Inverted Gear Blog
Tag: Matt Kirtley
The Fundamental Principles of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Matt goes back to basic basics in this week's blog post about the bedrock concepts of BJJ. This is a must-read for new white belts.
6 Years at Black Belt
Matt hit the six year milestone as a black belt this year. What has changed over that time?
Prescience and OODA Loops: Navigating the Chaos of Grappling
In the sci-fi masterpiece Dune, the protagonist Paul Atreides gains the power of prescience, the supernatural ability to see the future. In his prescience, he does not see a single vision of one future, but many potential futures -- where the most probable ones are clearly defined, and outliers are hazy or occluded. As the story’s main character and, ultimately, the God-Emperor of a galaxy-spanning civilization, his mission is to navigate all the conflicts and betrayals around him to steer humanity towards its best future. Prescience may be fantasy, but in it is a useful way of thinking about how we make decisions as in grappling, and help us dispel some myths, like the common belief that black belts are...
Finger, Wrist, and Elbow Self-Care for Grip Fighters and Keyboard Warriors
They tell me jiu-jitsu is the gentle art, but the jiu-jiteiros I talk to are always complaining about something hurting. Perhaps the most common problems are grip-related issues, like jammed fingers, pinchy wrists, and tweaked elbows. Today, we’re going to learn what we can do to counteract that.This is not a grip training guide and I will not be giving finger taping tips. Instead, we’re going to learn to take care of our fingers, wrists, and elbows using stretches and mobility exercises.We can also consider this an extension to my ongoing series of articles on Functional Range Conditioning. We will be assuming you are familiar with FRC and some of its terms from previous articles. (You can read parts one,...
What to Do When Your Progress Stalls Out
As you advance in your study of jiu-jitsu, you can expect to hit a slump in those middle belts. Life as a white belt is tough in many ways, since you’re on the receiving end of so many beatings, but the path forward is also clearly laid out: just keep coming to class, pay attention to your instructor’s teachings, and keep learning and trying to apply the techniques. Often, around the end of blue belt, and more so in purple and even brown belt, it is common to feel like the old routine is not working like it used to, that you are not getting as much out of class as you used to, and you are left feeling directionless...
Where to Begin Your Mobility Training?
When starting a mobility program, you can quickly get overwhelmed figuring out where to start and what to do. No ready-made routine will work for everyone, but we can lay out what goals are common to almost everyone, especially BJJ practitioners, and what to start working on. To get all caught up on this mobility series, you can read the previous articles here: Laying the Groundwork for a Mobility Practice Myth Busting Stretching Starting a Daily Mobility Practice: Controlled Articular Rotations In a hurry? That third article about Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) is the most important one for what we’re going to do below. Not in a hurry and want to learn about Functional Range Conditioning, the system this mobility...
What to Do When Someone Passes Out
With summer heating up and us all playing a sport where we try to choke each other unconscious for fun, it makes sense to know how to make sure our training partners are OK when they pass out. Matt wrote this guide to help you out.
Doh! How Mistakes Define Your Jiu-Jitsu
In the latest blog post, Matt lays out how you can gauge your progress through BJJ based on one key factor: MISTAKES. Give it a ready today!
Starting a Daily Mobility Practice: Controlled Articular Rotations [Part 3]
You can start improving the joint mobility today without any special gizmos or crazy poses. In his latest blog post, Matt breaks down Controlled Articular Rotations and why you should be doing them every damn day.
Myth Busting Stretching [Part 2]
Matt separates truth from fiction in the latest post in his on-going series on mobility training for BJJ athletes. Read it today and enlighten yourself.