Inverted Gear Blog
Tag: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Meet the Pandas – A Dark Horse in the Arms Race – Jon Calestine
Choo choo! The Jon Calestine hype train continues to run strong with this exclusive interview from Panda Nation’s Daniel Bertina.
How to Guest Instruct
As you climb the ranks of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, your chances of having to fill in for an instructor go up as well. Under the best circumstances, your temporary upgrade from student to teacher will be shared with you beforehand, but veteran belts will likely grow accustomed to sometimes being the highest belt on the mat when the scheduled instructor simply does not show up to teach. By default, you run the class when this happens. The guest instructor format is equally freeing and restricting for the same reason: You get one class to teach. That means you will not be able to cover a grand curriculum that explores every depth and nuance of your favorite position, but then again, you...
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...
How to be a Better BJJ Student
New for the Panda Nation blog: Marshal explores the process of learning how to learn jiu-jitsu to accelerate your progress.
On the Problem of Sexual Harassment and Coercion in BJJ: Five Ways to Be Part of the Solution
This is a difficult topic, but for our sport to grow, we need to keep working to make our communities healthier and safer. Val has more.
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,...
When Your Wife Asks You to Quit BJJ
What happened when Marshal’s wife asked him to quit jiu-jitsu? Quite the story.
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...
A Guide to Opponent Analysis
How do you analyze an opponent’s game as you enter fight camp? Marshal breaks down his process (with a real-life example) in this post.
Meet the Pandas – Weaponized Nerdjitsu – Jonathan Thomas
Jon Thomas blew up the internet with his highly detailed and expertly explained BJJ instructionals, and he has been on a tear in the competition circuit lately. Now we're proud to call this mathematical-engineer-turned-black-belt a Panda Nation Grappler. Daniel Bertina has the story in this all new interview.