Groundstone Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:01.102 --> 00:00:12.701
Welcome to the Topsoil Insider podcast, where you can hear all about the businesses and events in the beautiful coastal towns of the greater Topsoil area of North Carolina Coming up.

00:00:12.701 --> 00:00:19.132
Join me for an insightful conversation with the owners of Groundstone Brazilian Jujitsu.

00:00:19.132 --> 00:00:33.529
We'll discuss the intriguing history of Jujitsu, along with their journey and training, the classes they offer, their community outreach and the passion and discipline of their students of all ages and all skill levels.

00:00:33.529 --> 00:00:46.773
Experience a new level of luxury on Topsoil Island at Saltwater Suites in Surf City, North Carolina.

00:00:46.773 --> 00:00:51.979
With no nightly minimum, you can enjoy short getaways or an extended stay.

00:00:51.979 --> 00:01:02.840
Each suite features luxury bedding, full kitchens with dining tables and dishwashers, and all suites other than the three ADA suites have full-size washers and dryers.

00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.900
And don't forget about those beautiful ocean views.

00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:10.219
24-7 Self Check-In provides a hassle-free and seamless experience.

00:01:10.219 --> 00:01:14.000
Saltwater Suites is the perfect choice for your next beach getaway.

00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:18.159
Book your next Topsoil visit at saltwatertopsoilcom.

00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:22.459
We'll call 910-886-4818.

00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:28.914
Saltwater Suites, Topsoil Island's premier luxury hospitality experience.

00:01:34.021 --> 00:01:37.739
Hello everyone and welcome to the Topsoil Insider Podcast.

00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:40.629
My name is Krista and I am your host.

00:01:40.629 --> 00:01:44.831
Today I am interviewing Tulsa and Bianca Simpson.

00:01:44.831 --> 00:01:48.569
They are the owners of Groundstone Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

00:01:48.569 --> 00:01:56.111
They have two locations One is in Sneets Ferry and they have a brand new location in Surf City, North Carolina.

00:01:56.111 --> 00:01:58.787
Welcome, Thank you so much for joining me today.

00:01:59.040 --> 00:01:59.804
Thank you for having us.

00:02:00.221 --> 00:02:00.865
Absolutely.

00:02:00.865 --> 00:02:03.040
I have a co-host for the very first time.

00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:04.004
It's my husband.

00:02:04.004 --> 00:02:05.147
His name is Michael.

00:02:05.147 --> 00:02:06.906
Are you just a little bit nervous?

00:02:07.246 --> 00:02:08.069
I'm terrified actually.

00:02:09.920 --> 00:02:27.831
I'm bringing my husband in on this one because he has had some martial arts training in the past not Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but I thought that he would bring in a different element to this conversation, because I'm going to talk about the what, the why, the when, and then we're going to talk about the actual art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

00:02:27.831 --> 00:02:36.269
All right, I think we should probably start out with telling folks who have no idea about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or martial arts for that matter.

00:02:36.269 --> 00:02:44.424
Let's tell everyone what Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is specifically and how it differs from other forms of martial arts.

00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:45.943
We get this question a lot.

00:02:45.943 --> 00:02:50.473
So, covering a brief of what Jiu Jitsu is, started from Japan.

00:02:50.473 --> 00:03:04.609
They migrated into Brazil and this art was introduced to the Gracie family and the Gracie family kind of cultivated this and made Gracie Jiu Jitsu, which later spread and became Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

00:03:04.609 --> 00:03:13.307
And what makes Jiu Jitsu different, I think, is you take out the elements of striking the things that are more violent, and that's why Jiu Jitsu is called the gentle art.

00:03:13.307 --> 00:03:18.051
It's more about body control, controlling your own body, controlling your opponent.

00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:24.925
Jiu Jitsu is not gentle in the fact we do submissions, mostly joint manipulation and different types of chokes.

00:03:24.925 --> 00:03:28.186
Traditionally we do it in our gi or kimono.

00:03:28.186 --> 00:03:37.759
But there is a lot more of a modern element with the no gi Jiu Jitsu, which is going to bring in a little bit more of wrestling and different types of submissions.

00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.308
So Jiu Jitsu as a whole is a modern art.

00:03:40.308 --> 00:03:44.766
Japanese Jiu Jitsu is what the Samurai's used, so it's very old.

00:03:44.766 --> 00:03:45.330
That's cool.

00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:54.092
So in Imperial Japan, when the Samurai's went away and they outlawed Jiu Jitsu as what it was then, because it was very deadly.

00:03:54.657 --> 00:03:54.818
Why oh?

00:03:55.063 --> 00:03:55.900
Yeah, it was very deadly.

00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:58.990
So they didn't want like a coup or something like that.

00:03:58.990 --> 00:04:07.469
When the Samurai's went away, all of those arts went away, but they felt a need to bring something back for police force, military things like that.

00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:09.816
And really what they brought back was Judo, Judo.

00:04:09.816 --> 00:04:13.349
So some people say Brazilian Jiu Jitsu came from Judo.

00:04:13.349 --> 00:04:14.586
It's actually the other way around.

00:04:14.586 --> 00:04:18.170
Judo was a watered down version of Japanese Jiu Jitsu.

00:04:18.490 --> 00:04:18.971
Interesting.

00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:23.660
But that all changed when they merged and moved to Brazil.

00:04:23.660 --> 00:04:40.223
They were migrating to Brazil and there's a lot of history there, but in the 1920s, 30s, that was when the Gracie family and some of the other cousins they were practicing this art on a regular basis in the Gracie compound and kind of developed what Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is as we know it today.

00:04:40.223 --> 00:04:47.579
So basically the art was taught in homes and in families, so fathers would pass it down to their children and things like that.

00:04:47.579 --> 00:04:50.708
So it stayed alive but it couldn't be done in the public.

00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:51.790
That's really cool.

00:04:51.790 --> 00:04:52.552
That's so interesting.

00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:59.391
I'm curious about the differences you have and I honestly thought Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you just assume it's Brazilian.

00:04:59.391 --> 00:05:12.591
I think a lot of people that really aren't familiar might think that and I'm wondering if there's really any big differences between, maybe, what the Japanese taught and do versus what the Gracie family, for example, introduced.

00:05:12.591 --> 00:05:13.892
What are the flavors of?

00:05:13.932 --> 00:05:14.358
Jiu Jitsu.

00:05:14.358 --> 00:05:16.620
Yes, so modern Jiu Jitsu has changed a lot.

00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:22.130
Now we've got this no-gi Jiu Jitsu that seems less traditional and more modern.

00:05:22.130 --> 00:05:27.389
In the grappling world we have these huge tournaments nowadays that were not around before.

00:05:27.389 --> 00:05:37.105
So when the Gracie family was developing this, they did it in their guis and in their kimonos, because that's the way that they were taught, but there were elements of just grappling without it.

00:05:37.605 --> 00:05:54.406
When the UFC started, that's really when Jiu Jitsu hit the map and the Gracie family had Gracie challenges in different schools and different areas and things like that, and they would challenge other arts to come and fight their style, and they were very successful.

00:05:54.406 --> 00:06:00.692
So you would have karate guys or kung fu guys or samba guys or even American wrestling.

00:06:00.692 --> 00:06:18.302
Come and challenge these guys and they would do this periodically whenever people would show up whether they would show up to an academy and challenge someone or they would just put it out there hey, we'll challenge anyone, and they would offer a monetary reward, for if you beat us, then you get a thousand dollars or something like that.

00:06:18.302 --> 00:06:22.112
So when they were doing that, it started to become popular in the early 90s.

00:06:22.112 --> 00:06:26.110
And then the UFC came, so you had UFC one.

00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:28.668
That's like the cage fighting, just to be clear.

00:06:28.747 --> 00:06:30.786
Yes, yes, the ultimate fighting championship.

00:06:30.826 --> 00:06:31.168
Yes.

00:06:31.339 --> 00:06:33.906
Yeah, and some people call it the octagon or whatever.

00:06:33.906 --> 00:06:39.562
But basically the UFC was started because of this, because they were doing these Gracie challenges.

00:06:39.562 --> 00:06:45.035
So the UFC was started because they wanted to see who had the best martial art.

00:06:45.035 --> 00:06:46.329
That was the whole idea.

00:06:46.329 --> 00:06:54.636
And Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu dominated because you had this little Brazilian guy who would stop some punches and get inside and get on somebody's back and choke them.

00:06:54.896 --> 00:06:55.057
Yeah.

00:06:55.485 --> 00:06:55.607
And.

00:06:56.130 --> 00:06:57.803
I've seen that before.

00:06:57.803 --> 00:07:00.954
Yeah, that was my introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

00:07:01.014 --> 00:07:01.175
Yes.

00:07:01.504 --> 00:07:03.994
Was watching these cage fights and just being in awe.

00:07:03.994 --> 00:07:08.975
But yeah, it was always the person that was using the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that just dominated.

00:07:09.536 --> 00:07:17.831
Yes, and when he started Boyz Gracie, when he went and did the first UFC, he was in his, he was in his gi and the other guys were not.

00:07:17.831 --> 00:07:24.334
They were either shirtless, in some shorts and because they didn't want to be grabbed, but he went out there and as gi because that was the way they fought.

00:07:24.334 --> 00:07:37.853
So now, going back to the question of the different styles of Jiu-Jitsu, there's actually some controversy going on right now in the Jiu-Jitsu world about American Jiu-Jitsu, because that's really where it became popular.

00:07:37.853 --> 00:07:43.605
Yeah, in Brazil it was very popular, but when they brought it to America, we like to blow everything up.

00:07:43.925 --> 00:07:48.538
So we put it on TV and made it a match and spent a lot of money, and that's right yeah.

00:07:49.007 --> 00:07:55.305
So with the UFC and the popularity of Jiu-Jitsu it blew up all over the US and we have these huge productions now.

00:07:55.305 --> 00:08:02.916
The ADCC is one of the biggest tournaments worldwide and the way that the ADCC started was actually through.

00:08:02.916 --> 00:08:15.865
The Prince of Abu Dhabi loved Jiu-Jitsu, he loved grappling, and what he would do is he would hand pick the greatest grapplers to come to Abu Dhabi and fight in this tournament for him specifically, and then he would pay them a lot of money.

00:08:15.865 --> 00:08:23.425
That became big because you had these guys who were coming from all over the world coming to one place and usually they were personally invited.

00:08:23.425 --> 00:08:29.144
So then you had the greatest grapplers in the world all in one place and Jiu-Jitsu again was dominating.

00:08:29.144 --> 00:08:34.705
And a lot of wrestlers were very dominant in this because they could take you down to the ground and smash you.

00:08:34.705 --> 00:08:42.480
But Jiu-Jitsu became dominant because Jiu-Jitsu guys are not afraid of being on their backs and still attacking.

00:08:43.663 --> 00:08:44.345
Oh, interesting Okay.

00:08:45.489 --> 00:08:46.914
So the wrestlers would take them down.

00:08:46.914 --> 00:08:52.936
But the Jiu-Jitsu guys got very comfortable and they could do submissions from their back and the wrestlers were not.

00:08:52.936 --> 00:09:04.364
So it became very popular in the United States because mostly we had wrestling and that was our grappling art and when Jiu-Jitsu started coming around people were like maybe this Jiu-Jitsu thing is a little better than wrestling.

00:09:04.364 --> 00:09:13.945
So they started doing more Jiu-Jitsu and recently, probably in the last five years, Jiu-Jitsu has really blown up and really have pro athletes making money at Jiu-Jitsu.

00:09:15.251 --> 00:09:16.825
You have been doing it for a very long time.

00:09:16.825 --> 00:09:19.495
You trained for 28 years.

00:09:20.230 --> 00:09:22.024
So I have trained in martial arts for 28 years.

00:09:22.024 --> 00:09:27.664
I have trained Jiu-Jitsu specifically since 2012, almost 12 years, gotcha.

00:09:28.374 --> 00:09:32.895
You're a black belt Correct Under Professor Fredson, and I don't want to mess up this last name.

00:09:32.895 --> 00:09:33.359
What is it?

00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:33.902
Paishao.

00:09:33.922 --> 00:09:36.158
Paishao, I would have really messed that up.

00:09:36.158 --> 00:09:39.561
All right, and you trained under him as well?

00:09:39.561 --> 00:09:40.125
Yes, you did.

00:09:40.125 --> 00:09:45.044
Okay, explain who he is and what it was like training under him.

00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:47.504
So Professor Fredson is from Brazil.

00:09:47.504 --> 00:09:49.465
He's from Manaus, in the Amazon.

00:09:49.465 --> 00:09:52.240
He started training Jiu-Jitsu at a local school.

00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:53.164
He did a tournament.

00:09:53.164 --> 00:09:57.817
He was invited to a tournament in Rio under Grandmaster Osvaldo Alves.

00:09:57.817 --> 00:10:03.024
He won that tournament and was then invited to come train at Grandmaster Osvaldo Alves school.

00:10:03.024 --> 00:10:08.184
Not only did he train there, he actually lived with Grandmaster Osvaldo for 10 years Wow.

00:10:09.067 --> 00:10:13.085
So he got his black belt in record time four years and that's unheard of.

00:10:13.085 --> 00:10:17.024
Typically it's 10 years is about what they say for a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu.

00:10:17.024 --> 00:10:19.783
But he was training every day, all day.

00:10:19.783 --> 00:10:25.664
7 am he was running on the beach, he was training competing, he was beating black belts when he was a lower belt.

00:10:25.664 --> 00:10:33.184
And not only did he receive his black belt in record time, he is one of two people that have been documented that actually skipped brown belt.

00:10:33.184 --> 00:10:36.065
So he was a purple belt and won the world championship.

00:10:36.827 --> 00:10:39.235
Grandmaster Osvaldo promoted him to black belt.

00:10:39.235 --> 00:10:43.485
He came back the following year and won the world championship at black belt Wow.

00:10:43.485 --> 00:10:53.544
And he was there training and then he started fighting, doing mixed martial arts fights in Brazil and then went to Japan doing mixed martial arts fights and then came to the US.

00:10:53.544 --> 00:11:15.325
So he has a huge background of fighting since he was 16 years old and he's been professionally fighting since he was 19 years old and when he moved to the US he's been living in Las Vegas and he still lives in Las Vegas and we see him and speak to him all the time and I originally started training under his brother, iván Sakamoto, out in Las Vegas as well.

00:11:16.873 --> 00:11:18.221
No, this was in Okinawa, japan.

00:11:18.221 --> 00:11:28.745
When I was stationed there, I started training under him, I got my blue boat under him and when I came back to the US it was easier to get in touch with Professor Fredson because he was here in the US.

00:11:28.745 --> 00:11:33.541
I got in touch with him and we started a very close relationship and I've been training directly under him ever since.

00:11:33.541 --> 00:11:38.854
It is a long distance relationship because he's in Las Vegas and we're here in North Carolina Right, how does that work?

00:11:38.854 --> 00:11:50.625
So typically we try to get him out here twice a year, okay, and we usually go see him at least once a year, and when we do that we have a very detailed training sessions.

00:11:50.625 --> 00:11:56.255
But with a long distance relationship, the great thing is we have things like WhatsApp and Facebook.

00:11:56.275 --> 00:11:56.577
Messenger and.

00:11:56.597 --> 00:11:57.865
FaceTime and all of this stuff.

00:11:57.865 --> 00:12:10.065
He has helped cultivate my training and me being an instructor through those platforms, sending me videos or doing video chats and working through techniques and teaching points and things like that Gotcha.

00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:14.945
And Bianca, tell me where you're at and how long you've been training with him.

00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:19.403
So I started training under Fredson in 2017.

00:12:19.403 --> 00:12:24.585
And I've been under Fredson and Tulsa since I was a white belt.

00:12:24.585 --> 00:12:25.802
So now I'm six years in.

00:12:25.802 --> 00:12:27.602
I just got my brown belt this year.

00:12:27.602 --> 00:12:36.284
When I started, tulsa was a purple belt, I was a white belt, so I am actually Groundstones only homegrown female brown belt.

00:12:36.284 --> 00:12:36.384
Okay.

00:12:37.873 --> 00:12:40.105
And are you still working towards getting that black belt?

00:12:40.105 --> 00:12:40.976
I'm a baby brown belt.

00:12:43.053 --> 00:12:44.664
I don't even want to even think about a black belt.

00:12:44.664 --> 00:12:46.038
But yeah, that's definitely the goal.

00:12:46.038 --> 00:12:52.263
But you know, you start to realize after you get different belts and you get promoted it's more of like you have to fight to keep it.

00:12:52.263 --> 00:12:55.583
It's not like, oh, I have a promotion and I can slow down.

00:12:55.583 --> 00:12:57.381
Now I feel like it speeds it up every time.

00:12:57.381 --> 00:12:58.639
Okay, Now I'm at a different level.

00:12:58.639 --> 00:12:59.938
I have to fight to keep it.

00:12:59.938 --> 00:13:03.419
Definitely in goal, black belt.

00:13:03.419 --> 00:13:04.465
But I am not looking that way anytime soon.

00:13:04.465 --> 00:13:06.875
You teach as well.

00:13:07.176 --> 00:13:15.105
Yes, let's talk about the different classes that you offer at Groundstone.

00:13:16.711 --> 00:13:19.784
We have adult co-ed classes and that's typically jujitsu.

00:13:19.784 --> 00:13:21.000
We also offer Muay Thai.

00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:26.264
We have homeschool and we do youth classes and we also do youth boxing.

00:13:28.331 --> 00:13:32.943
I love the homeschool aspect of what you're offering, which it's once a week, that's actually up to the parents.

00:13:34.431 --> 00:13:37.684
You can opt to do once a week or twice a week, just depending on your schedule.

00:13:37.684 --> 00:13:41.423
But the homeschool slash PE class has been really great.

00:13:41.423 --> 00:13:45.097
Honestly, I didn't realize how big the homeschool community was it is.

00:13:45.097 --> 00:13:48.445
Yeah, the resources in this area are so great for homeschool.

00:13:48.445 --> 00:13:51.875
Like we're the instructors, we can provide the teaching.

00:13:51.875 --> 00:13:59.984
But I've really reached out to that community and tried to make myself a part of it so that I can really understand the needs and the wants, because our kids are in public school.

00:14:02.272 --> 00:14:05.825
So you can't thrive on a program if you're not willing to hear the other side of the consumer.

00:14:05.825 --> 00:14:17.416
So the difference between the homeschool class and the youth classes, the youth BJA classes were more strictly youth-based, strictly concentrating on our fundamentals, our warm-ups.

00:14:17.416 --> 00:14:19.572
Everything relates to jujitsu.

00:14:19.572 --> 00:14:30.495
So if it's the younger kids' class, which is our little warriors, we're looking for body control, we're looking for coordination and they've learned through play, but we have a lot more sparring time.

00:14:30.495 --> 00:14:35.277
The homeschool class is offered also as like PE right.

00:14:35.277 --> 00:14:41.618
So we do jujitsu and they learn more of self-defense, but they also get a PE time.

00:14:42.004 --> 00:14:51.014
When families start thinking about martial arts in general and they think I don't necessarily want to teach my kid to fight, how do you approach teaching a parent?

00:14:51.014 --> 00:14:53.373
No, this is not teaching your kid to go out and bully people.

00:14:53.845 --> 00:14:57.134
Yeah, so I think that's actually a very good question.

00:14:57.134 --> 00:15:05.013
So this week we actually were talking to our students about some back-to-school readiness and, just, if you're homeschooled, just self-defense.

00:15:05.013 --> 00:15:11.794
So when you're coming into any type of martial art, the goal is not to teach you to fight and, oh, you're going to go out and pick a fight with someone.

00:15:11.794 --> 00:15:16.114
The goal is to teach you how to be humble and understand.

00:15:16.114 --> 00:15:22.590
You are gaining knowledge and you get some physical awareness, An awareness that I don't know.

00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:28.049
You have more of a confidence and we try to tell our students this is self-defense.

00:15:28.549 --> 00:15:44.423
The biggest thing with the youth BJJ kids is whether there are five to eight year olds which are little warriors, or our older kids, which are eight to about thirteen, fourteen year olds is teaching them body awareness and controlling your own body, but also controlling the other person's body.

00:15:44.423 --> 00:15:47.764
If someone's coming to attack you, it's very easy.

00:15:47.764 --> 00:15:50.547
Anyone can throw a punch, anyone can throw a kick.

00:15:50.547 --> 00:15:57.500
But being able to control yourself and then control the other person who's maybe trying to throw a punch or throw a kick at you.

00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:12.682
So a lot of things that we do is really control, and we talk about the four steps of jiu jitsu being able to take the fight down to the ground, control the person, get into a good position and then, if we have to, then we can do a submission, and the submission is just what that word sounds like.

00:16:12.682 --> 00:16:15.086
They are submitting to you.

00:16:15.086 --> 00:16:18.193
A submission doesn't mean that I'm choking them unconscious.

00:16:18.193 --> 00:16:23.682
A submissions mean that I'm putting them in a position to where they have to give up and stop attacking me.

00:16:23.682 --> 00:16:25.445
So that's the biggest thing that we teach the kids.

00:16:25.445 --> 00:16:29.153
If you're gonna do an arm bar, we're not doing an arm bar to break another kid's arm.

00:16:29.153 --> 00:16:34.178
We're doing an arm bar because we want them to stop punching us and we want them to say okay, I quit.

00:16:34.178 --> 00:16:37.241
And when they do that, typically we call it tapping right.

00:16:37.241 --> 00:16:39.764
So in class we respect the tap.

00:16:39.764 --> 00:16:45.253
So if I'm doing an arm bar and my partner taps, they're submitting to me and I let go.

00:16:45.253 --> 00:16:53.561
And on the other side, if someone puts me in an arm bar, I'm not gonna continue to fight out of it and then hurt myself because I strained my arm too much.

00:16:53.561 --> 00:16:56.883
I'm gonna go ahead and tap so that I can continue training and not be injured.

00:16:56.883 --> 00:17:01.067
So those are things that we try to teach the kids and that's part of the body awareness that we do.

00:17:01.067 --> 00:17:11.356
And then the other thing is just having the confidence of being able to engage with someone and not run away and be scared, because everyone has a fight or flight reflex.

00:17:11.356 --> 00:17:16.881
If you're, reflex when you get into some kind of altercation is to run away.

00:17:16.881 --> 00:17:21.884
That's not always a good thing, because then you turn your back and when you turn your back, bad things can happen.

00:17:21.884 --> 00:17:27.307
Or if you're just scared in a situation that may not even escalate to a physical altercation.

00:17:27.307 --> 00:17:34.837
But having the confidence to stand up for yourself is huge for kids, because when an altercation happens, typically what do they do?

00:17:34.837 --> 00:17:35.618
They cower down.

00:17:35.618 --> 00:17:37.280
You get that flight reflex.

00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:42.646
So the fight reflex isn't necessarily I'm gonna fight you, but it's him gonna stand up for myself.

00:17:42.646 --> 00:17:49.849
So those are the things that we try to teach the kids most of the time, as opposed to just, hey, here's jujitsu, let's go, let's go spar and roll around and try to hurt each other.

00:17:49.849 --> 00:17:53.797
So that's probably what I want parents to know.

00:17:54.498 --> 00:17:56.741
And the other thing is we don't strike and jujitsu.

00:17:56.741 --> 00:18:01.069
I teach kids how to defend against strikes, but we don't teach kids how to strike and jujitsu.

00:18:01.069 --> 00:18:04.032
We have our youth boxing class for that.

00:18:04.032 --> 00:18:18.388
We offer youth boxing at our headquarters location in Sneets Ferry and that goes Mondays and Wednesdays 4 to 5pm and that is taught by coach Jason, who grew up doing Golden Globe boxing in Virginia and he's a very good coach.

00:18:18.388 --> 00:18:19.049
He's one of my blue belts.

00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:44.710
Him and his son have been training with me for years and jujitsu and I offered the opportunity for him to teach some youth boxing classes and he is focused on fundamentals as far as footwork, defense, moving properly, keeping your hands up, not getting punched, and he has been great as far as the fundamentals and we just got some sparring gear for the kids, some body pads and head gear so that they can start actually hitting each other.

00:18:45.230 --> 00:18:46.491
What age range is this?

00:18:46.491 --> 00:18:49.494
Age range is 5 to 13.

00:18:49.494 --> 00:18:52.480
And they Little five year olds in there.

00:18:52.480 --> 00:19:01.619
No, I'm gonna tell you you come to the youth boxing class like little kids will totally surprise you, they go for it, I bet.

00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:07.284
But they're organized and separated as they should be in stations and things like that.

00:19:07.284 --> 00:19:11.226
They are organized at like height and weight.

00:19:11.516 --> 00:19:14.199
Weight classes yeah, the kids who are doing?

00:19:14.199 --> 00:19:17.201
Are they doing just the boxing or they do a mix of everything?

00:19:17.494 --> 00:19:17.655
No.

00:19:17.655 --> 00:19:23.420
So a lot of the kids will do the boxing from four to five and then stay and do jiu-jitsu at 5.15.

00:19:23.661 --> 00:19:32.243
Okay, yeah, mondays and Wednesdays 5.15 to 6.15 are the junior warriors class, so it fits a parent schedule really well.

00:19:32.243 --> 00:19:35.282
I'd say drop off and they get a break in between classes.

00:19:35.403 --> 00:19:46.384
Yeah, Okay, you started age five and then you have your youth, from, you said, eight to 14, what age or when do you know when a child is ready to move up into the adult groups?

00:19:46.775 --> 00:19:49.002
I would definitely say that's something.

00:19:49.002 --> 00:19:51.643
It's their skill set and their maturity level.

00:19:51.643 --> 00:19:53.741
They're taking things a lot more serious.

00:19:53.741 --> 00:19:59.580
They're not goofing off anymore and you start to notice that they're like they're beating everybody in the class.

00:19:59.580 --> 00:20:08.019
You can just tell like they're ready to be around more mature people and take it more serious, Like they're out of the adolescent mental stage when they come into the class.

00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:08.641
Okay.

00:20:09.001 --> 00:20:09.944
And that's basically it.

00:20:09.944 --> 00:20:14.644
And we recognize that, especially when they're hungry for competition, like we have a student right now.

00:20:14.644 --> 00:20:21.469
He wants to be a world champion and we started noticing he needs to come out of the junior's class because he is beating everybody in the junior's class.

00:20:21.469 --> 00:20:24.021
So he's in the adult class and he's.

00:20:24.021 --> 00:20:24.583
How old is he?

00:20:24.583 --> 00:20:26.218
He is 16.

00:20:26.218 --> 00:20:28.220
And he's beating most of them too.

00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:29.002
Oh, wow.

00:20:29.434 --> 00:20:31.201
He beats up adults daily.

00:20:32.434 --> 00:20:33.599
And he takes it very serious.

00:20:33.954 --> 00:20:34.900
That's really cool to hear.

00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:36.681
I hope that works out for him.

00:20:36.681 --> 00:20:37.656
So, how long is it?

00:20:37.656 --> 00:20:39.061
What belt is he at?

00:20:39.563 --> 00:20:42.722
He's a blue belt, so the kids have their own set of belts.

00:20:42.722 --> 00:20:47.221
We follow the international Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation rule set.

00:20:47.221 --> 00:20:57.963
So in that rule set you have children's belts and then you have adult belts and once you reach 16 years old you're eligible for adult belts, which his next belt level would be a blue belt.

00:20:57.963 --> 00:20:59.440
He was an orange belt.

00:21:00.015 --> 00:21:03.682
Speaking of belts, all martial arts have some kind of logic.

00:21:03.682 --> 00:21:07.817
Like that you progress through a belt structure In Jiu-Jitsu.

00:21:07.817 --> 00:21:09.503
What is the progression?

00:21:09.503 --> 00:21:12.878
And with the belts, is there a focus on certain types of?

00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:13.480
skills.

00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:15.681
So, yes, every martial art.

00:21:15.681 --> 00:21:32.279
I've done several martial arts and there are always belt levels and I think that's just a good way to put a metric on a skill set, because if we didn't have a belt level, there would be no difference between a white belt and a black belt when you're standing next to each other until you actually start doing something and then you're like we're not the same.

00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:47.000
The belt system in Jiu-Jitsu is basically like the belt system in Judo and as far as skill sets and things like that, there are different academies and affiliations that have certain techniques or certain things that you have to do.

00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:50.642
Maybe it's an attendance thing, maybe it's a technique thing.

00:21:50.642 --> 00:21:58.361
You have to know, like these specific set of techniques to get your first stripe and these 10 techniques to get your next belt level.

00:21:58.835 --> 00:22:05.921
At Groundstone we don't really measure it that way because we believe everyone kids and adults, everyone's journey is individual.

00:22:05.921 --> 00:22:13.140
So I've never created a curriculum that says you have to know these specific things to get this promotion.

00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:16.444
Every belt level has four stripes before the next belt.

00:22:16.444 --> 00:22:24.339
For our children it's typically three months to get a stripe, possibly two stripes, and that's with them coming regularly, taking it seriously.

00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:27.505
Some children do not receive their stripe at three months.

00:22:27.505 --> 00:22:30.363
Some children may receive three stripes at three months.

00:22:30.363 --> 00:22:31.425
It just varies.

00:22:31.595 --> 00:22:46.382
And we do it that way because it's not fair to the child or even an adult to get promoted at the same time with the same stripe as someone who's not taking it as seriously, because then it's, why am I putting all this effort in when he's just gonna get the same thing I got?

00:22:46.382 --> 00:22:54.623
And some children may have really good skill sets and it becomes really surprising because their behavior doesn't show that.

00:22:54.623 --> 00:23:03.000
But then when you have them actually do it and you're like they weren't paying attention, but then they start to do it and you're like I didn't even think he was listening, but he knows all of what I just said.

00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:09.983
So to measure it in the type of metric of skill set or attendance, I don't think it's fair to all the children.

00:23:09.983 --> 00:23:17.040
It may seem fair on paper but it doesn't seem fair to the individual journey of each child or even adult.

00:23:17.241 --> 00:23:19.058
I like that we also offer Muay Thai.

00:23:19.494 --> 00:23:27.563
So Muay Thai is offered on Tuesdays and Thursday nights and coach Sebastian is our Muay Thai coach right now and he's got a background in Muay Thai.

00:23:27.563 --> 00:23:29.461
He's also one of our purple belts in Jiu Jitsu.

00:23:29.461 --> 00:23:32.363
On Tuesdays we teach what we call take down.

00:23:32.363 --> 00:23:42.184
Tuesday, that's in the gi, we have a Jiu Jitsu class from 630 to 730, focused on take downs, from 730 to 830, we change and do Muay Thai.

00:23:42.184 --> 00:23:48.082
Thursday is the same schedule, but we do no gi Jiu Jitsu first and then transition into the Muay Thai.

00:23:48.694 --> 00:23:51.084
Muay Thai as an art is from Thailand.

00:23:51.234 --> 00:23:56.184
It's also known as Thai boxing, and Muay Thai is pretty violent with its strikes.

00:23:56.535 --> 00:24:05.663
If you've ever seen someone from Thailand, they are pretty small islanders, but their punches and kicks and strikes with their elbows and knees are very violent.

00:24:05.663 --> 00:24:13.261
The idea of Muay Thai is to get a little bit closer than you would with like regular boxing or kickboxing, and you're using elbows and knees a lot more.

00:24:13.261 --> 00:24:21.523
So there's there's strikes are gonna be more with the shin and the knee and then with the forearm and the elbow, as opposed to just punching someone with your fist.

00:24:21.523 --> 00:24:39.763
So a lot of the boxing fundamentals that you typically see in Western boxing are still applied when it comes to footwork and defenses and things like that, but we're adding the element of knees and elbows and then adding the element of violently striking with your entire body as opposed to just throwing out a jab.

00:24:39.763 --> 00:24:44.858
The difference with Muay Thai is mainly elbow and knee strikes, and that a lot.

00:24:44.858 --> 00:24:52.023
In going back to the UFC and mixed martial arts fighting, there's a lot of elbow and knee strikes and those those come from Muay Thai, gotcha.

00:24:52.214 --> 00:24:57.340
Okay, so your adult co-ed is $110 monthly and that's for unlimited classes.

00:24:57.340 --> 00:24:58.001
Is that right?

00:24:58.143 --> 00:24:58.523
That's correct.

00:24:59.434 --> 00:25:03.240
And you also get access to both facilities in Surf City and, obviously, in Sneedsbury.

00:25:03.835 --> 00:25:11.901
And the women's class is $75 monthly and you can you offer makeups and I have a note here about children.

00:25:12.894 --> 00:25:14.480
Yeah, so we provide childcare.

00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:15.222
That's an option.

00:25:15.222 --> 00:25:20.140
It's an additional $20 per child per month on top of your tuition.

00:25:20.140 --> 00:25:22.240
That's no excuses thing.

00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.900
We provide the child watch three days a week, as great at headquarters.

00:25:26.654 --> 00:25:30.941
And your youth class is $75 monthly and that's two times per week.

00:25:31.595 --> 00:25:39.699
Yep with the option of open mat, and you can also train at both facilities with a coach's approval If you're a youth student.

00:25:39.699 --> 00:25:43.923
If you're an adult, you may go to both facilities without permission.

00:25:44.414 --> 00:25:46.102
Okay, do you take vacationers?

00:25:46.102 --> 00:25:48.943
Do you take people who are here just temporarily?

00:25:49.075 --> 00:25:49.898
How do you work that out?

00:25:49.898 --> 00:25:52.863
Yeah, so we have a seven day visitor pass.

00:25:52.863 --> 00:25:59.782
We actually get a lot of visitors, obviously, because we're at the beach and people are vacationing and they want to continue training when they're in town.

00:25:59.782 --> 00:26:06.898
So the seven day visitor pass is $70 and that's unlimited to all the classes and both facilities.

00:26:06.898 --> 00:26:09.080
If you're an adult, we also have just drop-ins.

00:26:09.080 --> 00:26:13.280
So if you just want to hit one class, then those are $15 per class.

00:26:21.154 --> 00:26:22.961
Bianca, let's talk about your women's group.

00:26:23.714 --> 00:26:26.423
Yeah, the ladies group is phenomenal.

00:26:26.423 --> 00:26:37.221
I always say I lead them, I teach them, but it's like somebody picked all of them up and dropped them in the same place and was like you guys are gonna get along great and everything's gonna be amazing.

00:26:37.221 --> 00:26:44.825
They are so strong and they work so hard in class and I am just very honored to lead them.

00:26:45.154 --> 00:26:46.761
Is it just one class that you have?

00:26:46.761 --> 00:26:48.019
That's for the women only.

00:26:48.835 --> 00:26:50.300
So the class is three times a week.

00:26:50.300 --> 00:26:57.502
It's Monday, wednesdays and Fridays from 9.30 to 11 and with the women's membership you're allowed to trade out if you miss a class.

00:26:57.502 --> 00:27:04.803
So if you miss, like a Wednesday class, you can go to the Wednesday adult co-ed class and that way there's no excuses for you not to get to class.

00:27:04.803 --> 00:27:11.469
But the age range we have from 18 to 50, right?

00:27:11.469 --> 00:27:13.861
Now and it's flowing very well.

00:27:13.861 --> 00:27:16.501
Like everyone, has good challenging partners.

00:27:17.755 --> 00:27:19.623
They don't come three days a week, they just come.

00:27:19.623 --> 00:27:20.295
They do come three days a week.

00:27:20.295 --> 00:27:21.238
They come three days a week.

00:27:21.238 --> 00:27:22.643
Yeah.

00:27:23.255 --> 00:27:24.400
There are some very dedicated ladies.

00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:26.922
Not all of them can make it three days a week.

00:27:26.922 --> 00:27:30.320
They might only come twice, but those ladies are very dedicated.

00:27:30.560 --> 00:27:31.864
Wow, okay, how many in that?

00:27:31.904 --> 00:27:39.018
class Right now I average 14 to 16 but, like Tulsa said, like they are very dedicated, they train hard.

00:27:39.018 --> 00:27:40.621
We're not sitting around in that class.

00:27:40.621 --> 00:27:45.962
They are definitely something to come watch, so if you wanna come by, you would be very impressed by them.

00:27:46.084 --> 00:27:46.505
I always.

00:27:46.505 --> 00:27:51.721
Will they mind if someone who's not in there doing it is sitting on the sidelines and watching?

00:27:51.721 --> 00:27:53.319
Or do I have to get in there and do it?

00:27:53.319 --> 00:27:55.164
No, can you tell I'm scared.

00:27:55.454 --> 00:27:57.844
No, they'll probably try to invite you on the mat.

00:27:57.844 --> 00:28:04.180
They're all very welcoming and their positivity and motivation is unmeasurable, and I really mean that.

00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:06.343
So they wouldn't mind if you wanted to sit and come watch.

00:28:06.343 --> 00:28:08.920
Not at all, they would probably try to get you on the mat.

00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:10.839
Are they all different levels?

00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:17.064
We have white belts and blue belts and, yeah, they're all on the journey right now.

00:28:17.255 --> 00:28:19.362
And you just pair them up based on their skill level.

00:28:19.762 --> 00:28:25.523
No, the way classes typically ran you have warmups, you have drills and then a technique is taught.

00:28:25.523 --> 00:28:35.182
You drill that technique with a partner and then at the end of class you have the opportunity to spar that technique at like 100% right, and that's something you have to talk to your partner about.

00:28:35.182 --> 00:28:37.201
Hey, do you wanna go 50%?

00:28:37.201 --> 00:28:38.980
Whatever you gotta advocate for yourself.

00:28:38.980 --> 00:28:41.317
But no, there's no separating people.

00:28:41.317 --> 00:28:42.959
I mean, everybody rolls with everybody.

00:28:42.959 --> 00:28:48.172
If you don't have rounded sparring sessions, then you're never challenged.

00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:55.230
Yeah, and that's one thing I think with all the classes kids, adults, the ladies class is having those well-rounded partners.

00:28:55.230 --> 00:28:58.786
They say you should have three types of partners in Jiu Jitsu to make yourself better.

00:28:58.786 --> 00:29:01.686
You should have someone who's better than you that beats you all the time.

00:29:01.686 --> 00:29:05.805
You should have someone that you're better than that you get to beat because you build your confidence.

00:29:05.805 --> 00:29:10.890
And then you should have someone who matches you, that really challenges you to force you to grow.

00:29:11.201 --> 00:29:19.594
Well, professor Fredson always says it like this we do have promotional ranking and stuff right, but he always says a bell is just to tie your gi with.

00:29:19.594 --> 00:29:31.670
And he tells us when he comes for seminars, he tells us to all the students don't think, because you got this belt on, you have this belt on that, you're better than anybody, because somebody's going to come through the door and they're going to be working harder than you.

00:29:31.670 --> 00:29:38.714
So you know, you got to respect lower ranks, respect your higher ranking people, because bell doesn't mean anything.

00:29:38.714 --> 00:29:41.204
And that's where that humbleness comes in.

00:29:41.204 --> 00:29:49.141
On the mat, you might think you're the best at something and you get humbled really fast and you're like oh, I got to go back to work, I need to work on this, yeah.

00:29:49.141 --> 00:29:58.409
So also, I think with anybody that wants to try Jiu Jitsu or wants to come in to the ladies class, all the time I get asked what's it going to be like?

00:29:58.409 --> 00:30:04.029
People are intimidated, things like that, and you're not going to know until you come in and try.

00:30:04.029 --> 00:30:07.147
But it is absolutely not like what you're going to like.

00:30:07.147 --> 00:30:08.153
Look on YouTube.

00:30:08.153 --> 00:30:10.060
You're looking at competition style Jiu Jitsu.

00:30:10.060 --> 00:30:11.364
People are going at 100%.

00:30:11.364 --> 00:30:13.509
But that is not what we're doing.

00:30:13.950 --> 00:30:23.673
You come through the door, everyone started at a beginner level, so every lady's going to treat you properly and help you through steps and then after a couple of weeks you can opt to spar.

00:30:23.673 --> 00:30:28.950
You don't have to do these things, but it's more about just learning the art and just going through the journey.

00:30:28.950 --> 00:30:35.462
That's a common question I get asked and women come in and they're so nervous and they're like I don't know why I waited so long.

00:30:35.462 --> 00:30:37.632
So I will definitely say don't wait.

00:30:37.632 --> 00:30:41.626
And if you don't want to try the ladies class, you can also go to the adult co-ed class.

00:30:41.626 --> 00:30:49.417
We have plenty of higher belts in that class and no male or female in that class is going to just say, hey, nice to meet you, can I fight you?

00:30:49.417 --> 00:30:52.846
It's not going to go like that, but that is a common misconception.

00:30:53.528 --> 00:30:57.801
We also do workouts Mondays and Wednesdays before our ladies class.

00:30:57.801 --> 00:30:58.623
That's an option.

00:30:58.623 --> 00:31:02.250
So we work out from nine to about 9.25.

00:31:02.250 --> 00:31:07.731
And this is just for you to really get some speed and agility to your jiu-jitsu.

00:31:07.731 --> 00:31:14.431
We're basically training our hearts, our body, to match what we want to do on the mats and that has to start somewhere.

00:31:14.431 --> 00:31:18.426
So we're getting our breathing going, all those things.

00:31:18.426 --> 00:31:20.411
But it's an option.

00:31:20.411 --> 00:31:21.553
It's not something you have to do.

00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:27.538
So just to speak on the ladies class I started the ladies class back in 2017.

00:31:27.538 --> 00:31:30.585
I was the only instructor and I had a great group of ladies.

00:31:30.585 --> 00:31:34.492
The problem is I'm a guy and it is intimidating.

00:31:34.492 --> 00:31:43.729
Bianca has taken over this ladies class and not just created an awesome environment, but she's created a whole tribe and these ladies are a phenomenal group of ladies.

00:31:43.729 --> 00:31:50.603
There has been two that have been extremely pregnant and still come to class and try Really and Forgot about that.

00:31:50.722 --> 00:31:52.406
Yeah, we have one right now.

00:31:52.406 --> 00:31:56.421
She is seven months pregnant and she what?

00:31:56.421 --> 00:31:58.246
Oh yeah, she's funny.

00:31:58.246 --> 00:32:01.472
She'll say take it easy on me, and then she's not taking it easy on you.

00:32:01.472 --> 00:32:06.491
We're like we all laugh though about it, because we all just let her do whatever she wants.

00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:24.771
So she's created a wonderful tribe and that's due to her persistence and she doesn't take it easy on them but she definitely loves them and creates this wonderful environment that, even if it's a first time lady coming into the class, that they're welcome and that starts with the instructor.

00:32:24.771 --> 00:32:32.166
So I just want to say that about her as an individual and then the class as a whole, because those ladies there's no bad seeds in there.

00:32:32.166 --> 00:32:36.644
What I mean by that is there's not anyone in there trying to prove something over anyone else.

00:32:36.644 --> 00:32:40.656
There's no one in there trying to hurt another one.

00:32:40.656 --> 00:32:46.422
They're always trying to help each other and they are at different skill sets and some of them have been training for a few years.

00:32:46.422 --> 00:32:48.867
Some of them just started a couple of weeks ago.

00:32:49.509 --> 00:32:55.349
And, like she said, the age range but they don't even put that into consideration when they're training with each other.

00:32:55.349 --> 00:33:01.519
You can have 40-year-old lady training with the 18, 19-year-old lady and they treat it exactly the same.

00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:06.894

Groundstone Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Listen On

Recent Episodes