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 […]
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 […]
Congratulations to Jim and Joe on earning their blue belts tonight. Both of these men have put in the mat time and it shows!
In the bottom position if we can control our opponents posture by holding the closely to us, we can prevent them from punching or hitting us. The best bottom position in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is called The Guard. The amazing thing about the guard is it is a position where you an use your entire body […]
Since the main focus of our Kids self defense program is teaching your child how to be safe and how to protect themselves against bullies todays class focused on how to get a bully down onto the ground where a smaller child can control them until help comes without getting punched or kicked. The focus […]
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 […]
Another fantastic kids class filled with FUN! At Crossroads BJJ one of the things we really try to make sure is that our kids students fall in love with jiu-jitsu and always leave class smiling. At an age when attention spans are short and kids lose interest fast our coaching staff makes sure that every […]
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’s no-gi was a marathon rolling session! Great work out, great friends, and lots of great rolls! BJJ at its finest!
Today during Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team Training we worked some very high level back back takes from the De La Riva Guard. The De La Riva guard is one of the most popular guards today in sport BJJ and can be seen in every International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation tournament you attend. So even if you don’t […]
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 […]
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 […]
Lucas is an amazing student and you can tell just by talking with him that he will go far in whatever he decides to pursue in life. He has an amazing ability to pick up BJJ moves ridiculously quick, is always asking Coach James about moves after class, and at the age of 9 is […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 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 […]
Today’s kid class started with Balance Drills. Balance drills are a great way to help the kids enrolled in our Crossroads BJJ Kids Martial Arts program to see the immediate benefit of increasing their focus. One of the methods to increasing how well you balance is to find one spot on the floor and keep […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 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!!!
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 […]
Last week Carlos Machado taught an amazing BJJ seminar that lasted almost 4 hours at Crossroads Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Waterford CT! BJJ Students from as far as Pennsylvania traveled to New London, Connecticut for the opportunity to train with Carlos Machado and experience RCJMachachado Jiu-Jitsu first hand. Carlos taught a range of techniques, covering guard […]
The Advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Class at Crossroads BJJ in CT has begun studying a new position. While our last segment was devoted to passing the open guard, the next segment will be spent practicing details on how to control and attack from the Side Control Position. One of the most popular saying in CT Jiu-jitsu […]
There are lots of Tournaments coming up in the Near Future! If your thinking about competing here is a list of events you may be interested in. Massachusetts Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation(MASSBJJF) Saturday November 9th, 2014 Click here for Details North American Grappling Association (NAGA) New York – Saturday November 15th, 2014 Click here for Details International […]
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 […]