It had been sitting in front of my face for quite sometime. What makes these guys so good? I knew what it was all along, but I was too stupid to take advantage of it. “Oh, that won’t make a difference,” I told myself. Finally, I cracked. It was time to drill, but not just normal drill, I mean get out there and practice moves untill perfection. No more lazy, drill a couple of times and go on under the false pretense that I had the technique mastered. All the athletes bursting onto the seen as of late do it, why not me? Maybe I was too stubborn or I saw some guys get good results with little drilling, I don’t know, but it was dumb. This epiphany hit me last week. I had seen the interviews before, but for some reason, it really hit me this time. I rewatched the Shoyoroll interview with American phenom, JT Torres (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0j8w0ylEos) and realized something: Team Lloyd Irvin takes their drilling seriously! I mean not just ‘When you drill in class, drill well’, but WHOLE classes dedicated to drilling. And I mean, with the results they’re putting on the table, how can you argue?
Once this hit me, I called up my main training partner, John Cordera, and he was feeling the same way at the time. We made the plans and went in Saturday for our first “real” drilling session: One move for five minutes straight of non-stop drilling, then we would trade off. We did this for a little over an hour untill it was time to go. By the time the five minutes was up for the move, and I mean maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I honestly felt like the technique was tighter, faster, smoother, and all around better than it was at the beginning. John and I made plans to continue this every Saturday from now on in an experiment that I’m sure will yield great results. One thing is for sure though, from now on I’m going to take the drilling part of class more seriously and I will take every extra chance I get to get on the mat and drill more. Let me know what your drilling habits are like, I would love to hear all about them.
An aspiring Jiu-Jitsu player's take on the world of BJJ
Showing posts with label jt torres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jt torres. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
J.T. Torres Vs. Caio Terra
Here is the the black belt light open finals match from the 2nd Southwest BJJ Classic between JT Torres and Caio Terra. I was actually surprised with the outcome, I expected JT to win, but not like this. Check it out. Also, if you want to watch more matches from this past weekend check out www.youtube.com/vinceo66. This channel belongs to a Nova Uniao student out in AZ who films as many matches as he can at the tournaments he goes to, so help support his channel.
2nd Southwest BJJ Classic (Review)
Over the weekend, the AZSBJJF and GD Jiu-Jitsu Events hit it out of the park with another stellar tournament at Mesa, Arizona’s Westwood Highschool. The event set an Arizona state record with over 600 competitiors!!
First of all, let me say this tournament was extremely well organized. All of the divisions ran on time and there were no complaints that I am aware of. Gustavo Dantas really showed once again why he puts on one of the best run tournaments out there.
Saturday, the kids started off the excitement. It was quite the sight to see: 200 children leaving it all on the line. With every tournament I keep getting more and more impressed with how the kids grow and show off their talent. The team title was taken by MMA Lab who always bring a tough group of youngsters to represent. Despite all the young hopefuls the biggest winner of the children was Brett Trivitt from the Lion’s Den, who had luck on his side in winning the raffle for the Nintendo Wii. Not a bad weekend if you ask me: Jiu-Jitsu and a free Wii, you can’t beat that.
Also, on Saturday were all of the blue belt divisions. One of the matches that really sticks out to me is the feather weight final between two Nova Uniao athletes, Jonathan Van Buren (GD Jiu-Jitsu) and Josh Rodriguez (ISMA). This was a very exciting, back and forth match in which Van Buren ended up claiming the victory by reverse armbar that you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCpe2p56Vk. The big winner of the day though was Alex Centner of (ISMA), who won the ultra heavyweight division and the open weight division. In what was another Nova Uniao final Alex submitted his opponent from the opposite end of the spectrum, the light feather division, Arnold Monterroso. Monterosso fought hard, but Centner proved to be too large and eventually caught a kimura, putting an end to day one.
First thing Sunday morning were the co-main events, the black belt light and heavy open classes. The light open pitted two of the toughest black belts out there against each other in the finals. JT Torres (Lloyd Irvin), who had no easy way to the finals beating the tough Samir Chantre(Gracie Fighter), faced off against an always game Caio Terra(Gracie Fighter). The two fought hard with JT coming out on top via armbar, taking home the ticket to Portugal. In the heavy open division finals we saw a rematch from the AZ State Championships, between Carlos Farias (Traven) and Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao). Bruno took the victory once again by one advantage point.
Sunday also brought about competition from the white, purple, and brown belts. Although everyone in these divisions put on a great show, I feel the standout of this day was “DJ” Jackson of team Lloyd Irvin. DJ put on a clinic submitting everyone in his weight and taking home the open weight purple belt division. Jackson definitely has a very bright future in Jiu-Jitsu. Also, the same day the third and final ticket to Portugal was raffled off amongst all the winners of each divison, leaving Matt Lowry of Gateway Martial Arts Academy the lucky winner of the weekend. As far as the team tournament goes, team GD Jiu-Jitsu took home the first place trophy with more than twice as many points as any other team at the competition.
I had a good personal experience at this tournament. Seeing as how this was my coach’s tournament, I not only competed, but helped at the tournament. Friday was the easy day helping set up, then Saturday I worked as matt coordinator all day, and finally Sunday I competed and worked again afterwards, then I helped break down the tournament as well. As for competing, I had one match with an always game Blayne Barlow (Relson Gracie) in the purple belt lightweight division. It was a fun match in which I won 10-2 and then I advanced to the finals where I closed out my division with my teammate. You can watch my match here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoYfa_DytUE. I also fought in the open weight where I had one match with a heavyweight from Megaton and lost 2-0. All in all it was a good experience and I hope to see you all at the next one!!
First of all, let me say this tournament was extremely well organized. All of the divisions ran on time and there were no complaints that I am aware of. Gustavo Dantas really showed once again why he puts on one of the best run tournaments out there.
Saturday, the kids started off the excitement. It was quite the sight to see: 200 children leaving it all on the line. With every tournament I keep getting more and more impressed with how the kids grow and show off their talent. The team title was taken by MMA Lab who always bring a tough group of youngsters to represent. Despite all the young hopefuls the biggest winner of the children was Brett Trivitt from the Lion’s Den, who had luck on his side in winning the raffle for the Nintendo Wii. Not a bad weekend if you ask me: Jiu-Jitsu and a free Wii, you can’t beat that.
Also, on Saturday were all of the blue belt divisions. One of the matches that really sticks out to me is the feather weight final between two Nova Uniao athletes, Jonathan Van Buren (GD Jiu-Jitsu) and Josh Rodriguez (ISMA). This was a very exciting, back and forth match in which Van Buren ended up claiming the victory by reverse armbar that you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCpe2p56Vk. The big winner of the day though was Alex Centner of (ISMA), who won the ultra heavyweight division and the open weight division. In what was another Nova Uniao final Alex submitted his opponent from the opposite end of the spectrum, the light feather division, Arnold Monterroso. Monterosso fought hard, but Centner proved to be too large and eventually caught a kimura, putting an end to day one.
First thing Sunday morning were the co-main events, the black belt light and heavy open classes. The light open pitted two of the toughest black belts out there against each other in the finals. JT Torres (Lloyd Irvin), who had no easy way to the finals beating the tough Samir Chantre(Gracie Fighter), faced off against an always game Caio Terra(Gracie Fighter). The two fought hard with JT coming out on top via armbar, taking home the ticket to Portugal. In the heavy open division finals we saw a rematch from the AZ State Championships, between Carlos Farias (Traven) and Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao). Bruno took the victory once again by one advantage point.
Sunday also brought about competition from the white, purple, and brown belts. Although everyone in these divisions put on a great show, I feel the standout of this day was “DJ” Jackson of team Lloyd Irvin. DJ put on a clinic submitting everyone in his weight and taking home the open weight purple belt division. Jackson definitely has a very bright future in Jiu-Jitsu. Also, the same day the third and final ticket to Portugal was raffled off amongst all the winners of each divison, leaving Matt Lowry of Gateway Martial Arts Academy the lucky winner of the weekend. As far as the team tournament goes, team GD Jiu-Jitsu took home the first place trophy with more than twice as many points as any other team at the competition.
I had a good personal experience at this tournament. Seeing as how this was my coach’s tournament, I not only competed, but helped at the tournament. Friday was the easy day helping set up, then Saturday I worked as matt coordinator all day, and finally Sunday I competed and worked again afterwards, then I helped break down the tournament as well. As for competing, I had one match with an always game Blayne Barlow (Relson Gracie) in the purple belt lightweight division. It was a fun match in which I won 10-2 and then I advanced to the finals where I closed out my division with my teammate. You can watch my match here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoYfa_DytUE. I also fought in the open weight where I had one match with a heavyweight from Megaton and lost 2-0. All in all it was a good experience and I hope to see you all at the next one!!
2nd Southwest BJJ Classic
October 16th and 17th marks the second installment of the Southwest BJJ Classic. This is sure to be an event you will not want to miss.
The AZSBJJF, in association with GD Jiu-Jitsu Events, is going big this time, giving away not one, but three tickets to Portugal for the IBJJF 2011 European Championships. Two of the tickets will be given away to the winners of the black belt light and heavy open divisions. With big names such as Bruno Bastos, Caio Terra, and Samir Chantre confirmed, this is sure to be an exciting event. The other ticket will be raffled off among every divisional champion. Not to feel left out every competitor in the children’s division will receive a raffle ticket for a chance at winning a Nintendo Wii. Also, all competitors who register by October 8th will not only save ten dollars on the registration, but will receive a free tournament shirt and issue of Graciemag.
The prizes and promise of great black belt action aren’t the only thing that make this tournament a worthwhile experience. Gustavo Dantas holds a very high standard for organization at his tournaments. The only fair comparison is that of an IBJJF event. I feel that those who are used to tournaments such as Grapplers Quest, Naga, and many other competitions will be pleasantly surprised with how smoothly things are ran at an AZSBJJF event. There is always a schedule offered with times on it, not just an ordered list that involves guessing. Plus, all referees are IBJJF certified and are a minimum rank of brown belt to insure that your matches are called fairly. Another defining factor is that there is a barricade between the competition area and the rest of the venue, which means no kids or unqualified persons running around on the mats getting in the way of competition.
With that being said I hope to see you all at the 2nd Southwest BJJ Classic. You can sign up and learn more about the event here http://strongvon.com/southwestbjj2. I will be there competing and supporting the event so come say hi if you have the time.
The AZSBJJF, in association with GD Jiu-Jitsu Events, is going big this time, giving away not one, but three tickets to Portugal for the IBJJF 2011 European Championships. Two of the tickets will be given away to the winners of the black belt light and heavy open divisions. With big names such as Bruno Bastos, Caio Terra, and Samir Chantre confirmed, this is sure to be an exciting event. The other ticket will be raffled off among every divisional champion. Not to feel left out every competitor in the children’s division will receive a raffle ticket for a chance at winning a Nintendo Wii. Also, all competitors who register by October 8th will not only save ten dollars on the registration, but will receive a free tournament shirt and issue of Graciemag.
The prizes and promise of great black belt action aren’t the only thing that make this tournament a worthwhile experience. Gustavo Dantas holds a very high standard for organization at his tournaments. The only fair comparison is that of an IBJJF event. I feel that those who are used to tournaments such as Grapplers Quest, Naga, and many other competitions will be pleasantly surprised with how smoothly things are ran at an AZSBJJF event. There is always a schedule offered with times on it, not just an ordered list that involves guessing. Plus, all referees are IBJJF certified and are a minimum rank of brown belt to insure that your matches are called fairly. Another defining factor is that there is a barricade between the competition area and the rest of the venue, which means no kids or unqualified persons running around on the mats getting in the way of competition.
With that being said I hope to see you all at the 2nd Southwest BJJ Classic. You can sign up and learn more about the event here http://strongvon.com/southwestbjj2. I will be there competing and supporting the event so come say hi if you have the time.
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