Our student Jose Lopez is fortunate enough to travel the country for his work. Often he will stop in to other jiu jitsu gyms for some training while on the road. Here he shares his story of what a class at the University of Jiu Jitsu with 5 Time World Champion Saulo Ribero was like.
“I entered the University of Jiu Jitsu (UniJJ) and found Saulo Ribeiro alone sweeping the mats. He looked up, walked over with his broom and greeted me warmly “Hi, Welcome.” I explained to him where I trained, how I was on vacation and that I was honored to be there. Saulo smiled and said “Oh, the Migliarese Brothers(Team Balance head Coaches). I have known them since they were young. You are very welcome to train; we will be beginning shortly.”
Students began to pour into the school and onto the mat. As I sat down, each one of them came over to introduced themselves. Some were familiar with Baltimore BJJ through Paul Ambriz and gave him some small praise for his guard passing.
The class lined up by seniority and bowed to Saulo and the painting of Hellio Gracie. We took off running forward, sideways and backwards. Then each person took turns dive rolling over an individual in turtle, bent over and standing position.
The class then started cartwheels and other acrobatics up and down the mat. Saulo stopped the class and exclaimed “C’mon guys, you can’t even walk more than five steps in a hand stand?” The champion began walking over, then off, then back onto the matt in a hand stand. He returned to say “Balance is so important; it’s key to developing your Jiu Jitsu. You all should work on this.”
We began running around again in a circle and the pace picked up. Saulo called out “FOUR!” and students began grouping into fours, intertwining their arms into tight groups. Students unsuccessful at grouping were sent to the center of the mat to perform pushups until only two people remained.
We then started one of the more distinct, memorable parts of the class. We began a flowing series of stretches, primarily focused on hip and leg mobility. The stretch transitions were very efficient and Jiu Jitsu specific in terms of movement; there was no time wasted in resetting positions.
Afterwards we completed a set of brutal calisthenics to include, push-ups, crunches, sit-ups and leg raises. Each student in the class of twenty was made to count a set of ten reps in Portuguese for each exercise.
The technique portion of the class started, which focused on a defense against the opponent standing up in closed guard: the under hook sweep. After a few repetitions, Saulo instructed us to begin drilling the techniques “live” and I began exploding to my feet with one jump against my training partners. Saulo pulled me aside and pulled me into his closed guard. I exploded to my feet and was sent flying off balance. Saulo took the mount and rolled , returning me over to his closed guard. I attempted to pop up to my feet a second time he pulled me only slightly off balance with his hips. He explained to me jumping to standing inside the guard makes it very easy for him to redirect my motion during the jump with his hips. “Stand foot up one at a time, rocking side to side like a pendulum” he said.
The sparring session started, and lasted almost an hour spread out over the two mats. We then bowed out after which Saulo thanked and embraced each student; each of his students following suit with one another.
I loved how the warm-up exhausted us of all strength and left us with nothing to work but technique. And the unique stretching series was great. But the best part of visiting UniJJ was the training environment. Saulo and his students were warm, welcoming and genuinely excited to be there training. Being comfortable with your training partner, you allow yourself to be vulnerable and explore your weaknesses, rather than worrying about winning or staying in familiar positions to avoid frustration or embarrassment. This comfort zone is conducive to improvement and development. I’m still reminded of UniJJ whenever I have the opportunity to train at Baltimore BJJ with students like Brian Shealey, Ned Van Allen and Gabe Rubrico: students who have gone out of their way to befriend a new white belt and offer their help.
The great lesson I took away from Saulo and UniJJ was the importance of this synergy generated from the training environment. And I’ve decided I’m going to help foster the same environment by making myself vulnerable during training, befriending and helping anyone that I can at Baltimore BJJ.”
-Jose Lopez
