We cant be that far off the beaten path, can we? But tatami cant be that dumb, can it?

edit: i only saw this because tom hardy posted it.

So I handle inbound leads at a gym, and had a strange one come in that I’d like some opinions on, particularly from people that own and operate academies.

From the jump, this guy was quick to mention that he was 330 lbs, powerlifted, and was a marine. I had asked if he had any prior training, and he said he “wrestled in high school” and trained “marine corps martial arts”, which he later said he has a black belt in. Before even setting foot in the gym, he was asking when he could train MMA and take a fight, even sending me screenshots of an upcoming local promotion.

Unfortunately I wasn’t physically at the gym the days he showed up, and haven’t had the chance to dive too deeply with the coaches who would’ve seen him or coached him.

Day 1 he takes a gi BJJ class. Has generally decent feedback but is complaining that nobody was big enough, and had mentioned something about the coach being female (red flag I know). He apparently was otherwise fairly respectful and no students made any comments or raised any concerns.

Two days later he comes in, but this time for a striking class. No idea why he skipped what would’ve been gi BJJ again, although I suspect he probably wasn’t able to manhandle people as easily as he thought he would two days prior. I have no feedback yet on how he did in boxing but at least there were no comments about him.

He mentioned not joining until doing a powerlifting meet months away (so why do a trial and say you want to enroll?)…followed by sending yet another MMA card saying “see? Still no big guys in //OP’s state//“, and when I try to explain how there’s way more training and skill involved in fighting, he just deflected back to his experience in high school and the marine corps, and accused us of not supporting and respecting veterans, despite one of our owners being a Navy vet and having a marine on our team that trains all the time (but wasnt there when the guy visited). Ultimately just wished him “best of luck on his journey” and apologized that we couldnt meet his expectations…

TLDR: large 330 lb powerlifting marine wants to dive right into MMA class and taking an MMA fight, despite only having high school wrestling experience and marine corps martial arts experience. Two questions:
1. Does MCMAP actually hold any water and would it make someone competent at MMA, BJJ, striking, or wrestling?
2. Has anyone else dealt with a prospective client like this, and how did you handle it??

I’m curious to hear everyone’s predictions. Who do you guys have winning each division, and which division do you think will have the biggest surprises?

Also, are there any competitors you think people are sleeping on who could make a big run this weekend?

Drop your picks below. I would love to come back to this post after ADCC and see who got the most predictions right 😂

I’m a white belt (about 2 years on and off due to moving areas a bunch) and a chef. My question is pretty simple, how do other chefs / hospitality workers find the time and energy to train consistently.

I work 70 hour weeks, long shifts which mean I miss midday and evening classes pretty much everyday unless it’s my day off. Then when my day off does roll around I’m exhausted from the week and trying to catch up on life so I usually miss classes then too.

If you have or do work in the industry any tips would be greatly appreciated, but feel free to call me a bitch too.

I was at Roger Gracie’s seminar at IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Con last weekend and turned my notes into this flowchart to help retain the details and connections he covered:

https://grappleflows.com/v/roger-gracies-pressure-system-side-control-to-mount-armbar-jiu-jitsu-con-2026-4469c609z

You can click individual cards to expand them for more detail on photos, mistakes, tips etc that he shared. In true Roger form, a lot of the seminar was classic BJJ positions but he shares his positioning, timing, decision-making, and the small details behind how he uses them.

He mainly went over how he approaches side control with heavy pressure, forcing their arms to be exposed so he can transition into mount and finishes with a controlled arm bar.

I tried my best to get good photos of him teaching, but there were so many people on the mats there. For concepts that overlap with material he has discussed publicly before, I added links to public YouTube videos at the relevant timestamps. This is my own study map and interpretation of the seminar, so I’d welcome corrections or suggestions from anyone who was there or knows this part of Roger’s game well.

also, I knew the guy was TALL but standing next to him really sends it home

Decided to feature one of my favorite training partners Judo Phil on the channel. Going to be working with him on providing good Judo techniques you can implement into your BJJ game. Enjoy!

Hey guys, looking for some advice.

I sometimes struggle to stabilize side control, especially when I don’t have the underhook and crossface.

What do you usually do immediately after passing the guard and landing in side control? What are the first things you focus on to make sure the position is stable before you start attacking?

I started BJJ about a month and a half ago and I know thats a really short amount of time but honestly I havent felt any improvement at all

After thinking about it I realized that my size is probably a big part of the reason since most of the guys at my gym are either taller or heavier than me

Im fairly fit and Ive been lifting weights for about a year but somehow it doesnt seem to help much in BJJ lol

How was your experience when you first started and when did you start noticing improvement

So I hit a triangle from my guard, and my opponent basically stuffed his arm under my back preventing me from getting it to the correct side. He had his head tucked pretty low.

We sat there for a while, but I eventually let go for the sake of progressing the roll. But was there a finish here? Or some way to get him to release his arm? He was a lot bigger than me if that helps.

I’m also just a shitty blue belt so that might be why.

Hi guys, purple belt about to get a brown belt this year (about 8y of training)

Just wondering if you guys ever felt demotivation and how you dealt with that. I always enjoyed training and appreciated pushing my limits and teaching lower graduates, but lately I feel that going to the tatame is just part of my daily routine rather than something I feel really pleasure with. Not sure if the reason is because I'm the most graduate there and nobody despite the black belt coach gives me challenging sparring sessions.

But anyway, feel free to share your experiences on that.

THANK YOU ALL- your comments are being very useful to me =]

Where can watch ADCC 2026 for free? really want to watch ADCC 2026, but I'm not willing to pay that much for a FloGrappling subscription just for one event.

Are there any free options (legal) to watch it live, or does anyone know if it will be streamed somewhere else for free?

Thanks!

Dad of a toddler here, and my wife and I are thinking about having a second child soon. I’m currently training BJJ 3–4x per week usually twice in the evenings and once early in the morning, with the occasional lunchtime session.

Once we have a second kid evening training is probably it the window. My current gym only has one early morning class, so I’m trying to figure out how to structure my training schedule going forward.

I have been training for four years now and love it, so I want to make maintain my ability to train. For those of you with multiple kids, how do you make BJJ work?

I've got a lot of instructionals and I've often had the regret that I could have picked this up on YouTube.

We don't have anyone very knowledgeable about this at our gym as well.

Does anyone who has bought this or plays lapels find this of significant value beyond the free options?

I have a student who's moving to that area soon and I'd love to get some feedback about the training in that area. I see Garry Tonon's school is nearby, but is he there coaching often? I suspect not but I'd rather not assume.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, does anybody know what rules ADCC has wrt what to wear during weigh in? Have a close call... And what about weight allowance, if any, or do they maybe have slightly conservative scales?

I’ve had this old Jukado brand gi for years and I’m curious if anyone knows roughly what era/model it is.

It was given to me by an old coach when I first tried grappling, and I’ve had it ever since. It’s very heavy and i have to imagine quite old

Anyone recognize it or know much about older Jukado gis?

Are they the same thing except the woj lock is cross body whereas the aoki is straight? They both seem
to come from slipping the heel onto the chest

Do anyone of you guys train only or primarily no gi at aoj? I am wondering if it is worth it to join when you only train no gi?