The Making of ‘When the Fight Goes to the Ground’
Since high school, one of my life goals has been to become a published author. I recently completed that goal when my new ground defense book/DVD, When the Fight Goes to the Ground, was published by Tuttle Publishing, a well-known international martial arts publisher that’s been in the business since 1948. (more…)
My Love-Hate Relationship with the Triangle Choke
I’ve been grappling for a number of years now, and have developed a variety of different submissions into my repertoire. Like many people, I’ve come to have a few submissions that have emerged as my “go-to” moves that I come back to time and time again. One such move is the triangle choke. A great number of my successful submissions have been from the triangle, especially against larger/stronger opponents. (more…)
Jiu-jitsu Sensei’s Top 10 Articles on Self-Defense
We’ve been writing this blog for over 7 years now, and there are a number of articles we’ve featured that have received the most interest. Some are more recent, some go back a while. Today, we’re going to feature the top 10 articles related to self-defense in the history of our site. Here they are below. Enjoy!
1. 6 Tactical Disadvantages of Fighting on the Ground
2. 4 Common Problems with Women’s Self-Defense Classes (more…)
5 Fascial Fitness Practices that Improve Physical Performance in Martial Arts (or Anything!)
Over the past few years, fascia fitness has become an important topic of discussion in sports and physical development. Previously, fitness was seen as being a combination of muscular strength, cardiovascular conditioning, and neuromuscular coordination. But now, more modern research suggests that our body’s fascial network, a structure of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding some structures together, while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other, play an important role on movement efficiency, injury prevention and overall body performance. For a more detailed explanation of the fascial network and their role in the body, read AnatomyTrain.com’s article on Fascial Fitness. Below is a video showing what the fascial network is with some explanation on how it affects our bodies. (more…)
New Ground Defense Book Available in February 2013!
I’m happy to announce that this month my new ground defense book/DVD, When the Fight Goes to the Ground: Jiu-jitsu Strategies & Tactics for Self-Defense, will be available online and in retail stores all over the world.
I started working on this book on contract for Tuttle Publishing back in January 2010, and now, 3 years later, after countless hours of work writing, doing photo/video shoots, making edits, etc, it has now been published and will soon be released to the world. I always had a goal of one day becoming a published author, and that day has now arrived! (more…)
3 Ways to Make Stationary Biking More Interesting
A week or so ago I tweaked my knee a bit. It wasn’t too serious, but enough that I replaced my running workouts with stationary biking workouts to help my knee recover. Obviously my knee doesn’t need the extra shock of running while healing, but cycling also has the added benefit of increasing the blood flow to the knee, helping to speed up recovery times, or so I was told by a doctor. As a result, I biked every day last week.
Stationary biking can be kind of boring on its own, so I’ve added different elements to it to help make it more interesting. (more…)
My Top 5 Favourite Vital Target Attacks for Ground Defense
In my last post, I talked about my favourite 5 stand-up strikes for self-defense, based on simplicity, ease of learning and application, and versatility, as per the tenets of my style, Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu. Today I’d like to do the same for ground defense, covering the vital targets that give the most bang for buck in terms of self-defense, all of which are covered in my newly published book, When the Fight Goes to the Ground: Jiu-jitsu Strategies and Tactics for Self-Defense. (more…)
My Top 5 Favourite Stand-up Strikes for Self-Defense
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee
Every so often a someone asks me that if I was only going to learn one strike for self-defense, what would it be? I don’t really have an answer for this, because I don’t believe that there is a magical strike that will be all things to all people in all scenarios, even if they practice it 10,000 times. I think Bruce Lee would probably agree with me, despite the evidence to the contrary above. When you take the concept to the extreme, the point becomes that much more plain, like in Episode 2, Season 1 of Enter the Dojo (below). (more…)
12 Years So Far in Jiu-jitsu
This week marks my Jiu-jitsu anniversary. It’s been 12 years since I nervously stepped onto the mats at Carleton University and was introduced to the world of locks, throws and pain by Kieran Parsons Sensei. It seems fitting that this week also marks my birthday, and gives me an extra excuse to look back a little at the path I’ve taken to get to where I am today. Please forgive my indulgence.
I recently achieved the rank of Nidan in Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu and in addition to the physical testing I was required to write an essay on how teaching this style of Jiu-jitsu has changed my perspective. When I first sat down to write that essay, it was a bit of a trip down memory lane, and led to many of the following thoughts.
It’s weird in how 12 years both seems a fairly long time, and a very short time. It’s over a third of my life, yet, when compared to some of the instructors I get to train under, it’s not that much. I think the instructors with whom I train most regularly, the smallest amount of time they’ve trained is 20 years. Yet looking back at what’s happened in the last 12 years, I see Jiu-jitsu as the only constant (non-family) element in my life.
The Snowball Effect: Changing Your Life with One Small Step
Last year, I made one small change in my life. I took up running. Well actually, what I started with couldn’t even really be called “running”, more like walking/running. I decided I wanted to give running a try for cardio as well as weight loss to slim down a bit to match an actress for stunt doubling work. I realized, however, that I needed to build up my body’s tolerance to pounding the pavement, so I started with walking with a bit of running, following the slow ramp-up process I described in my post, Running Workouts for Martial Arts Practitioners. (more…)
We're proud to announce that Lori O'Connell Sensei's new book, When the Fight Goes to the Ground: Jiu-jitsu Strategies & Tactics for Self-Defense, published through international martial arts publisher Tuttle Publishing, is now available in major book stores and online. More about it & where to buy it.