Relson Gracie Seminar: Outstanding

I just came back from a 2 day Relson Gracie seminar in Savannah, GA that was outstanding. It was hosted by Garth Spendiff who has been training with Relson since 1995 I believe and who has a great group of guys that treated me with courtesy and friendship. To Garth, Mike, and everyone else I met, it was a pleasure!
Now about the Relson seminars: Relson, although a very scary guy, was very approachable, friendly and you could tell he really wanted you to understand and learn what he was showing. He simply blew me away with some of the techniques that he showed. My understanding of how to properly use jiu-jitsu in a street situation with striking has increased 10 fold. Relson has a very intricate system of original no holds barred fighting and through the seminars and 2 private lessons I got to see some of it from the guard position, inside the guard, mount bottom, and sidebody bottom.

Relson's son is fighting NHB in Columbus, OH in March (he is only 18 years old) and Relson conveyed his philosophy of fighting when he said that he told his son if he gets hit even one time, he considers that a loss. Some people say that when a guy is inside your guard raining punches down on you, hit him back, but Relson says that is stupid since the guy has more reach, leverage, and gravity working for him in this situation. When someone says striking is allowed, Relson's #1 concern is not to get hit, and only then does he think about how to hit and punish his opponent.

I have never seen the "dirty" striking that Relson uses shown before - he is very specific about hitting with the hardest parts of your body to the weakest of that of your opponent and completing tying your opponent up and confusing him with strikes coming from all directions. I did a private lesson with him and he was literally kicking my ass with all kinds of strikes and submissions from sidebody bottom!

He is definitely on my list of people to train with again very very soon. To those in Savannah, you are very lucky to have Garth as a teacher, and I hope to see you all again soon. Don't pass up a chance to train with Garth or Relson!

now this might seem like a dick thing to say FatBuddha but i would keep all the techniques that you learned to yourself. you now understand what level relson is on when it comes to real jj and very few people get a chance to see this. consider yourself very lucky!!!!

now that you have seen some of this stuff and he has an idea of who you are it will only get better everytime you train with him. the things he can show you are amazing and unique to him.

poodollar: that was a dick thing to say:)

FatBuddha: Sharing is good!

Mike

target="_blank">www.SBGi.ca

Poodollar: BOO!

What about that kimura defense from north/south?

membrane and Mike Sweeney are correct.

I didn't have a chance to cover kimura defense from north/south bottom, just the positions I mentioned above. I had a long list of questions, but the entire first private lesson only covered my first question! (sidebody escpaes from bottom).

LOL!!!

i know it sounds bad, but there is a HUGE difference in jj between your new black belts that specialize in sjj and your "old" black belts that have been holding that rank for 30 years.

there is a reason why i train with the relson gracie line. many will never understand this.

all men might be created equal, but not all jiu jitsu.

well i guess it's time for 4 Ranges or Famigerado to describe it.

ps. i hope it's for sport bjj.

Hmmm....I thought about it and I guess I'll have to agree with poodollar. 4ranges can describe it if he wants.
Sorry guys. You could always take a private with Relson and ask him about it. And yes it's sport legal but definately streetfight applicable too. As is about everything Relson shows.

FatBuddha, poodollar, is there any reason why you don't want to share these techniques? I mean, if Relson doesn't want you to share them, I respect that, but if this is some kind of "these techniques are too deadly for the average Joe and might be abused by prison inmates" it seems a bit extreme.

C'mon guys, the way you make it sound, this is the kind of stuff that might make the difference between surviving or getting busted up on the street doing BJJ. Most of us will not have a chance to train with Relson. With my work schedule, I don't know if I'll be visiting the US in the next five years! It would be a public service if you could at least give some insight into the defensive aspects of Relson's BJJ.

One reason why I like this board so much is the willingness of its members to share information.

PKN - I didn't do the sidebody bottom kimura escape with Relson.

one reason is if someone pays for those techniques why should they give them out unless they are going to be compensated also. second, i am on team relson gracie so i made a decision to learn his techniques. why would i give out techniques to people that think they can get better jj from someone else (going to SBG, Nova Uniao, Machado....)?

i dont have a burning desire to see what jacare (the old one or the new one), marcello, renzo, jj machado is doing. i want to learn what Humaita (the helio line extended family) is doing. if i wanted to learn all of there techs i would join their teams.

That is about as ridiculous as the old-school karate guys who think their
"style" has all the answers. Seriously, you can't believe that?!

As for not sharing the info for free, that is his prerogative. I can
understand that. I do think it is kind of gay though to come onto a public
forum and brag about knowing some super awesome counter and then
not share. That is like saying "I have a bunch of cool toys, but no, you
can't play with them." :)

That being said, MY mind is not closed, so I would welcome the
opportunity to learn from Relson if I am ever in the area, as I am sure
there is much I could learn from him.

Mike Sweeney, what's your e-mail?

martialartsplanet@gmail.com

Mike,

You have mail.

neither i nor Buddha bragged about knowing "secret" techniques. in fact, i have always told people on this forum to train with relson if you get the chance. you can dig up any old thread to verify that.

i am first and foremost a fighter. so why would i just give out techs to people that might be my competition. also, i have never asked about techniques on this board. if i have a question i'll get the answer from someone in my school or i'll call relson.

there is a huge difference in the approach that hardcore competitors take. marcello's game is unique to him. jacare's game is unique to him. the same goes for saulo, pe de pano, daniel moraes, fredson alves.....

only the recreational players go around and try to imitate the games of top level players. that is why i dont care about what other schools do or the techniques they perform.

I kinda understand you poodollar, but

"only the recreational players go around and try to imitate the games of top level players. that is why i dont care about what other schools do or the techniques they perform."

Everybody will have their own game in the end. everybody will still learn from others. you learn from others and then complete your own game from these little tidbits to create your own style. I don´t see why you should learn (not copy, but at least understand) how every game is played - it can only enhance your own.

i might have come off a little harsh about somethings. but, i feel many have jiu-jitsu A.D.D. they want to learn all of this stuff that all of these world level competitors do. i want to understand what some are doing, but i am so focussed on perfecting my game that i dont have time to get into studying others. that is what relson is for. he watches what others do and then tells me what to look out for.