Professor Luis "Limao" Heredia Seminar

I had the chance today to travel to Bluffton, SC with two of my buddies from Swampfox BJJ, Mark and Mike, and attend a seminar at Cross Rhodes BJJ  from the very much accomplished and well renown mind of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Professor Luis Heredia. First of all this is was my first seminar and it was truly a life and game enhancing experience.

A little background about the Professor: He was the first purple belt to step foot in the United States. With friends and training partners, Rorian and Rickson Gracie, he helped to start the spread of Jiu Jitsu throughout the US. He has trained with the Gracie Family and associated with the founders of the gentle art since he was around 14 years old. He is a 5 time Pan Am champion and world class instructor and professor at Maui Jiu Jitsu Academy. You can visit the site and find out more about this pillar of the Jiu Jitsu community.


Now, this was my first seminar ever, and with such a honored member of the Jiu Jitsu family. So let's get the awkwardness out of the way. That's right, I showed up in a Black Kimono. Yes, I now know that I am to wear a white one. I felt kind of bad and embarrassed about the whole ordeal.


After Professor Heredia gave some background on himself. We started with some techniques from questions that everyone was asking. It was kind of overwhelming to see his mind work at the puzzle of Jiu Jitsu. The first question was about your opponent being off balance while in knee-on-belly mount and they have bad posture for setting up the choke, what do you do on bottom? You could see the 30 plus years of experience in the art at work immediately. He started instructing us on some sweeps from bottom while in knee-on-belly mount.

His technical skills and ability to teach techniques was amazing. He flawlessly flowed from one question to the next and the next. Answering each one and demonstrating each technique to the counter and the attack. All of us listened to his detailed explanation of each move.
 How to control the head and the hips were the keys to all of the techniques; if you allow an opponent to have movement of their head or their hips, they can escape or counter.

He explained his progression through Jiu Jitsu and how he became to wonder about being a small frame guy and learning to keep mount position after he had been playing bottom and guard for a majority of years. He started to learn about weight distribution and started working full mount and submissions from mount. His coaching for mount positions and submissions is something, I think, I will never forget.

With this, he started his tutelage on mount position and submissions from mount. We worked the choke and went over the orientation of the wrists and how crucial it is to the choke submissions. While drilling these moves, I learned a lot about the cross choke, hip placement and weight distribution.

He shared stories with us about some of the tournaments, and his thoughts and beliefs on Jiu Jitsu. He told us that Jiu Jitsu is the only sport that he can feel present in and focused on, and not think about anything else.

This being my first seminar, Professor Heredia and Cross Rhodes BJJ have set the bar and exceeded my expectations. I look forward to utilizing and adding some of these moves to my game. If you get a chance to attend a seminar from Professor Heredia, I suggest you take it. It will be the best investment and experience you will make to your life and Jiu Jitsu.

Thanks Professor Heredia, Ben Rhodes, Cross Rhodes BJJ guys/gals, and my training partner during the seminar, Andrew.

Please feel free to post your comments or your feedback.

And now some videos of Professor Heredia:

Top 30 Signs you are addicted to Jiu Jitsu:

Here is a list that was posted on thejiujitsufighter.com/.

The list was posted in 2008, but I decided to bring it out and dust it off, due to the discussion over at jiujitsuforums.com.

Enjoy!

You know you're addicted to Jiu-Jitsu when...

1. On your way home after Jiu-Jitsu class you always stop to go shopping so you can show off your kimono and belt.

2. All of your enemies, "gotta big mouth!"

3. You begin pronouncing the word Jiu-Jitsu (jew-jit-su) as "zhuzhitsu."

4. You're constantly thinking up a new setup or move that no one has discovered just so you can “put your name on it."

5. While in bed with your wife or girlfriend you're doing Jiu-Jitsu reversals to maneuver her into the position you want.

6. While talking with friends, bosses, or relatives you eye them up and down to see which would be easier to get on them: the armbar or the choke.

7. You're constantly staring at other people's ears while at bars and clubs to see who is a grappler.

8. Only when you're explaining a move to a friend do you develop a slight Brazilian accent.

9. Waiters, waitresses, and the cable guy are all now "my friend, my friend."

10. You turn over in bed at night by posting your foot and sliding your hips to turn instead of just rolling over.

11. You spend hours on end looking at BJJ sites trying to think of things you can say.

12. You try to get grandma to do a footlock on you.

13. Your family members begin to lose feeling in their joints.

14. Last night you dreamt that Royce Gracie put you in an armbar, and when you woke up your arm was caught between your desk and the edge of your bed.

15. Asked how BJJ deals with multiple attackers you say, "I don’t know, I've never found more than one person dumb enough to try."

16. You find it fun putting house pets (e.g. dogs and cats) into locks, chokes, and holds.

17. You start wanting to test your BJJ skills against big guys at bars and clubs.

18. It becomes increasingly difficult to say, "So you’re a black belt in Taekwondo, that's very impressive," with a straight face.

19. You catch yourself attempting to pass your girlfriend’s guard.

20. You talk in broken English, even though you're a college graduate.

21. You practice chokes on anyone that turns his back to you.

22. Someone tries to give you a hug you immediately drop into base and execute a hip throw.

23. Your girlfriend comes over and you greet her with an open guard instead of a hug.

24. You find yourself twisting and mangling your ears trying to get the cauliflower to look cool.

25. You start teaching your 10-month-old baby the mount, the side mount, and the guard.

26. Breaking joints becomes an everyday thing.

27. While nobody is around, you start doing submissions to your pillow.

28. Your Gi has more patches on it than a whole company of Girl Scout uniforms.

29. During the winter you wear your Gi top around the house instead of a sweater or turning on the heat.

30. You’re trying to get your friends to the BJJ dojo just to show them what a great Lion-Killer you have.