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It's the goal, isn't? To dominate your opponents and rise victoriously at the top of the podium, a gold medal around your neck. This vision doesn't change, whether the podium is at the IBJJF Worlds, or at the local tournament in your hometown. Well... there might be a few more people in the stands in one of them. 

Nevertheless, wherever you envision yourself, the fact remains: you can't expect to hit the top of the podium and call yourself champion of [insert tournament name here] without training for it... at least not with any amount of confidence and consistency. And by "training," I don't mean just attending your average, every day, regularly--scheduled classes. 

Competition-style training is different. On top of that, competition-style training that prepares you to reach - and win - that epic finals match, is even more different. And you don't have to be a student at one of the big-name competitive academies to achieve those lofty goals. 

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Love is a funny thing, isn't it?

You could be walking down the street, minding your own business, then peer through the windows into a Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym and wham! Love at first sight. Or maybe it wasn't at first sight necessarily, but at first roll. You decided to try this thing that everyone was talking about - even your grandmother, who heard about it on Joe Rogan (don't ask me how she knows about JRE). Then you find yourself enamored with the gentle art from the very first, sweaty, technique-less round.

But sometimes it takes a while... 

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If you didn't catch all the excitement earlier this month, you missed one heck of a IBJJF No-Gi World Championships! I feel like I say this every year, but they really do get better and better. 

This year showcased some of the best of the best - both established veterans and exciting new up and comers - from around the world... and they didn't disappoint.

But what we're really excited about was the stellar performances from our very own Kingz athletes! Many of them snagged yet another gold medal – or two – to add to their collections. And they were certainly hard won! The divisions were stacked, the matches were spicy and the submissions were absolute fire. 

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Cross-training isn't just for those who want to get "absolutely jacked." Whether you're a hard-core competitor or just the regular mat warrior, cross-training - doing something physical other than just jiu-jitsu - is vitally important. If you're the former and you want to have any chance of winning the Euros... you just have not excuse not to. 

Not only does cross-training keep your body strong, so that you can hit the mat with your best, but it also keeps you balanced and helps prevent injuries on the mat. But do you really want to hit your wallet with two (or three) gym memberships? Well, if you can, by all means. For the rest of us, kettlebells are the answer.  

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We're back... get excited for the second issue of our "BJJ 101" blog series, where we discuss some of the most critical information about jiu-jitsu's fundamental positions and techniques. It doesn't matter if you're a seasoned submission hunter - or you just fancy yourself as one - positional dominance is paramount to your success as a jiu-jitsu competitor and practitioner. 

Our second edition covers the back control position. In BJJ, back control is the top dawg in the hierarchy of jiu-jitsu positions, both in terms of control and effectiveness. In this blog post, we’ll explore the essentials of the back control position in jiu-jitsu, including a basic overview of the position, key principles for maintaining control, and some common submissions from the back that you’ll want to add to your toolkit.

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