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Ode to Masters: What it Has Meant to Me
By: Emily Kwok
As I help some of my students in their last week of preparation before the IBJJF Masters Worlds in Vegas next week, I sit and slightly lament my inability to compete this year due to pregnancy, and I also reflect on why I feel this way. It’s not like I haven’t had to […]
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Happy
By: Shane McCarthy
Those who practice Jiu Jitsu know it can be an amazing, yet frustrating martial art. The mental and physical benefits are abundant and life-changing, and the physical beatdown and total frustration of learning such a complex art often wear practitioners down.
That dynamic is something I’ve been exploring lately. We choose this art as […]
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My Real Life Juggling Act: Balancing Work, Life and BJJ
By: Emily Kwok
When I think back on 38 years of human existence, l feel that I’ve managed to cultivate an abundant life. I am blessed with a beautiful marriage and family, and have the time and resources to pursue personal interests and passions. I am fulfilled by my work on a multitude of levels and […]
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Take the Opportunity to Build Your Community
Take the Opportunity to Build Your Community
By: Val Worthington
My partners (Emily Kwok and Hannette Staack) and I run a business called Groundswell Grappling Concepts. In 2009, we started hosting grappling camps for women, because back then, there were few opportunities for women to train together. Those ladies who were committed to improving our jiu-jitsu had […]
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Adulting and BJJ: 8 Ways to Impact Your Training When You Have Limited Time
Adulting and BJJ. 8 ways to impact your training when you have limited time.
By: Emily KwokFor most practitioners of BJJ there comes a time in life when shit gets real. After many years of putting your BJJ before everything in your life other than making some sort of paycheck to cover the most basic expenses […]
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Pura Vida. Pura Vida Jiu Jitsu.
Pura Vida. Pura Vida Jiu Jitsu.
(Pure Life. Pure Life Jiu Jitsu)
By: Emily KwokI recently came back from a glorious vacation in Costa Rica with my family. For a week we lived on the edge of where the jungle meets the ocean; where the guttural sounds of howler monkeys in the trees and the chirps and […]
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You Are How You Train
You are how you train
By: Emily KwokIt’s very common for even the best of us to get locked up when it comes to personal expression. This is true of life in general, but the mats give us the rare opportunity to see where we are literally challenged and liberated.
At the beginning of our BJJ career, […]
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Dedicated, not Obsessed
Dedicated, not obsessed.
By: Joe HannanI see Jiu Jitsu everywhere I go, especially in the movements and play of animals. I think about Jiu Jitsu all day, a constant narrative of if he does this, then I do that, running through my head. Sometimes, I mix it up, and the narrative gets switched to, if I […]
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Forget Winning and Losing
Forget Winning and Losing
By: Joe HannanI’m told there’s at least one in every gym. This person goes by many names, most of which aren’t suitable for prime time. If you’ve ever rolled with this person, you know what you’re in for the second you engage. Their rigid posture, desperate struggle for grips and tendency to […]
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Countering BJJ Frustration with Stoicism
Countering BJJ Frustration with Stoicism.
Bye: Joe HannanI let my sweaty head fall with a thud against the ocean blue mats that lined the walls of Performance Jiu Jitsu. I don’t remember the roll, but I’m sure it had been savage and swift, with multiple tapouts and lots of flailing around. I might have even let […]
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