The many faces of jiu jitsu: Teaching the Monday afternoon class at RGA was an opportunity to reflect on the many faces of jiu jitsu. Georges St-Pierre came in for some hard training in preparation for his title challenge late this year against the great Micheal Bisping. Across from him was Jake Shields, getting ready for a grappling match under EBI rules against Dillon Danis at the SUG event in two weeks. With Mr St-Pierre was Garry Tonon, preparing for his bout with Shinya Aoki in singapore in one month – a thirty minute sub only affair. Three different athletes preparing for three very different events/rule systems. Yet the fundamentals of jiu jitsu apply to all. I love to coach all the different faces of jiu jitsu and often find that improvement in one area has benefits in others. Here, Messrs Shields, Tonon and St-Pierre do positional work, guard passing and back control as they test their skills against each other in the gym, but always with their eyes on upcoming challenges on the big stage
