Only 3 days after Halloween and the commercial industry is already cramming Thanksgiving and Christmas down our throats. Decorations, coffee flavors, movies, and music all glorifying “the most wonderful time of the year.”

Whether or not this cold, grey season is the best is debatable but I do think there is no argument that it is the most charitable time and I CAN get down with the that. Whether through guilt or the threat of being on Santa’s naughty list people seem to be more willing to donate during this 2 month window.

I say all of that to remind everyone that this weekend is Veterans Day, November 11, and there is still time to plan to attend one of the multiple events lined up to support and honor our Veterans. These events are perfectly lined up for you to have time to go out and take advantage of the freebie veteran deals while taking a moment of your time to remember those suffering from homelessness, mental illness, depression, suicide.

Ruck and Roll 22 will be held at Mongrel Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Chesterfield, Va. From 2:00 pm on Nov 10 to 12:00 noon on Sunday Nov 11. Whatever your pleasure, they have options. Pick your poison from 22 hours of open mat time, a 22 mile ruck from Northside to Midlothian, or CrossFit style WODs dedicated to fallen first responders and service men and women who died in the line of duty. Shoot, if you’re squirrelly and feeling extra motivated you can hit a WOD, take a short break, and then still hit the mats. This event is free and open to everybody, of course donations are welcome but not required. All donations will go to VAU – Veterans and Athletes United – dedicated to honoring the service and sacrifice of Veterans of the War on Terrorism. The event will close out with a cookout. If you can’t make it the event you can also donate via the Ruck and Roll 22 Facebook page and help them reach their monetary goal.

Monday, 12 November there will be a Veterans Day Open Mat at Ground Control in Columbia, Md from 11:00 – 1:00. This event is also open to all regardless of academy or affiliation. Veterans and active duty are admitted “for free” while non-military / non-veterans are asked to bring a donation of toiletries or clothing/ coats. Of course all donations are welcome. There will be drinks and snacks and lots of rolling. This is not a competition atmosphere, we will definitely “keep it playful.” All donations from this event will go to The Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training and their effort to treat veterans with homelessness and substance abuse.

If you cannot make either one of these events, please, at a minimum spread the word. For those in need “the most wonderful time of the year” is often the most difficult time to deal with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Hope to see you on the mats.

Veterans Day 2018-3

We’re happy to announce our first open mat event in honor of our nation’s veterans and active duty personnel. The event is free and open to all veterans and active duty personnel, regardless of affiliation or skill level. Non-military / Non-veterans are asked to bring a donation of toiletries, new/used coats, or to bring a veteran along to hang out with fellow veterans, shoot the shit, and tell war stories (more than likely greatly exaggerated).

All donations will go to Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (MCVETS) of Baltimore MCVET.Org.  Through education and training MCVET provides homeless veterans and other veterans in need comprehensive services that enable them to rejoin their communities as productive citizens. As their motto states, “It takes an entire community to help a veteran heal.”

Mark your calendar and spread the word.

Monday, 12 November (Veterans Day observed) from 11:00 – 1:00 @ Ground Control Columbia, 9130 Red Branch Road Suite S, Columbia Md 21045.

Free beverages and snacks to be donated by Wegmans.

If nothing else (besides donating your time to a great cause) what better way to work up an appetite before eating all of those free Veterans Day meals?

 

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with GFT black belt Gutemberg Pereira prior to his two seminars in Maryland. Gutemberg has quickly made a name for himself in the black belt super pesado division after capturing IBJJF World Titles at both purple and brown belt. We discussed his recent addition to the Trapp BJJ instructor camp and the pros and cons of utilizing online training videos to develop ones BJJ skills. I also pressed him on some additional interesting topics that you’ll just have to listen to the podcast to hear.

Saturday and Sunday Gutemberg and Trapp hosted seminars in Glen Burnie (Noel Smith BJJ) and Ground Control (Columbia) Maryland. I managed to attend the second session at Ground Control where we covered some of Gutemberg’s passing principles and techniques. I can honestly say that the term pressure passing is not just being thrown around lightly, the pressure is real, real painful. Some really good tips that I plan to drill and implement in order to bring my pressure passing up a notch.

The audio version of the podcast is below and is also available on SoundCloud, Podbean, Stitcher, and iTunes. The video version can be found on our YouTube page.

Hope you enjoy the interview. Until next time. Keep Grinding.

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