📰 The takedown you really don't need to know

Things That Keep You Up At 2 AM:

 Turn that sh*t off 🎶 😡 

Most coaches and gym owners like to think they sit at the top of the ladder 🪜 in the gym hierarchy - leading from the front and wielding as much power as anyone in a BJJ gym can wield.

And while that might sound logical at first glance 👀, anyone who trains knows that true power comes from being in control of the gym’s playlist 🎶 ⚡️

You can drown out the coach’s instructions and straight up ruin the rest of someone’s day 😉 with the flick of a button - but conversely, you can lift the whole mood of the session and get everyone pumped to roll if you queue up the right tracks ✅ 

Cool. So what’s ‘the right track’ huh!? 🤨 Well, that’s the million-dollar question 💰

I don’t think that there is a gym on planet Earth 🌏 where all the members will love the playlist choice, but there are 3 genres that consistently show up no matter where you go - rap, metal and reggae.

So…

This week’s big question: ⬇️

The last poll’s results:

Last time we asked you - “Would You Get A BJJ-Inspired Tattoo?”

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💪 Yep. I'd definitely get it if I find the right one. (2)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👎 Nope. Not a fan of the idea. (7)

It’s a strong showing for the ‘No thanks’ crew here with most of you out here avoiding a BJJ tattoo like it’s staph 🦠 

Whether it is ‘jits-ink’ or otherwise, Jeff wrote in noting that it’s pretty rare to be ink-free nowadays…

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

It’s been a massive week of results and accompanying drama 🎭 from some of the biggest match-ups we could ask for 🔥 

1.) Fight Pass Fires It Up

Meregali continues his ‘No-Gi, No Problem’ mantra for 2023 with a super impressive win over Felipe Pena to close out the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5.

There was a bit of back-and-forth to start out but over time, Pena seemed to tire out 🥱 and started racking up negative points 👎 for stalling and guard-pulling.

Meregali proved too slick and ended up getting the tap from the back with what appeared to be little more than a gentle neck tickle 🪶 😏 

This quick tap didn’t go unnoticed by the ol’ G-banger Ryan who was, whilst sidelined from this card with a rib injury, still on the scene with two perfectly working thumbs 👍 to rapidly fire off his signature online commentary and general trolling in Pena’s direction …

This card also lined up Natty Nicky Rod against Yuri Simoes, who almost got in a warm-up fight 👇 with the notorious pest, AJ Azagarm before taking the stage. 

Nicky & Yuri had some good exchanges (with Gordon on commentary 😂), but Nicky’s body-lock passing made all the difference as he largely dominated Yuri to get the points win.

Natty Nicky also found the time to profess his love to Yuri ❤️ and call out Gordon for a 100k money 💰 match at the end - which was promptly denied. All in a night’s work 🤷‍♂️ …

Aside from that, Mason took out Haisam, Victor Hugo beat Big ‘junior’ Dan & Nicky Ryan lost to Jonnatas Gracie to round out the other major match-ups on the card 🃏 

Check out all the results and details 👉 right here.

2.) Big Names Shine At No-Gi Worlds 2023

If you threw a rock at the No-Gi Worlds 2023, you’d have a 💯 % chance of hitting a world-class matchup 🤼‍♀️ (you’d also probably get kicked out, but that’s not the point).

This one brought out some of the best names in the No-Gi game and as noted by BJJ Heroes - for the first time in the event’s history NONE of the male, adult, black belt finals included matches between two athletes of Brazilian nationality.

It was a tournament rich in submission finishes 💵 with heel hooks served up as the specialty dish this year, taking the top spot as the most successful submission across the entire tournament 🦵 🤕 

As far as highlights go - there are too many for one email to handle, but you’ll find a good list of them right here and a summary of all the division winners below … but in the meantime, enjoy this slick slam-to-back take sequence from Luke Griffith 👇

2023 WORLD NOGI CHAMPS
51KG: Everton Souza (Vision Brasil)
61KG: Junny Ocasio (Unity)
67KG: Diego Pato (AOJ)
73KG: Lucas Valente (Gracie Barra)
79KG: Tommy Langaker (Wulfing)
85KG: Ronaldo Junior (Atos HQ)
91KG: Elder Cruz (Checkmat)
97KG: Javier Zaruski (Atos HQ)
97+KG: Roosevelt Sousa (Fight Sports)
OPEN: Roberto Jimenez (Studio 76)
46KG: Mayssa Bastos (AOJ)
51KG: Tammi Musumeci (Pedigo SF)
56KG: Alex Enriquez (Atos ATL)
61KG: Ffion Davies (Essential JJ)
66KG: Gabi McComb (Atos HQ)
71KG: Elizabeth Mitrovic (Precision JJ)
76KG: Andressa Cintra (Gracie Barra)
76+KG: Kendall Reusing (Gracie Barra)
OPEN: Ffion Davies (Essential JJ)

3.) Let’s Finish With A Little Treat From No-Gi Worlds 

Tom De Blass had an epic competitive career - making a huge name for himself over many years of Gi and No-Gi competition and winning stacks of titles 🏆

With his competition career now behind him in a haze of glory and stem cell repairs, he has transitioned into becoming one of the world’s top coaches and gym owners 💪 

He has released a tonne of instructionals which are great, but there’s only so much you can glean from a monologue right? 📺

Wouldn’t it be great if you could look over his shoulder 👀 as he coaches his top students at a world-class competition like No-Gi Worlds? 🤔 

Wouldn’t it be incredible to see what he sees as a high-level match plays out - and hear exactly what he recommends you should do in highly specific situations? 🧐

Well … if that’s a yes 🙌 - 👉 here you go 👈

Do Less. No, Wait, Do More:

The Good Option: Steal From The Best 🥷 

If you’re heading off to class tonight and manage to nail a pass or sub that you think no one in history has ever hit 😮 - guess again.

It’s 2023, at this point - there’s nothing new under the sun ☀️ and the newfound move that you’ve just shamelessly named after yourself (#theslipperysteve) has likely been done before 😔 

Don’t sweat it though, there’s no shame in stealing from the best and making it your own.

B-Team phenom Jozef Chen recently went on a tear at the ADCC European Trials, hitting some amazing techniques - one of which he openly stole from (and credits) Lucas Lepri with innovating 👍

In the clip below - he shows a super slick and unconventional way to get through your opponent’s half-guard as they sit up for the underhook.

Give it a watch and see if you can steal it from Lucas via Jozef 🥷👇

The Not-So-Good Option: Lying On Your Resume 📝 

So you’ve signed up for your first white belt comp hey?

Good on you!! 👍

Just remember when your coach asks you if you’ve ‘been working your takedowns’ - not to lie to their face and turn up to your first match with no plan to take it to ground 😬 

If you’re already in too deep though and are scrambling for ideas pre-comp - we can heartily recommend ‘The Helicopter 🚁 ‘ ✅ 

Quick. Elegant. Effective. 👇

The Meme Open Mat:

There are just some things tiny white belt brains can’t handle… 👇

Think you’ve got the spiciest BJJ memes going around? Hit reply, send them through to get them featured 🔥 

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