I've been thinking about reviewing instructionals for a while now. I've amassed a thriving library over the years. I have books, VHS, DVD's and nowadays access to a number of digital products. I wish there were still more books coming out but I digress. 

One of the newest and most exciting gems out there is the new instructional: Hybrid Approach to Wrestling for MMA by Darryl Christian. 

Back when I was wrestling at the OTC in Colorado Springs Darryl Christian was one of the top guys there. He was already on the National Team and knocking on the doors of making World and Olympic teams. While I was there he won the US Nationals. 

Darryl was constantly in contention against TC Dantzler who was also a National Champion and multiple time world team member. It was one of the premier rivalries of the early 2000's. 

Since then Darryl Christian has contributed greatly to a number of MMA competitors, including BJ Penn. When BJ won his UFC title against Matt Hughes he had come out to Colorado to prepare. We all watched at coach Momir Petkovic's home (a regular thing for both UFC and Pride events). After the fight BJ quoted Momir and we all had a great time watching his biggest win. 

After Darryl's Olympic run he did a lot of MMA coaching. As I understand it he also spent some time helping Kyle Dake with some upper body maneuvers. I also remember watching Dake become more and more impressive as he added in more upper body throws and lifts from the mat, which in Freestyle aren't as common but highly effective. I can't help but think that is due in large part to Darryl's influence. 

The second I saw this add come up in my Facebook feed and saw the video intro highlights I knew it was going to be a good one. I saw that he took a similar approach to against the cage situations as I do. Naturally I just had to see what other pieces of the puzzle he had figured out. Within the first few minutes I was completely hooked. 

One of the early foundational techniques that he shares is the Underhook - Lockdown which I've seen a lot of guys do but now I know who they learned it from. It is a very effective positional attack. 

Darryl also provides a lot of Greco-esque techniques to control and attack opponents against the cage. I really appreciated his step-by-step approach and the overall effectiveness and simplicity. I found myself thinking "Why didn't I think of that?" for many of the finer details. 

My favorite move of this instructional has to be Getting Back to Your Feet - Option #1 this specifically deals with someone wrapping your legs with his legs in Khabib style. It was another one of those moments where I thought "Can it really be that easy?" and sure enough, it is that easy!

These were just two of the main highlights but for me this entire 2-part video series is LOADED with little gems throughout. For an old Greco-Roman Wrestling guy like me they made perfect sense and reaffirmed the quote from Dan Severn that says; 
"If you don't know how to wrestle you don't know how to fight." 

I can't say enough good things about this DVD (okay its not a DVD but that's what I call all of the 'instructionals' because its shorter to say and shorter to write...plus saying instructional all the time just sounds dumb to me). Right now it's on sale for a greatly reduced price so grab it while you can but at even full retail it would be a steal because of the quality of information that is shown.

If you missed the premier and the low-low price deal, don't worry, www.fanaticwrestling.com and/or www.bjjfanatics.com are always offering deals and discounts and if you miss one you'll most likely catch the next one but I counsel you to get this one as quickly as you can so you don't get left behind.

Again this is an amazing DVD. I highly recommend it and I look forward to making some of the adjustments into my own game. 

Hybrid Approach to Wrestling for MMA by Darryl Christian

I had the great fortune to meet the founders of Gunfighter Design, Robert Ziarnick and Eric Moser. They are both retired military and former snipers and have joined forces to create some really outstanding knives. 

I spent some time talking with Eric about their company and their vision. They have big plans and a bright future is ahead of them. 

Their designs are meant for the heavy duty user whether they be active military in combat situations or civilians in high stress scenarios with a need for high performance. 

A big part of their mission and inspiration came from real life combat where they had to use their blades defensively. As one of them recounted their personal encounter with an adversary I learned that their combat knife was used but broke in the heat of battle. While still able to dispatch the threat this experience was a sobering reminder of the absolute need for quality tools in life-and-death encounters. 

Due to this and other deficits encountered with many of today's production knives Robert and Eric decided they had been called to create products that would truly perform when the chips are down and lives are on the line. 

While they are a young up and coming company I believe their enthusiasm will carry them as far as they want to go. I'm showing one of their most popular designs the POPS MK2 Production knife. 

This particular knife is made with CPM 3v steel and shows some great lines and unique gripping options with their creative use of gimping along the spine and their contoured handle scales. With a 3.5" blade and nice rounded belly this knife makes for a great EDC fixed blade that can cover a variety of tasks. 

They also have bigger blades like The Greenside which is suitable for larger tasks more in line with hunting and combat usages. Gunfighter Design also offers custom knife options for those who want to see their own one-of-a-kind designs come to life. 

If you're looking for a great knife that is American made by a company that is Veteran owned and operated then look no further. Gunfighter Design

August 20, 2022 at Deep Half Jiu Jitsu in Spanish Fork Utah, Team Machado Utah had a seminar with Grand-Master Rigan Machado and a belt rank ceremony in which several practitioners ascended to the black belt rank and a few of us were elevated to advanced black belt ranks. 

Here are those who received rank advancements for the black belt and above: 
Cory Mince - Black Belt
Justin Ruiz - Black Belt
Nick Rossborough - Black Belt
Dave Johnson - 4th Degree Black Belt
Gerald Harris - 4th Degree Black Belt
Brandon Ruiz - 4th Degree Black Belt
Jeff Kunze - 5th Degree Black Belt

It was a great day for all who attended. I was excited to receive my 4th degree and put a stamp on my 30 years in the grappling arts. 

​

The 2021 Shoot Pro Wrestling was a great event for me. It has been exactly one year to the day (at least numerically) that I was able to compete for and win the Shoot Pro Wrestling Tag Team World Title with team mate Josh 'Starlord' Leduc. A lot has happened since that point in time. This was a special event for me. As I look back it fills me with pride, satisfaction and good memories. It was a culmination of a lot of things in both my personal life and athletic career. 

My wife and I had started our life together in Colorado at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. I started my competition grappling career in Denver. That had been 18 years prior. Many roads had been traveled and many successes and failures experienced. 

My coach, Sheldon Marr, had been with me since the beginning and I was glad he could be part of this event. We had won multiple national and world titles together starting all the way back in 2004. He was with me for all but one of my FILA/UWW Grappling World Championships appearances. He has been one of my greatest supports and greatest guide in grappling. 

My team mate, Josh 'Starlord' Leduc, and I had been slated to compete for a Catch Wrestling World Championship in winter of 2018 and it had fallen through due to issues within the promoting organization. I was glad we were able to work as team mates since we had both lost an opportunity which we were now able to rectify. 

My wife was able to come with me and it was great having her at the event. She doesn't get to come along nearly as much as I'd like or as much as she used to and it was extra special to have her there with me. 

Additionally I had just received some gear from Elite Sports and was excited to use it in competition. They had sent me some of their Men's Black Jack Gray Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ No Gi Shorts. I really liked them as they were comfortable, moved well and were easily comparable in feel and sturdiness to some of the larger name brands. I looked on their website and not only were these shorts comfortable and durable they were also affordable. I chose to wear them at this competition and I've been using them ever since. 
​
https://www.elitesports.com/
https://www.borntough.com/

We also put together some cool custom rash guards with our Catch Cowboys logo. I even brought some custom shirts to throw to the crowd. 

We made our team entry with cowboy hats and I wore a poncho. We definitely looked 'Cowboy', at least for a little while. 

The matches were a lot of fun and the tag team format was new and challenging. We were able to get past a very tough team of BJJ players and in the finals pinned and submitted a pro-wrestling team. 

I'm glad I was able to take advantage of being part of the event. A lot has happened in just one year but I still have great memories of this event. 

Starlord and I have now been the reigning Shoot Pro Wrestling Champions for a full year and hope to have more adventures in the not too distant future. 

​Join me this Friday night September 24th for the Shoot Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championships in Denver Colorado!
You can be part of the event live at the Watering Bowl or you can watch on live pay-per-view! 
If you've ever wanted a chance to see me in action but haven't here is your chance. 
I'm looking forward to a great event!

https://combat-on-demand.cleeng.com/shoot-pro-2-tag-team-championship-brandon-ruiz/E880240506_US

We're excited to be working with Elite Sports and Born Tough to try out their products!
We will come up with a review post once the product testing is done
Keep an eye out for these updates.
Check them out here:
https://www.elitesports.com/collections/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-mens-bjj-gis
https://www.borntough.com/collections/mens-workout-shirts

​Intensity, desire and heart. Undersized, underrated and overlooked by many speculators, Curran Jacobs figuratively slew giants and a few demons on his way to the 2018 Catch Wrestling World Championship title.
 
Facing him was a pleasure and a great time to demonstrate the old adage, “Steel Sharpens Steel”. For 30 minutes we battled giving our all in the ring. No dirty tricks. No fouls. Just hard nosed battling for 30 minutes.
 
It was thrilling to face down a competitor with that level of intensity and determination. To me our lengthy battle was truly living. A chance to slough off the day-to-day of career, church and family and simply battle. Battle with no other intent than to subdue the other man into submission.
 
For 6 rounds (I swear it was 8) Jacobs hurled himself at me. I tried to be the bully as much as I could but he wouldn’t allow it even though I outweighed him by at least 50 pounds.
 
I made pre-match calculations, strategies and plans. Even during the match I made adjustments as I realized trying to take him down was both futile and pointless as it merely sapped me of my waning old-man strength. Instead I attempted submissions from underneath, at one point extending his arm to the point of popping yet he didn’t tap.
 
On another series I had him pinned but no one but myself and a few corner side spectators could see.
 
On yet another I had a choke locked on as tight as I possibly could given my failing grip. One trapped leg would’ve sealed the deal. Yet somehow, some way Jacobs found a way out, a point of day light and he ran for it.
 
An outsized underdog in every match Curran Jacobs willed his way through each competitor overcoming them with his heart and tenacity.
 
I watched his quarter and semi final match ups that went into multiple over times only to end in rear naked strangle submissions for him. Not one but two capable and expert grapplers went down to what seemed like an easy thing to avoid. But it wasn’t. It was going to happen whether you knew it was or not.
 
To quote the great short story ‘A Piece of Steak’ by Jack London, “youth will be served”. Curran’s youth and vigor pulled him through many a potentially match ending situation in all three of his matches.
 
I couldn’t help but feel just like Tom King in the story. Old. Tired. Up for one more battle. Yet despite all of his dominance couldn’t stay the tide of youth.
 
After the match as I reflected on “how else could I have beaten him?” I could come up with few answers. I gave him my best, or at least the best that my battle worn 41-year-old self could give. I made so many mid game adjustments it gave me no less than 3 finishing opportunities that for whatever reason didn’t happen.
 
I analyzed the various scenarios and factors then finally I came to one plausible conclusion. I dislike crediting successes or failures to things like this, to me “Cause-and-Effect” means your training and skill execution, but sometimes explanations like this are very real in sport.
 
I think I can boil it down to this: One man’s personal quest and one man’s destiny.
 
The more I thought about it and the more I learned about Curran’s history the more sense it made.
 
A man who has suffered personal loss and tragedy like Curran often finds a special place inside his soul that drives him on to do great things. There are few things in life that evoke one’s soul to grow the way personal loss does.
 
During the match I thought at some point he would have slowed down yet those memories must have driven him on. I can explain it in no other way. Every match he was outgunned yet he still found a way to win.
 
I’m a big believer in Champions finding a way to win.
 
On a personal level I hate losing. It irks me forever. Losing to me is like having a piece of my soul removed. There are few losses that I forget. I use them for motivation. But in the end, they are merely sporting losses.
 
True losses, like the loss of loved ones, takes a different piece of your soul and provides a much more powerful motivation. Love. Remembrance. Connection to the other side and a will to shine for them while still here on earth.
 
Losing to Jacobs was the most unique loss I’ve ever experienced. I’ve never lost to someone who then promoted me on social media. I’ve never lost to someone and somehow made an instant friend and kindred spirit. It is bizarre.
 
For that I can only credit Curran’s warrior spirit and his desire to fulfill a personal quest. He found a way to achieve his destiny as the first modern era Catch Wrestling World Champion becoming one of the new young torch bearers for this great sport. Not just by eking out wins but by submitting all three of his opponents.
 
There are a number of torch bearers in MMA but Curran’s place in the Catch Wrestling cosmos is special. Special because of the adversity he constantly faced each match out and special because of his personal reasons for fighting, for excelling for others beyond just himself.
 
I can’t help but like the guy. He is a great competitor. He is very in tune with his family and they give him power. He is a great and gracious champion.
 
As one warrior to another I would like to congratulate Curran on a job well done. I hope that he is able to carry the sport of Catch Wrestling as well as he does himself. The sport of Catch Wrestling has a great new champion and his name is Curran Jacobs. 

Jake Shannon. Is a man that doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the revival Catch Wrestling is currently experiencing.
 
20 years ago whisperings in the grappling universe called to Jake Shannon from beyond the grave. 100 years of glory had been forgotten by rule changes, money grabbing and gimmicky promotions which bastardized and eventually extinguished the fire of Catch-As-Catch-Can that once swept the land.
 
A sport that was appreciated by the hard-nosed working class, Catch Wrestling attracted thousands at live events and created myths and legends of the famous champions of yesteryear. Gotch, Nelson, Burns, Lewis, Robinson, Cardinal, Gama. These names were all but forgotten. Golden champions of their age. Stranglers, Hookers, Pinners and warriors whose deeds were immortalized in the minds of their rabid fans. Yet those days of blood, guts and glory were left in the past covered in the dust. The days and memories of raw primal power rarely seen in the ring had been buried and lost.
 
That whisper from the Universe spoke to Shannon, “Remember us” it beckoned. “Remember who we were and what we did. Resurrect us and breathe new life into us. Restore us to our former glory and place in the grappling cosmos.”
 
Whatever the actual events that lead Shannon to dive head first into the wild and sometimes whacky world of Catch Wrestling may ultimately be only known to him and the whispering spirits of wrestlers past.
 
Sometime in the early 2000’s I stumbled across the www.ScientificWrestling.com website. It told the stories of many of the great Catch wrestlers of the late 19th and early 20th century. As an aspiring Olympic wrestler these were names I had never heard of. Champions of a sport that had somehow died out decades before I ever even knew what US folkstyle wrestling was. Without Jake’s efforts to revive the lost legends of CACC I for one would have never known that they or the sport of Catch Wrestling even existed. The website eventually went from text to videos to live seminars with former champions, namely Billy Robinson, who became the point of the spear for Shannon’s revival efforts.
 
Slowly but surely champions trained personally by Billy Robinson in Japan became big stars on the stage of MMA in Pancrase, Pride and UFC. Kazushi Sakuraba, “The Gracie Hunter”, defeated Renzo, Royler and Ryan Gracie and multiple BJJ opponents in the ring and cage.
 
Josh Barnett, “The Warmaster”, won the UFC as one of the youngest ever champions as well as won the IBJJF No Gi worlds.
 
Erik Paulson, Neil Melanson, Randy Couture, all high profile examples showcasing the value of CACC in the ring and cage who catapulted CACC into the consciousness of anyone serious about grappling or MMA.
 
While Shannon’s efforts have by no means been so all influencing to have caused all this they have been the spark that has helped bring notice to the general public. When the CACC athletes won events Scientific Wrestling gave you information on the how’s and why’s, the back stories and the origins of the techniques and tactics being used.
 
Soon more people learned about CACC and Jake’s influence through Scientific Wrestling grew. More seminars with more participants wanting to learn CACC and how they could get an edge over their competition. More videos and more content than ever before became available.
 
Reporters rarely if ever get credit for the events they cover. But without them much of the world’s events go on unknown and unsung to the rest of the world. Pioneers are often overlooked and taken for granted. The mountains they had to climb for life and death eventually becoming ‘recreation’ for their modern-day counterparts.
 
Jake Shannon is both reporter and pioneer. Without Jake Shannon many, and I would dare say almost all, of us would have never heard of Billy Robinson or Catch-As-Catch-Can. We wouldn’t have seen the recent CACC tournaments abounding. Jake’s “King of CACC” series of tournament sparked others to follow. We would not have seen the rise of the Snake Pit or the 2018 World CACC Championships.
 
Again while no man is an island or can truly do any great work alone he can create a spark which eventually builds to a roaring fire.
 
We are witnessing firsthand how the influence of one man’s vision leads to the influence of another, then another and on and on until that vision is fulfilled. The revival of Catch Wrestling is like a mighty eagle just hatched from its shell as it stretches its wings to take new flight into the heavens.
 
So many of us hope that Catch Wrestling will soar to new heights as it continues to grow and restore its once glorious form.
 
Thank you Jake Shannon for all of your efforts for not only the sport of Catch Wrestling but for your tireless contributions to all of the grappling arts.
 
To hear more of Jake’s story you can take a listen here:
Grapping Central Podcast – Jake Shannon Interview
Episode 295: Jake Shannon
http://grapplingcentral.com/episode-295-jake-shannon/
​

​“You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Today I came across this video of Josh Barnett extolling the benefits of using pressure over flow in grappling/BJJ situations. 

Here is my best effort at transcribing this amazing bit of knowledge.

Student: (Describing his experience) Energy sucking. You know when Eric rolls with you and he starts pushing on you? I feel like Eric steals energy every time he submits.

Josh: That’s the way it should be though. If I’m not debilitating my opponent in my positioning my pinning, riding any of that as well as the locks and holds I’m trying to apply then I’m not doing everything I can I’m not being as efficient with my offense as I can be. I’m not being as superior a wrestler as I can be.

Student: No flow?

Josh: Flow is cool too. But why flow when I can pressure? Flow is when you need to. Flow is part of riding but when I find the opportunity or the advantage where I can apply pressure I apply pressure. All that flowing is great until someone shuts your shit down. Then all of a sudden you have no game. You have to be able to it all. You have to be able to flow. You have to be able to pressure. You have to be able to crush and smash, cut through people and then; avoid, distribute, redistribute, throw by pressure, pass it by you let it come to you and use it. All of the above.
If you just do one thing, if all you can do is try to pin everybody you’re probably too stiff and you’ll get reversed a lot. If all you do is flow someone will lock your shit down and then you’re done. You have to know when to use what and how to use it. I’m telling you pressure, pressure, pressure. Flow doesn’t make people tired, pressure does.

Student: So true.

Josh: Every big time Jiu Jitsu guy I don’t give a shit what they say, what their mantra is, they are all crazy strong, they are all crazy fast, and they all use crazy muscle strength and pressure, with good technique too. They all use strength. They don’t wrestle easy. They don’t win titles s by flowing and blah blah blah it’s a bullshit lie. They get pressured, someone puts some muscle on them, they put more muscle back and then they beat them. Period. I never rolled with a high level black belt that wasn’t’ strong as shit, didn’t use his strength a ton and didn’t try to use that technique within his strength, every time. No bones about it they don’t exist they’re always using strength in some way.

Watch the original video here