Posts by Brandon Lopez

The realist said:Brandon Lopez, man, I'm telling you—use the actual quote function! That’s what he meant, not just copying and pasting entire blocks of text!!

Feeling better now? Maybe we can actually understand each other this time, or perhaps we'll stumble upon something even more brilliant???
I suppose it all comes down to a simple lack of focus.

Drew Martin6 says:
Come on, Brandon Lopez, just give it a shot... nothing bad's gonna happen...

Haha, what, you want some gossip? Fine, if you insist!
Those guys, Dean and Tony, haven't stepped foot in the gym for months, not even before they headed off to London to train with Roger. They didn't just show up for a seminar; from what I heard, they were actually training with him for about two weeks or so. When Rodolfo first started his academy and then had to leave for Iraq, Dean and Tony were the ones running the classes. Later on, there was some sort of falling out between them and the current head instructor, but honestly, I don't know the details.
That kind of stuff happens everywhere you look—people get close, then they drift apart, nothing new there. I just hope things turn out better for everyone practicing BJJ in Miami, that everyone finds better facilities to work in, and that we get some world-class masters visiting us soon.
There, you satisfied?
Let's get back to the actual topic; it's way more important and interesting!

p.s.
The Argentinian guy, according to what I was told, focused much more on traditional JJ.

Christian Miller68
says
A new club?
So, after finishing the seminar and picking up their belts, they just went out and found a different coach?
Why not just bring those skills back to their own gym and show their teammates—or even their current coach—what they've learned?
Look, congrats on the new belts, truly. And hey, opening a new location is perfectly fine if the goal is expanding BJJ coverage to a different part of town. But if this is just about setting up competition against your own home gym, that’s not a great look.

The whole situation is actually a bit more complicated than it looks, but honestly, I don't care enough to dive into the weeds. Dean and Tony were instructors at that gym, which is where things got messy.

unnamed kaže:
Brandon Lopez, do you do any unnamed training? Where at?

Yeah, I train. I’m over in Miami at the only unnamed gym in town. I heard Dean and Tony are opening up a new spot this fall, so things should get pretty interesting around here soon.
The gym I go to was started by that guy Rodolfo from Argentina, but he's actually out in Iraq now.

http://www.geocities.com/global_trai...ort/helio2.htm

Check out this fascinating interview I found with the master himself, Helia!

Jeffrey Taylor49 says:
To be honest, the stuff you drill during training—like all that tapping out—can definitely get in your head. But I seriously doubt anyone would ever let someone go after they’ve been tapped out on the street. There's a massive difference between gym practice and real-world experience!!
__________________
He’s absolutely right; nobody is going to just let a guy go once he's tapped out in a real fight, but he could have finished it without that even happening! Maybe he needed that lesson, but like you pointed out, the strikes were coming first in both scenarios anyway.

Jeffrey Taylor49 says:
I don't think it’s about training; I think he just didn't want to seriously injure the attacker, and that was a mistake!!

Now, that is an interesting point. It makes you wonder: how much does drilling a specific skill condition us to react in one exact way, and could that very conditioning actually slow down our ability to react properly when circumstances change? To me, it feels like there is definitely a connection to training, sure, but also to the fighter's character, their current headspace, and a whole host of other factors. There is so much at play here; it’s incredibly complex.
It brings me back to that old saying, "you fight the way you train."

wanderingridge says:
Of course it’s different. You aren’t going to be pulling up a guard on a street corner like you’re in a sanctioned match, and you certainly aren't going to be cycling through a bunch of fancy X-guards...

Afro, I don't have any doubt about that, but let's really break this down. Let's get the gears turning and stir the pot a little—maybe someone here has some actual insight to share. I came across two stories on a forum recently:

There was this guy training BJJ who was walking through a parking lot with his wife when two guys jumped them. He knocked one out instantly, then caught the second guy in a chokehold and just wouldn't let go. He didn't react until his wife started screaming, "Let him go, you're going to kill him!" He probably thought he was just waiting for the guy to tap.

Then there was another case involving a BJJ practitioner who got jumped by two people—one had a knife, the other had a baseball bat.
He managed to take down the guy with the bat with a strike, and then applied a lever on the arm of the guy with the knife. But then things went south—in the heat of the moment, the guy panicked and started flailing wildly. The practitioner let go, took two stabs to the body, and ended up in the hospital.

Just wanted to throw that out there so we can talk!
Cheers, everyone!

p.s.
Dean and Tony, two guys from Miami, just got back from New York City. They were training with Roger Gracie and earned their belts—Tony got his blue belt and Dean got his purple (hopefully I got those details right). It looks like the BJJ "family" is growing!

http://www.realfighting.com/issue8/jorgeframe.html

I just stumbled upon this fascinating article written by a police officer regarding the fundamental differences between sport grappling and actual "street" grappling.

What are your thoughts on this?

On a related note, people who have attended Rickson Gracie's seminars often mention on various forums how clearly he demonstrates the distinction between a standard sports technique and how that exact same move would play out in a real-world scenario.
One guy even shared a story about a demonstration where Rickson was showing something pretty incredible—he tucked his hands into his belt, someone went in for a bear hug, and Rickson simply tossed him and choked him out using his legs, all while keeping his hands safely tucked under his belt the entire time. It’s also worth noting that in one interview, Rickson emphasizes that his family has been studying this for about 70 years and they cover everything, including defending against multiple attackers—like having to fight your way out of a room filled with three guys looking to jump you.