Submission of the week

Note the feeding hand of Burton. Using his left hand to feed his opponents gi into his right hand for the strangle

BJJ Crazy Gi Contest

There is a bjj crazy gi contest and i guy i know is in the finals, winner gets a free gi.
Go to to join the group to vote
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=93673&id=100001558753855&fbid=112402428821715&subject=104583610298&ref=nf#!/group.php?gid=104583610298

and then vote for this design, to vote just press LIKE
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=93673&id=100001558753855&fbid=112402428821715&subject=104583610298&ref=nf

Awesome Rally car video

I know this had nothing to do with judo but this is an awesome clip we watched at church the other day

Success

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally."
David Frost

Canto Strangle

Active Recovery

Active Recovery
Twenty years ago active recovery wasn’t even thought of, it’s common knowledge that after a big Rugby League match players would go to the local pub for a beer and pie These days players must attend a session the day after a football game and the session is based around active recovery.
Most sessions are usually based around swimming or walking laps of a swimming pool (or in the ocean) followed by partner stretching.
Judo players usually after big judo competitions have a big night out and then wake up the next day all stiff and sore due to no active recovery or cool down after a competition. This is due to the fact that football players play every weekend so they must be recovered for next weeks game. Judo players compete every 3 months or so recovery after a competition is really no big deal.

What is active recovery?
Active recovery is another name for a really easy session after a really hard session. You know how, after a really hard session, the next day your whole body aches. You may find that the only way to not feel sore is to do some more exercise. It’s hard to get started first but once you get warm and start moving your body loosens up and you feel a lot better. This is exactly what active recovery is.
Active recovery aims to increase blood flow which helps remove lactic acids as well as helps bring any deoxygenated blood back to the heart.
As part of active recovery you must make sure stretching and protein rich foods are a part of it.

This article is not about active recovery after a competition because no judo player will do it anyway. Here is just a few exercises I sometimes do during the week if I am feeling a bit run down sand don’t feel like a really hard session.
Remember we aren’t going for a massive session of training just a light sweat up. I usually put a few layers of clothes on (or a sweat suit) and get started. I do the following exercises in no particular order just what ever I feel.
- rowing machine - forward & back rolls (& into splits)
- swimming - Handstand into rolls
- exercise bike - cartwheels
- swimming - general running
- uchi komi rubbers

I like doing all of the above exercises because you can go for a slow jog (in a dojo) and add them in whenever you like. They are also low impact which is probably what you want if you are feeling tired and run down.

Finish up with static stretching (partner stretching is better) all of the body making sure you breath and relax. Make sure you hold each stretch for around 30 seconds.

Go home and get a protein rich dinner, take some multi vitamins and have a big sleep.


Matt D’Aquino
30/12/2007

Sub of the week - Nice Juji

Thanks to Michael Penkov for the great pic.

Judo Coins

Mike from the Oklahoma City Defensive Tactics Judo has made some fantastic 3d challenge coins. i think this is a fantastic idea and a great present for someone who simply loves judo.

the coins have various designs including a harai goshi and jigoro kano.
To check out the coins and to order one go to:
http://okcdt.com/judocoins/?p=1

To read more about OKCDT and what they are all about please visit
http://www.okcdt.com/

Welcome to Beyond Grappling

I am an Australian Judo player who constantly thinks about anything to do with Judo and Grappling, whether it be techniques, tactics or workouts. This blog is where i write about my journey to qualify for my 2nd Olympic games as well as share good photos, videos and information about Judo and Bjj.

I am always thinking about Judo and so i decided last year to start a blog where i can get everything out of my head and 'on paper', so far i think it has worked.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and if you ever want to comment on any posts, photos or videos please do not hesitate in doing so.

Cheers
Matt

Good clip on Iliadis

You will notice good training methods using the rubber bands etc as well as Iliadis's constant need to train in no-gi..maybe its his traditional Georgian wrestling coming out in him.
This video also shows the basic setup the Georgians train in but how much fun they have doing it.

Ippon of the Week - Uchimata

Congrats Ivo

Fellow Australian Judo player Ivo Dos Santos entered his first pro MMA fight last Friday night.
To read more about his fight and follow ivo roas to London at
http://ivojudo.blogspot.com/2010/09/mma-fighter.html

Check his interview with fightnewsaustralia at
http://www.fightnewsaustralia.com/index.php/component/content/article/1-latest-news/251-ivo-dos-santos-interview-september-2010

Also below is Ivo's judo highlight reel

Galvao - Drills to win DVD

Andre Galvao has earned his reputation as one of the best and most exciting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champions of all time. Now, he brings his training methods to the public with Drill Like a Champion: A 12-Month Plan to Better Your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you want to move like Galvao, submit like Galvao and win like Galvao, this is the book for you. In this one-of-a-kind manual, Andre outlines both a 1-year schedule to overall improvement as well as smaller game plans for short term competition preparation. This is not your average reference book, but instead a step-by-step guide to building a champion grappler. The key to this book is in its building block methodology that follows Andre's basics of grappling-the ability to move and adapt to new movements in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So don't wait, pick up this book and start the first day of your BJJ explosion!
Buy it at
http://www.grapplingstore.com/contents/en-uk/d127_Jiu-Jitsu_Books.html#p818

Athlete Profile - Andre Galvao

Andre Galvao is a Brazilian grappler and professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He has won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and IBJJF Pan American Championships multiple times and has also taken third place in the 2007 ADCC World Championship at both -77 kg and openweight.
He made his mixed martial arts debut in 2008, and in 2009 he entered Dream's 2009 welterweight tournament. After the completion of the tournament, he is scheduled to fight for Strikeforce. Galvão was a competitor in the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in Barcelona, Spain.

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship Bronze 2007 -77 kg[3]
Bronze 2007 Absolute[4]
Silver 2009 -88 kg[5]
IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship Gold 2008 -88 kg (black)[6]
Bronze 2008 Absolute (black)[6]
2007 -82 kg (black)[7]
Silver 2006 -82 kg (black)[8]
Gold 2005 -82 kg (black)[9]
Gold 2004 -82 kg (brown)[10]
Gold 2004 Absolute (brown)[10]
Gold 2003 -82 kg (purple)[11]
Gold 2003 Absolute (purple)[11]
Gold 2002 -82 kg (blue)[12]
Silver 2001 -82 kg (blue)[12]
Pan American Championships Gold 2008 Medium heavy (black)[13]
Gold 2008 Absolute (black)[13]
Gold 2006 Middleweight (black)[14]
Gold 2005 Middleweight (brown)[15]
Gold 2005 Absolute (brown)[15]
Gold 2004 Middleweight (brown)[16]
Gold 2005 Absolute (brown)[16]

Morote Seoi nage compilation

Gi vs No-Gi

For ages and ages i have been talking to people regarding the pros and cons of both gi and no-gi training. One of the guys from the club Nick emailed me this site which has some good arguements about the gi vs no-gi arguement. so have a read and see what you think.

http://www.jiujitsuforums.com/wiki/Gi_versus_No-Gi_training

also dont forget to join and subscribe to my new youtube channel that contains international fights i filmed from 2009 World Championships, 2010 Rio Grand Slam, 2010 Sau Paulo World Cup, 2010 Miami World Cup, 2010 US open, 2010 Judo World Championships as well.
http://www.youtube.com/user/BeyondFitness1

2010 World Champ Highlight Reel

Success

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." - Vince Lombardi

Worlds

I have definitely had a very interesting last couple of days. Put simply I have been sick since Sunday with a sore throat and flu symptoms so while we moved from tsukuba to Tokyo for the worlds I didn’t do any training whatsoever.

I attended the worlds on the first day for maybe 1 hour; I watched my team mate duke beat a strong fighter from Mali with a few pickups and eventually running the clock down winning by 1 waza ari and a yuko. I decided to go home as I wasn’t feeling the best. This was on Thursday. Duke ended up losing his next fight against the experienced Korean.

I have been dealing with terrible sleeping patterns this whole trip but on Thursday night Friday morning I was sore and aching and waking up like I wanted to vomit and my stomach was a really gross feeling. By the time morning came around I was a mess so our co team manager Hitoshi took me to Shinjuku hospital and the docs check me out.

Turns out my temp was 39.3 and I was suffering from Tonsillitis. I couldn’t believe it I was so sick and all I wanted to be was better, I didn’t even care about fighting worlds. I resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t be fighting because how can u sauna 3kg while suffering tonsillitis. Anyway the doc put me on a drip and I slept on the bed for an hour or so...hitoshi kept me company...what a top bloke.

The doc subscribed me with some different meds to be taken at different times throughout the day etc and I pretty much slept all day Friday. I put a message on facebook quickly saying I wouldn’t be fighting worlds as I was so sick a saw later that I had a heap of people praying for me to recover and to be feeling better.
Saturday morning came around and my prayers (and every else’s) was answered because I was feeling fantastic and weighing 61.3kg, I couldn’t believe it. Awesome, I couldn’t believe that the day before I was on a drip and the next day I’m feeling awesome and in the sauna only losing a measly 1.3. Thank you god.

Competition Day
I had I think 75 in my division but I had a bye first round. I drew a young guy from Mozambique who I threw for a sumi gaeshi for waza ari and then transitioned into a hold down to win the fight within a minute.

Next I had Jokinnen from Finland. I last fought Jokinnen in 2006 at Kano cup and he threw me for a yuko with only 20 seconds left to win the match. Jokinnen is a left handed seoi nage fighter and is also a bit of a groundwork guru so I knew I didn’t want to go to the ground with him.

I haven’t watched the fight since I fought but I think the fight went for around three minutes with me trying to control inside lapel and enter for an uchimata/switch. I was in good position a few times but could capitalise on where I was. In the end I switched my front foot to, instead of being in line with his, to behind his line enabling him to enter for a sticky foot ko ouchi and I somehow just fell on my back for a soft ippon.

He ended up losing his next match to the world number 2 from Japan.

All in all for a guy who was sick as a dog the other day I did ok. In the next few days I will pick apart my fights and have a good look at what I was doing and I need to improve on. I have a fair idea already but I will sit down with coaches Tom and Steve hill and figure out a plan of attack for coming months.

Tomorrow is the Open (absolute) and we have 4 aussie men competing Duke, Priscus, Josh and Jake and Janelle in the Women. Should be a good day of entertainment for me in the stands. I have only been to Judo once this whole week due to being sick. My 2 favourite fighters (Canto and Guilhero-both from Brazil) drew each other in the semi finals, and I didn’t get to see them fight as I was in my bed feeling really sorry for myself.

For those who were praying for me to get better thank you so much.

Ippon of the Week - Drop Seoi

Submission of the Week - Ninja Choke

Tech of the Week- Neck Crank Sweep

Countdown to the World Championships

From http://www.eju.net/news/?mode=showNewsItem&id=640

Four days to go before the beginning of the World Judo Championship, TOKYO 2010, and all eyes are already turned to the big upcoming event.
Hundreds of judo enthusiasts are working hard to deliver an outstanding event. While some of the delegations are already present on the Japanese soil and are absorbing their jet lag, every single element of the organization is trying to find its perfect place.

On Thursday morning, everything will need to be ready. This World Judo Championship will break many records, the first of those being the number of competitors; many weight categories already reaching historical numbers of participants for a competition of that level.

The Japanese team, which was officially presented to the press and to the VIPs the day before yesterday, in the mythical Kodakan dojo under the "patronizing eye" of Jigoro Kano, was concentrated, maybe as it has never been before. The World Championship is back in Japan and in Tokyo (the last time was in 1958!), and the Japanese team, considered objectively as one of the major favorites, does not want to disappoint its numerous fans. One after another, each member of the team was presented to the large audience, ready to encourage their protégés.

In the meantime, the city itself is getting ready for the show as many events take place all over Tokyo. For instance, in the Shibuya District, where the competition venue is located, a strange ceremony took place a few days ago. When the statue, donning its new outfit, is officially inaugurated by a champion with international status, like Kosei Inoue, the show is complete. In the same spirit, a giant judogi, actually the largest in the world, with the competition logo on it, was presented to the public.

Once again, the competition has not started yet but the atmosphere is warming up. Everyday, planes coming from all over the world with delegations are landing at Narita Airport. Everybody is looking forward to watching the first matches. But that will not be until next week. Before that, athletes are getting concentrated. Isolated to prepare themselves or enjoying the Japanese lifestyle, they have only one goal, at least for the next 10 days: to get a worldwide medal. The schedule for that is quite simple:
Schedule
Thursday September 9th: Men's over 100kg and under 100kg and Women over 78kg and under 78kg (beginning at 10:00 am - Final block at 5:30 pm at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium)

> Friday September 10th: Men's under 90kg and under 81kg and Women under 70kg (beginning at 10:00 am - Final block at 5:30 pm at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium)

> Saturday September 11th: Men's under 73kg and Women under 63kg and under 57kg (beginning at 10:00 am - Final block at 5:30 pm at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium)
> At 4:00 pm the draw of the Open category will take place.

> Sunday September 12th: Men's under 66kg and under 60kg and Women under 52kg and under 48kg (beginning at 9:00 am - Final block at 5:00 pm at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium)

> Monday September 13th: Men's and Women's Open Category (beginning at 2:00 pm - Final block at 5:30 pm at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium)

Here in Japan

For the past few days we have been at Tsukuba University in Japan. I spent 6 weeks here only a month ago and it is strange to come here with a team instead of with myself, my wife and Brent.

We arrived here on Tuesday and began training on Wednesday. It s a bit awkward going from Australia to American and dealing with the jet lag. We spent 4 days in the USA and then we flew back across the times lines to Japan (which is 1 hour behind Australia) and we are now once again dealing with jet lag.

Japan has been super duper hot and at training you sweat around 3 kilos 9after drinking 1.5) throughout the session. Then it takes you hours and hours to rehydrate using salt tablets to help you out.

Today was Sunday so we did a bit of training in the morning for an hour so so and then headed into Tokyo. I have been into Akihabara (electric town) so many times that I took my camera and only took like 5 photos. And it was of me with a samurai sword stabbing Duke.

Last time I was here my Wife and I wanted to go to church. So we ended up finding one in Ochanamizu in Tokyo and went there. It was a great church called New Hope that do bilingual messages twice every Sunday. So today my team mate Mark and I went there and had a good time. It was good to head to church.

Throughout the week I have been doing a stack of schoolwork trying to catch up but it has been actually quite enjoyable to do some. Makes me feel like I’m getting somewhere with my degree. For those who don’t know I’m studying a bachelor of Primary Education.

This Tuesday we move out of our accommodation and move into the official hotel for the world championships. I’m really looking forward to fighting and just giving it my all you know. Unfortunately I’m on Sunday so that’s a whole week away. But that’s ok it will give me a chance to watch some of the famous big names and film some fights for my new YouTube channel Beyondfitness1
http://www.youtube.com/user/BeyondFitness1

Make sure you jump on there and check it out.
See you all soon

Miami World Cup Highlights reel

Also included are US open fights i filmed
enjoy

Sick Submissions

New Youtube account

As i am at a few international tournaments and i am on the very last day of the world championships i am going to see alot of good fighters compete. due to the fact that i like filming stuff and editing the footage i have decided to open a new YouTube account that will have only competition footage on it. I did this because i want to keep my Beyond Grappling YouTube account purely for techniques and instructional and not get it all clogged up with competition footage.
So my new account is
http://www.youtube.com/user/BeyondFitness1
or just follow the Competition videos link on the right.

Make sure you subscribe to it too.

Also join Beyondgrappling on facebook as well.

World Championships preview

Ippon of the Week - Duke of Canberra

Duke throwing an American in the US open Openweight division 2010

US Open

At US Open I had a bye first round and fought the winner of an Argentinean and an American. US Open was run pretty badly compared to the world cup but in the end the comp went from 9am to about 8pm. This is due to the fact that they ran a repechage instead of a knockout like they would at a world cup or grand slam.
I fought an Argentinean called Perault who I think I have seen before. I watched his first fight and due to his posture I knew he liked doing drop seoi nage and sit back on his heels a lot.
In the first exchange we fought for grips with me settling with a top grip and I think he had an inside lapel. We both settled and didn’t do too much and the referee said matte (stop.) Just after he said matte my opponent entered with a ko ouchi and thewy me for a yuko maybe waza ari and the ref scored a waza ari...even though he said matte. But because it was so close I guess he could have it but anyway I came back strong and threw him backwards for a yuko.

We kept fighting busting grips and engaging on the ground when he threw me near the edge with an ouchi gari. I landed fully on my side facing the floor with my face and the ref called Ippon. I couldn’t believe it because when you get thrown for ippon you know because you are looking at the roof. But I was looking at the floor. He ended up rescoring it to a waza ari and so I lost anyway because my opponent then had 2 waza aris. I have watched the video a few times and still think it was a yuko. I couldn’t believe it I comer all this way to get thrown for 2 dodgy scores. I’m not one to ever blame refs but this time I was just really disappointed.

But in the end I shouldn’t be letting my opponents throw me for anything whether it be yukos or ippons. They shouldn’t be throwing me at all.

So that was my day done. I watched the rest of my team mates before Nicola, Sara, Mark and I went to maccas (even though Americans don’t call it Maccas) and we loaded up. I ordered a double quarter pounder meal supersized. It was awesome because you can’t get supersized at home. I ate it all and felt pretty sick afterwards but it was awesome.

We left at an early 4am from our hotel and flew here to Japan. My fellow Aussies and I are staying and training at Tsukuba University where I spent 4 weeks here only 1 month ago.
Today we are all feeling jet lagged and did an hour of our own training and adjusting to the super hot weather.

The world championships start on Tuesday with me fighting on Sunday. I am looking forward to fighting as I am so keen to win fights and fight against the best. It is so disappointing to train in Japan for so long, come back and place 2nd in oju, I won nsw international open and lost first round in both comps in the US.
Talk soon