10th Planet Watch – 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys Blog

As of recently I was perfectly happy with the rule set in BJJ. Alright, I lied a little bit, I’m really unclear as to the system of advantages that the IBJJF use. It’s not for a lack of trying to figure them out either. So, maybe I’m not completely happy with that, but otherwise, I’m ok with it. I think there’s always going to be a place for the point system. It system was put into place to make a game out of self defense so we could compete against each other so see who the best martial artist was. This can lead into the whole self defense vs. sport bjj argument which I’m not going to get into today, that a different topic. The point system represents moving into a more advantageous position. The idea is if this were the streets or a fight of whatever, we would theoretically be able to inflict more damage without sustaining as much, thus we’d be “winning the fight.” By no means is it a perfect system, but it was the best we had.

Lately there’s been a string of great “submission only” tournaments. The rules in these tourments are simple. The person who wins by submission wins, and continues in the tournament. If there is no submission, both competitors lose. It may seem harsh, but there’s some definite advantages to this style of competition. Here’s a few things that I like.

1. Submission only cuts down on “grey area” wins. There’s a ton of arguable calls in jiu jitsu. Many times refs aren’t 100% sure what the rules are because they’re not very specific at times. What I call a pass, sometimes isn’t a pass to another referee. There’s too many subjective calls. This can leave fans, and competitors alike with a bad taste in their mouths. I can’t tell you how many people who may have otherwise gone to more competitions, either to watch or participate, were turned off by the whole thing, because of grey area calls.

2. Sub only discourages stalling. If you came to pass the guard, get 2 points and stall out the rest of the match, this kind of contest is not for you. We have a joke at 10th Planet Van Nuys about losing 2-0 to a wrestler. The wrestler who have little to no submission ability will enter a Jiu Jitsu tournament, take his opponent down, and then shut down for the rest of the match. I don’t feel doing the bare minimum, and laying on top of somebody represents winning. The term wet blanket was coined for these type of fighters.

3. Sub only promotes action! The idea is that in submission only tournaments, if you’ve trained for a month, paid an entry fee, dieted, cut weight, waited around for hours for your name to be called, you’re not going there just to lose. That mean’s you’re there to win, and the only way to win, is to go for submissions. If 2 combatants are in there trying to win, you’re going to see Jiu Jitsu at it’s most exciting.

4. It’s more fan friendly. Having fans will make the whole sport grow. If the sport grows, maybe we’ll see it in the olympics. Even if submission only was the gateway drug that led you to get into the point system eventually, wouldn’t that be good? If a casual fan goes to a tournament, they soon learn, even though they might have paid 10-20 dollars to get in, this tournament is not for them. Most of the time, you can’t see the clock, so you don’t know how much time is in the match. You can’t see the score cards. They’re usually set up so that only the competitors can see them. As a coach, I usually can’t even see them. In many cases, especially with advantages, fans don’t know the rules. Forget the fans, like I said earlier, coaches and competitors are unclear with the rules because of subjective grey areas. If there’s 6 matches going on at a time, and you are trying to watch 2 at the same time, if you look away and you miss points, you’re lost because you can’t see the score cards. Submission only takes all that away, either the match ends in submission and you see somebody tapout, or you see two people walk off the mat, not to return that day. It’s simple and easy to follow.

Now, I admit, sub only isn’t perfect either, it’s going to have shortcomings too. However, it does have some really great points. I’d love to start seeing more of the really big names in the sport come out for the sub only format, just like in Metamoris. The Gracie Worlds is coming up January 20th, in Los Angeles. Hopefully we’ll see a big turn out.

Coach Alder Hampel
10th Planet Van Nuys

This is continued from yesterday’s blog Passing the Guard is 80% of Jiu Jitsu!

Let’s say I pass the guard, mount, move to knee on bell, take the back, etc. I’m still going to have to avoid my opponent countering, and being put back into the guard. We’re constantly, passing, recovering, passing and recovering. There are in fact, very few times a person doesn’t need to be concerned, at least a little bit, with “passing the guard.”

My point is this, where should we be spending most of our time when we’re looking up new techniques, drilling, game planning, and practicing? I think I can make a good argument for activities revolving around the guard. I feel that much of your game, especially in the beginning should have the guard in mind. Many of your most sexiest submissions will be much easier to get once you’ve successfully mastered guard passing. It’s really one of the foundation of Jiu Jitsu.

I’m not here to change your game or to tell you what to do. All I’m trying to do is give a little insight. Take a step back, try to look at the game as a whole. Now ask yourself this; “How would working on my guard passing really help my game? If so, how? How could it help me as a bottom player, even if I don’t like to play top?” Now whatever your answer is, go to practice, and start coming up with some answers! If you come up with some arguments, let’s hear them, I’d like to open up a discussion on how you feel about it.

Coach Alder Hampel
10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys

Passing the guard is 80% of the game of Jiu Jitsu! At least according to my not so scientific calculations. I didn’t spend anytime researching that number, I didn’t review any stats, I just declared it as of right now. How did I come to that conclusion? Well, the statement was made specifically to get your attention. Did it work? I guess I could have said something like, it’s 97.7% of the game, that might have been more shocking, but probably less believable. Anyways, now that I have your attention, let me get to my point.

Guard passing gives you freedom! I don’t want anybody telling me where I can and can’t go. The more options I have to move about the body, the more options I can go when I’m shut me down in one way or another. It will also give you the mobility to get into advantage positions, (mount, back, north/south). It will give you the ability to control, and submit at a higher clip, because your opponent has less tools from which to defend with. On the other side of the coin, being on your back, passing will keep you from being put in these bad positions. Knowing what the top player is going to do before he does it, will allow you to stifle, and counter.. Thus, keeping you safe, while putting them into worse positions.

Today, I can’t imagine a world where I can only use submissions from the topside of the guard. If you decide to bypass passing you’re limited to a very small game. You don’t have to pass to submit your opponent. D’arces, neckcranks and foot locks are all available. There’s some crazy kamikaze fly over or rolling techniques that are available as well. I look at these moves as shortcuts, and although you may be able to tap your opponents now, once people figure out that’s your game, they will be less likely to be taken off guard. I know this all too well from experience. When I first started Jiu Jitsu, I was all about the quick submission. I wanted to beat you as fast as I could. It was my own ego trip. I wanted to trick you with superior technique. When I watched Ken Shamrock heel hook Pat Smith at the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship, I wanted to be just like that! I thought if I could sub you quick with some wild foot lock, I wouldn’t need to get good at clearing the legs and passing the guard. It worked well for a while, but once guys figured out that was my schtick` I got crushed. Point is, there’s not substitution for hard work and consistency.

In Jiu Jitsu, the match always starts standing, right? Yes, and takedowns and techniques from standing are important, I wont dispute that. You don’t have to stay on the feet for very long however, even if the rules in a tournament require you engage, touch, or are even penalized for pulling guard. The fact is, if you want to nullify the wrestling advantage, you can pull guard, and butt scoot towards your opponent. So basically, if I trained since I was 5 at wrestling, and I got into a match with a jiu jitsu guy, and he just dropped to his bum, all that skill and experience would be taken from me at that point. Now, I’m forced to what? Play the guard passing game. Now if I’m the guy who pulled guard, I’m not playing the guard passing game right? No, actually that is incorrect, I AM playing the guard passing game. I’m having to defend the guard pass. Even if, simultaneously, I’m trying to sweep, I still have to make sure I don’t leave an opening for the top player to pass.

Guard passing can be overlooked quite a bit. I’ll see guys working on the latest and greatest techniques without any context of the big picture. Many times they’ll completely overlook how they are going to get to the technique they’re practicing. They’ll be practicing the move like it exists in a vacuum. I suggest this, whenever you work on a new technique, have an idea what would have lead you that position. Most times you can trace it right back to the guard. This kind of thinking is what builds great game plans because it forces you to connect the right techniques together in a series. ie takedown > guard pass> mount > armbar or guard pull > sweep > pass > americana. When this is done smoothly, and with efficiency you’ll get a beautiful chain of events that looks like a work of art.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog for part 2!

It’s hard to believe that we’re almost 50 episodes in to “Mastering the System.” Each episode is always chalk full of Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, comedy, celebrities and much more. Most importantly, Eddie shows his curriculum for that month in each episode. This gives fans and up close and personal look at exactly what moves are being taught at the 10th Planet headquarters at the Tapout gym in beautiful downtown Los Angeles. up at 10th Planet Van Nuys, all the guys can’t make it down to HQ on a reglar basis, so they can watch from the comfort of their own homes.

Below is a breakdown my minutes and seconds as to what all is in the video. If you like what you see, you can watch the full videos when you sign up for a premium account, at www.10thplanetjj.com. Most online programs can be a lot of money, but you can watch Eddie’s videos for 5 bucks a month! If you’re not in the know, it’s a hell of a deal. You can learn exactly the same stuff we learn, he’s not holding anything back. If you don’t like it, cancel your membership, there’s really nothing to lose. Even if you hate Eddie Bravo, you can watch this to be a better basher too.

MTS 49: Sub Only Rules

In this episode:
00:00:15 – The Hangman
00:03.54 – East Coast Training Camp 2
00:08:04 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Rules Meeting
00:13:04 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 1
00:18:40 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 2
00:20:52 – Skydive – to Zombie from the top – to Head & Armpit – to Arm Triangle
00:31:23 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 3
00:34:20 РVinny Magalḥes promoted to 10th Planet Black Belt
00:44:33 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 4
00:50:16 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 5
00:55:31 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 6
00:59:32 – The Future of 10P (Featuring Jacob Harris)
01:03:22 – Skydive – to D2 – to Head & Armpit – to Gangsta Lean – to S Mount – to Mono Plata – to Straight Jacket – to Special K – to Spiderweb -to Arm Crush – to Arm Bar
01:13:10 – 8-man Sub Only Tourney – Match 7 Final
If you need to upgrade to watch: http://www.10thplanetjj.com/payments.php

Here’s an older episode, MTS 47. If you like this one, go watch the new one!

Don’t have long finger nails. This is my personal pet peeve. I will never show you the secrets of how I use deep half guard or how I dim mak ninjas, if you slice me open with your talons. It’s really easy to cut somebody inadvertently, make sure you keep and extra set of nail clippers in your gym bag. Hell, bite your nails for all I care. Just get it done. I have a scar right between my eyes from a disrespectful training partner that forgot to trim his nails. I have to be reminded daily when I look in the mirror, of how much I hate this.

No talking to your partner while the instructor is teaching. You can help out your training partner when the instructor breaks to practice back and forth, but don’t distract him before then. You should probably stop talking when the instructor is pointing out details, or making corrections, during the drilling. Not to mention the fact that you are probably distracting the other students from trying to hear what is being said. Everybody is there to learn from somebody who has lots of experience, not the white belt who wants to show off to the other new white belt how much technique he has. (or thinks he has.)

Please don’t roll or drill with mat cooties. If you have nasty on your skin, and you still want to train, you can go for a run or do some tape study. Please don’t go roll around with guys no matter how much you want to. In the long run getting sick leads to people quitting or worse, getting super sick. Don’t be greedy, take a couple days off, go see the doctor and get it taken care of.

Handle all of your open wounds. Nobody wants to get bled on! It’s gross! If you get a cut it’s one thing, you have to expect it a little bit of that, but if you’re bleeding all over and it could have been prevented, people are going to be turned off. Take 3 minutes before hand to cover up any wounds, and tape them up. Band aids always get knocked off when you get all sweaty. I haven’t even talked about how you can get sick from infections, which can lead to other ways to be a bad training partner.

I have another couple blog posts out of this subject. I hope I’m making Jiu Jitsu a more pleasurable sport for you and your team. Please feel free to post this, or tell your partners what I’ve said, just keep the information out there. Problems can arise when you have expectations that the other students already know this stuff. Never expect it’s “common sense” for people to know these things. They’re busy thinking about how they’re going to sweep you, or how to make their technique smoother, rather than thinking about being a better training partner.

Coach Alder Hampel

10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys

www.10thplanetvannuys.com

Training partners are one of the key to you success in Jiu Jitsu/MMA

After a tremendous success, we’re bringing back our coaching program to 10th Planet Van Nuys. If you’re a serious student, and you’re looking to make Jiu Jitsu a serious part of your life, this class is for you. Whether you want to own your own gym one day, help corner fighters, teach classes, or just get better and more involved, this class is for you. I’ve told my class this several times, but I’m serious when I say this, this is the BEST class we’ve ever had at the gym.

If you don’t know my story of why I got into coaching, here it is. I was just a regular old purple belt looking to do something more with my bjj. I wanted to find a reason to be around the gym more, I wanted more responsibility so I wouldn’t slack on my training. I wasn’t must of a competitor, and I never really had any serious interest in fighting MMA, but I still wanted to find a reason to show up everyday outside of just loving the sport and staying in shape. I ask my friend and training partner Brent Littel for some advice. He told me to find some white belts who needed some extra work, and start helping them get better. Fast forward a few years, and here I am, a full time coach, running my own 10th Planet affiliate.

If you’re a full time member of 10th Planet Van Nuys, and you want to jump in there’s still some time left. Contact us at info@10thplanetvannuys.com

Coach Alder Hampel

www.10thplanetvannuys.com

Coach Ryan Bradford’s new blog, www.awesomeniujitus.com, is up and running!!! Ryan is one of the smartest, and most analytical coaches we have at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys. He’s also one of my oldest and most loyal students. He’s followed me all over this Valley. His dedication is what every coach hopes to get from a student.

What makes Coach Ryan different is he can break the science of jiu jitsu down to atoms. When it comes to teaching a curriculum, he “gets it.” What makes him so effective, is that he’s an educator by trade. Teaching is what he does best. Look for big things to come out of Coach Ryan in the next year. He and I are working on some amazing projects as we speak!

Prepare to be dazzled! This blog is definitely for the jiu jitsu geek in all of you! You will learn something new, and be entertained at the same time.

www.awesomejiujitsu.com

If you’re interested in coming down and learning from Coach Ryan, or another of our instructors at 10th Planet Van Nuys, visit our website. We’ve got some awesome free offers on there.

In the last article we talked about the importance of training partners, you can check out that artcle here. This is part 2.

Please, be kind to your training partners! These people are the ones helping you get better, train for tournaments, teach you new moves, give you details on existing moves. It’s not a competition to see who can hurt each other the best. This is already a rough enough sport, we don’t need to be getting injured every time we show up to class. This might seem pretty obvious, but don’t bully people. Yes, I am talking to you adults! What does that prove? Ok maybe, you’re entertained at some poor saps expense, but what happens when there’s no more poor saps to torture, because you’ve ran them all out of the gym. A bad training partner can make an otherwise fun sport a terrible experience. I’ve seen people avoid certain classes to avoid problem training partners. I’ve also heard of seen people leaving gyms because the owner or the coach never addressed these bad training partners and people were either injured or abused. At 10th Planet Van Nuys my coaches and I are very careful to address people who may be abusing their partners. I make sure they understand what they’re doing is not cool. If they continue to do it, I wont hesitate to protect my team, and remove that person from our gym.

Another thing to watch out for is the opponent resisting 100% or reversing the position on you during training. I’m not talking about when you’re rolling live, I’m talking about when we’re learning a move and drilling it. If I’m working my technique and the person keeps blocking my technique, chances are they’re, not helping, they’re just being a jerk. Maybe you have all the best intentions in the world by trying to show him what could happen, but first let’s learn the move before we start talking about the options of what could happen when some body does, “this or that.” Let your partner do the move, help them, correct them, but it’s just annoying if you shut them down. Sometimes it can be helpful, you don’t want your opponent getting in repetitionss of something that is incorrect, but you don’t have to go hard and fight them in order to show them what they’re doing is incorrect.

I’ll write some more on this later, you can always learn to be a better training partner. You can’t write enough material on this subject, if nobody talks about it, you’ll continue to have bad training partners. If you don’t want to speak up and tell your training partners about this stuff because it’s uncomfortable, then just link you’re team to this article.

Coach Alder Hampel

10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys

www.10thplanetvannuys.com

Something I address frequently at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys, is the value of having a good training partner. They can be very influential in your Jiu Jitsu career. This may seem obvious, but sometimes we need a good reminder. A good training partner, just like a coach, can be somebody that will help you to becoming a better practitioner. Brent Littel has been one of my best training partners/mentors over the years. He has helped me get to where I am as a player ,and as a coach. He’s kept me accountable when I was slacking. Without people like him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. You and your partner form a sort of think tank, where you can bounce ideas off of each other. You can form solutions as a team that you may not have thought about on your own. For the most part, our sport requires you do most of the movements on, or with another person. I’m a big fan of solo drilling, bridging, rolling and shrimping without a partner, but the majority of stuff is more fun, and more effective with another human being.

What I myself look for in a good partner is first and foremost, trust. I’m putting my safety in this person’s hands, I sure as hell don’t want to get hurt by a careless/crazy/ego driven person. I need to feel comfortable with them to be able to focus on my technique, and not be afraid he’s going to snap my arm. If I’m practicing a move, and I’m worrying more about that person spazzing out on me, my technique is going to suffer. If I don’t trust somebody, I don’t want to train with them. Will I? probably, I’ll make the best out of the situation, but I’ll be very careful as to what I let happen.

I’m careful in who I choose to roll with as well. I’m very concerned with injury. If I feel my partner will try to spike me with a power bomb while trying to get out of a triangle, I won’t roll with him. If I feel a partner will potentially put his knee on my orbital to escape a kimura, I wont roll with him. If everybody has this mentality, it should hopefully force the bad apple to either change, get kicked out or quit. Either way that’s a win for the team. Contrary to popular thought, you’re not a “wuss” if you choose to not roll with a certain partner, to avoid getting hurt.  I’ve accepted the fact that I’m going to get injuries here and there, but if it’s avoidable, I’d rather pass on training with a jerk today, than not roll tomorrow. I’m getting to be an old guy, I’m a product of the 70’s, I’d rather train smart, than be a tough guy and sit on the sidelines icing my wounds.

Part 2 coming tomorrow, stay tuned!

Coach Alder Hampel

www.10thplanetvannuys.com

Want to learn Jiu Jitsu? www.10thplanetvannuys.com

Joe Rogan (www.joerogan.net) had stuntman, MMA fighter, The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 contestant, gym owner and all around great guy, Tait Fletcher on his show. At a certain point they gave 10th Planet Van Nuys (www.10thPlanetVanNuys.com) a nice little shout out. Thanks for the plug guys!

The Muay Thai gym Rogan mentions is Saekson’s Muay Thai, run by Julio Trana Jr. and the family www.vannuysmma.com

Paragon, 10th Planet, Saekson Muay Thai, Defiant, Gracie Barra, Sityodtong, and So Cal fight factory all came out to watch UFC 152 at Orochon Ramen in Burbank, CA.

For information on us, go to www.10thplanetvannuys.com

For all my 10th Planet people in the Greater Los Angeles area. 10th Planet Van Nuys is meeting up to watch the fights tonight at black belt, Master Shigeki Matsuda’s world famous, Orochon Ramen. He has a beautiful, brand new San Fernando Valley location. Located on San Fernando, near Orange Grove.

If you’ve never been to a team even before, come experience how we get down. We’re tons of fun!

Test you spicy skills! Finish Orochon’s signature Spicy #2 in under 30 minute, and forever be immortalized on the wall of Bravery. Many have tried and failed, but your’s truly, Coach Alder is amongst that elite who has prevailed.

Prelims start at 5pm pacific
Main card 7pm

Ben Sample of HQ and Mike “Lobes” Frausto of 10th Planet Van Nuys both DEMOLISH their opponents both under 1 min. Not quite the way you would have expected it. First, Lobes defeated his opponent with vicious knees to the body. It’s likely he broke his opponent’s arm in the process.

Ben crushed his adversary, David Lee a grappling stud and standout under Barrett Yoshida, with an Anderson Silva style beat down. Throwing lazer beams to every part of the body, it was something else to watch. He KO’d him in just 19 seconds.

Big shouts out!

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