• FOCUS

    New Chapter! One of the most important chapters in all of self defense, let alone Jiu Jitsu. The rest of the sport world does not prioritize this portion of the game. Over the next 12 weeks we will explore realistic options to take someone to the ground in a street fight. We will also explore how different sports take an opponent to the ground under the rules of the game.

    BBS stripe 1-4 will be graded as part of your black belt test. Good thing we are starting now :)

    CORE MATERIAL 🔹 (BBS1)

    • Helio Gracie Curriculum

    • Gracie Combatives - How does your knowledge of Combatives help your new standing mindset.

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • Striking

    • Exposing your weakness and fear of standing in front of someone.

    GOAL FOR THE WEEK

    Beyond GC takedowns

    VIDEOS TO WATCH Stripe 1

    🔹 Lesson 57: Over-under Clinch Control (Ch7.4: Clinch/Takedowns)

    Lesson 58: "Pisão" Front Kick (Ch7.4: Clinch/Takedowns)

    Lesson 59: Takedown Chain (Ch7.4: Clinch/Takedowns)

  • CORE MATERIAL 🔹 (BBS1-4)

    • Striking

    • Takedowns

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • Street boxing

    • Single Leg entries from striking

    GOAL FOR THE WEEK

    Can you control the range or are you flowing with which ever range you land in?

    VIDEOS TO WATCH- Stripe 2/3

    🔹 Lesson 57: Single Leg Takedowns (Ch7.4: Clinch/Takedowns) stripe 2

    Lesson 59: Over-Under Takedowns (Ch7.4: Clinch/Takedowns) stripe 2

    Lesson 58: Throwing Techniques (7.4: Clinch/Takedowns) Stripe 3

  • CORE MATERIAL 🔹 (BBS3)

    • Throws often referred to as Judo

    • Balance, base, kazushi

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • Analyzing the pit falls of sport throws and rules. This dictates how you should view the effectiveness of the move.

    • Clinch at all cost mindset. Pressure. You must master trapping range to do this.

    GOAL FOR THE WEEK

    Find the grips you like right now. Don’t fall in love with them, just observe.

    How does Rickson clinch? How did Royce and Royler clinch in a street fight or challenge match? Distance management of course, but the killer instinct to rush the opponent and connect was top level fighting. It may not have looked the most polished, but it was direct and with a purpose.

    VIDEOS TO WATCH- Stripe 3

    🔹 Lesson 58: Throwing Techniques (7.4: Clinch/Takedowns) Continued from last week

    Lesson 50: Stripe 2, Hip Throw = Koshi Guruma. Looks like an OGoshi, but with a headlock.

    Lesson 60: Stripe 2, Clinch Flow - covering punches.

Don’t be fooled by a flashy entry. Legit takedowns are the same all around the world. They may be dressed up in fancy entries, but focus on the connection of the upper body, and how are the legs trapping the opponent. “a rice pounder becomes a rice pounder when he pounds rice”- Bruce lee.

  • CORE MATERIAL 🔹 (BBS 3,4)

    • Wall techniques

    • Review of clinch and Rear Takedowns Advanced

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • MMA concept of depletion

    GOAL FOR THE WEEK

    Go slow. Takedowns are the #1 area besides leg locks where people can be hurt or injured. Often times you injure yourself doing the actual takedown :)

    VIDEOS TO WATCH- Stripe 3, 4

    🔹Lesson 59: Wall Takedowns (7.4: Clinch/Takedowns)

    Lesson 60: Wall Takedown Counters (7.4: Clinch/Takedowns)

    Lesson 56: Rear Takedowns (7.4: Clinch/Takedowns)

  • FOCUS (BBS 1 and 2 Helio Gracie, and beyond)

    • Over the next 2 weeks (5 and 6) We will cover all weapons techniques from Stripe 1 and 2.

    • Takedowns from other systems that complement GJJ. Wrestling, Catch Wrestling, Silat,

    • Clinching against different kinds of strikers.

    • CORE MATERIAL 🔹

      BBS 1 and 2. Beyond the curriculum

      BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

      • Wall Defense Stripe 3

      GOAL FOR THE WEEK

      Ask a lot of questions about the connection while in clinch. Many techniques will not have a video series to watch.

      VIDEOS TO WATCH

      🔹Stripe 1 and 2 Weapons.

    • Stripe 3 Wall Drills

  • FOCUS

    • Rear attack Defense

    • ‍ ‍Advanced Headlock counters

    • Staying calm when grabbed, even if there may be a knife involved.

      CORE MATERIAL 🔹

      Front Grabs and Rear Grabs.

      BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

      •Alternate ways to control the weapon hand.

    • Sparring with blades.

      GOAL FOR THE WEEK

      Another two weeks of drills. Some drills are static “self defense” moves. We will explore a more dynamic approach and find where these techniques can truly come out in a real fight.

    VIDEOS TO WATCH

    🔹Lesson 49: Headlock Defense (7.1: Front Attack Defenses) Stripe 3

    Lesson 47: One-handed Attack Defense (7.1: Front Attack Defenses) Stripe 3

    Lesson 54: Hostage Knife Defense (7.3: Weapon Defenses)

    Kali flow drills. Hubad, U drill… the self perfections side of weapons that can be missing from GJJ weapons training.

When studying this Islam video, take note of how much work he has to do for some takedowns and how little of work he has to do for some. there is an interesting contrast of skill and “elite athlete” happening.

  • FOCUS

    Stripe 4 Weapons

    • BG pulls a weapon while you are grappling with them.

    • Always assume they have a weapon!

    • How do you intervene if a weapon is present in a hostage or active shooter situation

    CORE MATERIAL 🔹

    • BBS 4

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • Takedown to spar. Check if a weapon is present.

    VIDEOS TO WATCH

    🔹Lesson 52: Dynamic Knife Defense (7.3 Weapon Defenses) Stripe 4

    Lesson 54: Dynamic Gun Defense (7.3 Weapon Defenses) stripe 4

    Lesson 55: Active Shooter Defense (7.3 Weapon Defenses) stripe 4

    Lesson 49: Wrist Releases (7.1 Front Attack Defenses) stripe 4

  • FOCUS

    Two weeks of sparring focus. We play games, we keep it playful, we keep it real. Short rounds, long rounds. Tap early and tap often.

    ** Make sure you have your big gloves and fingerless gloves.

    CORE MATERIAL 🔹

    • Sparring with a focus on Takedowns.

    •Grip fighting

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • Shark Tank Rounds Variations

    • Proper way to Elbow.

    GOAL FOR THE WEEK

    Visualize the fight. When you are out of your house, check your exit strategies, play the what if game, size people up.

    Every major sports team has a Sport Psychologist.

    Common applications of Visualaization:

    • Pre-performance imagery (walking through plays, starts, reactions)

    • Stress inoculation (mentally rehearsing pressure moments)

    • Error recovery (seeing yourself respond correctly after a mistake)

    • Injury rehab (maintaining neural pathways while sidelined)

    • Decision-making speed (pattern recognition before physical execution)

    This is heavily backed by neuroscience — imagery activates many of the same motor pathways as physical reps.

    Visualization is rarely done in isolation. It’s integrated with:

    • Film study → visualize the corrected response

    • Walk-throughs → slow, cognitive reps

    • Live reps → pressure-tested execution

    • Post-training reflection → reinforce successful imagery

    Guro Dan Inosanto was most likely the first High School sports coach and college athlete to put the same concepts and philosophy as major sports use into Martial Arts. He knew he was rare in that way. How college football and track and field teams trained from the 50’s all the way up to modern day has been studies by Inosanto.

    VIDEOS TO WATCH

    🔹Review past videos from the section and ones we have not watched.

    Youtube Thai Boxing matches and see how often they throw or sweep their opponent. Report back what you find.

  • CORE MATERIAL 🔹

    • Wall techniques and Wall get ups.

    • Review of all techniques

    BONUS MATERIAL 🔸

    • Angles and “Pivot” principle are a main concept for takedowns. Rarely is the answer to power through your opponents BASE.

    GOAL FOR THE WEEK

    Keep it playful, keep it real… enjoy the rounds.

    VIDEOS TO WATCH-

    🔹Body Fold Takedown GC

    Leg Hook Takedown GC

    Lesson 56: Rear Takedowns (7.4: Clinch/Takedowns) stripe 4