By the time this blog post goes up I will be on my way to JFK airport on our way towards Finland for this year's ADCC tournament. This trip is very special to me for a few reasons. I am coming up on my ten year BJJ a...
Posted on September 21, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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“Champions don’t do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react. They follow the habits they’ve learned.” - Tony Dungi
I came across this ...
Posted on September 14, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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About a year ago, I started to work on an instructional with the crew over at Artechoke Media. It has been an amazing experience. After nearly ten years of grappling, I felt I had a unique take on certain positions th...
Posted on August 31, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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A year ago, my friend Sean contacted me to tell me about a school club a few of his teammates from Main Line United were helping out with. The Workshop School is a project-based charter school that takes an innovative...
Posted on August 17, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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These 6 submissions are what I believe every white belt needs to develop as the fundamental attacks. Each submission was picked because it develops skills and movements that later techniques are built on, and because...
Posted on August 09, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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A few months ago my friend Stephen Goyne was at a camp in Chicago we were teaching at. After one of our training sessions, he started showing us acroyoga poses, emphasizing three he recommended for post-training re...
Posted on August 03, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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Stoic philosophy has been gaining popularity over the last few years, with books like The Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way conquering the New York Times bestseller list renewing interest in the works of st...
Posted on July 27, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a few major countries occupy the spotlight. Brazil, of course, tops the list, but the U.S. receives a lot of attention as well. Japan is often in the conversation for obvious reasons, but it d...
Posted on July 13, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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My first grappling love was wrestling. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo soon followed, and in the last few years I have added Sambo. I watch most jiu-jitsu PPVs (can’t wait for Polaris 5) and most major IBJJF tournaments...
Posted on July 06, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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Due to an injury to one of my friends, I have found myself pitching in covering the fundamentals classes at his academy. Even though at one point I would teach about 4 fundamental classes a week, it’s been a long ti...
Posted on June 29, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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After realizing that I had neglected my mount escapes, I’ve dedicated the last several weeks revisiting and refining how I deal with this position. My escapes weren’t terrible, but my preference for guard meant that ...
Posted on June 15, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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When I started BJJ I was 185 pounds. I have drifted upward since then (I don’t regret a single taco), and for the most part I have been considered one of the big guys in the room. As someone that has spent most of hi...
Posted on May 25, 2017
Nelson Puentes
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