. Have been doing that for ~3-4 years (with COVID impacting a year of that). I then moved cities about a year ago, joined an MMA gym and started mixing in BJJ classes. While I still love Muay Thai, I've totally gotten hooked on BJJ. Definitely can see why people are obsessed with it. However, I'm finding it's tough to balance between the two and still feel like I'm making consistent progress. I try to go 4-5 times a week and alternate between each.

Honestly, I don't know how non-full-time amateur or pro MMA fighters manage to balance all the learning and fatigue between their normal lives. I know its a jack of all trades and master of none situation with MMA but it blows my mind that they're able to work on striking, BJJ, wrestling and S&C all within that schedule (amongst any other arts they make mix in like Judo). Either way, I have no intention of pursuing an MMA career but have been enjoying my foray into grappling after having done striking all my life. Hopefully I can get to a point where I can start mixing it all up.

On a side note, anybody got any recommendations for no-gi gear that's not so in your face? I've heard people recommend Under Armour and surfing brands as an alternative but just curious to hear if there are some more aesthetic BJJ brands.

 

[LA Guy]

Didn't know this thread existed but always great to find others that are interested in martial arts.

I started with Shotokan as a kid around 11/12 then stopped around 16. Took a long break through university but once I graduated and started making some money, I started Muay Thai and some Boxing. Have been doing that for ~3-4 years (with COVID impacting a year of that). I then moved cities about a year ago, joined an MMA gym and started mixing in BJJ classes. While I still love Muay Thai, I've totally gotten hooked on BJJ. Definitely can see why people are obsessed with it. However, I'm finding it's tough to balance between the two and still feel like I'm making consistent progress. I try to go 4-5 times a week and alternate between each.

Honestly, I don't know how non-full-time amateur or pro MMA fighters manage to balance all the learning and fatigue between their normal lives. I know its a jack of all trades and master of none situation with MMA but it blows my mind that they're able to work on striking, BJJ, wrestling and S&C all within that schedule (amongst any other arts they make mix in like Judo). Either way, I have no intention of pursuing an MMA career but have been enjoying my foray into grappling after having done striking all my life. Hopefully I can get to a point where I can start mixing it all up.

On a side note, anybody got any recommendations for no-gi gear that's not so in your face? I've heard people recommend Under Armour and surfing brands as an alternative but just curious to hear if there are some more aesthetic BJJ brands.

I personally wear navy on navy Tatami gis, because they look decent, and the 2L fits my build very well (5'11", 180-`85 lbs). That said, I think that some of the Albino&Preto standard gis look good:
https://www.albinoandpreto.com/coll...15-brazil-kimono-black?variant=39977045950562, or this https://www.albinoandpreto.com/collections/iseeyou/products/yw-a-p-essential-kimono-black ,but they run large, and rarely have the size that I need (A2F). For Rashguards, I just usually use an A&P or Shoyoroll one, ranked or otherwise. (https://www.albinoandpreto.com/coll...ts/a-p-22-essential-ss-ranked-rashguard-brown, or https://shoyoroll.com/collections/training-goods-1/products/2022-ss-ranked-rash-guard-brown)

I don't know how old you are, but when I competed in MMA, I would do 3x a days. Cardio first thing in the morning (running), S&C at lunch, and then training in the evenings. That was on purpose. I wanted to be somewhat tired when I started BJJ or kickboxing (I also started with a ikickboxing and kempo background) so that I was forced to train under more adverse conditions, and also use more technique. YMMV.

Competing was fun then, but I'm in my late 40s now, and just don't feel that itch. I just want to learn new things and train with my comfortable group of friends. I don't even really want to train with people I don't know, because I find the jostling amongst the 20 somethings to be tiresome and unenjoyable, though I was probably like that when I was in my 20s.. My joke is that if I make black belt, I'll go compete at Masters Worlds so that I can get crushed by legends.

 

[Donut]

I'm in my mid 20s so still got enough in me to train a couple times a day every so often but I'm just a hobbyist. If I'm doubling up for the day, I usually do BJJ before striking which I find pretty hard, especially if its sparring. I'd honestly prefer it the other way (striking first then BJJ) but I definitely see the benefit in training fatigued to instill technique when things get tough.

I try to be pretty conscious of my training partner's willingness to go hard so hopefully I'm not one of those kids annoying the old heads. Honestly, I think what's helped with that is the culture that I'm used to with Muay Thai sparring (vs. Dutch Kickboxing or some Boxing gyms) where you go fairly light with everyone and only turn it up a notch if you both agree to it. We don't get a lot of spazzes in my BJJ class though as I think the coaches do a pretty good job of instilling the right culture.

Are you just focused on BJJ right now or still mixing in kickboxing too? Worlds would be super cool and, in my opinion, getting crushed by legends would be an awesome experience. With that being said, I probably would rather face legends in BJJ rather than stepping in the ring against a Boxing/Kickboxing/Muay Thai legend.

Thanks for the rec's on gi's and no-gi stuff. Will check them out. I've also liked 93brand's stuff and found their designs more tasteful than the usual BJJ gear. Appreciate the technique stuff too. I find that I'm much more conscious of 1) and 2) when defending/on bottom but get really sloppy when I'm playing top. My gym does a ton of positional sparring and has a clear focus on control and transition from positions for the beginners class. I think there's roughly a 70-75% focus on positions/control/transitions/sweeps, 20% on submissions/escapes and 5-10% on takedowns. Might be different for the advanced class. I've dropped in some other gyms that seem to focus more on position -> submission (or vice versa for defense) rather than just nailing down the details with a certain position before thinking about submissions. Any thoughts on this and which one you guys think is better?

 

[razorfrazer]

Black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. 11 years , no breaks, somewhere around 300 matches. Cool feel good moment. Thanks LA guy for the talks over the years and help. I included a video of my sorry attempt at a speech.

 

[LA Guy]

Black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. 11 years , no breaks, somewhere around 300 matches. Cool feel good moment. Thanks LA guy for the talks over the years and help. I included a video of my sorry attempt at a speech. View attachment 1883556

Congratulations. That's awesome. Thanks for the thanks. You clearly deserve it with your dedication and ability.

With my current training schedule and just life things getting in the way (for me, at least BJJ takes a lot of emotional energy), as well as current progress,.it will be a couple of more years for me, I think. A buddy of mine with whom I've been tracking got his black belt, and I was happy for him and also a bit envious myself, even though I know that he was just better at that point.;

Do me and the entire BJJ community a favor and be a good black belt, and respectful and gracious. It does a lot for the art and the sport.

 

[razorfrazer]

Congratulations. That's awesome. Thanks for the thanks. You clearly deserve it with your dedication and ability.

With my current training schedule and just life things getting in the way (for me, at least BJJ takes a lot of emotional energy), as well as current progress,.it will be a couple of more years for me, I think. A buddy of mine with whom I've been tracking got his black belt, and I was happy for him and also a bit envious myself, even though I know that he was just better at that point.;

Do me and the entire BJJ community a favor and be a good black belt, and respectful and gracious. It does a lot for the art and the sport.

" I oversee the art of Jiu-Jitsu with affection, steady nerves and blood. "

Being a good black belt was always the goal, always the learner. Never abuse the position of power I've found myself in, constantly look for ways to encourage and empower the next generation.

I'm hoping to win a championship this year in Masters, as well as try to win trials.

 

[LA Guy]

I'm in my mid 20s so still got enough in me to train a couple times a day every so often but I'm just a hobbyist. If I'm doubling up for the day, I usually do BJJ before striking which I find pretty hard, especially if its sparring. I'd honestly prefer it the other way (striking first then BJJ) but I definitely see the benefit in training fatigued to instill technique when things get tough.

I try to be pretty conscious of my training partner's willingness to go hard so hopefully I'm not one of those kids annoying the old heads. Honestly, I think what's helped with that is the culture that I'm used to with Muay Thai sparring (vs. Dutch Kickboxing or some Boxing gyms) where you go fairly light with everyone and only turn it up a notch if you both agree to it. We don't get a lot of spazzes in my BJJ class though as I think the coaches do a pretty good job of instilling the right culture.

Are you just focused on BJJ right now or still mixing in kickboxing too? Worlds would be super cool and, in my opinion, getting crushed by legends would be an awesome experience. With that being said, I probably would rather face legends in BJJ rather than stepping in the ring against a Boxing/Kickboxing/Muay Thai legend.

Thanks for the rec's on gi's and no-gi stuff. Will check them out. I've also liked 93brand's stuff and found their designs more tasteful than the usual BJJ gear. Appreciate the technique stuff too. I find that I'm much more conscious of 1) and 2) when defending/on bottom but get really sloppy when I'm playing top. My gym does a ton of positional sparring and has a clear focus on control and transition from positions for the beginners class. I think there's roughly a 70-75% focus on positions/control/transitions/sweeps, 20% on submissions/escapes and 5-10% on takedowns. Might be different for the advanced class. I've dropped in some other gyms that seem to focus more on position -> submission (or vice versa for defense) rather than just nailing down the details with a certain position before thinking about submissions. Any thoughts on this and which one you guys think is better?

I learn concepts well, personally, and am also good at visualization (not just for martial arts) and if I can place a pass, a sweep, a transition, a chain or a tree, into a conceptual framework, then I learn and retain it better, and then extend it to my idiosyncratic game.

No one's practice is completely like another's, so it's up to you to be the best learner, and that mostlty comes down to being respectful to others (teachers, training partners, etc..) and honest with yourself - some of the 7 tenets of bushido: Train dilgently and with care to the best of your abilities, Be neither too humble nor too proud. They sound trite, but they really are at the core of learning well.

I'm a decent coach, was a decent kickboxer and karateka, and am still a brown belt in BJJ, so take that advice as you will.

 

[razorfrazer]

Didn't know this thread existed but always great to find others that are interested in martial arts. Loving the BJJ videos shared here. Would love any other tips for a white belt to get better!

I started with Shotokan as a kid around 11/12 then stopped around 16. Took a long break through university but once I graduated and started making some money, I started Muay Thai and some Boxing. Have been doing that for ~3-4 years (with COVID impacting a year of that). I then moved cities about a year ago, joined an MMA gym and started mixing in BJJ classes. While I still love Muay Thai, I've totally gotten hooked on BJJ. Definitely can see why people are obsessed with it. However, I'm finding it's tough to balance between the two and still feel like I'm making consistent progress. I try to go 4-5 times a week and alternate between each.

Honestly, I don't know how non-full-time amateur or pro MMA fighters manage to balance all the learning and fatigue between their normal lives. I know its a jack of all trades and master of none situation with MMA but it blows my mind that they're able to work on striking, BJJ, wrestling and S&C all within that schedule (amongst any other arts they make mix in like Judo). Either way, I have no intention of pursuing an MMA career but have been enjoying my foray into grappling after having done striking all my life. Hopefully I can get to a point where I can start mixing it all up.

On a side note, anybody got any recommendations for no-gi gear that's not so in your face? I've heard people recommend Under Armour and surfing brands as an alternative but just curious to hear if there are some more aesthetic BJJ brands.

Albino and Preto, Day by Day are both good. shoyoroll has fallen off a bit in designs but still releases some bangers, albeit for a bit more money due to the name.

Not to totally pimp my ****, but I did a podcast last year that might have some good information for you if you are at all interested in competing. The interview was conducted by a gentleman who really had NO idea what JJ is so it was actually somewhat entertaining to see what someone's initial thoughts are of the sport.



I also did a podcast last week (Not out yet, I think it comes out next week?) but I did a excerpt on general advice for each belt level. This one was mainly a retelling of my origin story but I always got a lot of insight from people who had achieved something that I myself wanted to achieve.