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Daniel Nest's avatar

"BJJ doesn't break legs. People using BJJ break legs." - National BJJ Association.

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Andrew Smith's avatar

"This is your leg. This is your leg on BJJ. Any questions?"

-Just Say Bro

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Andrew Sniderman 🕷️'s avatar

Before my time (can you believe it) there were online (dialup) Bulletin Boards or BBS. The WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) was the bohemian rhapsody of that time. Then you got usenet forums which required a special reader (NNTP/pre web blowup) and I did use some of those. And then finally the web brought forums that are still around today and essentially what Reddit and the like sit on (looking at you substack).

Peter Thiel hit the news recently with his famous quote ‘We wanted flying cars; instead we got 140 characters’ and it is amazing how much tech has been devoted to essentially people bitching (interspersed with some chatting) at each other. I think it also speaks to how hard hardware is versus software.

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Have you written about your first online experiences yet? I'll obviously read that eventually if you write it, but if you've already done so feel free to share here!

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Andrew Sniderman 🕷️'s avatar

Funny, there's a gap between when I fell in love with computers (there was no online then) and then it wasn't until after college I really did anything 'online.' It's like since my work was tech it wasn't my pleasure ifyouknowwhatimean?

I did write this about the dawn of the internet when things nearly went a very different way which I think is a really interesting story; it was my first real online adventure.

https://open.substack.com/pub/wirepine/p/whats-in-a-name

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Neat - opened in a tab for later on! I know what you mean about being immersed in a realm or industry, then wanting very little to do with said industry, even if it's changing in exciting ways. I have kinda checked out of sport jiu jitsu and MMA over the last couple of decades since the toxicity is way too much for me to want to keep up with, and the two things seem to go hand in hand. Better stop before I go too far down this tangential rabbit-hole, but just to say: I think I understand this mindset.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

Can't all martial arts potentially break your legs?

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Certainly, but I don't know of any art nearly so effective at this particular thing! I can share some examples if you'd like to see some, but they can be pretty graphic. I've seen more than my share over the years.

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Clint (CCCV)'s avatar

Didn’t Frank Mir break both Tim Sylvia’s and Antonio R Nogueira’s arms in UFC matches? I distinctly remember watching Sylvia’s forearm snap—oof!

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Good memory! I watched that arm snap like a hundred times. Yep.

The Noguiera match ended in a Kimura (he used a similar floating pass to the one I've been teaching for about 17 years now:

https://bjjpath.com/article/How-to-Pass-the-Guard-Using-the-Kimura

(I think you should be able to access the tutorial; I tried to make it free just now)

Mir also caught Roberto Traven with an armlock in his first UFC match, which is when I started paying close attention to his grappling skill.

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Clint (CCCV)'s avatar

Thank you so much for the article—I’m reading it now! Several neck surgeries in, I can’t roll (never could, much, lol), but I just love watching. Fell in love from where else? UFC 1, and the mind-blowing skills of Royce Gracie.

I saw that Mir match, also! I’m a big fan of Mir’s excellent grappling skills, loved watching him in his heyday (esp beating Lesnar with a heel hook, was it?). Thx again for the article 🫡

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Andrew Smith's avatar

You know it! I've written about a few of my adventures attending and reporting on the UFC - just let me know if you're interested in checking 'em out and I'd be glad to dig a few up. Some may be here under my "BJJ" tag: https://goatfury.substack.com/t/bjj

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Clint (CCCV)'s avatar

Of COURSE I’m interested—very! I’ll check out the link today, thx so much, Andrew.

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