Last night during the Crossroads BJJ Fundamentals class we worked on our submissions from the guard position. The guard is what separates Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from other martial arts. In the early days of the UFC Jiu-Jitsu gave Royce Gracie the ability to fight off of his back which is something almost nobody had seen outside […]
Last night during our Fundamentals of BJJ class at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we began with working a self defense technique from the standing position. This class focused on defending the rear naked choke from the standing position. The basis for all of the self defense moves in the Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu curriculum emphesize that you […]
Last night during our BJJ Team Training class at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu we continued adding techniques to our Kimora system. In BJJ having options is never a bad thing, as our overall goal is to develop a set number of options we can execute at the correct time. If you do not have enough options […]
Last night during our team training class we continued our study of the Triangle choke. The triangle is a strangulation submission where you use your legs and your training partners shoulder to reduce blood floor through the carodid arteries. The reduced blood flow will cause a person to feel sleepy and eventually fall asleep. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Today during our Team Training class we started a new chapter, moving from the butterfly guard position to the top of Side Control. Today we worked advanced Brazilian Jiu-jitsu technique where we provide our training parter with enough space to move into a position that is not ideal for them, using pressure in specific areas […]
Constantine stopped by Crossroads BJJ for one of our Sunday open Mats while in town away from his gym. Here is what he had to say about Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and our Coaches! “I just came back from Crossroads BJJ while vacationing in Mystic (they’re in Waterford). Dennis, the two Mikes, and John treated me […]
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 […]
Being so close to both the Coast Guard Academy in New London Connecticut and the Navy Base in Groton Connecticut, Crossroads BJJ gets to train with a large number Active members of the Military. These guys and girls have had the oppertunity to train at several gyms both in the Unitied States and around the […]
Unfortunetly because of the forcasted blizzard all classes will be canceled today. Be safe if you have to drive. See you all in class on Monday.
Today during the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class at Crossroads BJJ we continued with our theme of escaping the headlock. While Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners will not try to headlock you wether they are in class training or in a tournament because you can’t finish a fight from the position and once you know how to escape it […]
Today during Team Training we continued working Butterfly Guard sweeps, starting with a review of the butterfly Guard Sweep we have been working on for the last week. This gave everybody and opportunity to increase their understanding of the mechanics of the sweep and sharpening up some the skills we already knew from previous classes. […]
Today during team training we went right into 5 minute sparring rounds! With a black belt, a purple belt and several purple belts on the mat everybody had to be on point with both offense and defense. Hard work is the key to success in BJJ and everybody tonight was working hard and having a […]
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 […]
Today during Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team Training we continued working from the butterfly guard adding a fourth way to control the arm in order to prevent our training partners from basing out and blocking our sweep attempt. After everybody understood how to control the arm, we continued by adding specific resistance. The people on top were […]
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 […]
Today we warmed up for team training with Bear crawls and “Crocodiles” , Jacare Souza style, we finished off the warm up with arm drag drills and practicing our double legs takedowns. The fight starts from the feet, so just like in our BJJ class we start drills from the standing position. Once we started […]
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 […]
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 […]
What you should you expect your child to learn at a Crossroads Kids Class? At Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu our Children’s program has 3 main goals, giving your child the tools to prevent an abduction, teaching your child how to deal with bullies at school, and teaching your child how to move and feel comfortable and […]
1)An Improved Level of FitnessOne of the first thing your going to notice within the first month of training is a drastic improvement in your fitness level. There is no workout like grappling! Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the few activities that gives you both an anaerobic and aerobic workout at the same time. What […]
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 […]