I am a Ralph Gracie Black Belt and extremely proud of that. I’ve started training Jiu Jitsu at the original Mountain View Academy in 1996 and was awarded my black belt from Ralph in 2006, where he actually gave me HIS old black belt. Depending on […]
Be the Hero of your story. Let me share a particularly proud moment: This video (first in a series) featuring the Head Instructor of the Eastside San Jose location Nick Borbon, coinciding with the 16th anniversary of my studio Heroes and the 5th anniversary of that […]
I am reposting this article for the second time for two reasons. Firstly because I am writing a follow up article in order to coincide with the new year about what I would recommend your specific goals are at each belt. Secondly was because this article […]
When I started training Jiu Jitsu, women on the mats were essentially unicorns, an academy would be lucky to have one on the roster. Although Brazil being the origination of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu had women training first (shout out to pioneer Yvone Duarte who was recently […]
January will mark the 16th anniversary of opening the doors to Heroes Martial Arts. One thing that has remained true was my original mission statement for Heroes: In that I wanted it to be a place where I myself would want to be a student and […]
Jerry Springer passed away this week at the age of 79. If you’re old enough to remember his show when it was a sort of cultural phenomenon then no summary of the man is really necessary. If you’re too young just know that the Jerry Springer […]
This in regards to the the incident where a Jiu Jitsu student was rolling with their instructor and was paralyzed, and a jury in California awarded the student 46 Million Dollars. There are a number of news articles on the case now, both in sport media […]
Shortly after FloGrappling made the announcement that Gordon Ryan had signed a seven figure fight deal with them, it was announced that UFC Fight Pass has acquired the rights to broadcast the ADCC Championships for the next two years. While I believe the announcements and timing […]
Two announcements were made recently that are definitely intertwined, but after some thought I decided on two separate articles. To start with, on January 17 was the announcement that FloSports announced a multi fight, seven figure deal with top ranked submission grappling superstar Gordon Ryan. Firstly, […]
When I first met Marcelo Garcia, I really wanted to not like him. He had a rivalry with a teammate of mine at the time and (especially in those days) there was always a bit of jockeying among the athletes. Except three seconds into encountering Marcelo […]
When someone approaches me about starting to train Jiu Jitsu, one of the first things I try to impress on them is the time commitment required. My strong suggestion is to not even consider signing up unless they can commit to at least two consistent ninety […]
I’m going to attempt to answer the question that school owners secretly dread: “Is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Safe?” The answer is: “Define what safe means.” That’s a bit of a cop out of course, and it could be followed up by a deflection on how one […]
During a lot of the Question and Answer sessions, private conversations, and previous class time I am often asked about proper mindset. Now sometimes the question relates to training mode and sometimes the question relates to competition mode, and after some thought I realize that my […]
A favorite exercise of mine is to ask people, particularly people who are deeply involved with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, what exactly is their definition of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The variety of answers astounds me. The lack of a coherent answer astounds me even more. The better […]
This article on Heroes Head Instructor Gumby’s thoughts on belt promotions originally appeared on Reddit in 2016 and can be viewed here along with commentary https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/402vgq/my_thoughts_on_belt_promotions/ Belts are a highly subjective matter at best. Where to the outsider what your ranking is a cut and dry […]
Article originally appeared http://onthemat.com/gumbys-column-the-ways-jiu-jitsu-has-changed-my-life/ Sept 6, 2016 I’m writing this on my 20th anniversary of my own appearance on a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu mat, and on the eve of a new Fundamentals cycle at my gym Heroes Martial Arts preparing for an influx of new students […]
The article originally appeared on OntheMat http://onthemat.com/gumbys-column-my-least-favorite-thing-ever/ and this rule is still enforced at my gym. At the risk of sounding like the crotchety old man telling the kids to get off my mat, I have to get this off my chest: As much as I […]
This article originally appeared on http://onthemat.com/gumbys-column-a-suggestion-for-the-ibjjf/ April 5, 2012 Since writing this article the IBJJF has essentially implemented everything I suggested in this article. I have to give credit where credit is due, the IBJJF really has become a world class competition organization and has stepped up in […]
I wrote this article somewhere around late 2012, describing events that happen prior to 2006. In 2023 I still haven’t had any direct contact with Cameron. I see his mother occasionally and his brother sometimes trains with me, who wants nothing to do with him. […]