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My Child Won’t Break and Neither Will Yours: The Insight of a BJJ Parent
By: Emily Kwok
This past weekend I got to experience being a mother to a brave little girl who decided she wanted to fight her own battles. A few months ago, one of our instructors approached us about wanting to run a small kids tournament to help familiarize them with sport rules and share a deeper […]
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How Leaders Should Lead
By: Emily Kwok
‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’ – Abraham Lincoln
Reflecting on the 18 going on 19 years I’ve been involved with BJJ, it’s a surreal moment to confront myself with the fact that I’ve been training a long time; like long enough […] -
5 Principles for Growth in BJJ
By: Emily Kwok
Before we breakdown some of the growth principles that have been helpful in my BJJ, let’s just clear the air here and demystify what the word ‘principle’ means in this context. All too often people will nod their heads when you mention, ‘Do you understand this principle?’ when they really have no flipping […]
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Are You a BJJ Control Freak or a Fatalist?
By: Joe Hannan
At its core, jiu jitsu is about imposing your will on another human. Your goal is to gain an advantageous position and put them in some type of submission hold. This can have some interesting psychological implications.
A work project has me thinking a lot about the psychological concept of locus of control. Generally […]
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Lessons from Matheus Diniz
By: Joe Hannan
When Matheus Diniz walks into a room, you start thinking he was assembled by an elite team of scientists in some grappling cyborg laboratory. The man was built to lock limbs, compress arteries and apply leverage.
Then Diniz smiles, and what you once thought was a cybernetic organism becomes a playful, gentle world-destroyer […]
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Hybrid Kickboxing’s Rite of Passage
By: Joe Hannan
The people who train at Princeton Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are my violent family. I think fondly of them as they hyperextend my limbs, suffocate me in sweat-soaked fabric and bring me to the brink of unconsciousness from restricted blood flow. All families fight, we’re just much more up front about it.
I assure you […] -
Faces of Princeton Brazilian Jiu JItsu Part I
Faces of Princeton Brazilian Jiu JItsu Part I
In June, Josh Smith (PBJJ purple belt) took photos of some students before both a kids class and an adult class. We then asked the participants to answer a series of questions about their experience with BJJ. Over the course of a few blog posts we will be […]
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Surfing for BJJ’s ‘Soft Zone’
By: Joe Hannan
Jiu Jitsu attracts an inordinate amount of surfers and surf culture, right down to grappling in board shorts and rash guards. Anyone who has done both is likely quick to identify the parallels. I stumbled across this one while talking to one of Princeton BJJ’s founders and master instructors, Art Keintz.
Prior to class, […]
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How to Find Happiness in Jiu Jitsu
By: Joe Hannan
Last week, I wrote about the pitfalls of seeking validation in jiu jitsu, something which I am guilty of doing. Looking back, I offered a critique without any alternatives. Hopefully this post will serve that purpose.
Eradicating validation-seeking behavior on the mats is accomplished when the grappler realizes that Jiu Jitsu is a process […]
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Validation in BJJ: Improving, Not Proving Yourself
By: Joe Hannan
You are good enough and you belong here. Let’s start with that. Let it sink in.
Starting Jiu Jitsu, for many, is the most difficult part of the journey. Continuing past blue belt seems to be almost as difficult, given the number of grapplers who turn into faces on milk cartons once they earn […]
