That picture was taken in Teresopolis, a suburb of Rio de janeiro, and several guys there are famous in the BJJ world, such as World Champions, Helio Soneca, Rafael Gordinho Correa and Alexandre Soca. Also, several other guys there are great friends of mine, such as Marcio Saddam and others. Good times……we were the terror back then… no ore comments 
It was great to be at the UFC for the second time and stay there for a couple of days before the event. It opened my eyes on how professional and organized these guys are. Everything is by the millimeter. They are super professional, give everyone lots of attention and all their staff is really cool. The difference between them and the other organizations is gigantic, with all due respect, it is on a completely different level. They will reign supreme for a long, long time….I can say that because I have experience with several other organizations.
Sapo showed the warrior from within as always and we will be back.
I think some Top BJJ athletes have a hard time transitioning to MMA because a lot of them have a great modern game. They are full of tricks and competition strategy, only looking for points and advantages, but don’t have solid foundations in basic Jiu-Jitsu. The basics aren’t something you graduate pass in order to learn better things, the basics are something you need to master.
The basic BJJ is self-defense oriented. All the moves have application for a real fight and that is what you will use 80% of the times in your fights.
If the fighter lacks on the solid basics, probably he will be in trouble.
The solution is a better understanding of the fundamentals of the art and face BJJ in a different way than the competition way. Competition is just one facet of our art, It is not everything.
I am just training with the Gi. It is way more technical, fun and intriguing. I love the Gi! The way to combat that: never stop train with the Gi. My transition from gi to no gi was easy for my mma fight..but my transition from no gi BACK to gi threw my timing off a little. It is amazing on how important the Gi training is for your overall game. How tighter you get, how precise…. your timing gets really sharp. My transition to the MMA game was always easy. No problem. But not the other way around….I am felling that right now! As I trained primerly in nogi the last 2 months, I lost a lot of my sharpness on my BJJ game. Amazing! My grip for instance is really weak and so is my timing. Now, I am just training with the Gi. It is way more technical, fun and intriguing. I love the Gi! The way to combat that: never stop train with the Gi.
Yes, I observe that and know why this happens: you fight the way you train. Because the striking on stand up is normally the weak spot of a BJJ guy, the fighter tends to train a lot in this aspect to be better and have technical progress on that. Nothing wrong with that since that is what me and several other BJJ guys do as well. The problem is that people think that they don’t need to train BJJ anymore because they are already good at it. This is the worst thing you can do. You will loose timing, pressure and confidence in your best weapon. So, as the fighter trained like crazy on striking, his instinct will be using that as his primary weapon during the fight.
I really think that you should NEVER stop training your best facet, in our case, BJJ. Use the other arts as a important complement of your overall game, but don’t try to change everything at the fight. It is like a soccer player who trains some basketball and at the game instead of soccer, plays Basketball. It does not make sense.
The IXFA, a successful MMA event in Louisiana sending multiple pro fighters up to the UFC has now set its sights on Houston Texas. They will be holding exciting fights EVERY 60 DAYS at the Verizon wireless theater. I don’t want to say anything yet..but there are some BIG NAMES (And I mean BIG names) from the Jiu-Jitsu world that will be fighting for this origination, so stay tuned for more information and make sure you guys come out and support this organization.
These guys do it big and go all out and have ALWAYS put together exciting shows. Scott Dawson, owner of this organization is a blue belt under me and truly respect the sport of MMA and is a FAN FIRST and is always puts together an amazing event. Start getting your tickets ASAP, I know Gracie Barra will come out in full force to show our support and to watch some amazing fights!!
When training for a competition, simulate the timing and the rules of the tournament you will compete in, but train extra rounds and a little extra time than the one in the competition. Before you face your opponent in the ring or cage,you will face another opponent..yourself. You have to get your cardio up and be prepared for adrenaline. Adrenaline consumes you and you have to be ready to go beyond. If I don’t have a fight or competition coming up, I focus on technique and strategy but When I do have a fight or competition coming up, I fight once a day at 100%. In addition to good training in the gym, its also good to have a good work out routine and a healthy diet. Food is the fuel for the body and you have to make sure you don’t go into a fight with your gas tank on empty.
Draculino student Rafael “Sapo” Natal (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) Will be fighting live on UFC Fight night September 15th starting at 8pm ET/PT (With Draculino cornering him) Followed by the premiere of the new season of Ultimate Fighter. Make sure you guys tune in.
Jim says:
September 10, 2010 at 10:02 am
Dear Draculino,
I am a Judo athlete from France for 23 years now (I started at the age of 8). So it was easy for me to enter the “cousin” BJJ two years ago.
Please allow me to agree but at the same time to disagree with all the respect I have for you and for all the BJJ masters in general.
BJJ is indeed the BEST martial art for women self-defence as usually the woman ends up with her leg around the waist of the attacker. (although a woman that started Judo at an early age could be no doubt an unassailable target as long as newaza is part of her training- for women that start training as adults I must admit that BJJ is no doubt better)
However…it is not only striking besides grappling.
From my experience no Martial-Art is enough for women self-defence (even for men).
Any school that offers self-defence and not just a martial-art should complement its lessons offered with at least an hour/month of showing the dirty technics…hit the groin, bite or even pull the hair! These technics are not belonging to any Martial-Art…are instictive movements that can come up during scare-times, and a woman should know at least how these instictive moves could become more effective.
We have this discussion a lot in my dojo (about self-defence and street fighting) also with our women co-athletes. Our conclusion here is that no martial art is 100% covering the self-defence issue. Only the combination of a very effective Martial-Art such as Judo or BJJ with the instictive moves can offer this. Out there some victims (men or women) did not had the time to ippon the attacker through a “Uki Goshi” on the concrete or perform a “Kimura” as a second attacker stomped them on the head…but they may had some seconds to run (or mili-seconds to duck) if they just go for putting a finger in the attacker’s eye.
I believe that this 1 hour per month could give that 5% that is missing from Judo and BJJ in self-defence.
Draculino:
Dear Jim,
Thanks for writing. There are good points on your analysis. I really think that dirty techniques could be effective in a fight and that sometimes its better to just evade your potential opponent. But the truth is, dirty techniques are not easy to apply and really does not work in all situations. I can tell you plenty of women I know who have tried to use these techniques unsuccessfully. One of my students who also works with me is a prime example. Colby’s mother was kidnapped when he was two by a man posing to be a police officer. She tried grabbing his genitals and squeezing as hard as she could and she said he just reached in his truck, grabbed his police flashlight and knocked her unconscious.
Thank God, she was able to escape later while they were driving when she woke up with her head in his lap with her hands tied. After saying a prayer asking God to let something stop them before he did what he had planned for her…she realized she could make the truck wreck and after saying “amen” she noticed either coincidentally or by divine intervention…the ropes on her hand had become loose. She reached up and yanked on the steering wheel causing him to let go over her to regain control of the vehicle and allow her to escape out of the moving vehicle. She had to go out of the window of a moving truck because he had removed the door handle on the inside.
Some times, getting in close combat with a man and trying striking or “Dirty Techniques” can get you in trouble. There is also no way to effectively train them in a live situation and know what your capable of and how your opponent will react so that you can train to counter appropriately. In Jiu-Jitsu you can train at 100% and you will know EXACTLY what your capable and have a great idea how your opponent will react. That is why solid training in BJJ (or even judo) and a notion of some dirty techniques is, as you say, the ideal way to train. I don’t like, however, some styles claiming that you don’t need training and that a couple of tricks are enough to make the person safe, that is just not true.
Thanks Jim for your insight and thank you Colby for letting me share that story.
Draculino
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is, without a doubt, the most efficient and relevant martial art style for women.
Women are, as nature made them, physically smaller and weaker than men. Most of the aggressions that a woman will suffer will be based on strength and size superiority.
Besides that fact, 90% of the aggressions will be based on sexual intentions, which means that the aggressor WILL get a hold of the victim and try to hold, put on the floor, maybe throw some strikes while on the ground, then rape, or kiss by force or even worse, choke the female to death.
Imagine now this scenario: Basically, strikes wont save the girl. There is no distance to throw an effective strike. The female will be facing basically a grappling and ground fighting scenario. That is why BJJ is, and will always be, the most effective system to offer women when you talk abut self-defense.
Analyzing footage and police reports, you notice that lots of the aggressions that occur are exhaustively trained at a BJJ school, such as but not limited to bear hug over and under the arms, rear bear hugs, front chokes, head locks, rape attempt between the women”s legs, strikes from the mount position, wrist grabs, hair pulling and etc. You don’t see a guy and a girl in a striking conflict. You see them locked.
That is why, there is no choice for the ladies: if you REALLY want to defend yourself, join a serious BJJ school, under a instructor who knows about the self-defense system immortalized by Grand Master Carlos and Helio Gracie.
A good example of a defense taught to a common attack where BJJ uses leverage to defeat an opponent with little strength being used.
Here is a submission you can use against an attacker from a position that a woman might find herself in when being attacked by a man.
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