🗞 What in the fresh hell is Craigs new sub?

Who’s On Top This Week:

This week we are cracking the lid on 2 of the most exciting weight brackets in the No-Gi world - the Men’s 185lbs and the Women’s 125lbs 🤼 

These brackets show off some of the biggest names in all the game and Andre Galvao must be ready to dance again 🕺 when he looks at Atos claiming spots all over both of these divisions - particularly the 185lbs Men’s bracket where they dominate the Top 3 positions via Tye Ruotolo (#1), Jonnatas Gracie (#2) and Andy Murasaki (#3) 🏆

The men also see a bit of ‘sideways’ movement at 185 as Roberto Jimenez bulks up (naturally of course!) and moves in from 170, while J-Rod puts down the burgers and slims down to a trim 170.

While the Atos Gents have a tight grip at the top, the ladies of Atos have their work cut out for them though if they are gonna dethrone the P4P Queen 👸 Ffion Davies as she sits comfortably in #1 for the 125lbs division AND the 135lbs bracket 🤯 #savesomegloryfortherestofus

What’s Happening On The Mats:

The B-Team Bull’s On Parade!

You might remember a few emails ago (i.e. an internet lifetime ago 👴) we mentioned that Danaher pulled the New Wave squad from their entry spot in Sakuraba’s Quintet 4 event due to a single team member not being available 🤷‍♂️

This obviously left a ‘team-sized hole’ in the event’s plans and in true WWE drama-style, who should step up to fill this empty spot? 🧐 None other than New Waves’ estranged family members - The B-Team 👨‍👨‍👦‍👦

It’s honestly a bit sad to see Craig Jones putting his famed silver-medal legacy 🥈 at risk so flippantly at this point - as they didn’t just step up to fill the spot - they won the whole thing 🏆

The Quintet format is one of the best in BJJ and even though there wasn’t a stack of finishes, there was super high-level BJJ being shown the whole way through and some very fun exchanges 🔥 

You can (and should) eyeball 👁 a full breakdown of all the matches and results here - but before you do, check out this highlight reel of Craig Jones channelling his inner Michael Jordan to take out 10th Planet’s Richie Martinez with a crossover 3-pointer toehold 🦶 ⬇️

BJJ - A martial art? Or a personality cult?

One of the many redeeming features of BJJ is that it takes in all kinds (especially the guys at 10th Planet) 🌏

You don’t need to have been a top-tier high school athlete or hail from the right family. You also don’t need a certain type of job. Or any job for that matter (as long as Mum & Dad pay that weekly membership 😬)

You simply need to turn up, sign a waiver and enjoy having strangers push your face into a mat for 6 or so months…minimum.

As such, it attracts one of the widest personality cults sets of any sport. From the lewd, loud and proud extroverts to the shy, meek and shrewd introverts - a large gym will have them all 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

So - where do you sit in all this? Are you the guy who can’t stop laughing in a roll? 😂 Or the girl that wrecks the ego of the big strong guys? 🦸‍♀️

Well, maybe ➡️ this list will help you figure it out 🤷‍♂️

Personally, I’d like to think I’m The Natural - but realistically, I am probably more like The Mailman (takes the same route every time and gets caught in the same sh*t every time 🤦‍♂️ )

If he can out-wrestle a crocodile, he can out-wrestle you too

Steve Irwin. The great wildlife warrior, Australian icon, family man and apparently - an absolute grappling weapon 🤼‍♀️

Steve was a man with a limited wardrobe (long before Danaher made it cool) and a diverse skillset - renowned for getting his BJJ rounds in as often as he could 💪 

His close friends and travelling security detail often consisted of top-level fighters such as Kyle Noke, Dan Higgins and John Wayne-Parr - which meant that in-between wrestling crocodiles and chasing snakes, he’d be on the mats practising his Anaconda chokes and gator rolls (…I’m not even sorry).

He was even known amongst his fellow zoologists and wildlife warriors for having epic strength and control like no one else did when it came to handling the big reptiles 🐍 

As loved as Steve is by wildlife conservationists around the world, he may be even more loved by the BJJ community - especially when they see just how easily he can get the back of this rogue Gator 🐊 

All belt colours aside - if you can pin a crocodile, you can pin a man. I think Steve Irwin would have been an absolute handful on the mats…

Do Less. No, Wait, Do More:

The Good Option: Go with the flow

From full-metal sparring right down to super light-positional drilling - there is a whole spectrum 🌈 of intensity when it comes to learning and training BJJ.

And in my opinion (for what it’s worth) - all of it is important.

Ironically, one of the more difficult training modes to learn for many people is light rolling or flow rolling. You’ll often see people call for a flow roll, start out light and end up screaming and trying to murder each other 2 minutes later 🔪 

Figuring out how to properly flow roll is a great skill to develop as it allows you to warm u effectively, move through numerous positions, try new things without heavy resistance and still train effectively if you’re sore and injured 🤕 

No matter what you feel your current flow-rolling ability is, Brian Glick & Giancarlo Bodoni put on a flow masterclass in the 5-minute clip below 👇

The Not-So-Good Option: Being an innocent baseball bat around this woman

I suppose I could have dug up one of many of the horrific leg lock injury videos kicking around YouTube - but frankly, they make me physically ill. 🤢 

So instead, the quick clip below is more of a PG demonstration of the kind of force that can be generated with a strong ankle lock setup 🦴 - with the same kind of noise I’d imagine you’d hear if you refused to tap 😬 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think my leg is ‘3 baseball bats’ kind of strong… ⬇️

Things That Keep You Up At 2 AM:

Gi vs No-Gi. Pyjamas or spandex? 

It’s a debate as old as Helio (probably) and is likely the question that triggers the most emotion and tribalism across the BJJ world 🔥 

Many people happily train in both, but today, - I’m gonna make you pick a side.

No being a neutral Switzerland for this one. 🇨🇭 

This week’s big question: ⬇️

Last week’s results:

Last week we asked you - “Oss. Who cares what it even means - Do you love it? Or hate it?”

• 82% of you said - 🙏 Please stop saying it at me

• 18% of you said - 🥷 Gimme all the oss

It seems most of you think the ol’ oss is a bit overused. Surely we can’t just say ‘yes’ though, can we? Very un-cult like 🙅‍♂️

The Meme Open Mat:

Never trust the new white belt that stands up a little too straight 🥋

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