Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghost  This is for the likes of Tant01, Jubs, treehugger, jujujason etc.
1)First question is obvious, what is your style?
2)What got you into grappling in the first place and did you nearly end up taking something else instead?
3)Do you have a core set of techniques that are your favs and what are they?
4)Do you do any additional training outside of class and if so what? ie weights, running, any kind of functional training.
5)How do you feel about MMA, do you feel they have nailed their grappling game or do they look like they have some techniques and the rest is just fitness and raw power.
6)If you were to learn another system now, what would you choose? |
1) I do No-gi BJJ and Judo, started with a little bit of wrestling but never got too good at it. Going on to 2.5 years now for BJJ and almost a year with Judo.
2)When I was 13 my cousin and I were dabbling around with Martial Arts, mainly wingchun. Then he showed me a video of UFC 5 he recorded. Royce Gracie had a style that was different and unique and I definitely wanted to try it. On top of that supposedly "the ground neutralizes some weight and strength advantage" (think one of the announcers said that). They didn't have BJJ where I live since it's a fairly small town so I turned to wrestling. I did wrestling for 3 years before I ran into my friend. I saw him looking at BJJ books at Barnes and Noble and became friends with him. Turns out him and his friends trained and they were both blue belts.
Luckily for me, he was really technical and solidified my foundation in the basics.
3) Hmm I have a lot of favorite techniques and a lot of moves I go to. Just to name a few: Triangle (I got short legs but I seem to have a knack for securing it), Scissor sweep, armbar (in my opinion, this is the poster child move for jiujitsu, it's a perfect example of using your entire body weight against one limb), arm triangle series.
4) I run stadiums at my college's football stadium (FSU, go noles!) on the 2 days I don't have class. I do the BJJ and Judo classes back to back on MWF so I'm stuck there for 4 hours. That and Mike Brewer's pushup thing in the mornings.
5) I think some have definitely made a good transition from grappling to MMA. The grappling in MMA will be different since punching to the face is now a viable option to escape certain positions. I definitely think that some fighters need to work on their ground game though. I can't tell you how many times I watch a fighter on bottom halfguard just open his legs and let the guy pass.
6) If I were to learn another system right now it would be boxing. I LOVE boxing. If I weren't juggling school and Judo on top of my BJJ, I'd totally do boxing. It's amazing to me how boxers are so proficient with their hands and upper body in that they can dodge strikes flashing at them from a foot away.