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- 📰 The takedown you really don't need to know
📰 The takedown you really don't need to know
...and rap, reggae or metal - what's on your mat playlist?
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Welcome to Tap Nap & Snap - the newsletter that is going on a damn holiday next week and won’t be back until next year 🔥 😎 Happy holidays all, remember, this is the season to really work on your pressure game by stacking on a few extra kg’s / lbs ⚖️
Here’s what we’ve got today:
Your music choice on the mats matters 🎶
No-Gi action as far as the eye can see 👀
Jozef Chen steals so that we can learn 🙏
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Things That Keep You Up At 2 AM:
Turn that sh*t off 🎶 😡
Most coaches and gym owners like to think they sit at the top of the ladder 🪜 in the gym hierarchy - leading from the front and wielding as much power as anyone in a BJJ gym can wield.
And while that might sound logical at first glance 👀, anyone who trains knows that true power comes from being in control of the gym’s playlist 🎶 ⚡️
You can drown out the coach’s instructions and straight up ruin the rest of someone’s day 😉 with the flick of a button - but conversely, you can lift the whole mood of the session and get everyone pumped to roll if you queue up the right tracks ✅
![with great power comes great responsibility GIF](https://media4.giphy.com/media/MCZ39lz83o5lC/giphy-downsized.gif?cid=2450ec30esvn8fe9gsoq00u2n4uq15bmy8vm11evz30htnz7&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy-downsized.gif&ct=g)
Cool. So what’s ‘the right track’ huh!? 🤨 Well, that’s the million-dollar question 💰
I don’t think that there is a gym on planet Earth 🌏 where all the members will love the playlist choice, but there are 3 genres that consistently show up no matter where you go - rap, metal and reggae.
So…
This week’s big question: ⬇️
If You Could Only Ever Listen To 1 Genre On Your Gym Playlist - What's Your Pick? |
The last poll’s results:
Last time we asked you - “Would You Get A BJJ-Inspired Tattoo?”
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💪 Yep. I'd definitely get it if I find the right one. (2)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👎 Nope. Not a fan of the idea. (7)
It’s a strong showing for the ‘No thanks’ crew here with most of you out here avoiding a BJJ tattoo like it’s staph 🦠
Whether it is ‘jits-ink’ or otherwise, Jeff wrote in noting that it’s pretty rare to be ink-free nowadays…
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Another One For Your Inbox 📥
We aren’t the only great newsletter on the block - there are plenty of other great reads to keep you entertained and/or successfully avoiding that work deadline 😬
Check ‘em out 👇 - you never know, you might love them! And if you don’t, you know - unsubscribe! 🤷♂️
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The Tap’s ✋, Nap’s 🥱 & Snap’s 🫰From The Mats This Week:
It’s been a massive week of results and accompanying drama 🎭 from some of the biggest match-ups we could ask for 🔥
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Meregali continues his ‘No-Gi, No Problem’ mantra for 2023 with a super impressive win over Felipe Pena to close out the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5.
There was a bit of back-and-forth to start out but over time, Pena seemed to tire out 🥱 and started racking up negative points 👎 for stalling and guard-pulling.
Meregali proved too slick and ended up getting the tap from the back with what appeared to be little more than a gentle neck tickle 🪶 😏
This quick tap didn’t go unnoticed by the ol’ G-banger Ryan who was, whilst sidelined from this card with a rib injury, still on the scene with two perfectly working thumbs 👍 to rapidly fire off his signature online commentary and general trolling in Pena’s direction …
This card also lined up Natty Nicky Rod against Yuri Simoes, who almost got in a warm-up fight 👇 with the notorious pest, AJ Azagarm before taking the stage.
Nicky & Yuri had some good exchanges (with Gordon on commentary 😂), but Nicky’s body-lock passing made all the difference as he largely dominated Yuri to get the points win.
Natty Nicky also found the time to profess his love to Yuri ❤️ and call out Gordon for a 100k money 💰 match at the end - which was promptly denied. All in a night’s work 🤷♂️ …
Aside from that, Mason took out Haisam, Victor Hugo beat Big ‘junior’ Dan & Nicky Ryan lost to Jonnatas Gracie to round out the other major match-ups on the card 🃏
Check out all the results and details 👉 right here.
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If you threw a rock at the No-Gi Worlds 2023, you’d have a 💯 % chance of hitting a world-class matchup 🤼♀️ (you’d also probably get kicked out, but that’s not the point).
This one brought out some of the best names in the No-Gi game and as noted by BJJ Heroes - for the first time in the event’s history NONE of the male, adult, black belt finals included matches between two athletes of Brazilian nationality.
It was a tournament rich in submission finishes 💵 with heel hooks served up as the specialty dish this year, taking the top spot as the most successful submission across the entire tournament 🦵 🤕
As far as highlights go - there are too many for one email to handle, but you’ll find a good list of them right here and a summary of all the division winners below … but in the meantime, enjoy this slick slam-to-back take sequence from Luke Griffith 👇
2023 WORLD NOGI CHAMPS
51KG: Everton Souza (Vision Brasil)
61KG: Junny Ocasio (Unity)
67KG: Diego Pato (AOJ)
73KG: Lucas Valente (Gracie Barra)
79KG: Tommy Langaker (Wulfing)
85KG: Ronaldo Junior (Atos HQ)
91KG: Elder Cruz (Checkmat)
97KG: Javier Zaruski (Atos HQ)
97+KG: Roosevelt Sousa (Fight Sports)
OPEN: Roberto Jimenez (Studio 76)
46KG: Mayssa Bastos (AOJ)
51KG: Tammi Musumeci (Pedigo SF)
56KG: Alex Enriquez (Atos ATL)
61KG: Ffion Davies (Essential JJ)
66KG: Gabi McComb (Atos HQ)
71KG: Elizabeth Mitrovic (Precision JJ)
76KG: Andressa Cintra (Gracie Barra)
76+KG: Kendall Reusing (Gracie Barra)
OPEN: Ffion Davies (Essential JJ)
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Tom De Blass had an epic competitive career - making a huge name for himself over many years of Gi and No-Gi competition and winning stacks of titles 🏆
With his competition career now behind him in a haze of glory and stem cell repairs, he has transitioned into becoming one of the world’s top coaches and gym owners 💪
He has released a tonne of instructionals which are great, but there’s only so much you can glean from a monologue right? 📺
Wouldn’t it be great if you could look over his shoulder 👀 as he coaches his top students at a world-class competition like No-Gi Worlds? 🤔
Wouldn’t it be incredible to see what he sees as a high-level match plays out - and hear exactly what he recommends you should do in highly specific situations? 🧐
Well … if that’s a yes 🙌 - 👉 here you go 👈
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Do Less. No, Wait, Do More:
The Good Option: Steal From The Best 🥷
If you’re heading off to class tonight and manage to nail a pass or sub that you think no one in history has ever hit 😮 - guess again.
It’s 2023, at this point - there’s nothing new under the sun ☀️ and the newfound move that you’ve just shamelessly named after yourself (#theslipperysteve) has likely been done before 😔
Don’t sweat it though, there’s no shame in stealing from the best and making it your own.
B-Team phenom Jozef Chen recently went on a tear at the ADCC European Trials, hitting some amazing techniques - one of which he openly stole from (and credits) Lucas Lepri with innovating 👍
In the clip below - he shows a super slick and unconventional way to get through your opponent’s half-guard as they sit up for the underhook.
Give it a watch and see if you can steal it from Lucas via Jozef 🥷👇
The Not-So-Good Option: Lying On Your Resume 📝
So you’ve signed up for your first white belt comp hey?
Good on you!! 👍
Just remember when your coach asks you if you’ve ‘been working your takedowns’ - not to lie to their face and turn up to your first match with no plan to take it to ground 😬
If you’re already in too deep though and are scrambling for ideas pre-comp - we can heartily recommend ‘The Helicopter 🚁 ‘ ✅
Quick. Elegant. Effective. 👇
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The Meme Open Mat:
There are just some things tiny white belt brains can’t handle… 👇
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Questions get you nowhere buddy…
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When the ‘brand new white belt’ beats you silly…
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Almost got the credit…
Think you’ve got the spiciest BJJ memes going around? Hit reply, send them through to get them featured 🔥
We Grow You Grow!
Somewhere, out there, in your friend’s circle is someone that doesn’t realise that they’d probably love to receive the best BJJ newsletter goin’ round! 😃
But they just haven’t seen it yet! 👀
Maybe you can help them (and us 😏) by sharing this edition and letting them know about it??
Just click the button below to help us spread the good news - we will even give you heaps of cool sh*t to say thanks ⬇️
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…and obviously, much much more
How'd We Go?Are we on the money? Or are we lacking some pizzazz? |
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