1)  Last weekend, MSDC hosted Mr. Roy Harris for his annual weekend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar, and it was OUTSTANDING.  Mr. Harris taught two 4-hour-plus days on the topic of "posture", and I think it's safe to say he blew everyone's mind with the information he presented.  We had 34 attendees, including 17 instructors in the Harris International Grappling, BJJ, and JKD associations.  There were 3 black belts and 3 brown belts in attendance.  People came in from New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania, Florida, and even Canada.  It was definitely a packed house--full of friendly, talented people! 

Day 1 began with some defensive positioning and posture underneath the Mount, S-Mount, and Back Mount.  Attendees learned exactly how to position their head, arms, and body in order to make it extremely difficult for their partner to establish control.  This included learning to navigate the transitions that people tend to make into and out of these positions, and how to make people choose the path that you want them to follow. There were lots of extra goodies like "removing three different types of grapevines under the Mount" and some cool info on Mount escapes.  Following this, we saw the body positioning and first three postures under the Side. 

The day ended with tons of Q&A, after which the gym stayed open for almost 2 full hours.  Plenty of people hung out to roll or continue training, and Scott even offered a Parkour class for the seminar attendees during this time (the crew from Erie was DYING to hit the rock climbing wall and the parkour equipment...they looked like they had a BLAST).  Most folks made it out for Pizza that night, which included a little extra excitement when a fight broke out in the street next to the restaurant, and Mr. Harris broke it up (with about 15 of our seminar attendees right behind him).  The night ended in a local poolhall where most of us played terribly.  :)

Day 2 began with postures 4 & 5 under the Side.  Following this, we retraced our steps through the Mount, S-Mount, and Back with some modifications using the gi.  We continued into posture under the Side with the gi, and did a few training methods for developing timing and sensitivity to pressure when escaping the side.  After this, the really crazy material hit--we did 6 one-armed postures underneath the side/modified scarf and some timing/sensitivity training to go along with it.  Mr. Harris also taught how to lead people into this area, "funneling" their efforts down a particular path.  We added a few other key movements to these 11 postures, and then we moved on to the Guard.

From the closed guard, we saw 3 different methods of establishing posture in order to make guard control difficult.  This launched into a discussion of the traditional "leg on shoulder" pass, and how to do it properly without giving the triangle (we spent quite a bit of time on TWO simple movements that shut down triangle...).  After more Q&A, we headed into 3 postures to deal with the Open Guard.  Lastly, we learned 6 ways to DESTROY the postures under the Mount, S-Mount, Back, and Side.  More Q&A finished the day, along with a group picture. 

At the seminar, Mr. Harris described what he studies as "Geek-level BJJ."  It's not things that the hobbyists and average practitioners want.  It's what the instructors and fanatics (BJJ geeks) want to know.  It's the tiny, tiny pieces that make the difference, if you want to take the microscope to BJJ.  And so even though my brain was ENTIRELY over-full of information by the end of the seminar, I took two hours of private lessons afterwards and went over....(drumroll please)....side escapes!  If you've been reading Mr. Harris' recent articles, you saw one a few months ago that mentioned the "7 aspects of holding someone down from the side" and that each of these are separate variables that influence how you will need to escape.  Well, that's what I took my lesson on.  And I found out that the list has been expanded to NINE aspects!  It's crazy.  If you have a chance, go read that article! 

I'd like to extend several thanks to people who made such a great weekend possible--to everyone who attended, who contributed to such a friendly atmosphere and a great vibe in the gym, especially those who travelled some distance to attend; to Zack and Jose for cleaning the mats beforehand, and to Rick Torres for bringing a much-needed second mat; to Zack again for shuttling folks to and from the airport; to Scott for running a great Parkour class while in a cast (disclaimer: his foot injury is not from Parkour, nor was it from BJJ or other MSDC training); to the many training partners in the belt exams that took place during the weekend; and of course, to Mr. Harris himself for putting on such a fantastic workshop.  Everyone is raving about the quality of the seminar itself and the material they will now need months to work on. 

2)  Congratulations to MSDC's Kyle Simpson and Clint Galamgam for passing their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt examination with Mr. Roy Harris during his visit.  Kyle and Clint showed excellent preparation for the technical portions, and tremendous heart during the rolling with (aka "being crushed by") Mr. Harris at the end of the exam.  Please help me in congratulating them!

3)  Congratulations also goes out to Mr. Kyle Saunders of Rochester, NY (soon to be North Carolina), for his promotion to 2nd degree black belt this weekend.  He too completed an exam with Mr. Harris during his visit, and it was extremely impressive to watch.  Kyle is the first of Mr. Harris' black belts to receive this promotion! 

4)  Next Friday, August 20th, I will be in Washington, DC to attend a special seminar for school owners.  Saturday classes will definitely be cancelled. I do not know yet if we will have Friday morning class, nor how the Thursday evening schedule will be effected.  Please stay tuned for specifics on the schedule next week. 

5)  I just learned from my publisher that the release date of my book (Knack:  "Self-Defense for Women") has been pushed back until next summer.  It doesn't have anything to do with me--they reshuffled their fall lineup and some of them moved to 2011.  So for those of you looking forward to seeing your face in print, you and I will have a little bit longer to wait.  But I have seen a copy of the full book, and it is worth the wait!  The final product is gorgeous. 

6) On Sunday, August 29th, I will teach a special 90-minute seminar at MSDC on "Escaping Leglocks".  This seminar is only open to MSDC students, and it's FREE...with one catch.  I'll be posting a survey at MSDC when I come in tomorrow night.  It's quick--only 6 questions, and they're short.  I just want to learn a little about what brought you into MSDC.  Now, that survey is your ticket to the leglock escapes seminar.  You don't have to put your name on it--I'm doing this on the "honor system."  If you fill one out, then you're invited to the seminar.  It's my way of saying "thanks!"

The surveys will only be available for ONE WEEK--you can turn them in from tomorrow until next Wednesday (a week from today).  And if something cataclysmic happens and you can't come in before then, I'll even email you a copy and you can send it to me electronically.  But have those surveys back to me by NEXT WEDNESDAY, and you're on the guest list for the seminar.  It's my way of giving you a little extra of my time in return for you giving me a little extra of yours.  Sound good?  I thought so. 

That's all for now.  I'll have another mini-update in the next few days, as I wait for final details on a couple other goodies for you guys.

~Chris