Chris Moriarty is an Alliance black belt under Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti. As a brown belt, Moriarty won the heavyweight division of International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s World Championship two consecutive years, as well as the Pan-Ams.

With such a fearsome record, Moriarty is a veteran of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, having competed in one year as many as 16 times. He has been giving advice to listeners of The FightWorks Podcast going all the way back to 2006.

Today we are going to examine balance in BJJ. Not the ability to maintain one’s balance on the mats when sparring, training, or competing against an opponent, but making sure that we do not push ourselves too hard in jiu-jitsu so that we eventually neglect other important aspects of our lives. It may seem impossible. On The FightWorks Podcast we generally endorse the idea that one can never get enough Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, like anything, too much of a good thing can be bad. We explore this in BJJ with Chris Moriarty and discuss ways to make sure we keep balance in BJJ.

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Many assume flexibility is increased when you practice martial arts. I mean, don’t all martial arts people sit down in those machines that crank your legs wider and wider so you can kick better? (I kid.)

Flexibility in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a curious thing however. It certainly has a big effect on how one’s BJJ game develops. Lots of folks who favor playing on the bottom seem more inclined to be flexible, and use this in setting up some unique submissions. Ryan Hall’s early years in competition are a good example.

Similarly, some who are less flexible seem to favor the top passing game.

How about you? How flexible are you? We know that being able to touch one’s toes is not the ultimate measure of flexibility, but a simple indicator we can use in a poll to start the discussion. Let us know what you think in the poll and comments below!

Four and a half years ago, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu internet radio show called The FightWorks Podcast began. The show began as a project at FightWorks in Northern Virginia, and here we are at our 200th episode!

We celebrate this occasion with an interview from Royler Gracie, Helio Gracie’s fifth son and renowned competitor for Gracie Humaita. Royler has relocated to San Diego, California and when he is not travelling, he can be found at Gracie Competition Team where he sometimes teaches and sometimes just comes to train.

Thank you for the questions you sent in to us to our twitter page! In addition the questions you asked about competition, training, what’s going on at Gracie Humaita in Rio, we will also learn about his eventual promotion to red and black belt and much more.

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Students observe Royler showing guard tactics.

People get very emotional about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It is natural when you care about something so much. Anyone who has been to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament can attest to how passionate the crowd is. Everyone has someone they are rooting for out there on the mats. Even if you don’t know one of the competitors, maybe you want one or the other to win because it affects your team’s chances for success that day.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu referees are just like the rest of us: they have friends on multiple BJJ teams, and they likely have trained with someone who knows someone in the match they are watching over. But by definition a referee is supposed to be absolutely neutral in their work. They can show no preference to one BJJ competitor over the other.

What do you think? In your experience is the average BJJ referee biased or neutral? Don’t base your response on one bad experience!

Thanks to RG, one of the Mighty 600,000 for suggesting this week’s poll!

Alliance’s Fernando Soluco does not agree with the referee’s decision in his match against Gracie Humaita’s Rafael Lovato Jr at the 2009 BJJ World Championship.

Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes is one of Gracie Barra’s big names, having trained since 1985 alongside Carlos Gracie Junior and Renzo Gracie. After beginning judo as a youngster in Rio de Janeiro, he went on to take up surfing as many young men do. Through surfing he met Renzo and Ralph Gracie, and began training jiu-jitsu in 1985. Draculino originally intended to become a lawyer in adulthood but as we know now, he set that aside and concentrated on competing in jiu-jitsu and producing students who would become champions. Draculino has produced such talent as Romulo Barral, Albert Crane, and Samuel Braga.

In addition to telling us stories of the old days in Rio, Draculino introduces his brand new online BJJ training platform called Draculino BJJ Training.

Also in this episode we will discuss the unprecedented closure of last week’s BJJ poll, and introduce our newest poll.

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This one came to us from one of the Mighty 600,000 who called our toll free number 877-247-4662 and asked about what colors Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners are allowed to wear at their schools. He asked:

I visited other websites from other schools, and I noticed that some of them are traditional white gi schools only. I’d like to know how many schools are just that, where they only do the traditional white gi.

Let us know what it’s like at your school in the poll above, and feel free to leave a comment below!

Robin Gracie is the youngest of Helio Gracie’s sons, and the only one of them to settle in Europe. In this exchange we hear straight from Robin and his academy in Barcelona about the popularity of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Spain.

The FightWorks Podcast: How long have you lived in Spain?

Robin Gracie: I arrived in Spain in December 1997, a little over 12 years ago.

The FightWorks Podcast: When you left Brazil to live in Spain, did you know you would remain there for so long?

Robin Gracie: I did not know exactly what I would find here. The only thing I knew was that BJJ was little-known or unknown in Spain.

The FightWorks Podcast: You were one of the first to offer jiu-jitsu in Spain. What was it like in those early years?

Robin Gracie: There were only a few curious folks who surfed around the web, which was not as used back then as it is today, and there were martial arts magazines but there were no instructors. I was the only one. All of my students were of course white belts and did not have anyone to train hard with.

The FightWorks Podcast: How would you describe the Spanish who train jiu-jitsu? How are they similar to Brazilians and how are they different?

Robin Gracie: The truth is that there is a lot of diversity among them, from humble workers to famous businessmen. I believe something similar happens in the United States. In my gym there are many foreigners. I believe 30% or 40% are. In Europe it is very easy to get around by train, car or plan. You can be anywhere quickly. The Spanish, being Latinos, are as impulsive as the Brazilians but when it comes time to train are somewhat more explosive and they look for a faster pace, maybe because of the cold there is in the winter.

The FightWorks Podcast: How do you see the spread of jiu-jitsu in Spain today?

Robin Gracie: After all these years the BJJ community has grown and now there are gyms everywhere. The number of competitions has increased as well and people are looking for more information about our martial art all the time.

The FightWorks Podcast: Did you attend the 2010 IBJJF European Championship? What did you think?

Robin Gracie: Yes, it is always growing. It seems like every time there are more mats out and more competitors. The only bad thing in my opinion are the details in the rules that change every year and they confuse the coaches, fighters, and referees, who in the end make mistakes. I think they should not change the rules more than every five years to give everyone a chance to understand them before changing them.

The FightWorks Podcast: Your father, Helio Gracie, passed away in January of 2009. Do you have any favorite memories of your time with him?

Robin Gracie: Since I came to Spain I would only see him on my vacations in Brazil when I got the opportunity to visit him in his house in the mountains. I remember that even in his final years he liked to put on the gi and train. He did not speak or think about anything other than jiu-jitsu.

The FightWorks Podcast: What is your favorite thing about Spain?

Robin Gracie: Of all European countries, Spain is the warmest and also the one with the most beaches, where it rains and snows the least, and the people are friendliest. Perhaps it is the Brazil of Europe. That is why I like it.

The FightWorks Podcast: Thanks Robin! Gracias! Obrigado!

Robin Gracie: Thank you Caleb.

Our team was looking for a good local tournament to help build some momentum for the upcoming Pan Ams. We found the Ouano Invitational online at iCompete.org. This was a fledgling inaugural tournament put on by some of the guys from the BJJ Revolution Team so we thought it would be perfect for what we wanted.

As I signed up I noticed that the Masters division only had 4 weight classes which I thought to be clever since I am happier to have more people in a bracket with me than not. I did think to myself though how sorry I felt for those in the next class up from me that was 200lbs +. After enrolling I realized that the weigh ins for this event would be taking place the day before at one of two locations. This can sometimes be nice but for me it meant I had to go a little out of my way on a Friday night, while I was so solidly in the middle of my weight class that it would be hard for me to miss weight. My teammate also had to go weigh in for the over 200lbs when he is a very comfortable 260lbs. Alternatively we were presented with the option of weighing in at the tournament before 9am, but we were not scheduled to fight until after 2pm. We did weigh in the night before and all went well.

The day of the fight was a beautiful Saturday in Southern California. It was finally back up to a nice 75 degrees and sunny after a few weeks of gloom and rain. Yes this was a going to be a good day to fight. As we pulled up to the event everybody’s faces seem to reflect the same feelings.

While checking in the brackets were posted outside on the table. I noticed that they had further combined some brackets. They put the masters cruiser and heavy weights together. This meant that the weight class was now 180lbs +. I questioned this, not because I didn’t understand it was a smaller tournament, but because I was now in the same division as my 7’ 260lb teammate. I did offer to them that had I thought this would be the case I would have happily competed in the adults light heavy as I have done many other times. The organizers were very understanding and cool about the situation but couldn’t fit me in my normal weight class. They did offer me to fight in the Adults Super Heavy as a consolation as well as leaving me in the master’s bracket with my teammate, so I accepted.

As I wound my way into the building I could see that MT SAC had an older gym, but it was going to be plenty spacious for the event. In the center of the area were slightly older tattered looking wrestling mats with improvised tape to separate the fighting areas. I wasn’t sure about the surface but the space allotted for each match was generous and the coaches were provided seats at mat side for coaching their team.

There were fixed bleachers on either side of the gym so a good view was guaranteed to all. There was also plenty of seating for the spectators to keep comfortable, which suited my wife and kids nicely. I was also told after the fact that snacks were cheap and the BBQ was good too.

We had arrived just in time to see the black belts fighting, so I sat back and took in some good matches while I waited for the blue belts to be called down to the warm up area. I thought it was great seeing the purple, brown and black belts scheduled before the white belts, I still can’t figure out though why the blue belts would be last though. I know its just not the way its normally done, but it seems like giving deference to the higher ranks in order might be a great sign of respect.

We were scheduled to fight as blue belts at 2pm and were finally called down to the bull pen at about 3pm. 1 hour behind schedule though seemed pretty tolerable to me though given that it was the end of the day. Once called to the warm up area I only had to wait about 15 minutes or so until my first match so I was quite happy about that. I also found that the wrestling mats were pretty soft and was plenty happy to fight on them over the normal tatami mats or rubber puzzle mats despite the appearance.

The fights carried on in an efficient manner and the officiating was fair and accurate. I was sad to see that a couple people did get injured and there wasn’t much proper medical attention around to tend to them. In one instance a competitor turned out to be a fire department emergency medical technician and offered his services to get the guy set. Fortunately though nobody got hurt really bad so this was not too much of an issue.

Overall I was pretty pleased with tournament and if held again next year I will happily attend again. I would hope though that the event planners grow from this first time around and fine tune the weigh ins and weight classes a little better.

- Caleb

Back in episode number 193 of our show we introduced Alex Rosenstein, a graduate student in psychology who is working on his thesis. He is comparing personality traits among Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners and the general population. His research will help us understand how much BJJ helps us become better versions of ourselves. We all feel like BJJ makes us happier and healthier, but this investigation will quantify how much that is true (if at all!).

Rosenstein will stop collecting data at the end of this month, so please, if you have not already, please participate in his study by taking his online survey. It will only take about a half hour and you’ll be contributing to a better understanding of what Brazilian jiu-jitsu is!

Have you ever felt like you were not progressing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu? How often do you get the sensation that all the other jiu-jitsu students are getting better and you’re the same BJJ student you were a month ago? We recently received an email from Gary, one of the Mighty 600,000 along these lines, saying:

My question is about training frustration. I haven’t heard anyone address this topic on the show and was wondering if you or any one of your guests had any comments on training plateaus and the frustrations of training hard and sometimes feeling so good and accomplished and sometimes feeling as if I know nothing at all.

Today we start our weekly BJJ internet radio show with a conversation with Luis Pantoja on this very topic. Pantoja is a skilled jiu-jitsu black belt and a product of Yamasaki Jiu-Jitsu in Maryland, and gives us several valuable tips on how to get out of training slumps, and how to avoid getting in them in the first place.

Our feature interview is brought to us by FightWorks Podcast correspondent Christian Simamora, who speaks with Los Angeles-based Henry Akins. Akins is one of the few to receive a black belt from Rickson Gracie. Such a fortunate proximity to one of jiu-jitsu’s biggest names has given Akins a unique perspective on Brazilian jiu-jitsu today and how it has changed in the short time it has been in the United States. Akins reminds us that we can never forget the original reason for jiu-jitsu: self-defense. Of course, there are some very interesting Rickson anecdotes as well.

Luis Pantoja. Image courtesy Pantoja.

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