Every time someone shares a Show The ART video it brings a smile to my face. My friends Abe and Marcos have created something amazing. It’s incredible how far they have come in just 3 years. They are now one of the most recognized presences on social media for grappling, with a ridiculous amount of followers through Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Nelson (pre-tacos) and Marcos I have known Marcos since we were purple belts. We were both Jersey guys that commuted to the city for noon class at Alliance NYC. We would take turns getting absolutely demolished by Lucas Lepri, Babs and the rest of NYC crew. That's how I became friends with Marcos and Abe. We started arranging trips to train together in NJ....

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We're proud to announce Tap Cancer Out's special edition grey gi is now available! Buy the Tap Cancer Out x Inverted Gear collab gi from TapCancerOut.com. Below we're republishing one of our most well-received and meaningful blog posts, the story of Nelson's mother's battle with cancer. Go hug the people you love today! Cancer, Jiu-Jitsu, and a Lesson in Persistence  “Tienes que ser persistente,” my mom always said. “You have to be persistent.” She drilled this phrase into my head while I was growing up. Little Nelson having trouble tying his shoes? Keep trying. Math is hard? Keep working. Can’t beat dad in chess? Don’t give up. I heard this phrase repeated to myself and my sister millions of times over the years,...

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On May 18, 2012 our first order for www.invertedgear.com came through, from New Zealand. And Panda Nation was born. As I write this blog, we are closing on our 10,000th order. The support we have received over the years has been amazing. We have an incredible community full of friendly jiu-jiteiros. Thinking about how far we’ve come and the thousands of people that have helped our brand to grow got me feeling a bit fuzzy. Seeing Panda gis on every continent we’ve visited made me think that Panda Nation reaches pretty far, but how far? Well, we mapped out our customers, and the results, well, they blew me away. Take a look: We have growing left to do, but in...

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Chess is typically the default analogy when you discuss strategy (and I’m just as guilty as anyone else). We often hear jiu-jitsu called human chess, but chess has one major shortcoming when you compare it to BJJ: It’s turn based. In chess, when my opponent goes for a move there is nothing I can do to stop him. I can only react after the damage has been done. In jiu-jitsu if I recognize what my opponent is doing, I can move and stop him. This is where another strategy analogy might be better. There is a whole genre of “real time strategy” or “RTS” games. Amongst the most popular RTS are StarCraft and Warcraft. In an RTS you control units,...

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Worlds has been my favorite tournament to watch for a long time. Since I first saw videos from the Tijuca Tennis Club, to the first time I got to watch the black belt finals live from the Pyramid at Long Beach. There's something very special about Sunday at worlds, and it’s something I believe every jiu-jiteiro should experience. Watching the lower belts during the days leading up to the big show on Sunday is great as well, but there is something electric about seeing the black belt brackets play out, especially when the team title is on the line. All the teams sitting together to cheer and chant. Coaches and training partners pace just as nervously as the athletes. Competitors...

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I found myself this week, on our way to a BJJ Globetrotters camp in Sardinia.We flew into Rome using a Portuguese airline with a layover in Lisbon, which allowed me to practice my Portuguese… Frango. Vinho tinto. Obrigrado. Chicken. Red wine. Thank you. You know, the essentials.The original plan was to spend a night in our room and head to Sardinia the next morning, but Hillary in her usual wise manner told me that we would need an extra day to explore. She was right.We arrived at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport, which is south of the city, and made our way to our hotel by shuttle. Once we settled in we walked around grabbed lunch. This might sound odd,...

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Last week, my phone exploded.I had been sent or tagged in a video dozens of times, which was unusual because at the time I was spending most of my day hailing cabs and catching flights. At first I thought that perhaps the “Go inverted!” scene from Top Gun was getting a new wave of attention, which always means that the Inverted Gear page gets a flood of GIFs and memes.Nope, that wasn’t it. The video was a Metamoris commercial making a joke about how Ralek owes his competitors money. Maybe their commercial budget was limited because they forgot to make a joke about the tournament staff that they owe money for as well. The community response to the commercial seems...

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Hillary and I have been married for two years, and yesterday was our wedding anniversary. About 4 years ago, we met at a Grapplers Quest event, which is weird because there’s a video of the first time I ever saw my wife. The video shows Hillary turning to address some giant purple belt. She tells him to be quiet or she will DQ him.   After the match, I introduced myself and asked her where she trained. We exchanged numbers and started dating soon after. We have trained together ever since. We have had a few BJJ people ask us for relationship advice over the years, so I thought this was as a good a time as any to write...

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A few weeks ago I was talking with my friend Christian Graugart to coordinate details about a BJJ Globetrotter camp in Italy, on the Island of Sardinia. I was looking forward to some sun and to working on my surfing skills. As is typical for Christian, he had a completely different idea. “I am taking a group of guys to Greenland, you should totally come,” he said. “I'll get you to wrestle a polar bear. It will be great for your brand.” I’m not sure if Christian knows that pandas are different from polar bears, but the invitation struck a chord anyway. I have been somewhat fascinated by Greenland and Iceland since I learned about early settlements in that region...

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As I type this, I am sitting on a plane on my way to Greenland for a BJJ Globetrotter camp. Since there are no direct flights from the U.S., Hillary and I flew into Reykjavik, Iceland yesterday and had a little over 24 hours to kill during a layover. We had been talking about traveling to Reykjavik for a while now, so when Christian Graugart messaged me about coming to Greenland to train I was super excited. I had just renewed my passport and was itching to get new stamps on it, and I saw an excuse to stop off in Iceland along the way.  We arrived at our hotel around 8 am and ate some amazing hotel breakfast. I love...

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