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Music for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Songs for Submissions

April 7, 2013 by Jeff Chan

BJJ music

A slice of the vinyl collection at Jiu-Jitsu Vortex HQ

On my second run through Metamoris Pro I thought it’d be funny to take a mezcal shot every time Rener said “interesting”. I woke up at the hospital. Next try, I hit the mute button and played Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew album. This is a brilliant piece of music. Proto-fusion jazz isn’t what most would associate with BJJ, but the way the layers of sound overlap and interact is a perfect complement to the improvisational ebb and flow of an exciting Brazilian jiu-jitsu match.

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Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza MMA Career Spotlight

March 11, 2013 by The Jiu-Jitsu Vortex

Jacare, the alligator of Brazilian jiu-jitsu

An alligator, the namesake of Jacare Souza, on the prowl. Photo courtesy of Steven Beger Photography (Beger.com)

An overview of the MMA career of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza dos Santos, one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters in mixed martial arts. Hailing from the jungles of Manaus, Brazil (also the home of BJJ legend Wallid Ismael), Jacare is a jiu-jitsu black belt, judo black belt, and multiple-time World BJJ and ADCC champion. He’s also one of the few to defeat Roger Gracie in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition (Jacare vs. Roger Gracie match from the 2004 Mundial). At the time of writing (March 10, 2013), Jacare’s MMA record is 17 wins (13 submissions, one KO), three losses (two by KO), and one no-contest.

I’m a big fan of picking an MMA fighter and watching their evolution by tracking down all of their fights and watching them in sequence. A few months back The Jiu-Jitsu Vortex published an overview of Demian Maia’s MMA career up to his brutal “twin blood jets” neck crank victory over Rick Story on October 13, 2012. This time Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza gets the treatment.

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Posted in BJJ Techniques, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) | 1 Comment »

Dangers of Tribalism in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Martial Arts, and Life in General

February 3, 2013 by Jeff Chan

Problems with tribalism in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and society

Tribalism = the behaviour influenced by strong loyalty to a tribe.

Early on New Years Day 2013, two high-profile competitors from the Lloyd Irvin Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team – Matthew Maldonado and Nicholas Shultz – raped a drunk teammate in a Washington D.C. parking lot. The assault was captured on video and hit the BJJ world like a firestorm. About a week later, another story resurfaced: a gang rape case from 1989 involving a Lloyd E. Irvin Jr. Things got ugly. A debate sprung up about whether a “rape culture” exists in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Tribalism reared its (sometimes) nasty head in a localized exhibition of a species-wide phenomenon.

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Posted in Martial Arts / Jiu-Jitsu Philosophy, Martial Arts, Combat Sports & Society, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Strategy: Frustrate and Annoy

December 14, 2012 by The Jiu-Jitsu Vortex

BJJ strategy frustrate and annoy

Frustrate and Annoy – The official BJJ strategy of The Jiu-Jitsu Vortex. With an obvious nod to Craig Stecyk and Thrasher skateboard magazine.

What did Helio Gracie and Vince Lombardi have in common? Brazilian jiu-jitsu strategy is a hot topic and recent events like the Gracie Worlds and the Metamoris Pro have added fire to the debate by pitting the traditional “submission is the only victory” BJJ against more competition-friendly strategies. All of the talk got me thinking about my own approach to rolling and what the strengths and weaknesses are.
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Posted in BJJ Techniques, Martial Arts / Jiu-Jitsu Philosophy, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Big John McCarthy Weighs in on Fred Ettish at UFC 2

November 29, 2012 by Jeff Chan

Phoenix, Fred Ettish, UFC 2

Like Fred Ettish, the Phoenix rises from the ashes. Image from Aberdeen Bestiary is in the public domain.

If you’ve been an MMA fan for any length of time there’s about a 97% chance that you’ve made fun of Fred Ettish. I did. His fight against Johnny Rhodes is the stuff of legends, and not for the right reasons. But there’s way more to Fred Ettish than what happened at UFC 2 in 1994. He’s tougher than you are.
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Posted in Martial Arts / Jiu-jitsu History, Martial Arts, Combat Sports & Society, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Why and How To Keep a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Notebook

November 18, 2012 by Jeff Chan

Brazilian jiu-jitsu notebooks

Jeff gets arty: Brazilian jiu-jitsu still life with gym bag, notebooks, and gi.

A technique notebook is one of the most powerful Brazilian jiu-jitsu training aids. I’ve been keeping one on and off since my first judo class and have found that my rate of progression is directly proportional to my diligence with updating my BJJ notebook. Jiu-jitsu isn’t something that’s easy to describe using words alone and a couple of people at my gym have asked to see my notes, so I figured I’d put together an article explaining why and how I do it.

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Posted in BJJ Techniques, Judo Techniques, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Crippling Jiu-Jitsu: A Leglock Article Roundup

November 7, 2012 by Jeff Chan

On November 4, 2012, my Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, Adam Ryan, took gold in the senior 2 black belt category of the IBJJF 2012 World No-Gi Championships, submitting his opponent with a pretty brutal ankle lock. The Dynamic MMA team were all pretty excited to watch this, and in honour of Adam’s leglock finish, I figured I’d put together a quick compilation of leglock-related articles that I’ve written over the years. These articles were published in different places under different sets of publication guidelines, so there’s some repetition, but they give a good overview. The flow is: introduction, examples of leglocks in action, learning resources, and dealing with knee or ankle injuries.

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Posted in BJJ Techniques, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Nutrition/Wellness, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

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