Insane decision loss. Two worlds in a row now, where Matthias was clearly the winner.

With that said:

Join us in congratulating Matthias Waggener on the first ever WORLDS medal for Devotion Jiu-Jitsu!!!

🥉

Matthias takes GOLD ABSOLUTE DIVISION WORLD CHAMPION.

Something else to go with that gold. Matthias is promoted on the podium by his longtime coach.

Congratulations on an amazing day.

World Champion and Brown Belt

Bad place to be.

Actions matching words.

Icy morning of long stepping

No better way to start a week than on the mats with your friends

“You’re not likely to succeed with the very first pass.”

Submission Grappling is a system of positional domination and control leading to a strangulation or destruction of a limb/joint:

Dominate. Strangle. Destroy.

In order to get to advantageous positions where we can strangle and destroy, we have to be able to apply techniques that allow us to advance to them.

This is generally grouped together in a loose affiliation of techniques called “passing.”

Despite the prevalence of the last few years mentality of “fuck it - try a leglock,” when it comes to individuals who can’t pass guard…

If you cannot successfully pass, you have very few options left to you.

I’ve always felt like what separates the really good grapplers I’ve rolled with from ones that felt “ok” was a relentless application of chains of techniques to eradicate any guard.

Don’t neglect your guard passing!

Not neglecting our guard passing.

The constant “gi vs. no gi” argument is at this point a pretty desiccated and rotting horse in Jiu Jitsu.

There’s absolutely a difference between the two in both technicality/options as well as pacing/speed, but a good grappler is a good grappler.

Two local examples are our co-founder Matthias, who hasn’t competed no gi since he was a white belt, winning no gi worlds.

Another local black belt is top ten in the world in his age bracket no gi…he trains almost entirely in the gi as well.

In our circle, training in the gi is done slightly more often, but we generally use “prison rules,” that is, all submissions are allowed.

I find a lot of newer people like no gi because it is much less complex, and those with speed and strength can often pair that with a few techniques and be relatively dangerous on the mats for their experience level.

The gi is daunting - grip fighting, lapel and collar chokes, strange esoteric non-Euclidean guard styles, having to LEARN TO TIE YOUR BELT and other eldritch horrors abound.

At day’s end, gi specialists are usually better at the transition to no gi than vice versa.

For all the people who will say “no gi is more realistic in a street fight…”

When was the last time you fought a sweaty guy in a rash guard with short shorts on?

Might want a lifestyle change or quit frequenting those kinda bars.

RIP Orlando Sanchez
2015 ADCC 🥇

Sweet guard passing

9° at class time. Welcome to extreme cold weather training at Devotion Jiu-Jitsu

In this new video, Devotion Co-founder Paul W. reads his article “the Yoga of Action,” from Devotion magazine issue 4.

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel and share this with your friends!

https://youtu.be/X8Mkl-q-G88

Yoga for the Kali Yuga