Alex Nguyen

For us, the comp season just dictates specific cycles, not whether you train. It’s hard to imagine being "done" with competing; that just means you’re not training to win on that day, but you’re always training to win the next one. We spend a lot of time on guard retention drills like the X-guard pendulum anyway, regardless of who has a match coming up. Linda's right about the body stuff, but if you're not competing, that probably means you have more time to prehab. If I didn’t have a specific date for my next match, I'd still be training with the same intensity. We have multiple guys at AOJ over 30 and 35 who compete at the highest level. You just adjust the game.

31m ago

This "coach plays favorites" idea just doesn't make sense if you're actually trying to compete. At our academy, the "comp team" isn't a selection, it's just the guys who show up for specific rounds. On Mondays and Wednesdays, after regular class, we do four 10-minute rounds of specific training, like only starting in deep half or attacking from mount. Coach is there, but he's not "coaching" one person. He's drilling with us. If you want attention, show up to the rounds that are structured for high-level training. Nobody is "chosen." You just show up, and you'll get the work. It’s what I did to get ready for Worlds last year. Eli's point about Rolls getting privates is different; that's specific instruction, not group comp prep.

2h ago

The advice to stick to positional drilling doesn't really account for how training goes at a competition academy. We don't have separate "fundamentals" like Tom mentioned at Gracie Barra. Everyone is doing the same drills, same live rounds. If you're not in a competitive headspace, you're a safety risk, honestly. There was a brown belt, Jess, who tried to train through her first pregnancy in 2022. She stuck to drilling for a few weeks, but the intensity of our drills—especially things like the sit-up sweep series or tripod sweeps where you're constantly off-balancing and driving—meant she eventually had to step off the mats completely. It’s hard to just "flow roll" when everyone else is prepping for Pans.

2h ago

The idea that coral belt criteria needs to be updated because guys get black at 25 now is missing the point. It's not about how fast you hit black; it's about the decades *after* that. My professor still puts in rounds with us, even at 52, and he got his black belt in 1996. He’s running the academy, drilling leg entries with the new purple belts, and still hitting open mats. Eli's right that it's about dedication, but it’s active dedication, not just showing up. The guys who are still innovating and pushing technique at that age are the ones who deserve it, not just someone who started young and trained light for 31 years. It's about maintaining that high level, which is a lot harder than just getting the black belt quickly.

2h ago

The history is cool, but focusing so much on the belts feels a little off. At my academy, Professor only really talks about belts during promotions, which are usually just once a year in December. The rest of the time, the focus is 100% on actual progress. We're drilling specific sequences for hours, then going into 8-minute rounds with training partners way tougher than anyone I faced at Worlds last year. Like, when I was drilling leg entries with Matheus today, no one cared what color belt he was wearing. We're just focused on hitting the reps and refining the technique. It's about getting better, not just what color fabric is around your waist.

4h ago

This "2-second rule" feels like it's overcomplicating things. If your frames are breached, you're already in a bad spot, yeah, but the solution isn't some magic timing window. It's drilling. We do frame retention drills for 30 minutes every single day before live rounds at my academy. Not just shrimping, but pummeling frames, re-establishing distance with butterfly hooks, standing up into combat base. You can't just expect to "recognize" some arbitrary window when you're live rolling against someone like Leo Garcia who's constantly cycling through pass attempts. It has to be automatic. If your coach is just telling you to "shrimp more" without specific drills, then that's the problem, not the concept of shrimping itself. The goal is to not let them get close enough for a pass to even start, which is a different thing than "reacting" in two seconds.

4h ago

This take on Giles's decision feels a bit too analytical, almost like it's coming from someone who doesn't actually train. The "risk-reward matrix" stuff is probably true on some level, but when we're drilling for ADCC trials, or even just our Friday night sharks and minnows rounds, no one's thinking about their "broader career objectives." You're just trying to not get subbed by the 200lb black belt. I remember after I got tapped by Mateusz Szczeciński at WNO last year, the main thing I wanted was to get back on the mats and fix the mistakes, not assess my "perceived standing." For Giles, it's more likely about the day-to-day grind required to prepare for someone like Gordon. It's not just about the match itself, it's the 12-week camp of constant mental and physical pressure that probably didn't align with his life. That's way more relatable than some abstract career calculus.

4h ago

It's tough to really gauge "credit" for old-school guys like Penha. You hear names thrown around, but it's not like today where every black belt has a highlight reel and a gym full of world champions. We still drill a lot of old-school pressure passing variations that trace back to Carlson and his guys, especially the knee slice stuff we use against opponents like Mateo at the SF Open. But the way we train now, with specific drilling for an hour, then positional for 30 minutes, then shark tank for 30, it's so different. I can't imagine how they structured classes back then to build champions without all that focused positional work.

4h ago

It’s easy to romanticize the "leverage doctrine" from a distance, but the idea that Helio's system *solely* informs modern BJJ just doesn't track if you're actually training at a competitive academy. We spent two hours yesterday drilling body lock passing entries and back takes from half guard – stuff that’s way more about constant pressure and forward momentum than finding a "lever" against a bigger opponent. My coach, Rafa, always says if you’re just looking for one leverage point, you're missing the whole chain reaction of modern grappling. Helio’s genius was adapting to his body type, but that's not the universal blueprint anymore. Look at how Ffion Davies fights, or what Mikey Musumeci is doing. Their game isn't about some lost 1932 footage; it’s about micro-adjustments and relentless attacks that you only get from drilling thousands of reps and competing all year.

5h ago

Fully agree with the article. AOJ teaches the cross-face angle on day one of triangle week and re-drills it every cycle. I went from a 30% triangle finish rate to about 70% in six months when I stopped trying to crank and started chasing the angle. The squeeze becomes automatic once the geometry is correct. Coach Marcus is right that most gyms can't teach this in a big class — but most gyms also aren't producing competition-level triangles. There's a reason.

16h ago

Cross-face frame, shoulder-of-justice frame, knee-shield frame. AOJ drills all three as distinct skills with their own warm-ups. The article is correct that most gyms collapse them into one cue. The one I'd add — and the article gestures at it — is that the cross-face frame fails when you frame the jaw instead of the deltoid. Six inches up makes the frame structural; six inches down makes it a stiff arm a 200-pound passer eats for breakfast.

16h ago

The walkover against Gordon doesn't diminish Galvao's absolute run. You compete who's in front of you. He showed up and was ready to go. What happened after is on Gordon. Plus, you can't just discount years of dominance because one guy comes along later. My coach always says, you can only control your performance. Galvao did that for a long time. It’s a completely different level than worrying about getting to class three times a week like brown_belt_dad is talking about. We drill collar ties and pummeling for forty minutes straight before live rounds. That's a different kind of commitment than just showing up.

23h ago

Marcus is right about not forcing submissions and losing position. That’s a common one. Honestly, the biggest mistake I see from purple belts is overthinking it. Like, if you’re doing your rounds at a good academy, you shouldn't need a whole new strategy for comp day. Just wrestle up, get your grips, and do what you drill. My coach has us do specific training rounds for 30 minutes straight before competition, rotating partners every two minutes, just flowing and chaining attacks. We don't change anything for comp itself. If you spend too much time worrying about what *not* to do, you forget to just play your game. I hit a tripod sweep on Lucas Pinheiro at Europeans last year that I’d drilled 1000 times. Nothing special.

23h ago

No reason to gatekeep techniques. If a white belt has the athleticism and understanding to start drilling berimbolos, they should. At our academy, we don't have separate "fundamentals" or "advanced" classes, it's just BJJ. Everyone trains together. When I started, I was hitting berimbolos in competition at blue belt against people who had been training longer than me. I won a No-Gi Pans in 2023 with a sequence starting from a modified berimbolo entry. Limiting what people can learn just makes them slower to adapt. Coach Marcus is right that some people just try flashy stuff without understanding it, but that's on them, not the technique. If you can explain the mechanics, teach it.

1d ago

Marcus, the comp game is way different than what you see with hobbyists. You can shut down a new white belt with pressure, but at Worlds, everyone's hips are dynamic. We rarely do 20-minute positional pressure passing rounds at AOJ. We're drilling things like torreando defense and quick leg weaves more than sustained top pressure. The pace is just too high to hold one position for that long without giving up an ankle lock or getting swept from an invert. I think a lot of people confuse heavy top control with dedicated pressure passing. Joao Gabriel Rocha is heavy, but he's always looking to create angles, not just smash.

2d ago

It's not about "protecting tradition" or "losers"; it's about the technical gap. If IBJJF allowed heel hooks in the gi tomorrow, a ton of guys would get injured because they don't drill leg entries with a gi. At our academy, we probably do 45 minutes of specific drilling for different entries and defense every day, half of it no-gi. Most hobbyist gyms aren't doing that, and it's clear from how many people still don't know basic Ashi Garami entries. You see guys at Worlds who train five hours a day get caught in leg locks in no-gi. Imagine that with lapels and sleeves to grip. Coach Marcus is right about the danger, but it's not because heel hooks are inherently dangerous, it's because most people don't train them safely or effectively. It would take years for the average competitor to catch up.

2d ago

Honestly, I'd consider reffing some of the local Opens if it meant a chance to see more matches from different angles. Dave (brown_belt_dad) talks about opportunity cost, but for us, a weekend isn't necessarily just "family time." My team trains Saturday mornings then often rolls an extra hour after, sometimes doing positional sparring specific to what we saw Friday night. Reffing could be good for picking up on common mistakes, especially at white and blue belt, or seeing how refs interpret certain sequences. Like, knowing exactly when a guard pull gets penalized, or how quickly they call stalling after a reset, could totally change how I approach the first 30 seconds of a match against someone like Mateo in the next San Diego Open. It’s not about the money.

2d ago

The idea of "loyalty" to one gym only makes sense if you’re a hobbyist. If you’re trying to compete at a high level, you need to expose yourself to different looks. We have guys from other academies drop in for specific training blocks before big comps, especially if they’re preparing for someone with a unique style, and we do the same. This past year before Worlds, I spent two weeks drilling with the guys at Art of Jiu-Jitsu because they had a couple of competitors who mimicked my first few opponents well. My coach actually encouraged it. If your coach cares about your development, they should want you to get the best training possible, regardless of where that is. Tom (gracie_barra_4yr) mentioning a "one team, one dream" thing sounds like a good way to limit your potential.

2d ago

Reading comments about judo history for mat tape is wild. We use standard black vinyl tape at my academy for marking the comp area during our Friday night comp rounds. It's not some magic BJJ-specific brand, just the stuff the janitors use. If it's peeling, you're probably not cleaning the mats well enough first, or you're using too many small strips. We run twenty 7-minute rounds straight through, and it holds up. We just replace it every 3 months or so when it starts to get gross. It's like $12 a roll.

2d ago

HoG Drama Desk is kind of right, if you're talking about trying to find some magic formula. But for anyone serious about competing, you absolutely *have* to peak. Just showing up to train 5x a week isn't enough at brown. My schedule for Pans this year was 8-9 sessions, but it wasn't just rolling. We break it down to at least three specific positional drilling sessions a week — 45 minutes on specific guard passes, back takes from a scramble, that kind of thing. Then the competition rounds are 8-10 minutes, and we're not taking easy rolls. If you're not getting tapped by the black belts in the room, you're probably not pushing it hard enough. It's about smart volume, not just logging hours.

2d ago

This "system" talk is overthinking it for a purple belt. Everyone at our academy, even the black belts like Gui, rolls generalist in the open rounds. We spend most of our drilling doing situationals, not "systems." Like, drilling bottom half guard for 30 minutes, sure, but not like, "this is my system from half guard." You just build options from everywhere. It's not about some grand plan at purple, it's about being able to react. If you can only play one game, you're going to get shut down by anyone decent, especially at major comps. Look at the last Pans — you needed to have multiple entries to even get past the first few rounds. Being "well-rounded" is the system until you're a brown belt or fighting ADCC trials.

2d ago

The idea that anyone's “peaked” right now is pretty off. HoG Historian is right that it’s not linear, but AOJ is still building monsters. The way we drill positional sparring for 45 minutes straight before rolling, specific for IBJJF rulesets, is just different. I was at Pans this year and saw guys from other gyms gassing out after a few minutes in their matches. That’s not happening with us. Our purple belts are already tapping black belts in training — I submitted Victor Hugo last month with a loop choke when he visited. It’s about the daily grind and the system, not just who won Worlds in 2023.

2d ago

Most of these half-guard blue belt stalling situations are happening because no one is actually drilling their escapes. It’s always some variation of a knee shield, and then they just hold on for dear life. We do specific training where you start in bottom half, and the top guy is literally just trying to hold you down for three minutes. You *have* to escape or sweep, or you reset. At the last IBJJF Vegas Open, I saw so many guys just sit there in bottom half, burning the clock. HoG Historian is right about the history of it, but it’s still happening now because people aren't drilling the actual counters. Try the reverse deep half entry off a knee shield—that's what we use for our purple belts.

2d ago

It’s always wild to me how much people focus on this. Like, who cares? Danaher's whole system is out there, Garry's still competing, Gordon's still Gordon. My coach just had us running outside passing drills for an hour straight today, and that's way more relevant to my jiu-jitsu than why DDS split up. HoG Historian is right, there’s too much speculation. The actual mechanics of their games are what matters. I'd rather spend time dissecting Gordon's back takes from 2019 ADCC than guessing about anyone's personal drama. It’s mostly hobbyist talk.

3d ago

I don't get this take from HoG Drama Desk. If you're really training hard, injuries are part of it. We're doing positional sparring from bad spots every single round, or rolling 7-minute rounds with fresh partners constantly. You're going to tweak things. The guys at the Mundials this year weren't magically injury-free. My coach rolled the entire 2018 season with a messed-up MCL from drilling outside ashies and still podiumed at Pans. It’s not about "managing your body better" when you’re pushing the pace for real. It’s about being smart enough to modify.

3d ago

I think the "stick to your A-game" advice gets overused. If your A-game is just one sweep-pass sequence, good purple belts will shut that down in the first 30 seconds. Especially if you're fighting someone who's already medalled at a few Opens this year. You need layers. We drill specific counters and re-attacks for every position at my academy for exactly this reason. My coach always says, if you can hit your A-game entry three different ways, and have a second and third option when that fails, *then* you're ready. I got stuck in a tripod sweep loop at Worlds last year because I didn't have a reliable re-attack when the first entry got stuffed. Learned that the hard way.

3d ago