#137 Robert Drysdale Update, Gracie Barra Competition Network
October 5, 2008
Robert Drysdale at the 2007 BJJ Mundials.
Brasa jiu-jitsu ace Robert Drysdale will join us this week on The FightWorks Podcast. Drysdale, who defeated Marcelo Garcia in the absolute division of the ADCCs in 2007, has been busier than ever. In our chat in this episode Drysdale answers two questions from you, the Mighty 600,000, about the challenges of being a big guy in jiu-jitsu, about being Frank Mir’s submission grappling coach on the eighth season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter, preparing for his MMA debut on October 17th, opening his own new school in Las Vegas, and more.
Gracie Barra’s Flavio Almeida appears this week as well. We will discuss the brand new Gracie Barra Competition Network, which is GB’s new effort to begin holding regional tournaments around the country just for folks who train at Gracie Barra associations, with the goal of preparing their jiu-jitsu competitors for the highest level of competition. The first tournament from the GBCN will be held at Irvine Valley College on October 25th.
Don’t forget that you can contact us to get your questions answered here on The FightWorks Podcast: BJJ Radio too! Just call (877) 247-4662!
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#136 Competition Nerves in Jiu-Jitsu
September 28, 2008
Brown belt World and Pan-Ams champion Chris Moriarty.
Man we have so much Brazilian jiu-jitsu to talk about on The FightWorks Podcast this time. In addition to a special co-host this time around, we have three segments for you.
Show me anyone who has ever entered a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition and I will show you someone who has been totally freaked out. This week we bring you the first half of an interview with Chris Moriarty, a World Champion brown belt competitor from Alliance Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Coached by Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti, Moriarty has loads of jiu-jitsu competition experience at the highest level and will share tips and techniques he uses to calm his nerves before fighting in BJJ tournaments.
Gethin Aldous is the producer and director of the upcoming movie Renzo Gracie: Legacy. Aldous will bring us all the details about the film, which covers the last ten years of the life of one of jiu-jitsu’s biggest personalities.
Cohost of The FightWorks Podcast and I will reminisce a bit about the birth of our humble BJJ internet radio show. We turned three years old this week!
We close out the show by answering listener email about getting sponsorships for BJJ competitors, and how to find the best jiu-jitsu gi.
Thanks for being with us this time around and always remember you can contact us to get your questions answered, and let us know what you want to hear on the show!
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GETHIN ALDOUS INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION
The FightWorks Podcast: Gethin how are you doing?
Gethin Aldous: I’m doing very well.
The FightWorks Podcast: The reason we brought you on Gethin is so you could tell us about the movie that you recently produced and directed called Renzo Gracie: Legacy.
Gethin Aldous: Okay well it’s a film about ten years in the life of Renzo Gracie. Another cameraman started filming him in 1997 and followed him for three or four years, and then I took over where he left off. So basically between the two of us, we’ve been following Renzo around every single fight that he’s had for ten years, and had incredible access to him (he’s a very charismatic guy), to his world, to the fight world, and the explosion of mixed martial arts. It’s been quite an adventure.
The FightWorks Podcast: There’s some really bad films these days on MMA. I know all of our listeners are excited for a film that every one cares about as much as they do for Renzo. That’s really a great thing. Let’s back way up… Is it safe to say that you train jiu-jitsu?
Gethin Aldous: Yeah that’s how it all started actually. I injured my back many years ago and I was living in Barcelona. I thought to myself, “I need to do some exercise.” I’m not the kind of guy who can just go to the gym. I just get bored, and I just give up. So I needed something that would challenge me mentally and physically. I was walking around Barcelona and I saw a sign by Robin Gracie, who lives in Barcelona about jiu-jitsu. Now I’d seen a couple of UFCs, and I thought, “yeah I know the Gracies, I’ll go and train”. So I started training with him in Barcelona, and then after training for six months there I moved to New York because I’d met an American girl, and started training at Renzo’s academy. I’m a freelance TV director anyways, and I do this for a living. As soon as I met Renzo I thought, “I’ve got to make a film about this dude”. He’s such a charismatic guy and with such personality. He’s a visionary. So it just sort of started from there.
The FightWorks Podcast: So let me get this straight. You were in Barcelona, training jiu-jitsu, which must’ve been a wonderful experience. I’ve been to Robin’s, and I’ve trained over there, and I can only imagine what a great setting that must’ve been. It’s Barcelona for one thing, and the next is you’re training jiu-jitsu in Barcelona. And a girl was able to tear you away from that?
Gethin Aldous: [laughs] Well the truth is that me and the girl were in Barcelona together first. She tore me away with the promise of New York City. It’s equally as exciting, and before I left I checked with Robin to see if there was any jiu-jitsu in New York, and he said, “Oh, my cousin Renzo!”
The FightWorks Podcast: Now that that makes sense… I don’t know if it’s even necessary to ask “why Renzo”. I know you were training under him, but he is a special guy.
Gethin Aldous: The truth is that when I first started filming I thought, “I’m going to make a film about the Gracies.” That was the idea. This was 2001 I think. At the time Rickson Gracie had only just stopped fighting, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to carry on fighting, and Royce Gracie had only just been beaten by Sakuraba, so he still had that aura, and then there was what Renzo was doing. So at the time I thought I was going to film everyone. But the more I filmed him, the more in my opinion, there was a lot of Gracies who were doing a lot for the sport, but he was the one who put himself on the line the most to test his art. He didn’t mind if he won or lost because he wanted to test his art and he knew that every time he stepped in to the ring he would improve. And that was all that mattered. The more time I spent with him, the more that became apparent and I realized I was going to make the film about him. In the process of making the film Rhalan Gracie was around a lot, we feature Ralph Gracie quite heavily, Daniel Gracie was around a lot, we saw quite a bit of Carlos Gracie Jr. in Brazil, Renzo’s father Robson is in it. A lot of other members of the family come into it. Rickson shows up at one point. But it became about Renzo.
The FightWorks Podcast: So obviously we can expect to see the story of his last ten years or so. You’ve already alluded to the fact that it takes place overseas, here domestically in the United States… what can we expect to see when we go check it out? We’re not just seeing Renzo around New York City right?
Gethin Aldous: Yeah we went with him everywhere. Basically the guy who was following him before, is there the first time Renzo put on a pair of MMA gloves. The first time he came out of bare-knuckle. We have footage of the riots when Renzo had the fights in Brazil against Eugenio Tadeu. We had a guy in the crowd with a camera there. We have unbelievable footage of the riot. And then when I took over I went to every fight he went to. We went to Japan two or three times, went down to Brazil, went down to Hawaii for BJ Penn, Connecticut for Pat Miletich. Everywhere Renzo went, we went. It was quite an adventure.
The FightWorks Podcast: This is going to be a 2 hour film? Hour and a half?
Gethin Aldous: It ends up being about 80 minutes long. There was some sort of licensing problems, some fights from PRIDE I couldn’t license. So there’s some places I have a lot of footage, and I would’ve liked to have shown a lot more. But without the payoff of the fights, it doesn’t quite work. So yeah, it ends up being 80 minutes. Some of the newer fights are featured slightly more heavily because we had access to the fights themselves.
The FightWorks Podcast: And this is going to be debuted at the inaugural Sports Film Festival in Philadelphia at the end of October, am I right?
Gethin Aldous: Exaclty. The world premiere is going to be on the Thursday night. It’s going to open the festival, so it’s going to be Thursday the 23rd. We haven’t finalized the date but either the 23rd or the 25th. And then the DVD should be coming out shortly afterwards, a couple of weeks later.
The FightWorks Podcast: That was my next question, is where are the rest of us who aren’t in Philly going to get access to this? Will it just be via sales online?
Gethin Aldous: Yeah to start with the sales are going to come from just our website. See the film was made on a very low budget. I’d share hotel rooms with people, do whatever I could to get cheap flights. It was a labor of love. You know I’d work on other things to get the money to just follow Renzo around to film him. So we just decided, even though we had quite a few other offers, to self-distribute, because then the film will cost less for the fans, and then the film will come straight from us who put our blood, sweat, and tears into it. So I think everyone kind of wins out. And there’s at least 90 minutes of DVD extras on there, like just amazing stuff. People are going to go crazy for it. If you’re into MMA, and you’re into jiu-jitsu, which I am, you’re going to love this.
The FightWorks Podcast: So you’re saying that the contents of the DVD are actually double the length of the film itself?
Gethin Aldous: Yeah, all the stuff that we couldn’t show because we couldn’t license the fights and pay them off, well you can see all that stuff in the DVD extras. There’s some training footage… one of my favorite ones is him and his uncle Relson just sitting down and telling stories from back in the day in Brazil. Just fights that they were both in together. Yeah some great stuff in there. I made this film as a fan, for fans. I’m a big, big fan of the sport, a big fan of jiu-jitsu so it’s been a labor of love. As you can tell I’m very excited about the film. I know people who watch it are going to be just as excited.
The FightWorks Podcast: Gethin we really appreciate you coming on the show here and we will keep close tabs on things, so please keep in touch with us, if there’s any other news that we should know about, you can reach out and we’ll help get the word out. Anything else you want to let the fans know before we let you go?
Gethin Aldous: No, just I hope you enjoy it. It’s been a long time coming. It’s taken a lot of struggles, a lot to license the fights we have managed to license… Enjoy the journey with Renzo. He’s a very very interesting character.
#135 Strength & Cardio Training in BJJ
September 21, 2008
Martin Rooney performing a pull up on the beach in Rio.
So I get a message on our MySpace page from Christian, a member of the Mighty 600,000 from Arizona, wondering if we had any gym routines for Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. So I says to myself, “I don’t, but I know who does”.
Martin Rooney is a professional strength and conditioning coach for athletes of all sports, a purple belt in jiu-jitsu under Ricardo Almeida, and a black belt in judo. Earlier this year Rooney published Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout
In this episode of The FightWorks Podcast, Rooney will cover specific ways folks can complement and improve their jiu-jitsu game with some cardio and strength exercises. We will also cover training when injured (who hasn’t been there?), common mistakes BJJ folks make in the gym, and more!
Thank you Christian for the idea for this show!
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INTERVIEW EXCERPT
The FightWorks Podcast: Okay so we just talked about what to do for the core, what to do for the upper body, and what to do for the legs when you talked about Roger Gracie. Is there an ideal cardio workout to mimic what I’m doing on the mats to prepare me when I can’t go out and train with my buddies? What can I do cardio-wise to better my jiu-jitsu when I’m away from the mats?
Martin Rooney: When you say, “ideal”, it would be tempting for me to say, “Yeah of course, there’s this one perfect silver bullet”, but I don’t believe that exists. I believe there are a lot of ways to skin the cat. I think it depends a lot on the individual and what they enjoy. The biggest suggestion that I can make is that when we say “mimic”, the best way to look at it is there are intervals of very high intense work with short periods of recovery and then high intense work. So I will say that getting on the elliptical or walking on the treadmill is not the way to do it, or riding the bike for 30 minutes, because that is just using one energy system, and predominantly not the one that is used during jiu-jitsu. So if you look at jiu-jitsu, jiu-jitsu is a series of fast movements and using strength, and then recovering, getting comfortable in a position, and then doing it again, repeating it, and being able to do that for a long time. So the answer that I have, at least from my system is what we call “Hurricane Training”. We utilize sprinting and quick weight exercises or body movements that mimic jiu-jitsu right back into that cardiovascular exercise again and we repeat that for up to 20 minutes straight. That’s been the form that we’ve used and a lot of people now around the world are using it and really have had great benefit. But there are so many different ways you can do it. My advice would be that you utilize a system that does a little bit of hard work, then a little bit of recovery, and you repeat that over a period of time. That’s going to be what will best condition you cardiovascularly. And we call it solo training because you don’t need a partner to do a lot of these drills and still improve your technique for jiu-jitsu.
The FightWorks Podcast: Let’s say Martin, that I’m a guy or girl listening to this right now and I say, “You know what you’re right, I need to get down to the gym and work on these other kind of activities aside from all my mat work and jiu-jitsu stuff. I’m going to go to a gymnasium. I’m going to start doing cardio, I’m going to start doing weights…” What’s the minimum that that person should budget per week in terms of how many hours on one night [at the gym] and so on?
Martin Rooney: That’s another great question. I usually tell people, “Hey, according to your schedule and everything, first off you gotta do what you can.” My recommendation thought would be three workouts a week aside from your jiu-jitsu. That would be the minimum. And the maximum would probably be four or five. So what’s interesting though is when I usually say, “do three or four”, people say, “oh well if Martin said three or four what he really means is seven but I don’t have time for seven so you know what? I’m not going to do any.” So I’m just giving that disclaimer: guys, I’m telling you it’s three. Get in there and do a really good upper body day, and a little bit of cardio. Do a really hard lower body day and some abs. And then do one day when you really work conditioning, because at your jiu-jitsu you’re working conditioning a couple of days as well! Don’t forget, your jiu-jitsu is still going to improve your conditioning and some of your strength too. But there’s nothing like building some of those things outside of there to then apply to it when you get back in. So the answer to that one Caleb, I would say three days a week. It doesn’t have to be two hour marathons. If you’re in the gym for two hours, you’re making friends, not lifting weights. Get in there, get done in 45 minutes, and get back to your life. You’re going to feel better about yourself. And don’t think you have to be doing this seven days a week. You’re doing the right thing with three or four.
#134 Changing Jiu-Jitsu Schools Part 2
September 14, 2008
The place you train - will it always be the same?
This week we conclude our conversation around changing where you train Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Our guest this week is Gumby from OnT heMat.com, who can provide a different angle to the topic than in our previous discussion. Gumby has been in the jiu-jitsu scene over ten years and is a black belt under Ralph Gracie and is in the process of opening his own BJJ school. So Gumby will provide not only the perspective of a jiu-jitsu student but that of someone whose livelihood depends on a healthy school where students are not leaving to go train jiu-jitsu somewhere else.
We will also hear from Pedro Sauer in our installment of The Black Belt Corner.
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EXCERPT FROM THE SHOW
The FightWorks Podcast: There’s a strange sort of dual set of relationships where, as a student, you’re a consumer, right? You’re paying for a service. On the other hand, the people on the [jiu-jitsu] mats become family.
Gumby: Absolutely. That’s one of the great things about jiu-jitsu. It’s why we enjoy it so much. Some of the camaraderie, some of my best friends come from guys that I’ve met on the mat. Literally. I am pretty sure that’s the same for anyone who’s listening to this right now. I have had very close relationships with people that I train with. So for whatever the reason, you don’t like to see those people go. You want to keep those people close to you (if it’s a good environment for you that is). And some people will do whatever they can to protect that.
#133 Changing BJJ Schools
September 7, 2008
Two competitors at one of the World Team Trials earlier this year. (Hey it’s hard to find a photo of someone changing BJJ schools!)
Our feature story this week on our Brazilian jiu jitsu internet radio show is about changing BJJ schools. Change happens. It’s a part of life. Sometimes it is under circumstances that are good, sometimes less so. Sometimes everybody involved is okay with someone moving on, and other times it can be downright hostile.
In the first of our two-part discussion on changing BJJ schools, this week cohost Dan and I will speak with Elyse Goldberg, who blogs at GringaBJJ. Due to just leaving school, finding a new job in a new town, etc., Elyse is more experienced than most when it comes to moving on from one’s surroundings and training in a new school and has plenty of good advice on the topic.
We will also speak with our medical correspondent, Doctor Aaron Schneir, a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and emergency medicine specialist at UCSD. Doc will answer some more questions we got from you, the listeners on our toll-free number (877) 247-4662 about chokes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. (Actually the questions came from Ricky in Salt Lake City, Utah and Delano from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Next time I am sure you will call ;)).
Speaking of questions we received from the Mighty 600,000, we received a call from Jay in New Hampshire for our recent guest Penny Thomas. Penny will discuss ways to manage Jay’s lower back pain in jiu jitsu.
Finally, the World Team Trials of submission grappling are coming to a close here in the United States. Chris Carlino of USA Wrestling will come on to give us the low down on the last competition to determine who will represent the USA at FILA’s World Championships of submission grappling in Switzerland later this year against athletes from over 50 other countries!
Next week we will continue our discussion about changing schools. If you have any thoughts or experiences to share, call our toll-free number (877) 247-4662!
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#132 Penny Thomas
August 31, 2008
Penny Thomas (far left) holding her first place trophy at the 2007 ADCCs in New Jersey.
Penny Thomas left her native South Africa behind to pursue better training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu years ago and after much hard work has captured some of the most coveted titles in jiu-jitsu and grappling, including gold medals at the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club, BJJ Mundials, and Pan-Ams.
In this episode of The FightWorks Podcast we sit down and learn her story, from an emergency spinal surgery at the age of 12 up to her inspirational performances in jiu jitsu competition. Penny will also answer a handful of great questions submitted by you, the Mighty 600,000 about:
- training BJJ as a woman
- vegetarianism
- yoga and flexibility for jiu jitsu
- of course, tons more
In addition to our conversation with Penny Thomas, we will also review a couple of interesting emails sent in by the Family, and give an update on The FightWorks Podcast jiu jitsu gi patches.
Oh and one more thing to Jay from New Hampshire, who called The FightWorks Podcast toll free number ((877) 247-4662) yesterday and left a voicemail for me to ask Penny about yoga and lower back pain: I interviewed Penny back on Thursday but I will try to put your question in front of her sometime soon! And above all, thanks for calling in!
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Excerpt from Interview
Penny Thomas: I am Penny Thomas, I originally from South Africa, born and raised over there. I started jiu-jitsu about eight years ago. A friend of mine learned with a set of Carlson Gracie instructional VHS tapes and him and his brother played together in the garden and worked on their techniques. They were both from a kung-fu background and they developed their jiu-jitsu just with books and DVDs over the internet. There was nobody teaching in South Africa. They started to travel, do seminars. Royce Gracie gave Micah his blue belt and then Micah came back to South Africa and he started a little group of five guys that were training out of a kickboxing academy. I was training kickboxing there, and I saw these guys rolling on the floor. The kickboxers were like, “Oh look at these guys rolling on the floor, they’re so gay!” I decided to try a few classes and I loved it. We started to travel to Brazil each year to compete for the Worlds. The first competition I had in jiu-jitsu was the Worlds. I think that was in 2003. Since then I’ve been traveling all over, to the UK to train, and then I came over here to America a couple of years ago to train full time, so that is kind of how it started.
…
The FightWorks Podcast: There’s a blogger called Slideyfoot. He’s a prolific writer online. The first question he has for you is, “Has Penny experienced much sexism in the course of getting her black belt? For example the constant drooling over Kyra Gracie that you see online, or the ‘Ooo I would like to be in her guard’ sort of comments.”
Penny Thomas: Not really, I mean I have trained with guys most of the time. In South Africa there were no other girls who trained jiu-jitsu, so I trained with the guys so I am fairly strong. I work out a lot, I do a lot of cross training, I do CrossFit, I do weight training, I do yoga. So I have always been able to hold my own against men. If any of them have ever had any issues, we’ll go train, and it’s clear that girls are at a level where you can beat a guy of the same weight. I have competed in men’s divisions before. In Oahu at the Triple Crown I took second place. I beat a guy, a brown belt who was the same weight as me. You know I don’t think there is much of a difference [between guys and girls who train jiu-jitsu], you know if a girl is strong and technical. You know you do get some guys, there’s one guy here at Saulo Ribeiro’s academy that there is different levels for male and female belts. But I am going to show him (laughs).
#131 The Naked Episode
August 24, 2008
Contrary to what your dirty mind is conjuring up with this title, this episode of our Brazilian jiu-jitsu internet radio show does not involve nudity. Just the thought of recording audio while naked with cohost Dan on the other end of the phone weirds me out. This episode is, however, unlike any you’ve ever heard.
Follow me for a moment here: a few weeks ago you’ll remember I posted here on the site saying, “Wow! Tarsis Humphries showed up last night at class here in San Diego! He’ll be here in town, so send me all your questions!”
I was pretty excited and cohost of The FightWorks Podcast Dan and I went ahead and recorded our intro and outro to the show that was going to have Tarsis on it. Well, Tarsis didn’t make it back in to train again at Fabio Santos’ academy that week, and I had no interview (he did appear later, providing content for episode 129). So there we were, stuck with a bunch of content but no feature for the show.
Luckily The FightWorks Podcast’s resident BJJ medical correspondent Doc was available and he helped us put together a show on BJJ chokes, so there was some content for that Sunday.
Now fast forward back to the present. For the first time in a real long while I just took a vacation last week. No internet, no computer, nothing.
So as I was not around to put a normal episode of our BJJ radio show together last week, I humbly offer the unedited recording that Dan and I made that was going to be used in that original episode with Tarsis. In that sense, it’s a very naked episode.
As there’s no feature interview in there it’s not what you’ve come to expect in an episode of the show here, but you will get to hear a little about what it is like when we put together a show behind the scenes.
Do not worry though, there is plenty of BJJ in this episode: Dan and I will talk more weight loss in BJJ, what training with BJJ folks from different parts of the world is like, and other grappling items of course as well.
One warning to those in our Mighty 600,000 who have been around with us for a while and have come to expect a certain degree of professionalism from us: this episode contains just a touch of cursing. Not a big deal but I do not want to catch anyone off guard.
It’s also full of goof-ups, and mistakes that would otherwise never make it to your ears. So, family, enjoy the Naked Episode of The FightWorks Podcast!
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#130 BJJ No-Gi Mundials 2008
August 17, 2008
Black belt absolute division winner of the 2008 BJJ No Gi World Championships, Antonio Braga Neto.
Whoa what a show this time we have for you on this episode of the home of BJJ radio on the web, The FightWorks Podcast. It’s got so many parts I think it is better to put them in bullets!
- A recap of the winners of the 2008 BJJ No Gi Mundials
- Audio from a conversation we had with Saulo Ribeiro, who won the middle heavyweight division that day
- A time lapsed conversation with Alicia Anthony of AliciaPhotos.com. This will give you a glimpse into what it is like for folks like Alicia and I to cover an event like these BJJ World Championships over the course of the day!
- An installment of What Are You Working On?, where we get a BJJ black belt to answer one of your questions! This time we’ll talk competition anxiety with Jeff Glover just before he steps on the mat to fight for the gold medal against Cobrinha!
Finally, we will wind down the show with the announcement of the winner of the FightWorks Podcast Gi Patch Design Contest! The contest winner was Luke Chaya of BJJ-Asia.com, who put together the following design for us. Luke wins a couple of BJJ DVDs courtesy of OnTheMat.com, our eternal gratitude, and a gi patch! We have already ordered a batch of patches and will let you know as soon as we get them in case you would like one!
Luke’s winning design is shown here! THANK YOU LUKE!
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OFFICIAL 2008 BJJ NO-GI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
Brown/Black Adult Female
Super Feather - Leticia Ribeiro (Gracie Humaita)
Feather - Bianca Barreto (Gracie Barra)
Light - Michelle Nicolini (Brasa)
Medium Heavy - Ana Laura Cordeiro (Gracie Barra)
Heavy - Gabrielle Lemos Garcia (Xtreme Johnny)
Open Class - Ana Laura Cordeiro (Gracie Barra
Black Belt Adult Male
Rooster - Pablo Teixeira (Brazilian Fight)
Super Feather - Caio Terra (Cesar Gracie)
Feather - Bruno Frazatto (Check Mat Bjj)
Light - Rubens Charles (Alliance)
Middle - Daniel Moraes (Relson Gracie)
Medium Heavy - Saulo Ribeiro (Gracie Humaita)
Heavy - Roberto Alencar (Gracie Barra)
Super Heavy - Antonio Braga Neto (Ralph Gracie)
Ultra Heavy - Gabriel Vella (Alliance)
Open Class - Antonio Braga Neto (Ralph Gracie)
EXCERPT FROM CONVERSATION WITH JEFF GLOVER REGARDING PERFORMANCE ANXIETY IN JIU-JITSU COMPETITION
The FightWorks Podcast: Jeff you don’t seem very anxious before your [match for the gold medal against Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles]. Do you have nerves? What do you do to stay relaxed?
Jeff Glover: Yeah I am pretty nervous right now. I am usually nervous. I used to take acting classes and I learned how to cover it up very well with dramatic performances.
TFWP: You nailed it because you look very relaxed. I would almost think you’re acting right now.
Jeff Glover: I am pretty nervous. I am terrified, but this is what life’s all about dude. You gotta love these times. It’s like the yin and yang bro. Without these scared, fearful times, how can I appreciate the times when I am safe and happy? You can’t. I really take these moments of fear and try to soak them up and enjoy them, otherwise they’re going to eat me up and ruin my match.
TFWP: So it’s not like you pace back and forth, and get all anxious and jump up and down. You just sit here kind of half-asleep looking, but you’re really anxious.
Jeff Glover: Yeah, pretty much. Just eyeballing people, people-watching, thinking about the future, thinking about the match. All kinds of stuff goes through my head.
TFWP: Has it always been the same for you or was your anxiety worse in the past?
Jeff Glover: Like I said, I am very anxious. You wouldn’t be able to tell but I am one of the most anxious guys. I don’t let anyone see it but I have always been like that. I have always been very nervous before I compete. Even if it’s a match I am pretty sure I will win, I get nervous.
TFWP: Would you say you are a nervous guy in general or just before jiu-jitsu competition?
Jeff Glover: Maybe in general. I am that kind of person. I am a little guy, Caleb, you know? I used to get pushed around.
TFWP: Not a big guy like me.
Jeff Glover: No, not big like you, Caleb. (laughs)
TFWP: Okay so your recommendation there to the listeners for dealing with performance anxiety on the mats is what?
Jeff Glover: Just know that you are not the only one out here who is competing, and don’t flatter yourself and think that everyone is watching you because there is lots of other people out here doing their matches too. I think that’s one thing that gets people caught up. They’re like, “Oh, there’s people watching!” Yeah, like three people are going to be watching you. Everyone else is going to be watching their own people. Keep that in mind. Don’t flatter yourself. Nobody’s watching you. Stay positive. The other person’s going through the same [stuff] you are. Ummm… what else? Take Xanax. Just kidding!
#129 Tarsis Humphreys
August 10, 2008
Tarsis Humphreys in a match against Xande Ribeiro at the 2008 BJJ Mundials.
Alliance Brazilian jiu-jitsu is known for producing champions, ranging from Marcelo Garcia, to Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles, to Lucas Lepri and Chris Moriarty. This week on the show we will sit down with another stud from the Alliance team, Tarsis Humphreys.
Tarsis was in town from Sao Paulo, Brazil to prepare for this weekend’s 2008 No-Gi World BJJ Championships and he stopped by the academy where I train for an interview and a little training. (If you’d like to see footage of him in action at the academy, check out our BJJ Video page).
After some no gi rolling - which consisted of me getting beat up the way you’d expect when a medalist from the World Championships is your opponent - we sat down and recorded a conversation which includes the difference between training under Alliance’s Fabio Gurgel and Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti, a question that you provided via What Are You Working On?, and much more!
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EXCERPT FROM INTERVIEW
The FightWorks Podcast: Alliance has had a very good year this year. Alliance won the 2008 Pan-Ams, they won the 2008 BJJ World Championships. What do you think changed to put Alliance back in first place?
Tarsis Humphries: We are working hard for it. We have good guys that came from Terere’s team, like TT. That team is not around any more. And Terere talked to those guys to train with us, with Fabio in Alliance. So we have a lot of different kinds of jiu-jitsu and different games. So we can improve in the jiu-jitsu a lot. And we are working hard with Fabio in the Estadual tournaments (like the Paulista, the Brazilian…). We have a great union now, like a family, and everybody helps each other. This is good. This is amazing. And now we have these results of this year.
The FightWorks Podcast: What is the difference between training with Fabio Gurgel and Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti? What’s the difference in style?
Tarsis Humphries: Fabio Gurgel, in my opinion, is a specialist in passing guard. He’s heavy, he is so tight. And Jacare, when he is fighting, I think he is 67 kilos, so he plays more on bottom. He’s a little bit more soft but so technical. I think this is the difference.
The FightWorks Podcast: So now that you are in San Diego preparing for the 2008 No-gi Worlds, tell us about your visit here in San Diego? What has it been like for you?
Tarsis Humphries: San Diego is amazing. It is a beautiful place. And I have a lot of friends here, like Caleb, Fabio Santos, Rodrigo Medeiros, Morango from Alliance Martial Arts, Brandon Vera. And I come here and everybody takes care of me here, giving me good trainings, hard trainings, so I am happy that I am training good. Thank you to everybody who helped me to prepare for this tournament.
#128 Choked Out
August 3, 2008
Here we go again! It’s another episode of the home of Brazilian jiu-jitsu audio content on the web, and this time around we will sit down with our resident medical correspondent and UCSD Emergency Medicine Specialist Aaron Schneir M.D., aka Doc about what it means to be choked unconscious in Brazilian jiu-jitsu!
So in this episode of The FightWorks Podcast, Doc and I will answer some questions submitted by you, the Mighty 600,000. We’ll talk about things like:
- what’s really happening in your body when you get choked unconscious
- whether any permanent damage can result from BJJ chokes
- what to do when someone has just been choked out
Also, we’re going to hear the conclusion of a story we introduced in episode 127: Tadeu (shown in the second photo in this post), a brown belt from Rio who overcomes significant obstacles to train in BJJ competed in the International Masters and Seniors competition last weekend. We’ll hear about how Tadeu fared as well as a full introduction of our contributor in Rio, Colin Foster. (If you’d like to see video of Tadeu in competition, check out our BJJ Video section!)
At the end of our show this week, I’ve included in the audio file a segment from RadioLab with their permission on fighter pilots’ sensations when they lose consciousness in high-gravity situations. I think you’ll find that the sensations they have are very similar to what one feels when one gets choked out in BJJ!
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show
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