I want to begin by thanking my amazing group of students and parents. It is because of your outpouring of support in these difficult times that I know we have truly created a special culture in our academy. This too, shall pass – and when it does we will be standing strong as One Team, One Family.
We are currently in the middle of something that will forever change our world, and we have the strongest army fighting against it – the human race. Through taking the appropriate measures and following advised guidelines, we will be able to bounce back from this and return to our daily lives in no time. As we continue to school our children, work remotely and discover a new way of life (if only temporarily) I wanted to share some of our Lesson Plans so that you can continue to study and drill from home.
To make this even easier, Professor Caio has opened up his online training free of charge during this time at www.caioterra.com. This is the same resource that I use when studying myself and preparing for classes, so please take advantage!
For this week (March 15-21), our Lesson Plan for our Fundamental and CT Kids BJJ Classes is “Opening the Closed Guard.” After last week’s lesson of Sit-Up Sweep/Kimura, we learned a lot about posture, what it REALLY is, how to break it, maintain it, etc. so this one follows it perfectly as we move to inside our opponent’s Closed Guard this week. To find the lesson, click on “Curriculum” from the home page and use the menu to select “Closed Guard” for the position. It should be the first video series at the top.
For the CT Kids, we’re sticking to the first 3 videos only. In addition to readdressing some of the details with posture, we’re covering two different methods of opening our opponent’s closed guard – by gripping the hand or the hip, depending which is available. As important as our MOVES are, don’t forget our MOVEMENTS…use the extra time to do some Bear Crawls, Duck Walks, Crab Walks, Frog Jumps, etc – ALL our animal exercises!
For Fundamentals, we’re covering the entire lesson plan, including the Catucada Defense at the end. Between the different techniques, notice how they flow together as a STRATEGY to opening closed guard, rather than just individual methods to try. I mention “If/Then” statements a lot, and this is no different. When studying Jiu-Jitsu online, remember to look for the concepts and work to understand WHY and HOW the technique works rather than memorizing steps. Listen to the details, watch the angles, and ASK QUESTIONS! I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
It appears as though we’ll be closed until April 3rd after today’s press conference with Governor Abbott. I’m currently exploring some different options to provide additional instruction to you guys online in the interim to somehow return the love shared my way. I humbly ask that you please don’t freeze or cancel your memberships during this time so that we can have a gym to come back to when this is all over. We have ALL worked so hard to make CTA Irving the amazing place that it is and I look forward to picking right back up where we left off soon.
Please let me know if you have any questions – WE GOT THIS!