Notes on keeping the BJJ studio/participants clean.

People who participate in close contact sports such as BJJ are susceptible to a variety of contagious bacterial skin infections such as MRSA, Staph, Strep, Ringworm , Impetigo.

Many bacteria can move, often by swimming through liquid. Sweating can mobilize bacteria, spreading it to other parts of your body or to other people’s bodies via the skin or the gi. Many can start when bacteria get into an open wound such as cut, scratch, abrasion, open sore or insect bite.

What the Academy does to reduce risk of contracting/spreading infections:

*Mats are mopped with bleach prior to the first class of every day.

*If blood gets on the mat, it is immediately cleaned up with bleach.

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What individuals should do to reduce risk of contracting/spreading infections:

*If you have open sores and don’t know what it is ,see a doctor to determine what it is. Notify Dax of any suspicious sores you might have.

*Don’t walk barefoot outside of the academy. Use shoes, flip-flops when going to the bathroom or outside. Also do not walk on the mat with shoes on.

*Take a shower within an hour of working out, the sooner the better There is less than a 2 hour gestation period for most micro-organisms to take effect.  This is probably your best defense against the spread of  bacterial skin infections. If you assume you picked up a bacteria, how soon would you shower?

*Wash your gi after every class, preferably within 2 hours of working out. Many bacteria survive on surfaces and fabrics. Washing your gi protects you and our BJJ partners. Same with rashguards, kneepads,towels, etc: after every practice.

*Cover any open sores or cuts with tape, gauze, bandaids, whatever is necessary.

*Wipe off any open sore/wound with anti-bacterial sanitizer, or soap  immediately after class.

*Make sure you clean any blood off your gi as soon as possible.

*If you have an contagious skin infection, stay off the mat. This will keep it from spreading to other members. After whatever you have is no longer infectious, you can return to the mat.

Marcelo Ferreira Promotion Seminar 2010

Another Promotion seminar has come and gone, and as you can see, the Razzano Academy had a good turnout. three of us were able to get down to Evansville for the Friday class with Marcelo, and the rest came down for the Saturday Seminar. Marcelo focused on the graduation ceremony movements for Brown belt graduation at his school. he broke down the series to digestable sections. Bruce said is plan is to some day replace the seminar format with the model Marcelo uses, one of a big graduation party where students do demonstrations for the group. the last couple of years, Marcelo's seminars have been butressed by cultural aspects of graduation taking it beyone just promotion. And as time passes, the returning students find themselves a part of an ever-growing family. great to see Marcelo and Lila again, as well as Bruce and his entire group! Here some pics of the seminar (from the Razzano Academy perspective)

A special congrats for Bret who got his black belt! After rolling with him, Dax can attest to his abilities. An unforgettable day for him, especially when we cleared the mat and he rolled with Bruce!  As one of our students watching Bruce roll with Brett is like watching Dax roll with a blue belt. It never ends, the learning and improvement.

Baaulio Estima Seminar

Braulio Estima? personable, charismatic, current adcc world champion, great teacher.

Bruce brought him to Evansville Jan 30th 2010 for a seminar, another great seminar with one of the greats of Brazilain Jiu Jitsu.

I have read that he has of of the greatest closed guard games around. As it turns out, that was indeed the focus of the seminar. Braulio started with some small tactics, things you normally do not call techniques, but elements that can be quickly shown, practiced and integrated into your game, things that can dramatically improve your game. Timing, position, leverage, control. Things to help hold your opponent down, to break down posture, maintain guard. Braulio made sure we understood conceptually the whys of what he had us drill, giving succinct explanations of the foundation of each element. He then built upon each element until we reached a position I will call an attack platform, where from this position, (you know, lapel pulled up under arm,around back of neck...well, come one in and it will be easier to show you!) Braulio demonstrated several submissions, having us rep each one for several minutes.

At one point, he stopped us to point out the video playing. (Bruce has video playing on the lcd panels in the room showing clips from Braulios fights). Braulio had us watch how he was controlling the opponent's posture, that he was using the same technique we were currently training. For Baulio, these techniques we were working on were "Gold". Enough said, point driven home.

At the end of the seminar, Braulio had us do effective rolling drill where he had students place themselves in the exact position we had used as a branching point for many of the techniques. Then had the student's opponent work to try and use the various attacks he showed us from that position. It was a good drill because it allowed the student to practice switching from one attack to the other, and gauge how it fits into their game, and also how much more it might need to be practiced to be effective. With three groups, one was always able to watch as others worked. Not only did we get to see Braulio roll, but many of us got to roll with him in this drill. He definitely favors picking opponents up, twisting them with his feet and dropping them directly into armbar!

The minutes after the seminar gave a view of his relaxed, playful personality. Most of the photos being taken had him goofing for the cameras, putting an exaggerated choke on the person next to him. Braulio ended by encouraging the group with some inspirational antecdotes from his past (he didn't train with a black belt until he was a brown belt, and at the start, only once a month because of living in a small town where there were none). Gettng an insight into the minds of these BJJ greats is always as meaningful, if not more, as the actual techniques shown. It is what makes them great.

Rest assured, the following weeks will find us here at the Razzano Academy working on what we learned at Braulio's seminar. I mean, what do you think we pay Dax for, if it isn't to take good notes at these seminars, and then to bring it all back and make it a part of our game?

New Apparel is in!

Make sure you check out the new hoodies patches and grappling headgear that Dax got in.
SWEET! I can hardly wait to see the mouthpieces and kneepads...

royler gracie

You know the picture of Julio in our academy? Uncanny how much Royer looks like him.
It was like seeing a piece of history watching Royler come in to Bruces Academy, how everyone followed him across the room as he shook hands with every person in the room
How was the seminar? in a word, great. no real reason to go over all the techniques- we have done that in classes in the weeks after the seminar.
self defense section.
The flavor of the seminar was really defined by his personality, they stories he told. for example:

In responding to defense against a puncher when on ground, his response was that you should hug yourself to the person, and then he said he would wait for his brothers!
He also discussed attitude in competition; that the goal should be to win versus not losing...
In his academy, he always leaves thee door open- 2 reasons-so he can see who is coming, and to always have a ready exit.
As we worked on technique, he would pick out a student to work with, and have the student try the technique after it was shown. He would remind the student to go easy by using one simple word: "friend", which was very humorous, but got the point across.
As the student took the technique to submission, he would admonish the student to not tell anybody that Royler tapped.

To demonstrate his approach to competition, he discussed a fight his father had coming up with someone who publicly stated he couldn't be choked. the opponent used the news media to demonstrate: he had two people on each end of a rope, with the rope round his neck, and had them pull as hard as they could, unable to choke him.
during the match his father tried to choke his opponent but his hand cramped-he let it go, then returned to it later in the fight (how long?? 30 min??? I think that is what he said!) when the opponent was tired, his blood pumping- his father choked him unconscious. Royler added that the ref wouldn't call it because the opponent wouldn't tap... this was a demonstration of how to view attacks, with patience and timing.

On a more serious note, he discussed his last conversation with his father. Royler told his father he was going to move to the US and open up a school, but at that time, the economy was bad, and Royler wanted advice on whether to make the move. His father's response was that the economy wouldn't adversely affect him because in a bad economy, students still continue to train, and the cost of training isn't a deterrent; not like buying a car or a house..

Royler spent time on demonstrating the importance of transition- in one exercise he showed a fluid motion which moved from choke to sweep, then back to choke and so on. He stressed that the motion from one to other is what sets the following technique up. Sooner or later opponent gets behind.
Another nice concept came up when asked about when you can't pass guard and feel you have to. His answer: why do you have to? Make the person on bottom work , and wait to take advantage of any opening. He provided an amusing demonstration of how to stall so it looks like you are active. lots of motion but all for show. Since then in training, I often find myself waiting for the person on bottom to do something before trying to pass, and I have been amazed at how often it helps!
Training. Royler talked a bit about how to train new techniques. he said he trys out a new technique on white belts first, then moves on to blue, then to purple. if at any stage it strarts to break down, he goes back to the lower belt. It makes it clear what benefit a higher belt can get from working with a lower belt. It is a good place to practice techniques you don't feel as confident with.

Demian Maia

Thomas,Dax, Jeff at the Demian Maia Seminar. Not many pictures taken at this seminar, since it was just us, but it was a great seminar. Dax spent many classes integrating what we learned into his classes.

Jean Jacques Machado Seminar

It has been a while since we went to the Jean Jacques seminar, but anyone who has been coming to class in the last month knows that Dax has given us a heavy dose of what he brought back from the seminar.

I say "he" here because while "we" were at the seminar, what Dax brought back was also filtered by what he teaches and what he knows he has shown us. He would review what we got from the JJM seminar, but would add additional possibilities of attack that we are already familiar with.

The success of the seminar then is not just what was brought back from the seminar, but also how what you brought back is integrated into your game. Dax helped us do this by the extensive followup and integration with the rest of what he teaches.