Friday Night Jiu Jitsu Philosophy Talks Are now Being Broadcast via Facebook.
Jiu Jitsu Philosophy talks are being shown on Facebook. In order to view, sign up for Facebook. Search for Valente Brothers. Like and follow. Broadcasts are through the Facebook app on Fridays at 8:00 pm. , Eastern Standard Time.
Also, another good resource of information about Jiu Jitsu philosophy can be found on the Valente Brothers YouTube channel.
Posted in Jiu Jitsu, Uncategorized | Tagged Gracie Jiu Jitsu, self defense, valente brothers | Leave a Comment »
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If you get a chance, watch live the Jiu Jitsu Philosophy talks on Friday Nights, around 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, via the app, Periscope. It’s easy. Just go to the I phone app store and down load the app. Sorry I don’t know about android. The app and talk are free. Look for Valente Brothers.
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Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged Gracie Jiu Jitsu, live lecture, philosphy of jiu jitsu | Leave a Comment »
Hi, the saga continues. Check out the new site, Miami Purple Belt Blog.
The web address is miamipurplebelt.wordpress.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Purple Belt Blog, valente brothers | Leave a Comment »
This week I put on the purple belt for the first time. Real or unreal, it seemed that I had more respect than as a blue belt. During class, I was consulted more on technique by the practice partner when trying to learn a new one. In the advanced class, during the circle drill, I was attacked with more aggression. It was a rougher practice since I was expected to handle more intensity. I felt more a part of the family and that I was rising to the new level. It was good being a purple belt.
Until I have the purple belt blog setup, I will use this blog then transfer the posts.
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It was an impressive Winter Belt Ceremony. It was the largest belt ceremony so far. Like last year, Royce Gracie and the Valente Brothers combined black belt testing. Valente brothers promoted its first woman black belt. There were people here from all over the world. I appreciated the high caliber of the students of both Royce and the Valente Brothers. On the mat we were one.
There was also an honorary black belt presented to Nelson Semedo’s wife and child. Last year, Nelson came to Miami for black belt testing and died from a stroke. Apparently, he didn’t know about his own bad health.
After three years of study, I was promoted to Purple belt. This ends the blue belt journey. To say the least, it was a great experience. I will follow up with some last commentaries in few days.
FYI, I will probably start writing another blog in regards to purple belt but on a month to month basis. I will keep you advised.
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Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Valente Brothers Winter Belt Ceremony 2014 | Leave a Comment »
This week in Fundamentals, we discussed and prepared for pre-fight scenarios. Florida, where I live, has the Stand Your Ground Law which states as follows.
” In the United States, stand–your–ground law states that an individual has no duty to retreat from any place they have lawful right to be and may use any level of force, including lethal, if they reasonably believe they face an imminent and immediate threat of serious bodily harm or death.”
For the record, I didn’t like the law. I could see how the law could be misused. Some American civilians drive around with a gun in their car which could be dangerous because of road rage. The point was that we need to remain calm and stick to defense only. Don’t use threatening language. Never charge at someone. Don’t wear threatening clothing. Proceed with caution.
We relearned the knee on belly pin. I believed this pin was terrific for a quick pin, especially combined with a throw, to get in and out if necessary. However, as a blue belt, I maybe out of line because of my experience level, but I thought this pin to be risky for sparring. There were a few matches where my opponent was constantly trying to do this. Since I sparred with the person before, I knew the knee on belly pin was coming so I would shrimp and jam the knee down. It felt more like a need for them to dominate than sparring.
In the last three years, the belt level that injured me the must were purple belts. It wasn’t intentional. It seemed more like a lack of their own self awareness and accidents.
Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged blue belt student, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, stand-your-ground law states | Leave a Comment »
This week was the third week in a row of sparring. Before I arrived at the dojo, I was a bit fearful of getting injured but I went anyway. The class was loaded with brown belts. I didn’t spar with any of them.
I was reading old posts about my experiences with sparring, it took a long time to forget other learned martial arts and wrestling. Now, I sparred using only Gracie Jiu Jitsu techniques.
During sparring, I was guard turned over by two of the three sparring matches. I needed to examine that to prevent it in the future. I had a good pin on a black belt. I wasn’t exhausted at the end. I had the right sparring partners. It was a good day.
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This week in fundamentals, we reviewed head lock defense with punch defense into a kimura. It was when an attacker grabbed the victim in a head lock. The other arm of the attacker would throw punches while the victim was in a standing head lock. The first step was to connect hip to hip with a strong posture. The next move was to block the attackers fist strike arm. There was a few more steps. The key detail was to hold the kimura grip tight and step out with the inside leg to finish the move.
I went to sparring. Back to back week. It went well except for one match that chewed up my body. Fyi, next month, I will be turning 47. Sometimes I felt a lot younger than I was and this guy thought full speed was okay. It felt good but risky. He had 15 to 20 pounds over me and athletic. He didn’t have an easy time tapping me out. I didn’t tap him out but was able to pin him. My mind went blank. I could get the pin but wasn’t able to work a choke or an arm bar.
Later on at home was when I saw the price, just before showering, bruises, scratches, pulled muscle, neck, and the nagging. I heard a guy, 22, ” I will be back in the evening for the evening sparring class. ” He could do that because of his youth and fitness level. I spent the weekend taking it easy, trying to heal up.
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Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged Gracie Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt, self defense, sparring | Leave a Comment »
This was new. Before we actually sparred, Professor Gui had a talk with us informally in a circle. He explained that in his training in Brazil, sparring wasn’t as aggressive as we were doing it. In Brazil, after sparring, fellow students weren’t leaving the mat to go to a business meeting with a busted up face or black eye. He advised not to do knee on belly with full weight or incorrectly positioned. He advised not to crush people with the fore arm on the face, wrists, elbow into spine. Keep it clean. He didn’t want us to do an eye for eye.
Before we started sparring, I told privately to each sparring partner to keep it playful. What did that mean? Keep it safe. Friendly. Tap before you get injuried or even before. Try to work something or if they wanted to work on a move. I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone’s injury or be injured myself. Don’t assume people you know or never seen before will behave correctly. Talk to your sparring partner.
This week in jiu jitsu, I sparred against an American blue belt, re tired US Army, a Haitian, a new blue belt, he spassed a little bit, and a purple belt 2 striped Brazillian. The last time I sparred was in July. Over all, I was pleased with the sparring because I passed the guard three times on two of the opponents.
The ex Army sparring partner had a strategy which tapped me out right away. I couldn’t recall what he did. Next time I see him, I will ask. I was setup and I didn’t counter when I should have countered. It was obvious that he had been doing some thinking about sparring. That move would work well in a street fight. Good to know something like that. Another time, he used a little bit of force to catch me in an Americana. He peeled my arm off my chest and put it on the floor. I couldn’t pull free. Was that correct or incorrect? I wasn’t clear. Technique verses a little bit of power.
The Brazillan jiu jitsu player, purple 2 striped, made sparring much more relaxed. We sparred then talked about the technique. Gentle but also strong. Mindful. I felt that I was improving my jiu jitsu. This was what jiu jitsu should be like. I had let go of the ego. I wasn’t worried. Flow. The other players were all about tapping out. In this match, I wasn’t battling for survival.
Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged Helio Gracie Jiu Jitsu, jiu jitsu sparring safety, Valente Jiu Jitsu | Leave a Comment »
This week in fundamental’s class on Monday, we reviewed the wall pin, knife defense to the heart area, Kimora from side mount. I realized mistakes made in timing such as in the wall pin and knife attack defense.
The wall pin. The attacker has the victim pinned on the wall by the shoulders. We were told to think of a Tug of war. When pinned, we were taught to push forward so that the aggressor would push back. When the aggressor pushes with a lot of force back, sliding on the wall was easier which helped execute the technique. Before, I wasn’t doing the setup very well.
Note to reader, never engage a person with a knife. If you could safely run away, run away. Any mistake could result in death or a bad injury.
Knife attack to heart defense. In being anxious, I had skipped a step from previous classes. After the knife hand was caught, the next part was securing the elbow. I wasn’t doing that. Being anxious, I wasn’t securing the elbow and going into a sloppy Kimora. A Kimora was a joint lock technique to dislocate or rupture an attacker’s shoulder. Without securing the elbow, the technique wasn’t very effective.
After reviewing the technique, step by step, I realized that once the knife hand was caught, I had a second to reach out to grab the elbow, I needed to slow down to make the grab, and execute the Kimora.
Kimora from side mount. Before the class, I didn’t have the background story. The aggressor was just thrown and your unable to get full mount, but end up in side mount. The professor demonstrated the technique starting from standing into a throw. The professor looked like he was smothering a fire with his body on the aggressor to secure the side mount pin. I thought that to be very effective and should be done like that after a throw. Pinned. Controlled. Patience. If the opponent used the arm to strike or push. If the arm was in the Kimora position. An L. Secure the arm in the Kimora lock. Scissor. Put leg over head. Lift. If not, don’t force any move.
Posted in Jiu Jitsu, Uncategorized | Tagged Gracie Jiu Jitsu, self defense | Leave a Comment »
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