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28. BJJ, Burmuda shorts and puffy shirts December 17, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in BJJ, Conceptual BJJ.
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fas016It’s coming to the end of 2008 and now is a perfect time to reflect on your game over the past year. This can come in many areas, but today I want to talk about the different factions of BJJ that you use whilst rolling.

To gauge such a thing I think it’s worth pondering the question – When you roll what percentage of ‘The game’ do you use?

By that I mean what proportion of the encyclopedia of BJJ do you try and execute during a standard roll? Do you play mainly guard, go for triangles and omo platas and repeat the process? Do you shoot straight to top control and work predominately from there, or do you alternate between playing top game, sometimes play guard, mix it up with some back control, plenty of sweeps, mount and a full range of submissions, transitions and strategies? (more…)

27. Too much or not enough? December 4, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Adam Adshead, BJJ, Conceptual BJJ, Inspiration, too much - not enough.
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BJJ is a battle of inches as they say and everyday we all walk the fine line between too much or notClipart enough.

Whether that’s using too much or not enough strength, being over active or under active during a roll, sinking your hooks in too shallow or nice and deep, playing loose and fluid or tight and rigid – the list goes on and on and on.

So what is the right amount of strength to use? How active do I need to be in a roll? How deep should I play my hooks? What is the perfect balance between being loose and fluid and tightly impenetrable?

Well the answer is… very complicated and also different for everyone at their different levels, weights, styles, game-plans, the situation you’re in, the phase of the moon, the brand of deodorant they use and most importantly their dress sense.

I’m sorry to raise your hopes in trying to define and solve the complicated quandary that is the ‘Too much – not enough‘ spectrum but although I haven’t solved it yet, I think conceptually it’s something we can all be thinking about.

So if you think you might be using too much or not enough during training, try to redress the balance for the better. Remember it might not be a technical issue that is stopping you pull off a sweep or guard pass it might just be that you weren’t in the right place on the ‘Too much – not enough’ spectrum.

What inspired this post is a fabulous advert from the good people at Audi (crosses fingers, awaits free car) who have an advert on the different types of grip we all use everyday. It really illustrates the spectrum and as you’ll see it neatly transposes over to BJJ.

Anyway, take a look and make sure this week you consider the spectrum and how it may have helped you pull something off or miss a golden opportunity.

Take care people.

Adam Adshead

26. Things I learnt from – Chris Haueter – #3 The goal of sport BJJ is to win and the goal of BJJ as an art is to be as smooth as possible. December 3, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Chris Haueter, Conceptual BJJ.
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Things I learnt from – Chris Haueter #3 -The goal of sport BJJ is to win and the goal of BJJ as an art is to be as smooth as possible.

There is a lot written about training with too much ego, rolling just to win and going too hard, but one thing I’ve never taken into account is an individuals or BJJ clubs thoughts on this statement:

The goal of sport BJJ is to win and the goal of BJJ as an art is to be as smooth as possible.

If you take a second to think about your reasons behind training in relation to the statement, the aforementioned ego levels and ethos to training suddenly become clearer.

Now, I’m not saying you need to choose to be from one camp or the other, but whether you like it or not the way you train can be somewhat derived from being more sport or art orientated.

I think everyone should strive to be as smooth and technically proficient whether rolling or drilling, as although I’m not really into the mysticism of martial arts, I think we all owe it to the art somewhat. Also if you’re fly-wing weight like me, then you need to make sure you’re doing things properly, as against bigger partners – the obvious strength, weight and size difference start to dictate the roll immensely.

Having said that, (more…)

Looking for a BJJ/Grappling club in Stockport/Macclesfield? November 23, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Adam Adshead, BJJ, Conceptual BJJ, Factory BJJ.
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join us

Although we’ve been open since March it’s only now that we’re opening the doors to the world after a period of: consolidation, re-grouping, re-associating and training on limited mat space.

So if you’re a fan of ConceptualBJJ.com and looking for a BJJ / grappling club in the Stockport / Macclesfield area, then drop on by or get in touch.

Factory BJJ

Class times:

Tuesday – Gi 7.30-9.30pm

Friday – No Gi – 7.30-9.30pm

Saturday – Open Mat 12-2pm (Gi, No Gi or a mix)

AT:

Hulleys Gym (AstraZeneca – Gym AZ)

Silk Rd Business Park

Charter Way

Macclesfield (Just outside Stockport)

Cheshire

SK10 2NG

(At the desk say you’re here for the ‘Martial Arts’ class in the studio and they’ll let you through)

Contact us at Info [@] FactoryBJJ.com or phone Adam Adshead on 07910 580 244 for more details.

22. Off The Mat Pursuits #3 Enjoy other hobbies and activities that will help your BJJ October 28, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in BJJ, Climbing, Conceptual BJJ, Off the mat pursuits.
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Some of the more long term readers of this site will remember my Off The Mat Pursuits series, well its back with – #3 – Enjoy other hobbies and activities that will help your BJJ.

Some people lift weights, do kettle bell, watch hundreds of grappling videos, read books, swim, write blogs, play chess, do yoga, Ginastica Natural and a million other things that will directly help your BJJ training, some without realising it.

So today’s article is based around the idea that other things in your life can transfer over and boost your BJJ game.

I’ve never been one for the gym, so my gym of choice is the local climbing centre. I go once a week and find so many crossovers with grappling. The first is the problem solving element that comes from having to plan routes, figure out problems and also adapt to situations as they arise. For me this aspect of climbing has really developed my thought process on the mat with an increase in a more methodical approach to say guard passing for example. (more…)

19. The Luck Factor – Principle 1 – Maximise your chance opportunites August 1, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Adam Adshead, BJJ, Conceptual BJJ, Richard Wiseman, The Luck factor, Video.
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It’s been a long time coming but the first proper installment of The Luck Factor and BJJ is here. Below is the outline on what is covered in the video.

Principle 1: Maximise your chance opportunities.

‘Lucky people create, notice and act upon chance opportunities on and off the mat.’

Sub-Principle 1 – Lucky people build and maintain a strong ‘Network of luck’.

Sub Principle 2 – Lucky people have a relaxed attitude towards life.

Sub-Principle 3 – Lucky people are open to new experiences in their life

*Slight ammendment to the quote in green above from the picture.

Hope you find the video useful, stay tuned for the next one and I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Thanks for watching.

18. The Luck Factor and BJJ (An Introduction) May 30, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Adam Adshead, BJJ, Conceptual BJJ, Off the mat pursuits, Richard Wiseman, The Luck factor, Thoughts, Video.
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It’s been a while…but I’m back from the future with a new mini-series in the form of video articles.

As promised I’m documenting my interpretations of Prof. Richard Wiseman’s – The Luck Factor, with BJJ.

The first video is an introduction before we get down to the nitty gritty.

The next video with be posted online within a few days and subsequent videos on a weekly basis thereafter.

Thanks for sticking around and emailing me berating me to publish more stuff for ConceptualBJJ.com. Remember, without you guys, I’d just keep all this stuff in my head tightly sealed away forever.

Thanks again,

Adam Adshead

New Contact Email Address March 19, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Adam Adshead, BJJ, Conceptual BJJ.
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MailJust a quick post to let you all know that from now on you can contact me at Info [@] ConceptualBJJ.com

I’ve got round to setting up the account, so if you want to contact me about anything please feel free to drop me a line.

Thanks guys.

Adam Adshead

signiture

Nuggets of advice by Aesopian March 13, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Aesopian, BJJ, Conceptual BJJ, Inspiration.
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In absence of time to write a full or partially original entry, I thought I’d post a link to a post which I think every BJJ practitioner/coach and school should adopt.Light bulb

Some what of a cop out but I’ve been sitting on the post for a while and now is a perfect time to share it

Titled ‘Nuggets of advice’ and written by Matt Kirtley (Aesopian) I think once you’ve read it you’ll agree that you should endeavour to adopt at least all of the points he makes.

I’m a big fan of Aesopian and I think this entry sums up his attitude to training which matches mine completely. (In fact I think he stole this article from my brain, although I have no proof)

So enjoy the advice and expect a piece on Guard Passing Vs. Sweeping theory with pretty photos and complex words before Christmas 2009.

Till then,

Adam Adshead

Photo link

signiture

Something old, something new… March 5, 2008

Posted by Adam Adshead in Adam Adshead, BJJ, Factory BJJ.
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…something borrowed, something blue.

Marrying the old athlete’s with a new venue, under a new name became reality today with the first session at Factory BJJ.

The sparkling blue mats kindly donated by Revolution’s Phil Wright were laid out for the opening session and fun was had by all.

With the small talk out of the way the training began with a Ginastica Natural inspired warm-up .

Ginastica Natural - Factory BJJ

After everyone was warm and with it being the first session we just had a relaxed open mat rolling session. (more…)