Introducing Ask a Panda with Val Worthington
Val Worthington is taking questions about jiu-jitsu and life. Submit yours here and it could be featured in the next installment! Question: If you could go back and do one thing differently in your jiu-jitsu experience what would it be?This question both piques my interest and fills me with dread. It piques my interest because it takes me down Memory Lane, past experiences and challenges I will remember for the rest of my life. It fills me with dread because it takes me down Memory Lane, past experiences and challenges I will remember for the rest of my life.Here is the short answer: If I could go back and do one thing differently in my jiu-jitsu experience, I would approach...
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 heavily on complex bug exploits and out of bounds play, but by and large, most speedruns require pixel-perfect execution and flawless timing.Currently, the world record for Super Metroid completion sits at 41 minutes and 58 seconds. For a casual player, the game can take 10 hours or more. (Check out some slick SNES moves with this video.)If you watch speedrunners attempt world records, you will see them reset. A lot. As soon as a jump is off or a random variation in an...
Top Arabic Phrases for the Traveling Grappler
As someone who has been to the Middle East on numerous occasions, respect goes a long way. Simple greetings—please and thank you—carry a lot of weight when spoken in Arabic from a native English speaker. It shows that you took the time to learn their language, even if just a passing phrase, and will bring a smile to most. Taking the time to be mindful and respectful of Islamic courtesies goes a long way as well. While this article focuses on language, non-verbal communication can have a big impact as well. Here are the basics: Always shake with your right hand Touch your chest/heart after you shake someone's hand Remember that idle chit-chat before any business or training is a...
The Flashback Episode: My Greatest Hits
A year ago, the awesome guys at Artechoke Media started helping us run social media for Inverted Gear. One of the first things they did when I told them I wanted us to put out more content was tell me “well you should write a weekly blog.” A year later with a few missed weeks due to crazy schedules and the one week I was inspired and wrote two posts, we sit at 50 posts. I want to thank Matt and Marshal for encouraging me to do this, helping me brainstorm, and editing my articles. I am very self-conscious about my writing. English is my second language, but like many things in my life, BJJ has helped me overcome this...
Applying the Science of Motor Learning to Your BJJ Practice
As a jiu-jitsu player one of your primary responsibilities is acquiring new skills to further enhance your game and bring a greater of level of enjoyment to your jiu-jitsu practice. There are many ways to classify skills. However, when discussing jiu-jitsu you’re primarily concerned with improving your motor skills. Successful motor skills are determined by the quality of movement above all other considerations. Psychologist E.R. Guthrie (1952) defined skill as the “ability to bring about some end result with maximum certainty and a minimum outlay of energy, or of time and energy.” Skill can also be defined as proficiency, facility or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training, experience or as a result of practice. Your goal then is to arrange your training session...
The Best Way to Learn from Instructionals
The world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructionals is bigger and better than ever, but with so many DVDs, books, apps, and subscription sites to choose from, where do you begin? This is a wonderful problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. Consider this quote: “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.” – Herbert Simon, Recipient of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics As a self-professed instructional junkie, here are my tips for making the best use of all the content available to you: Don’t overload your brain. As...
Behind the Scenes: Stocking Gi Sizes
When will my size be in stock? We get this question a lot. Keeping gis in stock has always been a challenge for us, from our first batch to today. As business owners, it’s one of those “good problems to have” scenarios, but we can also see how it can frustrating for our fans. While we continue to work to keep more sizes in stock more consistently, I thought a look under the hood of running a gi company might give you some insights. Part of the challenge is stocking half-sizes. This means that when gis are in stock, you are more likely to find a gi that fits just right, but that also means that we have to stock...
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 uncover blind spots and learn new techniques, while your training partners force you to test and retest your game, forging your skills as a jiu-jiteiro. Despite the known importance of good instruction, as a sport we have a tendency to equate talented competitors with talented instructors. On the other side of that coin, we have a tendency to evaluate a jiu-jiteiro’s skill (or even their worth) by how well they can roll against us. Are there exceptions to this generalization? Sure, but I can’t help but see that the most...
Meet the Pandas: From the Pool to the Mat - Carlos Saquic Pérez
Everybody fights for a reason. Over the next few weeks, we will explore the stories of the awesome people being sponsored by Inverted Gear. This is our first installment of Meet the Pandas. Brown belt Carlos Saquic Pérez (24) isn’t afraid to take the hard route. He combines living and breathing jiu-jitsu as a competitive athlete with a demanding full-time job as a mechanical engineer. Dividing his time between his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, training with his teachers Manuel Rey and Eduardo Ortiz of Behring Puerto Rico, and sharpening his skills in New York City, learning from the legendary Marcelo Garcia. Carlos shows that sleep is overrated. How did you get started in jiu-jitsu? Carlos Saquic Pérez:...
How to Pwn Mat Awareness
If you play video games long enough, especially MOBA games like League of Legends or DOTA 2, you will hear the term map awareness thrown around—Usually in the form of “you freaking noob you have no map awareness.” In these video games, map awareness refers to knowing where the other players in the map are, where you are in relation to them, knowing which ways you may be attacked from and knowing what your best escape routes are. Much like noobs, many grapplers have terrible “map awareness” or a sense of “mat awareness” if you will. Mat awareness is knowing the following: What position you are currently in. This means going beyond the basic positional definitions like guard or half...