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Our Belt Train Tradition (In Progress)

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Our Belt Train Tradition (In Progress)

Rituals are important. When I got my blue belt, the promotion itself meant a lot to me — but what meant just as much was going through the Triangle Jiu-Jitsu “belt train,” which was our ritual for newly-promoted students. I’ll tell you about the TJJ train in a moment, but the point of this post is to explain what our Bellingham BJJ belt promotion ritual is — and what happened when we did it for the first time ever tonight. The TJJ train is tough. I’ve been through one at each belt level, and so have all of my teammates. Read more »

Why to go to a BJJ seminar (or not)

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Why to go to a BJJ seminar (or not)

Let’s say you’re a basketball fan. Let’s say Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, or LeBron James decides to come to your town. For a certain amount of money, between $40 and $100, Steph, or Dame (or whoever your favorite player is) say they’ll spend hours showing you and a group of your friends their best moves. They might even play a game of one-on-one with you at the end. Sound insane? For most sports, it is. In jiu-jitsu, this actually happens. It’s called a seminar. Over the years, I’ve learned some incredible things at seminars. That’s why we continually try to Read more »

Jeff Glover is coming to Bellingham! No-gi seminar on July 20

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Jeff Glover is coming to Bellingham! No-gi seminar on July 20

Aside from being one of the most accomplished American grapplers of all time, Jeff Glover is an important ambassador for the sport. He’s someone that I’ve always wanted to train with — and thanks to Dave Porter, we’re all going to get the chance in July. We’re thrilled to announce that Jeff Glover will join us for a no-gi jiu-jitsu seminar on July 20. This will be three hours of training at the regular open mat time, noon-3 p.m. on Saturday. If you’re reading this blog about BJJ, chances are you’re already aware of Jeff Glover and his achievements, but Read more »

We Open May 1, With Two Special Programs For New Students

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We Open May 1, With Two Special Programs For New Students

If there’s anything I love as much as jiu-jitsu, it’s delivering good news. Here are a couple of pieces of good news — whether you’re an existing student or interested in trying BJJ for the first time. First, due to a heroic effort from several volunteers, we’ve installed mats and frames at our new location (205 W. Holly St., downtown) a full month before we’d planned to! We’ll continue to improve the space constantly, and we have big plans for creating the most welcoming environment possible for training. But as of May 1, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes are on at Bellingham Read more »

Bellingham BJJ is moving to a new location!

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Bellingham BJJ is moving to a new location!

Exciting news: due to profound growth, Bellingham BJJ is moving to a new location! We’re thrilled to realize this dream of a dedicated space for jiu-jitsu. We’ll be right downtown at 205 West Holly St. in a 4,400-square-foot facility that will let us keep growing and supporting our community. The expansion will give us room for day and evening classes, private lessons, and serious training. We’re devoted to self-defense, competition and high-quality instruction for everybody and every body. All we’re going to be doing here is jiu-jitsu, our shared passion. A few highlights of the new space: Two large mat Read more »

What If I Don’t Want to Roll?

Intro to BJJ No comments
What If I Don’t Want to Roll?

Once someone decides jiu-jitsu is for them, rolling — free sparring with a partner — commonly becomes their favorite part. After you’ve gotten some fundamental knowledge down, it’s fun to try to apply that knowledge against a resisting opponent.

Even years into the journey, it remains fun and exciting. Some days, you’re playing your A game against a game partner; other days, you’re experimenting with new techniques you’re just beginning to learn. This can even change from roll to roll, as you switch from a challenging round against an upper belt from a more teaching-oriented round with a new person. There’s always something you can be working on, so it’s easy to keep it fresh.

This isn’t true of, say, drilling. I’m lucky in that I love to drill, and I think drilling is crucially important to improve your BJJ. But there’s no stereotype about “the guy that only shows up at class to drill,” and there’s definitely that stereotype about rolling.

To use a sports analogy: Everyone loves the game. Not everyone loves practice.

We don’t hear a lot about the opposite issue, though — which is when someone doesn’t want to roll. This happens, too. If this person is you (even if this person is only sometimes you), I have some advice.

Read more about What If I Don’t Want to Roll? …

The Drilling List

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The Drilling List

The best way to improve at jiu-jitsu is this: just come to class and practice the move the instructor shows. It really is that simple. At white and blue belt especially, showing up to training and putting in the drill time will get you where you need to be. As you advance in jiu-jitsu, setting aside time outside of class for drilling becomes a solid strategy for improving — one that becomes more and more important over time. These days, I’m teaching a lot. As an instructor, my first responsibility is always going to be making sure the students are Read more »

How Do You Train Jiu-Jitsu For Life?

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How Do You Train Jiu-Jitsu For Life?

You’re never too old to start jiu-jitsu. People think that’s a slogan, but it’s the truth. Every week I have a conversation with someone who tells me they’d start training, but they’re too old. As someone who started in the latter half of my 30s, I usually feel qualified to dispel the myth that Brazilian jiu-jitsu is only for young people. Even more qualified that me to speak on this, though, is my dear friend Betty Broadhurst. Betty started even later in life than I did, and is still an avid competitor. Betty is in the Master 7 division, and Read more »

Solo Drills for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Techniques & Drills No comments
Solo Drills for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Drilling — practicing movements over and over so your body learns how to perform them instinctively — is one of the most important things you can do to improve at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’m a huge believer in maximizing my time, which means if I don’t have a training partner, I’m still going to try to use time to improve. That means solo drills!

Five years ago, I did a post about my favorite solo drills for BJJ. Since then, I’ve learned some new drills and some of the embedded videos have died, so here’s an updated post. Many of these you’ll know, perhaps from warmups at your gym. There might be new material, though, to try out when you have time and space but no one to grapple with. Also check out my how to drill post (mostly for partner drills) for some more details on the method.

Here are 10 or so great solo drills for BJJ that you can do in your free time. If you train at Bellingham BJJ, you may recognize a lot of these as warm-up drills. Many of these fall under the “you can’t do this too much” category. Read more about Solo Drills for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu …