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

Javier “Showtime” Vasquez will be teaching a seminar at 10th Planet Van Nuys, August 31st! He will be going over his SES method, a system based on the opponent having you in side control. For those of you not familiar with Javi, he is one of the most legit guys out there. He’s well versed in self defense, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (gi and no-gi),  Submission wrestlilng, and MMA. He’s competed at the highest levels of those sports in ADCC, King of the Cage, Grapplers Quest, Shooto, UFC, and WEC. I couldn’t be more stoked to have him coming down to our gym. CALL TODAY to reserve your space. This will sell out! (818)781-(JITS) 5487

Javi’s Bio
“Born in Santiago, Cuba on April 27, 1976, Javier Vazquez came to the United States at the age of four. He grew up in El Monte, California and started wrestling as a sophomore at Arroyo High School at the age of 15. In 1994 he placed 3rd at the CIF wrestling tournament and continued his stellar high school career by placing 4th in the Southern Section Masters tournament. He was just one match away from placing in the high school state wrestling championships, ending up in the top 12 in the state at 130 lbs. He was voted team captain in both his junior and senior years. He continued his wrestling career at Mt. San Antonio College where he again proved himself to be one of “the best of the best” by finishing 7th in the state and being voted team captain for his leadership on and off the mat.” click here for full wiki

We just got ourselves a new Dollamur Swain landing pad! These things are wonderful for practicing high impact slams, throws or flying attacks on. No more knocking the wind out of ourselves when trying out that flying triangle or armbar! Students can be tentative trying out these moves sometimes because of the the fear of landing hard, and possibly injuring themselves. Not anymore! These things feel like your landing on a nice cushy cloud. Not only are they good big huge double leg slams, but we can now practice our pro-wrestling moves on each other as well. Look for more fun things to come from this essential piece of training equipment!

10th Planet Van Nuys’s New Dollamur Swain Landing Pad

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

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

Posture breaking is essential for Jiu-jitsu, Submission Wrestling, or MMA. This is a continuation of a series which addresses basic posture breaks depending on where your opponent places his hands.

CSW Coach Level 3, Brian Yamasaki demonstrates a series of basic posture breaking methods to deal with a variety of different hand positions and hold downs.

In Free Trip to Brazil,” MMA legend Eddie Bravo told us about his unlikely victory at the North American trials for the ADCC Submission Grappling World Championships, the best competition of its kind on the planet. In part three of this FIGHT! Life series, Bravo, who arrived in Sao Paolo, Brazil as a brown belt surrounded by black-belt masters, recounts his now-legendary fight with Royler Gracie, the undisputed top dog in the sport who had never given up a single point in his career. Bravo had nothing to lose. Heres what happened.

Produced and directed by Matthew Ross. Shot by Rick Lee, Marc Rizzo, and Randy Ward. Edited by Ashley Cahill and Ryan Jackson-Healy.

Eddie shows how to get the armbar from the rubber guard using the pump.

Brandon Quick on Mission Control to Crocodile and the dominance of the Spider Web

pt.3

pt.2