The Importance of Learning by Brian Michelino

Recently at D’Arce Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I’ve gotten to discussions with
some of my training partners about the importance of learning new
moves. One of the best things about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the sport
and the techniques are always evolving or changing, because of this
you must make sure you’re on top of the latest new moves.
       One of my training partners was making the argument to me that it’s
important to learn the basics before you start learning and
incorporating the newer more complicated systems in your game. He
believes in order to fully understand and be able to use these
complicated moves you must understand the basics. To a certain point I
agree, but I also believe that you got to learn these new techniques
in order to be able to defend them properly. My outlook on learning
the new moves is: if you start learning these moves early on in your
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu career by the time you reach a higher rank you’ll
be on your way to mastering these new moves.
       Jiu Jitsu is always evolving, at D’Arce Jiu Jitsu in Long island our
instructors are always open to these new advancements in the Jiu Jitsu
community, so you can be sure when you’re training with us your always
getting the most up to date moves. It’s important as a Jiu Jitsu
practitioner to keep your mind open in order to grow a BJJ player.

Monday Training at D'Arce Jiu Jitsu & Mixed Martial Arts by Brian Michelino

Mondays at D’Arce Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA is probably my favorite
day of the week. We have three classes on Monday, a morning Gi
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Class, a high intensity Mixed Martial Arts class
(MMA) and a fast paced No-Gi BJJ class. Normally in the morning there
is a different group of people then the evening classes so in the
morning I can try out things that my training partners might be wise
to in the evening classes. Typically this class starts with a warm up,
and then we move to the technique portion of the class. For this part
of class we are usually taught a particular set of moves that some way
or another relate to each other. After we learn the new technique then
we normal do a live training session in our Gi’s. Normally we switch
partners so we roll with everyone in the class. (As long as the class
size isn’t that large)  After all this the instructor in charge
normally keeps the mat open for a while allowing us to drill or train
on our own. After the morning class I normally feel so energized
throughout the rest of the day.
       Then I go through the rest of my day until around 6:30. MMA starts
around 7:00pm but there are normally a few people hitting the bag or
shadow boxing beforehand. Plus if you’re a new to MMA and Boxing you
might need some time to wrap your hands and gear up. MMA starts with a
few rounds of shadow boxing and jump roping, once we are all warm we
typically start a few rounds of a Muay Thai style drill that allows us
to practice our knee strikes without damaging our training partners.
Then we partner up with someone around our skill level and do some
striking drills. We do combinations back and forth to our partners,
these drills allow us to practice our striking combinations it also
allows our partners to practice their blocks. After we do a few rounds
of striking practice we move to some live sparring. Participating in
live sparring is not mandatory, but if you are confident in your
abilities you can try your luck training live. I personally love this
aspect of class it’s the part I look forward to most. You get a chance
to train with some pretty experiences Thai fighters and MMA
practitioners. After we do some live training we finish class by doing
some light conditioning drills designed to keep you sharp.
       After MMA you jump right to No-Gi BJJ. No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is
my personal favorite class. I enjoy training with the kimono but I
enjoy the fast paced back-and-forth battle that a no-gi match can
provide. We start of class with Jiu Jitsu style warm ups, typically
hip escape drills and a penetration step drill. We move on very
similarly to the Gi Class I described above.  The No-Gi class seems to
focus a little bit more on wrestling. There is a lot of live training
during this class, this class is very fast paced and I normally get
the most out of this. There are normally a lot of our advanced members
so if you’re new to the sport don’t worry there will be someone here
to help you along. These classes all have tremendous instruction and a
very strong attention to detail don’t have any reservation about
coming down, whether you’re a pro MMA fighter training for your next
fight or new to the sport looking to learn what MMA and BJJ is all
about come down give a class a try.

Frank Shamrock partially blames Dana White for MMA not being legalized in New York

Frank Shamrock

The always outspoken Frank Shamrock commented on Dana White's role in MMA becoming legalized in New York.

"The face of our sport is Dana White and out here in conservative New York, the way people think, bald-headed, tattoo'd, swearing people are just not a good representative of our brand and unfortunately people think that Dana White speaks for MMA, and they're confused," Shamrock said Monday on The MMA Hour. "They don't know he speaks for the UFC. They think he speaks for the entire sport and [they think] the entire sport is made up of Dana Whites."

Shamrock also goes on to mention the correlation between Dana White's propensity toward being an unconventional CEO, not being a Martial Artist himself and the negative way the media portrays the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

"... I don't think it's all on him," Shamrock elaborated. "But we're entering a new era of social media and Dana is a very outspoken figure in every way, mostly with the f-bomb and all that. I'm a martial artist. To me, the art is the most important thing. I don't get the same thing from Dana, that's all."

"I don't believe that Dana White is a martial artist," Shamrock said, never shy to dispense UFC criticism. "I don't see a martial way that he is following."



Dana White

Frank Shamrock feels that MMA needs another figure that is in the public eye, he believes in no uncertain terms that he is in fact that figure.

"I probably wouldn't have had the rough lifehood, I probably wouldn't have went to jail, I probably wouldn't have done all those things," the 37-year-old said. "Because I didn't have a way, a life, I grew up very poor, abused. I didn't know there was a better way. [MMA] is the better way. That's why I'm so passionate about it. That's why we got to do something for the arts."

"In no uncertain terms, what [New York politicians] have said is, 'The appearance of the sport is something we're not ready for,' and the appearance of the sport is Dana White and the UFC because no one else has been here in the media and explain it and has credibility, who's done it," Shamrock said.

"I know what the art is and I'm here to represent it," Shamrock said. "I think that's all we need. We need a different face."

To summarize whether you see agree with Frank Shamrock or not you cannot disagree that the sport of MMA in terms of media representation should not be monopolized by one man.  Mixed Martial Arts as a whole can only prosper from others fighting on its behalf.

UFC 121 by Brian Michelino

      On Saturday October 23rd in the Honda Center Brock Lesnar will defend
his Heavy Weight Title against challenger Cain Velasquez, but before
this fight takes place Martin “The Hit Man” Kampmann will Welcome Jake
Shields to the UFC. Martin Kampmann is the underdog in this fight
according to odds makers, but make no mistake Kampmann stand much more
than a “punchers chance” in this fight.
       Martin Kampmann was one of the many professional fighters that made
it down to D’Arce Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Many of us at D’Arce were able
to train with him and by all accounts “The Hit man” is no slouch in
the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu department. His fight against Palo Thiago showed
this too, when the fight went to the ground Kampmann was able to
neutralize Palo’s dangerous BJJ game. Kampmann even went on the attack
trying to finish Palo with submissions of his own. Kampmann has 6
submission wins under his belt and completely understands the Brazilian
jiu jitsu aspect of MMA.
       Jake Shields a dominating wrestler and talented Jiu Jitsu
practitioner poses many threats with his ground attacks but shields is
not known as a powerful striker. Kampmann has three losses on his
record one a doctor stoppage from a cut, the other two TKO losses from
two of the best strikers in the UFC, Shields not being a dominating
striker like the two men to finish Kampmann before; I don’t see him
putting Kampmann away.
       This is an interesting fight and I think many people are counting
Kampmann out, if Jake is looking past Kampmann it could be a long
night for the former Strikeforce champ. Style wise this fight plays
right into Kampmann’s hands look for the knockout in the second round.
I’m calling a Kampmann upset.

Back From Thailand by Gregg DePasquale

I am back in the states after a 3 week long adventure in Thailand.  It feels great to be back on the mats at D'Arce Jiu Jitsu on Long Island.  I met some great people while training and went to some great gyms.  The high level of Kickboxers in Thailand is CRAZY!  At any time there are multiple world champions training right along side with you.  If anyone has the chance and opportunity to make the trip and train over-seas I highly recommend it.  It is an experience that I will never forget.  Stay tuned for the videos that I shot...

A Training Tip by Brian Michelino

      When training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or MMA at D’Arce Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you learn at least one move or technique per class, often practicing the move till near perfection.  In either case it’s important to try and remember what you learned in class on that day, the techniques you learn in class will come in handy during live training. Often I’m in a certain position in our live training sessions and I will instantly remember a
move from class that might help me escape a bad position. One of the reason I’m able to remember nearly all the moves I was taught in class is because I keep a daily journal of each technique, and often study them.
      Keeping a journal is a common practice in many different BJJ schools, though not mandatory for class, I would highly recommend it especially for more complicated moves. Techniques often have many different parts so it’s important to remember all the options you have so you can maximize the effectiveness of the move itself.  Often at D’Arce Jiu Jitsu after class the instructors or some high level grappling competitors will stick around to drill some moves. It’s at this point in class were you can ask a instructor or competitor questions or advice about a move you want to learn, it’s also just as important at this time to record all the advice you got all this information is the key to Brazilian jiu jitsu success.
       Eventually the idea is to make these moves become second nature but honestly that takes a lot of training and mat time. So until then do yourself a favor and write it down. As soon as I get home I write down the moves we learned and a description of them just to make sure I don't forget. I always make it a point to try moves we did in the previous class as well, this will ensure I’m keeping myself sharp.

Grappler -vs- Striker (New School) by Brian Michelino

Shinya Aoki

     An interesting match up will take place at DREAM on October 24th in
the DEEP organization. Shinya Aoki Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black belt and
the current DREAM light weight champion will face former boxing title
holder Yokthai Sithoar.
     For those of you who are not familiar with Japanese MMA Sithoar is a
former Lumpinee Stadium muay Thai champion, he eventually turned his
attention to boxing and became a professional boxer in 1994. Aoki is
the current DREAM LW champ and has won most of his fight via
spectacular submissions.
Shiya is not known for his Striking abilities but is considered one of
the best in the world on the ground. He is known for brutal
submissions from all positions.
       Their contrasting styles remind me a lot of James Toney Vs Randy
Couture, although Yokthai Sithoar has far more ways to win then Toney
did, the bottom line is this will be his first pro MMA fight and he’s
facing one of the best in the world in not only Jiu Jitsu but in MMA.
These fights are similar to UFC 1 when we saw fights where it was
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Vs Boxing, basically one style Vs another
completely different style.
       I expect the same results as Royce Gracie’s early victims: the
grappler will prevail. Aoki ranked in the top 5 in the LW division and
has a very exciting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu style so if your interested in
seeing some high level jiu jitsu like you’ll see at D’Arce Jiu Jitsu I
suggest you check out DEEP 50 on October 24th.