Transcript – Excerpt from The BJJ Foxcast Episode 87 with Scott Burr The interviewer is Alex Martinez About 46 minutes in. SB: I’ve had some interesting conversations with people. For whatever reason, I end up in these conversations with people who are like in their 40s, and they just got their black belt, and what…
Category: Coaching
Injuries, Training Methods, and Eco-Warriors
On a Wednesday in early February 2024, I suffered a broken left arm in training. A crack to the ulna. We were playing a jiu-jitsu game where one partner was trying to pass the open guard, and the other trying to retain their guard. I was in a group of three. One of my partners…
Productive Jiu Jitsu training without an instructor
Just roll. OR Use a constraints led approach. For example: A is in B’s guard. B can be standing or kneeling, etc. B tries to pass, A defends but cannot sweep or submit, just work guard retention. If A passes, reset. Work for X minutes with A trying to pass, then swap. This is a…
Sifu David Crook – Fifty Years of teaching Kung Fu
Bac Fu Do Kung Fu. Since 1969. Back in the day it was written Pai Hu Tao. Both ways it means White Tiger Kung Fu. And it means David Crook. David Crook introduced me to martial arts and, in particular, Kung Fu, in 1977. I did not spend more than eighteen months with him, but…
Secrets
In some traditional martial arts, there are secret techniques too deadly to spar with. There may also be kata or forms, containing such techniques, which must never be shown to anyone outside the particular lineage of the dojo or kwoon. Such techniques are usually reserved for the highest student levels, those who have proven themselves…
Grandmaster at Note-Taking
I recently put up a blog post detailing an excellent seminar I took with John Will, on the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Front Headlock. John is a fifth degree black belt, Australian Jiu Jitsu pioneer, and extraordinarily skilled coach. John commented on my blog post, on Facebook, referring to me as a “grandmaster at note-taking”. High…
False Paths and Blind Alleys
I wrote an earlier blog post on advice for beginning or prospective martial arts students. Most of us that have trained for a while could bore people for days on the subject, but I did feel I left something out. It got too big for an edit on that earlier article. That is – martial…
Advice for new martial art students
Which martial art should I do? Which school should I go to? There is no supreme martial art. Different martial arts suit different people. Find one that suits you and your goals. Look at a few different arts and a few places before signing up. Often, the instructor’s character, teaching style, knowledge of their art…
Jiu Jitsu Concepts and Principles
I thought a bit more about Kit Dale’s concept-based approach and talked to a guy (Dan, brown belt from Langes) who has trained with him and is a friend of his. According to Dan, KD’s whole “No Drilling” thing is a misrepresentation of what he actually does. He teaches techniques and has his students practise…
Resources for Lifetime Jiu Jitsu Training, Flow Rolling etc.
I put this together for my Wing Chun instructor and BJJ brown belt (now black belt), Rick Spain, as an adjunct to efforts he made to make the stand up sparring in his academy more productive in terms of skill development, and less likely to result in injuries, current and prospective students being scared off,…