📰 Are You A B-Teamer Or New Waver?

The Questions That Keep You Up At 2 AM:

Oil & Water.

Mentos & Diet Coke.

Capitalism & Communism.

New Wave & B-Team.

Some things really just don’t mix and are known for being famously volatile when you put them together 💥😬 

As far as the BJJ world is concerned, there’s one on this list that stands out above the rest - Mentos & Diet Coke … New Wave & B-Team.

Jiu-jitsu isn’t exactly known for everyone just getting along 🤷‍♂️ (there are more breakups and temper tantrums than your local high school) however, there’s arguably no higher-profile split and fallout in modern jiu-jitsu than the Danaher Death Squad 💀 

Since its big ol’ bust-up back in 2021, the main characters in this story have gone on to achieve great things in their respective New Wave and B-Team camps - scoring wins in competitions everywhere and each garnering loyal and very vocal followings…

So … just to lean into it stoke the fire a bit … 👇

This week’s big question: ⬇️

The last poll’s results:

Last time we asked you - “Do You Do Strength & Mobility Training Outside of BJJ?”

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💪 Hell yeh. It's a game-changer

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🫤 A little here and there, but nothing too serious

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope. Getting by just fine without it thanks

This topic caught your attention as we had a buuuunch 💐 of you vote in this poll with an overwhelming ‘Hell yeh’ 💪 

Some of you fresh and athletic teens & 20-somethings with collagen a-plenty and ligaments galore 😎 might scoff at this topic - but take it from a few of your grappling elders who took the time to write in this week and share some of their wisdom and experience ⬇️

&

If you take the time to ask a few seasoned grapplers, you’ll probably find that most agree some kind of strength & mobility training is essential in staying on the mats for the long haul - especially as the years pass and the miles on the body start to stack up 👴 

And on that note - I think many of you will love the new section we are launching this week in conjunction with our good pals at Bulletproof for BJJ 👇 (scroll down for The Weekly Fix)

The Weekly Fix:

by Bulletproof For BJJ 👊 

Welcome to our first segment of The Weekly Fix - a collaboration with the supple and limber beasts 🐆 from the one and only Bulletproof for BJJ 💪 

As top-level BJJ black belts and strength & mobility coaches - JT & Joey combine their many years of training and experience to help the BJJ community get stronger, fitter and more mobile so we can all remain injury-free and stay on the mats longer 💪 

Anyway, enough from me - I’m going to throw it over to the Bulletproof boiz so they can take you through this week’s ‘fix’ - The Turkish Get-Up 🦍 

The Turkish Get-Up (T.G.U.)

The single most effective move to strengthen your Body for BJJ is the T.G.U.

This sequence comprises 5 key movements all gracefully put together under the load of a Kettlebell. (Dumbbells work too.)

The key to better understanding the entire exercise is to break it down into its component parts and then getting a grip on how they all work together.

In this video, JT examines each piece of the puzzle, the mistakes you need to avoid and key tips to nailing the tough move.

If you have ever had to do a technical stand-up at Jiu-Jitsu - the similarities will be clear. But adding a weight, held above you into this equation means you really have to pay attention to avoid getting your head squashed. 

This movement will help:

1.) Get stronger off your back- defending from side control. 

2.) Strengthen your shoulders to improve your ability to make frames and retain guard.

3.) Boosts your core strength, making you harder to pin and less likely to be injured.

The Turkish Get-Up should be completed in a slow and controlled manner. Each rep puts a lot of time under tension across your whole body so it's best to keep the reps Low and Slow!

3-5 sets x 2-3 reps on each side is as much as you need and that's a solid total body workout right there.

Start light ( 5 - 8kg) and work on mastering the movement before increasing the weight!

Boom! 💥 If you liked this week’s fix and are thinking you could really benefit from a world-class BJJ-specific strength and flexibility program then you should probably …

Sign up for your 7-day free trial and take the app for a spin! 👇

The Tap’s ✋, Nap’s 🥱 & Snap’s 🫰From The Mats This Week:

A short, sharp and snazzy breakdown of who’s been winning what, the best matches coming up and a story or two worth a quick look 👀 👇

1.) Show Me The Money!💰 

Here are a few of our favourite highlights from the last couple of weeks:

Karate Combat Pit Submission Series 2

Another epic show from the Karate Combat team that saw Craig Jones land a flying triangle on Phil Rowe (off the pit wall! 🏀) and Joao Miyao score a Heel Hook win over Ricky Simon 🔥 

ADCC European Trials #2

Vikings rejoice! 🍻 After losing in the first ADCC Euro Trials, Tommy Lanagaker has submitted Davis Asare to punch his ticket through to ADCC 2024 😅 

Some other great matches played out - with the first women’s winners going through from Europe too.

Rizin Landmark 8

The now 48-year-old legend Masakazu Imanari, recovering from his dirty buggy choke at the hands of Jay Rod, has turned back the clock and scored an armbar victory at Rizin 8.

Maybe the only man that can submit time itself? ⏳

2.) Sweet! So, What’s Next? 👀

There’s no shortage of great events on the horizon - but here’s our pick of the best of ‘em:

1. IBJJF Absolute No-Gi Grand Prix - An absolute list of killers lined up for this ☠️ Kade Ruotolo, Tainan Dalpra, Kaynan Duarte, Haisam Rida, Dante Leon, Elder Cruz, Giancarlo Bodoni, Patrick Gaudio … and way more!
   

2. ADCC West Coast Trials #2 - Big names here that haven’t made it through yet - it’s all on the line! 🔥 The likes of Oliver Taza, John Combs, Andy Varela, Pierre-Olivier Leclerc, Kyle Chambers, Kieran Kichuk, Max Hanson Rene Souza, Andrew Tackett … and way more!

3.) Gimme The News, But Make It Quick! 🤌

Alrighty then - here are a few more links to tide you over and explore at your leisure if so inclined…

• Mackenzie Dern still wants that UFC belt but also reckons she wants to compete at ADCC in 2024 🔥 

• Speaking of ADCC; invites have been given out Nicky Ryan and JT Torres to the -77kg division #easywork

• Speaking of speaking of ADCC - here’s the list of everyone who’d through so far 📝 

• Kade is on for his IBJJF Black Belt debut 🐣

• John, Gordon and possibly Arnie all in one room? Sign me up! 💪 

Do Less. No, Wait, Do More:

The Good Option: Rollo with the Bolo ♽

Everyone says that the berimbolo is a ‘small players game’ - and they’re probably right for the most part 🤷‍♂️, which is exactly why you should learn it from someone like Lachlan Giles (a.k.a Ant-Man)

Lachy is a bolo-master and is famous for finding his way to the back when frankly, he shouldn’t be able to 😡 

If you’re new to the bolo, the 6-minute masterclass below is a great introduction to wrapping your head around it (even for us larger-than-life grapplers ✅ )

Grab a cuppa ☕️ and notepad 📝 👇

The Not-So-Good Option: Oh. My. Lord. 🤮 

Tap. Seriously, tap. WHY WON’T YOU TAP? 😧 

I won’t say any more about this one other than viewer discretion is advised 🫣 

Have a look at the thumbnail and decide for yourself if you want to click it…👇

The Meme Open Mat:

Hoping some of you still remember what Windows XP even is 👇 …

You like memes huh!? 😎 (of course you do).

Well, we have bucketloads 🪣  of premium, high-grade OG memes for you to share with your BJJ crew, or simply peruse at your leisure (instead of replying to those pressing work emails that you probably should be replying to 😬)

👇

We Grow You Grow!

Somewhere, out there, in your friend’s circle is someone that doesn’t realise that they’d probably love to receive the best BJJ newsletter goin’ round! 😃 

But they just haven’t seen it yet! 👀 

Maybe you can help them (and us 😏) by sharing this edition and letting them know about it??

Just click the button below to help us spread the good news - we will even give you heaps of cool sh*t to say thanks ⬇️

Bonus Round - A.I. Will Submit Us ALL!

Well, if you’ve scrolled this far and are still chasing that sweet sweet BJJ content - then who are we to say no!?

But just be warned - we’re deep down in the weeds now and it’s gonna get a bit weird because this is where we explore the fusion … nay, synergy that is A.I. & BJJ 🤝 

Each week, we take a reader prompt and feed it to our A.I. overlords image generator to see what kind of artistic genius it will give back 🖼

This week’s prompt was:

What’s next week’s prompt? Well, you tell me. 

Submit your best entry below and we will feature the best image we get in the next edition 🔥 👇