My 10 Favourite YouTube Channels - Part 2

So this is part 2 of my 10 favourite YouTube channels (part 1 can be found here). So in my last post we talked about five of them and in this post we shall talk about the remaining five. They are as follows:

 

WatchMojo.com - This channel is probably one of the most active I know about! They upload around 60 - 100 videos every month. This particular YouTube channel has covered a lot since it begun such biographies and interviews, but what they are most famous for is their top 10's. What!?! another channel about top 10's? Yes, but this channel content is slightly different to Alltime10s, as it is much more detailed. An Alltime10's video for example lasts around three minutes, but a top 10 from WatchMojo.com is typically around 10 minutes long, but hey don't knock it until you've tried it! Trust me guys you will not be disappointed!

RomanAtwood -  I first heard about this YouTube channel due two videos in particular which went viral, they were "Cops Get Owned!!! - Epic Pee Prank" and "Epic Shake Weight Prank". Since then the channel has had another video go viral, this being "Anniversary Prank Backfires!!" which has received an impressive 42.1 million views! If you haven't already guessed it yet this is a pranking channel, and the videos are carried out by a man named Roman Atwood (obviously), and since the channel started back in May 2010, it has gained over 2.9 million subscribers (Impressive).

 

BudoVideos.com - I had to include at least one Jiu-Jitsu channel! And this one is pretty well known to say the least. Budo Videos are probably best known for their online store and providing streaming for all the major BJJ events, but they also run a pretty successful YouTube channel and currently have just over 45,000 subscribers, which to be honest doesn't seem much compared to other YouTube channels, but for a channel which is purely based upon Jiu-Jitsu that is massive! The channel has created some of the most loved Jiu-Jitsu videos on the web, with series such as This Week in BJJ, Time Travel Tuesdays, and of course the Rolled Up. If you are a fan of Jiu-Jitsu, then you will love this YouTube channel as it is the number 1 Jiu-Jitsu channel on the internet today.

TheFineBros - This particular YouTube channel is pretty well known, and this is probably due to their "react" series which features either kids, teens, elders, or YouTubers reacting to a variety of different things such as viral videos and other YouTubers. The people behind the videos themselves are of course the Fine brothers who are Benny and Rafi Fine. Currently the channel has over 7.1 million subscribers, which is A LOT! But you can see why due the excellent content and editing of the videos.  

ComedyShortsGamer - Where have I seen this guy before? Well ComedyShortsGamer is the younger brother of KSIOlajidebt who I mentioned in part one of this post and has also featured in a lot of his videos. ComedyShortsGamer's real name is Deji Olatunji and has started to make a name for himself on YouTube with a decent 1.3 million subscribers currently. Like his older brother, the channel does feature FIFA videos, most notably pack openings, but the channel does also feature a reasonable amount of pranks and comedy sketches which feature his parents, most notably his father, and of course his brother KSI. His most popular video to date is a video called "Pranking My Mum" (I think its pretty obvious what this ones about) and has reached 3.5 million views in just over three months.  To be honest I think this is probably my favourite YouTube channel out of all of the ten which have appeared on this list.

Thanks for reading,

Giordano  


 

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My 10 Favourite YouTube Channels - Part 1

Here's a list of my favourite YouTube channels, and to be honest there is quiet a large diversity between the majority of them, but some of them however are closely related. These YouTube channels I pretty much watch frequently, and I find the significant majority of there content REALLY entertaining! So hopefully some of you guys will be introduced to something new which you will also find very entertaining. This list is in no particular order, and is as follows: 

• VitalyzdTv  - This YouTube channel is pretty damn famous, due to the rise of videos such as "Miami Zombie Attack Prank", "Russian Hitman Prank", and most recently "Gold Digger Prank". If you haven't guessed it already this is a pranking YouTube channel. The videos themselves are created and are carried out by Vitaly Zdorovetski, and sometimes feature other famous YouTube stars such as Jack Vale,  Roman Atwood, Tom Mabe, as well as many others. As of today the YouTube channel has over 5.1 million subscribers and continues to grow everyday.

 

• KSIOlajidebt -  This YouTube channel is probably one of the most popular gaming channels on YouTube, due to its very amusing and entertaining FIFA videos. The channel also features music videos, Q&A's, and comedy sketches. The videos are actually created by Olajide Olatunji, but due to his YouTube name (KSIOlajidebt) he is referred to as simply just KSI. At the present time, the channel has over 4.8 million subscribers and his most popular video to date is his own edition of the harlem shake. To be perfectly honest I don't really play the FIFA games but even I enjoy his content.

 
• whatever - This is a pretty new YouTube channel, with it only being created in January 2013, but is pretty popular with just over 1 million followers to date. The channel itself consists of pranks and social experiments, and gained considerable notoriety due to two videos in particular, these being "Asking Guys For Sex (Social Experiment)" and "Asking 100 Girls For Sex (Social Experiment)" . To be honest I bet most of you have never heard of this channel but its one of my favourites so you should DEFINATELY check it out!

 

• Alltime10s  - Can you guess what this ones about? Yep, you guessed it! It's all about top 10's, and who doesn't love a top 10? The channel has been up and running now for almost 4 years and has since gained over 2 million subscribers. The content on the channel covers everything you can imagine from animals, famous people, inventions, food, technology, history, mystery, and much more. To date they have produced 692 videos, and their most popular video is "Top 10 Places You Aren't Allowed To Visit" which happens to be a personal favourite of mine.

• HouseholdHacker - I always thought that everyone had heard of this channel until I asked my friends and none of them a\had heard of it! So what is this channel all about? Well the videos consist of life hacks, problem solving and pranks. I have to say some of the stuff they show on the channel is pretty cool, but some of it I'm a little skeptical, and some of their most popular videos such as "How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion" and "How to Create a High-Def speaker for under a buck." have even appeared on MythBusters only to be declared busted! But however some of theor stuff is pretty cool so you should probably give it a look.

Part 2 will follow shortly.

Giordano

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Metamoris III Matches Announced

So... the Metamoris matches were announced on Monday! The matches can be seen below: 

  

The matches themselves might be subjected to change due to injures, but lets hope that doesn't happen! To be honest they put a decent card together, they are pretty different to the matches I suggested, but to be honest everybody has ideas of matches they would like to see and It's impossible to please everybody.  Plus not everybody has interest in doing it, I heard recently that Marcelo Garcia has little interest in being part of the it, and I assume that goes for other people also, whether it be lack of interest, other commitments etc.

The event itself will take place on March 29th in Los Angeles, California at the Peterson Automotive Museum Event Deck. Ralek Gracie specified in a video released on the official Metamoris YouTube account that there will be limited seating in order to guarantee no bad seats at the venue. Tickets go on sale for the event on Friday January 24th at 12pm (Pacific Time) starting at $100 (£60.75), which to be honest sounds a little pricey to be honest. A live stream is also available, with each of the tickets costing $10 before midnight on 31st January, and after this will increase to $20.

For this event, they are reverting back to the original Metamoris rules meaning no judges, and if there is no submission after 20 minutes the match will be declared a draw. There will be also be two new commentators for Meatmoris III, these being Kenny Florian and Jeff Glover.

 

So lets move onto the matches! There has never been a more anticipated grappling/BJJ match than the re-match between Royler Gracie and Eddie Bravo from the 2003 ADCC.  Eddie was the first person to submit Royler in his weight division (the other being Mario Sperry in the absolute division of the 1998 mundials) in a grappling competition and did it via triangle choke. It will be interesting to see how this match plays out! but personally I think this match will end up being a draw.

 

Now lets look at the other matches on the card:

• Rafael Mendes vs Clark Gracie - (Via RNC)
• Keenan Cornelius vs Vinny Malgalhaes - (Via armbar)
• Dean Lister vs Renato "Babalu" Sobral - (Via heelhook)
• Guilherme Mendes vs Samir Chantre - (Via armbar)
• Zak Maxwell vs Sean Roberts - (Via triangle)

(The fighters in bold are the ones who I believe are going to win)

 

I don't know about you but I cannot wait for Metamoris III!

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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare... The Game Which Changed Everything

I told you not all the posts would be about Jiu-Jitsu!

 

Well if you couldn't already guess this post is about possibly the most influential video game ever made, and of course I'm talking about Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (most often referred to as simply COD 4). This game set the standard for every FPS game which followed, and I mean in terms of campaign, multiplayer, game mechanics etc. Games like this come along now and again and totally revolutionize the entire genre, and this game spawned the infamous "COD Killer" slogan which is still used frequently as of today. If you have no idea what I'm talking about when I refer to "COD Killer", it simply means every major FPS game which comes out is a potential attempt overthrow Call of Duty's dominance over the FPS market and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the beginning of solidifying this dominance.

 

Now before I start, I want to make one thin absolutely clear! and that this is NOT a review of the game, but simply an acknowledgement of what made this game so great and how it changed the simply everything we now know about video games.

 

Prior to the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the Call of Duty franchise in my opinion was pretty decent, but not spectacular. The games before were all centered around World War II with popular series such as Medal of Honor, Battlefield, Brother in Arms etc, and Call of Duty was no exception. But Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare made that change to try something new and break away from what we came to expect from FPS games, and it did pay off due some truly spectacular features which we shall now discuss.

 

Probably the main reason this game became reached legendary statues was due to the games multiplayer, which was completely fresh and different from anything we had ever seen before. The game offered many different game modes on a variety of well designed maps, but the main stand out was the create a class system. This system offered the player to completely edit what weapons and abilities his player had. An example of the create a class system can be seen below:



Create a class menu

The choice of weapons on the game was also quite diverse with the player being able to choose from a selection of assault rifle, submachine guns (SMG), light machine guns (LMG), shotguns and sniper rifles for their primary weapons and a choice of four handguns for their secondary weapon. What weapons you choose was pretty much all dependent on your play style, but to be really competitive you should probably choose either an assault rifle or an SMG, and the ones I would recommend are as follows:

 

Assault Rifles

• M16A4 (W/ RDS)
• M4A1 (W/ RDS)
• AK-47 (W/ RDS)

Submachine Guns

• MP5 (W/ RDS)
• AK-74u (W/ RDS)
• P90 (W/ Silencer)

So why did I select these weapons? Well they are simply the best weapons in the game, and yes you can call me a try hard, but to get good at the game you should just use the best weapons available to you. So how do I know these are the best weapons in the game? Well through obviously trying them in real multiplayer matches, but also from watching professional MLG players play the game and seeing what classes they use. (a classic Call of Duty 4 MLG match can be found here if you guys are interested). Also, really the only worthwhile attachment you should use is the red dot sight (RDS), except for the P90 which is particularly well suited to the silencer. All of these weapons I selected have a good fire rate, high damage, and various degrees of low recoil.  

 

So what perks should you choose? Well you could really use any tier one perk, but I personally use bandolier as it benefits me the overall best, but for tier 2 and 3 perks, I would recommend:

 

Tier 2

• Juggernaut (Reduces incoming damage by 25%)
• Stopping Power (Increases bullet damage by 40%)
• UAV Jammer (Player becomes invisible against enemy UAVs)

Tier 3

• Deep Impact (Extra bullet damage when shooting through walls)
• Extreme Conditioning (Doubles players sprinting time)
• Steady Aim (Increases hip firing accuracy)
• Dead Silence (Foot steps are 75% more silent)

The selection of each of these perks is all dependent upon your exact play style, but I personally use stopping power and dead silence on all of my classes. So why do I use these? Well I use a headset when I play, so the ability to here my opponents footsteps and not my own is a HUGE advantage, so dead silence is really a no brainer for me. Also, I use stopping power for no other reason than you will secure kills much faster with the perk equipped. Finally, you should also choose stuns over flashes every time as you can throw stuns much quicker.

 

I think we are starting to get a little off topic right now, so lets get back on track!

 

Another reason for this game becoming so popular was the sniping cult which developed on the game, and I'm talking about quickscoping, trickshooting, people trying to get montage clips etc. The weapon of choice was of course the legendary M40A3 sniper rifle. Love it or hate it sniping was a massive part of this game, with people either using regular scopes or the ACOG scope which in fact is the only attachment available for each of the sniper rifles.  And of course who can forget the bounce shots! (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then look here) What causes the bounce is a piece of the map which has not been rendered correctly. A lot of famous YouTube snipers gained major popularity due to this game, people such as zzirGrizz, Muzzafuzza, Hutch, OpTic Predator etc.   

 

The truth about this game however is nobody expected it to be massive, especially Infinity Ward the games developers. Most people expected this game to really blend in with all the rest of the FPS titles, but this game stood out like a sore thumb, due it's killer graphics, awesome campaign and storyline, exceptional map design, and phenomenal multiplayer. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is truly a class above the rest and has made Call of Duty franchise a worldwide phenomenon, and this game I consider  to be one of the greatest video games ever made!   

 

Catch you later,

 

Giordano

 

(Sorry for the lack of content as of late but I have been very busy with school)



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Metamoris III

So Metamoris III is coming up, but as of now a date has not been confirmed. Also, the only match which has been confirmed to date is Royler Gracie vs Eddie Bravo 2 which is a rematch of the classic match which took place at the 2003 ADCC in São Paulo, Brazil. So why is this match so legendary? Well, Eddie Bravo managed to submit Royler with a triangle choke, and at this time Royler was seen to be unbeatable, and was already a three times champion of ADCC, as well as a four time world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But what makes this match extra special was Eddie Bravo at this time was still a brown belt, and went out there and submitted arguably one of the best of all time. It shall be interesting to see how this match plays out.

As always Metamoris on their Facebook page put out requests for potential matches fans would want to see, mine are as follows:

• Rafael Mendes vs Marcelo Garcia
• Roger Gracie vs Rodolfo Viera
• Rener Gracie vs Andre Galvao
• Ryan Hall vs Joao Miyao
• Victor Estima vs Paulo Miyao 
• Braulio Estima vs Keenan Cornelius
• Ryron Gracie vs Leandro Lo

How much attention Metamoris pays to these requests is obviously questionable, but it's always nice to see a promotion reach out there and ask for fans opinions.

Catch you later!

Giordano

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Modern Jiu-Jitsu

I'm one of those Jiu-Jitsu guys which some of you probably can't stand, and that is because I use 'modern' Jiu-Jitsu techniques, and if you have no clue what I'm talking about, I'm refering directly to the berimbolo, the 50/50 guard, reverse de la riva, and many types of inverted guard and techniques.

Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida sets up a berimbolo on Rodolfo Viera at the 2012 Mundials

So why do so many people get so pi**ed with these types of techniques? Well for one they can be VERY annoying, and the majority of people have no clue what is going on and will probably do something completely stupid which will result in most likely getting your back taken or your guard passed.

Another reason is that these positions can take you from a very comfortable position into one that can there is a high chance you will be submitted. For example, the 50/50 guard is a neutral position, but if the other guy manages to step his leg over he can pass your guard with ease and from here could potentially take your back.  

But probably the main reason for hating these positions is that they are very hard to defend, and I'm not saying that a blue belt will be able to berimbolo a brown or black belt, but against someone who is the same level as you or a bit more advanced than yourself it's very hard to defend. Also, since these positions are relatively new, the defences for them are limited, they are out there but there isn't that many. 

So why are these techniques so popular? Well the main reason these techniques are as popular as they are is because they allow you too transition to the back relatively easily (if completed successfully). The back and the mount are the most dominate positions in BJJ, submission grappling, and relatively any grappling based martial art, and also score 4 points in competition under IBJJF rules. But most people will choose to take the back over the mount as personally I think you have considerably more control over the opponent from the back, plus back control is probably the hardest overall position to escape.

Another reason they are so popular is that lots of people at the highest level use 'modern' Jiu-Jitsu techniques and have great success using them in competition, people such as Rafael Mendes, Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles, Guilherme Mendes, Samuel Braga, Bruno Frazzato, Caio Terra, Ryan Hall, Bruno Malfacine etc. Yes they are all people who fight at the lower weights, but now you are starting to see even people at the higher weights using these techniques. It doesn't even stop there! many of the best fighters at the lower belts also use these techniques on a frequent basis, people like Gianni Grippo, Michael Liera Jr, Edwin Najmi etc.

It also has to said that these techniques have become so popular due to the phenomenon which is the Miyao brothers, these two have berimbolo'd there way to the top of the podium in every major BJJ competition in the world, and with both of them winning there respected weight divisions and atleast one of them reaching the final of the absolute, which inevitably was against Kennan Cornelius. I first heard of the Miyao brothers through a video I saw posted by BJJ Hacks and I must say I was very impressed! But when I saw Paulo Miyao fight live at the IBJJF Europeans in the January of 2012, it completely blew me away on how fluid his Jiu-Jitsu was, and when I got back home the first thing I did was watch videos of the Miyao brothers on YouTube and try to copy there game as much as possible. Obviosly since then I've added stuff to my game which I liked from other BJJ competitors most notably Ryan Hall, Gianni Grippo and Michael Liera Jr.

The Miyao Brothers (Paulo and João Miyao)

The Miyao brothers themselves have grown the concept of 'modern' Jiu-Jitsu as there entire game is completely based on it. How many times have you seen one of the Miyao brothers pull de la riva guard in the opening seconds of the round and inevitably berimbolo the guy only to take his back and finish the match with some variation of choke i.e. RNC, bow and arrow choke, or ezekiel choke.

These types of techniques aren't as new as you might think, as the berimbolo has been used by Samuel Braga since 2005, but the berimbolo itself didn't come mainstream until the Mendes brothers hit the scene and has grown even further since the Miyao brothers have been dominating the scene at the lower belts. Also the 50/50 guard has been used by Ryan Hall since well, forever!

So why should you learn these techniques you may ask? Well probably the best way in order to defend something is to understand It's key principles. For example, I'm not the biggest fan of x-guard but I know in order for the position to be successful my opponent needs to keep control of the leg nearest his head. The same can be said for the berimbolo, the most important thing to remember is to not let the guy put your hips on the mat, this is CRITICAL!

Personally I love these types of techniques and I would encourage all of you to give them a shot at least once. By the way I am no BJJ instructor the comments I have made are mainly my point of view.

Hope you enjoyed,

Giordano

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Who's The Greatest BJJ Fighter of All Time?

So who is the greatest BJJ fighter of all time…

Any of the following fighters could take that crown:

• Roger Gracie
• Marcelo Garcia
• Royler Gracie
• Xande Ribeiro 
• Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
• Rickson Gracie
• Royce Gracie 
• Fernando "Tererê" Augusto

 

And there and hundreds more who you could argue are the greatest, but to be honest you can't really say somebody is the so called greatest Jiu-Jitsu fighter of all time because everybody is different. For example, Roger Gracie has probably the best competition record out of any competitor, Royce Gracie spread the art to hundreds of thousands of people, Marcelo Garcia you could also argue is the pound for pound best, but what it boils down to is everybody has an opinion on this subject and there isn't no real way to tell.

Let me know in the comments who you personally believe is the greatest BJJ fighter of all time, or drop me a tweet @Giorcardo1394.

Again this is simply just my opinion so don't crucify me :)

Catch you all later!

Giordano

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Well Hello There!

So this is my very first post... and hopefully the first of many!

So let me start off by telling you a little bit about myself, my name is Giordano Lewis, I am 19 years old and I currently live in Swansea, Wales. Currently I'm a Civil Engineering student at college with the hopes of studying the subject further at university later on in the year. Other than this I am a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) purple belt under Braulio Estima and train at the Chris Rees Academy (Gracie Barra Swansea).

So why now the idea to start a blog? Well It's a brand new year (happy new year to you all!) and I would simply like to start something completely new and exciting to do. The majority of you will probably begin to think this is going to be a blog about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Submission Grappling (no gi), MMA and all other closely related subjects, but to be perfectly honest most of it will turn out to be probably not, just whatever is on my mind, whether that be TV, Music, News, or general life, whatever I wish to talk about will be openly shared with all of you.

Yes, and I do apologise in advance for any spelling or grammar errors which may occur in my writings, but after all I'm only human!

So where can you get in touch? Your best bet is probably Twitter (@Giorcardo1394) which to be honest I don't use that often to interact with people, but if people want to speak to me I shall be more than happy to reply back.

So I cannot wait to get started and hopefully some people will thoroughly enjoy my writings.

Regards,

Giordano

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