🥋 Are You Ready For A CJI Every Month?

SUPPORT BJJ CREATORS

This week, we’re back with the epic range of BJJ gear cleaning products from Steve at Garame Cleaning Co. 💪

This week, we are giving a specific shout-out to all the gym owners out there who:

1.) Want to stock and sell an epic BJJ-native product … & … 2.) Help keep their gym mats and members safe and clean by doing so! 🧼

Steve and the Garame Cleaning crew have excellent wholesale pricing for all gyms and can ship almost anywhere in the world 🌏

If you’re a club owner and want to know more - get in touch with Steve and tell him we sent ya; he’ll be sure to look after you 😎👇

And if you’re just a jits-fiend who’d like their gear to be so fresh and so clean, you can use the code TAPNAPSNAP at checkout to save yourself 15% ✅

QUESTION TIME

What Keeps You Up At 2 am?

Do you remember your first BJJ class?

I remember walking in and feeling a bit nervous but naively confident that as a big guy who’d been doing CrossFit for a couple of years - I’d be able to hold my own.

We ran through a few super confusing drills (…what the hell is a shrimp doing in here? 🤷‍♂️), and then the coach paired me up for sparring with a 14-year-old girl. I said - ‘I don’t think this is fair,’ and he said, ‘I know, but she’ll go easy on you.’

In a matter of seconds, she’d taken my back and sunk a choke so tight that the room was spinning well before I could tap. I left that class thinking, ‘I really need to know how to do that,’ as well as - ‘I wish I’d started this when I was a kid!’.

If you look around most BJJ gyms - you’ll find people of all ages and skill levels. Some have been training since they were in nappies, and some have just started as they’re getting back into nappies. 😂

We all find it in our own time, and unless you were lucky enough to have parents who got you into it as a youngling, you probably wish you’d found it earlier, too.

So, this week, we want to know when you first got the BJJ bug? 🐞

This week’s big question ⬇️

The last poll’s results:

Last time we asked you - “Should There Be A Punishment For Forgetting Your Belt?”

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✅ - Yep. It shows poor discipline and a lack of respect.

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🚫 - No way. We are adults and it's no big deal.

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😏 - Can't forget your belt if you only train No-Gi.

Most of us feel that as adults with busy lives - forgetting the belt is low on the list of life issues. Meanwhile, others are so scared of doing it that they don’t even train the Gi anymore! 😬 

One reader points out that the good old shame belt works wonders in inspiring them to double-check their gym bag before throwing it in the car.

WHATS HAPPENING?

This Weeks Tap’s ✋, Nap’s 🥱 & Snap’s 🫰

1.) IT’S BEEN A SAD WEEK FOR JIU-JITSU 😔: with the sexual assault allegations of Ancenor Alves finally coming to light. The claims were first brought forward by two-time Jiu-Jitsu world champion Matheus Gabriel and backed up by a joint statement from a host of other BJJ champs - including Meyram Maquine, Ary Farias, and Thalison Soares.

Alves has been accused of assaulting at least 12 of his students over a 15-year period where he served as a coach and mentor. He was recently arrested at a children’s jiu-jitsu tournament and taken into custody, where he will face charges.

It’s devastating stuff and has rightfully rattled the BJJ world, raising questions on the checks and balances we have in place to screen the people we let train our kids → more here. 

2.) SPEAKING OF DODGY BJJ CHARACTERS 🤦‍♂️: - the criminal trial of Erbeth Santos has come to a conclusion, and he has officially been sent to prison for over 14 years. 🤯

Santos was picked up and charged back in 2023 for numerous robberies and rape accusations along with his partner in crime, Andre Pessoa. During his time as one of the best athletes in the sport, he wasn’t exactly role model material and was probably most famous for sparking an insane brawl at BJJ Stars.

Good riddance to another evil actor and sad stuff for all those he impacted → more here.

 3.) FINALLY, SOME GOOD DRAMA 🎭 : … as jiu-jitsu’s own Mega Troll, Craig Jones, woke up this morning in his Tokyo hotel room, checked his notifications and chose violence! 🤛

After going on an extended world sabbatical post-CJI to … do whatever he does 😏 - it seems he’s finally back in action after receiving a copyright notice on the B-Team YouTube channel from his buddies at FloGrappling! 🔥

Craig’s response, you ask? 🤔 ”FloSports, you have 3 hours to remove this copyright claim, or we’re gonna run a goddamn Craig Jones Invitational the same day as Who’s Number One, every single one of your events. And if you don’t believe me… Just ask Mo Jassim.” 

Well, here’s hoping Flo doubles down, calls his bluff, and we get a near-endless run of WNO vs CJI 🧨→ more here.

The Quick Hitters ⚾️

• Eddie Bravo’s BJJ bloodline might finish with him 😵

• Rickson Gracie won’t be helping his son Kron in MMA 🚫

• Ready to dive deeper into BJJ mindset, concepts and approach? 🧠

• 10th Planet just invented a new adult belt 😳

• Apparently, Legion is a dangerous place to train? 🤯

BY BULLETPROOF FOR BJJ

The Weekly Fix

Last time, we looked at a great routine you can quickly run through to keep your shoulders in tip-top condition. 😎

This week, we get a bit philosophical with The Weekly Fix and give you a podcast ep. from the lads that is less about the ‘how’ - and more about the ‘why’ you should get strong for BJJ. 🤔

Why Getting Stronger is Essential for Your Jiu-Jitsu

If you’ve been with us for a red hot minute, you’ll know we are big believers in the strength, mobility and conditioning side of life for jiu-jitsu … hence, an entire section dedicated to The Weekly Fix 💪 

With the help of the Bulletproof crew, we’ve been dropping epic routines and exercises every week to help you improve everything from building pure strength and power for the mats to simple injury prevention tips - and even recovery protocols if you’ve unfortunately been sidelined 🤕

Today - we mix it up as the boys rant hard go deep on the podcast on just how important getting strong is for your BJJ game and overall health on the mats! We are here for a good time, and a long time!

If you’re digging The Weekly Fix - sign up for your 7-day free trial with Bulletproof For BJJ and take the app for a spin! 👇

WHAT’S SO FUNNY?

The Meme Open Mat:

I can’t see any numbers at all? 🤓…

LET’S GET TECHNICAL

The Good Option:

I’m sure most of us can relate to the pain of sitting off for a tight armbar, feeling like we’ve got it on lock 🔒 - and then our crafty opponent throws out a thumb and catches a ride to safety via a last-second hitchhiker escape.

Worst of all, this often ends with them not only surviving - but also passing. 🤦 

Well, not anymore. The talented Shawn Melanson shows a slick way to chase the hitchhiker right back to an armbar, leaving them stranded on the side of the road just where you wanted them.

Grab a cuppa ☕️ and notepad 📝 👇

The Not-So-Good Option:

Remember when you were a kid (…or adult, no judgment here), and your favourite video game would glitch out and get stuck on a certain section or level? And then you’d have to blow on the cartridge or clean the disc with your dirty T-shirt? #showingmyage

Well, it turns out, if you’re not careful, this can happen in jiu-jitsu too! These 2 lads have been stuck in an infinite omoplata glitch for years now - some say, they’ll never be able to stop. 😬👇

YOU WIN, WE WIN!

Sharing Is Caring 🫵

Hey! - this is your chance to do a damn good deed and help us out while also scoring yourself some sweet sweet rewards for doing so! Win-Win baby!

All we ask for is that you share our newsletter with some of the other BJJ savages in your circle - we will even give you heaps of cool stuff to say thanks! ⬇️