A little over two years ago, Hillary and I closed the small gym we had opened, sold our mats, and decided to travel as much as possible. 2 years and 20 countries later, we have more than accomplished this goal. Thank...
Posted on May 18, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, we are in a constant struggle to balance opposites. For example, you need to train hard enough to get better, but not so hard you get burnt out and injured. We’re constantly told to leave our ...
Posted on May 17, 2017
Matt Kirtley
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Question:
I just received my purple belt a couple of months ago, and I’m starting to feel more pressure to perform well, especially when I roll with lower belts. The other day I had to tap to a white belt. It was ...
Posted on May 16, 2017
Valerie Worthington
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In the previous edition of Meet the Pandas, we introduced Chris Ulbricht of Garden State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black belt in jedi mind tricks. In this chapter, we talk to purple belt Phil Mento: guardeiro, part-time l...
Posted on May 10, 2017
Daniel Bertina
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Many jiu-jitsu schools have a motto—sometimes unwritten but often scrawled on the wall as well—that goes “Leave your ego at the door.” The sentiment is sincere, and the intention seems to be one of encouraging studen...
Posted on May 09, 2017
Marshal Carper
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Over the last decade of writing about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, much of my work has been dedicated to understanding how students can learn faster and how instructors can teach better. We all only have so much time to spen...
Posted on May 02, 2017
Matt Kirtley
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If you train jiu-jitsu for long enough, you will likely be called upon to teach jiu-jitsu. Maybe your instructor needs to take a call just as class is starting and asks you to run the warmup. Maybe she or he is unexp...
Posted on May 01, 2017
Valerie Worthington
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In our previous showcase of members of the Panda Nation, we spoke to videographer and purple belt assassin Kyvann ‘Guapinho’ Jimenez. In this episode, we introduce black belt Chris Ulbricht, owner and head coach at G...
Posted on April 26, 2017
Daniel Bertina
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In even a single year of jiu-jitsu, a student will see a wide range of techniques. At two classes a week with an average of two techniques shown per class, a student will “learn” 208 techniques. Then factor in the od...
Posted on April 25, 2017
Marshal Carper
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Want to be good at jiu-jitsu? That puts you in illustrious—and sometimes obsessed—company. Thousands of people are striving for the same thing, all over the world. Numerous theories about learning can help explain th...
Posted on April 19, 2017
Valerie Worthington
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Last week was the five-year anniversary of my promotion to black belt, and next month marks my thirteenth year in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on my journey through BJJ, how it ha...
Posted on April 18, 2017
Matt Kirtley
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I got my black belt three years ago. For the first and second anniversaries of earning my black belt, I wrote blog posts about what I had learned in year one and year two. Time flies, but Panda Nation seems to enjoy ...
Posted on April 13, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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