I want to give a special shout out to all the members of our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team that are out today fighting for cancer! Tap cancer out is not only a great competition for out team to get some practice in, but it is an amazing fundraiser for cancer. Too many people are loosing the fight to cancer everyday. I’m sure we all have had an experience with a cancer patient. We need to do all we can to help these people. And what better way then combining our favorite sport with a fundraiser? There is also a way for people who cannot or don’t compete to just donate a little money. People fighting cancer are giving everything, even their last breath to try to make a break through for someone else. Let’s keep fighting the fight. Dragon within teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu not only for a street fighting stand point, but will also teach anyone who is willing to learn, the fundamentals of competing. We will make you the best competitor you are capable of. If you’re willing to put in the effort, we will take you the distance. Way to go team dragon for competing this weekend and for fighting in the fight against cancer. You truly are an inspiration to those less fortunate.
Tap out cancer has only been around since 2011, but has already made a huge impact. Together with donations, these competitions have raised over $135,000 for numerous cancer causes.
Statistics show that over 560,000 people lose the fight against cancer every year. This equals to 1,500 people a day. Can you imagine how many 1,500 is? That is a lot of people to die in one day. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. This is equal to 1 out of every 4 deaths are due to cancers.
“At Tap Cancer Out, believe that the jiu-jitsu community can come together to help raise money and awareness to support these organizations, hospitals, doctors, researchers and volunteers who won’t quit until they’ve forced cancer to tap out.”
We need to make people understand that BJJ is not only about fighting and being big and strong. It is not as intimidating as some make it seem. Bjj students are like a family or a unit. They take their skill and turn it into a way of life for themselves. Bringing all these families together to raise money is the same as bringing the running community together to run 5k’s for cancer.
“Tap Out: A combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, and hence resulting in an immediate defeat.“
The guard is a significant part of the Jiu Jitsu game since it offers both offense and defense on the ground even while situated on your back. The ability to pass the guard gives a Jiu Jitsu player an edge as well. Through being able to consistently pass the guard, the offensive and defensive capabilities of an opposing Jiu Jitsu player become less effective. Becoming talented at guard passing does not refer to learning a ton of different guard passes and merely memorizing them. Good guard passing skill is based on understanding a number of basic principles and being able to effectively execute them.
This is not always safe. At Dragon Within, we understand that without decent control of an opponent and good posture on your part, a weak guard pass leaves you vulnerable for sweeps and submissions. The process of passing the guard the properly begins with establishing good base and posture. Base refers to maintaining both stability and a low center of gravity, two traits critical to prevent from being off balanced or swept. Posture means your positioning protects the neck, arms, and legs from attacks. Once your posture and base are solid, the time comes to control the legs and, if the guard is closed, uncross the ankles.
Opening up the closed guard requires putting some level of pressure on the legs to force the ankles to uncross. Again, without good base and posture, this is not going to be easy at all. Once you have opened up the legs, you must control them along with the hips. With the open guard, you do not have to uncross the ankles. You simply go right into controlling the hips and legs, although this can sometimes be difficult based on the positioning certain open guard present.
Whether you choose to go over or under the legs, you positively must put pressure on your opponent. Controlling the hips is important to prevent an opponent from putting you back in the guard, although focusing solely on the hips while ignoring the importance of pinning him can make a guard pass weaker. The finishing positions of a guard pass is a pin be it side control, the scarf hold, or even the North/South position. To make a pin work effectively, you have to really anchor your weight down. This process has to start during the guard pass because, quite simply, a loose guard pass is not going to help keep anyone in place for a pin.
Among the best ways to become better at guard passing is to drill. Your training partner can put you in a number of different guards. While the partner offers moderate resistance, you work on guard passing and pinning. Correct your flaws and mistakes and try to improve with each training session. Your guard passing skills might increase immensely as a result. And great improvement could come far quicker than you ever imagined.
No one likes to be pinned down in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Pinning and holding is a large part of the game so anyone interested in learning Jiu Jitsu must learn how to deal with pins. The various top positions such as mount, side mount, north/south, scarf hold, and even knee on stomach are all designed to keep someone in place so in order to be submitted. Escape is the goal when you are pinned, but escaping is not always easy to do. You could end up being pinned for several minutes. To help reduce the chances of being submitted, your posture has to solidly defensive while also creating the best leverage for escaping.
Keeping the elbows close to the body would be among the most important of all posture considerations. There are two major problems present when the elbows are too far from the core of the body. The first is the arms are very vulnerable to submissions. An opponent can easily wrap under the elbow and go into a spinning armlock. The reason it is so easy to wrap the arm is the distance from the elbow and the body presents a significant amount of space.
The second problems is the arms lose a great deal of strength since supporting muscle groups cease to be involved. As a result, forcing the arm down to execute a bent shoulder lock is not all that tough. An opponent on top has a lot of leverage. Having weak arm posture further reduces the ability to defend the arms. Pulling the arms and elbows in towards the body makes attacking them dramatically more difficult.
In order to escape from the bottom, your elbows must press into points on the opponent’s body in order to create space. This is very difficult to achieve when the elbows are even slightly out of position. When they are too far from the body, they can offer no effective leverage at all.
Does this mean all hope is lost when your elbows are out of position. No, it just means you must make it a priority to bring them back in. Performing a simple short bridge to bump an opponent up can create enough space for just enough time to return the elbows to their correct position.
The is Kyra Gracie. The daughter of the original founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Anyone can do jiu-jitsu and even if you think you cant, well show you that you can. Here I will give you the ins and outs of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and when you have finished reading, you’ll want to give it a shot too.
Grappling is a term used in martial arts to describe maneuvers, combinations, and ground work. It does not include striking of any sort or weapons control. Now some martial arts will include striking along side with grappling, but this does not mean it is the same thing. It is mainly just a term for grabbing each other. Jiu-Jitsu is a specific combination of moves that consists of pins, locks and gaining control over your opponent while on the ground. It is a sport that will make you a patient person. It takes years to get to a high rank. There is a reason for this. Technique is not the only thing Jits counts on; it also counts on maturity and age. It is one of the more political sports.
Throws: A throw is a technique in which one grappler lifts or off-balances the opponent and throws that opponent off of him. The purpose of throws varies, must mostly emphasizes throws with the potential to make the next move, position ones self in a standing position or to gain the pin.
Sprawling: When being taken down, one can sometimes counter act that take down with sprawling. Sprawling is done by shifting the legs backwards and spread out in one fast motion. If you do it correctly you will land on the opponent’s back and gain control.
Submissions holds: Submission holds consist of chokes and locks. Chokes can strangle or suffocate someone. Locks are more to trap the opponent and possibly cause injury or breakage to body part. This is one effective way to get your opponent to tap out or give up.
Securing or controlling techniques: securing is basically exactly how it sounds. You are attempting to hold down the opponent and secure them for a win, or until help arrives depending on your situation.
Escapes: This too is exactly how it sounds. This is the act of getting out or away from danger/opponent.
Turnovers: The point of a turn over is to get someone on their back. This is more used in competition style for point’s advantages.
Reversals or Sweeps: Think of a sweep as you are sweeping yourself off the rug. In most cases you are on the bottom sweeping yourself on top of the opponent to gain the control.
Jiu-Jitsu is one of the oldest forms of martial arts. It is know to be founded in ancient time, although no one certain on what time exactly. It was founded in Japan, China, Persia, Germany Egypt and India. There is a weaponless form of wrestling that has similarities to Jiu-Jitsu. During Alexander the Great’s times (356 b.c. -323 b.c.) he brought this Greek culture of wrestling to many other areas such as India, were Jiu-Jitsu is likely to be born. Now although founded most likely in India, there is proof of the Shaolin Temple, built in the center of China, hosting Dharma as the creature of Buddhism and Boxing.
Later in history, the samurai warriors took this and created jiu-jitsu in its original form. Buddhist monks perfected it through their knowledge of the body’s law of physics, leverage, momentum, balance, center of gravity, and weight transmission of the body parts. They had it down to an exact science.
From 1860-1938 a man names Jigoro Kano, a practioner of Jiu-Jitsu, and a man of many talents not only created Judo, but took his arts to other countries and began teaching. During WWII we even got the knowledge of Judo and took it back to America. But the real story is how Kano taught in Brazil.
There are many types of Jiu-Jitsu. All types can be practiced in real life situations and in competition setting. The whole point of Jits is ending a fight quickly. Compared to UFC fighting which is older than Jits competing, no one knows how to handle a fight on the ground or if they do, they cant finish the fight. Now a days things have come a long way and people tend to practice more Jits in any sport of fighting they take. To compete in Jits, You tend to win by point or by submissions. The more locks and submissions, equals more points. Just because you think you got the last pin, doesn’t mean you win. It has to be about technique and point value.
Now I could on and on about the art and history of BJJ, but the fact is you need to see it yourself. So what are you waiting for….
Don’t wait, Schedule your FREE, that’s right, FREE private lesson. What do you have to loose, besides weight and laziness. You have everything to gain, including technique, style, control, and much more. So act now and get in here with us
*We put together a team of hard working students. They worked after class to prepare for a demo at the 8th annual Culture fest. These martial artists are truly inspirational.*
So at Dragon Within Mixed Martial Arts, We could have basically taken all of our students and made a fantastic demo team. We have approximately 100 child students in 3 different age groups. These age groups make up our 3 classes; Little Dragons, Juniors, and finally Young Adults. Our little Dragons are 4-6 years old. Our Juniors are ages 7-10 years old and our Young Adults are ages 11-14. We gathered as a team and hand picked 15 kids from all three classes to perform in the demonstration.
We pair up all our students carefully with each other to avoid any size or strength issues. No child is set up for failure!
We keep them motivated with rewards and special attention and praise all the time. We even offered a snack in between classes because they get hungry after all that exercise.
-Baylie walks down the street and yet again, runs into that mean ol’ bully of her, Autumn. Autumn puts her hands on her one more and time and Baylie has had enough She defends herself with a crazy monkey in 50/50 then a take down. But she doesn’t stop there, no she mounts and pins that mean bully. She takes total control of the situation and then calls for help. This is great way to assert yourself against a bully with our hurting them. Remember our intention is not to hurt anyone, but do defend and evade the situation.
-Sarah and Steph (one of our adult students) demonstrate a little competition mixed with some real life skill. The show walking teep kicks into roundhouse kicks. This shows a more traditional Thai Kickboxing and what its all about.
Each student looks absolutely adorable up on stage, and not one student got stage fright. They were all excited and pumped to perform!
The Dragon’s at Dragon Within have been involved in martial arts training for over 50 years combined. This school has been alive for more than 10 years and is constantly growing. Our philosophy is to teach students self defense within the Art. The staff and students show compassion when training in the Dojo.
We believe that within the structured class our students develop self-confidence, motivation to set and reach goals, respect, discipline, and self control. Our class is taught at a pace, which allows students to advance in their belt over time. The time and work it takes to stay in class and earn a higher rank is what grows character, self-discipline, and patience. We understand that it is a difficult thing to stay motivated towards, which is why it is such a great achievement when they receive that belt. We stay focused on the Art and the way our curriculum is designed helps develop positive characteristics in our students over time.
Our kickboxing class has the same mentality. The curriculum is designed to keep you focused and motivated. You will feel like you have accomplished something new after each class whether it be physically or mentally.
If you have a Facebook and would like to see a recent album or see the flow of the way we operate please find us at facebook.com/dwmma . We also post schedule changes and member notifications there as well so definitely a good idea anyways!
We have experience with students of all backgrounds and maturity levels. Even children with social disorders and anxieties tend to thrive at Dragon Within
Our goal is to help our members to develop, grow, and improve both physically and mentally through their progression in Mixed Martial Arts, Krav Maga, Thai Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Self defense and Fitness Training. We accomplish this by offering the most functional, realistic, innovative, and enjoyable martial arts and fitness training available.
**We would also like to give a special thanks to Miss Jess, kids program coordinator and lead instructor, for putting together such an amazing show. And huge thanks to the A3D for hosting the 8th Annual Culture Fest in downtown Salem and inviting us to be a part of it.**
USA TODAY WASHINGTON says “More than 40% of U.S. colleges and universities have conducted no investigations of alleged sexual assaults over the last five years, according to an explosive survey of more than 300 schools by a congressional subcommittee.
Federal law requires colleges to follow up on reports of sexual assault, yet dozens of schools have failed to provide basic training on how to do that, the survey found. Nearly 73% do not have protocols for how campus authorities and local law enforcement should work together when cases arise. And some schools have no designated coordinator to handle such efforts even though federal law requires it.”
Why not prepare now for what may or may not happen in the future. Why let yourself become a statistic. Don’t end up letting anyone take advantage of you. Learn how to use a bigger aslant’ body weight against them. At dragon Within, we teach specific combinations of moves to help any person defend themselves in an altercation.
So why wait for something to happen. Don’t be that person walking home from a party or study session, that gets abducted. There had been too many cases of people getting hurt or taken. Be prepared, and be aware of your surroundings.
So some of our readers may have heard about the national NAGA tournament that just came to Hartford Ct. But do all of our readers really get the intensity and mental commitment it takes to compete? We aren’t talking about a friendly game of ball in the back yard. We are talking about sweating and training for months on end just to hope your technique will beat the others. And for some, the hard work pays off. If you loose or win, its about the dedication and commitment. “NAGA has been a leader of the grappling revolution for many years and has pushed the sport forward by providing a fun and fair environment for athletes and schools to engage in competition to increase their skills and to foster positive and social family-oriented behavior”. Todd Hester, Publisher, Gladiator Magazine
Same goes at Dragon Within we will help train students who want to compete get ready. We keep a fun and family friendly environment. We are close with each student like they are part of our Dragon family. Just recently we had one young adult and one adult bjj student go down to Rhode Island to compete. Both of these students brought there “A game”. It took a lot of nerve and inspiration for these brave students to compete. We’ve watched them come early to class and stay late after class almost every day just to get an inch closer to being ready. And it worked. One of our students went for his first tournament and came home with not one but two silver medals. Now that’s something to show off. We are very proud of both these students who went down there and were team players even if they didn’t win a contest.
It’s not always about winning, its about the experience and the knowledge you will gain out of competing. At Dragon Within we take Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to a whole new level with training and building confidence in our students. We instill in students the importance of concentration and respect. These things are key to every becoming a great competitor. So if your looking to compete, or even just to train and learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Dragon Within has what it takes to teach any student what it takes.
Okay let’s face it, we have all had confrontation at some point or another. We have all had that irritating person in line that picks a fight for no reason. Or have had to deal with a client that we would love to take outside and teach them a lesson. Everyday we face these people. But how is it we don’t act on our instincts? In the animal kingdom, animals fight all the time to the death. But as humans, we are expected to hold it together.
Truth is, it doesn’t always work. As humans we sometimes don’t hold back our manors. We act on instinct to kill. And some of us do just that. Then someone else evaluates them and has every excuse in the book as to why they did it. Okay great, but now how are the rest of us supposed to just deal with that? I mean it’s a vicious cycle. We witness ones family member be attacked and we want to attack someone else. So instead of giving in to these disobedient humans, we could always learn to adapt. We could learn to defend ourselves, while building discipline and confidence to be able to handle ourselves. And that is what Dragon Within aims to do.
So now your wandering is the world really that bad? Well why take the chance. Take the time and have the dedication to mentally prepare yourself for what is really out there in the world. We are only evolved animals that have not lost all of our animal instincts.
So I want to touch base on some of the youtube videos and such that are going viral. What is with these kids and teenagers beating each other till they end up killing one another? Now I wont go into parenting choices, because frankly, everyone does it differently.
It is said from the mouths of kids that bullying is mean. It makes them feel mad, and want to seek revenge. Are our school system doing enough to stop these bullies in their tracks? And what makes these children lash out and bully in first place? Is it anger? Is it jealousy? This is where self control and discipline comes in.
Children need an outlet. They need a place to release all their energy and frustration. At the same time they need structure and discipline. Dragon Within Martial Arts provides the discipline and structure these kids need in their life. They will be in a group with other peers and will have to show respect to each individual and their instructor. They will follow a strong set of rules. Martial arts will teach awareness and help with prevention of that anger that is instilled in so many troubled kids. It will help develop confidence that so many children and young adults lack in their lives. One of the main reasons for bullying is due to the lack of confidence in ones self.
If Dragon Within martial arts is adopted for a longer length of time, the student will learn to attain proficiency. Some people make martial arts a life long pursuit. This will create a stronger mind to body connection and develop self respect and awareness. The student will learn to focus and open up their mind and body to gain some spiritual connection. Now of course this is different to each person and not everyone will get the same result out of it. But the important part is that everyone learns the respect and discipline.
Isn’t that what we need? Respect for each other and ourselves? I mean isn’t the main reason why we bully is for our own self gain? In a dojo, the expectations of each student are so great, they don’t have time to bully one another. At the same time, it is like a family setting. Everyone supports each other and helps each other. Giving a more relaxed atmosphere and friendly environment.
Anytime you want to learn something new and come train, give us a call
978.745.8511a
Martial arts has always been used for athletes to compete via combat, but is also a fantastic way for people to exercise. One of the most popular martial arts today, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu(BJJ), is a multidimensional martial art that can really put your body through a tough work-out. Unlike standard exercise routines, you don’t have to exercise each individual muscle group; instead, you merely spend 20 minutes “rolling” (the term used for practicing, or sparring). After just 20 minutes of rolling with a partner and engaging in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, your entire body will have received a work out that would have otherwise taken you hours.
Because most of BJJ is spent on the ground, you will end up putting lots of weight and pressure on your feet, knees, and thighs; especially if you are in top position. On the bottom, you may think that you have it easy being that you can lay on your back, but this is not the case. High-level BJJ practitioners do not in fact lay flat on their back. As relaxing as it may seem, this is a very bad flaw in technique. You want to be perched up, at least slightly, in order to spring into action. This requires a lot of core strength sourcing from your abs to remain in ready position when on your back.
In other positions it’s your arms that will get a work out. Much of BJJ comes down to “hand-fighting” which is the strategical battle that goes on between you and your opponents hands. Constantly fighting your opponent’s upper-body strength while attempting to maintain proper wrist control is a very physically demanding task.
Even though most BJJ matches are not spent on the feet, it does physically pose equally as intense. You will often tie up with your opponent in search of takedowns that could come from various wrestling techniques, or perhaps a variety of different Judo throws. Whichever means you seek out to attempt to get your opponent on the ground will prove physically demanding. It’s not easy throwing something your size and weight around; especially when it is fighting back.
BJJ provides an all-in-one package for those wanting to combine core workouts with upper-body and most importantly, a lot of fun. BJJ not only exercises the body, but also the mind. Most BJJ matches are fought as if they are chess-matches; it comes to sharp technique and proper positioning that wins or finishes matches. If you’re looking for a martial art that will benefit your body in multiple ways, BJJ is an excellent choice.
Forged Bjj Krav Maga Self Defense Salem MA 
