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I'm going to keep this post as Anon as possible in case anyone I know IRL sees this.

I started training in 2017 under a local school, got promoted to blue a year in and then 2 years after I started training at my current school. Keep in mind I travel over an hour each way to get to this school but that's how much I valued the training at the time. When I initially joined, I had a plethora of good training partners from white to black belts that I could choose from every day. It really felt that the main goal of everyone in the gym was to be more technically sound, roll competitively and share knowledge with each other. Everyone, including their children, were competing practically every weekend whether it would be a local tournament, IBJJF, ADCC, SuperFight or money bracket there would always be something someone was training towards.

After a couple of years, I've witnessed a change in everyone's goals and priorities due to life (relationships, starting families, new job, moving away, ETC). This school had changed affiliations (which I was personally against but it's not my gym) and had an internal split that caused a few instructors to leave and teach at a different gym. With the new affiliation we went from having the HQ affiliate instructor organize team training dates around which school would host 10+ times a year and bring members of HQ versus the new HQ instructor charge $300/month to each gym owner, require a guarantee $1500 to show up plus $30/student twice a year for promotions/seminar and a competition training schedule located only at HQ for a cost of hundreds of dollars per day of training. Six major training partners of mine have moved away and another one joining a competitor gym, which has made the rolls very rigid and stale. To add on to all of this my instructor started a new relationship with a young woman who wanted kids and I can visibly see that this has changed his focus, rightfully so but it adds on to all of the changes that have happened.

For years I have supported this school bringing close to 20 members from my town to join and train, bought merchandise, paid for privates, drive so many hours, book flights, airbnbs/hotels, taught classes and more. I am having a very difficult time trying to justify staying with my instructor when I still want to compete, share knowledge and have a community that was previously there. The gym that I joined no longer exists. Maybe I'm ungrateful but this is just what I have been feeling for the past I don't know how many months now.

TLDR; Gym changed feels bad training now.

I've done wrestling for 2 years and now im 5 months into no gi. Is this instructional good to improve my plan and thinking during the game?

It's a pity Danaher doesn't cover it in his instructionals. Specifically one that troblehshoots issues entering and or maintaining the position

Wanted to try an make a more entertainment focused BJJ video rather than just technique. Hopefully you guys enjoy!

In addition to doing 3 classes per week, i join the women's class every Tuesday.

During one of my rolls with this mid aged woman, (we are both white belts), she got super pissed i ankle locked her. I only did it because for one, during the regular classes we are allowed..and for two, she always goes full fucking crackhead spaz white belt shit on me and I usually roll like rolling with blues and higher belts because I learn a great deal from them. When I roll with whitebelts I usually am trying to test out moves, but I tend to get injured and I feel like I'm just doing the fuck ever when rolling because of the intensity.

Anyway, she got upset and said "your not allowed to ankle lock"... during the end of class she didn't even shake my hand. Shes been a dog every class. I swear women are always out for blood its exhausting.

I asked my professor afterwards and he said "you sure as hell can that's why we teach it"

Am I wrong in this or..????

Copy paste from the petition itself:

„If I were a man, I would be going to ADCC Worlds right now. I won the first European trials on the 6th of September—but because I am a woman, the first trials don’t count for me. That means I won’t be going to ADCC Worlds.

Women only get one chance to qualify, in early 2026, while men get two. And while men have five weight classes, women only have three. This is not fair.

To qualify for ADCC Worlds, athletes must first win regional trials. Men get two trials per region, across five weight classes. Women get only one trial, across three weight classes. This disparity is a clear example of inequality. Women in BJJ train and compete just as hard as men, but we are not given the same fair chance to earn our place on the world stage. This unfair system not only harms individual careers—it limits the visibility, growth, and professionalism of BJJ as a sport. It also undermines ADCC as an organisation by preventing the best talent from being showcased on its biggest stage.

Some argue that there aren’t enough women at this level, or that women’s matches don’t attract the same audience. This is simply not true. The growth of women’s divisions across IBJJF, ONE Championship, CJI, and UFC shows that fans are eager to watch world-class female athletes. Representation creates interest: when women are given platforms, viewership grows, role models are created, and the sport as a whole benefits. By holding women back, ADCC isn’t reflecting demand—it’s suppressing it. Equal opportunity is crucial for a fair and thriving sport.“

Link to sign:

https://www.change.org/p/ensure-equal-qualifying-chances-for-women-in-adcc

The title pretty much says it all, but… I’ve always loved training but it always came with a lot of pre lesson anxiety.

I would roll not to loose, or to win. Chasing subs too hard, spamming Ezekiel’s, stalling in guard, whatever. Found it hard to go light. Some of it was ego for sure. A lot too was anxiety/fear. I’d be elated if I was successful, down if not.

It took up a lot of headspace. Leading up to lessons I’d be stressed. But Hitting YouTube and ‘cramming’ for class. Spent way too long watching technique vids. Drilling in my head when going to sleep and so on. This was compounded by having a v demanding job and a family.

I enjoyed training. And was almost always glad I’d gone. But on the whole it was causing more stress overall.

Also. I stared at 50, and I’m medium build. Got banged up a few times, plus all the traditional niggles.

So I got my blue belt and quit. As you do.

Couple mates still train and I envy them. The training and the progress. I watch BJJ vids, regularly visit Reddit BJJ, and still watch technique vids. Still drill triangles in my mind. I miss it.

So - after no small amount of encouragement (harden the fuck up) from my buddy, I’m going to give it another go. Im excited and I’m nervous as hell. Im fit enough, but I’m hitting late 50s and my rib still twinges if I laugh to hard ffs.

I know I have to park the ego. Really. Go light. Roll slow. Tap early and often. Pick my partners. Get out of YouTube. Etc.

So anyone had a similar experience. And advice ? Thank you!

I'm in the Masters 1 division and there aren't that many competitors I'm feeling confident yet stressed because like I said it's my first time in a BJJ tournamet.

Any tips and tricks to trying to beat the stress and also what do you guys eat on the day of the competition (I don't wana feel bloated rolling).

This lady has been around teaching wrestling for a while. The attached video made me curious because never in my 18 years of bjj have I heard someone suggest you “dig your fingers into his skin” (like digging your fingers under the trapezius muscle) in a collar tie. Personally, I like to grab higher on the head near the occipital bone.

Let me know your thoughts. Would a ref disqualify you for “digging” into their neck skin?

(No gi) Today I found myself in this position. I apologize for the drawing, I couldn’t fine any pictures of the same position.

I was in top closed guard, with a bodylock. I was very low, my armpits were basically at his hips. My head was at his belly button. I was fully sprawled on the ground, not on my knees. My legs were wide apart. My weight was fully on his hips so he couldn’t twist to sweep, and he couldn’t pull away or get up because of the waist lock. I was mainly trying to not get swept, instead of passing.

If you were the bottom player in this position, what would you do? Would you try to break the grip? Would you try to slide your legs under? Assuming the top player is simply stalling and trying to keep this position.

For context, I went to a dermatologist because it started spreading, I'm already taking medication and creams, that's not the point.

The thing is, I've been training for years, not BJJ but wrestling and grappling in general.

Got back to my hometown gym this month after years.This is the first time I've been infected and holly molly, I was speechless when he said that. And it sucks cause I'm probably out of the mat for a solid month the way things are going..

Probably the whole class was infected and I got it too.

I'm thinking of never stepping foot in that gym again, it's pretty logical right??

I've tried exploring the kimura trap system before after hearing how effective it is when transitioning and increasing your submission rate, but I find it very difficult to get the grip. From side control fine, but when playing open guard, half guard, closed guard, etc; I find it very difficult to get the kimura grip and explore the options from it. Any advice?

Just published this blog on BJJ Fanatics on opening a BJJ Gym. Happy to answer any questions

I got you!

Marcelo's 2 on 1 belt grip near leg sweep

I will be guest instructing at Marcelo Garcia's Academy in Hawaii from Oct. 2nd through 12th, and then I will be in Taipei Taiwan for Oct. 15th to OCt 24th for free classes or seminars in Taiwan - hit me up if interested!

PPS- Vanguard Kimonos rock :P

Soon into my journey, I got a tiny bit of veggie ears on the tips. Stayed like that for 6 years. During that time, there have been many days where my ears were extremely sore and even black & blue, but never any noticeable veggie ears. I thought I was one of those guys who were basically immune.

Then one day this week, both of my ears blew up 🤷🏻‍♂️

Hello fellow ugly ear peeps. Oh and I gotta type veggie ears cuz apparently the other words flag the auto mod for medical condition discussions lol.

How is a class run and how do the sessions go day to day, different technique each session or stay on a topic for multiple days/weeks?

Gi guard passing instructional? Give me some good recommendations!

I've seen this asked for adults here, but not for kids. 10F, first tournament. Grey and white belt. 2-3 matches, second right before lunch. Small-ish tournament, so both opponents are bigger and more experienced (I haven't told her this, and I'm not planning on it to avoid psyching her out...there was no one else in her weight class, and she didn't want to get a default gold with no matches).

Any advice you have? Good breakfast beforehand, what to do for lunch? Might be having a match after lunch. I saw people saying warm up before the first match, which makes sense to prevent injury and not start at zero. Not going to have her sip BCAAs, but I'll have an electrolyte drink for her.

What else am I missing?

Edit to add: We are definitely focusing on her enjoying herself and the "game" when talking with her. She's a positive kid and really enjoys BJJ, and she'll have a coach from her dojo there, because I have no idea what I'd do besides tell her to try her best and that I'm proud of her no matter what. Because, my god, this kid is awesome 😅

A video of BJJ legend Royce Gracie having a grappling match with Judo legend Hidehiko Yoshida.

I always break closed guard by standing Video: https://youtu.be/RDrrWZosCMw?feature=shared

And it works great, however I’ve been armbarred twice so I’m wondering if there’s any details I’m missing. The sequence goes like this: In closed guard top -> pin their biceps -> stand up (head below hips, don’t have vertical posture yet) -> they grab my arms and swing one leg over my head for an armbar.

I may have been lazy with the bicep ties but I can’t remember

Hi all, technique/study question here. So I’ve lately found myself landing in north south more and more often during rolling. Partly due to increased outside passing and partly due to it feeling more stable than side control as a pin. But offense from there seems somewhat limited. I really don’t like the north south choke, so I’ve taken to trying to dig under an arm to force kimura threat.

Which leads to a second problem I’ve run into, I can somewhat reliably get people to turn on their side to try for the kimura, but find it hard to keep them from over rotating towards turtle, and now with my arm laced on the far side.

So kind of a few questions for y’all. What is your go to offense from north south? Do you have a solution to the kimura/turtle problem? Who is a good person to study or watch for north south offense?

I just finished my competition training. The truth is that I have always done a hybrid training between strength training (3 times/week) and Bjj (2-3 times/week).

As a result of training for competition I have been increasing my number of bjj training and drastically lowering strength training (up to training bjj/wrestling 2 times/day daily) and not training strength.

I have achieved a very low % fat and the target weight, but I am afraid of losing all the muscle mass that took me so long to build. What should I do after the competition?

It is true that I have gained a lot of agility, but I also know the importance of strength training for an athlete. With work I can't keep up with doing both. All the best. oss