"12 Days Of BJJ Christmas" - A Christmas special...Happy Chokey-days!

On the first day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

A white belt and a white gi.

On the second day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Two bear hugs

A white belt and a white gi.

On the third day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A white belt and a white gi.

On the fourth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A stain on my once-white gi.

On the fifth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A stain on my once-white gi.

On the sixth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A stained and torn once-white gi.

On the seventh day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Seven cramps-from-shrimping!

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A stained and torn once-white gi.

On the eighth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Eight necks-a-cranking!

Seven cramps-from-shrimping!

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A sweat soaked and smelly gi.

On the ninth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Nine fingers jambing!

Eight necks-a-cranking!

Seven cramps-from-shrimping!

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A sweat soaked and smelly gi.

On the tenth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Ten heals-a-hooking!

Nine fingers jambing!

Eight necks-a-cranking!

Seven cramps-from-shrimping!

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A sweat soaked and bloodied gi.

On the eleventh day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Eleven pukers puking!

Ten heels-a-hooking!

Nine fingers jambing!

Eight necks-a-cranking!

Seven cramps-from-shrimping!

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

A puke stain on my soiled gi.

On the twelfth day of Christmas

My Professor gave to me

Twelve drillers drilling!

Eleven pukers puking!

Ten heals-a-hooking!

Nine fingers jambing!

Eight necks-a-cranking!

Seven cramps-from-shrimping!

Six guards-a-passing!

Five damn good guards!

Four pyramids!

Three arm bars,

Two bear hugs,

THE FIRST STRIPE ON THIS BELT FOR ME!

Stop the draMMA

I am tired of this election season.  I am tired of political Facebook feeds.  I am tired of social media friends trumpeting their political positions.  I am tired of on-line bickering.  I have grown extremely tired of phrases that start with, ‘I am so…’ and end with any of the following words: outraged, horrified, disturbed, offended, triggered, frustrated, appalled, disgraced.  I am just bored of it all; furthermore, I never once participated in this sort of public discourse.  Typically, I find harsh or emotional comments suspect.  And this type of on-line banter likely says more about the person making the comments than it does about the actual subject matter.  

Q:  So what do you do to fend off the negativity?  

A:  Why, I do BJJ of course!  I hit the mats!  I roll!  And I keep rolling.  It doesn’t matter if you are a republican or democrat, Christian or Muslim, man or woman; I have respect on and off the mat.

Q: But what if you are at home, away from the peaceful mats and you need to escape the negativity?  

A:  Why, I read about Jiu-Jitsu on the internets and watch videos that teach me how to choke people!  BJJ is my favorite form of escape...except when it is not:

A few weeks ago an article caught the ire of the BJJ community.  EVERYONE seemed to have an opinion...The Jiu-Jitsu Times, BJJEE, Reddit, Watch BJJ, are among the few sources that reported on Joe McCaffery’s self-promotion from purple belt to brown belt.  From white belts to black, from New York to San Diego, from Wisconsin to Agrabah...the personal attacks and opinions flooded the comments sections.  The negativity was overwhelming.  It must be something in the air.  Keyboard warriors began trumpeting their stances and some people lost composure.  Whether it is politics or BJJ, people just HAD TO have an opinion...And you know what they say about opinions they are like assholes; everyone has one...

On self promotion

I was riled after reading the article about Mr. McCaffery’s self-promotion.  People bleed for this martial art.  Every stripe involved some amount of blood and sweat.  Every promotion received is an honor and blessing (or curse...those first few purple belt tournaments might be a rude awakening for some!).  The path to promotion is arduous and the sacrifices made are significant.  It makes sense that hardworking members in the BJJ community would feel outraged.  Part of McCaffery’s argument was the BJJ community is dysfunctional and broken.  That’s, like, his opinion, man.  AND HE POSTS HIS SELF PROMOTION VIDEO FULL WELL KNOWING THE BJJ COMMUNITY WILL HAVE OPINIONS.  And opinions were made: he was challenged to fights, he was called a hoax, and he was called an embarrassment to the BJJ community.  Based on comments like these, many people felt threatened by the weight of McCaffery’s stunt.  He knew what he was getting into by posting the video.  He knew people would react harshly.  And those harsh reactions only proved the point he was trying to make...DON’T FEED THE TROLLS!  Rather than using words, let the mats be the judge and jury.  If he holds his own with other brown and black belts (at tournaments with a loaded bracket) then isn’t that enough proof?  If his blue belts are crushing it at tournaments, is that enough proof?  

I AM NOT DEFENDING McCAFFERY’S ACTIONS; his self-promotion bothered me.  I did not give myself my Bachelor of Arts degree, nor did I award myself my master’s degree--those degrees were earned according to the standards set forth by the universities I attended.  However, I did become an ordained Dudeist Priest in a click of a button (but that accolade is not present on my resume).  The Dudeist in me thinks that McCaffery’s belt really tied his GI together, did it not?  And that is all it does for him.  He chooses to be a joke or to be credible.  I don’t wish to play the game that he is playing.  If BJJ has taught me anything, it is to never carry the weight of my opponents; make my opponent carry my weight.  McCaffery put this video out there so that we would carry this weight.  Nope.  Not going to carry this.  We don’t need to waste anymore words on the topic.  Respectfully and quietly, place your weight back on him and his students--like you would do to any other opponent, self-promoted or not--let your Jiu-Jitsu do the talking.   Put your energy into your training because words will be lost, but answers will be found.  The mats won’t lie.

Gym Family

I am proud to call you family...Why? Because you all sacrifice so much in order to fight the best fight. Because you refuse to let your brothers down. Because you surround yourselves with coaches and teammates that support you. Because Ironworks is a place that you call home. (One of you nuts often sleeps there!)

Last night I saw solidarity in fist bumps, hugs, and hand shakes. The entourage of coaches, teammates and friends followed fighters to the cage in a show of support. I love watching the final bro-hugs before climbing the steps into battle. Each embrace is a final prayer for victory and safety. It was clear that you were fighting for more than yourself. Your fans, your family, your IRONWORKS brothers and sisters...a higher power helped you prevail.

It is your courageous entry into battle that emboldens my Jiu Jitsu journey. Whether I am learning, competing, or coaching, I am honored to do it as part of the IRONWORKS team. I am eager to teach you tools that will help your fight game evolve. As a result, my training never stops. I am not a seasonal warrior. There is no end to my learning.

Come to class and learn some fundamental grappling techniques. Get back to work and support your brothers stepping into the ring this October. I am sure Alexander Dashkov, Zach Buros-Nash, and Ben Ross could use your support. Challenge your ground game skills by entering tournament. Put on a gi and discover drowning and survival. Last night's battle may be over, but the war wages on! Go to IWTC. Sharpen that iron.

Proudly yours...you savages and savagettes,

Jon