Here is why: when the other fighter passes, his head is probably going to fall to one side, and his hips will follow in order to attempt side control. If your opponent is intelligent, he will gain control of your legs or hips to keep you from getting out. However, if you are able to take control of his advance, you won’t even let him pass at all.

For instance, when the other fighter goes to pass to the right, shove his head to the right. This is going to make a bit of a gap between the two of you, enabling you to prevent him from getting side control. This does not have to be a hard shove, but you should make sure it is firm by putting your hand to his cheek or your arm to his neck.

As you push on his head, shrimp out in the opposite direction hard. You’ll use your hips and legs way more than your arms; pushing his head is more about controlling his position to allow you to escape. After you’ve achieved enough distance, re-center yourself and put him back in your guard. Depending on his progress and control over your hips/legs, you may need to hip escape more than once. Just be ready for whatever happens and adjust.

Remember that learning all of these little jiu jitsu tricks takes time and you have to patiently learn them and apply them. You won’t become an expert overnight, but you will get better! Practice them, get good at them, and consider it one more tool in your BJJ belt of goodies.

Draculino holds a 4th degree black belt in jiu jitsu, has been a world champion several times, and trains people who have become champions in BJJ, MMA, and grappling. If you are interested in reading more about him, visit his jiu jitsu training site or visit the jiu jitsu forum.

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In the early part of the 1990s, an excellent illustration of this can be seen in Royce Gracie and his jiu jitsu matches. He was always the smaller and less athletic guy, but he ended up winning UFC 1, 3, and 4. This was incredible, and it was obvious that he possessed abilities that his opponents could not defeat.

So, you might be asking how this applies to you.

The mental game is just as important as the physical. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know those of your opponent as well. Put together a jiu jitsu plan that’ll let you maximize your strengths and take advantage of his weaknesses. Then put it into practice.

For instance if you are not big, but are fast, you don’t want to get under a guy who is huge. If you weigh a lot, you will want to take advantage of this when you are on top of your opponent. If you have excellent arm bar submissions, you should keep doing them and get them to where they are unbeatable.

Now don’t mistake this tip for making your game one dimensional focusing only on what you are good at. Your jiu jitsu foundation should always be as broad and deep as possible so you understand the full breadth of your art. Instead, use this as a motivator for actually thinking about how you approach competition and live training. If you use your brain you’ll be ahead of half of the other guys out there!

I suggest you write the following down on paper: your strengths, your weaknesses, your top two specific techniques you want to work on. Now practice the two you want to work on. And after every roll, see what falls under your strengths and weaknesses. Once these are written down you are committed, so hold yourself responsible for working on them.

Draculino holds a 4th degree black belt in jiu jitsu, has been a world champion several times, and trains people who have become champions in BJJ, MMA, and grappling. If you are interested in reading more about him, visit his jiu jitsu training site or visit the jiu jitsu forum.

Don’t worry, you can survive!

The neat thing about jiu jitsu is that it is a great equalizer. The big and strong may actually be at a disadvantage against a skilled jiu jitsu practitioner. The question is how do you last long enough in training to become skilled.

In a word, basics. If you become a master at just the jiu jitsu basics, you can generally prevent yourself from getting in bad positions and are able to handle yourself if you happen to end up in one. Practice these at home by yourself, and keep them in mind during your classroom training to apply them there as well. After a few weeks you’ll have a basic skill level that’ll really allow you to focus on learning and applying your techniques instead of a panicked defense.

What are the important basics?

Hip Escapes

On the technique side, this is the grand daddy of jiu jitsu basics. During training you should always have “loose hips”. Being able to transition from side to side and use your hips for generating leverage is critical. This cannot be said enough times. Being able to hip escape (aka shrimping) is important in creating space between you and your opponent for defense and attacks.

Breathing

A basic that many beginners don’t realize is proper breathing. If you wear out in a fight or training, you’ll lose. You have to realize this may be a marathon and you need to relax, slow down and breathe. If you treat rolling/sparring as a sprint, in 30 seconds you will be dead. A typical training round is 5-7 minutes long, so imagine how bad it would be those last 5 minutes when you are gassed! So take your time, work for position, take a deep breath, and enjoy the match.

Open Mind

Many students come to jiu jitsu thinking that their strength is going to beat all challengers they face. This type of person is typically brutally proven wrong by some featherweight with a bit of training. To accelerate your learning, open your mind to the new ideas this art presents. Work the techniques with proper form and without using strength. Understand that you are going to have a learning curve and realize that this is a journey that you can’t just power through.

Ego

Most jiu jitsu students are male and as such have sizable egos. Check your ego at the door. Embrace the long journey of learning BJJ and learning all it has to offer. If you are the guy that doesn’t tap, you will end up frequently injured. And if you are injured, you won’t be able to train. Embrace losing just as much as winning. Help your classmates improve their skills. Become a family!

Of course these basics aren’t a complete list of everything you need to master while training. But they provide a fantastic start for your journey. Come to class eager to learn, help your classmates, and train with enthusiasm. This is an really special martial art and it will change your life – if you allow it.

- Draculino

Visit Draculino’s online training site to train using the same BJJ techniques and approach he uses. Be sure to also check out the free jiu jitsu forum at the site and join the online community.

Here is the solution, and don’t worry, it is not about mastering a new awesome submission or unbeatable guard that the other jiu jitsu students won’t already know about. In order to progress, you are going to have to train with intention.

As you’ve undoubtedly heard before, if you do not make a plan you will not succeed. You have to develop a plan, PUT YOUR PLAN IN WRITING, and do something each day towards make your plan happen. You should not deviate from your plan until your reach your goal. Remember: PUT YOUR PLAN IN WRITING! You must believe me about this!

For many jiu jitsu students, the plan is to “get good at guard” or “get good at submissions”. These are admirable goals, but you must break everything down to the details. A more concrete goal would be something like “keep side control for at least 15 seconds on every opponent”. Another would be “Bump sweep each partner”. Specific, measurable, and actionable. By setting small goals, you’ll quickly be able to reach your larger goals.

It’s time to mentally enter the BJJ arena. Develop a plan, a plan just for you, and work to meet your goals. Begin each training session with a reminder of the goal you set and make it come true. You are not going to be better instantaneously, and patience will still be required, however you will get there! After you attain a few of your smaller goals, you will recognize your success and you will ask yourself why you didn’t start doing this sooner.

Draculino is a fourth degree jiu jitsu black belt, multiple time champion, and trainer of MMA, BJJ, and grappling champs. To learn more visit his jiu jitsu videos training site or stop in the free jiu jitsu forum.

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When a martial arts training hall opened up in his neighborhood, however, he could not stop thinking about it. He would pass by the school slowly, staring at the kids training inside. He would ask his friends who studied martial arts about what they were learning, but he never went inside the dojo because he knew that there was no way he could do that physical discipline.

One day a friend of his invited him to the dojo to witness a promotion. Bobby went, and watched, and sadness ate at his heart like a chainsaw chews trees. After the demonstration and promotion, Bobby was introduced to the instructor, who invited him to study the martial arts.

“I don’t see how I could,” said Bobbie, “since I only have one arm.” The instructor smiled and merely said that having one arm wasn’t a problem. He held that all things are possible to a man with a whole heart.

So Bobbie began his lessons in the ancient martial arts. He committed himself to the practice like a starving man attacks a plate of food, and he made good progress. Unfortunately, the instructor, while he would show Bobby all the moves, would only let him drill on one specific technique.

Day after day, week after week, Bobbie concentrated on learning this one technique. Dutifully, he worked out the problems with his execution until he could do the technique as smooth as silk. Still, the instructor would not let him move on to other techniques.

One day, the instructor came up to Bobbie and said, “I’ve put you in a tournament.” Bobbie was flabbergasted, he just knew he was going to be beaten like a dirty rug and tossed like yesterday’s salad. Still, his instructor believed in him, so he went to the contest.

He faced his first foe, and when the attack came, he used the one technique and won the match. And he used that one technique to defeat the second foe, and the third one. When the end of tournament came, Bobbie had won it all!

The next day Bobbie went to class and thanked his instructor. “The thing I don’t understand,” remarked Bobby, “is why that technique always worked!” His instructor grinned and said, “The only defense for that technique, in all the martial arts, is for your opponent to grab your left arm.

Al Case has analyzed martial arts 4O+ years. He knows lots of Clever Tricks, like the one you just read about. Stop by Monster Martial Arts and pick up a free ebook.

categories: karate,shaolin,kung fu,gung fu,aikido,judo,jujitsu,ninjitsu,kenpo,tang soo do,hap ki do,tae kwon do,self defense,fitness

The first step is nothing more than the struggle for survival. We are born, and our parents try to protect us and educate us, but at some point we all must enter into the struggle for survival. Making a living, finding out what we really want to do, day to day survival.

Interestingly, many of our problems have to do with our fellow man. It is not just the struggle for survival of the body, but how to get along with a society which, lets face it, is a little cuckoo. If we survive the jungle, however, if we do not jump off a cliff or hang ourselves, then we become sane, though this is a relative state.

Sanity is the second level, and it is revealed when we realize that we are not alone. Mankind is not necessarily trying to murder us, but is a force that can enhance ourselves and the fact of survival. But, as I said, this is a relative condition.

Some people, upon learning that they are not alone, resist this state and try to destroy it. People build machines of war, corporations dedicated to slavery, governments of intolerance and…insanity. This is the stage where martial arts is most crucial, for it not only aids survival, it offers opportunities to step out of the increased insanity sometimes offered by humanity, and to find and develop the unique abilities that make individuals what they are.

This third step, finding our true worth, is what the martial arts are all about; this is where the human being rises to his full magnitude, or dwindles into a cinder. And, at this point, let me tell you the exact method one needs to pursue to discover the truth of self that is our true birthright. Here is where Matrixing and Neutronics establish themselves.

Matrixing is the discipline, and Neutronics is the actual how and why for discipline and survival. The method is to do your martial art form, and rid yourself of thoughts that are merely on the surface of your depths. Do this by organizing your form with matrixing, and knowing why you need to organize it with Neutronics.

Surface thoughts are nothing more than simple sentences, and have little to do with what is under the surface of our existence. By dedicating oneself to a kata until one is only doing that kata, and not thinking about anything else at all, one discovers a Great Space of Awareness. It is this Great Space of Awareness that is the point of life and the martial arts, and it can be developed through any art, be it Aikido, Kenpo or whatever, if a person merely applies Matrixing, and understands what they are doing through Neutronics.

Al Case has practiced martial arts for 4O+ years. You can find out about Matrixing at Monster Martial Arts. Make sure you pickup his http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Free%21.html.

The mind is unlimited, you know, and that means that you are unlimited. The trick of course, is to figure out a Kung Fu program that downloads into your mind with perfect sense and ease. The trick is to find a software program that really works, and that is actually designed to match your mind.

Most Martial Arts programs take a long time to learn, and there is a reason for this. Actually, there are several reasons. They all have to do with incorrect data, illogical data, missing data, and that sort of thing that crashes a computer.

First, you must realize that the martial arts are taught using ancient oral traditions. They are passed along by the use of songs and poetry. This is incredibly inefficient, and there is no telling how much data has been lost over the millennium.

Second, you must realize that the martial arts are taught by ‘monkey see monkey do.’ This is mimicry, which is the simplest form of communication in the world. It works, but does not allow for the interchange of concepts, which makes it totally inadequate for teaching Kung fu, Hapkido, Krav maga, or any art you may wish to mention.

Third, you must realize that the martial arts are taught by having students memorize strings of random data. Memorization is totally inadequate, and often has nothing to do with the actual fact of learning. A xerox machine can’t think, it’s as simple as that.

So to learn a complete kung fu system, or to fix any martial art you might know, you must change the way you learn the martial arts, you must change the training methods you commonly use. You must have mimicry and memorization, but the material of the martial arts has to be arranged in the correct order. This is difficult to do, for people have been enraptured, and convinced, that the old ways of learning should not be changed.

In conclusion, the human mind is a perfect computer, but it is liable to that old rule of ‘garbage in garbage out.’ You don’t have to fix your mind to learn more, you just have to align and make correct the martial arts that go into it. Doesn’t matter what system of Kung Fu you know, what I am saying works, and if you don’t know any martial arts, you can learn a real kung fu system, within a couple of months, all you have to do is change your method of training.

Al Case offers aligned Martial Arts Programs that insert into the mind naturally. He has over 4O years experience and writes for the magazines. Pick up a free ebook about his programs at Monster Martial Arts.

This concept, of course, is ridiculous. Yes, time will make a person better, but what will improve a person faster is getting more data. Imagine a computer which never inputs any further data and my case becomes obvious.

So you need sources of fresh info if you are going to become improved, and you need to make mental connections with other arts. For instance, if you’ve got a black belt in Kenpo, a course in Aikido is going to open your mind up. At the end of every Kenpo technique, once you understand what Aikido really is, you can create additional techniques.

And, if you’ve got some good hard Shaolin, the next step is exploring the internal schools of Wudan. Aside from improving your overall knowledge of the martial arts, you now have more to offer your students. This is going to result in higher quality instruction, and it’s going to be a lot of fun besides.

Now, let’s say you don’t have access to an aikido school, or a Wudan school, what do you do? Well, you read the magazines and the books, and this goes a long way. But the real key to improvement is in DVD courses.

You can pick up a DVD on an entire art, sometimes for as little as ten bucks a DVD, and you can sit in the comfort of your armchair and get up and practice to your hearts content. I used to buy so many DVDs at my martial arts supply store the owner gave me an automatic, good customer, ten per cent discount. And I would spend my late evenings and weekends learning new arts until I had them totally cold.

When I walked into my kung fu school on at the beginning of the week, I always had a kettle full of great ideas. Students were always wondering how I cam up with such innovative ideas, and they were always blown out by the twists and interpretations I could give the same old same old kata and techniques. I tell ya, when people were bowing to me, they were bowing to superior knowledge by DVD, and that can happen to any instructor!

Now, when you pick out a Martial Arts DVD course, make sure it deals with an entire art, and not just an overview, an overview is nothing more than icing, it’s not the cake, there is rarely any meat to this kind of DVD. And, make sure you pick up a new art/course every month, you need to make a project out of this, and not a whim. Martial Arts DVDs are one of the best investments that I know of, I tell you, if you are an instructor, it is imperative that you keep improving yourself, and DVDs are a blast to do.

Al Case has studied more than 21 Fighting Disciplines in depth. He has packaged these arts in intense DVD courses such as the Shaolin Butterfly and Matrix TCC. Drop by Monster Martial Arts for a sample and a free ebook.

One could make argument that Bruce Lee provided the first kung fu flick with Enter the Dragon, and they wouldn’t be wrong, for his movies started the flood of kung fu flicks in America. The first real chop sockie kung fu flick, however, would have to be Five Fingers of Death, with the amazing and inspiring Lo Lieh. Lo Lieh, who thrust his broken fingers into cauldrons of red hot stones until he could inflict a terrible revenge.

The main chop sockie movie maker, though there were hundreds, would be the Shaw Brothers. They churned out hundreds of the things, and they convinced the world that if you had an idea and dedicated yourself, you could learn gung fu. The main man of Shaw Brothers was a fellow name of Gordon Liu.

Gordon Liu knew real gung fu, and I believe he was adopted into a family of movie makers. One brother was the director of these magnificent masterpieces, and the other brother was involved with stunt work. I think that was the situation.

Among his masterpieces, and I will name three of them here, was The Master Killer, also known as Thirty Six Chambers of Death. Mr. Liu always played endearing fools, tilting at windmills, who, through Kung Fu, managed to win in the end. The Master Killer was his entry into the field, and it propelled him right to the top.

One of his early works was Return to the 36th Chamber, where he plays, surprise of surprises, an endearing fool. The plot is nonsensical, the acting is silly, but the idea that one can learn kung fu from the common tasks of life is incredible. And, when our bumbling fool returns to his hometown, entirely disillusioned, only to find out what those dastardly monks have done to him…well, the phrase ‘I Do Know Kung Fu’ becomes a clarion call and inspiration to all kung fu students everywhere.

My favorite of Gordon Liu’s movies is called Fists of the White Lotus. Our endearing fool is betrayed, practices for ten years so he can have revenge, only to find out that the bad guy has also had ten years to practice. This movie inspired Bak Mei of Kill Bill fame (played by Gordon Liu) and far outshadows such well meaning epics as Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger and that ilk.

The originals flicks, you see, provide innocence and inspiration that cannot be refuted. You want to learn the real stuff of real Shaolin gung fu? Go find these movies, watch them and be inspired, and live life the way real heroes live it.

Al Case has 4O+ years martial arts experience. You can pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts. Find out about http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Shaolin_Butterfly.html while you are there.

Karate is a popular self-defense choice among martial artists. Karate generally focuses on standing blocks and strikes with the hands and legs. Most Karate schools today teach sport-based styles which allow practitioners to compete in various martial art tournaments. That can be a great way to become more disciplined and fit, but if you are primarily seeking a martial art for self-defense you may want to find a Karate school that teaches combative forms of this discipline.

Muay Thai kickboxing is a popular martial art. The martial art teaches powerful striking techniques with the fists, elbows, knees, and shins. Muay Thai can be an effective martial art for competitions and also for street combat. The techniques of Muay Thai will help you attain stellar cardio vascular conditioning. Muay Thai is an art that usually appeals to younger people, but the hard style can be difficult on the body if you are not utilizing herbs, proper nutrition, and energy work to counteract the demanding physical striking routine of the shins and elbows.

Muay Thai is a powerful martial art from Thailand. The martial art is famous for its devastating low kicks and ferocious knees and elbows. It is a great martial art for competitions and for developing stellar cardiovascular conditioning. Muay Thai may not be the right martial art for you if you do not like regular bumps and bruises. Muay Thai is definitely in a league of its own, but it can be extremely physically demanding on the practitioner.

Tai Chi is one of the softest yet most potent martial arts in existence. Most martial artists today only learn watered down versions of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is phenomenal for supporting good health and destressing the body. Tai Chi is also an effective combative martial art if you are lucky enough to find a teacher who will share a complete and pure Tai Chi system.

Muay Thai has some of the most powerful martial art kicks around. Muay Thai is not only a popular sport, but it can also be a great martial art for street combat. Muay Thai is demanding on the body so you must be prepared and willing to accept regular bruises and injuries as part of your training.

Aikido is an offshoot of Jujutsu which was once practiced by the Samurai. Aikido aspires to teach efficiency and fluidity of movement, grace, and spiritual development. Aikido is beautiful to watch and can be effective on the street provided the martial art dojo teaches combative Aikido in addition to the regular curriculum.

Sensei David Weinberg is a 3rd Degree Black Belt and Instructor of Freedman’s Method Ketsugo Jujutsu, a Reiki Master, a Certified Personal Trainer, and an Integrative Flexibility Specialist. To learn more about Freedman’s Method, visit the official new hampshire jujitsu site or the official new hampshire jujutsu blog.