In order to be the best, you have to train with the best, which is why this past Saturday Crossroads BJJ brought 3x No-Gi world champion and 2019 ADCC North America Trials Champion Josh Hinger to Connecticut to teach a 3 hour seminar at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Waterford, CT. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial […]
this week at Crossroads BJJ we’ve been studying the scissor sweep, learning how to apply the technique, how to shut down the Jiu-Jitsu technique and then what techniques can be applied based on those defenses. It is this process of action and reaction that makes Jiu-Jitsu so effective. In a fight or a competition there […]
Another great kid-jitsu Martial arts class happened last night at Crossroads BJJ. As these young martial artists continue to show up to class and learn Jiu-Jitsu we continue to see them get stronger, more confidant and more coordinated. Through performing several drills designed help develop balance, and coordination all of our students are really beginning […]
Our 6am Jiu-Jitsu class is growing! After just a few months of offering this new bjj class in CT students are already setting thier alarm clocks early to wake up and get some martial arts training in before they head off to work! Our 6am crew is a group of people truely dedicated to achieving […]
This past Saturday at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we drilled a sequence of techniques to create a flow drill. A flow drill is what we call a series of techniques that create an endless loop and allows each person to practice each of the techniques. Saturday our flow drill consisted of 4 techniques which looped through […]
Last night during the Fundamentals class at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we started off drilling how to break your opponents posture from the closed guard. By breaking their posture you put them in a position where they can’t hit you, or begin to try and pass your guard, which they will need to do in order […]
Last night during the Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team Training class we worked on using our legs to great a heavy guard. Typically when you think of being heavy in BJJ you think of the person on top, however the bottom player can also be heavy by using their arms and legs to hang their weight […]
Last night during the Team Training class at Crossroads BJJ we covered two possible submissions from the guard off of one movement. What separates BJJ from other Martial Arts is the philosophy that you never know what is going to happen in a fight, there are any number of potential reasons to why you could […]
Last night at Crossroads BJJ in New London CT County we spent some time in our Team Training class understanding how to break the posture. In Jiu-Jitsu the top player having strong posture makes attacking sweeps and submissions very difficult and leaves the top player ins position where they are able to attempt to pass […]
In our Fundamentals of BJJ class at Crossroads BJJ in New London CT we spend a lot of time working on how to escape bad positions because as a new student that is often where you will find yourself against the other more knowledgeable students in the class. So before you can start submitting people […]
Last night at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we promoted our first Female blue belt! After over a year of consistent hard work and dedication Julia earned her Blue Belt and begins the next phase of jiu-jitsu her journey! The blue belt is the most important belt to obtain in bjj, it shows mental toughness, persistence, knowledge […]
Working towards strong angles was the theme of Tuesday Nights No Gi BJJ class last night at Crossroads Brazilian Jiujitsu. Students came down to waterford CT to gain a better understanding what angles give you the advantage in attacking off your back or looking for the pass. By understanding angles in BJJ we can begin […]
Last night at Crossroads BJJ held another great class from the Crossroads Martial Arts Curriculium. From the standing position we drilled the main self defense strategy of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, close the distance and bring the fight to the ground where we can use leverage and technique to control a larger, stronger opponent. There are several […]
Hey everybody, Due to some scheduling issues we have to move up the time of our Friday Night open mat from 6pm to 4pm tonight. Come in and train a little early and start your weekend off right. Next weeks open mat will be back to its normal time at 6pm. -Dustin
Today during our No-Gi Team Training class at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu we continued with this weeks theme of submissions chains off of Omoplata escape attempts. By understand with directions the person in the submission can move in an attempt to escape and by understanding when they have successfully escaped or are about to escape we […]
This past Saturday Carlos Machado traveled New England and put on a tour of Seminars at several Tim Burrill Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu locations. The attendees of the seminar ranged in rank from white belt to back and Carlos was able to provide everybody with some knew technical knowledge they could take home. At Crossroads […]
Hey everybody, Unfortunetly due to the poor road conditions and the upcoming forecast we will be canceling both our 6pm and 7:30pm classes tonight. Stay Safe and Stay Warm
Unfortunately due to the weather and poor road condition there will be no 6:00pm or 7:30pm Jiu-Jitsu classes. Stay warm, stay safe and see you all in class tomorow. -Dustin
The last several lessons have discussed what to do when we are put in a headlock from the standing position, and making sure when we bring the fight to the ground we land in the top position. In lesson 7 of the Crossroads Martial Arts Curriculum we discuss how to escape the position where we […]
In Lesson 6 of the Crossroads Martial Arts Curriculum we continue our study of the headlock and the different different variations you may find yourself in if you are even actually put in a headlock. Of course we always hope that we will never need to use our jiu-jitsu for self defense […]
This past Saturday Crossroads BJJ had its first Q & A class and there was a fantastic showing. The class focused on trouble shooting the knee slice pass and what to do when two common counters are implemented as you attempt to complete the pass. The two methods of attempting to shut down the pass […]
Today’s lesson started with learning what to do when somebody grabs you around the waist. There are a few different ways that this will happen, a person will either be in front of you or behind you, and they will either grab over your arms, or underneath them. By drilling all four different scenarios we […]
One of reasons Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is so effective as a self defense art is you learn how to protect yourself in the most common street fight / self defense situations. Carlos Gracie Sr. and his Brothers spent over 60 years refining and developing techniques that actually work effectively in real street fights before Brazilian Jiu-jitsu […]
Hey everybody since the roads are terrible and it doesn’t look it’s going to stop anytime soon we’re going to cancel tonight’s classes at Crossroads. Sorry to all the crazy’ who were going to make the drive. Stay safe and stay warm!
Lesson One starts with a basic standing headlock escape. The headlock is one of the most commonly used tactics somebody who is untrained will use in a street fight so understanding how to escape is essential to being able to defend yourself. There are two basic variations of a headlock, the first when the attacker […]
Open mat or free training is an essential part of learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ, it is a time where you can ask questions or simply gain some extra sparring time with your training partners. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu has a seemingly infinite level of depth to it and in order to learn as much as you […]
Today during team training we continued working from the half guard, discussing how to get the undertook and then understanding the technical options it provides. Today we worked on moving from our back to a seated position which works very well when our training partner is keeping very good posture, or you can create a […]
Tonight during our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ( BJJ ) class we worked on what to do if your training partner tries to stand up to pass your guard. Since all guard passes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be broken down into two categories, passing from the knees and passing from standing, understanding how to defend both is […]
Today in our kids class we continued working with the kids on foot sweeps. A foot sweep is a very effective way to move a self defense or bullying situation from standing to the ground where a smaller child can control and protect him or herself. The kids then did some live rolling drills with […]
Today in our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class we continued covering how to maintain back control. Back control is the most dominate position to have in a self defense situation, an mama fight, or a jiu-jitsu tournament. Because your training partner can’t see you and has a very limited number of escapes we can easily control their […]
Today in our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class we went over how to control a person once you achieve back mount. Back mount is the strongest position you can have in a fight because you are secured to your attackers back and they can’t see you. So not only can they not hit you, they also can’t […]
Today in our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class we went over basic stand up strategies with a focus on head position and grip fighting. In grappling angles make a huge difference in who has the advantage and while our main focus in BJJ is to close the distance and get the fight to the ground any way […]
Today we warmed up with stretching to increase our flexibility and get ourselves warmed up for the technical portion of our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Class. While being flexible isn’t a requirement for learning jiu-jitsu improving our flexibility is an essential portion of any exercise routine. So many people spend their days sitting in offices or repeating […]
Today during our Team Training Brazilian BJJ Class we worked on Pressure from Side Control and how to shut down the most common escapes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by using pressure to neutralize an explosive elbow escape. As we progress in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu tapping untrained opponent because extremely easy and we begin to focus our training […]
Tonight during BJJ Team Training we continued working from the top of side control. We went over over how to catch your training partner in a loop and then use pressure to force them into making a technical mistake. By allowing our training partner to start an escape and then trapping them in a bad […]
Today during our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Class at Crossroads BJJ we reviewed the bridge or ump escape from the bottom of the mount position. The mount position is one of the worst position you can be in so understand how to get out when somebody is trying to punch you is essential to having a solid […]
Today during our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class we went over how to break the posture of somebody on top of you in-order to prevent them from hitting you by controlling the distance. Once we have control over our training partners we no longer have to worry about being hit and can then move on to either […]
Tonight during the Crossroads BJJ Team Training class we continued to work on shutting down the elbow escape from side control and how to deconstruct the position so everybody understood exactly where to put pressure and where to position there body to ensure they maintain position. One of the most popular sayings in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu […]
Everyone knows the belt system in Jiu-Jitsu. White, blue, purple, brown, black. If you want to get technical, black is followed by coral, and then red. When your Jiu-Jitsu journey begins, the higher belts can seem like super heroes, and you’re instructor can seem like Zeus atop Mount Olympus. But what is the one thing […]
Today during our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class two ways to escape the mount position. The Mount position is one of the most powerful ways to control an attacker in a self defense situation because of the number of BJJ style submissions that are available as well as the number of ways to completely neutralize your attacker […]
Carlos Machado never fails to disappoint. This past Saturday Carlos taught at Crossroads BJJ for the 4th year in a row. Carlos made the trip from Dallas, Texas all the way to Waterford, Connecticut to share some extremely high level Jiu-jitsu concepts and strategy. For over 3 hours Carlos taught how to do deal with […]
Our BJJ or GJJ(Gracie Jiu-Jitsu) Team Training Class we continue to work the butterfly guard using an overlook to control our training partners posture. Today we added the detail of hooking our opponents arm when they are sitting square in front of us and have neutralized our favorable angle. By hooking the arm we can […]
BJJ is a contact sport! You are in close proximity to the people you train with, so being clean is supremely important. Dirty gis and dirtier people spread bacteria and other nasty infections, so it really is a health issue. We don’t really have this problem at Crossroads bjj but it’s still important to go […]
Today in our Team Training class we continued working working Butterfly Guard, today working an overhook variation similar to what we covered in our No-Gi BJJ class on Tuesday night. Our main focus was moving our hips so that we can keep constant pressure on our training partner in order to break their poster and […]
Today during Team Training We continued working the butterfly guard sweep! This time using an undertook to control our opponents basing hand,and adding a grip readjustment to deal with the situation where our opponent is still able to get a hand on the mat in an attempt to base. Paying special attention to which way […]
Today during class we continued working headlock escapes from the bottom position. While this is not something that will typically happen during a sparring session at Crossroads BJJ because the headlock does not offer a great deal of control over our training partners and there aren’t many submissions from the position it is something that happens […]
Kia has been training at Crossroads for about two months, here’s what his mom has to say about the Crossroads Kids Martial Arts Program! “Kids martial arts — if your kids are interested in martial arts, there is no better place to learn than Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. My 6-year old son started attending the children’s […]
Today during the Brazilian Jiu-JItsu class we worked the Gift Wrap position. The gift Wrap is a variation of the side Mount position where you have your training partners arm wrapped around their neck making them vulnerable to several submissions. This position is one of the strongest from a self defense perspective, your opponent is […]
Is there a better endorsement as a teacher of the martial arts, than to have Chuck Norris as a student? If there is, I can’t think of one. Now imagine the very same teacher wants to teach you (yes, I’m talking to you reader) the same things he’s taught Mr. Spinning Roundhouse! Not possible you […]
Today during kids class we continue working balance and movement drills, which are fundamental skills of any athletic activity and essential for the Martial Arts. Working to keep our eyes on our “focus spot” in order to prevent distraction. This skill is extremely useful both in martial arts and in school. In school there are […]
Today during Team Training we continued working the butterfly guard, working into a counter to our training partners using their leg to replace the arm when we have successfully controlled it from the bottom position. One of the most common counters to the butterfly guard in BJJ is to use your leg as a kickstand […]
Today during our Brazilian Jiu-JItsu we continued working escaping the headlock position from the ground. Last week we started defending the headlock from the standing position and today we continued working how to escape the headlock once your training partner is on the ground. The first details we covered were how to stabilize the position […]
Sunday Morning Jiu-Jitsu started by going over the Gift-wrap position. Coach Denis started by going over how to get into the Gift-Wrap Position and then went into a number of BJJ submissions you can achieve from there. The two submissions taught this past Sunday were the Arm bar and the Reverse Triangle, two of the […]
Today in our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class we continued to work the headlock defense where a Stronger opponent has already Broken our posture. The main points of today were understanding the right time to go for the move. By knowing when to apply the technique we can make our movements much more efficient with allows us […]
Friday Night Open Mat is taught run by Coach Denis and is always a great time. Friday night is always filled with the students who love jiu-jitsu and want to get better! This Friday we had 3 purple belts on the Mat as well as several blue belts and a few white belts all helping […]
Thursday’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class started with a good warm up and then went right in to the technical portion of class. We started work from the stand up position working from one of the most common situations in a street fight, the headlock position. There are several different ways to escape the headlock positions, today we […]
Learning the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was never a goal of mine. It was never on a checklist of things to accomplish nor did I know much about it. Prior to being dragged to the gym by a good friend, I had studied Muay Thai for a few years and that was good enough […]
More Butterfly Guard Sweeps! Today in our BJJ Team Training Program we covered more sweeps from the Butterfly Guard and went into detail on how to create momentum from the position as well as how to adjust your angle in order to switch between sweeps. We also covered a sweep directly into a submission. Working […]
Today during our No-Gi Team Training class we held a marathon rolling session, completing 60 minutes of 5 minute rounds! With a mix of Black, Purple, Blue and White belts on the mat everybody put in great work and continued to sharpen up their techniques. Marathon rolling sessions are a great way to develop mental […]
Today Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu held another great kids class and due to the stormy weather we were able to have a 1 to 1 student to teacher ratio, so every student got 45 minutes of one on one attention with one of our great Kids Martial Arts Instructors. Todays Kids BJJ Class focused on Three […]
If you’re new to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, you may be wondering how you can improve your game. Well the long and short of it is that you’re only going to get better by consistently going to class and consistently sparring. However, there are certain things that you can do to make it easier for your body […]
When the voice of experience speaks, it’s usually a good idea to listen. When that voice is talking about jiu-jitsu and has an undefeated professional MMA career as backup evidence, you pay close attention to what it’s saying, because it works! On Saturday, December 5th, Crossroads BJJ was proud to host one such distinguished voice, […]
It’s promotion season at Crossroads, and James is the latest to pass his test and reach the rank of purple belt! James was a strong folkstyle wrestler when he got to Crossroads three years ago and has grown into a formidable, multi-faceted grappler in his time training here. Known for his excellent cardio, fitness, and […]
The last 2 weeks have been busy ones at Crossroads BJJ! The hours of training put in on the mats has collectively raised the caliber of jiu-jitsu being practiced by everyone, and nowhere is that more evident than with Nils and Mike, two longtime students of martial arts, who both achieved new belt ranks- blue […]
The following is an entry made by Jeremy, one of Crossroads’ dedicated students, to help other students know what to expect when it comes time to test themselves for the first time in a grappling tournament. Enjoy! Tournament Time Over the summer I competed in 3 different BJJ tournaments. I lost my first and went […]
Everybody has been training hard and it shows. In the past two weeks we’ve had 3 students earn well-deserved promotions. Denis made it through a super-tough, top-secret (Shhhhhhh ;-)) test to receive the second Purple Belt ever awarded at Crossroads BJJ! Denis has been training with Dustin for almost 4 years and has been an […]
Congratulations to Bryan for his Double Gold Performance at NAGA last month! Bryan has been working hard on his Jiu Jitsu at Crossroads In New London County and on his Wrestling in Groton for Fitch High School! Hard work pays off! Congratulations Bryan!
Congratulations to Ryan for earning his Blue Belt! Ryan has been working hard and winning competitions at white belt and we are all excited to watch him take home some hardware at the Blue belt level!!!
Crossroads BJJ is now running Competition and Fitness classes 3 Days a week to help students get in the best shape of their lives. With Several Crossroads BJJ students looking to Compete in Tournaments in CT and in New England being in great shape is a one of the best ways to be prepared for […]
We are excited to announce that Crossroads BJJ will be hosting our 3rd Annual Carlos Machado Seminar in less than 3 weeks. On January 24th 8th Degree Coral Belt Carlos Machado will be showing us his latest techniques, concepts and details to help you take your Jiu-Jitsu to a higher level and give you a […]
Mark your Calendars! The last seminar of the year at Crossroads will be none other than Tim Burrill Brown Belt and Undefeated Pro MMA Fighter Eric Spicely! Saturday December 13th, 2014 from 4pm to 7pm. The seminar will be $40 and all proceeds will go to support Eric’s upcoming fight camp and to help Eric reach his goal […]
This past September Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Celebrated its 4 year anniversary. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were sharing space with the local batting cage. When we first opened in Waterford, CT we would put down the mats at the beginning of every practice, train, and then wash the mats, wait for them […]
Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is proud to have had its 3 year anniversary this past September. Over the last year we have grown significantly. In the past year Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu has moved into its own dedicated training facility with roughly 700 square feet of mats, a sitting area for parents and guests and a separate […]
Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is now officially registered with the International Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Federation (IBJJF). Being registered with the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu federation (IBJJF) gives our athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest level. IBJJF events such as the Boston International Open and the New York International open attract the best grapplers on the East […]