training Jan 24-30

A few of us gathered and we had a great time at Jims' house on Sat for the Affliction Party! Thank you Jim and Rene!

Today's training was great (Sun!) we worked on some good stuff from top position of the closed guard. good sparring today! The rest of the week, we will be working on neutralizing the closed guard and escaping and passing.

Congratulations to Andy Atkinson and Maxwell Shepard on their promotion to the Blue Belt!

Andy has been training Jiu Jitsu for a combined (had a little layoff) for two years. Not to mention he's been wrestling since he was 8! He has done everything that I've asked him to do concerning training. His guard game gets better every week and he puts a lot of time into Gi training. He is a great Jiu Jitsu guy with a very bright future! HE IS AN ABSOLUTE BEAST ON THE MAT! Also, really nice guy! (just don't get him mad ;-)

Max has been training for almost 3 years! Some time off here and there...but he also has brought up his gi training. I have seen Max change so much since he started with us that for me, it was a special night because I feel like he is a brother to me! WAY TO GO MAX!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH YOU MEN! VERY WELL DESERVED!

Training was great this morning, Fri at The Garage! I went up with Eric B, Ryan and Eric R.

-Michio

training Jan 18-24

We're into our third week of January, already! How are your Resolutions coming along? For me, I'm moving right along. I sustained an injury in practice yesterday to where I thought I was going to be out for a while! I was bummed! but right away, I started moving it, exercising it, and massaging it and refusing to let this overcome me. And today, the pain is A LOT less intense and even though I can't pick up much yet with that arm, I feel that I will be back in the mix within a few days! How's that for mind over matter! (I'm not saying this applies to all injuries) BUT I WILL NOT LET OBSTACLES STOP ME!

This week, we're continuing guard pass instruction along with controlling and attacking from the side mount. Guys are making great gains in their Guard Passing and I'm getting a lot of positive feedback.

We're shooting for a Chris Haueter seminar at the beginning of February. It's just a matter of securing the date. He will bring a good handful of some of his toughest guys! So, do whatever it takes to attend, it'll be a blast!



I hope you enjoy this technique video! It's one of my favorite chokes!

Affliction party at Jims' house this Sat! click comments below for more info...

-Michio

Training Jan 11-16

This week, we're continuing guard pass instruction. Passing a good Jiu Jitsu guys guard takes cunning, pressure, and a combintion of techniques. I'm getting great feedback from students about the selection of techniques that I'm choosing to teach. GOOD STUFF!

Speaking of good Jiu Jitsu guys: check out Charlie Grant in our FEATURED GRAPPLERS section. Charlie is a Team Leader, has abundant knowledge of Jiu Jitsu and it's application and all around great guy to be around. Thank you Charlie for everything that you do!

Pan Ams Jiu Jitsu tournament is right around the corner. The end of March. For those of you competing, get your conditioning up and start to increase your focus for this tournament. I will be adding an additional class for those competing soon. We already started to add more Jiu Jitsu tournament strategy in our Gi classes. Again, GOOD STUFF!!!

I'm heading up to train at Chris Haueters' this Friday. Some have expressed interest in going up with me to get some additional training in with some great guys. Let me know if you're interested in going up with us.

We will also have available soon new team T-shirts, rash guards, shorts, and gi patches, thanks to Max Sheppard!

Training at "THE GARAGE" was great today! Black Belt, Danny Suarez was there with some of his students and we did some no-gi. Plus, all of the tough guys made for some interesting match ups! Thanks Chris!

-Michio

Training Jan 4-Jan 9,2009

It's going to be a great year! and already off to a great start! Today, we had Jesse Taylor come in to train and the guy is an animal on the mat! He has been training Jiu Jitsu with us as a supplement to his MMA training with Team Quest, off and on for the last two years and his Jiu Jitsu skills keep increasing. Along with his conditioning, it's non stop action. Lots of fun! He has a fight coming up soon and I can't wait to see him kick some butt!

I have 10 major tournaments spread throughtout the year, on my calandar that I'm going to compete in. These tournaments are no joke. In the last week, I've put together a training plan for myself to get myself ready. When training time increases you have to know that the potential for injury goes up so, a priority for me is to train smart. I'll be competing at a bodyweight of 162lbs! so, a little bit of dieting is in order.

I have talked to so many people with intentions of attaining their goals but they have no plan. No plan = No follow through. What is your plan for 2009? What must you do and how are you going to attain your goals? If you'd like some input, bring me your goals sheet and I can tell you what I think (and I will keep it just between us)!

This week we're going to focus on leg attacks along with guard passing. I know I get a lot of students getting anxious to learn more top game because everyone's bottom game has improved so much! It's going to be a BLAST!!!

-Michio