I believe that every girl should have some basic self defense training. Yes, defeating a larger, stronger, male aggressor is a high bar to clear for a smaller girl, but it's not impossible - I've seen lots of trained women choke out bigger guys on the mat. The key word here is 'trained'. As in having spent many hours on the mat training, drilling and sparring. Now there are lots of self … [Read more...]
Claustrophobia
Dealing with Doubt and Fear in the Martial Arts with Ando Mierzwa
I'm thrilled to have Ando Mierzwa back on the podcast in episode 165 to discuss dealing with doubt and fear in the martial arts, overcoming claustrophobia, whether martial arts lessons can be life lessons, training differently based on your age, fitness, and goals, and much more! To listen to this episode (number 165 of The Strenuous Life Podcast) you can subscribe on the podcast player that … [Read more...]
Grappling with Claustrophobia in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu
This article grew out of an email conversation I had with a reader of the Grapplearts newsletter about his problems with claustrophobia while grappling (read about the initial conversation here). How could he possibly control this awful feeling? At first I suggested various structural or technical solutions to avoid getting crushed on the bottom, for example: breathing when you are on the … [Read more...]
Grapplearts Radio Podcast Episode 039: BJJ, Adversity, and Stopping Your Mind From Going Blank
I've just released the latest episode of the Grapplearts Radio Podcast! In this episode I'm flying solo and addressing two main topics... How and why BJJ training helps prepare you for ANY adversity that you might encounter in life, and What to do when your mind goes completely blank when you're sparring, rolling or competing. This podcast episode, along with all my others, … [Read more...]
What To Do When Your Mind Goes Blank While Sparring or Competing
Lots of grapplers run into the problem of their mind going blank when they're sparring or competing. In a class setting they might be able to bang out repetitions of techniques, demonstrate combos, and flow with the go like nobody's business, but as soon as they hit the mats to actually roll, well, all of a sudden they have absolutely no idea about what they should be doing. This can be an … [Read more...]
BJJ Self Defense Part 1: Proximity, Panic and Claustrophobia
This might be a bit controversial but BJJ IS A MARTIAL ART! That means it's a fighting method, used for stopping (and possibly hurting) people who are intent on doing you serious harm. Sure, it's also a fantastic sport, a fitness method, and a way to challenge yourself. I enjoy it for all those aspects too. But being able to take care of business in the street comes first. … [Read more...]
Top Articles on Grapplearts: Number 1 of 10
Obviously I've been building up content on Grapplearts for quite some time now. Nevertheless I was recently surprised to see that there are now more than 500 articles, tips and blog posts on here now! Not all of them are by me - some are articles by guest authors - but that's still a heck of a lot of content! … [Read more...]
Podcast EP7: Sarah Kaufman, Top Female MMA Fighter, Reveals All!
Sarah Kaufman is one of the top fighters in women's MMA. And she is officially amazing! Here's an in-depth interview and podcast with Sarah. I grilled her pretty hard (I hate interviews where you don't actually learn anything about the fighter or about the way they train). But the information she gave out went way, way beyond what I was expecting. She revealed: • how a top level … [Read more...]
More on Self Defense, MMA and the UFC
I've received lots of email recently, so today I thought I'd dip into the mailbag and share a few emails. I've also quickly jotted down some quick comments, and some links to a few relevant articles. … [Read more...]
Successfully Dealing with Claustrophobia in Grappling
Once upon a time I had an MRI. For those of you who've never had this diagnostic procedure, you start by lying down on a narrow board. Then they slide you into a narrow hole within a gigantic donut-shaped machine. … [Read more...]
Keeping the Will to Fight
As is so often the case, Mark Twain said it best: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." This applies to dogs, grapplers, MMA fighters and jiu-jitsu players alike. … [Read more...]
Combatting Claustrophobia
At first I thought that this particular question was going to be simple. Someone, let's call him 'Bob', wrote me about extreme claustrophobia when trapped in a bad position: "I am hoping that you can help me with problems of extreme claustrophobia while grappling. … [Read more...]
One Simple Tip for Surviving the Smother
There's nothing worse than tapping out to a smother. It is one thing to get caught in a nice technical choke and having to tap out, but it really sucks to get slowly smothered as someone covers your nose and mouth with some part of their body. … [Read more...]