1st Dubai Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Festival (27th of may 2010)

Gentlemen who participated in the event last thrusday in the Art of Power Academy (27/05/2010),

Last thrusday I went home very happy because nobody have got injured and I saw a lot of heart from you in those fights. It means that all of you were commited to it but at the same time were very responsable with your own physical integrity. That's the way it was supposed to be. So congratulations to all of you that participated and made that night so amazing and enjoyable.
Keep always our 3 basic VALUES in mind: EXCELLENCE, FRIENDSHIP AND RESPECT.
Bellow you will see the results (academy and individually).
I see you all at the next event at Wolrd Black Belt Center Academy for our 2nd Dubai Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Festival (thrusday - 24th of june 2010). Don't forget to put it on your calendary.
A special CONGRATULATION to the 1st Dubai Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Festival individual WINNERS. And to the Art of Power Academy, that is the officially Academy of the month.
Don't forget: "Rise and rise again...until lambs becomes lyons...".
Bests,

Eduardo Alexandre Machado
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Head Teacher
Black Belt 2nd Degree (International Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Federation - IBJJF)
http://www.ibjjf.org
http://www.cbjj.com.br


The Official result of the 1st Dubai Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Festival (May) is:

Academy Winner = Art of Power Academy

The individuals performance were:


WHITE BELT CATEGORY
JUVENIL - PLUMA (59KG) 1ST PLACE = Khalid Al Banna
JUVENIL - LEVE (69KG) 1ST PLACE = Abdalrhman Kharbash
JUVENIL - SUPER PESADO (84,3KG) 1ST PLACE = Mohammed Jassime
ADULTO - GALO (57,5KG) 1ST PLACE = Abdullah Al Wari
ADULTO - PENA (70KG) 1ST PLACE = Arshad Khan
ADULTO - LEVE (76KG) 1ST PLACE = Zaid Al Tawil, 2ND PLACE = Aziz Hmeid
ADULTO - MEDIO (82,3KG) 1ST PLACE = Islam Batrawy, 2ND PLACE = Warren Handsome
MASTER - LEVE (76KG) 1ST PLACE = Aziz Hmeid
BLUE BELT CATEGORY
ADULTO - MEDIO (82,3KG) 1ST PLACE = Hattem Mattar
ADULTO - MEIO PESADO (88,3KG) 1ST PLACE = Abdeslan Berkane
ADULTO - PESADO (94,3KG) Zaid Lafi
ADULTO - SUPER PESADO (100,5KG) 1ST PLACE = Tarek Zohny
PURPLE BELT CATEGORY
ADULTO - PESADISSIMO (ACIMA DE 100,5KG) 1ST PLACE = Amin Touati
ABSOLUTO - SEM LIMITE DE PESO 1ST PLACE = Amin Touati

Self Delusion, Hard Choices and Congratulations.

Today I want to congratulate you on choosing a very challenging path.

You see, when I was introduced to BJJ in the early 1990's, I thought that this art would NEVER become popular. In fact, I was fairly certain that it was doomed to obscurity.

The main reason for this, I felt, was that BJJ was inherently too much of a reality check for students.

It might have been a bit cynical of me, but it seemed that the vast majority of people would always prefer 'hands-off' and/or traditional and/or non-contact martial arts.

Basically I believed that people would choose martial arts where their fantasies about their own deadliness WOULDN'T be challenged. (And if you never road test your martial art skills against a resisting opponent then you can delude yourself about your own effectiveness for a very long time).

Even non-contact sparring allows a lot of room for self delusion. In fact, point sparring usually reminds me of those Cowboy and Indians games we all used to play as kids. Remember how they always went?

"I got you!"

"No you didn't, I got you first!!"

No! I got you before you got me!!!"

And so on...

Sometimes the self delusion (and willfully misleading others) got really bad.

For example, as a teenager I ran into several Kung Fu teachers who never, ever sparred. When I asked their students why this was, they'd tell me in hushed voices that their instructor was so deadly that they'd likely end up crippled or dead if they actually sparred against him.

I even heard of one guy claiming to have such a highly developed Iron Palm technique that he couldn't hold babies with his striking hand. This was because his internal energy in that hand was so focused and strong that just holding a child would hurt them.

How very wise and compassionate these teachers were to avoid hurting lesser beings...

...and full of cr...!

Now I've got to admit it: I was young and some of this mumbo-jumbo was appealing to me at first. I didn't know exactly what to think.

This whole 'too deadly to spar' excuse, always seemed somewhat suspicious to me though. If their Kung Fu was so highly developed, then shouldn't they also have sufficient control of their immense skills to NOT cripple their students?

In the current climate of MMA-madness this might all seem strange and far-fetched, but beliefs like this were pretty common not that long ago. And I'll bet that it wouldn't be too hard to find people who still think this way today!

Maybe it's because the Iron Palm Death Touch doesn't have a very strong track record in the UFC, but people are beginning to see these 'too deadly to spar' fantasies for what they are. (And also that Santa Claus and Easter Bunny don't exist).

So perceptions are changing.

And I was wrong when I thought that BJJ and grappling would never become popular. It's exploding in popularity, and that's a good thing.

BJJ has a very short feedback loop that allows you to quickly find out what works and what doesn't. If you see a new technique today then you can try it out on someone tomorrow. If someone claims to have an unstoppable armbar, then he can prove it to everyone in tournament competition.

For many students the brutally honest and instant feedback from a sparring session is the BEST part of BJJ, and NOT a deterrent.

It's true that sometimes this process can be hard on the ego, but it can also be very exciting and confidence building.

So you've taken the harder road, where feedback is instant, self-delusion is difficult, and the learning process is never done.

Good for you! I think you've made the right choice.


Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting

About trainning "competition"

Friendly rivalries on the mat often turbocharge your grappling progress.

Recently I was corresponding with a BJJ player who kept on getting caught in the same leglock by a fellow student with a Sambo background. I shared a few counters to the leglock with him. He was stoked: "I'm going to try this on the Sambo guy the next time we roll" he said.

"No no no!" says I. "Don't try it on your sambo guy first; try it with another training partner first. Talk him through the attack and refine your defenses a bit. THEN try it on the sambo guy"

If you spar with someone regularly (assuming you are both roughly the same level), then you'll inevitably be on the lookout for techniques and tactics you can use against that one specific person.

This is a natural process - after all, your opponent is doing the exact same thing to get a leg up on you - so it ends up creating an 'arms race' on the grappling mat.

(I've previously written about this in some detail - check out the links below for the whole story about the upside of arms races.)

So let's say that you have a friendly rivalry, and that you come across a move that would be great to use on your nemesis.

"This would be a GREAT way to tap him out," you think.

Of course the temptation is use the move on your 'enemy' right away. But no matter how perfect this technique is, the odds are that it's not going to work the first time you try it.

Even worse, by trying it prematurely (and failing) you've just given your opponent a heads up about this new trick of yours, and he'll start formulating his counter strategy right away.

You don't want to waste your perfect move with less than perfect execution.

So here's the hard part: when you come across one of these solid gold moves, try NOT using it on your opponent right away. Instead spend a few training sessions trying it out on lighter and less experienced grapplers, refining the timing of the move and working out any kinks in the technique.

Then, once you're satisfied that the move works on 'lesser' grapplers, unleash it on your rival. Once you've savored the sweet satisfaction of success get up and do your little happy dance!

So if you really want to have your special technique work on someone, then take some time to hone your skills and sharpen your blade in secret. You don't want to bring a knife to a knife-fight: bring a gun instead!

But don't be a jerk about the whole thing either! And after you've successfully used the move a few times, I want you to show your rival exactly what you're doing, and even give him advice on what he can do to counter you. This way the circle of technical development will keep going around.

The technical level of your sparring partners will increase, and this can only help you in the long run. A rising tide lifts all boats!

Have fun with this idea.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com