The Official Blog of Ari Bolden

[Ari Bolden]

April 6 2008 1:48pst

Here is the start of the blog. I always said to myself that I always wished I had kept a log/diary when I was younger. This will be my psuedo attempt at the 21st century version. Now I make no promises that I will update this every day (or even every other day). I've got to thank our own forum member Dan (Dannicus) for giving me the idea for starting this (unbeknownst to him). I enjoyed (enjoy) reading your blog. A couple of paragraphs an entry is all it takes. It is like 'checking in with a friend' so to speak.

I am not sure where to start. There is so many things that have happened over the last year. In fact, 2007/2008 has been the busiest I've ever been in my entire life. I am not complaining however. It's been wonderful. I got engaged, started Submissions 101, moved, kept my dojo going, and met so many people.

I will post my previous blog entries from the website in the next few days, but for now, I'll just start from here. For those of you who don't know me or haven't been a member of our forum for a little while, I may need to explain a few things about myself first. As you have noticed, the time entry for this blog is past 1 am. Many of my entries will be at this time. I have my most productive hours between 1 and 3 am. Now, this isn't my choice mind you, it is just something I've gotten use to over the last 20 years. I always been a night owl and doing bouncer for 12 years really starts to screw up your sleep pattern.

As such, I tend you chill out, listen to ambient music and write or work. Submissions 101 takes a lot more time to keep updated than most people think. I am a one man army for the project called Submissions 101. I call it the project because that is what it is now. When I started, it was just a small hobby(website building) and a passion (jiu jitsu) coming together. It didn't really take up that much time. But, as the months went on, the more stuff I've added and the more videos I have made. It is now a project (a project is something that takes up time but your don't get paid for it). A project isn't a bad word or thing mind you. I've learnt a lot and met a lot of great people, so it is well worth it.

Without going into a 10 year rant on where I came from and what shaped me to the person I am today (I may write that sometime in the future but not right now), I'm going to give you a history lesson for Submissions 101. The site came about when I was running a website called Explosive Fight Videos. I started that site when the web only had a few sites showing free fight videos. In less than a year, my little site had moved up the all important web search ladder where you couldn't really find a fight video on the net that wasn't tied to EFV. I worked at a nightclub at the time (still work in the business) and thought there was all the CCTV footage out there, why not complie the footage and put it in one place. As EFV grew, it took more time to update and search out new fight material. I was too busy working to really put in the time to update the site. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months where I wouldn't update the thing. Finally, I stopped updating it and just left it as is.

My good friend and fellow doorman at the time, Dave aka Sugar, told me one day "Ari, you should make a site with jiu jitsu techniques". Dave is really computer savvy and is one of the top 10 internet marketers in the world today. He created a software called Hot Item Finder, which allows users to find the hottest items on Ebay. He's now moved to bigger projects and is always working. I miss hanging with Dave...perhaps we can find time to reconnect.

At any rate, Submissions 101 was born in March 2007 after I sold EFV to some 19 internet kid with a small empire of his own. I thought to myself how cool would it be to have a site that mixed my love for jiu jitsu and teaching. I could control the content, have and endless source of material where new stuff was just a few days away. Rather than search the web for videod, I could have a real time (almost) site and take requests for jiu jitsu techniques and make them myself. I wished when I started the martial arts that I would have had the ability to 'go online' and search for a technique I had a question to but couldn't get answered until next training day.

As one can see, the quality of the videos have gotten better as I have learned more about movie making, editing, teaching, and stylistic changes in the presentation of each clip. I decided when I started, I would have a duplicate You Tube channel to make the videos more viral. In fact, there are so many viewers that have no idea there is actually a website called Submissions 101. They confuse the You Tube channel as Submissions 101. It doesn't really matter, the message is same.

I think Sub 101 ver 1.0 went live in late March but it wasn't until April 2007 that the site really took shape. I think Submissions 101 is on Ver 3.0 now. One year. Wow. That just seems crazy to me. So, happy birthday Submissions 101. You are now 1 years of age.

The site was made to offer different forms of jiu jitsu techniques, free of charge with no frills. It wouldn't matter if it was ground based or stand up jiu jitsu I've done both for many years now). It wouldn't matter if it was Japanese, Brazilian, American, Canadian, Russian or from deep in space for the 10th planet. Its reason for its being was to share the art of JJ as a whole. I have had the pleasure of training with lots of different people over the years and have picked up several great things in that time. Now, whether or not you hate my style or how I do a technique or if you love my style and how I teach, the fact remains that submissions 101 has a positive mesage attached to it. I am sure it will only a matter of time until other sites start poping up. And when they do, the more power it adds to ud as a group.

In one year, the site has gone from about 30 visits a day to an average of 1500 unique visitors a day. That's 45 000 unique visits per month. My goal is to have 5000 people visiting the site each day. I also love the fact that the site is helping people. I get several dozen emails a week for requests or thanks. Having touched based with hundreds of people this year from white belts to black belts, all around the globe. That is a f*%king cool feeling.


Well, that's a start...one year....what a ride. Thanks to all the fans and friends. You guys have made it worth it. Enjoy your path and where ever it takes you.

AB

[Ari Bolden]

April 6 2008 3:05am

Yeah, I'm still listening to ambient music, sitting on the couch, eating triskits..triekets...fuck, how do you spell it (looks at box)..TRISUIT! What the hell is a triscuit anyways?

Yesterday I went to go train with Eddie in Seattle. I took Dylan along as well. I make any oppertunity to see him and train under him when I can. So, Dylan and I got up at 5am and left to drive to Seattle. We hit Seattle just after 12 pm. The seminar was schduled to start at 1pm. As Dylan and I stood outside, people slowing started to show up. We were at Ivan Salaverry's gym. Ivan, whom I had never met prior to this seminar, is a UFC fighter, who runs his school is Seattle WA. Ivan was a jokster and seemed like a great guy. But, I'll get to that in a moment.



So, as people started to line up around the door (the gym wasn't open yet), we chatted about jj and Eddie and his system. There we guys from other gyms who had ventured to Ivan's place to partake in the semninar that day. There was a guy I met outside named Ericson who had recognized my Patch on my jacket as Submissions 101. He was very kind and complementary about the site and told me he was a big fan. He told me about his training and that he had know Ivan for a very long time (they use to work at a hotel together if I can recall). I asked Ericson what he liked about the site (I like getting feedback on how I can improve or just listen to what people say). We talked for a bit and then we finally went inside.

Ivan's gym is very nice and had space for about 40 guys on the mats at once. The only thing I question is why Ivan chose 'brown' as his uniform colors . There was a ring and heavy bags along the walls. Very function and very clean. I also met a few lock flow guys that I had chatted with over in their forum. He 'EZTappins', if you read this, hope the foot heals and I'll let you know when Eddie is up at my place this summer. They too were super nice.

In fact, I didn't run into one guy at the seminar that had a huge ego or was a big gorilla. There were about 38 guys on the mat all from different schools in the area (Gracie Barra, MMA schools, AMG, Ivan's). We got changed and Eddie came in. It was good seeing him again and I asked him how long he was staying in town for? He told me that he was flying out the same day. Life's been busy for Mr. Bravo. It's nice to see his shit taking off finally after 5 years of ridicule. His books and his DVD are selling like crazy and now everyone wants some of the twister. I know I wasn't there in the beginning, but Eddie Bravo single handedly changed my view on grappling.

The seminar was loads of fun and I added some more weapons to my arsenal. Even the techniques I knew well, I was able to fine tune and take something away from the teaching that day. I was worried however, because I wasn't sure I would be able to participate with my bad back (its been kind screwed for 4 months: Siatic nerve problems). It held up fine. Ivan's gym by the way is always kept at 80 degrees. that's to keep the muscle's warm so cramping doesn't occur as often. It did make for some grumpy people though. Eddie was like "Ivan! Why is it so hot in here? 80 degrees...D-A-M-NNNNNN! turn that shit down"

It was pretty funny watching the interplay between the two guys. We covered rubber guard stuff, pyramid position, and some twister set ups. Don't worry, I 've got lots of new vids that will hit the site soon. Good times. At one point, Ivan was yelling at Eddie "Hey Eddie, Eddie (like an excited school child)..look out there..the guy in the red...see him?"

This was right in the middle of Eddie teaching us something. Eddie looks over "What? Who is that? Is that...that....that's Maurice Smith?" Ivan was like "Yeah, it is." (Ivan and Maurice are buddie's and Mo was just cycling by and droped in. Now, the really fun part is that Smith was dress in a bright red cycling uniform (he looked like a big black version of Lance Armstrong.). The guys made mention that Mo just one his last fight via armlock. I've got the video of when he came in. That will be going up too.

The whole days was fantastic and Dyl and I bolted right after to make it home (for those who don't know, I live in Victoria BC and in order to get home, we need to take a ferry (Victoria is on Vancouver Island. If you don't know geography or know what lies above the 49th, use google maps I had him drop me off at work at 11pm and worked the bar until 3am last night. I got to bed at 4am. It was a long 23 hour day but well worth it.

I look forward in taking Ivan up on his offer and go back down there to train with him and his guys. I'll be seeing Eddie again in a couple off weeks.

Well, it is getting close to 4am now. Better hit the hay. Until next time...

AB

[Ari Bolden]

April 9th 11:43am

Over the last month, it's been a busy one for yours truly. I am trying my best to heal up (my bad back..which is doing much better with no active grappling at the moment) but have been training really hard and putting in the reps as Eddie calls it. April is going to be a good month because I will have seen Eddie twice and Scott Epsiten (one of Eddie's top brown belts) once. I am taking the 10th Planet seriously and have really devoted myself to 'getting it'. While there are detractors out there about his system, everytime I go to a new seminar and visit with Eddie, there are more people there. Listen, if a Japanese Jiu Jitsu guy can fall in love with the system, the sky's the limit! I am fixing bad habits and making my game tighter. Isn't that what this journey is all about?

Speaking of JJJ, I gotta thank Sherdog for keeping their thread alive on Submissions 101. Good for our site and our forum as it spreads the word. While I have said "love us or hate us", we're simply are not going anywhere. I realized after talking with Eddie as well as other BJJ guys recently at the seminar, that the site is doing well and has gather a great following. I do find it funny when someone says "Sub101 has a cult following" like it's something bad. While SOME people complain about the technqiues, I've talked with many high level BJJ guys who love it. It is nice to have the validation and really puts everything else into perspective.

Now, if they love the site, that must mean that their technique is in the toilet and don't know any better for brown belts or maybe, just maybe, we're doing something right? If the Sherdog guys are coming over here to lurk, let me say this: I don't have anything against you guys and I see there are guys over there that like us and hate us. You can stick your thread or bury it, makes no difference to us. As you can see, our forum has a lot of positive topics and we are all here to help one another in our BJJ, 10PJJ, Judo, JJJ, Sambo, and/or Wrestling game.

Life's too short to be grumpy all the time.

Getting the guys ready for competition:

Over the last year, I've been getting a core group together to hit some local tourney's. We did one last November and the guys did really well. Dylan is also picking up things at light speed. Tom made mention of this in another thread, but I thought I'd share it with you nonetheless.

When Dyl and I went to Arizona in Jan to train with Eddie, the night before we went to one of John Botello's classes. John is a solid teacher and I am proud to call him a friend. Anyways, I remember looking at one of the guys on the mat and noticed he was 'doing things a bit different'. I asked John and he said that "the guys was a Joe Moreria purple belt that just refused to learn the 10th planet system." I asked John why he bothered to train at his school then. John just shrugged.

At the end of class, everyone rolled. I told Dylan to roll with "that guy" over there. I paired him up with the purple belt. Now, I didn't tell Dylan what rank he was, I just kind of threw him into the fire. The 2 rolled for about 6 minutes where I watched Dyaln sweep several times and get position and hold it. The other guy didn't have an answer for Dyl's game.

Afterwards, I told him what rank the guy was and Dylan says " Really? If I had known that, I would have gone harder!" The reason I am telling this story is because it was one of those proud teacher moments. I thought he did really well and his skill set is really coming along. I call him the EC at class because his favorite move is the electric chair and get's it all the time when rolling. I wanted to say, in a public place, that I am proud of you Dylan, I think you've come a long way and your help at the school has been amazing.

Pathces are in.....

The new Submissions 101 patches are now on sale on the site. They are SICK looking and I am really happy how they turned out. We've decided to place them on our left lower leg, near the bottom on the front of the gi pants.

Well, that's it for today's rant. Thanks to all the forum members, Tom, my students and the almost 2100 emails we've recieved in 10 months and the 10's of thousands of views and comments on our You Tube vids.

Making a difference one video at a time
Train hard, train smart, and be kind.
Ari

[Ari Bolden]

April 13 2008 3:36pm

I just got back from a seminar at my buddy's MMA gym (Island MMA: Owner Jason Heit) with 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu head instructor/brown belt Scott "Einstien" Epstien. I brough Dan and Dylan along with me today.

Jason is a class act and his guys are down to earth and NOT a bunch of ego driven bone heads (which you get a lot of in the sport). I had never met Scotty, but any chance to get some more 10th Planet stuff under my belt is always a plus. Some might wonder why one would bother to train under a brown belt in the system when you can train with the master of the system instead. Here is my thoughts:

A brown belt (or purple for that matter) can show you things that the master takes for granted. Everyone has their own way of doing things. I picked up tons of small details toady that I hadn't seen before because Scott adapts the 10PJJ system to fit his body and skill set. You can actually learn a lot from everyone, if you have an open mind and you ego is in check. I got to ask Scott a bunch of questions that I had been thinking about recently and we went over some counters, sweeps and other fun stuff.

I asked Scott about a move I had heard called the Epsecutioner and he showed me. It is a north south crank choke from a cool set up. Scott was down to earth, much like Eddie and has a great new york accent. He was patient with the new guys and kept saying " I'm an asshole...but at least I am a patient asshole!"

So overall, it was good times and I filled in two major gaps in my game today (no, I am not telling ....but if you knew what they were, they ain't there anymore!) Both Dylan and Dan are looking much better the system is becoming much better and tighter for us. The funny thing is, much of the stuff I/we do off camera is a lot different than on camera. I go and train harder off camera than when the tape is rolling. I do this because it is my time to work and refine my game.

Well, I am chilling now and going to break down some of the moves as I rest. Jiu Jitsu for me is as much a mental game as a physical one. The ability to recollect and break down what you learn helps SO MUCH.

Until next time!

[Ari Bolden]

April 26 2008 9:26pm

Well, it's Sat night and I am chilling at home with the flu. I haven't had the flu in about 10 years. I've had colds and such but not the flu. You forget how shitty it is until you have it. I think I'll start getting flu shots next year! I've been laying in bed or moving to the couch to watch Red Dwarf (I am a huge fan...have all the DVDs) for the last 4 days. I think I may be on the up swing...we'll see tomorrow.

The 10 days of Eddie Bravo was REALLY successful. The videos got loads of hits and comments. Those videos really give an insight that the books don't and answer a lot of questions 10th Planet JJ enthusiasts have about the system.

Speaking of which, Jason Day's use of the rubber guard in UFC 83 was a huge indication how well the system works for MMA. Eddie was going off at the UFC when it happened (he texted all his instructors and told us about it as it was an undercard fight and not on the regular braodcast.) I have since watched the fight and it was really impressive. The 10th Planet system is under one year of becoming MAIN STREAM and will be great for all the affliate schools, which brings me to my next point:

May 10th, Eddie will be back up at my school for another seminar. This is the day that we'll officially lauch 10th Planet Victoria. I am very excited for it and I and my students have been working VERY hard in system over the last year. Dan and Leo went over to Vancouver today to attend a seminar by Eddie. They had a good time (I wish I could have gone but I was too sick) and I got a texted by the Twister saying that "my boys looked really good and I should be proud.". Nice to hear

The updates on the site will be slow over the next couple weeks as I get ready for the seminar, do my taxes and other things that have been pilling up. I will get to making some new videos guys, just give me a while and we'll be back on track.

Well, that's it...until next time.

[Ari Bolden]

May 9 2008 12:40am

Ever have one of those days where time just seems to whiz by? Today was one of those days for me. I am not sure how I managed to fit in everything that I had to do, but I did. Eddie will be here tomorrow and is staying at my place for the weekend. While he is coming up to give a seminar and 'lauch' 10th Planet JJ Victoria, I'd be lying if it wasn't more like a 48 hr party with him.

What people fail to realize is that Eddie Bravo, while a great jiu jitsu innovator, is just a regular guy who got caught up in a 'wonderful life'. Sure, he put in hard work, defeated Royler, and has produced some great books, music and DVDs. But at his core, he is down to earth and just a 'regular guy'. In fact, lots of fighters and celebs are the same way.

I picked up my 10th Planet t shirts today and they look great. It has our logo on the front and back with a Sub 101 logo on the sleeve. I am picking up the new banner tomorrow and getting a few more things organized before I pick Eddie up at the airport. Last time he was here, we introduced him to Yam fries and Belinis (like a slurpee with alcohol). It was super funny because we kept bugging him about it....

"Eddie, you come from a city (LA) that has oxygen bars but you've never heard of yam fries and belinis???"

For people who are from the US and have never visited Canada, especially the West Coast of Canada, they are in for a surprise. One, it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Two, the climate is mild in Victoria with snow capped mountains in the back drop nestled right on the water. And three, there is a 3 to 1 ratio of women to men in this city (I told Eddie about that last time and he didn't believe me until he saw it.)

The new 10th planet vids I put up have gotten lots of hits and really help answer some questions that sometimes books can't cover. That's why seminars and LIVE teaching is so important; you pick up on small details that you hadn't seen before.

I have a few more vids going up this week and then they'll be a little lag as I make more and edit the new footage from Eddie.

Lastly, I want to personally thank all the guys on this forum. They've been great and down to Earth. It really is a GOOD forum where there isn't any bullshit.

Well, time for bed...update to follow in a few days....let the jiu jitsu party begin!

Peace
Ari

[Ari Bolden]

May 11 9:18 am

The 'rock star' weekend is over. Eddie came up to give an advanced seminar at my school and it was REALLY good. We had people come in from Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle. I was super impressed with everyone I met and I made some great contacts as well. My overall thoughts are as follows:

The Deep Hook
Seminars are 4 hours long and we focused a lot on the importance of the deep hook in several positions along with the spider web. we really started to refine to spider web position, getting more pointers and making everything tighter.

Reppin the BJG ROOTS!


Tighter...dear god....
Speaking of tighter, let me first say that Eddie Bravo's jiu jitsu is f#&King tight! While he isn't on the competition circuit anymore, the guy's jiu jitsu isn't getting worse. It is getting more refined and his squeeze level is is like level 2000! I got bashed, mashed, and squeezed during the seminar. That's 4 hours of Eddie Bravo doing his thing. Now, a few interesting points for those who having personally trained/rolled with him.

1)For 165lbs, the guy feels like 220. I'm talking mount, back control gangster lean, hooks in from all fours. I know everyone talks about being heavy while getting top position, but there were times I was like "damn".
2) Eddie talks about Marcelo Garcia's squeeze. Eddie's squeeze is not exactly light. He was super tight in the RG, high mount, just about every position you can think of. His chokes and anaconda leg vice are like death.
3) He went harder on me today....because there were a few times I resisted . I am not sure if I have it on video (I've got tons and haven't looked through it all yet!), but he arm crushed me from spiderweb and I thought my arm was gonna snap. I also resisted his douche bag attempt...another mistake. I also resisted in his RG and his mission pump. I wanted to see if I could shut down his attempt to get my arm across his chest for the arm bar (mission pump).

Um...nope.

The new school
10th Planet Victoria is offically in the books and were going strong and really pushing the system. It was nice to hear Eddie praise my students and how hard we've worked over the last year. I am not sure if too many people actually know, but we are putting in MAD reps in the system and my game is on a whole different level than what it was.

Eddie was also kind enough to belt me too as a purple belt.



Hey Red, show me...
I told Eddie about JM, my 16 year old red head who is a natural at jj. I also showed him some video on JM rolling before the seminar. At the seminar, Eddie kept calling on JM (Red as he called him), to show him techniques and asking what other students were missing.

It was even funny at one point because I had JM 'correct me! Eddie calls people up to demonstrate moves that we were just going over. In this case, it was mission pump. So as we cycled through students, Eddie kept saying " Hey Red, what could have been done better?" Then JM would answer. It was priceless. So Eddie calls me up to do it. The pressure is on. Then Eddie goes "Red, what was the one thing Ari missed?" Jm replies "he didn't C cup the leg." Eddie goes "Daaaammmnnn, you don't miss much." So, as a point, I did the technique again...this time 'perfectly' and Eddie winked and smiled (I have the video, pretty funny!).

Overall, all the people from out of town and my students were great and we had a fantastic time. Thank you to all.



Other Activities

This part of the blog could run 10 000 words easy. Let me just saw we had a 'rock star' weekend and it was a fricking blast. Nope, no video, no reporting..what happens in Victoria , stays in Victoria

That's it....look forward to Eddies return in a few months.

cheers
Ari

[Ari Bolden]

June 1 2008 2:27pm

It's been a while since the last update so let's get right to it:

The rash guard saga. As many of you know from reading the forum, I ordered some rash guards about 3 months ago. I had no idea that it would take this long and the company that I am dealing with...well, let's just say we've had some communications issues. On that note, they told me that things are on track and that my order will eventually reach me. I sure hope the quality is good because I have a bad taste in my mouth from this whole endeavor. I look forward to getting them in my hands and I HOPE they are good.

Submission Series competition. There is a grappling competition coming up in July that I am taking some of the boys to. The submission series is a great concept because there are no points. You win by submission or who is the more aggressive fighter (the guy who goes for more submissions attempts). This makes for a WAY MORE exciting competition to watch and you don't get those guys who sweep once and then sit on you for 4 minutes. I hate that. I think we'll have about 6 adults and 4 teens.

Submissions 101 REDUX. I am going to be redoing many of the the older videos over the next few weeks and replacing to older ones. I want to get the techniques up to par and a lot of the older vids were done too quickly. I will add multiple angles, redo some other vids, get the throws section better...a basic overhaul of the videos. I have several vids coming from other 10th planet instructors as well, so this will be exciting.

New DVD project. I am going to be making a self defense jiu jitsu DVD in June. I've had a lot of requests for this and it will allow me to showcase some GOOD OLD Japanese JJ and self defense.

Time spent on the board and site. Summer is here and I finally put my motorcycle on the road. This means I am going to spend some more "me time" away from the computer. So, I'll still do my best to answer PM's and emails but I might be less present on the board. I spend SO many hours doing vid and site stuff that it probably works out that I get's paid 50 cents an hour to do it. If anyone knows of some major companies that want to advertise or pay me...I am all ears ;-)

That's it guys....see you one the mats...well...after I've gone riding!

[Ari Bolden]

June 23 2008 6:11pm

Finally an update to the blog. Lot's going on...more than usual.

Gracie Dharma: After 29 years of wanting a boxer, Linds and I finally got one. This goes back to when I was 5 years old and my next door neighbors had one named Kim. She would come over to our place and I would feed her Kraft Singles at our front door. This image, coupled with that good feeling from the memories, has never gone away. I am stoked and happy as can be.

After looking at what seems to be a thousand names, we finally settled on Gracie Dharma. I know, I know-Gracie! Everyone is like "why not Bravo"? We chose Gracie for 2 reasons: the first is that Linds loved the name Grace/Gracie (no connection to the first family of BJJ). The second reason is that is was a neat reference to the GRACIES and the family that brought the importance of ground grappling to the world. I've always loved grappling styles over striking styles and the name just happens to be beautiful.

For the record, I am NOT ANTI BJJ or ANTI GRACIE. Never have been in fact. Got loads of respect for them. People think that just because I (and others) study under Eddie that we have to be anti this or anti that. That is far from the truth. I always root for the BJJ fighters in MMA (unless it is a 10PJJ fighter ;-). Just beautiful to watch.

Anyways, that is the name we settled in and I plan on bringing her to my gym all the time. It is important to have a companion not just a pet.

New videos: As time has gone on, I've been updating and replacing some older vids. I've been getting better and learning more and the journey has been great! I sometimes come across forums where they like to bash us, which is just like anything in life. I've made adjustments and made an effort to clear up any confusion that the videos have brought.

We're not perfect, but we also have made every effort to convey our information about out background and such on our site. Problem is, people are lazy and don't bother looking. It's old hat really...and I've written pages and pages to those who inquired about us and my back ground. I've always been polite and never discounted anyone's thoughts or suggestions. I won't stand for jerks or assholes though.

But not all is negative. In fact 85% is positive and fantastic. The emails that I get are just great. There have been hundreds and hundreds of them over the past year and our you tube channel gets about 30-50 new subscriptions a day! We're nearly 9000 members now. Also, as many of you are aware, I've been able to touch base with many instructors from around the the world and some are even members here on this very forum. Getting to know someone is the first step in making connections and friends. These are the people YOU want to know, not the people who are full of negativity or single mindedness. Hell, we have judo, sambo, JJJ, BJJ, and 10pJJ rubbing shoulder here on a regular basis without trolling.

Humor: I read recently that some people had an issue with my picture/avatar of me reading Eddie's book behind a Gracie book. That really was funny to me because as anyone knows, I change my avatar all the time and this was just an inside joke with Eddie. The photo was just like a thousand other ones out there like them (ie: ever see the one of Frank Shamrock reading the Royler Gracie book or the one with Lindland, Couture reading one?) As you read above, I think the Gracies (Carlson and others) and true pioneers of the sport. Don't take life so seriously...you might suffer at catastrophic stroke or something.

There are a few guys out there that like to stir the pot and have been trying to do so for a long while now. I find it funny that they have taken so much interest in little old me while saying that we are nothing. They pick on all the bad points of the videos or their perception of who I am. Big deal. They're assholes and I am not trying to change their minds.

Turning the other cheek: The martial art business is a funny one. It involves a lot of egos. I have chatted with almost all the instructors in my city and I've got a great relationship with most, if not all of them. I don't speak poorly of anyone and if someone is looking for something else, I have no problem sending them to other gyms. My friend Jason Heit owns one of the local MMA places in town and we have students that cross train at each of our gyms. We got together a few months back and we had an in house grappling tourney at his place (actually, there was about 5 schools representing). It was GOOD fun and enjoyable for all. We shared techniques and then went for a bite to eat.

There is another MMA place in town called Zuma, run by a guy named Adam Zugec. I'd be lying if I said that we started off on the right foot 6 years ago. He is a black belt in BJJ and also a MT and CSW guy under Eric Pulson.
We kind of did our own thing and left it at that. I am sure he and I saw our first encounter totally different. We'll, last year I drove over to HIS gym to chat with him to bury the hatchet so to speak. We chatted for about a half hour and I wanted to clear the air. Our conversation was polite and simple. I respect him for being a teacher (and all the other teachers in my city) for making a living at this whacky thing we call martial arts.I've never once uttered a bad word about him. I assume(d) that went both ways?

I had issue (and still do) with one of his students. I've even tried to make peace with the kid but it seems that he has continued to choose his path with me personally. I never once made reference to him and actually congratulated him on one of his wins in the cage. I've got a list of the emails and messages the kid has sent and they are far from polite, especially since we have never met. Adam had told me that 'sometimes this kid tends to take the initiative and came to us from another school. He is what he is." The funny thing is this: For a guy who has told me he doesn't care for me he seems to spend a lot of time stalking this forum and our sites (its frankly getting creepy). I gave him the benefit of the doubt because a few of his fellow team members told me he had been hit many times in he head and I didn't want to start things with the guy if he couldn't help himself because of this deficiency. But I think you've gotta draw the line eventually. I am a staunch supporter of local fighters (even from local schools). I think it is great when they win and do well but I will keenly keep watching this guys matches and see what the great karmic wheel holds for him.

I keep turning the other cheek because I know that an eye for an eye will eventually leave the world blind.

I wanted to post in a PUBLIC forum that I will continue to teach and leave other instructors to do the same. It's bad karma to do otherwise. The politics of the martial arts can be nasty and NO ONE wants to get pulled into some bullshit when we have better things to do. Not everyone is going to like training at the same place in a city. That is why there is variety.

[Ari Bolden]

cont:

Edit: I just read on MMA.tv a thread they have over there. Funny that some familiar user names are popping up on that thread. I learned long ago that it is almost impossible to change the minds of those who are out to burn you at the stake. I read the thread and see how things get twisted and miss informed (ie: the competition I entered over 5 years ago. I entered the intermediate division (the poster stated beginner) where I fought for the first time. I lost one match via arm bar and the other via triangle at the very end of the match). Good learning experience where I could see what goes on, the politics involved and move forward or my reasons for redoing some videos) I dare say that we all we less 5 years ago, but funny how this becomes a defining moment in some people's eyes. I have made mistakes on some videos too. But, such as life. Hey, feel free to take more personal swipes at me...it must really burn some guys up to know that we are actually doing some good out there. Yep, we've driven hundreds of people to seek out JJ gyms around the planet. This includes JJJ, GJJ, BJJ, 10pJJ, sambo and even judo. Every attack only strengthens our position and what we do. The one I love the most is when detractors state "anyone who likes them must suck or not know anything about JJ." It is a bitter pill to swallow when some of those people aren't noobs isn't it? I am sure this paragraph will be taken apart by someone eventually and mis quoted or taken out of context.

Meh...such as life.

There was a post by someone on there (Tbag) who hit the nail right on the head with my avatar pic I mentioned above. Here is the post:

LOL...give me a break with the indignation over that picture. It's clearly a play on a classic image..i.e a kid reading a comic book but hiding it inside a math textbook so he's not caught by his parents. There is absolutely nothing in that picture offensive to Carlson Gracie or those in his lineage. Yeah, the guy may suck but it looks like some are going out of there way to go after him now.

i don't understand what that picture is trying to convey.

Picture someone who is a bit embarassed about his reading material hiding it inside more respectable literature. For example, I'm embarassed to be reading Danniel Steel since it her work has such a poor reputation, but I just cant get enough of her novels, so I hide them inside classics like Dostoyevsky and Conrad novels. Similarly, Bravo's reputation is a bit on the trashy or unsophisticated side so he hides the book within a Carlson Gracie classic.

It's clearly a sly look at Eddie's reputation in the BJJ community as opposed to a comment on Carlson Graice. I'm just lol'ing at the blind hate that would cause someone to take offense to that...

Hey Adam (or Mike S) or any other Carlson Gracie guys out there who might read this. The picture wasn't meant as a dig and was posted for the exact reason the guy above suspected. Sorry you guys got offended but it is what it is. Tongue and cheek. Nothing less and certainly nothing more.

The next phase: My gym has grown a lot over the last 2 years and we look forward to a fun and bright future. Many of the guys are going to try out their first competition in a couple of weeks and we look forward to that. Next year, my new gym is also looking to include the addition of a Kicking Boxing Coach, Judo black Belt, a wrestling coach and even the possibility of some BJJ brown and black belts. Time will tell how things pan out and I won't jump the gun yet but here is to the future.

Train hard everyone, no matter what style you do.
Many paths, one family.