The recent UFC fight between Ben Askren and Demian Maia had that special selling-appeal of unstoppable force vs. immovable object. Askren has been on a tear with a record of 19-1, mauling his opposition with superior wrestling and positional control. Maia’s record of 27-9 doesn’t sound as impressive at first. However, when you consider who […]

If you have a minute and forty-four seconds to spare, check out this fight from UFC Fight Night 161 last Saturday. Not only is it a quick and entertaining fight, but it’s a great lesson for those among you who are interested in taking up martial arts. It’s important for you to train what I’d […]

Check out this recent security cam footage of a woman using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu self-defense basics against an attacker with a knife! This incident occurred last month in Brazil, and it demonstrates the unpredictability and unglamorous nature of how self-defense scenarios occur. The video is interspersed with footage of a detailed breakdown of the situation by […]

The NJU crew sure has been working very smart, hard, and consistently lately, and they proved it last Saturday at the Grappling Industries tournament in Paterson, NJ! In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu culture, It’s been said in many ways that participating in a tournament is the equivalent of four months of regular training. But then again, you […]

I am not a parent. I don’t know what fatherhood is like firsthand, but I regularly teach kids and teens Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu here at NJU. When talking with the parents of our young students, I’ve joked that I do know what parenting is like . . . for the 45-minute class period, of course! So […]

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 […]

On the internet, a lot of people philosophize about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That’s all well and good, but I’m impressed by Chewjitsu’s straightforward talk here about how BJJ combats depression. After all, depression is not just something that happens to clinically depressed people – it’s an unfortunate part of life, and if you’re not prepared to […]

Check out this short, recent article and video from jiujitsutimes.com. Basically, it raises an important issue that is asked in some form by everyone who wants to go beyond the first level of their field of study: Why isn’t this technique working in THIS kind of situation? Now, you may be able to relate better […]

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 […]