Rickson once said he admires Nino Schembri for “how he looks at positions in new ways”. (He also might not have said that. The quote is probably inaccurate since I read it years ago and can’t find the source any more.)

That idea stuck with me. As a beginner at the time it struck me, “How many ways can you think about a position? When is mount not just mount? When is guard not guard?” Those questions have become a kind of mind-clearing Zen koan. It opened me up to thinking…

The draw of this journal has been its constant tutorials and techniques. Some of you may have been disappointed lately, with the frequency of updates slowing down and fewer tutorials being put up.

As you may have figured out, this journal is largely a reflection of my personal interests. I only share techniques I use, and I only talk from my experience. So as my focuses change, so too does the direction of my journal.

Maybe I’m merely acting out the predestined mindset that befalls all purple belts, where I look back…

This is a subject that has held my interest for a while now, but I have been holding off discussing it since I haven’t yet been able to try it out extensively and form a solid opinion. But it is an interesting topic and shows enough potential that I’m willing to share it with you. You should be familiar with two concepts: Aliveness and the I-method.

Aliveness is a term coined by BJJ black belt Matt Thornton of the Straight Blast Gym. It is a quality of training which contains realistic…