Old Man Jitsu

Happy Birthday to one of the best coaches around Royce Gracie. I hope you have an amazing day sir and can’t wait to bring you to Arizona to train our students.

Happy Birthday Master Royler Gracie. I hope you have an amazing day Coach!

🎉🥊 Join us today in celebrating the 30th anniversary of UFC 1! 🎉🥊

Three decades ago, on this very day, the world of martial arts was forever changed by one extraordinary event. UFC 1, masterminded by Rorian Gracie of the legendary Gracie family, took place, and its impact still reverberates today.

In one evening, the Gracie family showcased their revolutionary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique, defying the conventional norms of martial arts. Their innovative ground fighting style astounded the world and left a lasting impression on the combat sports community.

On this night Royce Gracie represented the family in this groundbreaking event to win 3 matches in the elimination tournament and to mark the birth of the Ultimate Fighting Championship but also paved the way for the evolution of mixed martial arts (MMA) as we know it.

The Gracies' mastery of their family style on the ground demonstrated the importance of technique, strategy, and leverage, forever changing the perception of fighting. In the early days it was style v style not fighter v fighter.

UFC 1 shattered preconceived notions about what a fighter should look like, breaking the barriers of weight classes and bringing together competitors from various martial arts backgrounds. It was a true testament to the power of skill, determination, and adaptability.

So, let's take a moment to appreciate Royce and the Gracie family's incredible contribution to the world of martial arts. Join us as we honor the 30th anniversary of UFC 1 and acknowledge the profound impact it had on shaping combat sports history.

Where you’re strong and where you’re weak: As long as your elbows are tight to your torso and pointing down towards your hips, your arms will feel very strong - even if you aren’t normally considered a strong person. As soon as your elbows are taken out of position over your shoulders and away from the torso and pointing away from the hips - you will feel weak even if normally you’re considered a very strong person. What we call strength on the mat is mostly due to stance and positioning. What we perceive as weakness is most due to failures or imperfections in stance and positioning. The goal in Jiu jitsu then, is always to break an opponent’s stance and take them out of position so that knees and elbows are extended away from the torso and neck turned or tilted; whilst at the same time preserving your own stance and positioning. Raw strength is a good thing, but it can be greatly increased by stance and positioning and greatly decreased by the destruction of these

Reading your opponent: So we often we approach a match with a predetermined idea of what we want to do - there’s nothing wrong with that - but don’t let that make you oblivious to what your opponent is doing. It behooves you to always read your opponent so you gain information of what he is trying to do so that you can first negate and then capitalize on his intentions. The second you put your hands on your opponent you can read his level of physical tension and what direction his body wants to move. USE THIS ABILITY. It’s like a a different form of vision and one that gives you real insight into your opponents game. It’s much easier to beat someone when you know what they want to do. The best scenario is one where you know what YOU want to do and also what your OPPONENT wants to do - when you know both you’ll be very difficult to defeat

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They can’t all be diamonds: When I was beginning Jiu jitsu one of my most important mentors and training partners was future UFC and IBJJF world champion Matt Serra. Like any beginning student I was always chasing maximum progress in minimum time. There were a few days I would leave the gym ecstatic with the progress I felt I was making and the knowledge I was gaining; but there were many more days I’d leave thinking I’d gotten no better, possibly slightly worse, and that I’d never catch up to the advanced students. Whenever I would have days like this I would vent to Matt and he’d look at me and say, “Hey man, they can’t all be diamonds!” It would always raise a smile on my face because I knew even then it was true. Progress in Jiu jitsu isn’t linear. It tends to happen in short spurts where some critical insight is gained that boosts your performance. In between these short periods of significant progress there are typically long periods of very little, even no discernible progress and occasionally regression (particularly when you’re trying a lot of new moves and concepts). DON’T WORRY - this is the normal state of affairs. Just stay in the game and be sure that the progress will come. Be assured that progress in Jiu jitsu looks a lot like a graph of the stock market over time - lots of chaos in the short term with many big dips and rises but a noticeable overall upward momentum when longer time periods are used to assess it. Remember always that the only thing that definitely WILL stop your progress is stopping training.

Russell Brand On How Training BJJ for 5 Years Changed His Life Russell Brand started bjj as far back as summer of 2016. Since then he’s been constantly endorsing the art. He got his blue belt a few years ago. Russel Brand Got Cauliflower Ear and Had It Drained Brand has been quoted saying: “I, like you, believe in the possibility of change… What happened ...

Jiu Jitsu For the Distinguished Elder: Is There a Point to BJJ When You Are Older? "I will probably not live long enough to ever get my black belt. But I really deeply enjoy the process of sucking a little less at something every day.” ~Anthony Bourdain Every practitioner who steps on the mats has a dream. For some it is to win gold medals at competitions, while others hope to d...

Dislocated my finger when rolling 2 nights ago. Went to have it looked at and they said it's broken. In all likelihood, I broke it when I popped it back in. Now 3-4 weeks in a splint. Not going to stop rolling, so have to be real careful with who my partners are. Love this life!

Guess what San Diego! I will be doing a Gun/Knife Defense seminar @ Gracie Carlsbad on Sunday, May 22nd. I will be following some of the best professors on the planet in Rigan Machado, Muhammed Aly and Formiga. This is a weekend you won't want to miss! See you there!

Most definitely a must in our academy.

Why Wearing A Rashguards Under The Gi in BJJ Is Important Have you ever wondered what the point of wearing a BJJ rashguard is? Apart from making No-Gi training more (or less) appealing to the eye, BJJ rashguards are often worn under the Gi as well. A BJJ rashguard by itself, or combined with spats, is not just a fashion statement but plays a huge role...

I don't know about you, but I have the pleasure of training each day with a great group of BJJ practitioners that want nothing but to improve themselves and their training partners. I've only been doing Jiu Jitsu for about the last 6 years (off and on for a few more before that) and I've learned a ton from my coaches and partners. Thank you to everyone who has and is helping me on this amazing journey.