A lot of us came into martial arts looking for the good stuff: discipline, courage, humility,competence, truth under pressure.

And many gyms really do offer that.

They save people. They build people. They give structure to lives that need it.

But family can become control when belonging is used to silence doubt.

Respect can become obedience when rank is treated like moral authority. Tradition canbecome camouflage when no one is allowed to ask who benefits.

That is why scandals in martial arts rarely come out of nowhere. They are usually preceded by aculture that already taught people to stay quiet, protect the founder, distrustoutsiders, and mistake compliance for character. The scandal is often just the first moment the outside world notices what insiders had learned to tolerate.

#iamabsolutemma https://crishgindungo.substack.com/p/conceptual-systems-part-2-zahabihttps://crishgindungo.com/conceptual-systems-pt-2-zahabi-giles-jones-ryan-biernacki-episode-15/https://open.spotify.com/show/5rWv8zRqd63uwTsGk8ItYB?si=d7a0a3e52ac54e90Episode 15!Conceptual Systems Part 2:Zahabi, Giles, Jones, Ryan, Biernacki...(Honourable Mention: Mihkelson)________________________________________Hey there, welcome back to Grounded Ramblings BlogCast!I'm Crish, army veteran, retired cop, lifelong martial arts practitioner and solopreneur in my 50s, trying to make sense of combat sports without the bull...Today we're diving into Episode 15: Conceptual Systems Part 2 — Zahabi, Giles, Jones, Ryan, Biernacki...By the end, you'll see how five very different instructors each built a different kind of map for jiu-jitsu.. Some are clean and efficient.. Some are modern and aggressive.. Some are quietly brilliant.. And one honourable mention is so radical it deserves its own chapter entirely..We'll talk efficiency, pressure, concept over chaos, building a system from nothing, and the one Estonian who decided that simply surviving was a complete art form in itself..Stick around till the end and drop a comment: which of these systems speaks to the grappler you actually are right now, not the one you were ten years ago?________________________________________Full episodesAvailable on:https: //crishgindungo.substack.com/And on my Offical Website:https://crishgindungo.com/Full credit to Miosis for their awesome music, check their full video in here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpyLA5pB8rE&list=RDkpyLA5pB8rE&start_radio=1

https://crishgindungo.com/conceptual-systems-pt-1-danaher-roger-gracie-thornton-hall-lovato-episode-14/https://crishgindungo.substack.com/p/conceptual-systems-pt-1-danaher-roger

Episode 14!
Conceptual Systems Part 1:
Danaher, Roger Gracie, Thornton, Hall, Lovato…

Hey there, welcome to Grounded Ramblings BlogCast!
I’m Crish, army veteran, retired cop, lifelong martial arts tragic andsolopreneur in my 50s, trying to make sense of combat sports without the bull…

Today we’re diving into Episode 14: Conceptual Systems Partt 1 — Danaher,Roger Gracie, Thornton, Hall, Lovato…

By the end, you’ll see how these five turned jiu‑jitsu from a bag of techniquesinto blueprints, frameworks, and pressure systems that promise clarity, butsometimes risk overcomplicating the art for normal, tired bodies like ours…

We’ll talk systems, aliveness, fundamentals, leg locks, pressure passing,and the danger of turning good ideas into cults..

Stick around till the end and drop a comment: which of these systems actuallyfits the body you bring to the mats right now?

Full credit to Miosis for their awesome music, check their full video in here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpyLA5pB8rE&list=RDkpyLA5pB8rE&start_radio=1

Hey there, welcome to Grounded Ramblings BlogCast!
I’m Crish, army veteran, retired cop, martial arts practitioner and solopreneur in my 50s, rambling through the chaos of martial arts one honest take at a time.

Today we dive into BJJ Innovators: Beyond the Gracies
By episode’s end, you’ll see how Carlson, Machado, Correa, Garcia, and Bravo quietly fixed the pioneers’ gaps; half guard, X-guard, Rubber Guard revolution,
with pros, cons, and culture wars included.

Full respect to the rebels who expanded jiu-jitsu, but real talk means weighing what works for our bodies and lives too.
Stay tuned ‘til the end and drop a comment. What innovator shaped your game?

Check Out My Youtube Channel

Full credit to Miosis for their awesome music, check their full video in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpyLA5pB8rE&list=RDkpyLA5pB8rE&start_radio=1

A Critical, Respectful Examination of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s Founding Family

Hey there, welcome to Grounded Ramblings BlogCast!

I’m Crish, an army veteran, retired cop, martial arts practicioner and solopreneur in my 50s, just trying to make sense of this wild world of Martial Arts one ramble at a time.
Today we step into The Gracie Era

By the end of the episode, you’ll learn why the Gracies sold jiu-jitsu as ‘for everyone’. The story behind their marketing strategy masterpiece

I’m not here to burn anything down, respect is owed, and I’ll give it. But real honor means looking at the full picture… cracks and all.

Stay tuned ’til the end and drop a comment.

Full credit to Miosis for their awesome music, check their full video in here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpyLA5pB8rE&list=RDkpyLA5pB8rE&start_radio=1

Hey, in this episode 11 of new Season 2, I talk about the Martial Arts self defence sales pitch.

Hope you enjoy it!

Also available @

https://www.youtube.com/@CrishGINDUNGO/podcasts

https://crishgindungo.com/how-my-karate-lineage-exposed-the-biggest-lie-in-martial-arts-episode-11/

https://crishgindungo.substack.com/p/how-my-karate-lineage-exposed-the-biggest-lie-in-martial-arts-episode-11

https://crishgindungo.com/category/my-blog-in-english-version/

https://crishgindungo.substack.com/

The White Belt Mentality, Defined at Last.

So, after all these episodes, from Van Damme to Kyokushin, from trauma to therapy on the mat, from bare?knuckle fights to BJJ, from the Portuguese army to Australian policing, from migration to family life, what does “white belt mentality” actually mean?

To me, it means:

• Humility: Accepting that you do not know everything, even in areas where you have experience.

• Curiosity: Asking, “How can I do this better?” instead of, “How can I prove I am right?”

• Adaptability: Being willing to change methods when reality shows you their limits.

• Consistency: Turning up, again and again, especially on the days you feel like staying home.

• Compassion: Remembering that everyone you meet, on the mat, on the street, at home, is fighting battles you cannot see.

• Learning over winning: Understanding that every tap, every loss, every failure is data, not defeat.

It is not about pretending to be a beginner forever. It is about never letting ego close the door on learning. It is about understanding that every new phase of life, new country, new job, new injury, new relationship, hands you a fresh white belt and asks, “Are you willing to start again?”

https://crishgindungo.com/category/my-blog-in-english-version/

https://crishgindungo.substack.com/

If the street was where I found the value of Jiu-Jitsu, the dojo was where I paid the tax.

I had fallen in love with the effectiveness of grappling, so I committed to the training. But I had walked into a “School of Hard Knocks.”
The pedagogy was prehistoric. It was the “sink or swim” method.
Warm up until you vomit. Learn a technique for five minutes. Then spar until you die.

As a white belt, I was fresh meat. Upper belts didn’t see a training partner; they saw a grappling dummy. They ragdolled me. They smashed me. There was no flow, only force.

And my body, now in its 40s, began to keep the score.
I remember my rib snapping, a sharp, searing pain that left me struggling for every breath.
I remember the torn meniscus, the knee swelling like a grapefruit, locking up as I tried to chase a suspect over a fence weeks later.
I remember the fingers, permanently swollen, looking like crooked twigs.

I would limp into the station for a night shift, hiding my limp so the Sergeant wouldn’t put me on light duties. I’d tape my fingers together to hold a pen. I was learning to control others, but I was losing control of my own physical integrity. I was breaking myself to learn how to not break others.

https://crishgindungo.com/category/my-blog-in-english-version/

https://crishgindungo.substack.com/

Finding My Way Back to the Mats

While I was juggling two jobs, parenthood and the slow, grinding reality of a life in a new country, something remained constant: martial arts. Karate, especially. It had been my anchor since my teens, and it wasn’t going to be different now.

I had to find a dojo. Quickly.

When I stepped onto the mats in Australia for the first time in years, something unexpected happened: I remembered everything. It’s true what they say about riding a bicycle. I was rusty, yes, but the foundation was still there. My hands still knew where to go. My feet still understood the movements.

I trained at several dojos before I settled at UMMA (Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts) in the eastern suburbs. I spent four years there, training in both Muay Thai classes and in a second class which was a mix of different martial arts thrown in a blender, with focus on Karate and its plethora of katas with increasing difficulty as we moved up ranks.

It was at UMMA that I had my first real encounter with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I didn’t understand it at first. It looked like wrestling, like two fighters embracing each other on the ground. But I was slowly learning to trust the process, to accept that there was more than one way to win a fight.

This dojo became my second home. Not because the training was easy, it wasn’t, but because it was honest. There was no financial stress thoughts, depression or loneliness out on the mats. There was only what my body could do and what my mind would accept. There was only the focus on becoming better, learning the next technique, the next person willing to spar with me and test what I’d learned.

Episode 7 –  is a reflective, seven-chapter story about how mandatory military service in Portugal transformed my understanding of discipline, endurance, and purpose.

I recount being conscripted in 1991 into the Regimento de Artilharia de Costa (RAC) the Coastal Artillery Regiment charged with protecting the Lisbon and Setúbal coasts. Although nervous about leaving my wife behind, I entered a world that broke me down to rebuild you stronger.

The story links the Army to my upbringing and karate background, showing that hierarchy and hardship mirrored the structure my father instilled and the discipline of martial arts. That clarity and mental stillness, once learned, later powered me through immigrant life, working two jobs, surviving heartbreak, and changing careers at 40 to become a cop.

I close by rejecting the idea that the military “cost” me anything. Instead, Iargue that it gave me everything: resilience, simplicity, and purpose. I left uniformed service to become a father, not out of regret, but out of love carrying the same discipline into every inspection life still sets before me.

Full episode available on:

https://crishgindungo.substack.com

And on my Offical Website:

https://crishgindungo.com/

Song: Besomorph & Arcando & Neoni - Army [NCS Release]
Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds
Free Download/Stream: http://ncs.io/Army
Watch: http://youtu.be/4EDOIftYA4A