OG Self-Defense 101 Winners

I told everyone that wrote a comment on my video blog they would
have a chance to win a free copy of my “OG Self-Defense 101″ System.

To see who the winners are and what were the winning blog posts,
please click the link below…

http://dwarfurl.com/54406

Congrats to the winners, make sure that you email me your mailing
address so that I can get your training package to you.

And a very special thanks to everyone that submitted a comment, the
insight and kind words were very much appreciated!

Dedicated to improving your mat experience!

Paul Greenhill (aka The Wise Grappler)
P.S.  Don’t forget that the “OG Self-Defense 101″ goes live
tomorrow (February 9, 2010) at 12pm (noon) EST) for an introductory
discounted price. Learn how to protect yourself with “real”
self-defense techniques, not some move that’s only “legal” at a
grappling tournament!

P.P.S.  For those OGs that joined the list after I sent out the
videos, here’s the link for all three “OG Self-Defense 101″ Videos

http://dwarfurl.com/e9a65
P.P.P.S. Remember… enjoy the videos and make sure to share them
with your grappling buddies and teammates.

28 Things I Wish I Knew as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu White Belt!

When one of my teammates asked me to write down a few things that I’ve learned over the years that I wished I’d known when I was a white belt starting out in BJJ, I thought this would be an easy task.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be tougher to write that I thought it would be.

Why, you may ask?

Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t know what to say.  The issue was how much to stay in such a small space without boring you by typing a book.

And since I’ve been training for almost 14 years, they’re SO MANY things I wish I would’ve known at the beginning of my grappling
journey.

Maybe I’ll take a weekend and write down all the “lessons learned”
during my grappling journey for the OG Nation.

In the meantime, here are 28 things from The Wise Grappler’s “I Wish I Would’ve Known…” List:

- 90 percent of the folks that you start with at white belt will never make it to  black belt

- You will be one of those 90 percent that never reaches black belt unless you really want it

- Injury is 100 percent guaranteed at each belt level, but that shouldn’t stop you from going after your black belt

- Family members will try to talk you into quitting after each injury, especially if surgery is required.  And if you really don’t want to be a black belt, their comments will make sense and you will quit
- Listen to your body and rest when you’re hurt.  BJJ is a marathon race, not a sprint
- There’s a thin line between being hurt and injured. Don’t ignore the warning signs
- BJJ is ALL EGO, regardless of the old “leave your ego at the door” mantra
- Keep a flower pot at the office large enough to soak my sore wrists, hands and elbows during the day and a bathroom trash can for my toes, feet, and ankles at night
- Never train hard without a good warm-up first.  If you’re intentionally skipping warm-ups so you can save energy for your matches, you’re going to pay for it someday
- To not listen to training advice from other white belts over my
instructor
- Everyone online sounds smarter and better equipped to teach you than your instructor that sees you every day
- Too much BJJ info (e.g. DVDs, books, magazines, etc.) is just as bad as not enough BJJ info
- Good grapplers are training, not spending all day posting about who’s the best grappler or where they train
- If you don’t have training goals in the beginning, someone will give you their agenda for what they want you to be and you may not like them
- The grappler that thinks “drilling is a waste of time” will be an average grappler at best
- You don’t have to be at the gym to train
- You can join the best grappling gym in town and still suck if you’re not doing what you need to do on the mat
- Competitions will reveal all your bad habits that you can either hide or ignore in the gym
- Start learning takedowns as a white belt.  that way, you won’t be a  blue/purple/brown belt that can only jump guard or butt scoot
- The paintbrush and every other basic technique that you think is
useless will work if you take time to learn how to set them up and execute them correctly
- If you have to think about doing a technique before you execute it, you don’t know it
- Drill at least 10-15 mins after class every day on the technique you just learned to help reinforce it in your muscle memory
- Trust your coach to build you as a grappler, not strangers that you only talk to online
- White belts don’t have a style, regardless of what they think
- Never let anyone intimidate you on the mat
- Remember to breathe when sparring.  If you run out of gas too quickly every time you roll, you’re probably holding your breath
- Never be afraid to tap with a partner, it’s really not that important
- There are no “magic bullets” to ensure grappling success.  If you want success, commit to a grappling system and put in the mat time necessary to master the system

I’m sure that I could’ve gone on forever, but I’ll have to put my “grappling brain dump” on hold until a later date!

Meditate on these “28 things” and feel free to send me your feedback
at www.TheWiseGrappler.com to let me know how you can use these
tips to make life easier for you on the mat.

Happy New Year!

“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans,
of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a
daily event for me.”  (Anaïs Nin)
First, I want to take time out from watching the 48 hr “Twilight
Zone” Marathon (good OG Television) on SyFY and wish you and your
family blessings and wishes for 2010.

As we wind down the 2009 Holiday Season, I’d like to express my
gratitude for you and heartfelt thanks for being part of the OG
Nation.

I look forward to your success and wish you a year of achieving all
your goals and watching your dreams come true, both on and off the
mat.

Dedicated to improving your mat experience!

Paul Greenhill (aka The Wise Grappler)

4 Reasons Why December is the WORST Time of the Year to Skip Training!

A few weeks ago, one of my students made a comment as to why class
attendance had been so light lately.

I told him that it was due to the holiday season drop-off that
occurs every year and that things will be back to normal in
January.

He thought that made a lot of sense to wind down at the end of the
year, but I disagreed with him by saying this was the BEST time to
be on the mat.

And after he asked me why, I gave him what I thought to be the four
main reasons why he needed to be here instead of at home waiting
for January, like many of his classmates:

1. December is the time to do your year-end inventory on your
training gameplan. Now’s the time to figure out all the things
that worked for you on the mat, didn’t work for you on the mat,
and what needs to tossed out of your constantly evolving
grappling game.

2. This is also the opportunity to evaluate the quality of other
items that contribute to your mat success (e.g. training partners,
training schedule, training equipment, etc.) and if they bring more
value or headache. And if change is needed for a productive 2010,
start planning those changes now.

3. Now’s the time to develop your 2010 mat goals. The best time to
figure out what you’re going to do in 2010 is 2009. Besides, why
wait until January to start thinking about what you want to do next
year.  You’ll already be behind schedule!

4. Since the mats aren’t packed for the rest of the year, NOW is
the time to get all the extra 1-on-1 attention from your
instructors and coaches that’s hard to get when training with 20+
grapplers on the mat. And since there are fewer people on the mat,
there should be more time for working on strategy, drilling,
positional sparring and less banging.

After I finished explaining my opinion to the young gun that it was
to his benefit to show up at the end of the year, it made sense to
him and he wondered why more people didn’t take advantage of it.

That’s simple: Talkers take end of the year off while Doers take
advantage of it!

Since having that discussion, the young gun’s been taking advantage
of the holiday training time.  And with his new attitude, I have
no doubt that he’ll reach them all his 2010 training goals.

Here’s a pretty cool video that I thought you would enjoy.

It’s a video that I received from OG Nicolai Holt (aka TheRealGeeza)
from the United Kingdom (UK) about an OG competing in a grappling
tourney against some young guns.

And before you start saying “what’s the big deal” about an OG
competing against some young guns in a tourney, I gotta let you in
on a little surprise…

Frank ONLY has one leg!

And once I saw the video, I figured there were a few training and
mindset tips that could be pulled from Frank’s performance.

I also liked the way Frank kept working from the bottom and made
that young gun earn that match.

Check it out and feel free to tell me what you thought about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tk6GLYfTg0

No need to thank me, OG!  I’m just doing my job!

Dedicated to improving your mat experience!

Paul Greenhill (aka The Wise Grappler)

P.S.  If anyone knows how to get in contact with this OG, please
send me his email address or give him mine so I can do an interview
with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tk6GLYfTg0

OG Nation Black Friday Sale!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. NOW it’s time to enjoy Black Friday >>> 

http://www.TheWiseGrappler.com/blackfriday.htm

Cut and paste the website above into your browser and get some of the best push-and-play products available.

Some items are only $10 bucks!! Unbelievable.

Dedicated to improving your mat experience!

Paul Greenhill (aka The Wise Grappler)

P.S. Today isn’t the day to procrastinate on taking advantage of these prices because some items are in limited supply.  Do yourself a favor and go to the website NOW before it’s too late!

http://www.TheWiseGrappler.com/blackfriday.htm

Happy Turkey Day!

I know it’s late in the day, but I wanted to take a moment before it was too late to wish you and everyone in the OG Nation a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

I love this holiday because it’s focused on being grateful for what we have, along with helping others with what they don’t have.

And while being thankful is a good thing, if you feel you don’t have a lot (or enough) to be thankful about, then go and get yourself something or some reason to be thankful.

That way, as time passes, you’ll have more and more reasons to be thankful for since you’ve made it your business to get things that make you thankful and appreciative.

This year, I do have many things in my life that make me feel very
grateful.

Would I prefer there be more? Absolutely. But I’m content with what I have this year and excited about the possibilities of all the things I’ll have to be grateful for in the years to come.

Finally, I’m grateful to you for reading my messages. I hope they help you in some small way, especially if you’re outside the USA and the Thanksgiving Holiday isn’t celebrated in your country. I hope that you have a wonderful day as well.

Dedicated to improving your mat experience!

Paul Greenhill (aka The Wise Grappler)

P.S. Black Friday is TOMORROW (Friday, November 27, 2009) and you should wait until then to take advantage of the sale to invest in the grappling, mental mindset, AND strength and conditioning products.  Be on the lookout for an email with “OG Nation Black Friday Sale” in the subject line.

P.P.S. If you haven’t downloaded the interview I did with 2004 Olympian Rhadi Ferguson, you’re helping every opponent that will submit you in 2010 thanks to your procrastination!  GO DOWNLOAD IT NOW (http://dwarfurl.com/a7fd6) so you can take your grappling to the next level!

Ask the Wise Grappler

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about an OG finding the “missing piece to his grappling puzzle” by accident during a sparring session.”

Well, I got an email from an OG that thought maybe I was stretching it a bit for the sake of having something good to write about and I wanted to share with you his comment and my reply to it.  Enjoy.

---

Dear Wise Grappler

So are you telling me that if a 45 year old white belt with no contact sport experience goes up against Rickson Gracie, he can just think his way through a 5-minute match and not get tapped?  I’d love to see that happen.”

The Wise Grappler replies:

No OG, I wasn’t trying to say that “a 45 year old white belt with no contact sport experience” would use their mindset to beat up Rickson Gracie in a 5-minute match.  Even though I believe that anything’s possible (based on pure chance or a fluke), I wouldn’t bet my last dollar on it!  There have been people with more grappling and mental mindset experience than our 45 yrs old couch potato (with no sports background) that have tried and failed miserably against the man that many (me included) believe is the best proponent of BJJ in the world today.

Here’s what I was trying to say in that “Missing Piece” Article.

The positive OG Mental Mindset’s main role is to have an effect on the grappler or combat athlete’s performance during a match.  It provides absolutely NO GUARANTEE that the match outcome will be in favor of the combatant; only that it will force the athlete to fight hard enough to either meet the current challenge successfully or to go down fighting unsuccessfully.

For example, whenever you have a grappler or combat athlete getting ready for a contest, they have to believe without a shadow of doubt in their mind that they’re prepared and going to win a match.  If they don’t (whether it’s due to lack of confidence or preparation), then they’ve already lost the match.  In fact, if you spoke to both combatants before a match, both would tell you they’re going to win and that’s expected.  In fact, I’ve NEVER heard an athlete after losing a match (whether by decision or being knocked out) say they didn’t think they even had a chance to win.

There are so many variables that come together to bring about a winning outcome in a performance (with mindset only being one of them), that it would be virtually impossible to point to one thing
to say that’s the one thing I need to focus on exclusively that will determine the outcome of every match.

In my opinion, to compare White Belt A sparring with Rickson Gracie and using his positive mat mindset to force Rickson to submit, instead of White Belt A sparring with White Belt B, isn’t a fair comparison at all.  There’s a very good chance that if White Belt A knew he was going to spar with Rickson, White Belt A would probably think they don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell against him and would probably just be waiting for the tap to come.

Technically, White Belt A would probably be right. But as a coach, I want to believe that Rickson would correct that white belt’s thinking on the spot by saying something motivational to correct
the negative thinking, causing that white belt to fight as hard as possible… until he made them tap!

I hope this cleared up any misunderstanding from the “Missing Piece to the Grappling Puzzle” Article.  If not, send me another email and I’ll try to get it right the second time!

UFC 105 Forces OG Nation to Make a Tough Decision!

Whenever there’s a UFC Event, it’s usually pretty easy for me to pick who to cheer for… I usually pick the OG!

Well, that’s going to change in UFC 105 because the main event on this fight card has created a MAJOR dilemma for me and most of the OG Nation.  And I don’t mind saying that I’m struggling with who to cheer for in this one.

Why?

It’s because two of the biggest and baddest OGs from the OG Nation, Randy Couture and Brandon Vera, are squaring off in the main event.

Of course, you know that, right?  But what you don’t know is why it’s a struggle for me.

Here’s why:  Randy Couture was an OG when being an OG wasn’t cool.  Randy was out there getting it done when haters were laughing at every combat athlete over 35 out there trying to get it done, but just came up short.  Randy was the main OG that endured those haters tossing the H2O (he’s too old) Bombs his way every chance they got, proving them wrong more times than they were right.

Randy made it cool to be an OG!

And last but not least, Randy was also the first inductee into The Wise Grappler Hall of Fame (http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Agyka&m=1dcJ7_aUJvBDQD&b=C0jwOceTkojdGLwp45NgXg).

As for Brandon Vera, that’s my friend, teammate, and brother.  I’ve Been training with and known Brandon for a long time.  Brandon was calling me “Master Paul” and “MP” out of respect long after his skills has surpassed mine and before 99 percent of the people reading this had ever heard of me or The Wise Grappler.

And when I was still competing (like in this picture here with Brandon at a GQ Event back in the day: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Agyka&m=1dcJ7_aUJvBDQD&b=vLRSK7cgmK4zM.fnZ9Q0Fw),

Brandon was the guy that took time out during a visit to give me 30-minute private lesson on how to hit the perfect double leg without getting my head caught in the guillotine. 

And because of who these OGs are, they’re gonna go out there and lay it all on the line… with one OG emerging from the battle victorious and one in defeat.

The only question that remains now is… which one will it be since they both can’t win and you’re used to rooting for both of them.

NOW do you see my dilemma?

Regardless of which one I pick (and I have but will keep quiet so that no one can say I was wrong), it’s going to be one heckuva fight from these two OGs for the entire world to see and I wish them both the best of luck!

———————————

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Happy Veteran’s Day!

“We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

                               – George Orwell

*ON VETERAN’S DAY (11 Nov) THIS IS DEDICATED TO ALL VETERANS (PAST AND PRESENT) FOR THEIR VALIANT SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY*

- Paul Greenhill (aka The Wise Grappler)