Classes are packed like always at my academy, Ivey League MMA. Sadly the last few days I haven’t been around as much due to a little seminar tour I went on.

I started in Virginia Beach and then made my way to Iowa City, Iowa. I used to live in the great state of Iowa so it was nice to go back and see some old friends like my buddy Jim “Treat Yourself” Kelly. Jim owns the well known website known as www.nomoreneckproblems.com, which I highly recommend checking out.

Not only do I get to do cool seminars but I also got to chat with Tom Brands a little bit. Brands is the head wrestling coach for the University of Iowa and was an Olympic gold medalist in 1996. So yeah I guess he knows a thing or two about wrestling!

I’ve been doing workshops and seminars covering a bunch of topics such as:

*MMA ground tactics
*How to run a better children’s martial arts program
*How to keep your students happy
*Brazilian Jiu Jitsu including Half Guard sweeps
*Submission holds from all positions

As I’m sure you guessed I’m pretty beat from the training and the travel. As I write this it’s 2:52am here in Iowa and I have to leave at 5am for a 2 hour drive to Des Moines Iowa in order to catch my flight home to Washington DC. At least when It’s all said and done I get to see my fiance Miss Teresa Russin and I get back to the training room at Ivey League MMA.

The seminars were great and everyone has been nothing shy of awesome. Thanks so much to everyone at OutFox MMA in Virginia Beach, VA, the Hawkeye Wrestling club as well as the University of Iowa Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, both in Iowa City, Iowa.

You know what one of the best, maybe the best thing, is about training in martial arts? For me It’s all the great folks I’ve met over the years. I feel very lucky to have the life I have and I owe it all to MMA training. Maybe some martial arts classes could do the same for you? Give it a shot, just do it! Call 443 517 8958 and come to my academy in Annapolis!

Ok moving on.

Big thanks to the following people – John Gutta, James Kelly, Tom Brands and of course my main man Kru Jose Villarisco!

Below are some pics from the seminars, enjoy.

Master Danny Ives with the students of the U-Iowa BJJ program

Charles, Jim, Danny Ives and John Gutta of Iowa BJJ

I figured doing Mixed Martial Arts might be a good change of pace and offer me a variety of ways to get a good workout in. The folks at Ivey League were more than happy to take me up on the challenge of providing me something new and different.

I enrolled in some kickboxing and MMA classes at their place in Annapolis. From day one I was not disappointed and I thoroughly enjoyed my workout. They provided me with an excellent cardio and strength workout, while at the same time providing amazing teaching on technique.

The best thing is that the atmosphere and sessions are always FUN! Those two things are very important to getting a good workout in and for feeling good about things afterword. No one wants to waste their time doing something that they do not want to do, or get bored with a routine. The classes are packed with plenty of people who felt the same as I did, which just goes to show you that you are not alone!

If you come to Ivey League in Annapolis you will be given an opportunity to enjoy getting in shape, soak in the awesome atmosphere and get the type of workout that your body has been craving for. We take all comers, so enroll in a kickboxing or MMA class and get started on the path to the level of fitness you want to achieve!

Well it’s a great topic considering the most common grappling moves in a live professional MMA fight would be the most reliable in a real life self defense situation.  Now, most people do not want to get into a self-defense situation, but if you do you want to make sure you are going for the most effective BJJ submissions possible.

So here they are!  The 2 most common and dependable UFC submissions:

1) The Rear Naked Choke

The rear naked choke is a great move.  It does not matter how strong your opponent is, tough he is, or big he is, if there is no blood going to their brain they are going to pass out! Now in addition to this it puts you in the most dominant grappling position…

BACKMOUNT!

Most reliable UFC submissions

Now, when you are in backmount, your opponent has no limbs facing you and for that matter cannot even see you because he is not facing you! If someone is trying to hurt me then I will be quite happy when they are facing the other way.

2) Guillotine

The 2nd most dependable move and therefore the 2nd most common is the guillotine choke.  The guillotine can be hit from the top or bottom and has many different variations.  In addition to this it is great to hit when someone “shoots in on you” with a wrestling takedown or just tries to tackle you.

It is a great way to end the fight before it even starts!  Sometimes the first thing an assailant does is try and tackle you like a football player and while they attempt to do this they make themselves vulnerable for the guillotine.

There you have it.  The most common and dependable submissions of the past 5 years!  Check the stats… and learn these moves!

How come some people seem to get really good very quickly? While other people (it always feels like us!) are progressing in our jiu jitsu game at a much slower rate?

I think it comes down to 1 thing: “Conscious development”

Some Bjj guys down here in Maryland (and everywhere else in the world) seem to be stuck on the same belt for years and years and years when others cruise from one to the next… and after reading Science of Skill I might know why.

If we show up to the gym every day and a grappling submission gets hit on us or a BJJ sweep does not work we have 2 choices…

First we can ANALYZE the situation and figure out what went wrong with the submission or ju jitsu sweep and try and fix it.  (This video is an example of how crazily we COULD break down jiu jitsu!)

This would involve seeking EXPERT FEEDBACK!

Or secondly, we can go home and forget about it…this option leads to the same thing happening again the next practice session…and then the next…and then the next.

These concepts, along with learning how to set goals and learning how to study the best grapplers in the world and emulate your game after theirs are all discussed on my friend’s website “Science of Skill.” The author has a Masters Degree in Applied Psychology and has actually used it to study Brazilian Jiu Jitsu…I personally find it quite fascinating.

Would you like to cut down on your training time and actually achieve substantially more results? Sounds good to me! And that is why I started following some of the strategies presented by Coach Dan. It teaches you how to get the most out of your training!

With interviews from Joe Lauzon (Pro UFC fighter) to an interview with the Mendes brothers (!!! Multi-time world champions!!) how could you not learn from this stuff? Brazilian Ju jitsu is a chess match and Dan breaks it down incredibly well for those of us who are nerdy enough to think of it in that way!

Learn how to practice as effectively as possible, read a bunch of interviews with some of THE BEST GRAPPLERS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, watch cool videos, and learn a ton about how to study and develop your own Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game at ScienceofSkill.com

This was a small event open to children and adults of any Team Lloyd Irvin school.

The turnout was outstanding with groups coming from Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Evolve MMA Academy, Camp Springs (Team Lloyd Irvin headquarters) and of course Ivey League MMA located in Severna Park Maryland.

To be honest when we say a small tournament it’s not the truth, for an in house tourney the turnout was huge, especially for the kids!

Crazy 88 BJJ brought down a small army of little ones and they meant business! So pretty much Ivey League MMA and Crazy 88 went into a battle for matches won, and it was amazing to see.

Some of the stand out kids we saw are listed below:
*Holden Murphy (Ivey League)
*Paul Kayson (Crazy 88)
*Alex Coe (Ivey League)
*Jada Lipov (Crazy 88)
*Matt Graham (Ivey League)
*Emma Munsey (Ivey League)
*Lilly Neff (Crazy 88)

And so many more!

For the adults we also had some battles, no doubt there. With both gi and nogi. Lots of technique were on display and we saw a ton of arm locks, rear naked chokes, double leg takedowns and big Judo throws.

From my standpoint the adults showed some great skills and just having been out there competing will do nothing but better their growing ground fighting and grappling skills.

Some standouts for the adults were:
*Jante Johnson (Ivey League)
*Aaron Edwards (Crazy 88)
*Mike Gober (Ivey League)
*Matt Teltoe (Ivey League)
*Javier Davila (Ivey League)
*Richard Samaniengo (Ivey League)

There were more so If I left anyone out don’t worry, you didn’t go unnoticed!

Thanks for everyone who came out and supported and also to the staff that came in and helped out on a Saturday morning. Shout out to:

Neil Duke
Jack “Deer Hunter” Dawson
Teresa “Reeseeroll” Russin
Nick Moore
Paul “Murda Ink” Peck
Eric Robinson

Thanks again everyone! Don’t forget about the Judo seminar and Kickboxing workshop this upcoming weekend (03-03-2012).

The Judo seminar is at Ivey League MMA and the Kickboxing workshop is at Crazy 88 (www.88bjj.com)

You need the right training partners, coaches and environment in order to excel. You can’t be missing any one thing, it’s sort of a triangle. In order, this is how I would list it:

Put those 3 things together………=SUCCESS. 

Here at Ivey league Mixed Martial Arts, one of the main things, if not the main thing we shoot for is peace and harmony amongst the students and staff. If someone comes in to take classes, and they just have a poor attitude, or have an ego, or think they’re better then everyone else…..we kick them out.

The reason why is that if you have this awesome martial arts school, you run great classes and have great students, all good things. That can all be ruined if you get a bad apple in the training room. Just like the old saying, one bad apple spoils the bunch! So when you have a student that’s a bad apple you have to remove the apple in order to maintain that peace and harmony environment.

I sent out a survey a while back asking the students what they loved and hated about my academy, Ivey league MMA. Everyone said the main thing they loved was the happy, friendly environment we provide.

That’s not by accident, I can assure you. We work very hard to make sure that we get the right people in and keep the wrong people out.

So keep in mind that when choosing a martial arts school to train at, don’t just look at the size of the school or the level of the tournament team but rather pay attention to the training environment and if the academy has that feel of peace and harmony, pretty much is the staff nice and does everyone look/seem happy?

I know here at Ivey league Mixed Martial Arts we sure are and I’m happy as heck about it!

–Master Danny “The Half Guard Guy” Ives
P.S. Below is a list of upcoming events at Ivey League MMA

February 25th, 2012
In-House Gracie Jujitsu and Grappling tournament, held at Ivey league MMA in Annapolis/Severna Park Maryland

March 24th, 2012
Ivey League MMA 4 year anniversary party!

Peace and Harmony start with the owners of Ivey League, Danny Ives and Teresa Russin

Silly man Mike Graham, being....well SILLY!

What is Pan Kids? Pan Kids is a children’s only grappling/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament. No striking (punching or kicking). It’s kind of like wrestling but with submission holds and a kimono (gi) on.

Pan Kids is by far the biggest and toughest tournament for children’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That’s why we go.

Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts goes every year and this year was the biggest and toughest yet!

We sent 7 kids to compete. Those kids were:

• Alexia Lara
• Matt Graham
• Eric Graham 
• Michael Graham
• Emily Dvorak
• Brenden “Spike” Bill
• Andrew Dvorak

 

The trip started with everyone getting to Los Angeles around mid week. We met up for some awesome team training with other members of Team Lloyd Irvin academies like Camp Springs Maryland (Main Team Lloyd Irvin School), Purebred Guam, Crazy 88 BJJ, Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts and Nashville MMA.

Team Lloyd Irvin Kids at the UFC Training Center in California

• Grant and Amy Dvorak
• Bonnie Dlozvioa
• Dawn and Bob Graham
• Luis Lara

Emily Dvorak shows that it's not always about gis and belts!

Without great parents like the ones above this would never have happened!

The man, the legend, Master Donnie Achnick!

Spike, Romeo Gilmore and Seth Fillers

Studying To Be The Best MMA Gym In Annapolis!

I figured I would just let you all know where I am going to be next weekend.  With a strong desire to constantly be stepping up the legitimacy of our MMA gym from ALL angles, I am going to go suffer and learn a bunch of crazy math-related business stuff… for you my dear students. 

At Ivey League MMA we have been expanding at an incredible pace due to the awesome team we have working together and because of the enthusiasm of our students… this leads to a great vibe…one that indicates to me that the sky is the limit for us at Ivey League!

Since I believe this to be the case, I am going to continue to grow as a businessman and make our operations run as smoothly as possible.  I am lucky enough to be associated with Master Lloyd Irvin and all the great guys he has working with him.  Guys like Marcos Avellan of Freestyle Fighting Academy and Master Chim Chim of Jungle Gym.

Below is a video of one of my main mentors in MMA and business-

I also am looking forward to seeing my buddy and new Brazilian Jiu Jitsu national champion Dan Faggella for a few days!  I’m sure he will be driving all the way from his BJJ gym in Rhode Island for this knowledge.  See you soon Dan!

All in all I look forward to furthering the progress of Ivey League MMA and turning into one of the best MMA and BJJ gyms in the entire state of Maryland and this trip will help me do that!

At Ivey league MMA our goal is to make normal everyday kids into the great leaders of tomorrow. Today is a cliff notes version of how we do that and It all starts with the great kids we have coming through our academy.

With that said I wanted to talk about a young lady we have in our teens program. Her name is Lauren Crino, and if I ever saw a born leader, it would have to be her.

Lauren came to Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts about a year about. Her friend Isabelle Williams told her about our classes and how much fun they were so Lauren asked her family to bring her in.

We can’t take all the credit for Lauren, not at all. She comes from a great military family with both Mom and Dad having served for our country (Thanks for that btw!).

When I met Lauren she seemed shy but at the same time very confident but like I said above, I thought she was a born leader based on the way she carried herself. I guess sometimes you can just “sense” these things?

What I thought was shyness was really more of a feeling out process for her. She wanted to make sure the staff at Ivey League was on the up and up, which of course we are!

It wasn’t long before she excelled in her martial arts classes. Not long at all in fact I’d say Lauren picked up techniques faster then most kids her age or older (faster then adults too).

Picking up techniques at Ivey league can be tricky for kids because they learn 4+ styles of self defense, which are:

• Gracie Jiu Jitsu
• Muay Thai Kickboxing
• Wrestling
• Judo

In fact, she was so good that we asked her to be in our Black Belt Club Program (BBC) much faster then we normally would have.

She was also the first child that we accepted into our new Leadership program, a course designed to teach kids how to lead teams and people, both on the mats and in life.

I know at this point you’re asking this question:

“If she was born leader and talented right out of the gate, what did she really get from Ivey League MMA?”

A fair question and here is my answer:

We brought out the true leader in Lauren by having her lead the kids through workouts, help the little kids in training and just all around show all the other kids what it takes to be a champion. Giving her that role was the challenge she needed and it showcased her leadership skills.

We made her a leader by challenging her with high level techniques and live rolling that put her in a safe but pressured situation. Aka we made her tough physically and mentally
(something Ivey League training is known for).

We put her (and her family put her*) into a class environment that brought out all her abilities, something that would not have happened with a team sport like soccer or softball.

Achievement has a lot to do with the people you surround yourself with. Lauren is around other like minded and champion kids so this pushes her harder to be the best she can be (which in Lauren’s case she always shoots for the sky anyway).

In one year Lauren has:

• Made it into the BBC program (Ivey League’s version of a PHD program)
• Made the Leadership team (but of course:)
• Got her Gold belt
• Became an assistant Volunteer for lil ninja classes

So yeah, the staff and myself think the world of this young superstar in the making.

I should also mention that martial arts seem to run in her blood as I believe her uncle owns and runs his own academy in New York.

Hats off to you Lauren Crino! Way to be a leader and not a follower! We’re very proud of you kiddo.

I also have to give big props to my girlfriend and head teens instructor at Ivey league MMA, Miss Teresa Russin, she’s the driving force behind the teens/tweens program!

Below is a photo of Lauren so that when she becomes president you can say you saw her first on my MMA news blog, haha.

–Master Danny Ives

www.annapolismma.com

BBC/Leadership Team Member Lauren Crino (On the right) practicing takedowns on Aleixa Lara

BBC/Leadership Team Member Lauren Crino practicing takedowns on Aleixa Lara