Na Teia do Aranha

With Great Power comes Great Responsibility

Usually, when I speak to someone who does not practice Jiu-jitsu, they assume it is Karate. I try to explain what we do by referencing the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Judo and Wrestling. I find that quite often the UFC comparison will blow up in my face, causing a frightened reaction. Usually, something like, "ohh, that's violent!" comes out of the mouth of the person to whom I am speaking. So lately, I've dropped the UFC thing and say, "what we do is like wrestling and judo for self defense, but we also have a sportive outlet that emphasizes a lot of ground-fighting." This seemed to work for a while, but recently I have received a few rather disturbing reactions. My fiancée will introduce me to her co-workers and say, "this is my fiancée, he teaches Jiu-jitsu." Then a person will respond, "Wow, that's that Gracie stuff, right? I hear it's pretty violent." I'll say, "No, actually, Jiu-jitsu is a gentle art for the most peaceful means of self defense, we very rarely even strike out opponents to harm them, we try to restrain them instead." Then they'll say, "I hear those guys fight a lot." I recently had a talk with someone from New Jersey who remembered a Gracie assaulting a gas station attendant. Then as I was trying to explain Jiu-jitsu for children to a woman on the phone, she said she looked at my website and determined that it might not be safe for her child to participate in sport Jiu-jitsu because the tournaments had a lot of fights and were very dangerous. What am I supposed to say when someone named Gracie gets into a fistfight with a guy on crutches at a tournament? How can I say, "no, that doesn't happen."?

Don't get me wrong, I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone who teaches Jiu-jitsu and fights professionally. The problem is that I don't think that some of our "leaders" in the Jiu-jitsu community feel enough responsibility to the community as a whole. It seems as if the power is in their hands like a toy in the hands of a child. They do not realize what they have or how to use it. I've spoken with people in Brazil about Jiu-jitsu and many have said that it has a very bad name there for being violent. I was even instructed not to wear Jiu-jitsu t-shirts out to certain public places. I thought that Jiu-jitsu in the United States would be different because we have different values and laws, but I was wrong. It seems that it is in our nature as humans to wield any power that we have without first developing strong moral character and maturity.

I think a large part of the problem is the lack of discipline and moral guidance in many Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies. It is good that this is a "sport" martial art for better physical health, but is still a martial art. There is a reason that all the bowing and floor washing occurs in a traditional martial arts dojo and it is something I have come to understand in the shadow of these events. If you were to give a boy a rifle, you wouldn't just hand it to him and say, "have fun!" You would first show him to clean it, respect it's power, and how to operate it safely. You would never put a gun in the hands of someone who was not morally responsible or mentally instable. The knowledge of Jiu-jitsu is very much like a firearm. In the wrong hands, it can be a deadly weapon. Many academies just let the students step on the mat whenever they want with no regard for schedule, respect and regimen. They show a few moves and roll, that's it. No special attention paid to respect, safety, rules, punctuality, or developing a higher moral standard.

At this point, I must say that I have been to good academies run by Brazilians who teach moral values and respect. However, for the most part, there is, in general, a lack of moral guidance and necessary structure in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu academies. Some of you will say, "well, it's about fighting, we don't need all that 'martial-arts' stuff." To that I will respond by leaving you with this: would you place a gun in the hands of an unruly child with no discipline or moral guidance?

Luta pela saúde moral
ARANHA

BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU AND CHIROPRACTIC
BY DR. JOHN INCLEDON

Most martial artists who have trained for any length of time have experience a musculo skeletal sprain/ strain type injury at some point. For some people this meant an interruption in their training, while others worked through their injuries while continuing to train. In either scenario many martial artists who have sustained specific injuries have turned to their chiropractors for help. In the overwhelming majority of these cases the patient benefited greatly from the rapid relief chiropractic care provided these individuals.

The type of chiropractic care that in my opinion is even more beneficial and applicable to the martial artist is ongoing wellness care. The reason are three fold: 1. Regular care will maximize your athletic performance allowing you to express your skills at their highest levels. 2. Reduce the likelihood and or severity of experiencing many of the types injuries common to martial artists and 3. allow you to recover more quickly from any injury you might experience.

A little side-note is that the use of chiropractic care at the highest level of professional sports has increased dramatically over the last ten years, 23 out of the 32 NFL teams and 70% of major league baseball teams have a team chiropractor. John Stockton of the Utah Jazz basketball team, on out of only a dozen players to play in the NBA past his 40th birthday credited regular chiropractic care as the main reason for his longevity in professional basketball. Dan O'Brien the US Olympic team Gold Medallist in the decathlon stated "without chiropractic care I probably would not have won the gold medal." These are just a few of the numerous examples of high level athletes benefiting from chiropractic care.

Why have so many athletes benefited from chiropractic care? Simple: unbeknownst to most people chiropractic works specifically and directly with your nerve system. The Brain is the master control system of the body. Its job is to coordinate and control the function between all(muscles, organs, glands)the parts of the body. When the parts of the body are working together at their highest potential, the way they were designed to, we are able to perform, function and exist at our highest level. What a chiropractor is evaluating an individual for is an interference or disturbance in the function of the nervous system, which is known as a vertibul subluxation. Again the job of the nerve system is to carry Data and information from the brain to the body and its various parts. This is why you can't be at your best, physically, mentally or from a health perspective if you are subluxated. A subluxation interferes with the actual function of the nerve system and disrupts the data and information in going from the brain to the body, thus disrupting function of the body. An analogy as to the effect that a subluxation has on the body would be a car that needs a tune up. It would certainly run and get you from point A to point B, but it would not perform at its best in terms of gas mileage or power or smoothness of ride.

This is why a student of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu or for that matter any martial art who relies on reflexes as well as physical and mental coordination can't afford to be subluxated, it slows down reflexes and coordination, likewise a subluxated individual is much more prone to injury and injuries heal more slowly and or incompletely in a subluxated individual.

What causes subluxation is any trauma be it physical, chemical or emotional the body is unable to adapt(cope) to, training certainly falls into this category at times. Remember you have one nerve system and the majority of it does not deal with or cause pain, this is why you are missing the big boat of chiropractic benefits if you just see a chiropractor when you have an injury or pain.

Once a chiropractor determines you have a subluxation he delivers an adjustment, which allows the body to "re-set" the nerve system. The adjustment is a painless gentle force directed at the nerve system usually through the spine. Chiropractic is so gentle that newborns and senior citizens benefit regularly from it.

The exact frequency of wellness care would vary from one individual to the next but on average probably weekly to every two weeks would be ideal for most individuals. An individual who is subluxation free and has a clear nervous system is able to function at his or her highest potential both physically and mentally which is an asset in any endeavor including martial arts.

- John Incledon is a student of Aranha at NYMAG BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU ACADEMY. He owns and operates Incledon Chiropractic in Fishkill, N.Y.

NYMAG Wins Big at Copa Atlantica!

Click Here for NYMAG Results and Photos

History in the Making

World Champion Kickboxer and action Martial Arts movie sensation Don "The Dragon" Wilson steps back into the ring on his quest to capture the World Lighheavyweight Kickboxing Title. This was the first World Title Don held before going on to win 11 World Titles in (3) weight divisions for six sanctioning organizations. Along the way he has defeated (11) other World Champions, (12) number one contenders, and (15) National Champions on four continents. Don will be pitted against former World Champion Eddie Butcher who's been training hard for four months and appears confident that the legend will be dethroned.

Current World Champion and International Boxing Federation North American Latin Champion, Olando Rivera, will have his hands full against Kadir Kadri, a local hopeful who some experts favor to win.

In an effort to establish the best Lighheavyweight in the World Tony Ventura, of Bedford Stuyvesant, and the current ISKA International Champion, will go against his New York nemesis and USKBA World champion, Luis Ruiz. Rounding out the kickboxing card are amateur Olympic hopefuls, Eli Thompson vs. Steve Thompson. Both are undefeated at 20-0.

Those who win will advance to the mega event scheduled for January as the best lightheavyweights in the World narrow down to determine "The Best of the Best."

The other half of this World Class Card features Legends of the ring Dan Severn and Royler Gracie as they exhibit their skills of "Gracie Reality Fighting" as defined under the New Jersey Athletic Commission rules. Dan "The Beast" Severn, the only triple crown UFC Champion in the World, and only man to hold (13) championship belts in the fight game goes up against local favorite Pat Stano whose established reputation makes this one too close to call. Not to be outdone Royler Gracie, the name synonymous with the "new" sport of Gracie Reality Fighting, has been challenged in this event by Henry Matamoros, 27-2, a man who has the reputation of defeating men twice his size. This bout will round out a night of super fights, A Night of Champions for those left standing to fight another day.

If you miss this one live on July 19th, be sure to catch history when it airs August 23rd prime time on Pay-Per-View. Get your tickets now by calling 1-800-THE-TROP or call your local Pay-Per-View operator.

Florida Office Warriors of the 21st Century New York Office
714 S. Federal Hwy. @Yahoo.com 1222 Flatbush Ave.
Dania, FL 33004 Brooklyn, NY 11226
(954) 921-1486 Fax (305) 380-0599 (718) 856-8070

Midwest Mayhem

For the past several months I've been living in various parts of the Midwest United States. I'm involved in a government program that requires me traveling from place to place, righting wrongs and such. I'd tell you more about it, but then someone would have to kill you. That wouldn't be very nice. Anyway, the program has thus far taken me to Denver, Illinois and presently Minnesota. Denver was a yawn. Minnesota's an annoyance, but Illinois…that was the Promised Land.

Anyone who knows me well can tell you I'm something of a slacker grappler. I talk about grappling almost non-stop. I watch videos and buy magazines all the time. I sometimes sit around reading books and drawing diagrams in them. Heck, I even write a monthly column on the subject. But how much actual grappling do I do? Not much. I assure you, this is not my fault. Why accept blame for something I can shift to others? No, I really never do have sparring partners. No one grapples. No one wants to learn to grapple. It's a torturous cycle. Alas, I plod on and occasionally am rewarded by chancing upon an individual or individuals who are as passionate about "this thing" as I am. Such was the case in Chicago, Illinois where I met a couple guys who would work me over like a sagging mule and then drag me across state lines to Indiana where the real party would start.

I read a post on the jiu-jitsu.net message boards calling for Illinois area grapplers. It just so happened that I was on my way out to Illinois so I replied and there was a brief exchange before I got a mysterious email from a man calling himself "Bob." Working for the government as I do, I'm naturally leery of fellows with monosyllabic names who are suggesting a rendezvous. Nonetheless, I corresponded dutifully with Bob and we arranged a telephone conversation. Said conversation would escalate into an arranged meet at Ogilvie train station in downtown Chicago and ultimately a grappling session at a nearby high school.

Bob and I both had our reservations initially. Who could say what we would encounter? The government had issued me no firearms and I owned no gi, so I came in with nothing but my heel hooks and a big red government issued rucksac. Bob came unarmed as well. We talked little en route to the gym, but once we arrived, I could see from the sweat on the mats that these guys weren't fooling around. I was introduced to a lanky fellow named Frank, who soon departed for religious reasons. I wondered for a while what that all meant, but quickly dismissed the notion as I donned the gi they'd provided me. Bob introduced me to a man I'd later come to know as George "the Animal" Maldonado. As fate would have it, the moniker was no exaggeration. Everyone sat around staring at each other for a moment. Then George began sharing some techniques he'd picked up at the school he was attending out in Indiana. We went over a few gi chokes and a side mount escape, I believe, then all eyes turned to me. "Perhaps you'd like to share some things with us," Bob intoned. I took a step back, uncertain just what I was expected to do. Frank was still there at the time and encouraged me to show whatever I wanted. I searched my head for an idea. Knowing I had very little to offer, I went into some flashy leg lock maneuvers that I was reasonably certain weren't taught too frequently in BJJ schools. Mostly things I'd picked up from the good old days when the fellas and I all swore we were headed for Pancrase. It worked, I suppose. I convinced them that I had some basic knowledge. Eventually, "the Animal" and I ended up rolling and then, just like that…the ice was broken.

Next thing I knew, George, Bobby and I are sitting in a Czechoslovakian bar downing some beer I've never heard of and talking about our respective histories with grappling. Bob and George both got their start with former Abu Dhabi competitor and well-known fighter Bob Schirmer at his Combat-Do academy in Chicago. This is the same academy Shonie Carter and Brian Gassaway hailed from and the pair had actually seen both of them in action a couple times. For various reasons, the two left Schirmer's academy and started training informally at a local gym. George was now making the hour and a half trek across the state line to roll at Bruce Weiler's school out in Michigan City, Indiana. Weiler, as it turns out, is a student of the very candid Michael Jen (who was interviewed, rather coincidentally, by Aranha last month if you want to check the archives). I related my rather sketchy grappling past to the two of them and we made plans to roll every Sunday.

Amazingly, it all worked out. I missed a couple Sundays due to work and transportation issues, but we had a blast down at that gym. I can honestly say I haven't been that consistently challenged or enlightened in my gym sessions since the early days back on Long Island. It was just what I needed to help me maintain my sanity under the pressures of my mysterious government job and to help me re-devote my life to the art I've been in love with for the past six years. Around the end of my time in Illinois, George decided it would be a good idea for me to meet the "amazing Bruce Weiler." I was a little nervous, but I said what the hey and went along. Bob had to work that day and couldn't join us, but certainly sent his blessing.

I will tell you now that Indiana was both the most incredible and most harrowing experience of my life. They slapped that gi on me and tossed me around like a first year grappler. Bruce Weiler has the most intense warm-up of anyone I've ever met and if you can survive that, you're still not half ready for what he's got in store. Weiler's ex-military and knows the value of conditioning. He's also slick as the inside of an oil can on the mat and strong as an ox (that's not much exaggeration as I've worked with oxen before). After the warm-up, he paired everyone off and had us roll. My throat was sore for a week from all the chokes I got caught in. This agony lasted about twenty minutes, then we did some armbar escape drills. After that, it was time to roll again, but some old injuries told me it was time to rest. I sat out and watched Bruce work miracles on the mat and then, when class was over, I respectfully asked him to roll with me because I had to know what it felt like to grapple someone of that skill level. I also asked for a no-gi provision as I felt it might give me a slight chance of survival.

The experience was humbling, to say the least. He tapped me at least five times with very little effort. But the important thing was that he was willing and didn't really hold back. Some instructors won't roll with you because of their rep or whatever, but Bruce Weiler's not one of them. I can see why he'd choose Michael Jen as his instructor.

I could go on forever about this, but my government compatriots need me for a mission. The point is this: Thank you Bob Vansul, George Maldonado and Bruce Weiler for the greatest grappling days I've had in recent memory. I wish you success in everything and I pity the fool who messes with you. If you're stuck in the Midwest and need a training partner, look these guys up. It's worth it. This is proof that the internet can work wonders even for grapplers. I must begone to someplace strange now, but remember, no matter what, keep on rollin'…

Diami J. Virgilio
July, 2002
kneeblock@yahoo.com

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar

Guest Instructor Gustavo Machado www.gmachado.com

Date -         July 27, 2002
Time -         11am to 3pm
Seminar fee -  $80.00 per person

Place   Family Martial Arts Center
        206 Manhattan St.
        Ameriucs, GA  31907
        www.ameriucsmartialarts.com

Contact Ken Hudson
phone # 229-931-0006
cell #  229-938-9921

Gustavo Machado’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy is located in Virginia Beach Virginia. Gustavo is the most senior and unchallenged Black Belt in the state of Virginia. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the hottest martial art being practiced to date, and Gustavo is the most knowledgeable professor in the state of Virginia. He is expanding and will be teaching here in Georgia several times a year. Do not miss this chance to train with this instructor. Jiu-jitsu.net interviewed him for the month of January. Check it out!

Minnesota Combat Sports presents the War at the Wade.

The date of the show has changed from July 6th to Friday July 5th - again the show is at 8PM Friday July 5th at Wade Stadium in Duluth Minnesota. It is a full night of Boxing and extreme fighting. Wade stadium holds some 3000 fans without a bad seat in the house. We still have a few slots for those looking for a match.

Check out http://bisons.net and look under MN Combat sports for more information

Desert Quest #2 - Arizona BJJ and Grappling Tournament

Date: Saturday, August 24, 2002

Location:
Westwood High
945 West 8th St
Mesa, AZ 85201

Weigh-Ins: 10:00 AM
Fight Time: 12:00 PM

All teams and individual competitors are welcomed to participate.

Directions: closest major cross streets, Alma School Road / University Ave. Westwood High is located on the South side of West 8th St between Alma School and Country club ( closer to Alma School ). West 8th St is just North of University. More details to follow as we get closer to the Tournament.

This information is being distibuted early for scheduling purposes. Thanks for your continued support. For more information, please contact Roland Sarria at 480-446-8127 or doomstr@primenet.com. Submitted by John Petrilli