Bushido Notebook

E·go ˈēɡō/ noun a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. "a boost to my ego" self-esteem, self-importance, self-worth, self-respect, self-image, self-confidence "the defeat was a bruise to his ego" It's easy to say check it at the door, but like shrimping, it ain't easy. (“Shrimpin’ ain’t easy.”) Ego gets in the way of jiujiitsu in lots of ways.  One way is in feeling like you have to win, all the time.  When you are tapping someone out ego prevents you from developing weaker parts of your game because you are afraid to lose.  Ego also keeps your partners from developing their game because every roll becomes a competition and not training. Ego makes you want to defeat people you may not be able to due to size, skill level, age, or other factors.  You may mentally defeat yourself with negative feedback based on your own ego.  Ego can also make you feel like you deserve something you don't, such as belt promotion.  No one deser

The wait between promotions can be nerve wracking when you know you’re close, in that you’ve put in the hours on the mat, the time in your current rank, and feel as though you are performing and demonstrating competence on the mats.  It could be a week, a month or a year...you just don’t know.  It’s up to the subjectivity of your professor.  A lot of old school professors don't give any clue, rhyme, or reason for their promotions.  The student has no way of gauging if or when they will earn their belt.  This is terrible for all types of reasons, but also good in some ways. One of the terrible reasons is the anxiety that builds up in the student who wants to have objective targets and goals for improvement and reward. The good of it is that it teaches someone to let go of that expectation and to play Jiujitsu for the sake of playing Jiujitsu, living in the moment versus pursuing a goal for the future. It also forces the student to have faith in their professor that they will look

I'll say this up front: I am not a competitor. I practice jiujitsu for self-defense and for personal development. Leg attacks are not a big deal for me mainly because I don't compete. I rarely do them but I am as a brown belt in jiujitsu, only a one or two stripe white belt, so to speak, with leg attacks. I’ve started using straight ankle locks here and there, but I don’t dare to get into the game of knees just yet until I have learned to properly protect myself and protect my training partners. Dave has a very evolved leg methodology that I have to get some more perspective on, probably in private lessons. Inside, outside, high, and low. I’ll put some more notes to this, but it’s a hierarchy of what leg attacks have advantage of the other. Basically if the opponents spine is the center line, where your legs should be to protect yourself while attacking their legs, and what leg locks have tactical advantages over a potential counter leg attack...in other words

Kaizen is a Japanese word composed of two words “KAI” means change and “ZEN” means better. Put together it means change for the better or improvement. Kaizen is a quality management philosophy of making small improvements over time. It is the process of continuous improvement in small increments that make the process more efficient, effective, and controllable.  It is used in manufacturing by companies like Toyota in Japan.  I am adapting this concept to apply to jiujitsu.  Using continuous improvement practices through the course of a jiujitsu career you never stop improving on techniques.  Once you, for example, pass a belt test and move on to more challenging techniques and concepts you don’t just stop improving on the previous set.  The goal is to continuously improve on what you have already learned while continuing to take ownership of additional techniques and incorporating them into your own game, or style of jiujitsu play.  You improve and update techniques to work better f

The Path to the Black Belt I came into jiujitsu with the purpose of 1) learning self-defense and 2) getting a black belt to affirm my proficiency and so that I can certify my children's technique and award them with belts as they earn them.  The path isn't as simple as I thought it would be.  I thought I would have to learn techniques and at some point have to demonstrate those techniques to be awarded a belt.  When I first started I found out that time limits and promotions were subjective and completely up to your coach/instructor.  I didn't care for this approach.  There was no set curriculum or time limits.  It was very general.  Basically one should be submitting 90% of people at their current belt level before being considered for promotion.  That was about it.  If you "looked" like you were ready for a stripe, you got a stripe.  4 stripes and then when you "looked like" you were ready for the next belt it was handed to you.  Something lik

The Gracie Academy has been able to reach out and gain influence in the jiujitsu community effectively acquiring schools through a de-facto affiliation.  The attraction has been through marketing their teaching methods via Gracie University, using that as a tool to gain and retain students and to grow your school and profits.  The gateway is Gracie Combatives (GC).  I recently completely and passed the GC online test, scoring high enough to qualify to attend the instructor certification course held at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA.  Currently a brown belt with over ten years jiujitsu experience I found the program surprisingly challenging and effective as a tool for teaching good self-defense techniques and providing an organized baseline by which to engage and measure my progress.  The good, the bad and the..the "it's up to you": The Good: There is an organized curriculum with highly detailed instruction on the philosophy of the training ethos, the r