Inverted Gear Blog
Tag: Nelson Puentes
Sponsorship Opportunity – Cincinnati, St. Louis, Oklahoma City
We are looking for the best grapplers you’ve never heard of in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Oklahoma City. Purple belt and up, do you know a good candidate? Learn more!
Grape by Grape
As a rambunctious kid running around the family farm in Chile, little Nelson learned a lesson about patience from his grandfather that's just as true today. Read the story in the latest blog post today.
Pole Vaulting and BJJ
Remember when… And moving forward
In his latest blog post, Nelson reflects on the pros and cons of being a full-time competitor and how it shaped the growth of Inverted Gear and his life in general. Give it a read today.
4 Years at Black Belt: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Nelson reflects on his fourth year as a BJJ black belt in his latest blog post. Read it now to see how a black belt keeps developing their game.
Why My Son May Not Do BJJ
Hillary and I are expecting our first child. Right after being asked if we are having a boy or girl, (it’s a boy), we get asked when he is going to start training. I have been thinking about this a lot. I have been around BJJ for a long time, and before that I wrestled. I have seen the crazy pressure grappling parents can put on their kids, and the last thing I want is Leonardo hating BJJ by the time he is in high school.Whether he wants it or not BJJ is going to be around him. We run a jiu-jitsu family business, after all. Not only do we plan on training a few times a week for the...
Building a Bigger Engine for BJJ
I often hear high level practitioners recommend against conditioning outside of BJJ, that the only thing you should be doing to improve your cardio for jiu-jitsu is more jiu-jitsu. While there is some truth to this if you are training with 5-6 times a week with training partners of equal or higher level...
Crossing the Bridge of ADHD and Dyslexia
When I was young, my family—my father, mother, sister, and me—immigrated from Chile to the United States. My family wanted better education opportunities for my sister and I, and they felt that moving to the U.S. would give us access to things we might not find in Chile.We landed at the JFK airport, and I asked my dad if we could take the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to our aunt’s house in New Jersey. For some reason, I had myself convinced that the Golden Gate Bridge was in New York—who knows how kids get ideas into their brains—and I kept asking.My dad, in Spanish, said, “No, this is New York. Saturday Night Fever. John Travolta. We’ll cross the...
Leave Your Brakes on the Porch
Once upon a time, Nelson coasted halfway down the biggest hill in the neighborhood before remembering that his bike had no brakes.