Be Strong! Emotionally!

One thing I see with many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu students is that they are very athletic, fast and physically gifted.  On the other hand, I also see a lot of people who, while they exercise and pump iron are emotionally weak.   These are the guys who get mad when they perceive a slight by somebody or feel disrespected in their own minds by something someone said or did off hand.  Their peacock feathers flair.

These guys are also the predominate “Drama queens” of the school worrying about the perceived social order of the school and how they fit in. They may also get angry or frustrated when they lose a match and storm off the mat causing embarrassment to their partner and the rest of school with their antics. 

I think one of the main reasons Jiu-Jitsu is so good for the soul is because if you are one of these people I mentioned, Jiu-Jitsu will beat you down so much with loss (if you train with better people and don't duck others) that you either become emotionally strong or you quit training.  I rarely ever see a brown belt or above (at least in my circles) who isn’t emotionally steady.  They know full well that, while they are good they are one tap away from being on the wrong end of things ESPECIALLY at tournaments. 

Being strong emotionally is important for Jiu-Jitsu but it’s also important for life.  I too have had hands dealt to me in life that brought me to my knees emotionally.  You need to get back up as a warrior and overcome the obstacles that life hands you.  It makes you a better person and it also gives your family and friends more confidence in you.

As a fairly well known Jiu-Jitsu practitioner I have been called every name in the book.   Many people are just plain nasty too.  People have made fun of my looks, my voice, my techniques, my weight, my instructor, my association, the fact I practice Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, the fact I practice Jiu-jitsu at all, my stand-up black belts,  my school, my schools name, my name, my cars, my house, my students, my face book page, my blog, my clothes, my gi’s, my music, my hobbies, my humor, my coaching, my teaching , my politics, my age, my ethnicity, my country, my patriotism, my hair It’s ok. 

If you truly believe that everyone HAS to like you in life then you are in for a world of hurt, my friend.  Hell, my kids don’t even like me many times.  There are even going to be people who act like your friend who secretly hate you and want to see you fail! 

Accept it, it’s part of being a warrior, not in the physical sense of being a warrior but a warrior against life’s struggles, which is just as important.  The funny part is NOT VERY MANY people have ever said anything to my face =).  Lastly, Don’t even think about becoming well known in your field if you can’t handle criticism. Let the flood gates of ill will open up.  So toughen your emotional warrior!

I would like to leave you with this quote: The Japanese have a saying “The nail that sticks up, gets hammered down.”  I always like to think of myself as the nail that gives the hammer the middle finger as I’m getting hammered. =)

P.S. If this post somehow hurt your feelings because you saw yourself in it…then re-read it one more time and follow the advice...lol

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My Response to How Dirty Kenpo Beats the BJJ Guard. Dirty Kenpo video included!

Please Watch This Video Before Reading This Blog!


How Dirty Kenpo Beats the BJJ Guard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l6xfvHEcLg

I have taught stand-up self-defense in my school as well as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for the last 20 years.  My stand-up background comes from old school Kenpo and JKD and I like to think I  have a sizable amount of martial arts legal knowledge including being former law enforcement and one of the primary use of force and firearms instructors at my state police academy. 

The thing that bothers me most about this video, aside from the lack of knowledge about what works in this particular scenario, is the proper use of force that should be applied in THIS  self-defense ground fighting situation.

In our litigious society, gone are the days where a martial arts instructor can "proclaim" that students  do whatever "they want"  in a street fight without having to justify their reasoning behind it. It is now replaced with a new paradigm of "proper use of force" under rule of law.  This means that whatever self-defense response you do is going to be given a good hard look by local law enforcement including how the encounter started, your fighting prowess (are you a black belt or MMA fighter?),the witness statements AND your responses to the encounter (whether you used too much force to stop the threat). There are also CIVIL penalties that can be brought to bear by the bad guy or the bad guy's family if you are prosecuted by law enforcement.

For all intents and purposes the "Guard" is categorized as a "Defensive Position." If YOU end up in someone's guard out on the street, chances are you were aggressive enough to put that person there in the first place,  otherwise you would most likely end up on the bottom. Believe it or not, only idiots jump guard in the street.  There are a number of easy and effective ways that a moderately trained fighter can use to escape the guard and simply stand back up on his feet and make an exit, otherwise he would then pass his opponent's guard and remain on top of the attacker.

The author of this video chose to use the most extreme (and one not so functional) ways of defeating his opponent.  I typically see this from a few stand up martial artists who are "untrained" in ground fighting and who, not wanting to further their knowledge of the ground, always chose the, "I would just be the hammer to hit the nail" analogy of combat regardless of legal circumstances in a street fight.  I see this a lot from Kenpo stylists who use a myriad of street lethal and great bodily harm technique against such things as a push or even a wrist grab, especially at low belt levels.

What they fail to realize is that using just a hammer does not build a house or in this case a proper self-defense foundation.  These same instructors typically spend no time in talking to their students about the legal use of force considerations that can and should be used.  In other words not every attack deserves an eye gouge. Lethal force (or great bodily harm) should only be used in certain perimeters under a narrow circumstance.  I get this "Hammer" response from firearms instructors all the time who don't want to learn to fight.  Everything is always "I would just shoot them."....really?

Back to Eye Gouging.  Don't get me wrong, many people in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu don't appreciate the effectiveness of gouging someones eyes.  My stand up instructors favorite saying was "A poke in the eye is worth a thousand words." The trouble is a poke in the eye is not the cure for every self-defense situation.  

In this video the instructor seems to think that gouging an unarmed attacker in the eye is a "primary protocol." This WILL WORK but WHY is he using this from inside someone's guard?  Are there multiple attackers? Does this person have a weapon? Doesn't the instructor have the skill set to do something less lethal? At the very least this video gives you NO explanation of "When" to use this technique.  How do you know he is a BJJ guy? Did he tell you? Why didn't you train BJJ if you are so afraid and it's so effective? I'm so confused.

I would also add that getting at someone's eyes is a lot harder then it appears.  We did numerous tests in groundfighting scenarios as instructors to see how easy it would be for someone to put a thumb or fingers ON someone's eyelids.  The easiest position was from TOP mount and side control.  The most difficult was from inside someone's guard where the person on their back can control hip movement, distance and can move their head around.  Once the person on their back was aware of what the other person was doing then it was more than easy for them to launch an eye assault of their own because of the control of the guard.  You are also exposing your arm to one of those pesky BJJ armbars too.  You will only get this move on an inexperienced opponent from the guard position.

His second move was using the knee to strike "the groin."  This actually is a coccyx strike or tailbone nerve attack.  The groin is higher up and will not be reached unless the guy is an elephant. =)  I have spent a fair amount of time physically analyzing the effectiveness of this move over the years because it has been previously taught at our police academy.  This move WILL work on a non dedicated opponent with no ground skills whatsoever.  Against a ground fighter of ANY respectable caliber or a dedicated opponent bent on your destruction you will not have a snowballs chance in hell of having the desired effect because they will fight through the pain. It isn't even more powerful then a punch to the face. I've tried this move on people and had it done to me with full force and couldn't break the guard open..No go.

His third move was finger breaking.  This one is an olddy but a goodie by stand up guys.  In theory, it should work pretty good but in reality (like an arm break) it doesn't have the desired affect against an adrenilized  DEDICATED opponent. They will fight through the pain if there is any.  

Another problem with this line of reasoning is that every BJJ guy who sticks around long enough will have the finger trick pulled on them a few times.  It's not like it's a foreign move.  I once had a guy do this to me when we were rolling and deliberately broke my index finger.  I proceeded to get pissed and broke his finger.  A finger for a finger right?

The last move he showed was "Rule #9" where he produced a knife and I think was NOT saying you should knife an unarmed opponent but that someone could knife you.  Got it...that's probably the time you should eye gouge someone.  I think mainly he wanted to show how cool he was when he took out his knife.  Knives are cool. Baltimore Escape..RahRah.

I don't want people to think I'm all harping on everyone in Kenpo.  It's my background too!  I've harped on BJJ plenty of times.  I'm just tired of a few stand up martial artists who WON'T take the time to legitimately incorporate some form of less than lethal, realistic ground defense into their curriculum in hopes of protecting their minimal ground knowledge.  They repeat the same old tired defense cliches that they learned in the 80's and early 90's without regard to the legal ramifications (and effectiveness) of what they are doing in support of their badass "image" of being the hammer.  Cops don't shoot every one they physically arrest in an altercation and martial arts instructors aren't required to hit someone in the throat from a lapel grab in every fight.  You will go to jail.

That's the cool thing about Jiu-Jitsu, You can neutralize an attacker without having to kill or maim him!  It's great self-defense in today's society!

The instructor in this video chose to attack bjj tournament guys like they are some how "helpless" in a fight.  I think tournament guys might do ok in a street fight with the ground fighting knowledge you are presenting in your video sir and probably put you in a triangle that you haven't practiced against.  I'm not sure why your picking on tournament guys...Pick on MMA guys too =).

In closing, I just couldn't stand by watching this video with the instructor actually thinking he had good answers for unsuspecting students.  People will get sued and end up in jail over this video.  I can't abide by that.

No Hard Feelings.




P.S. You can't justify your actions on information you learned later.  Like.." I later found out this guy trained BJJ or MMA that's why I eye gouged him." You are only legally justified on what you know at the moment of the fight.  Just sayin.


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The Slow and the Fast Way to Get Better in Jiu-Jitsu!

There are two ways to get Jiu-Jitsu knowledge... 

For instance, you can stay in bottom side control and keep getting choked over and over and over again until you "accidentally"  stumble on the right defense or you can do what very few people will do and simply ASK the instructor or another high ranking belt how to get out or how to fix their  errors and save themselves ALOT of trouble and heartache.  I know...that sounds obviously easy doesn't it?

The problem I see with the vast majority of students is they don't ask enough questions or even ANY at all. They might feel stupid...or intimidated...or they think they are bugging their instructor...OR they just don't think about it at the time.  All of which can cause a longer learning process and the diminished chance to become better...quicker.

I promise you that if you will get a reputation for the person who is always asking sincere questions in class, your reputation will one day change to the person who is always kicking everyone's azz.

Video: Keith Owen vs. Ryron Gracie.

This past week-end I attended two Ryron Gracie Seminars.  Ryron is a 5^th degree black belt, the Grand Son of Helio Gracie and Co- owner of the Gracie Academy.    My friend Greg Gordon and I hosted Ryron at my school in Boise and I and several friends spent a 6 hour car ride with him for his second seminar at Pedro Sauer Black Belt Jared Emfield’s School in Idaho Falls Idaho.

It was quite an honor to spend the time with Ryron and get a better sense of his Jiu-Jitsu philosophy.  We had a ton of questions for him ranging from what Grand Master Helio was like to the Metamoris Tournament  to rolling with many famous people.  It was a great time! 

The one thing that I got out of these seminars besides some great moves was some validation of my Professor, Pedro Sauer’s brand of Jiu-Jitsu.   Ryron uses the term “Keep it Playful” to describe his style of rolling.  Professor Sauer has said the same thing many times to his students including feeling free to liberally tap when you want to and not having a death match or prove anything every time you roll.  He also pointed out that you don’t have to always attack and you can merely defend until your opponent literally forces you to take a pass or a submission.  Ryron and I are very similar in philosophy in that aspect.  When I mentioned that to him he seemed a bit shocked like “Wow, not very many people are like that.”  

Ryron likes to roll with people at his seminar and made it clear that he didn’t really care what your belt color was.  I decided to step up and try my hand at rolling with a Gracie (Roy Dean did as well).  The cool thing about Ryron was that he wasn’t afraid to tap  to show case his skill at Keeping it Playful.  He didn't really care.

I however, came out on the tapping end of this deal but watching us roll you can tell that we were trying our best to use the technique and the attitude of ” Keeping it Playful.” He and I could have turned it up another 50%, but really, why?  We wanted to use the purest of technique we could and there is no way I’m going to insult a Gracie by using brute force to “try” to overcome technique.  My only regret is that we didn’t train for another hour, it was so much fun!

The last thing I would like to say about Ryron is he is such a trash talker!   I say that in a light -hearted way because he is trying to get into my head the whole time…that didn’t work…but I can see how it could for others.  I‘ve been around the block a time or two and tried to verbally turn it around on him…Good Times! 

Keith Owen vs. Ryron Gracie-Keepin it Playful! 

At around the one minute mark you hear him say “take it” on my submission attempt. I say “I don’t want to”..lol

Click Here: Keith Owen vs. Ryron Gracie- Survival Skills 101

Keith Owen  on Playing Jiu-Jitsu.  Listen around the 8:15 mark to hear me talk about playing in Jiu-Jitsu from a seminar I did in June 2009.  This is what Professor Sauer taught us and mirrors Ryron's philosophy. 

  

Tapping 10,000 Times from a June 2009 Seminar


Ryron Gracie's Blog  keepitplayful.com 
  
Keepitplayful.com 

Video: How to Get More Women into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

Here is my new video "reacting" to all the reaction from certain women concerning my recent blog post.

 My Previous Blog Post that caused all the fuss.

"Can Women Really Handle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?" 

I got a lot of comments from this, a LOT of positives and a LOT of negatives including a couple death threats. Good thing I am pro gun and can defend myself(another reason to hate me)…Check it out if you dare.

My New Video about all the criticism. 

Keith Owen: How to Get More Women Into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

  

Can Women Really Handle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

Make no mistake, I WANT women students in my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program.  The problem is that they never seem to stick.  They will even come in and DEMAND to try it out.  I politely let them know what BJJ is and what it's all about up front.  I let them know that they will be grappling with men.  Many of them say they understand, but when they get on the mat and I’m not sure they really do.

My guys are very nice, respectable gentlemen (some schools are not)  and treat the ladies with respect (or I’ll kill them).  I treat the women students like any other male student, having someone show them the positions of Jiu-Jitsu and showing them basic moves.   They know they will typically be the only ladies in the class. I never force them to roll until they are comfortable.  I let the ladies know that they can ALWAYS confide in me if a man does something that makes them feel uncomfortable.  I have never had a complaint!   

The ladies always stay for a short time but they ultimately quit.  Some of them have gotten pregnant (from their husbands or boyfriends), some move and some just find out, just like the men that it’s very hard to do Jiu-Jitsu (even though my class is very technical) and they simply quit.

I find this disheartening because if any women can get a black belt, it’s from me.  I have given out a number of blue belts to women as a matter of fact. It then makes me want to do a  male only class because we  don’t want to waste time on someone who is just going to quit even though we are excited to have her and we try to take care of her and make her feel welcome. My male students are usually married and take a bit of a risk with their spouses by wrestling around with the opposite sex.   But I always seem to accept women into the fold and try to do my best hoping that they will be the kind of person that can handle the challenge of Jiu-Jitsu.

Now, You know I'm not the kind to sugar coat things.  If you’re a women taking BJJ, you need to be tough!   You need to be committed to getting your next belt.  You need to take lessons from an instructor that is on your side and wants you to succeed AND COMMUNICATE WITH THEM. Your significant other has to be comfortable with you being in a class full of men.    You need to understand that certain men are not good to roll with because of their ego and you should be discerning about how you choose to roll with.  You need to realize that you are going to get grabbed in places that you might not want to be grabbed or have someones face in an awkward place as they try to pass your guard.  You will have a man in-between your legs (that guard again) for much of the time because he is stronger.  You have to be good at being drenched in male sweat from an exhaustive roll,   The challenges are many but I believe it is exactly what you need in order to survive a self-defense street encounter. 

I know that many of you  will say, “You should start a women’s only class” but really I don’t have the time in my schedule and I’m not sure I can attract enough women to take the class when I have a stand up martial arts program that most women seem to like better.  I’m to the point now where I just say “I will do my best to take care of you and make your experience a safe one while you’re here but you need to look internally to see if you can handle wrestling with men.”

If you are a women and  you get a purple belt or above in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu then I want you to know that you are a very special and awesome person because you have the intestinal fortitude to be able to stick with something that’s difficult for many stronger men let alone a women. Some will ask, "Why a Purple Belt?"  because no one gets a purple belt without being able to tap others out.  This means tapping men...So...Go tap some men. 

Remember ladies it ain't easy but stick with it.  Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is made for you!

   

Here is a video I just did on the criticism I got over this blog.  Watch if you dare!

Keith Owen: How to Get More Women Into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.