New and improved Beyondgrappling.com

www.beyondgrappling.com/

Make sure you visit my new website at www.beyondgrappling.com/ as i will no longer be posting on this blogspot.com 

Dangers of Cutting weight for Judo, BJJ and MMA Athletes

Danger of cutting weight in a sauna

With the rise of mixed martial arts you may find that many amateur athletes don't bother about dieting for competition as they would rather 'cut weight' like the fighters in popular MMA TV shows. If you ever watch top-level cage fighting cards you more often than not hear the commentators mention that a particular athlete walks around at this weight and then cuts twenty pounds to make weight and then smashes a drip in his arm to re-hydrate and eat heaps of food. Although this sounds tough and crazy the fact of the matter is that cutting weight doesn't always mean sauna-ing a heap of weight.
 
Cutting weight means having a strict professionally done diet as well as top-level strength and conditioning coaches monitoring everything that the athlete consumes. I know that some athletes have zero percent body fat therefore the sauna is the only option but what tends to happen is these athletes (that clearly could lose 2-3 kg of fat) are telling people they need to cut weight in the sauna and it's going to be so hard. These are people who are more than likely going to get hurt while sitting in the sauna as they don't know how dangerous sauna-ing really is.
 
Stereotypically saunas are used for relaxation and recovery sessions either for everyday life or in between training sessions. Usually in these recovery sessions you will do stints in a sauna and then hop into a cold pool for a few minutes and then repeat the process.
 
These days many Judokas, wrestlers, rowers, boxers and mixed martial arts athletes use a sauna to help them sweat a few kilograms of water resulting in weighing less and being able to fight in a lower weight division. Although this practice is considered 'normal' among athletes you need to be aware of the dangers that saunas pose to people wanting to 'cut weight.'
 
In 1997 a young wrestler in Iowa, USA was 'cutting weight' to fight in the 150 pound weight division. He collapsed in a sauna suffering from kidney and heart failure. In August 2010, a Russian man died of 2nd degree burns while competing in the World Sauna Championships.
Put simply saunas can be dangerous and should be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS.
Within minutes of sitting in a sauna your:
• Body temperature increases
• Blood pressure increases,
• Skin pores open,
• You begin sweating,
• Muscles relax,
• Heart rate increases.
 
When you sit in the sauna for hours on end you are in danger of a variety of things including:
• Extreme dehydration,
• Loss of electrolytes,
• Heart attack,
• Suffering heat exhaustion,
• Feeling faint, dizzy, light headed
• Feeling like you want to vomit
 
The safest and most effective way to make weight to is diet and train properly. I highly encourage you to never use the sauna but instead seek dieting advice from a registered professional and if you need to move up to a heavier weight division then do so.
 
In saying that though there are times when I have had to go for a run and sweat
out a few kilograms. This is highly not recommended and every time I have run to sweat a few kilograms it has been because I had not prepared well enough through other means such as diet. I highly recommend that you do not sauna to make weight as it is nothing more than ridiculous and can lead to serious harm or even death.
 
 
The Easy Weight cutting guide contains a lot of useful in formation on how to cut weight properly and effectively for Judo and Wrestling. To see what you need to eat and drink after weigh in. I encourage you to check it out by visiting the Easy Weight cutting website.

Busy start to 2012

Over the last week I travelled down to Melbourne for a weeks training camp. While I was down in Melbourne I was looked after by Australian 66kg fighter Ivo dos santos from ivojudo.com. Ivo is currently ranked 14 in the world and will wreck some havoc at this years Olympic games that's for sure.
We trained 2-3 times a day with technique drilling, gym work, Brazilian jujitsu and a stack of randori. At the moment I am on the plane and am stiff and sore from the past week but my weight is down and I am in good shape for the month ahead.

Every year for the past three Years I have been travelling down to Melbourne to stay and train with Ivo and a lot of judoka from Melbourne take the time to come to the extra session Ivo puts on. A big thanks to Ashley dafter, Patrick, Ben Donegan, Pat Rottura, Sunny, Sam, Dennis, Abdullah and Omar.

The main reason I went to Melbourne was in preparation for a big month of competitions. Starting next weekend I will have 4 comps in a row.
I will be competing in my home state of act in the ACT International Open before flying off to Germany to compete in the Dusseldorf grand slam, then off to Czexh republic to compete in the Prague world cup before flying home and competing in the Queensland International open in Brisbane.
It will be a busy first half of the year due to the fact that I didn't do too well in the Oceania world cup and the Asian comps at the end of 2011. Therefore I have to travel over to Europe and nab some points for the world ranking list.
At the moment I am just outside of qualifying but if I defend my Oceania title and win a few fights over in Europe I should secure my spot in the London Games.

Once again I would like to thank you for your continual encouragement and support as I strive to get to my second Olympic Games.

Yours in Judo
Matt D'Aquino

Tournei de Paris 2012 - Sobirov wins again

Sobirov wins the 60kg division again....what a machine! For all the details visit the ippon.org website.
www.ippon.org

2012 so far

So far the year 2012 has been extremely busy an action packed. After the new years break I was straight back into training twice a day and working to pay for my Europe trip in February.
This weekend we had the Illawarra training camp up in Wollongong. It is the 14 year in a row the club has run the event and it was fantastic with around 200 people on the mat. He morning session was a technical session run by stewart brain, Daniel rusitovic, Morgan Endicott Davies and Ron ivers and Martin Kelly. These guys covered some really good gripping strategies and i definitely picked up a few things I can implement in my own game. The afternoon session was dedicated to randori. There were stacks of good guys on the mat and I had a lot of good hard fights.
In 3 weeks time I have a comp in my home city before heading to Europe for the a grand slam in dusseldorf and a world cup in Czech republic.
2012 is going to be great!!
Chat soon
Matt

Ps for those interested I hVe nearly completed the final draft for my next ebook that I know is going to benefit your judo game

Judo helps BJJ

http://www.teamtooke.com/judo_forjiujitsu.html

Today we’re talking about the benefits of training Judo to improve your Jiu Jitsu skills. I want to talk about some of the benefits of cross-training to enhance your Jiu Jitsu, and some of the things that it can offer that will help you in that area. One thing that is very important is that people need to keep an open mind about training in Judo, and not look at it as a completely different martial art. I’ve told some of my Jiu Jitsu students here in Houston that I recommend training takedowns and throws as well, and some of the feedback that I’ve heard is “I don’t really want to learn Judo, I want to learn Jiu Jitsu.” But they’re really one in the same art, they just have different rules and sport specifics. When you break it down and think about getting good at Jiu Jitsu, a BJJ match starts on the feet. Right now there’s not a lot of Jiu Jitsu schools that focus a lot on the stand up game, and if they do, they’re often times incorporating Judo. I think that’s a very important part of the game. The stand up game, the throws, the takedowns, are just as much a part of the game as the grappling on the ground.

Let’s look at some of the benefits of training. First of all, grappling matches start on the feet. You have a definitive advantage when you start on the feet and you have confidence with your throws and your takedowns. If we have a match together, and we’re equally skilled as far as the grappling is concerned, then there’s not going to be a big chance of one person dominating the other. But suppose my Judo background has made my takedowns and throws very good and I have the opportunity to throw you and take you down. Not only do I get ahead on points, but my confidence is going to go up while I execute the throw, the same time that your confidence is going to down. So by me having the skills to get the fight to the ground on my terms, I have a huge advantage, not only in getting the points by establishing dominance and position early on, but it’s a huge mental boost as well. Where as it can take your opponent out of the game when they suddenly realize they’re loosing. So there’s a huge advantage immediately starting off, because the fight starts on the feet.

Let’s look at a couple of other things that throws can do to help your Jiu Jitsu game overall. You will improve your stamina. Judo is a very, very physical workout. It’s going to get you in really great shape. Grip strength; you’re constantly working on getting the dominant grip, which is something that I think is sometimes overlooked in BJJ. The gripping game (gi specifically) is important standing up and on the ground. A keen sense of balance is very important in Jiu Jitsu. Judo is definitely going to help your balance. Foot placement is going to help you recover from being thrown. These are all things that come into play while you’re grappling. You have to recover from sweeps, you have to recover from reversals, you have to have balance. Core strength; in Judo you use your core as much as any sport out there. Your core muscles that are involved in the throws and takedowns, are going to see the benefits of that. You’re going to have much better core strength, which is very important to your grappling game.

Of course, your confidence is going to go up, with the stamina, and with this new found core strength. And the more confidence that you have, the more you are going to progress. So when you can find something that gives you a higher sense of confidence, your grappling will improve as a result.

People still look at BJJ and Judo as two different arts. They don’t necessarily want to cross-train both. That goes both ways. There are Judo guys that don’t want to train BJJ, even though in a Judo match you’re allowed to choke and arm-lock your opponent. So many of the moves that you’re allowed to do in Jiu Jitsu, you’re allowed to do in Judo as well. Judo players focus a lot of time on the throws, which they should because they aren’t given a lot of time to grapple, but it can’t be neglected all together. And of course some of the BJJ guys don’t want to do it, they say they don’t like it. They don’t want to do throws, they want to do grappling. But if you want to compete and you want to excel in what Jiu Jitsu is, overall, then Judo is going to help you. You absolutely have to make it part of your training, at least part time.

Some of the top fighters in Jiu Jitsu right now, if you look at the World Championships, the Pan Ams, Abu Dhabi, all of these guys are training Judo. Xande and Saulo Ribero, Roger Gracie, Jacare, “Margarita”, Leo Viera, these are handful of names that are all proficient in Judo. They all have excellent takedowns and throws, and they’ve all incorporated them into their competition training and it’s shown by the advantage that they have in the stand up and the takedown game.

Don’t forget to train sport specific. Some people say “I don’t like doing those throws. Look where you land. You’re giving up your back” or “look at that throw. You’re completely exposed, you’ve landed in a choke position.” Answer to this problem: modify the techniques. It’s all a matter of modifying it to make it sport-specific. Anything you train should be specific to your goals. If you want to be a good wrestler, then your goal is to not get pinned on your back. You’re not allowed to choke in wrestling, therefore you can give up your back more. In Judo, you’re main goal is to throw your opponent on their shoulders. You throw your opponent, you win the match, the match is over and there’s no need to worry about being choked or anything like that. So of course you’re going to do everything you can to get to that position, even if it means giving up your back, because if you accomplish your goal then it doesn’t matter. The match is over. My advice to someone wanting to add takedowns to their game, who may be worried about putting themselves at a greater risk: You modify the techniques. That’s all you have to do. You pick out the techniques that don’t involve the risk of putting yourself in a bad position, because obviously in a BJJ match you don’t win the match on a throw. You just get points for the throw and put yourself in a better position. And the throws that typically put you in a bad position, you simply modify them, work them out with your partners, and you find a way to do them that does not risk exposing your back quite as much, or that does not risk putting you in a compromising position. That’s what you have to do and that’s what BJJ is all about, finding the most efficient way to win. It’s not a matter of “I can’t do this.” It’s a matter of eliminating or taking out some of the stuff that you don’t want to negatively affect your game, and keeping everything that is positive for your Jiu Jitsu.

The bottom line is, it’s all grappling, and it’s all fighting. Everything goes well together. Even with some of the striking arts, a lot of the concepts go along with martial arts in general, from one martial art that’s all striking to one martial art that’s all grappling, so many of the concepts go well together. And don’t forget to analyze and modify the techniques to make them specific to what your goals are. You’re going to find that you can learn a lot from being open minded, listening to people that offer advice and not being closed minded to learning something new. I think Judo for Jiu Jitsu is one of the best things you can add, if you are a serious Jiu Jitsu player and you’re serious about improving your grappling over-all.