Proper Hygiene for BJJ

It's been a while since I posted something and this is a topic that comes up more often then it probably should.  One of the most frustrating issues that crops up from time to time in Jiu-Jitsu is something most don't want to openly talk about......HYGIENE!  I'm not really sure what our predisposition is for keeping hygiene such a taboo topic.  Maybe people prefer to avoid conflict and don't want to say, "hey man, I'm sorry but you smell really bad."  I know that I personally don't want to offend anyone but there comes a time when something needs to be said to our training partners regarding their hygiene when it is blatantly lacking.  Not saying anything can perpetuate bad habits that can cost others time off the mats and risk their health.  I feel that we are all responsible to say something if there is an obvious problem.

What most don't realize is that there are a lot of nasty things that are easily transmittable while grappling.  Ring worm and Staph are the two most common forms of skin infections that we encounter on the mats.  What few realize about Staph is this:

Staph is all around us.  It can be living on your skin and you can be carrying the bacteria yet never become infected.  Why?  Staph simply needs to find a way into your body.  This can be accomplished through a small cut.  Staph can be transmitted by touch.  This doesn't mean you are automatically infected.  As previously stated, the bacteria needs to find a way into your body.  That said, it is IMPERATIVE to shower after training.  The longer you carry Staph on your body the higher likelihood that you will either spread the bacteria or become infected.

How to prevent the spread of Staph and skin infections:

1. Always use clean gear (if it smells it's probably not clean).  Even if it's only "lightly" trained in it needs to be washed.  There are sprays and wipes that can be used to clean gear such as gloves, shin guards, etc.  See below in #3 for some of these products.

2. Don't show up to the gym dirty.  If you haven't had a shower in a reasonable amount of time or worked out already earlier in the day...take a shower!

3. Keep your nails trimmed.  This is pretty simple.  Nails can scratch and cause cuts fairly easily.

4. Wash your hands.  Our hands are usually the dirtiest body parts we have because we touch so many things.  So with that in mind, trimmed and clean nails are the best thing for your training partners.

5. If you have cuts cover them.  Like previously stated, bacteria can get into your body through cuts.  I typically use a bandage and athletic tape to keep things safe for me and my training partners.

6. After training, promptly shower.  There are many products to disinfect your body should you be concerned you have come in contact with Staph.  If you can't shower immediately AT LEAST wash your hands until you can shower or use anti-bacteria hand cleaner.

http://www.defensesoap.com/
http://fightsoap.bigcartel.com/

4. Make sure that your gym is cleaning the mats.  This is a no-brainer and one of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of skin infections.

Here is a picture of Ring Worm.

Ring Worm is fairly easy to identify and treat.  There are over the counter medicines that can be used to combat this issue.  Creams that contain clotrimazole (Cruex cream,  Desenex cream, Lotrimin cream, lotion and solution), and terbinafine (Lamisil cream and solution) are just a couple reliable methods.  You can find these at most CVS or Walgreens pharmacies.  Treatment usually takes up to two weeks to effectively remove Ring Worm.  If the problem persists.....SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!!

Lamisil is easy to find. Here is an example:

Here is a picture of Nail Fungus & Athlete's Foot.  Fortunately treatment is the same as Ring Worm.  

5. If you suspect you have a skin infection, do the right thing and stay off the mat.  Go see a doctor and identify the problem.  Staph infections usually start out as something that may resemble a boil, hot to the touch, and will continue to get larger until it is addressed with antibiotics.  Staph is NOT going to just disappear on its own and can get really out of hand if not addressed.  Here is a picture of Staph on a person's knee.  You can see the primary point of infection and the radiating heat/infection as it spreads through the leg.

God forbid you come in contact with MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphyloccus Aureus) a much more nasty version of the Staph you certainly need to take steps to get to a doctor.  This is a strain of Staph we read about in the news that literally eats you up in short order.  Many well known MMA fighters have had documented cases of MRSA.  Here is a picture of MMA fighter Kevin Randleman showing the damage caused by the more aggressive strain MRSA.

6. If you have indeed been diagnosed as having a skin infection like Staph or Ring Worm...let your instructor know.  Maybe someone isn't addressing the mat cleaning well enough.  Maybe something needs to be said to all the participants about hygiene.  Not saying anything may perpetuate a big problem.

Get the FUNK out of your Gi!

I think at some point everyone eventually has a funky (mildew) smelling gi no matter how strict you are about washing it.  I typically wash my gi's and hang dry them to prevent excessive shrinkage. Periodically bacteria builds up in the fabric and even though it's "clean" it will begin to smell as soon as I sweat in my gi during a training session.  I have tried MANY products to take the funk out. The best method I have found is washing the gi like normal and simply hang dry it out in the sun when all else fails. The UV rays work like magic zapping that funky smelling bacteria.  I don't do this all the time because excessive UV rays will break down the fabric.  The gi will be very dry and crispy feeling after line drying.  I will take the gi and throw it in the dryer, tumbling on low heat with a dryer sheet.  This will help soften the fibers up in the gi and make it soft enough to train in.

To summarize:
1. UV light (hang dry outside in sunlight)
2. Borax (cheap and in laundry section of stores; add to washing loads)
3. Baking soda (add to your washing machine loads)
4. Don't overuse detergents and liquid fabric softeners that aren't properly getting washed out of your gi
5. Don't throw your gi in a bag or wait an excessive amount of time to wash it

Get Thrown

It's been a long while since i posted anything.  Work has been hell in the month of July.

I ran across a really nice Judo HL today and with the upcoming Summer Olympics I thought it was appropriate to post it.  Judo is definitely a part of my game that is severely lacking and I've recently been developing more interest in this area due to a shifted focus on passing/top game in Jiu-Jitsu.   

Great Roger Gracie HL (with trips)

Jimmy Pedro (Trips for Tight Players)
I found this video to be really helpful as most people in BJJ get tight in the stand-up/clinch game.....I know I do!!!!  LOL

Interview with Caio Terra

I used to do some writing here and there for TXMMA.com and thought I'd post up an interview I did with Caio Terra last fall. 

September 26, 2011 - A native of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Caio originally began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2003 as a way to defend himself from being bullied at school. Although Caio himself was reluctant to train, he caved in to the pressure from his mother who was concerned about his situation. He quickly found a passion for the sport and became very committed to Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu. He first began training under Ricardo Vieira, Rodrigo Medeiros, Marcelo Ribeiro, and Felipe Costa. Eventually, Caio began training under Grandmaster Paulo Mauricio Strauch and Grandmaster Reyson Gracie. His ability to attend classes was poor at the time and he was only able to manage one class per day. By the time Caio received his promotion to blue-white belt, his motivation was unquestionable and he built a mat system at his house so that he could train multiple times per day. Caio received his black belt under Grandmaster Stauch and Gracie in 2006 after only 3 years of dedicated training. Being awarded a black belt in such a short time frame is very uncommon and an incredible achievement.

In 2007, Caio moved to the United States and today spends most of his time teaching at his school, the Institute of Martial Arts in San Jose, California.
Caio’s initial motivation to travel to the U.S. was to compete in the various large tournaments. His tournament record is incredibly impressive. Caio is a four-time Rio de Janeiro state champion, a       five-time Brazilian National Champion, and thirteen-time World Medalist, but he is also a   three-time International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Black Belt World No-Gi Champion, capturing the title in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Additionally, he was the IBJJF Black Belt World Champion in 2008 and finished in second place in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Caio continues to regularly compete and add more championship titles to his resume.

He has recently experienced multiple absolute division championships at IBJJF tournaments, which is impressive for an athlete that spends most of his time competing in the Rooster, or Galo weight class. For those unfamiliar with those classes, we are talking about a guy that stands between 5’6” and 5’7” and walks around at 133lbs on a normal day! I find that to be pretty incredible and inspirational to smaller grapplers who are regularly challenged dealing with larger opponents both in the gym and competitions.

Caio recently released a DVD titled 111 Half Guard Techniques. I purchased this DVD back in June and I believe that it is the most comprehensive half guard instructional on the market. The series consists of 3 disks that begin with a focus on the basic concept of playing the half guard game, working out of bad spots, and recovering the half guard. It moves on to cover intermediate through advanced level techniques.
One of the things that impressed me in this series is that nearly every technique provides an option to modify the original move based on the reaction from your opponent. Caio does an excellent job of explaining in detail so that there is a complete understanding of the mechanics of each movement. I found that many instructional videos show a move and do not explore other possible situations that may occur, so I was pleased to find that is not the case with this series. I own instructional DVD’s by other world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and they pale in comparison when it comes to the method of instruction they utilize. In my opinion, this DVD set is a gold mine that will keep most grapplers busy working through the material for many months.

I had the opportunity to interview Caio Terra and get the answers most BJJ enthusiasts want to know:

One-on-One Interview with Caio Terra by TXMMA’s by Matt Little

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us Caio. First, how old are you?

Caio: I am 25 years old.

What were the circumstances for you coming to the United States?

Caio: I wanted to compete at the 2007 World Championships. (TXMMA note: Caio Terra won silver at this tournament)

Afterwards, I was encouraged by family and friends to stay here to teach in America so I decided to stay. I’ve been here since then.)

Describe your style of BJJ.

Caio: I am patient. I wait for the right moment for whatever technique is needed at the moment.

Do you get nervous during competitions and do you game plan for opponents?

Caio: Yes, I still get nervous but I feel 100% that everyone is also nervous when they compete as well. I do not use any game plan. I’m confident in my abilities and take risks to force my opponent to react.

I know you spend a lot of time teaching at your gym and traveling for seminars all over the U.S. How do you find the time and motivation to prepare for tournaments?

Caio: It is very hard for me to prepare. I’m not a big fan of training terribly hard. With my busy schedule I only train Jiu-Jitsu. I put so much time into the mat and will usually train for two weeks before tournaments. I feel I can trust my technique to help carry me through to the end.

So do do you train at all outside of the mat?

Caio: No, I’m always drilling. No additional conditioning like lifting or cardio. I really feel that some people were born to be very strong and I am not one of those guys. So I just focus on technique through lots of drilling/mat time.

Tell me about how you deal with larger/stronger opponents in the Absolute division you’ve had so much success with.

Caio: In some regards, it’s easier going against bigger guys. Most of the bigger guys are way heavier and stronger. They feel like they have to push the pace and attack. That allows me to play more of a counterattack style, which I prefer. Also, by pushing pace sometimes forces them into making mistakes. When competing at my weight class I have to push the pace as they don’t risk themselves against me.

Earlier this year you were very outspoken about PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) and that you feel many competitors are using them. How widespread do you think this is? Has there been any backlash for those statements?

Caio: I feel that most of the finalists in big tournaments are using them. There was a good amount of backlash for my statements. I see no reason unless you are using them you know? It makes no sense.

Do you have a preference between GI or No-GI grappling?

Caio: I feel I like the gi most of the time. It really depends on what we’re training for. I guess it doesn’t matter. I enjoy both and whatever my friends want to train is usually fine with me.

It is pretty well known you have a strange diet (consumes large amounts of sweets/candy) and it was discussed a bit on your DVD, have you seen a doctor to figure out what is wrong with your diet?

Caio: Yes I did actually. I found out that I am hypoglycemic! I had to make some changes to my diet to help me recover from training. At least I can understand now what is going on but it’s still difficult. I don’t over train as much now.

So ADCC is right around the corner in London. I was shocked and disappointed that you were not on the competitor list having recently won the 2009 & 2010 World Nogi Championships (IBJJF). Why is that?

Caio: I felt like it was ridiculous. I had been battling some injuries and always said I would have to play it by ear. I never received an invitation to compete at ADCC. Guys like Rafael Mendes need competition. They keep inviting the same guys every year. I have never competed against some of these guys like Mendes and Cobrinha and would like to while they are still in their prime.

 

 

 

 

 

With that said, who are your picks to win in each respective division?

Caio’s ADCC 2011 Predictions

Under 65.9kg► Rafael Mendes or Cobrinha

Under 76.9kg► Marcelo Garcia

Under 87.9kg► Andre Galvao

Under 98.9kg► Roger Gracie if he competes, otherwise Rodolfo Viera.

+99kg► Vinny Magalhaes or Fabricio Werdum

Under 60kg (women)► No comment

Over 60kg (women)► Hannette Staack

Who are your favorite grapplers to watch?

Caio: I really like to watch my teammates compete because I have an emotional attachment to those matches.

Who are your favorite MMA fighters to watch?

Caio: Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez…all Gracie Fighters of course!

With the success of your Half Guard DVD series, do you have plans to release any future DVD’s?

Caio: I can’t talk about any specifics now but I do have plans and it will be out sooner than most would expect.

(Note:  The future he plans he was hinting at was his relationship with Black Belt Mobile and the release of his new DVD: Modern Jiu-Jitsu)

Do you have any plans to visit Texas for a seminar?

Caio: I was supposed to come out for a seminar a while back but plans fell through. I’d love to come visit Texas but waiting for an invite.

With that, we conclude our conversation with Caio Terra. We look forward to seeing what the future has in store for him as he is definitely a world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and has a lot to offer the grappling community with his technical ability and instruction in addition to what how he’s able to perform in competition. Please visit his website for information on booking private lessons and seminars, and of course to purchase his instructional DVD’s , including his most recent 3-disc release, 111 Half Guard Techniques.

Post Worlds 2012 Hangover

As if we didn't get enough of Worlds (assuming you watched the live stream) Budovideos has released a couple more matches worth watching.  For those of you that didn't watch the stream these are two matches that you don't want to miss.  Xande Ribeiro has had a bit of a resurgence over the last few months.  His win against Andre Galvao at the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials was a BIG ONE.  Although he didn't win in Abu Dhabi it definitely put everyone on notice that Xande is back.
Xande vs Tussa (Worlds 2012)

Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida has been an absolute killer since receiving his black belt.  Last year at the Nogi Worlds he dispatched of most opponents quickly by submission.  Going into the Worlds 2012 Absolute final he was considered the heavy favorite but many were proclaiming Leo Nogueira of Alliance would give him a great match.

Caio Terra vs Brandon Mullins (Worlds 2012 Quarterfinal)

Caio Terra vs Bruno Malficine (Worlds 2012, Final)

Cobrinha vs Rafa Mendes (Worlds 2012, Final)

Berimbolos, Inverted Stuff, Blah Blah Blah!!!

In case you have been living under a rock, Berimbolo, Reverse De La Riva, basically anything inverted seems to have been the rage over the last year and currently in BJJ competitions.  BJJ is a constantly evolving sport and while some of these movements aren't necessarily new, the competition is also evolving and picking up these techniques.  The ability to find the techniques on YouTube and various DVDs is always growing so it's hard to not find it.  That said you are silly to not want to learn this so at the VERY LEAST you can recognize it and even better....avoid or defend against it.  I wouldn't say I'm building my game around it but since a large part of my game revolves around the 1/2 guard I think it's imperative to know how to attack from multiple angles and situations.  A lot of people I roll against will stand up in a combat base or simply stand up to try and open my 1/2 guard.  I have found that the "Terra Guard" or "Spiral Guard sweep" are very good options to counter this.

I have not spent much time working the Berimbolo and find a lot of variations on Youtube.  Unfortunately one of the best practitioners of this move, Rafael Mendes, has not made a good instructional of this.  I imagine he will at some point down the road.  Funny thing is he has been using this move for a while now.  I ran across some competition footage of him using it back in 2005.  Anywho, here is Rafa showing a version of Berimbolo that he has a lot of success with.



The last couple weeks we've been working some De La Riva options (not Berimbolo) and wanted to park this here as it's very similar to what JD's been showing us.  The only difference here is the opponent isn't nearly as broken down, you can't reach across, grab their back and roll them.  Rafa shows to break them down and expose their back which is a little different.

Not wanting to be completely defenseless in this position I found a nice Berimbolo counter that I'm going to start working into my training.  This works well on the ground once your opponent initiates the Berimbolo sweep.

This is an effective counter if your opponent is deep into the Berimbolo sweeping position while you are standing.

BJJ World Championships and GUNS are FUN!!!

Oh  man I'm so frustrated not watching this tournament (World Championship 2012).  I have watched this along with all major IBJJF (pay per views) for the last 3 years.  Instead, we took the kids out shooting with my brother and dad (avid gun hobbyists).  Because of that I missed sitting in front of this iMac ALL DAY long watching the first major day of black belt competition.  At this point I'm not going to bother ordering only to watch the finals on Sunday.  As much as I love BJJ I can't drop $20 for Sundays matches especially when I have to work from home.  There's no way I'd either get any work done or watch the matches with the level of concentration required.  Now it's Sunday morning. I managed to wake up early and knock out a ton of work...still working.  Budovideos (fortunately) is offering the finals today for only $10 which is really fair.

I've attached some videos from shooting today with the kids.  None of them had ever really fired a weapon before.  Caitlin was very intimidated by ALL of the guns.  The boys really enjoyed it.  By the end of the day we managed to get Caitlin to fire an old WWII water cooled machine gun a few times and my brothers M4 (full auto).  See the vids below.  All in all, I can't complain about missing the Worlds.  We had a great time as a family and had some excellent bonding time!

Seth shooting the M1917 Browning machine gun (Water Cooled makes it extra COOL)

Lindsey & the M4....I will add that she is a WAAAAAYYYYY better shot than me.  LOL

Seth with shotgun (plenty of time explaining how to hold this thing LOL)

Me with shotgun

Josh & the .50 cal....this thing puts BIG HOLES in stuff (Caitlin doing video...LOL)

Caitlin FINALLY shoots the M4 at the end of the day!!!

Caitlin & the M4 (different angle)

Dad blasting like a PRO!!!  (Caitlin recording video)

Not to be completely outdone....Budovideos was kind enough to post the Buchecha/Rodolfo Vieira absolute match from Saturday.  :)

Xande Ribeiro vs Roberto Alencar

Deadmau5 melts my brain

I've been a fan of techno, electronica, house, trance, whatever you would like to call it since raves in the early to mid-90's.  I've done an okay job of keeping up with the changes over the years and can honestly say that right now seems to find this genre of music at an all time peak.  I don't ever remember music being this good.  Five years ago Tiesto seemed like the best thing out there (for me at least).  In the last couple of years Deadmau5 and Skrillex have come into my music consciousness.  I feel like these guys have really changed the way people are making music and raised the bar really high.  There are lots of DJ's out there making wonderful remixes of stuff but (IMO) few that make really good ORIGINAL music.  You might say Skrillex is remixing with his samples but I would disagree for the most part.  Anywho, the other night Lindsey asks me if I've seen this Deadmau5 London show from last fall.  I had not seen it or even heard about it.  I don't care if you like this genre of music or not, either way watch this video.  Skip to the 14:00 minute mark if you don't care for the music to see some RIDICULOUS 4D.  Take note that Deadmau5 is spinning at the very bottom of the building to give a little perspective of what you are looking at.  There are many versions of this video floating around.  This particular video has been edited but you get the idea what this may have been like seeing it live.

Here is a really good example of a Skrillex remix and taking it to the next level.  The first video is an original piece by Benny Benassi....which is okay.  I don't dislike it but if you listen to this....then listen to the Skrillex remix of it and you'll see that he CRUSHED the original.

Now give the Skrillex version a listen and see what you think.

If you're still with me and not necessarily a fan or familiar with his work check out an original piece in this video.

Oddly enough Skrillex strikes an incredible resemblance to Corey Feldman.  LOL