Brandon Mccaghren KMAA 2014 Seminar Recap
I know there are a few threads up about B Mac's adventure up in TN already, but it was such an outstanding experience that it deserves at least a couple more threads, so here is another one. The weekend had it all: awesome jiu jitsu, a UFC fighter, an outstanding Sub-Only tournie, Purple Nurples, and a hamburger so large that it caused B Mac to make a value judgment of me that I don't think he or I was entirely ready for.
Friday afternoon Brandon showed up at KMAA and spent about 2 hours working with Ovince, with me as the grappling dummy. For not getting to see most of what was going on, it was incredible the amount of detail I was able to pick up from my end of the technique. Seeing and feeling the difference of the tweaks Brandon was helping Ovince with, I knew getting him up here to KMAA was going to be great. Little adjustments here and there, proper body mechanics, how to make movements and transitions a little easier, so totally worth getting gently maimed for two hours. And I'll say this: in my opinion, some of the most impressive things that were taught from that session were not caught on tape or photographed.
Saturday morning was mostly a blur. We had our sub-only tournament with 6 competitors under 170 lbs and about 12 competitors over 170 lbs. We used modified EBI rules, and everyone loved it! I don't have statistics or breakdowns of average match length, and we weren't able to catch every single match on tape, but I will say this: thank you to everyone who came out, especially 10P Cookeville Moon Head Michael Bartlett! He brought a squad in and they put on a show! Michael was even able to pull of the stocks from the hindulotine, the stocks being my hands down favorite thing to do from rubber guard.
And then came B Mac's seminar. Dude is a beast with the heart of servant, I can not express enough gratitude for him coming up and giving us such a detailed darce defense system. When I asked him how long he would be teaching, he said until no one else wants to learn. I am so glad KMAA got to be the first school outside of his own where he shared his entire picture day system. You need to get him out to your school yesterday with this stuff. And here is why: the way Brandon breaks down this particular system, its not just about defense. In general, but especially the way Brandon teaches: learning about defense is never just about defense. One of my favorite lessons that Brandon took great effort to emphasize: If you need three things to get a particular submission locked in to get the kill, your opponent only needs less than 3 to be able to survive.
After three and a half hours of pure gold, most everyone was spent, but B Mac still stayed to get a few rolls in and drop some science on those who would ask for help. B Mac KMAA loves ya, and we have got to do this again!!
