While it’s natural to be discouraged sometimes, some of us have it a lot worse. That’s because clinical, chronic depression is more than just being “discouraged” sometimes. Its causes can be numerous, but it can also be as hard to get rid of as it is nebulous – in other words, people with depression aren’t […]

Nowadays, you can find celebrity endorsements for just about anything. But the vast majority of the time, celebs are simply being paid to advertise a product. So now that Grammy-nominated singer and actress Demi Lovato is loving every minute of being a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, she’s also been bringing a lot of attention to […]

In my last blog entry, I discussed how the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle combats depression by setting the body AND the mind in motion. BJJ is called “human chess” for a reason. When you’re present in the moment of a drill or a sparring match, and when you know there’s a way for you to win […]

Yesterday I was on bjjfanatics.com, and I read this cool article titled BJJ for the Small Guys. It rang true with me because I hover around 145lbs. Thus my ‘cross to bear’ in my grappling career has been simply not being particularly big or strong. When I first started training, I sure had my share […]

I’ve sometimes found that the more someone wants to do something, the more they’ll put-off doing it. Why? Well, sometimes people are reluctant to start a commitment, and other times they’re overly cautious about how they spend their money. There can be all sorts of motives for putting off the self-care that comes from martial […]

Big congrats to NJU white belt Steve Vega for taking silver at the NJBJJF Spring Challenge Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament yesterday! Steve fought hard and always had his poker-face on during his matches, never exerting unnecessary energy and always looking to pit the strongest parts of his game against the weakest parts of his opponent’s game. […]

23 year-old Tom Coda is one of our most consistent and dedicated BJJ students, and his hard work paid off exponentially last Sunday at the 2019 IBJJF NY Spring Open tournament in New York, NY. He straight-up won his blue belt no-gi division, and he took silver in his gi division, coming up short in […]

In my last blog entry, I discussed the art of teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to young children, although I really only dealt with the tip of the iceberg. Yes, there’s a balance between discipline and play, and achieving it is critical to keep children coming back for more than one class. Discipline for the sake of […]

I have great respect for parents who regularly bring their young children in to our academy to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. As a teacher of children’s martial arts, I’ve learned to be constantly aware of what type of instruction is right for what child at what point in time. In my early years of teaching, I […]

The above question was put forth to me years ago by a young man who had just taken his first classes in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was being partially sarcastic – although new to things, he knew enough to perceive that learning the nuances of a martial art cannot be 100% accomplished through […]