10PATX February Newsletter
🥋 10PATX Newsletter
“Bring a Friend February” + Galentine’s Month!
We’re excited to roll out two February initiatives focused on growth, community, and bringing more people onto the mats.
1) Bring a Friend February
For all current members: if you bring a friend who signs up, you both receive $50 to spend in the 10PATX pro shop.
2) Galentine’s Open Mat Promotion
Starting February 1st, new women to the gym can lock in a free open mat membership for the month by signing up with our front desk team.
This membership also includes FOUR female-led seminars every Sunday at 11 AM throughout February.
*Exception: February 15th — V.O.W. already has a Galentine’s event that day, and we want to support the broader community.
Instead, Lauren Sears will teach a special class at 11 AM on Saturday, February 14th.
As we move toward our upcoming remodel—which will nearly double our mat space—we’re excited to expand our women’s program and introduce more women to the 10PATX community.
We’re also proud of the leadership on our women’s team, featuring three 10th Planet black belts:
Amber “Vicious” Medina was also promoted to brown belt in December as she prepares for her next professional MMA fight in March, aiming to move to 2–0.
February Seminar Schedule
February 1st: Destiney Word
February 8th: Amber Medina
February 14th (Saturday): Lauren Sears
February 22nd: Priscilla Hembroff
These four dangerous women will each share a piece of their A-game during Galentine’s Month.
These Sunday classes are a perfect opportunity to “Bring a Friend February” someone who’s never trained before—then stick around for an open mat packed with experienced female grapplers.
🗓️ Schedule & Logistics
Open Mat Schedule
We have open mats every day at 12 PM, including our larger open mats on Saturday and Sunday.
· 20-Round Tuesday is also an open mat.
· Friday Night Open Mat runs at 6:30 PM, following Adam Fujawa’s 5:30 PM All Levels class.
🏆 Gym Highlights & Wins
Jacob Norton and Lauren Sears both won their black belt debuts.
· On January 9th, Jacob earned a decision victory at Fight2Win in Dallas.
· On January 17th, Lauren locked in a North–South choke at Fight2Win in Oklahoma.
At Thursday Night Jiu Jitsu 101, Mason Lombardo secured a quick triangle finish against the very game Joey Betanzos of Triple Threat BJJ (Marble Falls).
Mason also earned a quick triangle finish at TNJJ 100 in December.
Big Mike Mendoza earned a crushing guillotine victory over JT Little in an Absolute-style “Meat Match.” The competitors walked away with one pound of ground beef from Guerrilla Grocers in an impromptu matchup as part of TNJJ’s “Always Be Ready” bouts.
🎯 Training Focus / Coach’s Note: The Evolution of the Rubber Guard
Something that we’ve been going over with the MMA team is the importance of certain guards in the sport of MMA and how the 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu style of game plays into that domain.
Thankfully, at 10th Planet Austin we have Curtis Hembroff and Ben Eddy as our long-standing black belt coaches on the Jiu Jitsu mats six classes per week, plus our Head MMA coach Angel “Tito” Cruz teaching on Sundays at 11 AM (except this month during Galentine’s Month).
Curtis is an Eddie Bravo black belt. Ben Eddy is an Eddie Bravo black belt with heavy influence from Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez and Geo Martinez. Angel spent much of his 10th Planet journey training under those brothers and largely considers himself a Boogey black belt.
I say all that because Eddie and Boogey are known for their games that include heavy MMA centric styles of Jiu Jitsu off their back. Eddie with lockdown and dogfight game from half guard and both Eddie and Boogey with rubber guard game from closed guard.
The creation of the rubber guard was explained to me by Eddie during the writing process for Mastering the Metal with the story being told starting on page 222 in Chapter 16.
In the Gi, Eddie’s game was what we call high guard, a closed guard that is less around the waist of the torso and more around the chest area, pulling that opponent’s posture downward and closer to you. It was the bottom-side, guard variation of high mount versus mount. He would use that high guard to attack the opponent’s right arm, never the left, doing everything he could to lock the opponent’s right shoulder in with his legs and attack that arm with an arm bar.
This was easier to accomplish in the Gi because of the friction created by the Gi, but Eddie was having so much trouble playing this game in No Gi that he thought his game wasn’t going to translate over, a serious concern.
In the Gi, your opponent’s jacket and your own pants create a ton of friction that disallows them from squeezing and squirming their way out of the guard to reset in a more comfortable position. Back in the 1990s, when athletes went No-Gi in competition or after practice, no one wore rash guards; it was all skin-to-skin, just like modern MMA.
The grapplers would have Gi pants on or board shorts, but no shirt, and it was almost impossible to properly lock the shoulder from the high guard. Your own legs are too greasy, and his shoulder is too, so your leg just keep slipping down.
This had Eddie thinking, “Man, my whole game is not going to work for No Gi.”
At the time, in 1997, PRIDE Fighting Championships was just starting up. It was based in Japan and would last until 2007, ending amid a scandal that tied the promotion to the yakuza and a UFC deal that resulted in all of their top fighters joining that promotion.
In PRIDE 1, Renzo Gracie was fighting Akira Shoji, a fight that finished as a draw after three ten-minute rounds. At one point, Akira was inside Renzo’s guard and Renzo brought his right leg up perpendicular, across his opponent’s upper back, with Akira’s left arm locked in down by Renzo’s hip. Renzo then used his left hand as a grip to pull his right ankle and shin towards him.
Renzo wasn’t able to do much with it. With his left hand being used as a grip against the leg on the same side as the leg, near the side of Akira’s head, it meant that Renzo’s right hand or elbow wasn’t able to strike Akira as effectively as he would have if he had the left arm gripping that right ankle on the other side of his head.
This was something that Eddie would improve on as he took Renzo’s position and turned it into something we call “Mission Control.”
Renzo was able to break Akira’s posture enough to stop him from connecting on strikes from within Renzo’s guard, so there was a clear added benefit worth exploring.
Eddie would like to play guard from his right hip, so his left shin would be the one over the top of his opponent’s upper back. People look at the move and think it’s predicated on extreme flexibility, but while you need to be flexible enough to be an athlete with it, it’s largely built on our bottom-side hip’s adherence to the mat. We want to be on our side—our hip—not our glute.
With this left leg up, Eddie would use the left arm, which is over-hooked over his opponent’s right arm, to hug his own left knee to him. Their right arm is pinned closer to Eddie’s left hip, crunched in by the knee hug.
That left ankle can be controlled by the right hand in either a grip with your palm facing away or facing your palm towards you in a fist with your wrist hooked in the crook of the bones of your outer ankle.
After seeing Renzo do it, Eddie would immediately start messing with this Mission Control position as described above. Then came the “Meat Hook” and so on. The game continued to evolve for Eddie.
We say all of this about half guard and rubber guard over the last two newsletters to make the point that 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu is constructed as a self-defense system for the most important, complicated, and dangerous of scenarios.
Nothing could be more dangerous than being on your back, on pavement, in a self-defense scenario. If you’re in closed guard with no rubber guard or half guard with no lockdown or dogfight, then you’re in a position where you might take a lot of damage.
Never forget that our game is about improving your chances in all scenarios and protect yourself above all else.
Eddie created 10th Planet to be the best game for MMA, that’s the biggest reason that we took off the Gi, because taking off the Gi completely changes the game and makes it more applicable for this art, sport, and discipline in the most dire and important of circumstances.
📣 Upcoming Events
IBJJF Austin Open
📍 Round Rock Sports Center
🗓️ February 20–21
Register by February 11th for $167
Spectators: Free
Thursday Night Jiu Jitsu 102
If you want to compete at TNJJ 102 on February 19th (or 26th), DM @thursdaynightjiujitsu on Instagram to see if there’s an opponent at your weight and experience level.
NAGA San Antonio
📍 Gervin Center
🗓️ March 7th
Registration Pricing:
By February 7th (code: 2026SANANTONIO20): $99
By February 27th: $119
Day-before registration: $169
Extra divisions (including Absolute): $35 each
Guerrilla Grocers Run Club!
In partnering with F45 through Connor McClelland on our staff, we have a run club that starts at Guerrilla Grocers on Saturday mornings at 7:30 am.
Like at Korrect Fitness across the street from us, F45 is focused on the upcoming HYROX competition, a race that includes strength and conditioning in a way that helps those in pursuit of their physical fitness have some direction with their programming for their training.
Their locations are on Brodie Lane and Southpark Meadows under head coach Pāton Karstendiek.
With that in mind, these runs will be centered around interval running training and, as we get closer to the HYROX event itself, there will be exercises included between the interval runs.
Each session includes guided warm-ups and cool downs pre- and post-run, plus free sauna and cold plunge access inside the Guerrilla Grocers space.
Remember, a membership to the Guerrilla Grocers collective is only $29.99 per month, which can be used to purchase any of our raw milk, beef, or fish offerings at the 10PATX front desk.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and for being a part of what we are doing in Austin, Texas.
We know there are a lot of places to train in Austin and we’re glad you’re with us.
The best is yet to come.
Zack Moore
10PATX Coach
10P San Marcos Partner