Aesopian’s Totally Awesome Journal

Leo showed this move to me the first time we trained together and it stuck out, so I made sure to get it on film this time.

Simple but it works.

Got to train with Leo Kirby this Thanksgiving weekend. Took the camera along and filmed 25 minutes of techniques between the two of us.
Here’s the first of them. It showcases Leo’s unhealthy obsession with the omoplata.

I’m sure Leo will be around to talk about it in more detail, but one thing he kept telling me [...]

One more video before I head down to Hollywood, FL to train with Leo Kirby. These are the main exercises I practice as part of my warm-ups to develop the ability to stand-up and get to my feet/knees with momentum.

I keep getting told I should check out Scott Sonnon’s Flowfit, since he apparently does these [...]

In semi-related news, I’ll be down at Leo’s gym in Hollywood, FL this weekend. He’s asked me to teach class Saturday morning and I’m planning a lesson on butterfly guard.
Also related, I just got this email:

hey matt, i train with leo and he may have told you already but i got the reverse omaplata in [...]

Been a long, long time. Many of you are pining for updates. Luckily, I happened to have filmed a couple clips.
The first is a few details on my closed guard. Enjoy.

Why do I say “super” so much?

Earlier this year, I thought it’d be an interesting experiment to start drawing concept or mind maps for BJJ. Last week, I finally got a white board and tonight I took my first crack at sketching.

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This map is made up of four large sections: guard, top, escapes and passing. The red arrows [...]

As I’ve said repeatedly, this journal is a reflection of my personal interests. If there hasn’t been much new material posted, it’s because I’m not working on new techniques. Rather, I’m returning to “old” stuff and working on it again, a process I started months ago.
I’ve also been working on aspects more fundamental than revisiting [...]

Six-time world champion Robson Moura is giving a 2 day seminar in Hollywood, FL in the beginning of September. He will be teaching gi, no-gi and even a kids only seminar. He’s also available for private and semi-private lessons.
I’m helping to promote this since it’s being held at the gym I just gave my seminar [...]

I’ll be down in Miami next weekend and I’m going to be teaching as guest instructor at Leo Kirby’s school on Saturday morning. I’ll be giving a seminar on attacking the turtle with the reverse omoplata, taking the back and the brabo/d’arce choke.
I’ve been putting a ton of thought and effort into planning this, [...]