Ever heard of Ginastica Natural? This method, developed by Brazilian, Alvaro Romano, is a workout which influenced in large part by many of the same ground movements we see in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts.
This style has been gaining popular over the years. I remember seeing Ginastica movements for the first time in BJJ Master Rickson Gracie’s fight documentary Choke. In that film, Rickson can be seen performing a ginastica workout on a beach in Rio. At the time I had no idea what he was doing but now, I can see that this workout helps tremendously with BJJ. It allows muscles to memorize some the would-be rigorous movements we see as practicians of BJJ and grappling on a daily basis.
Ginastica Natural is all about keeping your body in constant motion by combining many different movements incorporated from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This can be considered a strength exercise because of the resistence one’s own body provides. It also incorporates flexibility and breathing techniques to help with cardiovascular conditioning as well.
Certainly a very unique and innovative way to keep your body & mind in tune with your techniques.
Watch the Andre Galvao video below for an example of Ginastica Natural being incorporated into a BJJ Workout. Galvao also gives a good explanation for why he does this and how it helps as well.
Balance is one of the key aspects of BJJ. It affects every part of your mat ability from keeping your base to passing to posturing for submissions and defending against them.
Oddly enough, strengthening ones balance is also one of the most neglected aspects when drilling, especially when it comes to newer practitioners. After all, it’s not one of those areas that you consciously think of drilling. It sort of just comes with the game right?
Wrong. There are ways for grapplers to drill on their own in order to improve their balance.
Enter the stability ball.
We’ve all seen them. The big inflated rubber balls you see floating around the gym. They are used for a variety of things. Usually you’ll see people stretching their backs on these things but by using them in a variety of ways, you’ll not only improve your balance, but your core as well. It helps the core muscles in your abs, hips and legs. There are also many different drills designed to improve your guard and mobility as well.
Do some research online. Find yourself a workout. Then grab a stability ball and start drilling them on your own.
Watch this video of Leo Viera and Andre Galvao drilling with the stability ball as an example of what I’m talking about.
Ever heard of Ginastica Natural? This method, developed by Brazilian, Alvaro Romano, is a workout which influenced in large part by many of the same ground movements we see in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts.