Follows the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu program and its events at the Atlanta Martial Arts Center in Woodstock GA.
At;
http://atlantamartialartscenter.com/
Phone number is 770-926-3030
One of the themes that will separate Gracie Jiu-Jitsu from other forms of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu focuses more on the aspect of self-defense and being able to defend yourself on the street. This fits in perfectly with the programs here at the Atlanta martial arts center because the majority of what we do is to prepare you for a real world encounter.
If you look at martial arts as a whole, you will see that almost all arts share one or more of 4 basic ranges that they will focus on. Some systems will focus on one area or range of fighting more than others, but each range is in existence because they are a universal truth in combat, meaning that regardless of the art / system, they are a reality that cannot be denied or ignored. You will end up in one or all of them at some time while fighting.
Some examples of the 4 basic ranges are: Long Range Weapons, Kickboxing (striking) range, Pummeling (standing grappling) range and a ground fighting or grappling range. If your goal is to be a complete combat artist, you will want to do some training in each of the 4 basic ranges. This is generally referred to as cross training. Cross training will increase your ability to stay in your element if in a fight and will increase your ability to force your opponent out of his if he is not as well educated or trained in the different ranges.
This is one of the reasons for the choice of systems and the arrangement of the schedule at AMAC, to offer the opportunity for those interested in cross training to do so in an intelligent and safe way.
Last week in our Gracie Jiu-Jitsu class we were studying how to escape the site control position. This week we have been looking at methods to control someone if you have them in the site control position as well as methods of attack. Most of the basic attacks we look at inside control position are based on joint locking but you must also consider the possibility of striking in the beginning. Even though the fundamental class primarily looks at joint locking it is important to always consider where and when you can strike your opponent or where and when they can strike you. There are many variations in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that you can learn from the many positions, but once you start considering the possibility of striking it shortens the list of possibilities significantly. This mindset is important especially if you are training for self-defense and not competition.
You have four basic fundamental attacks on the arm inside control position. Two are based on a straight arm position and the other two are based on a bit arm position. One thing I always tell my students to consider is that the arm can only do two basic things and that is to contract or expand. Due to the nature of the joints of the arm they can contract or expand on many different planes but generally it will break down to just that, a straight arm or a bit arm. It is important to initially see the principles like this because it keeps it simple and simple is good if you are attempting to do a technique in a stressful situation.
This week in our Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program we are studying how to escape from the side control position. If you imagine that you are in a fight, you are on the ground on your back, and your opponent is laying on top of you chest to chest pinning you to the ground so you cannot move. This is the position that we will be taking a look at this week in class. We will be working on how to escape this position and after escaping regain a dominant position on the opponent in order to control the fight. There are many ways to escape this position what makes the techniques from Gracie Jiu-Jitsu above average is that they are based on leverage, body position and good body mechanics. Why is this important because if you can imagine the same scenario that I spoke about above and then imagine that the guy that is pinning you on the ground is 150 pounds heavier than you are and 20 years younger. With this in mind if your technique is based on muscle or strength you might have a problem dealing with this larger opponent. But if your technique is based on leverage and proper structure of the body it is possible to steal escape safely and regain control of your opponent.
This line of thought is also important if you are striving to be a lifetime martial artist. As you age you can become weaker and your athletic ability could slowly start to leave you. With this in mind if you're techniques are based on the former they will be leaving you as well. That is why it is important to base what you learn on proper structure and timing. Currently this mindset is not the standard in martial arts, most schools are based on using Sprint and explosive power to accomplish their goals. This is great if you plan to retire from your martial arts career around the age of 35 which is not uncommon in the sports-based world.
One of the programs we teach at the Atlanta martial arts center here in Woodstock Georgia is the combat submission wrestling program under Eric Paulson. CSW is one of our primary no-gi training programs. One of the great things about CSW event is specifically designed for fighting without a Gi. This is important because some programs that are designed to learn in a uniform that is just transferred over to a no-gi program will lack some of the controls and mechanics that are important in this type of training. The following is a video showing you some of the moves that are taught in combat submission wrestling.
