- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
- Messages
- 4,459
- Reaction score
- 19
Nick Diaz in a regular gi jiu jitsu class
I know many of us get to train with stars in bjj and MMA. What are these guys like? Are they exactly how the media portrays them? Well, for Nick Diaz the jiu jitsu guy, his on the mat personna is quite different than the press makes him out to be.
For instance, today Nick Diaz just happened to show up at the regular gi class. A simple, “Hey Bill” with a handshake and I was like, “Cool” I’m glad I decided to show up for the morning class. It is a little surprising given the fact that he is fighting in the upcoming Strikeforce event August 15.
So Nick puts on his gi and gets in the back of the line for guard passing drills. He shakes all the white belts’ hands saying, “Hi, I’m Nick.” He takes it nice and easy with the beginners. He stays just above the level of the blues and purples (including me). He has a good half guard, inverted guard, spider guard battle with one of our black belts.
Then it’s time for open rolling. I quickly walk towards Nick. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to train with him today. We go 8 minutes. He’s analyzing my grips and positioning. He’s making mental notes on how to beat me, but he wants to see how my game has progressed since the last time we trained. Time was up. He complimented me on my game. It means a lot coming from him.
So the regular class is over, but I want to work some judo with one of our judo black belts (white bjj). I start working my grips and set ups and I notice Nick is watching. He’s a real student of the game. So he starts working with us. He shows some variations and counters to the move I was working on. He then goes on to show us how he teaches the local cops to apprehend criminals and other self defense tactics.
Finally, he asks the judo black belt to work with him on take downs and throws. All this is normal except for the fact he is fighting in 2 weeks.
Nick gets a bad rap from time to time. I just thought you guys would like to know what he’s really like.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...7/DSC04212.jpg
I know many of us get to train with stars in bjj and MMA. What are these guys like? Are they exactly how the media portrays them? Well, for Nick Diaz the jiu jitsu guy, his on the mat personna is quite different than the press makes him out to be.
For instance, today Nick Diaz just happened to show up at the regular gi class. A simple, “Hey Bill” with a handshake and I was like, “Cool” I’m glad I decided to show up for the morning class. It is a little surprising given the fact that he is fighting in the upcoming Strikeforce event August 15.
So Nick puts on his gi and gets in the back of the line for guard passing drills. He shakes all the white belts’ hands saying, “Hi, I’m Nick.” He takes it nice and easy with the beginners. He stays just above the level of the blues and purples (including me). He has a good half guard, inverted guard, spider guard battle with one of our black belts.
Then it’s time for open rolling. I quickly walk towards Nick. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to train with him today. We go 8 minutes. He’s analyzing my grips and positioning. He’s making mental notes on how to beat me, but he wants to see how my game has progressed since the last time we trained. Time was up. He complimented me on my game. It means a lot coming from him.
So the regular class is over, but I want to work some judo with one of our judo black belts (white bjj). I start working my grips and set ups and I notice Nick is watching. He’s a real student of the game. So he starts working with us. He shows some variations and counters to the move I was working on. He then goes on to show us how he teaches the local cops to apprehend criminals and other self defense tactics.
Finally, he asks the judo black belt to work with him on take downs and throws. All this is normal except for the fact he is fighting in 2 weeks.
Nick gets a bad rap from time to time. I just thought you guys would like to know what he’s really like.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...7/DSC04212.jpg
