Monday, April 29, 2013

US Grappling - VA Beach

It's time for another USG Tournament! Back to VA Beach this time and I'll only be doing two divisions since I'll be reffing all day.

Get pre-registered now and come out!! It's a great time and a great tournament for everyone!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Should I be Strength Training?

The question of strength training comes up pretty regularly on the various BJJ forums around the internet and opinions are usually mixed. I think I can help clear up some of the confusion around when strength training will benefit you and when it won't.

You Should Strength Train When:
1. You are competing at the top level of your sport where every tiny edge is required to defeat people who are of equally immense skill. This applies to pretty much no one who reads my articles, and pretty much no one who is posting this question. If you are competing at the highest level then you know what you need to do to win.
2. Doing so will not take time away from your skills training. If you have the option of strength training OR going to class, you should always go to class. A lot of people who ask this question DO have free time that they can't use to train BJJ, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting the weights during those times.

3. When you are at an EXTREME physical disadvantage where rapid gains are easy. Weightlifting, like most things, is a game of diminishing returns. If you have never really lifted weights, are really tiny, or really over weight, and are being consistently outpowered by people your size and smaller then lifting weights will have rapid results in relatively little time. This is one of those rare times when putting your time into a good strength training routine will bring you results very quickly and is probably worth the time investment. Very few people are weak enough or out of shape enough to qualify though.

4. You have a specific physical issue that will benefit from it. There are many medical issues that can be helped by regular strength training. You shouldn't forego that benefit just because the BJJ community starts spazzing out at you.

5. You enjoy weight training for its own sake and don't care whether your BJJ progress is slowed by trading some BJJ Classes for weight training. If you would rather spend 3 days lifting and 2 days training BJJ than the other way around, then do that and don't worry about.

6. If you are over 30. As you age you can start to lose muscle mass and bone density, both things that weight training can help with. There are serious health benefits to weight training that can not be ignored.

When you should NOT Strength Train:
1. When you feel like you only got tapped because someone was stronger than you are. This is almost never the case and hitting the weights instead of hitting the mats will only impede your progress.

2. When you are ranked lower than purple belt. At white and blue belt the diminishing returns still generally favor skill training over strength training except in extreme cases. Once you hit purple it takes longer to improve at BJJ, so hitting the weights can help lift your game a few extra steps by opening up more options for you.

3. When you have JUST started training so that you can lose weight and get in better shape. Piling weight training on top of BJJ will kill you. Or you'll quit both of them because by the fourth day of alternating BJJ and squats you won't be able to move.

4. In order to get in better shape before you start training. This will not work. Grappling is a completely different animal from any other physical activity you can engage in. Being the worlds strongest man won't stop you from throwing up all over yourself thirty minutes in to your first class.

5. If you can already bench ~1.5x your weight, do 20 pullups, squat 2x your weight, and deadlift 2.5x your weight. If you can do those things then you are going to be hitting the line of diminishing returns almost immediately when you start lifting and you'll get almost no benefit from it for your jiujitsu. You would be better off doing gymnastics or finding some people to roll with.

6. When you feel like the only reason you couldn't tap someone was because you weren't strong enough. Again, this is almost never the case and trading mat time for strength training time is just going to make things worse.

I'm sure all kinds of people will disagree with me, so feel free to leave vitriolic feedback wherever you like.

Edit: It was mentioned that many people will fall into both categories in one way or another. Usually I imagine with people being over 30 or at an extreme physical disadvantage, and below the rank of purple belt. If you are over 30, you should be weight training anyways. Regardless of other factors. There are simply too many health benefits to it for you to ignore it. However, that question has led me to think that this article might be better represented as a flow chart. So I think I will make one.



Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Dangers of Upside Down Guard

A great post-tournament class last night, trying to work on my aggression a little bit and be more assertive when I'm rolling. Got in some great movement based flow rolling with one of our larger purple belts who is trying to get his cardio back up, so I spent the entire round moving quickly around him as he defended my attacks and transitions, which was great for me too because I need to practice exactly that kind of combination based flow and movement.

After that some more random rolls until I rolled with my instructors daughter. She's like 15 or 16 and weighs I guess 130 and is taller than I am. I decided to play around with upside down guard since she was unlikely to just crush me flat. For the first few minutes that was generally successful and fun and then as I was spinning through to stop one of her guard passes she latched onto my foot and nailed me with an inverted heel hook against the motion of my spin. My knee popped a bit and my ankle popped a bit and I tapped with a quickness and an alarmed exclamation. A few seconds of prodding and stretching to make sure and we resumed the roll, without any further upside down shenanigans on my part. I was certain that my knee would hurt today, but it seems fine.

My sweeps were on point, my top control was good. I'm already putting some of the things I learned from this last competition into practice. I'm STILL having trouble stopping the transition to north/south and the kimura, but I've already found a couple of options that give me better chances of success than my previous method.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

US Grappling - Greensboro Submission Only Tournament Report

Edit: Fixed the broken videos. Stupid embedding error.


As usual the US Grappling crew was excellent, the tournament was well run and efficient, the venue was clean and spacious, and the officiating was wonderful. I have never had cause to complain about a US Grappling tournament and this one continued that trend. I was on the mats by 11 and even sticking around to help pack up after the competition we were gone by 8.




One strange thing about this competition was the INSANE quantity of wristlock attempts. I had to fend off no fewer than 8 wristlock attempts, and at least four matches I saw were decided by wristlock. Insanity.





By the numbers:


Gi divisions: Total Matches - 6, total mat time - ~35 minutes. Matches won - 1, Matches lost - 5.

 No-Gi Divisions: Total Matches - 5, total mat time - ~27. Matches won -1, Matches lost - 4.

Average Match time: 5:45

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things I was happy about:
I attempted a bunch of tomoe nage's this tournament and several of them were at least partially successful and one was spectacularly successful. I'm going to continue practicing it going forward. I'm able to set up my grips and execute a lot faster now that I have been previously, but I'm having some trouble with my follow through and making sure I secure top position.

I did not get swept by deep halfguard a single time. Not once.

I had far fewer stupid noob type mistakes this time than last time.

It took Matt Moretz longer than 15 seconds to beat me.

Overall I felt significantly improved between my last competition and this one.






Thngs I was NOT happy about: I felt WEAK. Even against the guys in my weight class I felt like I was struggling just to maintain position against my opponents strength. If I'm going to be serious about competing then I need to hit the weights AND make it to class more often.


My halfguard is still shaky and needs more work against heavy top pressure.


My positional aggression is still too lazy. Especially when I partially hit a sweep. I'm not fighting hard enough to get and keep top position.


Videos:


Match 1 - Part 1



I caught an accidental headbutt and we paused for a minute while we stopped the bleeding.


Part 2





Match 2 -


Ok, so this match was AWESOME, and I was SO disappointed that we only rolled for 3 minutes. It was incredibly fun and my opponent, Joseph Lee, is a very cool guy and extremely nice. I'm hoping to roll with him again some time in the future.








Match 3




Match 4





Match 5









At this point my camera battery gave out. So the remaining matches I didn't get on film. I think some of my opponents might have video, and if so I'll get the footage and get it linked up here. Mostly this is just me defending a LOT, so criticism is welcome.

Friday, April 12, 2013

US Grappling - Submission Only - 4/13/2013

I will be competing in the US Grappling tournament in Greensboro tomorrow. If anyone else is competing feel free to look me up. I will be filming my matches for review and analysis on here next week. Good luck to everyone competing!

Tournament Info is Here!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Lloyd Irvin Rape Truth

*EDIT* It seems Lloyd managed to get the original URL taken down or into his possession, I'm leaving the link here since I'm preserving the link as well as the original contents here.

The following content is copied directly from http://www.lloydirvinrapetruth.com/ (As of June 27, 2018, Lloyd has managed to acquire the previous URL and redirect it to his damage control site) in an effort to protect it from Lloyd's takedown attempts and to spread the word as far as possible. I encourage anyone with a digital platform to follow my lead and copy this material. The behavior described here is something that should never ever be tolerated by our community.

The Truth About Lloyd Irvin

Lloyd Irvin participated in the gang rape of a 17 year old girl at Hampton University in 1989. He was arrested and charged with rape. He was acquitted due to his testimony that he could not get hard enough to have sex with the victim. Multiple friends of his were convicted of the same rape and sent to prison. Lloyd Irvin fell through the cracks of the legal system in 1989, and there has been a pattern of sexual abuse surrounding him since.
Lloyd Irvin has attempted to suppress the information below through SEO tactics, bullying, legal threats, and intimidation. The content of this site is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. This site is supported by a team that is dedicated to standing up to Lloyd Irvin's bully tactics and spreading the truth. This site is intentionally minimalistic to make it easy for anyone to copy its content in its entirety. This site is protected by a team that will not be silenced by frivolous legal threats.

Lloyd Irvin Students Arrested in Brutal Rape

Two top Lloyd Irvin students (Nicholas Schultz and Matthew Maldonado) were arrested for the violent rape of a female teammate on New Year's Eve 2013. The Lloyd Irvin students beat the victim in and out of consciousness while raping her repeatedly. After the rape, the two Lloyd Irvin students left the victim lying helpless in the church parking garage in which the rape occurred.
This incident was captured on surveillance video tape.
Both Lloyd Irvin students were indicted on nineteen felony counts in the District of Columbia Superior Court. They are facing potential life sentences if convicted.

Lloyd Irvin Buys LloydIrvinRape.com to Cover Up Multiple Rapes

In a despicable attempt to cover up the news of the New Year's Eve rape, Lloyd Irvin purchased the domain name LloydIrvinRape.com. Lloyd Irvin populated this site with an advertisement for his own rape prevention classes -- a shameless attempt to profit from the brutal rape of his own student. This cover up ignited widespread outrage in the martial arts community.
But what came to light next revealed something far more sinister. Lloyd Irvin was covering up yet another brutal rape.

Lloyd Irvin Participated in the 1989 Gang Rape of a 17 Year Old Girl

As a result of the outrage from Lloyd Irvin's rape cover up, members of the martial arts community revealed that Lloyd Irvin himself had participated in the 1989 violent gang rape of a 17 year old girl at Hampton University.Lloyd Irvin and as many as nine of his friends lured the girl to their apartment where they threatened to throw her off the balcony if she resisted. They then threw her on the bed and raped her violently.
The rape was so brutal that the victim suffered bruising on her lips and vagina. Lloyd Irvin testified that he did not see what was wrong with having sex with a "freak" -- the exact word that he used to describe the victim in court. Neither Lloyd nor any of his friends showed any remorse for this violent crime.
Lloyd Irvin was able to convince the jury that he was too limp to penetrate the victim. He did, however, admit that he wanted to anyway. Due to the inability of the jury to convict him on a lesser charge for his clear involvement in the gang rape, Lloyd Irvin was acquitted. His co defendant was convicted of forcible sodomy.
In further trials, several more of Lloyd Irvin's friends were convicted of rape. They were sentenced to prison.

Lloyd Irvin Officially Speaks About His Participation in Brutal Gang Rape

After several weeks of silence, Lloyd Irvin officially issued a statement to GRACIEMAG. Lloyd Irvin painted himself as the victim in the situation and claimed that he was only guilty of poor timing and taste.
One thing noticeably missing from the statement, although promised within it, is Lloyd Irvin's personal account of his side of the story. However, other statements from Lloyd Irvin's inner circle show exactly what that side is.

Lloyd Irvin Black Belt Phil Proctor Calls Rape Victim "Dirty Whore"

Prior to the release of the official Lloyd Irvin statement, Lloyd Irvin black belt and inner circle member Phil Proctor made a public statement concerning the incident. In that statement, Phil Proctor referred to the victim's ordeal as "a 'train was run' on a dirty whore that got to feeling guilty."
This shocking, disgusting statement is an indication of how Lloyd Irvin's inner circle reacted to the news. Taken in conjunction with Lloyd Irvin's own sworn testimony that the victim was a "freak", it becomes clear that Phil Proctor's version of the story is what Lloyd Irvin told his team about the incident privately.
From this information, it was obvious that Lloyd Irvin was fostering a culture of rape and sexual abuse on his team. But few could have imagined the terrible extent of the abuse.

Top Lloyd Irvin Student Jordon Schultz Reveals Continuing Widespread Lloyd Irvin Sexual Abuse

Abruptly, at the end of February 2013, nearly all of Lloyd Irvin's top students left suddenly in the middle of the night. Such a strange exodus caused concern in the martial arts community. An official statement by one of the top students leaving, Jordon Schultz, shed light on the cause.
Jordon Schultz Confirms Widespread Lloyd Irvin Sexual AbuseIn his statement, Jordon Schultz describes how Lloyd Irvin manipulated and sexually abused a female teammate. Lloyd Irvin ordered her to perform sexual favors, repeat that she loved him, and affirm her desire to obey him to become a world champion. Jordon Schultz also indicated his belief that there were additional victims on the team.
Other sources within the team confirmed that Lloyd Irvin indeed gave the same account of his rape case to his team that Phil Proctor repeated publicly. Sources also confirmed that Lloyd Irvin was in fact paying for the legal representation of his two students, Nicholas Schultz and Matthew Maldonado, that brutally raped yet another teammate on New Year's Eve. Lloyd Irvin also attempted to cover up this damning information.
Top Lloyd Irvin Student DJ Jackson Indicted for Felony Sexual Abuse
Due to the grave nature of the situation, more remaining students left Lloyd Irvin. One of particular note remained: top competitor and children's program chaperone DJ Jackson.
At the end of March 2013, it was revealed that in fact DJ Jackson had a history of sexual abuse as well. In 2008 DJ Jackson was indicted in Iowa on one count of felony sexual abuse in the third degree. DJ Jackson pleaded down to a lesser violent misdemeanor (assault causing bodily injury) and was sentenced to a year in jail.
DJ Jackson Indicted for Felony Sexual Abuse in the Third DegreeCopy of DJ Jackson Criminal RecordIt appears that DJ Jackson received probation as part of his sentence. However, it appears that he violated the terms of his probation. As a result, he is currently wanted in Iowa by the Sioux County Sheriff in relation to his sexual abuse case.
DJ Jackson Actively Wanted in Iowa
Lloyd Irvin Censors Information to Cover Up Rapes
Faced with such horrible information, Lloyd Irvin actively began a campaign of censorship and intimidation against those speaking the truth. Lloyd Irvin sent legal threats to LloydIrvinRapeExposed.com to suppress the availability of this information. It is assumed that Lloyd Irvin eventually succeeded as the site has been in maintenance mode indefinitely.
Lloyd Irvin also censored nearly one hundred pages of information from one of the largest MMA news websites. Lloyd Irvin made a request to the owner of the site, Kirik Jenness, to delete this information from the site. Kirik Jenness complied with the censorship request.
Kirik Jenness Censors Information Regarding Lloyd Irvin Sexual AbuseKirik Jenness has a close business relationship with Lloyd Irvin. Kirik Jenness has enthusiastically endorsed Lloyd Irvin, giving him a "Rave Review", and he has also previously censored information on his site regarding Lloyd Irvin's participation in a brutal gang rape.
What Can I Do to Stop Lloyd Irvin?
Stop supporting Lloyd Irvin in any way. Stop supporting anyone who does. Speak up and say no to his culture of sexual abuse.
Spread the word about this site. Link to it on your blog. Link to it in forums. If you know of anyone currently supporting Lloyd Irvin, show him or her this site.
Lloyd Irvin will likely use SEO tactics to try to bury this site. If we all work together, those tactics will fail. All content on this site is protected by the First Amendment and does not constitute libel in any way, shape, or form. This site's team is dedicated to keeping it up in the face of frivolous legal threats. We are prepared to retain legal representation, and we will take this to court if necessary.
We are committed to spreading the truth about Lloyd Irvin. Please help by being committed and sharing this site.