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Keys to Conscious Jiu Jitsu Improvement

Dan Micro BJJ Faggella Interviews Multi-Time World
Champions Gui and Rafa Mendes

Gui
Mendes

Dan Faggella

Rafael
Mendes

This resource courtesy of BJJGiantKiller.com, Powered by MicroBJJ.com, the

Internets Only Site Serving Lightweight BJJ Players

by Daniel Faggella
special thanks to special guests Rafa / Gui Mendes

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Thank You Page

Id like to say a big thank you here to the Mendes brothers, who took the
time after their seminar in New York to grab some pizza and get deep on
the topic of Conscious Jiu Jitsu Improvement.
Another big thanks to Joe Capizzi who invited me to the Mendes seminar
and was nice enough to let me interview Gui and Rafa in his home in
Staten Island.
Without the insights of experts and champions like these guys, I wouldnt
have nearly as much to write and share, and I certainly never would have
gotten 4-second leg lock matches at expert division tournaments!
Thanks again, guys!

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ARTICLE 1:
How to Focus and What to Focus ON
Getting better at grappling In the past 10
years the Mendes brothers have done a lot of it.
From Rafas raising up to beat Cobrinha at an
absurdly young age, to Guis first world
championship the grappling community has
been in relative awe regarding their success.
I first saw Rafas match (when he was 17, I
believe) against Bruno Frazato at the Brazilian
ADCC trials and I remember thinking this kid is
unreal. Sure is.
You can bet that when I had the opportunity to
interview these guys (some of which took place
in a great little random pizza joint near Joe Capizzis gym in Staten Island,
NY), one of the first things I wanted to know about was how they focus on
and develop the various aspects of their game.

Practical Advice on BJJ Game Development from

Gui and Rafa Mendes
Rafael and Guillerme had a relatively simple algorithm for building on
individual elements on ones game, and focusing on improvement:
1

Pick 3 Top Techniques to Develop (IE: 3 Leg Drag Techniques)

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Pick 3 Bottom Techniques to Develop (IE: Arm Drag, 2 Inverted De

La Riva Sweeps)
3 Pick 3 Submissions to Develop (IE: Arm Triangle, Anaconda, RNC)
Now if you were to look at Rafas full game plan for his 2009 or 2011 ADCC
preparations, youd see 3 months of intensely mapped out sequences,
areas of emphasis, physical exercises, etc
However, when it comes to determining areas of focus in building your Jiu
Jitsu game the brothers have a pretty strait-forward concept to share:

Keep it Simple
Theyd likely warn against randomly focusing on a different move each day,
or focusing on a single technique at the expense of the rest of your game.
In their3x3x3 model, you can pretty much always be working on a distinct
area in your game wherever you are.
If your only focus is sweeps, then what do you have to do when you get on
top? Pull guard? Its not the end of the world, but it could certainly hinder
the other elements of your game.
Just another perspective to consider when as you build your BJJ game.

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ARTICLE 2:
Innovation and the Evolution of BJJ
Ive been doing this whole interview super good BJJ performers thing for
a while now, and I can say pretty frankly that the Mendes Brothers are
about as sharp as it gets when it comes to training methodology and skill
development.
When I finally had the time to pick their brains over pizza after a seminar at
Joe Capizzis gym on Staten Island, I knew that innovation would be on the
very first topics I brought up.

Be Like Water Rafa / Gui Mendes

Weve all heard Bruce
Lee say it (or most of
us I hope), but
traditionally the analogy
isnt brought up in BJJ.
The brothers told me
that on their belt they
have Japanese
calligraphy representing
the phrase.
Essentially, theyre
committed to finding a
better way, an easier way, to do anything, or to beat anyone. They dont
like the idea of grinding away at a method just for the sake of hard work.

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What sets them apart is their overall orientation towards training which
tends to be:
Maximum Physical Training + Maximum Strategic Planning +
Maximum Feedback Intake
They werent afraid to say that they have all the DVDs from the people
they compete against, and many, many more. Rafa posed the question: If
there is a way to learn something new or get a new idea, why would I not
use it?
I agree 100%, and I happen to believe that as Jiu Jitsu evolves and
competition becomes increasingly fierce, well see the competitors at the
top as athletes honed through film analysis, well-planned tournament
preparation strategies, multiple coaches, and more.
Training at our physical limits is much easier for an athlete to do than to
train at his mental limit (forcing himself to learn new things, develop certain
elements of the game, deal with new positions, etc).
Usually a top-tier coach takes over this role such as the coaches at the
Olympic Training Center for Judo or Wrestling, or the kind of role
Ronaldo Jacare played forCobrinha in structuring his rigorously
challenging training sessions in Georgia). The fact that the Mendes
brothers (multi-time BJJ world champions, mind you) do this on their
own is pretty impressive when you compare their methods to the
sophistication used by most other world champions of this era.

The Necessity to Innovate

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When youre at the top, everyone is watching you need to evolve your
game said Guilerme.
The pair have a firm belief that innovation leads to success, and not only
does it serve to help find new and better ways to solve problems, it also
helps to leave a legacy beyond world championship metals its a
contribution to the sport itself.
Their methods for innovation? Here are a few tips to leverage in your own
training:
1

Stay After Class to Tinker: Rafa and Gui told me that they stick
around for 30 minutes after classes to just talk about what is working
and how to edit techniques and strategies. They not only do this with
their own games, they also help out other competitors. This way, not
only do they get new and varied feedback and ideas, they also get to
work on problems and positions they may have not even though of
yet.
Figure Out Whats Working Well and Build: From what I was told,
this is how the leg drag, berimbolo, and other Mendes classics
came about. You roll and bunch with high-level grapplers and you
think to yourself man that keeps on working I wonder whats
going on there? This is reason to explore, tinker, get feedback from
others, and experiment. It could be your contribution to the BJJ world
or at least your ace up the sleeve in competition / live rolling.

The famous berimbolo sweep is a good example of what Jiu Jitsu

Innovation can yield:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHikSZK5jc4

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This fits in with the whole sagittal plane back take idea I outlined in my
Rafael Mendes BJJ strategy video from way back in the day (well before I
had the privilege of rolling with them).
For now, take a few of these innovation tips and run with them. Ive gotta go
practice my inverted De La Riva variations
Sincerely,
-Daniel Faggella

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POPULAR RESOURCES:
Through Science of Skill and Micro BJJ, Ive been lucky enough to privately
train with and interview many of the worlds BEST light weight grapplers picking their brains about what works and what doesnt in the Real World of
high-level black belt light weight Jiu Jitsu.
Heres a small selection of some of my BEST articles with light weight world
champions:

(1) Multi-Time World Champion Caio Terra

http://scienceofskill.com/caio_terra_bjj_training_tips/

(2) No-Gi World Champ Justin Rader

http://scienceofskill.com/justin-rader-interview-initialhabits/

(3) ADCC / World Champ Alexandre Soca

http://scienceofskill.com/becoming-an-elite-bjjcompetitor-alexandre-%E2%80%9Csoca
%E2%80%9D-freitas/

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Thanks for reading! As a writer for Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style
(UK), and MMA Sports Mag, Ive had a number of requests to interview
specific athletes about competitions, DVD releases, events, and more.
For writing inquiries, please contact Timothy at:
info@scienceofskill.com

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