Ten Years Without Reaping: Time to Reevaluate
The term “cruzada de perna” was added to the CBJJ rulebook in 2006. It is eventually translated into “knee reaping,” entering just about every BJJ players vocabulary not much time later. The rule change trickled down from the IBJJF, which at the time was the only major host of world-class tournaments before they expanded to host “opens” all over the world in smaller regional formats. Many grapplers today were not around when you could go for a footlock and not worry if your foot crossed over the knee reaping line. Knee reaping has been around for almost ten years at this point, and I believe this one change has had a great impact on the sport than any other action...
The Black Belt Secret to Jiu-Jitsu Excuses
After a tough round of sparring, when nothing goes right and you feel embarrassed and discouraged, it’s tempting to make excuses: “They were bigger and just squashed me.” “They were stronger and just muscled me around.” “They were sweaty and it was no-gi and they just slipped out of everything.” “They went berserk and just powered out with zero technique.” “They were a higher belt and I was outmatched so of course I lost.” Don’t think that way! Even when it’s true. What do you gain from it? Those are dead ends. We’re not doing jiu-jitsu so we can beat smaller, weaker, clueless children (at least I hope not…). You will run into people who are bigger, stronger, crazier, smarter,...
The Best Black Belts Have White Belt Mindsets
I attended my first Grapplers Quest almost 9 years ago. It was amazing. Back then, we didn’t have access to the large amounts of high quality footage we have now, so watching high-level BJJ in person was one of the only ways to see what the top competitors were doing. For me, this meant being exposed to passes and sweeps I had never seen. Wilson Reis was fighting that day in the black belt division, and he was using deep half guard. I didn’t know it was deep half guard, but it left a huge impression and made me a fan. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to train with Wilson. Something funny happens as we progress in jiu-jitsu. We...
Don’t Forget: White Belts Mean Well
White belts are special people. Their enthusiasm has an intense innocence. They have just stepped into a world full of possibilities and rich with history. They want to experience it all right away and they really sincerely want to get better. Even if they think “knee on belly” is “neon belly” and that a “whizzer” is a “wizard,” their hearts are in the right place.And that’s what many veteran grapplers lose sight of: most white belts mean well.In online communities and in my travels, I sometimes see higher ranked jiu-jiteiros rolling their eyes at newer students or growing frustrated with an unending stream of questions. They go online to complain about a white belt coaching other white belts or worse...
Are you playing to win or just not lose?
Many years ago, I trained with a grappler whose plan seemed to be stalling in every position (and I mean every position), turtling up at all costs. He kept his arms glued to his side and his head tucked down at all times and worked hard to squash every movement, though not to any great success. Even when he slowly grinded his way to a good position, he wouldn’t take advantage of it, instead remaining defensive, almost paranoid of what could happen if he dared try. If his goal was to tap fewer times per round, I suppose he accomplished that by making everything as slow as molasses, but he wasn’t racking up many points on the invisible scoreboard in...
Things they don’t tell you when you start BJJ
Jiu-jitsu is a strange journey, and while I’ve had that thought before, I usually let it pass. Recently, I was on a flight back from a Globetrotter camp and had far too much time on my hands (which is dangerous, as anyone that knows me while tell you; a bored Nelson will find a way to not be bored). As I sat there, it began to occur to me just how many little discoveries and observations I had made because of jiu-jitsu. Here are some of the things that they don’t tell you about starting jiu-jitsu: You will be more familiar with the terms like ACL, MCL, PCL and AC joint than you wish you were. You will know the...
BJJ and Travel: The Easy Way
Traveling and training can be tough. Finding welcoming places to train can sometimes be challenging, but the real stress can come from trying work out the rest of your logistics: transportation, lodging, and ideas for things to do when you are recovering from a great training session. BJJ camps solve this problem and are becoming very popular as a result. A good camp takes care of accommodations for you, so all you have to worry about is enjoying your time on the mat. Who doesn’t want to travel to cool places, meet awesome people, and gets lots of training in? I have been very fortunate to take part in about 5 of these over the last year. As I type...
Your Jiu-Jitsu Report Card
When you’re a kid, it doesn’t take much to determine your favorite time of year. For me, it was December. And since I’m still just a big kid, it still is. There’s Christmas, of course, but there’s also my birthday. It was also the end of the Chilean school year. The only downside: report cards. I dreaded it. I wasn’t a bad student, but when your sister gets straight A’s, it’s hard not to look bad. Even though I haven’t been in any kind of school for a few years, I still can’t help but feel like December is report card time. I look back on the year and think about what I accomplished. If I didn’t meet a goal—and...
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, and now my mom has started using it on my nephews. As any kid would, I hated this. I assumed that none of my friends had their mother repeating the importance of persistence over and over, so why did I have to keep trying? Couldn’t I just give up and try something else? In October 2011, I was...
Grade History to Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt: The Story of Dave
Last Sunday, one of my best friends was promoted to black belt. I was the one to tie the belt around his waist (you can see that here). Dave and I have been friends for over 15 years. He is the first kid I met when I moved from Chile to New Jersey. I was in 8th grade—Mr. Ferguson’s class—and I was assigned the seat behind him. Dave is the guy that explained to me what a first down was when I asked him what those sticks are during a freshman football game. He talked me into joining the wrestling team. And, most importantly, he convinced me to try Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Dave’s promotion got me thinking about how rare it...