Welcome to the Weekly Fix!

The Newsletter from the Bulletproof For BJJ brothers JT & Joey, to give you the insights you need to have a better BJJ life. .

1. Your Warm Up Sucks: How to improve it
2. Technique of the Week: Best Pistol Variations
3. Community Spotlight: The 10th Planet Zen Master
4. The Audio Hook Up: A new Perspective from Chujitsu

Your BJJ Warm Up Sucks

You heard right! All the running, star jumps and push ups won’t actually make your body better for grappling. Do they make you hot and sweaty? Sure they do but they also reinforce tightness where you do not need it. If you are a complete beginner with no exercise history some basic BJJ movements like hip escapes, rolls and crawls are all valuable and need to be learned but…

There are better ways for you to prepare your body for battle that will not only help you smooth out the kinks of everyday life but help prevent potential injury.

The act of drilling and rolling will cause tension in the shoulders and hips in a way that helps your BJJ game but is going to give you problems long term if you don’t actively even it out in your warm up and cool down.

Your coach will run the warm up whatever way they want but you need to show up and work on your body specific to what you need. If you are taking class or can influence the warm up take these things into consideration-

Here is the list of things you need to stop doing as part of your warm up and the things you need to start doing.

STOP DOING:

• Jumping Jacks/ Star Jumps
• Jogging or Skipping
• Sit Ups
• Push Ups

While these movements have a general benefit for increasing body temperature they also create tension through the front of the shoulder, hip flexors, calves and Achilles. They are limited in their range of motion and ,ay actually make certain BJJ movements and drills harder especially if you are already stiff and tight.

START DOING:

• Long Lunge Pulse
• Cossack Squat
• Active Pigeon
• Scorpion Stretch
• Table Top Press
• Trapped Fist press

All of these movements are specifically targeted to open up the shoulders, hips and lower back. They also switch on the muscles needed for safe strong joints while rolling. You will also feel your body temperature rise as all moves push your core through all planes of motion.

When you get to the academy before jiu-jitsu class and you only have 10 minutes to really prepare your body to go into to battle, you have to make the most of every minute. Using these high value moves instead of the stock standard warm ups will change your body for better rolling and less injuries.

MANNY ZENELLI

Academy: 10th Planet Melbourne Victoria

Started BJJ: April 2018

Rank: Purple Belt

What year did you start BJJ?

I walked through the doors of 10th Planet Melbourne on April 27th of 2018. Found my Sensei and team. Best decision I ever made!

Who/How did you find BJJ?

I have been an avid boxing and MMA fan since I was little. My uncle and I watched Pride FC, StrikeForce, UFC and just about every boxing match there was. I love combat sports and always wanted to learn the ground game since UFC 1 and the Gracie's. In 2018 between some downtime travelling and touring overseas with my band, a friend who trained in the Gi invited me to his dojo. I went to a class but didn't feel a connection with the Gi, I didn't see how using sleeves and lapels would crossover to an MMA fight where that wasn't available. I took to the internet and found a video of Eddie Bravo speaking about the 10th Planet system and how it is a clinch based system that is specifically designed to work without the Gi in MMA. I looked to see if we had a school in Melbourne and lo and behold, I found Sensei Frank Barca/10th Planet Melbourne. The rest is history.

What was your previous training/martial arts experience?

I had zero grappling experience before walking through the doors of the dojo. Besides the occasional wrestle with my little cousin at the family BBQ and mimicking what I saw on UFC, I was completely untrained, as white as white belt comes. I had been boxing for 4-5 years on and off between touring and felt comfortable in my ability to stand, but didn't feel as "complete fighter" like Yuri Boyka, and I wanted that.

Have you had any major setbacks or injuries on your training journey?

I've been quite fortunate that the only setbacks I have had during my jiu jitsu journey have been somewhat minor. Tapping saves you in training and I wish more people would tap when they get caught as opposed to rolling the dice and spinning out of that heel hook which they didn't think was tight. I've had a Grade 2 eversion medial deltoid sprain to my left ankle (which JT helped me rehab like a boss, thankyou big man), a few minor sprains here and there on my wrists and fingers in competition and one case of golden staph that set me back a little while as I wasn't diligent in identifying what it was. All in all I've been very lucky considering I train 5-6 sessions a week.

How has the Bulletproof for BJJ program helped you so far?

Bulletproof has allowed me to shift focus from typical linear movements in the gym, to more of a focus on mobility and functional strength.. It made sense to cross train movements that would help my jiujitsu and I've seen direct results because of it, my guard is better, flexibility is better and I'm recovering much quicker. I firmly believe that injury prevention and functional strength/mobility go hand in hand by fortifying the body and preparing you for the rigour of jiujitsu. Doing the mobility work daily has helped me remain injury free, even in some precarious positions where I might not have come out ok if I didn't have the strength through range of motion. I've also never done this much kettlebell work and I'm really loving it, so is everyone at the dojo as we recently signed up the entire school to program.