Jiu-Jitsu is very much about how bad you want it. You have to resolve to stick with it through the inevitable ups and downs—the injuries, frustrations, and disappointments. It really is true that a black belt is just a white belt who never quit. Read more »
Guard Focus Update
I wrote in a July article that I planned to focus exclusively on my open guard for the next six weeks. Six weeks and more than 12 classes later and I have made only incremental progress. Read more »
Blackbelt: The Jiu-Jitsu Goal?
In the back of just about every new student’s mind is the desire to become a black belt—to finally “arrive” and know it all. In some martial arts, such as Tae Kwon Do for instance, a black belt can be achieved in a single year of practicing 3-4 times a week. Jiu-Jitsu is quite different. A black belt can easily take a student 10-12 years of training 3 days a week and even then the black belt is more a sign of progress than an arrival. But after black belt what’s next? Read more »