Lately I’ve had conversations with some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu white belt students about belt ranks. They’ve all been legitimate questions, and they usually run along the lines of: What do you think the toughest belt is in BJJ? What about the funnest belt? I feel totally stuck at white/blue/purple belt. What do I do? How’d you […]

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’ll be honest – I was tired of seeing ads about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and weight loss. That was before I saw it happen twice (and in dramatic fashion) with my own eyes. And it wasn’t just the weight-loss issue that caught my attention – it was also a matter of watching a human body change […]

I’m the kind of person who wants the best version of whatever it is he’s aiming for. When I was a little kid, I could always tell the difference between Special K cereal and its knockoff competitors, so only the true Special K sufficed! When it came time for me to get my first car, […]

Recently, I was considering what I should buy for a young relative of mine on her birthday. Now I’m already known for promoting martial arts frequently, so I didn’t get her a kimono or a pair of boxing gloves. After all, parents are ultimately the ones making the call on whether or not their children […]

Some people get cold feet shortly before committing to martial arts training. Whether they’re interested in a striking art like Muay Thai or a grappling art like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, people often hold themselves to some sort of gold standard. Maybe they’ve watched a lot of UFC events where everyone tangentially involved is a professional of […]

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. […]

Whether in a movie or a cartoon of some sort, you’ve probably seen a Rube Goldberg machine without knowing its Wikipedia definition, which is: “a machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overcomplicated fashion.” A picture is worth a thousand words, so check out this guy’s hat on the right. […]

I teach a lot of “BJJ 101” classes – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes designed for people newer to jiu-jitsu, yet important for upper belts as well. After all, you’re only as good as your basics! However, I find that a lot of white belts (and even some blue belts) have yet to get a grasp on […]