Team DNA BJJ
2001 Thickson road south, unit #15 L1N 6J3 Whitby, ON, Canada

Congrats to Coach Sarah on receiving her Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black belt from Professor Jorge Britto!!

Got a visit from the city(They are checking all the businesses to ensure compliance) and also public health this week as someone called on us for whatever reason. The city inspector came during our class today. They both went over our safety plan and the city inspector got a chance to watch our class. They both said we are following the proper protocols, just got an email update report from our visit today by the inspector.

Anyone looking for great Christmas presents idea, check out @thecarverguy . He made this beautiful + unique chess set for us a couple years ago. You will be supporting local and getting a one of a kind piece. He's a busy man around this time of year so make get your orders in quickly!

Throwback to Grapplers Quest UFC Fan Expo purple belt absolute finals. This video has gone viral a ridiculous number of times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIW3pPYxmak

-Those who said we are essential, apparently didn't see the hundreds of messages exchanged with students that were suicidal before training. -Those who sai...d we aren't essential, haven't seen the hundreds of messages from former drug addicts thanking Jiu-Jitsu for saving them. -Those who said we aren't essential, haven't seen the hundreds of messages from students that finally have their weight and health under control thanks to Jiu-Jitsu. -Those who said we aren't essential, have not seen the numerous times Jiu-Jitsu has saved our law enforcement and those they were arresting. -Those who said we aren't essential, never realized Jiu-Jitsu is not something we do, it's a part of who we are. #bjj #health #essential #positive #hardwork #fit #addiction #positivevibes #pma

Surprise surprise https://www.cnn.com//teens-mental-health-screen/index.html

Congratulations to Antonio on earning his brown belt after 9 solid years of training. Antonio also has solid Judo skills, making him well rounded. He's a great role model for the other students on and off the mats, keep up the great work!!

Happy Halloween

Long mental health post alert!! Tonight I was arguing with myself about why I couldn’t go to jujitsu- even though my stuff was clean, I was showered my hair wa...s braided, and my son was with his dad. I had to work on some stuff for work, I had to finish masons costume, I’ve got a ton of laundry to fold. -I’m the only one that takes care of our home (aside from masons awesome help ) so if I don’t do it it doesn’t get done. So really it comes down to prioritizing... slowly jujitsu has made its way to the top of the priority list. Why...? Because it’s the answer to keeping my mental health on point. Depression runs in my family and it effects me If I don’t stay on top of what keeps me balanced. Jujitsu has a massive impact on that balance. I notice when I don’t go for a few days the importance of my self care slips. Other things seem to be more important. Self care for me is new. Something I actively have to Pursue. So I wonder why was I struggling tonight? Then I realized that I’ve had a pretty heavy weekend. I was putting other people’s needs before mine in attempts to please them. Which in turn drained my bucket. So the reason for this post is to remind everyone that we are 100% responsible for our lives and our own self care and self love. You can not expect anyone else to make you feel good or better. It’s selfish to put that responsibility on someone else. A lot of the times we don’t even know we’re doing it. I’ve come a long way when it comes to emotional awareness and when I look back at my behaviour in the past I’m extremely embarrassed at how I conducted myself. I am grateful for the relationships in my life that corrected me in a way that came from a place of love. Whenever I felt sad or down or low.... I would just immediately call one specific friend because she always had all the answers -I would word vomit all over her until it was all out and then wait for her advice. I did this constantly. Then one time I said what should I do and she was quiet. She sighed and said do you realize that everyone in my life comes to me with their problems? I didn’t. I didn’t even think that me looking for help was affecting someone I cherished negatively. I was so oblivious to her feelings or that my negative energy was shifting on to her. I apologized and now whenever I’ve got some junk to dump I always ask how full is your bucket right now... do you have space for me to vent and I’ve put up the same boundaries with some other relationships in my life. Just like she did with me, it’s important to protect our own progress with self love and mental heath. I am so happy to be there for anyone, to help anyone and share what I’ve learned up to this point about grief and mental heath. But firstly I have to make sure I’m keeping mine in check. Energy is transferred. We have to be careful about what we’re putting on others and what efforts were putting into ourselves. It is no one’s responsibllity to make ourselves happy but ourselves. That includes boundaries. I’ve had a heavy weekend and I’ve carried some weight that belongs to others.... and it dawned on me. That’s why I was resisting jujitsu tonight. That negative energy was trying to move in and take over and jujitsu would have and did squashed that. I have to realize It’s my own fault. because i put others needs before my own. Sounds selfish, but if my needs are met Then I become available! So just a reminder to make sure you’re doing the things to keep you up. Whatever that is for you. You must make yourself a priority because no one can do it for you. It’s like asking someone else to diet so yoU can lose weight. And when you treat yourself well the people that love you benefit. Sunlight, healthy foods (or supplements -get what your body needs) sleep, meditation, yoga, massages, sports, crafts, walks in the woods, music, fishing, hunting, painting, dancing .... people in your life may feel threatened by you taking time for yourself but that’s too bad. They’re struggling themselves. whatever it is That sparks joy in you, find it and do it. And don’t let anyone prevent you from Making it a priority. You’re the one that lives in your body and you can either live in a happy place or a miserable place. It’s up to you and only you. Anyway that’s all

Everything we do at DNA is structured, we focus a specific series for 1 week at a time, starting with the basics and diving deeper into the series as the week progresses. Example of a weekly series at DNA focusing on the Toreando pass and how to successfully apply it effectively in a number of ways. As instructors we are always learning and in our first year of being open, we would teach many different techniques from different positions in a week that weren't related to each... other. Since we implemented this systemized approach, the results and improvement in all of the students has been outstanding. We the coaches learn better through structure and so did our students. We also share competition examples of us(the coaches) doing the techniques at a high level so the students can see the application in real time with full resistance against high level opponents and have confidence in the validity of the techniques they are learning. Toreando Series Regular toreando + elbow trapping knee detail/option North south finish Toreando No grips(Explain knee cut option) Toreando switching side to side Stack pant grips, let then come back --> toreando Trapping leg(3 options) to knee cut(modified grips), long step, shin slide x pass Vs spider(no grips) --> throw by Vs opponent toreando defense where they get own spider as you toreando, then you switch sides and throw by Vs spider guard grips, knee pressure circle hand out then throw with the other side + finishing details Vs spider guard - knee pressure circle out, walk to side punch down remaining spider hook Vs spider(grips) to stack Vs spider(grips) kick leg to throw by Vs lasso - spider jump over toreando Vs lasso/spider - C grip to no grip toreando Vs deep lasso.spider - knee through let them keep lasso and slide arm over it Vs deep lasso/spider - kill spider hook toreando pass, let them keep lasso, head in hip to block invert/Omoplata - option to step over leg to smash pass or finish in side if you can't circle hand out as you do that to avoid lasso sweep Vs lasso/spider - reach lasso arm under spider leg to trick them/kill lasso --> toreando **Video example attached** Vs scoot defense from toreando/throw by --> run to north south, get Kimura grip(Chicago open example) or armbar Vs scoot defense grab from lapel, switch sides, cross face, finish Vs scoot escape - grab collar, knee cut over their arm Vs scoot escape, grab around back, walk to other side, steering wheel arms Vs DLR Guard Vs DLR guard pants grip Vs squid guard https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Y1h3Jl5mn/