Contact:
Phone: 5037384080
Email: zjadamson@gmail.com
Website: www.orbjj.com
Address:
1601 S. Roosevelt
Seaside Oregon
97138
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Here’s a match from Coach Zach Adamson from the Revolution Tournament, in Seattle in early 2010. Notice how he uses the “Garcia Roll,” to get the finish from the back.
Kids Jiu Jitsu
One of the most rewarding experiences of my life thus far has been teaching the values of jiu jitsu to the kids in our community. This last Tuesday we promoted our first orange belts in our kids program. The three boys who were promoted have dedicated years of training with us, I have seen them all develop into great jiu jitsu practitioners. Along with a great jiu jitsu game the biggest changes I’ve noticed have been in their personality and the way they carry themselves. Confidence, self-respect, teamwork, self-discipline, and patience have been just a few of the values these young warriors possess. The future is looking very bright for our young students, and I’m excited to see how they’ll impact our community in a positive way in the future! If you know of a young boy or girl who would be interested in learning jiu jitsu and all its accompanying values, feel free to contact us or bring them in to try out a class. Check out all the photos from the promotions on our BJJ Seaside Facebook fan page under the Flickr tab.
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”
Napolean Hill
Evolution of Jiu Jitsu in the NorthWest
I’m constantly amazed by the steady progress at which jiu jitsu has been able to spread its influence across the world. I’ve seen and experienced this evolution first hand here in the Pacific Northwest. When I say the Pacific Northwest I’m primarily talking about Oregon and Washington. I’ve seen jiu jitsu spread its wings through the growth of academies, the promotion of more high-level black and brown belts, and the increase of local competitions in the Portland and Seattle areas.
When I first started training jiu jitsu in late 2002 I was fascinated by the way this type of martial art engulfed my interest, as well as many of my closest friends. And apparently I wasn’t the only one that felt this way. Shortly after I started, jiu jitsu had gone viral and was spreading like wild fire. I knew we were a part of something special, something that would eventually be mainstream. The lime light finally came for jiu jitsu in the form of UFC and its television show the Ultimate Fighter Series. This was the defining point when jiu jitsu was becoming a house hold name that people recognized. At that point and time I trained with a small academy in Astoria, Oregon, and I also attended NWMA in Eugene, while attending school at Lane Community College. When I started training at NWMA there was about 30-40 students including only a few purple and blue belts. Now fast forward to 2010 and their academy is in a new location with easily 100+ students with black and brown belts on the rise. The school I attended in Astoria is still there today but hasn’t seen the growth that most schools in the Northwest have. I’ve noticed rapid growth in the NW with competing teams: Gracie Barra, Marcelo Alonso Team, Impact, NWMA, Pedro Sauer Team, and of course our home academy in Seaside which has grown from a handful of students to over 70 members now.
Along with the abundance of academies that have popped up in the last few years, there has also been a huge influx of higher belts. There’s close to twenty black belts in Oregon alone, along with a slew of brown belts. Even though I believe we as a whole are behind the curve as far as the national competition scene, there’s been major gains in the last few years. Having access to so many black belts in the state is helping rapidly raise the technical level of jiu jitsu players in the NW. More advanced positions and training partners are contributing to build ultra tough guys who are starting to make a name for themselves locally, and at the national level. There’s been students from local academies winning the World Championships at the blue and purple belt levels and I don’t think the brown and black belts trail far behind. Along with the Worlds competition, local guys and all belts are medaling at the Pan Ams, Nationals, US Open, American Cup, Grapplers Quest and IBJJF International Open events. Its good to see the steady growth of the competitors coming from the Northwest. In the next few years I can guarantee some of the tough schools around here will produce even more champions.
Since I love to compete and have been frequently competing in tournaments since 2003 I’ve experienced the huge explosion of the competition scene first hand. When I competed in my first tournament in Hillsboro, OR in the summer of 2003 there was about 85 competitors all crammed on the top floor of an old gym with a room temperature hot enough to make you pass out by just standing there.
Since then tournaments like the Oregon Open have had close to 600 competitors, and The Revolution Tournament has above 500 competitors. We now have huge blue belt divisions and at least a few fights for the purple belts at all weight levels. There’s even starting to be brown belt divisions with a few competitors in each bracket.
Along with more colored belts competing, the level of the competitors is also almost on par with some of the smaller tournaments across the nation like Grapplers Quest and NAGA. With local tournaments busting at the seams it wont be very long until we have an event with over 1000+ competitors. All these combined factors are pushing the evolution of jiu jitsu at a rate this area of the world has never experienced. If your like me, you are excited for what the future will bring for this amazing martial art.
Article Written by: Zach Adamson, Seaside Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt
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THE VALUE OF LEARNING OUTSIDE THE ACADEMY
Learning the art of Jiu-Jitsu is a lifelong endeavor. Not only is there a whole lot to learn, but new things keep coming up and as you progress in your knowledge you will find that there is even more that you don’t know. The Academy is a great place to build your foundation of knowledge because you are presented with a structured curriculum with teachers and training partners to drill with. However, don’t overlook the many resources available to you outside the Academy. There are books, DVDs, and online resources that are suitable for all levels of Jiu-Jitsu practitioners.
One book that every student should own is Saulo Ribeiro’s “Jiu-Jitsu University”. Not only is it put together very well for every level from white belt to black belt, but it fits well with the curriculum taught at the Seaside Jiu-Jitsu Academy. In fact, many of the moves we learn in class are identical to the ones described in the book.
DVDs are another good resource. It is helpful to see the moves demonstrated in action with the added benefit of instruction. Again, Saulo Ribeiro has a great series that complements the book as well as the curriculum we study at the Academy. There are two gi-based DVDs (Jiu-Jitsu Revolution and Jiu-Jitsu Revolution 2) and one no gi (Freestyle Revolution). I recommend beginning with instructional videos like Saulo’s that complement our curriculum, especially for newer students. There are many styles and variations that could be confusing and a bit overwhelming, but if you stick to a basic framework I think it will be easier to incorporate what you learn into your game.
In addition to books and videos, there is of course the Internet. The nice thing about the Internet is that it is usually free material, but sometimes you have to dig around to find what you want and you can end up with a lot of disjointed information, whereas books and DVDs are generally much more structured. The Internet includes such things as YouTube, blogs, online short courses, Jiu-Jitsu websites and paid subscription sites.
YouTube is probably the first thing that comes to mind when using the Internet to learn outside the Academy. The value of YouTube is that you can search on just about any topic of interest and find videos on that topic. YouTube videos are generally short and refer to a particular topic. For example, if you want to videos on the triangle choke, you can easily search on those words and find a whole host of videos. If you are interested in competing, then YouTube is an excellent resource because you can see so many matches in a short time at no cost. Just search on something like “bjj tournament” and start from there. If you find a particular YouTube source you like, you can subscribe to it. If you subscribe to a YouTube source you will be notified whenever new videos are added.
Blogs are another great online resource. They include words of wisdom (like these!) as well as short videos. It helps you to stay connected to the Jiu-Jitsu community while providing insights that are hard to find in other places. The Seaside Jiu Jitsu Academy blog and the Rafael Lovato Jr. Jiu Jitsu blog are great places to start.
In conclusion, don’t neglect using outside resources to augment your Jiu-Jitsu learning experience. From books to DVDs to the Internet, there is a wealth of content that you can use to speed up the progression of your game.
Curt Rogers – Seaside Jiu Jitsu Academy Blue Belt
Suggested Books:
Jiu-Jitsu University by Sualo Ribeiro
Suggested DVDs:
Jiu-Jitsu Revolution Series One and Two by Saulo Ribeiro
Freestyle Revolution by Saulo Ribeiro
Internet Resources:
YouTube
Blogs
Websites
