Entries by savarese

Making progress in Jiu-Jitsu

Making progress in Jiu-Jitsu Making progress in Jiu-Jitsu is no easy feat. It will take maximum effort from you. There are a thousand obstacles that you will run into daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. There will be days you swear you’re getting worse rather than better, times when you feel everyone is progressing faster than […]

Risk assessment in BJJ

Risk assessment in BJJ Where is the right time for risk assessment in BJJ? Where there is danger there is sometimes opportunity.  The game of Jiu-Jitsu is essentially a game of risk management. You want certain outcomes, getting those outcomes will entail a degree of risk. You try always to lower the risk as much as […]

Coaching vs Criticism in Jiu-Jitsu

Coaching vs Criticism in Jiu-Jitsu Coaching vs Criticism in Jiu-Jitsu is a major topic that I wanted to take a moment to talk about. It is important as a BJJ student or as an athlete of a team sport to understand the difference between coaching and criticism. Now sometimes in a workplace situation, you have […]

Always end your BJJ class positively

Always end your BJJ class positively If you get in the mindset to always end your BJJ class positively, it will make your journey through BJJ much smoothly and you will improve faster. How you end today’s training session will determine tomorrow’s. When most people end a Jiu-Jitsu training session, they are typically exhausted. Understandably […]

Which BJJ techniques they should focus on?

Which BJJ techniques they should focus on? People often ask me which BJJ techniques they should focus on? My answer is simple. The fundamentals. Legendary trainer John Danaher used to teach say Ask yourself one question. “IF YOU WERE IN THE FINALS OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, IN THE TOUGHEST MATCH OF YOUR LIFE, WHICH TECHNIQUES […]

Standing foot sweeps in BJJ

Standing foot sweeps in BJJ Standing foot sweeps in BJJ, just like in Judo, are a vital part of the standup game if your plan on doing competitions. Using your feet for takedowns must be trained for months, even years before mastery. Most Jiu-Jitsu practitioners spend the vast majority of their training time on the […]

The power of the closed guard

The power of the closed guard Here at Savarese BJJ, we constantly preach about the power of the closed guard. Nothing good happens when you’re inside a closed guard. In a grappling match, as long as you are locked inside a closed guard, there is an undesirable feeling because you don’t have any form of […]

Guard attack theory in BJJ

Guard attack theory in BJJ Wanted to write about guard attack theory in BJJ today. First thing to know is every attack from bottom is first an attack on your opponents stance and balance. There are a thousand ways to attack from bottom position in Jiu-Jitsu, but they all have a common start. Breaking posture. […]

Taking notes during BJJ class

Taking notes during BJJ class One thing we really encourage at Savarese BJJ is taking notes during BJJ class. People usually learn more visually but sometimes taking notes, in your own words, can trigger something that will help you remember. Often I am often asked is whether it is beneficial to take notes after Jiu-Jitsu […]

Expressing yourself through Jiu-Jitsu

Expressing yourself through Jiu-Jitsu Expressing yourself through Jiu-Jitsu can be a great stress reliever and confidence booster. Expressing who you are through Jiu-Jitsu offers an infinite amount of moves to its practitioners. You could live a million lifetimes and not master them all. It’s important that you focus on those which best suit your body […]