Team Machado Utah had a very successful tournament at the NAGA Utah held March 3, 2012. The UCTC athletes lead by instructor Dave Johnson brought home a hoard of new awards along with some great memories. Below are the team and individual results. Congratulations go to Dave and the UCTC Team Machado Utah athletes!

Team Results
Total Medals:18
Total Gold:  8
Total Silver:7
Total Bronze:3

Individual Results
2 Golds           – Tommy Wagner Gold Medal GI (White)  / Gold NO Gi Beginner
1 Gold            – Vyginitas “Vig”   Gold Medal GI (White)
2 Gold            – Joe Martinez  Gold GI (Blue) / Gold NO GI – Intermediate
1 Gold 1 Silver   – Nick Lokeni (Stidham) Gold No GI /  Silver GI (white)
1 Gold 1 Bronze   – Eric Gold No Gi Expert  / Bronze Gi
1 Gold            – Mike Stidham No GI Expert
2 Silver          – Carter  No Gi Beginner / GI (white)
1 Silver          – AJ Stidham GI (white)
1 Silver          – Loran Brumley No GI Expert
1 Silver          – JT (Jeremiah) GI (Blue)
1 Silver          – Dominico No Gi Intermediate
1 Bronze          – Angel  Gi (purple)
1 Bronze          – Ma’fu Fosita  No Gi expert (super heavy)

This is fine if you want to continue to lose. You can’t study losing and
expect to win. 

Your mind cannot dwell on the reverse of a thing. You cannot dwell on losing
and expect to win. 

If you want to have more success in your endeavors study those who are
already successful. Study how they won. Figure out how you can repeat similar
successes as to what they have created. Borrow their ingenuity and example.
Develop the next step from where they left off. 

If you think that studying history will help you for heaven’s sake study the
winning team! Study the dominant figures and systems of the past. Understand
what they did and why they did it. 

Spending too much time on trying to understand someone else’s mistakes is the
surest way to avoid fixing your own. I would rather fix the holes in my own game
first. Jesus said ‘first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote of thy brother’s eye.’

 As you study successful strategies you will start to see the world
differently. You will start to do things differently. You will find greater
effectiveness and efficiency. You will find more and better solutions to
problems both big and small. Your mind will expand and you will ask better
questions. When you start asking better questions you will start getting better
solutions. 

Look for the way things are being approached. Look for the setups. Look for
transitions. Look for the finishes. Look for subtle things like timing and
positioning. 

Learn from the successes of the past and you will have a successful future.

I have no idea who the video’s creator is but he left me thinking about
several things that I can implement into my grappling game.

Here are the thoughts I took from it:

• Always look for the space left behind.
• In strange situations both players tend to miss things because they are playing types of positions
that they both unfamiliar with.
• You have to flow with the moment. Be open to every possibility. Don’t be flustered with the unknown. Move with the struggle. Enjoy the chaos. Trust yourself. You can figure everything out.

How can these be applied more specifically to grappling?

Controlling Space
In grappling there is always a certain amount of space
necessary for every technique to be performed. This space always allows for new
opportunities to attack or defend. The better you are at controlling the space
the better your chances are of successfully attacking and defending. The best
attackers and defenders know exactly how to create openings for attack and how
to simultaneously shut down space to nullify attacks. 

Where are the spaces that you are leaving behind? Where does your opponent
have an opportunity? Where is your opponent leaving you an opening? Is there an
easier submission available?

Start looking for that “space left behind” and you will see new
possibilities.

Recognize Positions
One of my core philosophies is: The faster you can
recognize positions the faster you can turn it into an opportunity to attack or
defend. So much of what we do absolutely depends on recognition of body
positioning, yet how often do you actually train that? How often has anyone even
talked about that? In my experience it has been minimal. Most coaches often
overlook this all important philosophy. 

If you look at the best athletes they are masters of understanding where they
are at all times and the accompanying pitfalls and opportunities. This is why
you will see some athletes naturally gravitate toward a control game or wide
open game. There are few that can or prefer to do both. This is due in large
part because recognition is different for everyone. Some do it by feel, some do
it by sight, some do it by mental calculation. No matter how you do it
recognition has to become a large focal point of your game.

Flow
You can only flow in grappling once you have the ability to control
space and recognize positions and opportunities. Without those first two skills
trying to flow will often be like riding down the river on the way to a
waterfall. There are so many great grapplers out there who just like the chess
master can predict 3,4 and 5 moves ahead because they understand openings and
recognize positions so well. There is always a little ‘key’ that they find and
unlock your whole game. You can learn to do the same thing. All it takes is
time, patience, practice and a little creativity.

Trust Yourself
Every time I try to figure out a black belt’s guard game I
have to ask myself; “Where are my arms? Where is my base? Keep the pressure
here. Look for the opening at this point.” Etc. I have to trust that my
abilities to execute are as good or better than his in the areas in which I plan
to attempt my techniques. 

It is very much a situation of knowing where you want to go and looking for
the best path to get there because there is no ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ path. It
comes down to trusting in your physical and mental abilities as an athlete. You
have to believe that you can solve the problem and unlock the riddle that your
opponent presents. 

For anyone interested in watching the actual original chess video and seeing
what you can glean for yourself here is the link. 
ChessMaster GrandMaster Edition: Kogan A vs Waitzkin J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygrb_yp-Hdc 
 
Until next time good luck and good training!
 

Capitalizing on Takedowns from both offense and defense. Whenever there is a takedown there is a possibility for submission both for the attacker (the one doing the takedown) and the defender (the one defending the takedown).


The takedown more than any other position lends itself to big openings. The
fact that both fighters go from their feet to hip, side or back leaves a lot of
wiggle room. Look for the openings available for your submissions the next time
someone takes you down. Look for openings the next time you take someone down. 

My short list: (From my takedowns)
• Achilles Lock (Standing and
Downed)
• Step Over to Boston Crab
• Step Around Arm Bar

 My short list: (From being taken down)
• Triangle Choke
• Arm Bar
• Straight Arm Bar (you push yourself off to the side and arm lock with his thumb pointed down)
• Kimura

Look for these opportunities more often and you’ll start finding more
submissions!