TECHNICA: RANDORI
July 08, 2022
The gentle art reveals itself most fully when instruction stops and rolling begins.
TECHNICA: FIGURE FOUR
June 06, 2022
You’d seen it coming from everywhere. And yet, you didn’t see it coming.
TECHNICA: DEEP HALF GUARD
May 26, 2022
There is nothing new under the sun except what’s always been there, right in plain view, or right below.
TECHNICA: UCHI MATA
May 09, 2022
Uchi mata: inner-reaping throw. One of Kano’s original 40. A lapel in one hand, a sleeve in the other.
TECHNICA: HONEY HOLE
April 24, 2022
The honey hole – a position so superior, so heavily tilted in one person’s favor – might as well be the back mount of the legs.
TECHNICA: COMPETITION
April 10, 2022
There’s the self-conception one walks around with. Then, across a bridge of rules, rituals, and entry fees, there’s something closer to the truth.
TECHNICA: OVER-UNDER
March 22, 2022
There are people who wander in and out of our worlds, and we hardly notice that they’ve given us something until they’re long gone.
SHOYOROLL X NEW BALANCE
March 15, 2022
In this special collaborative project, Footwear and Jiu Jitsu authorities New Balance and Shoyoroll fuse classic running heritage with martial arts and skate culture, to create a limited footwear release. Alongside Shoyoroll, Modern Streetwear ...
TECHNICA: NECK CRANK
March 04, 2022
Pain and incapacitation are equal in the face of a door rapidly closing.
TECHNICA: GRIP FIGHTING
February 07, 2022
It’s a battle of acquisition and denial, a game that was always inside the one you’ve been playing this whole time.
TECHNICA: NORTH SOUTH
December 10, 2021
Look into almost anything deeply enough and you can separate external influences—size, strength, a satisfaction with clumsy victory over honed execution—from the mechanisms that make it work.
TECHNICA: BOW & ARROW CHOKE
October 19, 2021
A pale detail and an advantage in hand, in a low and desolate spot between truth and consequence.
LUTADORA
September 29, 2021
Even as representation in jiu-jitsu reaches new heights, we all share a responsibility for training environments that are welcoming and open to all.
THE JIU JITSU TAPES
September 19, 2021
Messages from martial artists. Season two of the Shoyoroll podcast.
TECHNICA: KNEEBAR
September 16, 2021
Latching onto a kneebar has long meant you’re someone who speaks a more profane language.
TECHNICA: X GUARD
August 19, 2021
The eyes that see end games as obstacles and nothing more. The spirit to run into the wall and off the cliff, over and over. The mind that correctly surmises that overcoming means going underneath.
TECHNICA: FLOWER SWEEP
August 04, 2021
The flower sweep is right there and you’re obliged to take it.
TECHNICA: CALF SLICER
July 17, 2021
More than other familiar targets – bicep crushers, neck cranks, toe holds – the calf slicer is a black sheep.
TECHNICA: ARMBAR
July 02, 2021
The armbar can come out of nowhere in a supernova of genius or at the end of a long, laborious, tedious, spirit-sucking grind.
TECHNICA: OSOTO GARI
June 03, 2021
"Since I specialized in osoto gari, even if I lost I lost with osoto gari. By thinking to master that technique I kept my beginner’s mind.” — Masahiko Kimura
Technica: Double Leg Takedown
March 08, 2021
Double leg. Baiana. Morote gari. Outside Step. Inside trip. Lift. Blast. Forward velocity. Center of mass. Ground reaction force. Inelastic collision. Attack. Sprawl. Attack.
Don Gorgon Mixtape
March 01, 2021
Don't forget to have fun. Next mixtape is full of reggae and dancehall.
Technica: Heel Hooks
January 20, 2021
The cultural history of heel hooks, inspired by graphic designer and typographer Wolfgang Weingart.
TECHNICA: AMERICANA
December 09, 2020
A key lock. Or a top wristlock. Or a paintbrush. Or a figure four. Or ude-garami. Or Americana.
TECHNICA: HALF GUARD
November 23, 2020
The cultural history of half guard, inspired by modernist Stuart Davis.
THE STAMPEDE COLLECTION
October 05, 2020
A look at a new collection inspired by the aesthetics of American Bull Riders and the rugged work-ethic of the midwest.
CAULIFLOWER EAR
September 28, 2020
They are a mangled memento of devotion: the more hours you spend in the gym, the more likely you are to have your ears in friction against the mat.
SANKAKU LEGLOCKS MIXTAPE
September 23, 2020
Playing “Eye of the Tiger” during training, again? Put this on instead, and upgrade your soundtrack vibes with this mixtape full of Japanese film score composers.
CLOSING THE DISTANCE
September 13, 2020
An act of provocation, a catalyst for reaction, the twilight of anticipation and the seizing of initiative.
TECHNICA: BERIMBOLO
August 18, 2020
The berimbolo—a spin, a scramble, a conjugation of berimbolar—inspires ire and adoration in equal measure.