The New Year Rush

  A new year is upon us, and in gyms around the world a new crowd of well-intentioned members are getting memberships and trying to make a change in their life. Jiu-jitsu schools across the country will see an influx...
Marshal Carper
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How to Use BJJ Instructionals

  The jiu-jitsu world is rich with instructionals, and in the early years, swapping bootleg VHS tapes and tattered magazine techniques—many of which were in Japanese or Portuguese—was the only way schools in remote l...
Marshal Carper
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How to Begin Again After a Layoff

When jiu-jitsu tourism was sort of my job, I was in Hawaii training at the BJ Penn Academy. I was still new to the sport, working on getting a blue belt, which meant that I was simply too fresh to understand some of ...
Marshal Carper
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How to Conquer a BJJ Rut in 5 Steps

Hitting a training rut is one of the inevitabilities of jiu-jitsu. If you stay on the mat long enough, you will eventually hit a plateau, and the worst of plateaus will make you feel like you are moving backward. You...
Marshal Carper
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The Rise of Trash-Talking in BJJ

Raf Esparza, one of the hosts of Verbal Tap Cast, reached out to me the other day with a question. He said, “You’re a BJJ Historian (of sorts).” That sort of half-compliment is on par with our usual banter, but I dig...
Marshal Carper
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Early Game vs Late Game

Early Game vs Late Game
I’m not sure how to say this, but I’m currently addicted to watching Super Metroid speedruns, which is a niche video game community where players try to beat a game as quickly as possible. Some speedruns rely heavil...
Marshal Carper
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The Freddie Roach Problem

In jiu-jitsu, we frequently—if not relentlessly—talk about the importance of having knowledgeable and engaged instructors and the power of having committed and talented training partners. An instructor helps you to u...
Marshal Carper
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The Rule of 3s for New BJJ Students

The poor retention rate of jiu-jitsu is notorious at this point. We talk about it so much that we sometimes seem proud of the fact that the majority of white belts won’t make it to blue, and that the majority of thos...
Marshal Carper
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Injuries and What to Do with Downtime

Training was going great. You finally crushed the plateau in your progress and the three or four techniques that you had been working on were finally coming together. You felt sharp and strong. You were anticipating ...
Marshal Carper
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Traveling for BJJ on a Budget

Some of my most treasured life experiences have been a result of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu travel. Having a gi in your bag gives your adventure a certain sort quest-like aesthetic. You’re not just on a vacation. You are on...
Marshal Carper
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My Life as a Jiu-Jitsu Enforcer

Every gym I’ve ever been to has an enforcer. This isn’t an official title. It’s a role that goes mostly unspoken and when it is talked about, it’s communicated in code between instructor and student—half-statements t...
Marshal Carper
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Baby, Don’t Hurt Me

A secret part of me gets giddy when a new student joins my class because I get to re-tell one of my favorite jokes. When we are working on a submission or some sort of positional control—usually involving a cross fac...
Marshal Carper
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