I don't currently but Ive been thinking about it, my flexibility is terrible and I'm sure its the source of most of my injuries.

GB is a great program, the school I go to is a GB school and I think there are others here that attend different GB schools as well. There's really nothing to be nervous about but you are right to research it ahead of time. You cant really go wrong with anything to do with the Gracie's.

What is your background, any wrestling etc, how old are you, what is your goal?

You should also proceed very slowly and carefully to make sure that you aren't injured or injure someone else. Bad technique and speed will get someone hurt, make sure your training partners understand that you want to go slow and easy so they don't crush you. I pretty much "slow roll" exclusively now and still end up getting minor injuries just because of the nature of it.

Good that you are 22, you should have good endurance, wont injure easily and will heal faster (as compared to me at 42). You will definitely improve general fitness, I move slowly and methodically, it's almost painful for the younger guys to roll with me, but I get my cardio workout in for as long as I can.


try it, but take it easy and let us know how you like it.

Last night we focused on keeping our weight on our opponent in side control and Kesa gatame. I paired up with my buddy Big George and felt every pound of the 320 he carries around.

I'm sore as shit.

I hear ya, I'm pretty certain I fractured/cracked the center bone in my index toe, been a month since the injury and its still sore to the touch... no rolling for me either but I can do the drills and class lecture.

Dang. I was training under a Ralph Gracie school when in lived in Kalifornia. I forget all the requirements, but they SHOULD be posted somewhere on the net.

IMHO, you should use Pedro Sauer's requirements since they seem to be the most comprehensive and will certainly overlap Ralph's.

He has a great DVD set called White Belt to Blue Belt, or something to that effect.

That's the one we learned the other night. Instead of just locking up that near arm we would try an Americana we sink in with our leg. Then we worked on the Americana, Kimura, and straight arm bar on that far arm. If lifts his head to see what you are doing to that arm we stepped over his head and got a triangle and still worked on that far arm. It is absolutely brutal. It immediately went to the top of my attack list. I think it's my new favorite shit.

It's funny you mention landing in KG, because I thought the exact same thing. Starting from the knees is new to me so last night I looked up a couple of Youtube videos on takedowns and I am going to try this one out. It starts at 1:44:

Last night we went over Knee on Belly, the Kimura, Armbar, and D'arce choke from Knee on Belly. Worked the Omoplata, and a transition to a RNC if you can't sink the Omoplata. We worked a double leg take down and tripod sweep. We also worked the transition to North/South from Side Control and from N/S into an arm triangle.

On top of all that I did pretty well on everything I wanted to work on. I decided last week that I have had enough of being pinned in side control. I never got flattened once and either swept or got to at lest Half-Guard every time I ended up in Side. I really like this escape and had great success with it last night. See video below.


I also did very well keeping my breathing under control. Only once did I forget about it and start wearing myself out. Out of the 15 three minute rounds I rolled, I thought that was pretty good.

I dominated quite a few people from Side Control, Kesa Gatame, and the Crucifix positions. I'm starting to like just staying in Side instead of Mount. It is a lot more stable and I am able to hold position better.

I worked take-downs from the knees all week long and didn't use one once. Maybe I'll get a chance next week.

I ordered Roy Dean's Blue Belt video to supplement my Gi and No-Gi classes I do once a week, Jiu-Jitsu University and Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu books and what I find online. It should be here this week and I'm going to see what I can learn from it.

http://www.amazon.com/Brazilian-Jitsu-Blue-Belt-Requirements/dp/B001ADKATC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Here is the Side control escape I mentioned I liked:

good to know, im still working my way through the "BJJ Over 40" set from Roy Harris.

I would also very highly recommend the books Jiu-jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro and if you want to improve your take-down game check out Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu by Dave Camarillo. The ladder focuses on combining Judo and BJJ. These books, Roy Dean's dvd, and the videos I find on Youtube combined with drilling every other day on the grappling dummy I built have me tearing up the other white belts and holding my own with some of the higher belts at my gym.

One other great resource is Grapplearts.com and his free email newsletter. I can't tell you how much I have learned from Stephan Kesting.

I found Renzo's book a while back. It's pretty good, but I have seen better.

LOL. One step ahead of you. Ive got Jiu-Jitsu University, Guerilla Jiu Jitsu AND Stephan Kesting's Roadmap to BJJ program.
Unfortunately I rarely get any actual gym/rolling time. I may be making a few changes to make that happen soon.

Good info guys, I'm on Keastings mailing list as well and a couple others iirc.

I'm actually going to have to hunker down and really study, at 43 I just received my 4th white belt stripe. I didn't expect it as I thought I had more to go yet but our Professor thought I rated it so...

Coming up on that blue belt now and I it's going to be tough to earn. I don't have the stamina that the younger guys have but I have strength and patience, I try and be very methodical and plan my movements on a direct route to where I want to go... without being transparent. Kind of backwards from people expect from a white belt but age requires different tactics.

I do Keastings list, Submissions 101 on Youtube, BJJ over 40 by Roy Harris and the GB Fundamentals program (even though Ive been through it several times already).

eta: Beyond Grappling is a good list to be on as well.
http://www.beyondgrappling.com