Sunday Field Notes: Jan 25th, 2026

Weekly Thoughts, Mistakes, and Accomplishments In Bjj

David Figueroa-Martinez

Jan 25, 2026

∙ Paid

text, letter — Photo by Kelsy Gagnebin on Unsplash

📝 Field Notes

Three Thoughts from This Week

Unshakeable by Fabio Gurgel

Fabio Gurgel is a Jiu-Jitsu pioneer, co-founder of the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu team, and the instructor of the GOAT Marcelo Garcia.
I’m not sure why, but I’ve been on a bit of a Jiu-Jitsu book binge lately. Finishing Roger Gracie’s book last week then stumbling upon Unshakeable immediately afterwards.
Definitely worth a try if you’re into Jiu-Jitsu history. Fabio does a great job of recanting the course of his life while dropping some Jiu-Jitsu life lessons.

Merge Grappling

If you’ve been following this blog, I’m sure you’ve heard me speak highly of Make Trasso. To this day, the best instructor that I’ve had the privilege of training under. He’s patient, super technical on the feet and the ground.
Mike recently released the Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu course and I absolutely love it.
I’ve made myself a few goals this year, one of which was to elevate my stand up. At nearly 45, I’m not looking to be a “wrestler,” but I do want to be a better resource for my students.
This course is comprehensive. Mike breaks down the proper stances, hand fighting, set ups, Single Legs, Front Headlocks, Body Locks, Double Legs, and finishing with the Slide-By.

Merge Grappling

(Try using code Merge20, I’m unsure of the expiration date)

Playing Games

For the last few weeks my 5am class has been focusing on Octopus Guard from two major position, bottom Half Guard and Closed Guard. I wanted to make sure that they had enough understanding of the positions before implementing any of the games.
The introduction of the games on Friday was awesome to watch as an instructor.