Tim Cartmell's "Ground Proofing" DVD

Some of the absolute best martial arts seminars I have been to were with Tim Cartmell when he visited Seattle. Over several years I attended Tim's Bagua, Taiji and Xingyi sessions, and one on MMA for the street. Tim lived, trained and competed in Asia for many years, returned to the States and earned his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
He has also authored and co-authored many valuable books on Chinese martial arts, some of which I have.

Above is a sample of Tim's "Ground Proofing" video, which he says is designed for the non-grappler to get a handle on what to do when a fight goes to the ground.

Watch how Tim moves in a relaxed fashion with efficient, controlled skill. He outlined many devastating throwing techniques in his book "Effortless Combat Throws", and it has been said that Tim has a "heavy body" for his size. This is clearly because of his intense knowledge of leverage and scientific principle while manipulating opponents bodies.

You can get a copy of this DVD as well as others (I have his excellent video on Standing Grappling) at his website for Shen Wu at this link.

Jake Says; "Fear The Wristlock, Bitches!"

Man, oh man.
If BJJ had existed in the U.S. when I was wrestling in the 1970's I would have been all over it. But now I'm just a broken-down old Dojo Rat so I have to enjoy my friends matches.
Here is my Xingyi instructor Jake Burroughs (Black Gi) in a recent Seattle Tournament. I met Jake when he had recently moved to Seattle and began bringing his instructors in for seminars. We trained with the late Mike Martello and Tim Cartmell in Mantis and the Chinese Internal Arts, with a heavy emphasis on throwing. Tim also had a great "MMA for the street" session.
Jake has followed in Tim's footsteps and taken up BJJ to round out his skills, and it's been fun to follow his progress. He is currently training and teaching with Brian Johnson at Seattle's NW Jiu Jitsu Academy.
From what little I know about BJJ, the glamorous techniques tend to involve chokes and armbars. But here in this match, Jake wins with a wristlock which his opponent wasn't expecting. It looked painful enough that the guy tapped immediately.
There's a lesson there: Jake says "Fear The Wristlock, Bitches!"

Here's the links to Jake Burroughs site "The Ground Never Misses" and Brian Johnson's NW Jiu Jitsu Academy.

Seattle's Brian Johnson Wins U.S. BJJ Open

This old Dojo Rat owes a lot to instructor Jake Burroughs. Jake has surrounded himself with the best experts like Tim Cartmell, the late Mike Martello and others who he brings to Seattle for great seminars.
We meet and practice at "The Northwest Jiu Jitsu Academy", run by Jake's BJJ coach Brian Johnson. Over at Jake's Blog "The Ground Never Misses" Jake has posted this great short video of the U.S. Open BJJ highlights, and the first competitor shown is Brian Johnson. Brian won the Black Belt open division, giving away as much as 90 pounds.
It was also great to see how tough the women competitors were, and the quality of sportsmanship.
I swear, if this stuff was around when I was wrestling, I would have been ape-shit nuts for it. But for now, these old bones will merely appreciate learning a few modern techniques for holding my own -- if I find myself in the unfortunate position of defending myself on the ground.
Great, great stuff, congratulations to Seattle's own Brian Johnson!