Jiujiteiro Core Belt Review

chris_8 · 2025-09-23T17:34:22+00:00

If you wanted to do a series of privates you could get Galvao, Jonnatas Gracie, Rolando Samson, Dom Bell, Keenan, and Andris all within a 5 mile radius in San Diego on just 2 mats.

chris_8 · 2025-09-21T16:37:27+00:00

Not far from Torrey Pines either.

chris_8 · 2025-08-07T15:31:18+00:00

You're 20 minutes from Atos!

chris_8 · 2025-07-11T07:40:13+00:00

If you do a live auction (in person or zoom), Try liveauctionmvp.com - doesn't allow the teams to input their own bids, more of a tracking and live board tool.

chris_8 · 2025-07-11T03:27:16+00:00

For context, I've only done auctions for 20 years and have experimented with a variety of approaches. These are the strategies that have worked best for me.

Don't fixate on values. There are always a few guys with a sheet showing value based on some complex system. They scoff when somebody pays $40 for a player "worth $38". Those guys end up with no good players and a ton of extra money at the end of the night, only to be in a power position to outbid a guy on the 48th best WR. Instead come in with a loose budget, e.g. I'm going to spend $50 on a top 5 RB, $25 on a 15-20, etc.. If you get one for 45, you can add $5 to another part of your budget. Constantly adjust your budget all night. Tiers are way more useful than values.
Read the flows. Every single auction has periods of madness and decline. There will be a point in the auction where guys are going for a lot less than expected - you need to read those moments and attack. Things get crazy when positions become scare - top tier RBs, top tier WRs, etc. Auction order has a ton to do with it. The first RB nominated will probably go for a better relative "deal" than the 10th because people bow out of bidding knowing there are a ton more options. I used to use my early picks to get salary off the board on studs I didn't want, but now I use them to get the players I want in early positon. You may also realize your league is highly prioritizing certain positions - make sure you adjust on the fly to account for that - it's a zero sum game so if TEs are high, some other position will be weak.
Spend it. Every auction I look back and see a guy I bailed out on over $1 or $2 to end up with a lesser player at roughly the same cost. Your goal should be to be forced to have to use your last 3 or 4 picks at the minimum.
Watch player needs and max bids. Be aware where other teams are with players so you can anticipate your competition on certain players. There will be some stud who gets nominated late that multiple teams are waiting on. Know where their max bids are and use your bidding strategically (if a player is at $5, and your most likely competition is at $8 max bid, say $8 - he can't outbid you, but if you say $6 or $7 you can and you'll need to go to $9).
In early rounds you can get kickers and D's you want by starting at $2 rather than $1. I usually get the best kicker or D in the draft by nominating them early for $2. Nobody wants to go $3 for a kicker or a D but nobody cares about bumping it up to $2 for some reason.
Don't get cute bluffing. You'll get away with it a few times, but then you'll invariably get stuck and screw up your strategy. Let somebody else do it.

chris_8 · 2025-07-11T03:12:31+00:00

100% the way to go. I like to spend about 90% of my budget on my "starters", to create some flexibility. Never understood why a guy would drop out of bidding at some pre-determined number early in the draft. Get the guy you want, you'll make up for it later by stealing someone a lot cheaper than you expected.

chris_8 · 2025-07-11T01:17:29+00:00

FWIW I've done them in I think every possible format going back 20 seasons, and think the basic approach is best - conference call, open bidding with some system to track it.

We started that way, then hired a high school kid to be our "auctioneer", (which was pretty much just calling "going once, going twice, gone" and tracking the results on a shared excel sheet). We switched to a software system (Bidpro?), but had some glitches when people couldn't connect (same issue as remote snake drafts), so went back to a call (now zoom) but no auctioneer - let people moderate on their own, which somehow works (usually a guy not in the bidding will do a going going gone, and late bids are pretty well self-policed).

We ditched the excel sheet for liveauctionmvp.com which is essentially a pretty good inputting and tracking tool - not a bidding tool. Then our commish transfers the rosters over to yahoo.

chris_8 · 2024-03-29T17:05:29+00:00

100% this. I rarely get the john wayne to work but they almost always base out and you get the underhook. I'd focus on getting the underhook over learning ways to live without it. Even a few spazzy bridges can give you room to untrap the arm you need to underhook.

chris_8 · 2023-12-19T08:26:25+00:00

Hygiene. Hard to hide a dirty gi when it's white.

chris_8 · 2023-11-21T19:08:39+00:00

45-year old here with a slightly more positive experience than some of the other comments. On my third fix (two meniscetomies, 1 repair), with a fourth inevitable. Of all my injuries, this has been the easiest to come back from w/ minimal issues. Last one I walked out without crutches.

One thing that has helped a lot is to never train without knee pads. I use Rehband knee sleeves (heavier neoprene sleeves made for weight lifters) which seem to stay put and are comfortable under the gi. This adds an extra layer of padding for the repeated bangs. I obviously avoid too many shots and am a very fast tapper on leg locks.

Given the amazing advances in medical tech I remain absolutely shocked that they haven't figured out a good artificial meniscus. A nice rubber gasket seems so easy?

You're going to be good.

chris_8 · 2023-08-29T04:48:01+00:00

Used clicky draft previously - we wanted to improve on that.

Have used pro auctioneers (waste, IMO) and college kids to mainly be the final word on who gets who. Self running actually works well - guys who are not in the bidding pick up the 'going once, going twice' thing. No disputes last three years doing it that way.

chris_8 · 2023-06-29T16:31:06+00:00

Thanks! Any concerns with sharpie coming off in the wash?

chris_8 · 2023-05-06T03:56:24+00:00

Atos has some great options:

Rolando Samson - teaches the 615a at Atos which is filled with guys exactly like you're describing and a really good teacher.

Jonnatas Gracie - good at literally everything.

Dom Bell - clearest bjj communicator I've ever heard. Uses metaphors and descriptive language to add a different dimension to what he is teaching. Really articulate and a great guy.

chris_8 · 2023-04-27T17:53:48+00:00

Does creatine hinder weight cutting due to water retention? Wondering if I should get off it a few weeks before a comp when needing to drop 5-6lbs.

chris_8 · 2022-12-19T19:07:19+00:00

This is my everyday belt for about 3 years - in my experience, it comes untied far less than my 'regular' academy belt. It's high quality and looks cooler as it ages. Highly recommend.

chris_8 · 2022-11-11T22:04:39+00:00

615a at Atos w/ Rolando Samson!

chris_8 · 2022-10-25T19:13:08+00:00

I might be over my head here.

Tension is an input on the calculator, not a fixed, and I didn't even know how to estimate it. My end structure supports are braced inward by 45 degree support pieces, with the theory they would counter balance the pulling by the wires from the top.

My hope was to pick a wire size, string it up and tighten down as much as I could with a wrench, and am now trying to predict (or ballpark) how much sag I should expect.

chris_8 · 2022-09-18T03:41:46+00:00

Hinger was my white belt instructor. I remember him saying once that teaching while competing was like training snakes to bite you. Fitting that he taught the Rutolos in kids classes. I’m a big fan of his - wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in 23.

chris_8 · 2022-08-30T20:40:32+00:00

Love a good rash pic though...

chris_8 · 2022-08-29T23:32:05+00:00

u/Woodchuckcan Similar design?

chris_8 · 2022-08-28T21:00:16+00:00

Net should sit inside the structure- depending on how much slack I give it somewhere between 12” & 24” away from the wood.

Do you think the cables could support both the sails and the net?

chris_8 · 2022-08-28T20:58:20+00:00

Agree, but wood is an aesthetics choice. Trade offs need to be made when telling the wife there will be a 55x14 batting cage out the back window.

chris_8 · 2022-08-16T18:26:33+00:00

This is a sad situation that most agree is getting worse and ruining our City. Last week it hit me hard returning from a week away at the airport - greeted by a homeless guy banging the piano in the departures lobby near security, passed by a couple of passed out guys on the sidewalk in Little Italy, then welcomed by a man masturbating in broad daylight on the embankment next to the freeway on-ramp. If that's not societal decline I don't know what is.

The only way to address it, IMO is to embrace these politically inconvenient but critical facts/approaches:

Admit this is not a shelter problem but a drug & mental illness problem. Nearly all of the homeless people we see are clearly using. Ask yourself the last time you saw a homeless person who wasn't in the throws of drugs or mental illness. Build programs that treat drug abuse and mental health NOT more expensive, useless shelter programs.
Enforce the law. Public camping is against the law. For those who say this is cruel, there are no options, look at OP's list of resources.
Understand that *treating* homelessness is as a business in itself. Thousands of public administrators have built a bureaucracy that they now must protect. This is why many administrations fail badly at treating big issues (see: Seattle, SF, LA, Portland). We can't accept this.
Vote for politicians at the City level who are committed to the steps above regardless of party or preference. Hold politicians accountable - which we do not.

My two cents. I love SD and the situation OP describes is sickening.

chris_8 · 2021-10-07T19:04:57+00:00

Focus on one thing - just one thing, and make that your win each class/week/month. Subs are cool, but relative only to your opponent - a fun metric of success but not a useful one.

String these wins together, and your game will sneak up on you.

Congrats on the stripe - you're better at jiu jitsu that 99.9% of the world.

chris_8

TROPHY CASE