Phil Cardella Youth & Adult Seminars
On Thursday, June 13th, Phil Cardella - 3rd-degree Relson Gracie black belt, and Coach Daniel’s original mentor - taught a youth seminar, followed by an adult session. Leading up to this day, Phil was active on our academy’s private Facebook group, taking requests for seminar topics. As a result, everything he demonstrated was relevant and personalized for our students.
With the kids, he worked on performing the double-leg takedown without getting guillotined, as well as transitioning to a triangle submission from open guard with a foot in the bicep. Between drilling and demonstrating, Phil shared some life lessons with the youngsters about the importance of listening and increasing attention span. We had a small group of ten for the youth seminar, so those who attended were rewarded with a good deal of personal attention. Based on all the smiles I saw, I think it’s safe to say they had fun!
The adult seminar focused on transitioning from closed guard to scissor guard, setting up submissions from scissor guard, the belt-grab choke sequence, and defeating the 50/50 position. During the latter, our white belts focused on mastering a straight ankle lock. As always, Phil shared tips and tricks that are useable in all levels and styles of Jiu-Jitsu.
At the end of the adult seminar, the following students received degrees on their belts:
Lukasz Zduniak (2nd-degree white belt)
Natty Baird (2nd-degree white belt)
Dawn Stanford (3rd-degree white belt)
Tyler Gray (3rd-degree white belt)
Kenny Stevenson (4th-degree white belt)
Alex Vazquez (1st-degree blue belt)
Esteban “Steve” Alvarez (2nd-degree blue belt)
Ian McMahon (1st-degree purple belt)
Marty Pirog (2nd-degree purple belt)
Jason Smith (3rd-degree purple belt)
Jeremy Payne (3rd-degree purple belt)
Congratulations, everyone!
Last, I’d like to thank Phil Cardella for sharing his knowledge; Jeremy, Marty, Jason, and Steve for assisting with teaching when Coach Daniel was “out of the office”; and everyone who attended either seminar.
I shared some of my favorite pictures below, but there are many more on our Facebook page!
