Oh, yes, back to uni, let the grind begin :-)
The nice thing is that I only do two subjects per semester now, and it's my last year. Yes, YES. Last year!! One more year of exams and assignments. Unless I decide to do honors... But this year will be full of fun and excitement, with lots of teamwork and a big software project. Of course, I'm working also. So there is never a dull moment.
On the mats, I'm cruising along. Good days, shit days, normal days all mix in. I still teach Wednesdays, and the more of that I do, the more I feel it's necessary for my own learning. However, I enjoy being a student most of the time.
We've recently had an influx of new people. In our small school, six new guys within a few short weeks does make itself felt. That means spending a fair bit of time taking newbies through basic stuff. I'm trying to figure what works best when explaining new things. Teaching is hard :-) Good teaching is very hard. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I really want to get things right. Not only because I know how hard it was when I started myself, but also as a matter of pride. Funny, even in classes I don't teach, I end up teaching...
I'm continuing to play around with deep half guard and back control. I tend to only go to closed guard and attacks from there when I feel pressurised or when, by mutual decision, we go hard. Armbars are definitely crystallizing out as preferred technique. Oh, and cross lapel chokes. Slowly, slowly, I'm starting to swap from choke to armbar to triangle and back. I need to work omoplata attempts in there as well. I also need to be more deliberate in planning the next move, so that the defence to one attack leads to a better opening for the next one.
Interestingly, I'm starting to have a bit of luck with getting mount lately.While that still feels a little alien, things are starting to happen there. I managed the first ever armbar from mount last night. OMG... I'm still prone to being rolled though. Side control still gives me trouble, I can't stop people from re-gaining half guard. On the other hand, I'm getting quite handy at taking the back, keeping the back and transitioning to side mount and back to the back.
We recently had a series of classes on head arm chokes, will all entries from side control, but variations depending on the bottom person's arm position. I liked the pressure used in thosed techniques, but at present my side control sucks and head/arm chokes are not my strong attack. So I'm filing these for future use. On the other hand, we've learned some more side control and bottom half guard escapes/sweeps. They are of immediate use :-)
I was talking to one of the guys after open mat last night. He said the first thing in his life is his family, the second thing BJJ, then his job and all else. He emphasised how much BJJ keeps him sane and how much he looked forward to the next session. Since starting BJJ, he has lost around 20kgs, and he feels much better. We agreed that BJJ is a serious addiction, and sometimes we pay the price in soreness and tiredness. But the payoffs are so worth it.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I'm back
It's been too long since I've posted anything here. I blame it on my quiet lifestyle and my ample spare time (as if..).
I competed at the WBJJL tournament at Nerang in Qld on the weekend. I'll write about that in another post though. And I do have photos this time :-)
Training is going pretty well, I just dont' have time to write about it. But I'll make more of an effort in that direction in the future. Aside from training, I've been continuing to teach the Wednesday classes, which has been interesting. Both interesting as in: challenging and as in: fun and excitement. More about that later though.
I got some new gear, and I've been meaning to write about that, too. My latest acquisition is a Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood rashie from Tatami Fightwear. Very happy with that one. Will post some photos when I get a chance.
I finally indulged myself and joined MGInAction. Due to study and being away, I really haven't spent a lot of time on the site as yet. But what I have seen so far looks awesome. It certainly will be a great resource to me, both in terms of stuff useful for my game, and stuff useful for teaching the guys. If you want to try it out, you can get a week's free trial HERE. That is a referral link, and if you join, I get some money off my renewal :-)
I competed at the WBJJL tournament at Nerang in Qld on the weekend. I'll write about that in another post though. And I do have photos this time :-)
Training is going pretty well, I just dont' have time to write about it. But I'll make more of an effort in that direction in the future. Aside from training, I've been continuing to teach the Wednesday classes, which has been interesting. Both interesting as in: challenging and as in: fun and excitement. More about that later though.
I got some new gear, and I've been meaning to write about that, too. My latest acquisition is a Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood rashie from Tatami Fightwear. Very happy with that one. Will post some photos when I get a chance.
I finally indulged myself and joined MGInAction. Due to study and being away, I really haven't spent a lot of time on the site as yet. But what I have seen so far looks awesome. It certainly will be a great resource to me, both in terms of stuff useful for my game, and stuff useful for teaching the guys. If you want to try it out, you can get a week's free trial HERE. That is a referral link, and if you join, I get some money off my renewal :-)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Gathering looms
I'm finally getting my head above water after another couple of intensive week of studies, tests, assignments, work and working horses. So I haven't had too much time to concentrate on The Gathering. Which may be good or it may be not so good :-)
I will admit that I haven't really spent much time or effort on preparing for this competition. Aside from being pretty, oh, absorbed (???) with other parts of my life, I'm just not that fanatical about it. I do BJJ primarily for fun and enjoyment. I don't mind competing, but it's not my reason for doing BJJ. So it suits me that our school doesn't put that much emphasis on it. But certainly, Sensei Glenn will be there on Saturday to support THE TEAM. Which is fantastic.
I had a truly shit session on Monday night. Not so sure why. I guess we all just have days when for whatever reason, the mind is not quite online and the body is sluggish. Well, that was me on Monday. I took the warm-up, and I must admit I was puffed at the end of it. Doh. But it wasn't a very hard warm-up and I could see no reason why I should feel like I did. In hindsight, I didn't eat well during the day. Not enough, and not the right stuff. Too much running around between lectures, and for other reasons.
Anyway, so I grappled like crap (I think it was Leslie who coined the term "crappling", which would have been a good description for my performance on Monday. The white belts ran rings around me. The rounds killed me. I was a sorry sight. So I was a bit upset, and hey, it's not the best way to be in the lead up to a comp. How can you get in a positive frame of mind??
Sensei reminded me that competition wins aren't his measurement of our progress. And that aside from that, the main goal of going to the comp is to have fun and learn. Winning is merely a bonus.
Words of wisdom.
Still am undecided if I'll go to the Pan Pacs the following weekend.
I taught a class on Wednesday, and I didn't get any rolling in. But I didn't mind so much. I was very pleased because I think I successfully taught two very new guys and at the same time two very experienced whites. I found I had something to give to all of them. New concepts and techniques for the new guys, tweaks and improvements for known techniques for the other two. All using the same techniques: have closed guard, break down the opponent, cross lapel choke. Transition to armbar. If they pull out and expose the other arm, go to omoplata. And if they posture ouf of that, triangle. So, so much there....
Tonight (my last session before Saturday's comp) was rolling but from specific positions. I found some Jiu Jitsu again :-) Or maybe it found me! I had one slight lapse of reason early in the night. I started rolling with Ben when in short order, I was on the bottom. And just as my brain was going to kick into neutral, turning me into an uncoordinated bundle of clueless strugglemania, I despairingly said: I'm HERE AGAIN!! Someone kindly pointed out that I WAS rolling with a purple belt. So maybe, just maybe, there ought to be no reason to lament. So I shut my stupid mouth, came to my senses. And from there onwards, I enjoyed myself again. Ben is just the best to roll with. And in the end, I got ample chance to work on getting the back and attacking from there. Oh, and sweeps.
After that, I had a couple of other partners. At times we went fairly hard, but never silly. And though I was a bit tired, I did pretty good. In the end I helped one of the guys troubleshoot getting from a low single to a good position. That also helped me, because I could see what worked or didn't work for him while at the same time learning more on how to defend someone doing it to me. It was a multi-layered learning experience, so to speak. Good stuff. But the main thing is that I'm pretty sure it helped him.
So, that little "blip" on Monday aside, I think I'm pretty positive heading into the comp. I'm actually looking forward to it now. And of course, on Sunday, we'll have the Rigan Machado seminar:
Last year's was the first one I went to, and it was fantastic. All in all, I have a great weekend coming up. Comp on Saturday, spend Saturday night with an old time friend (from waaaaayy back when we went to Dookie Ag.College together). I haven't seen her for years, so that will be great. And we're going out for dinner at a Persian restaurant. And then on Sunday, the seminar.
The toughest job tomorrow will be to decide on which gi I'll wear at the comp :-) Oh yeah, and pack my bag for an early start on Saturday...
I will admit that I haven't really spent much time or effort on preparing for this competition. Aside from being pretty, oh, absorbed (???) with other parts of my life, I'm just not that fanatical about it. I do BJJ primarily for fun and enjoyment. I don't mind competing, but it's not my reason for doing BJJ. So it suits me that our school doesn't put that much emphasis on it. But certainly, Sensei Glenn will be there on Saturday to support THE TEAM. Which is fantastic.
I had a truly shit session on Monday night. Not so sure why. I guess we all just have days when for whatever reason, the mind is not quite online and the body is sluggish. Well, that was me on Monday. I took the warm-up, and I must admit I was puffed at the end of it. Doh. But it wasn't a very hard warm-up and I could see no reason why I should feel like I did. In hindsight, I didn't eat well during the day. Not enough, and not the right stuff. Too much running around between lectures, and for other reasons.
Anyway, so I grappled like crap (I think it was Leslie who coined the term "crappling", which would have been a good description for my performance on Monday. The white belts ran rings around me. The rounds killed me. I was a sorry sight. So I was a bit upset, and hey, it's not the best way to be in the lead up to a comp. How can you get in a positive frame of mind??
Sensei reminded me that competition wins aren't his measurement of our progress. And that aside from that, the main goal of going to the comp is to have fun and learn. Winning is merely a bonus.
Words of wisdom.
Still am undecided if I'll go to the Pan Pacs the following weekend.
I taught a class on Wednesday, and I didn't get any rolling in. But I didn't mind so much. I was very pleased because I think I successfully taught two very new guys and at the same time two very experienced whites. I found I had something to give to all of them. New concepts and techniques for the new guys, tweaks and improvements for known techniques for the other two. All using the same techniques: have closed guard, break down the opponent, cross lapel choke. Transition to armbar. If they pull out and expose the other arm, go to omoplata. And if they posture ouf of that, triangle. So, so much there....
Tonight (my last session before Saturday's comp) was rolling but from specific positions. I found some Jiu Jitsu again :-) Or maybe it found me! I had one slight lapse of reason early in the night. I started rolling with Ben when in short order, I was on the bottom. And just as my brain was going to kick into neutral, turning me into an uncoordinated bundle of clueless strugglemania, I despairingly said: I'm HERE AGAIN!! Someone kindly pointed out that I WAS rolling with a purple belt. So maybe, just maybe, there ought to be no reason to lament. So I shut my stupid mouth, came to my senses. And from there onwards, I enjoyed myself again. Ben is just the best to roll with. And in the end, I got ample chance to work on getting the back and attacking from there. Oh, and sweeps.
After that, I had a couple of other partners. At times we went fairly hard, but never silly. And though I was a bit tired, I did pretty good. In the end I helped one of the guys troubleshoot getting from a low single to a good position. That also helped me, because I could see what worked or didn't work for him while at the same time learning more on how to defend someone doing it to me. It was a multi-layered learning experience, so to speak. Good stuff. But the main thing is that I'm pretty sure it helped him.
So, that little "blip" on Monday aside, I think I'm pretty positive heading into the comp. I'm actually looking forward to it now. And of course, on Sunday, we'll have the Rigan Machado seminar:
Last year's was the first one I went to, and it was fantastic. All in all, I have a great weekend coming up. Comp on Saturday, spend Saturday night with an old time friend (from waaaaayy back when we went to Dookie Ag.College together). I haven't seen her for years, so that will be great. And we're going out for dinner at a Persian restaurant. And then on Sunday, the seminar.
The toughest job tomorrow will be to decide on which gi I'll wear at the comp :-) Oh yeah, and pack my bag for an early start on Saturday...
Friday, August 19, 2011
on a roll...
I had another great session tonight. Just open mat. Worked on some of the deep half guard stuff we've been doing in class during the week. Also worked back control, which is my current goto position.
Things have been going well. Not too long before the two comps in September. I'm feeling very positive and I'm getting in enough tough classes that I know I'll be fit enough to compete.
With MMA classes starting up in town, I had my first standup session in over two years. Ah yes, a few things came back, about footwork. I still remember the differences between a jab, cross, hook and uppercut :-) And I still know how to turn the heel for a roundhouse kick. But yes, it's all a bit rusty.
That was a tough night on Tuesday. After an hour long BJJ session (which in itself was quite a challenge with a solid warm up, drilling and plenty of timed rounds of rolling), we did a bunch of striking/kicking drills and then ended with one minute rounds. These alternated between the hanging bags, the ground&pound bags and some Thai clinch work.
I sure slept soundly that night!
The Saturday before, there were Karate black belt trials at the dojo. A couple of us BJJ types were invited to come in and help, as the school has grappling as part of the Karate curriculum. So in order to make sure there were plenty of people for all the candidates to roll with, we were asked if we wanted to come in. Sure we did :-) And we all had fun.
What else is new.. Oh yes, I'm teaching all the Wednesday day classes until at least the end of the semester. I'm taking that in my stride now. It has become routine so I no longer stress about it. I do my best to pass on some knowledge to the guys, even if I sometimes don't feel totally adequate for the task. But wiser people than me said that if we wait with teaching until we are perfect, then we'll never teach. So I just do my best. And we all have fun.
The Girls in Gis day camp is next weekend. It seems like they got 30 girls/women and it's now closed. I just received my info pack (which is pretty comprehensive and the whole thing seems to be pretty well planned and pre-organised). According to the organisers, about half the attendees are white belts, there are ten or so blue belts and a couple of purples and one brown. And ages range from 17 to 47. Haha, guess who's the oldest ;-)
Anyway, I'll report back on that. It will be rather strange to roll with women ;-) But it might be a good prep for the comps. In any case, a day long BJJ event sounds awesome, and the chance to roll with people I don't know is fantastic. I'm really looking forward to it!
Things have been going well. Not too long before the two comps in September. I'm feeling very positive and I'm getting in enough tough classes that I know I'll be fit enough to compete.
With MMA classes starting up in town, I had my first standup session in over two years. Ah yes, a few things came back, about footwork. I still remember the differences between a jab, cross, hook and uppercut :-) And I still know how to turn the heel for a roundhouse kick. But yes, it's all a bit rusty.
That was a tough night on Tuesday. After an hour long BJJ session (which in itself was quite a challenge with a solid warm up, drilling and plenty of timed rounds of rolling), we did a bunch of striking/kicking drills and then ended with one minute rounds. These alternated between the hanging bags, the ground&pound bags and some Thai clinch work.
I sure slept soundly that night!
The Saturday before, there were Karate black belt trials at the dojo. A couple of us BJJ types were invited to come in and help, as the school has grappling as part of the Karate curriculum. So in order to make sure there were plenty of people for all the candidates to roll with, we were asked if we wanted to come in. Sure we did :-) And we all had fun.
What else is new.. Oh yes, I'm teaching all the Wednesday day classes until at least the end of the semester. I'm taking that in my stride now. It has become routine so I no longer stress about it. I do my best to pass on some knowledge to the guys, even if I sometimes don't feel totally adequate for the task. But wiser people than me said that if we wait with teaching until we are perfect, then we'll never teach. So I just do my best. And we all have fun.
The Girls in Gis day camp is next weekend. It seems like they got 30 girls/women and it's now closed. I just received my info pack (which is pretty comprehensive and the whole thing seems to be pretty well planned and pre-organised). According to the organisers, about half the attendees are white belts, there are ten or so blue belts and a couple of purples and one brown. And ages range from 17 to 47. Haha, guess who's the oldest ;-)
Anyway, I'll report back on that. It will be rather strange to roll with women ;-) But it might be a good prep for the comps. In any case, a day long BJJ event sounds awesome, and the chance to roll with people I don't know is fantastic. I'm really looking forward to it!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
more teaching
Looks like I've scored the Wednesday lunchtime classes for the next few months at least.
Cool. Should be fun.
Cool. Should be fun.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
yikes, I'm getting behind...
I just realised that my last (real) post was back in the middle of June. Time is just running away on me...
I finished all my work and all my exams for uni. Got my results and I'm quite happy :-) Since then, I've had a house full of visitors and I'm still working, so I haven't really had holidays. I've just had time off from uni, haha. And I'm due to go back on August 1. But I'm not complaining, I'm having a lot of fun.
The only thing which I'm not happy about is the dreadful weather. It's cold, wet, windy and generally miserable and grey. Not many opportunities to go and ride horses or enjoy any other outdoors activities. And cold toes at the beginning of every BJJ class. That does tend to pass though ;-)
Due to a wedding today, I didn't get a chance to go to the small comp in Melbourne yesterday. But there are two big ones coming up in September. There is The Gathering on September 10 and the Pan Pacs the weekend after.
I've been working on a few things lately, and I think I finally have some kind of game plan I can call my own. So it will be very interesting to see how that will affect my grappling at the comps. So far, I just went with the flow in the comps I've been to.
Strangely, back control is crystallizing out as one of my got-to positions, and I'm having more and more luck with not only getting there, but actually holding it. And I get submissions, too. In addition, I have learned to transition to other positions, like closed guard or technical mount, if I feel I'm losing back control, and from eithe of those, I can get the back again. That is making an enormous amount of difference.
I continue to fall into the trap of thinking I'm hopeless (will never be a grappler's armpit, blah blah..), and then I surprise myself with getting submissions from unexpected places. Or hearing from people that they will give up positions, just so they don't end up in my guard (or with me on their back), because it's a horribly dangerous place to be. Then I go: Oh! Maybe I AM doing something right. Aw, BJJ is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one :-)
I've booked in for the girls grappling day in late August. It will be very interesting to roll with a bunch of women. As I only have guys in my school, I absolutely have no idea how I stack up against female blue belts. I have rolled with a couple of female blues at John Will's school late last year, and did well. But of course, friendly rolls are a different ballgame to comps. So it will be very constructive for me to actually roll with women in the lead up to the two comps in September.
I had a good learning experience the other day. For the first time in a little while, I ended up rolling with a very new white belt, considerably bigger and stronger than myself. For the first time since starting BJJ, I didn't spend the whole roll worrying about his strength and being defensive. That in itself is a huge leap forward. He wasn't spazzing too much, but he just poured out a huge amount of force. Tried to choke me from within my guard, etc etc. This time, instead of pretty much panicking, I started attacking him. Sometime in the process, I ended up in mount on him and started on my latest favourite technique (cross lapel choke from mount). Got rolled in the end, but had the grips in deep and choked him from within my guard. I can't say how much of a difference that made, knowing that this is possible. I have spent so much time just whining about the size/strength of the guys, defending and staying in under and eventually getting squashed or muscled into submission by some sloppy technique. The watershed in this piece of mental progress was letting go and moving. For example, insteading of hanging on to a close guard which was about to get stacked or passed, I can now open, put feet on hips and push to get distance or transition or attack. I guess it's all part of the overall learning curve. Took me long enough!!
Due to our instructor being away, I've been teaching a couple of classes most weeks. That is a good learning experience, too. It's hard to troubleshoot problems for people with vastly different body shapes. It's also hard to teach new white belt guys how to rolls light :-)) But it's happening!
I finished all my work and all my exams for uni. Got my results and I'm quite happy :-) Since then, I've had a house full of visitors and I'm still working, so I haven't really had holidays. I've just had time off from uni, haha. And I'm due to go back on August 1. But I'm not complaining, I'm having a lot of fun.
The only thing which I'm not happy about is the dreadful weather. It's cold, wet, windy and generally miserable and grey. Not many opportunities to go and ride horses or enjoy any other outdoors activities. And cold toes at the beginning of every BJJ class. That does tend to pass though ;-)
Due to a wedding today, I didn't get a chance to go to the small comp in Melbourne yesterday. But there are two big ones coming up in September. There is The Gathering on September 10 and the Pan Pacs the weekend after.
I've been working on a few things lately, and I think I finally have some kind of game plan I can call my own. So it will be very interesting to see how that will affect my grappling at the comps. So far, I just went with the flow in the comps I've been to.
Strangely, back control is crystallizing out as one of my got-to positions, and I'm having more and more luck with not only getting there, but actually holding it. And I get submissions, too. In addition, I have learned to transition to other positions, like closed guard or technical mount, if I feel I'm losing back control, and from eithe of those, I can get the back again. That is making an enormous amount of difference.
I continue to fall into the trap of thinking I'm hopeless (will never be a grappler's armpit, blah blah..), and then I surprise myself with getting submissions from unexpected places. Or hearing from people that they will give up positions, just so they don't end up in my guard (or with me on their back), because it's a horribly dangerous place to be. Then I go: Oh! Maybe I AM doing something right. Aw, BJJ is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one :-)
I've booked in for the girls grappling day in late August. It will be very interesting to roll with a bunch of women. As I only have guys in my school, I absolutely have no idea how I stack up against female blue belts. I have rolled with a couple of female blues at John Will's school late last year, and did well. But of course, friendly rolls are a different ballgame to comps. So it will be very constructive for me to actually roll with women in the lead up to the two comps in September.
I had a good learning experience the other day. For the first time in a little while, I ended up rolling with a very new white belt, considerably bigger and stronger than myself. For the first time since starting BJJ, I didn't spend the whole roll worrying about his strength and being defensive. That in itself is a huge leap forward. He wasn't spazzing too much, but he just poured out a huge amount of force. Tried to choke me from within my guard, etc etc. This time, instead of pretty much panicking, I started attacking him. Sometime in the process, I ended up in mount on him and started on my latest favourite technique (cross lapel choke from mount). Got rolled in the end, but had the grips in deep and choked him from within my guard. I can't say how much of a difference that made, knowing that this is possible. I have spent so much time just whining about the size/strength of the guys, defending and staying in under and eventually getting squashed or muscled into submission by some sloppy technique. The watershed in this piece of mental progress was letting go and moving. For example, insteading of hanging on to a close guard which was about to get stacked or passed, I can now open, put feet on hips and push to get distance or transition or attack. I guess it's all part of the overall learning curve. Took me long enough!!
Due to our instructor being away, I've been teaching a couple of classes most weeks. That is a good learning experience, too. It's hard to troubleshoot problems for people with vastly different body shapes. It's also hard to teach new white belt guys how to rolls light :-)) But it's happening!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
just...things
First, I need to have a moan about life :-)
I'm so busy! Studies, new job etc. Assigments due for uni. Looking after the horses, keeping up with the housework. Rah rah ra!!! I seem to eat, sleep, shower and pack my bags for the next day when I'm at home. Oh yeah, and work on the assignments. Other than that....
Hmm. Last Monday I actually finished work & uni. I had an hour to wait around before the first no-gi class, and I could have stuck around there until just before the start of the gi class a couple of hours later. I would have been home just before 10pm. Only I was overcome by being tired and a strong feeling of wanting to go home and calling it a day. I know better than being a hero these days, so home I went, had early dinner and worked on one of my assignments (sigh).
But that aside, I trained at least once daily for the rest of the week :-)
After all that sitting down and listening to lectures, work inductions and staring at the computer, BJJ is my release, my sanity. Even if it means I come home late after a long day, feeling all beat up.
I learned some good new techniques in the no-gi classes. For example, how to get out of half guard bottom if the top guy has a solid over/under grip. With hipping out, a gable grip pressuring his shoulder and the correct leg position, I found I could break even the grip of some of the guys (something I have always struggled with, weakling that I am). From there, it's easy to take the back, or try for a cutting armbar. As an alternative, if I can't break his grip, I have enough space to try for a Zombie, get a frame on his neck with the other arm and finally feed my foot through (kung-fu move), to finish with a nasty shoulder lock.
Then a similar move from full guard bottom to break the grips. Only this time, I go to overhook his near arm and do the swim move to roll him over for an armbar.
With all of these, we got lots of reps in. And this time, I didn't feel too retarded :-) Even the swim move worked, and that is big progress :-)
In the gi classes we did some stuff on sweeps from turtle position. And we worked on transitions from half guard to knee ride. The sweeps from turtle address a part of my game I'm keen to expand on, so that was really useful.
Rolling started crappy early in the week. I fell back into the habit of straining, using muscle. Why?? Presumably because my little ego was concerned about looking bad when rolling with white belts. Thankfully, I woke up to that after a few rolls and I eased off. Miraculously, not only did I roll better, more open, more smoothly, but I actually did a lot better, too. Duh.
After that, things improved. I kept on reminding myself to try new things, to flow, to give my partners opportunities. And it felt so much better. In the no-gi classes, I got caught in twisters several times. I am recognising the setups earlier in the piece these days, but not early enough yet :-) Still, it was good and there were several no-gi rolls which I was very happy with. Especially one with a guy who is not that experienced, but he is considerably heavier and stronger than I. He went at it with typical speed and power and strength. I will admit I couldn't stop some of his passes and he flattened me out several times. But I had good hip movement, so getting back to half and full guard was easy. And I successfully used hooks to frustrate many of his passing attempts. He was straining so hard to get a grip and set up armbars/armlocks, but just couldn't finish anything. I wished I could have spent more time attacking. But realistically speaking, I think I did quite well against him, and I expended maybe a quarter of the energy he did. So I was happy with that, because it proves to me that the art I'm learning is effective.
We had a couple of brand new guys in for the gi classes. I spent some of my time showing them basics. When I was showing the cross lapel choke from mount, I thought of a little thing which I was already doing unconsciously. But doing it made sure the second hand goes into the collar correctly, and it opens up the lapel at the neck, too. Talking about the technique to show the guys made me aware of it. And once I showed them that particular bit, they picked up on that detail right away. As so often, teaching the stuff you know make you more aware of it. It shows where you have holes in your knowledge, but in trying to articulate what you want to teach, it also brings better understanding for yourself.
At the end of the week, we had a grading. The guys did really, really well and I'm proud of all of them. Lots of stripes were handed out, and there were happy faces all around. Great to see.
We lost a couple of people for various reasons. One guy to take care of his family, one guy moved to Melbourne. Matt, one of our Blue Belts is moving to Queensland with his family, and we bid him farewell in our Wednesday class.
I'm so busy! Studies, new job etc. Assigments due for uni. Looking after the horses, keeping up with the housework. Rah rah ra!!! I seem to eat, sleep, shower and pack my bags for the next day when I'm at home. Oh yeah, and work on the assignments. Other than that....
Hmm. Last Monday I actually finished work & uni. I had an hour to wait around before the first no-gi class, and I could have stuck around there until just before the start of the gi class a couple of hours later. I would have been home just before 10pm. Only I was overcome by being tired and a strong feeling of wanting to go home and calling it a day. I know better than being a hero these days, so home I went, had early dinner and worked on one of my assignments (sigh).
But that aside, I trained at least once daily for the rest of the week :-)
After all that sitting down and listening to lectures, work inductions and staring at the computer, BJJ is my release, my sanity. Even if it means I come home late after a long day, feeling all beat up.
I learned some good new techniques in the no-gi classes. For example, how to get out of half guard bottom if the top guy has a solid over/under grip. With hipping out, a gable grip pressuring his shoulder and the correct leg position, I found I could break even the grip of some of the guys (something I have always struggled with, weakling that I am). From there, it's easy to take the back, or try for a cutting armbar. As an alternative, if I can't break his grip, I have enough space to try for a Zombie, get a frame on his neck with the other arm and finally feed my foot through (kung-fu move), to finish with a nasty shoulder lock.
Then a similar move from full guard bottom to break the grips. Only this time, I go to overhook his near arm and do the swim move to roll him over for an armbar.
With all of these, we got lots of reps in. And this time, I didn't feel too retarded :-) Even the swim move worked, and that is big progress :-)
In the gi classes we did some stuff on sweeps from turtle position. And we worked on transitions from half guard to knee ride. The sweeps from turtle address a part of my game I'm keen to expand on, so that was really useful.
Rolling started crappy early in the week. I fell back into the habit of straining, using muscle. Why?? Presumably because my little ego was concerned about looking bad when rolling with white belts. Thankfully, I woke up to that after a few rolls and I eased off. Miraculously, not only did I roll better, more open, more smoothly, but I actually did a lot better, too. Duh.
After that, things improved. I kept on reminding myself to try new things, to flow, to give my partners opportunities. And it felt so much better. In the no-gi classes, I got caught in twisters several times. I am recognising the setups earlier in the piece these days, but not early enough yet :-) Still, it was good and there were several no-gi rolls which I was very happy with. Especially one with a guy who is not that experienced, but he is considerably heavier and stronger than I. He went at it with typical speed and power and strength. I will admit I couldn't stop some of his passes and he flattened me out several times. But I had good hip movement, so getting back to half and full guard was easy. And I successfully used hooks to frustrate many of his passing attempts. He was straining so hard to get a grip and set up armbars/armlocks, but just couldn't finish anything. I wished I could have spent more time attacking. But realistically speaking, I think I did quite well against him, and I expended maybe a quarter of the energy he did. So I was happy with that, because it proves to me that the art I'm learning is effective.
We had a couple of brand new guys in for the gi classes. I spent some of my time showing them basics. When I was showing the cross lapel choke from mount, I thought of a little thing which I was already doing unconsciously. But doing it made sure the second hand goes into the collar correctly, and it opens up the lapel at the neck, too. Talking about the technique to show the guys made me aware of it. And once I showed them that particular bit, they picked up on that detail right away. As so often, teaching the stuff you know make you more aware of it. It shows where you have holes in your knowledge, but in trying to articulate what you want to teach, it also brings better understanding for yourself.
At the end of the week, we had a grading. The guys did really, really well and I'm proud of all of them. Lots of stripes were handed out, and there were happy faces all around. Great to see.
We lost a couple of people for various reasons. One guy to take care of his family, one guy moved to Melbourne. Matt, one of our Blue Belts is moving to Queensland with his family, and we bid him farewell in our Wednesday class.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
holy crap, it's April already!!
So how did that happen?? I was cruising along in March, I blinked and now it's April.
Of course I've been training. Had a couple of days off because I had a very mild dose of a head cold. Felt a bit woozy and stuffy. These days I know better than just soldiering through and hoping it'll go away. Instead, I give training a miss for a couple of days (grudgingly), and I get over it and that's the end of that. See, I am capable of learning.
I've been busy with uni, we had the first little exam for the semester and I have three assignments due within the next couple of weeks. I never thought that an IT degree would be "easy", but the sheer amount of work to get assignments and other course work done is quite staggering.
On top of that, I've started in my new IT job. Totally new field to me. It's part time and is part of my studies. There is still a lot of getting used to the new workplace, settling in, getting to know people and places and routines and all that sort of stuff. Hopefully, by next week, I'll actually be starting to hook into some real stuff.
With part time work, full time studies, the farm and horses, training (between 6 and 10 sessions per week), I barely seem to have time left to eat, sleep and do the other household jobs. Ah, it's a grand life ;-)
I know it sounds silly to some people, but some of the lessons I've learned in BJJ are coming in handy. Such as: not giving up, accepting that some things need to be done in small steps, staying positive, having a game plan, believing in myself ... and... not giving up :-)
Anyway, back to BJJ.
As always, there are ups and downs. The down side is that I haven't been able to get to Geelong to John Will's school. And it looks I won't have much chance for it over the next few weeks as well. With all the travel time, it just takes too much time out of my Tuesday, and at present, with work and study it just can't be done. But at our school, the Ballarat Dojo, there are five classes per week plus open mat, and I usually get to all of those.
In addition, a new gym opened in Ballarat which also offers grappling. Ininite MMA is a 10th Planet affiliate run by John Campbell. There are no-gi classes and later on there will be MMA classes as well. I know John and a lot of the guys who train there from before. We rarely do no-gi at the Dojo, so it's nice to have the opportunity to play with that aspect of BJJ. The 10th Planet stuff is pretty different, almost a wholly new skill set. My flexibility isn't fantastic, but not bad either, so I can integrate a lot of those techniques into my game. Also, I have the chance to roll with more people, giving me a broader range of training partners. I go to that gym 2-3 times per week, as time permits.
Needless to say, I'm the only female at that grappling establishment, too.... Only that the average age of the guys who train there is even is lower than at the Dojo. So if I weren't so hard-headed and ignorant of what is seemly for a middle aged woman, I'd be feeling even more out of place ;-) But the sad truth is that I don't give a ... As to what the guys think? Who knows.
Had a chuckle last week when I went there. The first couple of times I went, I drilled and rolled with guys who I also train with at the Dojo. But then I went one evening, and the only guy I train with was already paired up and that left an unimpressed looking young guy who seemed hesitant, but was the last one left and just had to drill with "her". :-)
So we drilled stuff. Turned out he's much more of a newbie than I am, and I helped him a bit with some of the positions and transitions. Which he took well. And after a bit, he loosened up and we helped each other. Then we did some positional rolling to put the new stuff into action. We worked really well and both got a lot out of that. And at the end of class, he smiled and we shook hands. And as I walked past him a little later, he thanked me again and looked very happy. So I'm guessing that he no longer has issues drilling and grappling with "her". Good stuff!
Since then, I've drilled and rolled with others and there have been no issues at all. I had some rolls with John and I was thoroughly destroyed in the process. But I consider it a small win that he had to change tactics a few times, and that it took him longer than 30 seconds per roll to make me tap out.
At the Dojo, we had a lot of fun as well. Last time I wrote, it was the day before the grading. That saw several guys get their first stripe. And it saw several guys get bounced on stuff. There has been some pretty dedicated drilling of techniques since then, and this coming Saturday will see a re-run. I expect to see all the guys get their next stripe.
We've been doing a few sessions on the switch from turtle. I really had a lot of trouble with that. Mostly because I didn't have the technique quite right and because I lacked the commitment necessary to pull it off. But a few sessions working on different variations (depending on whether the guy sprawled on top has his arm in below my arm, above my arm and reaching for the collar, on in a guillotine choke) and I'm starting to get some confidence with it.
Last Wednesday evening, I took the class. I was going to show three collar chokes from closed guard and do some slow rolling and chess game. But we started with the chess game, swapping partners ever so often, and somehow we all had that much fun that we ran out of time. Everyone said they got something out of it. One of the blue belts discovered a hole (and a new attack!) in his game, and all the white belts used the chance to play what-if from different positions.
Generally, I'm still under the impression that my rolling is pretty aimless and so-so. Some days I manage some really inspired stuff, other days it feels completely lack-lustre. Funny enough, I seem to fare better against the big guys, I don't get pinned so often. I get back to guard surprisingly often, and even get to superior positions regularly. On the other hand, the two lighter guys really have picked up with their grappling, and their speed and squirmimess is now a real challenge. Also, they are onto my favourite attacks and are developing good defences. But that just goes to show that nothing was ever meant to be easy, and that the only thing which is constant about BJJ is the amount of change which happens within us and our training partners.
So, that, in a ramply, incoherent sort of a fashion, is what happened within the last couple of weeks.
I'm just so glad I found BJJ :-)
Of course I've been training. Had a couple of days off because I had a very mild dose of a head cold. Felt a bit woozy and stuffy. These days I know better than just soldiering through and hoping it'll go away. Instead, I give training a miss for a couple of days (grudgingly), and I get over it and that's the end of that. See, I am capable of learning.
I've been busy with uni, we had the first little exam for the semester and I have three assignments due within the next couple of weeks. I never thought that an IT degree would be "easy", but the sheer amount of work to get assignments and other course work done is quite staggering.
On top of that, I've started in my new IT job. Totally new field to me. It's part time and is part of my studies. There is still a lot of getting used to the new workplace, settling in, getting to know people and places and routines and all that sort of stuff. Hopefully, by next week, I'll actually be starting to hook into some real stuff.
With part time work, full time studies, the farm and horses, training (between 6 and 10 sessions per week), I barely seem to have time left to eat, sleep and do the other household jobs. Ah, it's a grand life ;-)
I know it sounds silly to some people, but some of the lessons I've learned in BJJ are coming in handy. Such as: not giving up, accepting that some things need to be done in small steps, staying positive, having a game plan, believing in myself ... and... not giving up :-)
Anyway, back to BJJ.
As always, there are ups and downs. The down side is that I haven't been able to get to Geelong to John Will's school. And it looks I won't have much chance for it over the next few weeks as well. With all the travel time, it just takes too much time out of my Tuesday, and at present, with work and study it just can't be done. But at our school, the Ballarat Dojo, there are five classes per week plus open mat, and I usually get to all of those.
In addition, a new gym opened in Ballarat which also offers grappling. Ininite MMA is a 10th Planet affiliate run by John Campbell. There are no-gi classes and later on there will be MMA classes as well. I know John and a lot of the guys who train there from before. We rarely do no-gi at the Dojo, so it's nice to have the opportunity to play with that aspect of BJJ. The 10th Planet stuff is pretty different, almost a wholly new skill set. My flexibility isn't fantastic, but not bad either, so I can integrate a lot of those techniques into my game. Also, I have the chance to roll with more people, giving me a broader range of training partners. I go to that gym 2-3 times per week, as time permits.
Needless to say, I'm the only female at that grappling establishment, too.... Only that the average age of the guys who train there is even is lower than at the Dojo. So if I weren't so hard-headed and ignorant of what is seemly for a middle aged woman, I'd be feeling even more out of place ;-) But the sad truth is that I don't give a ... As to what the guys think? Who knows.
Had a chuckle last week when I went there. The first couple of times I went, I drilled and rolled with guys who I also train with at the Dojo. But then I went one evening, and the only guy I train with was already paired up and that left an unimpressed looking young guy who seemed hesitant, but was the last one left and just had to drill with "her". :-)
So we drilled stuff. Turned out he's much more of a newbie than I am, and I helped him a bit with some of the positions and transitions. Which he took well. And after a bit, he loosened up and we helped each other. Then we did some positional rolling to put the new stuff into action. We worked really well and both got a lot out of that. And at the end of class, he smiled and we shook hands. And as I walked past him a little later, he thanked me again and looked very happy. So I'm guessing that he no longer has issues drilling and grappling with "her". Good stuff!
Since then, I've drilled and rolled with others and there have been no issues at all. I had some rolls with John and I was thoroughly destroyed in the process. But I consider it a small win that he had to change tactics a few times, and that it took him longer than 30 seconds per roll to make me tap out.
At the Dojo, we had a lot of fun as well. Last time I wrote, it was the day before the grading. That saw several guys get their first stripe. And it saw several guys get bounced on stuff. There has been some pretty dedicated drilling of techniques since then, and this coming Saturday will see a re-run. I expect to see all the guys get their next stripe.
We've been doing a few sessions on the switch from turtle. I really had a lot of trouble with that. Mostly because I didn't have the technique quite right and because I lacked the commitment necessary to pull it off. But a few sessions working on different variations (depending on whether the guy sprawled on top has his arm in below my arm, above my arm and reaching for the collar, on in a guillotine choke) and I'm starting to get some confidence with it.
Last Wednesday evening, I took the class. I was going to show three collar chokes from closed guard and do some slow rolling and chess game. But we started with the chess game, swapping partners ever so often, and somehow we all had that much fun that we ran out of time. Everyone said they got something out of it. One of the blue belts discovered a hole (and a new attack!) in his game, and all the white belts used the chance to play what-if from different positions.
Generally, I'm still under the impression that my rolling is pretty aimless and so-so. Some days I manage some really inspired stuff, other days it feels completely lack-lustre. Funny enough, I seem to fare better against the big guys, I don't get pinned so often. I get back to guard surprisingly often, and even get to superior positions regularly. On the other hand, the two lighter guys really have picked up with their grappling, and their speed and squirmimess is now a real challenge. Also, they are onto my favourite attacks and are developing good defences. But that just goes to show that nothing was ever meant to be easy, and that the only thing which is constant about BJJ is the amount of change which happens within us and our training partners.
So, that, in a ramply, incoherent sort of a fashion, is what happened within the last couple of weeks.
I'm just so glad I found BJJ :-)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
that was fun
I had a visitor today. Well, actually, it was my best friend's visitor. Her daughter from Adelaide.
Yana started training MMA/BJJ in Adelaide a couple of months ago. When I caught up with her on New Year's eve, I half jokingly said that if she was interested in a roll, to come and visit, for I have mats!!
And surprise, surprise, she turned up on New Year's day :-) She brought her mum (who came armed with a camera) and her boyfriend (who came armed with curiosity). Well, it transpired that she hadn't been to very many classes, never rolled yet, and was still hazy on some of the basic stuff.
I decided to just go over some of that basic stuff. Turns out the place she trains (I've forgotten the name, and I'm sorry for that) is a Will-Machado afilitate, so they do the same basic drills and things I'm used to. That made it easier.
So as much for the edification of the onlookers (who had never seen BJJ) as for Yana's benefit, we went over some very basic "Basics", ie: a drill that involves side control, mount, dismount, side control via north-south. It's all about the transitions and maintaining pressure. The other drill is the "keep the mount" drill where the top person goes from side control to mount. Then the bottom person tries to escape by bridging first and then rolling to their side. Top person has to keep the mount during the bridging and then transition to side mount, get seat belt grips and hooks in as the bottom person finally rolls over totally and the top person gets back control. The drill ends with the top person flattening the bottom person. A perfect position for a rear choke, of course.
We worked on the back choke for a bit. And then, just for a variation on that theme, I showed her a front choke from guard and turtle top. And that was all we had time for.
No rolling, but it was fun all the same. Here are some pictures :-)
Explaining some stuff before we started. I've no idea why I'm pointing my finger. But I know I have a bad habit of doing that when I work with horses, too ;-)
Explainig concept of guard passing. Notice concern on boyfriend's face. :-)))
Explaining knee through guard pass (as opposed to passing under the leg).
Yana practicing her front choke on me. No other volunteers ;-)
I'm really happy she has chosen BJJ and I think she'll enjoy it. Pity she lives in Adelaide. By the time she visits next time though, we'll be able to have a roll. I'm looking forward to it!
Yana started training MMA/BJJ in Adelaide a couple of months ago. When I caught up with her on New Year's eve, I half jokingly said that if she was interested in a roll, to come and visit, for I have mats!!
And surprise, surprise, she turned up on New Year's day :-) She brought her mum (who came armed with a camera) and her boyfriend (who came armed with curiosity). Well, it transpired that she hadn't been to very many classes, never rolled yet, and was still hazy on some of the basic stuff.
I decided to just go over some of that basic stuff. Turns out the place she trains (I've forgotten the name, and I'm sorry for that) is a Will-Machado afilitate, so they do the same basic drills and things I'm used to. That made it easier.
So as much for the edification of the onlookers (who had never seen BJJ) as for Yana's benefit, we went over some very basic "Basics", ie: a drill that involves side control, mount, dismount, side control via north-south. It's all about the transitions and maintaining pressure. The other drill is the "keep the mount" drill where the top person goes from side control to mount. Then the bottom person tries to escape by bridging first and then rolling to their side. Top person has to keep the mount during the bridging and then transition to side mount, get seat belt grips and hooks in as the bottom person finally rolls over totally and the top person gets back control. The drill ends with the top person flattening the bottom person. A perfect position for a rear choke, of course.
We worked on the back choke for a bit. And then, just for a variation on that theme, I showed her a front choke from guard and turtle top. And that was all we had time for.
No rolling, but it was fun all the same. Here are some pictures :-)
Explaining some stuff before we started. I've no idea why I'm pointing my finger. But I know I have a bad habit of doing that when I work with horses, too ;-)
Explainig concept of guard passing. Notice concern on boyfriend's face. :-)))
Explaining knee through guard pass (as opposed to passing under the leg).
Yana practicing her front choke on me. No other volunteers ;-)
I'm really happy she has chosen BJJ and I think she'll enjoy it. Pity she lives in Adelaide. By the time she visits next time though, we'll be able to have a roll. I'm looking forward to it!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
shortened week
Due to the silly season coming up and people being on holidays, we are having a shortened timetable for most of December. No day classes and no open mat. Pout!
I was roped into taking last Monday's class. After the warm up I made everyone roll for some ten minutes. My instructions were: no submission, look at moving a lot, going from position to position, making it at flowing as possible. Avoid muscling, gripping, smashing etc. I watched and made suggestions. I think maybe, just maybe, I saw some lighter, smoother rolling. It's something I think we must all work on.
I spent some time on teaching the technical stand up and made people do a drill where they have to hip escape, then do an open guard type butt scoot to the same side and then follow it up with a get up. After that, get back down and repeat on the other side. I find that a useful drill for mobility.
Lastly, I went through posture in guard, how to protect from chokes and to keep arms safe. How to close elbows and why, how to strip a grip to get posture. Also why it's unwise to sit back too far, to put hands on the mat or to cross the centreline. Hopefully, this will help some of the newer guys.
Finished off with more rolling. Sadly, I missed out myself. Oh well.
One of the purple belts taught Wednesday and Friday. We went no-gi and did rubber guard basics. It's been a while since we've done any of that in class, and some of the guys had never seen it. So it was all basic stuff on how to break down posture and get mission control. Next step was to get the arm to the floor using the zombie (the sound effects to demonstrate this move really were cool!). Then we got to New York and finally chill dog.
On Friday, we added the jiu claw setup as well. And a attack if our opponent postures up and then rolls forward. We let him start to roll but then hold his legs and transition to side control. That was neat.
Oh, I still detest the names, but wonder of wonders, I'm starting to remember them :-). The only thing I hadn't seen before was rescue dog. Say we can't get an arm to the floor using the zombie, we can threaten a sweep or put on pressure with the forearm on his collarbone in mission control. He may well put his other arm on the floor to brace. So we switch our legs and go straight to New York on the other side. We actually did a side to side drill to react to hands touching the mat.
I can't imagine rubber guard as a be all and end all or something to use exclusively. I also don't like it on big strong guys, as they just stack me up or bust out. But I've found I successfully mix it up with open and closed guard as another holding position, especially on people more my size. I have long legs and good flexibility, so it suits me. I'm also a happy guard player, so it fits into my game. I'm still working on having more knee pressure to avoid a guard pass on the side where me foot is on their hip. But that's getting better, and in any case, there is a neat shoulder lock (the Carney?) if they step over my leg to pass my guard while I have their arm trapped. I nearly pulled that off on a guy the other day, except the bell went off :-)
I was roped into taking last Monday's class. After the warm up I made everyone roll for some ten minutes. My instructions were: no submission, look at moving a lot, going from position to position, making it at flowing as possible. Avoid muscling, gripping, smashing etc. I watched and made suggestions. I think maybe, just maybe, I saw some lighter, smoother rolling. It's something I think we must all work on.
I spent some time on teaching the technical stand up and made people do a drill where they have to hip escape, then do an open guard type butt scoot to the same side and then follow it up with a get up. After that, get back down and repeat on the other side. I find that a useful drill for mobility.
Lastly, I went through posture in guard, how to protect from chokes and to keep arms safe. How to close elbows and why, how to strip a grip to get posture. Also why it's unwise to sit back too far, to put hands on the mat or to cross the centreline. Hopefully, this will help some of the newer guys.
Finished off with more rolling. Sadly, I missed out myself. Oh well.
One of the purple belts taught Wednesday and Friday. We went no-gi and did rubber guard basics. It's been a while since we've done any of that in class, and some of the guys had never seen it. So it was all basic stuff on how to break down posture and get mission control. Next step was to get the arm to the floor using the zombie (the sound effects to demonstrate this move really were cool!). Then we got to New York and finally chill dog.
On Friday, we added the jiu claw setup as well. And a attack if our opponent postures up and then rolls forward. We let him start to roll but then hold his legs and transition to side control. That was neat.
Oh, I still detest the names, but wonder of wonders, I'm starting to remember them :-). The only thing I hadn't seen before was rescue dog. Say we can't get an arm to the floor using the zombie, we can threaten a sweep or put on pressure with the forearm on his collarbone in mission control. He may well put his other arm on the floor to brace. So we switch our legs and go straight to New York on the other side. We actually did a side to side drill to react to hands touching the mat.
I can't imagine rubber guard as a be all and end all or something to use exclusively. I also don't like it on big strong guys, as they just stack me up or bust out. But I've found I successfully mix it up with open and closed guard as another holding position, especially on people more my size. I have long legs and good flexibility, so it suits me. I'm also a happy guard player, so it fits into my game. I'm still working on having more knee pressure to avoid a guard pass on the side where me foot is on their hip. But that's getting better, and in any case, there is a neat shoulder lock (the Carney?) if they step over my leg to pass my guard while I have their arm trapped. I nearly pulled that off on a guy the other day, except the bell went off :-)
Monday, November 8, 2010
weird
There are several of us taking turns teaching the Wednesday evening class at present. I've known for weeks that I'd be taking the class last Wednesday.
The weird thing is that I stressed over that. Why?
I've had to take other classes at short notice and it wasn't an issue at all. So why would I worry? Is it just my weird mind or is that a normal thing? Ok, don't answer that. ;-)
Anyway, it wasn't helped by the fact that I got there to find two guys more senior to me as well as a bunch of white belts. But they are my mates, and they were most helpful, but without interfering. So there were jokes and it was all cool. We did some of the basic drills, I showed the cross lapel choke from mount, and how to finish it off from guard if they roll. Then I went over a few general things relating to defending arms and neck when on the bottom, pointed out that it's bad to get flattened and that sort of thing.
Finished off with rolling. Got choked by one of the two stripers, who set it up beautifully! Then had a round with one of the bigger two stripers. Got flattened but got out, regained guard and then raced the clock to choke him before time was called. Had fun!
The weird thing is that I stressed over that. Why?
I've had to take other classes at short notice and it wasn't an issue at all. So why would I worry? Is it just my weird mind or is that a normal thing? Ok, don't answer that. ;-)
Anyway, it wasn't helped by the fact that I got there to find two guys more senior to me as well as a bunch of white belts. But they are my mates, and they were most helpful, but without interfering. So there were jokes and it was all cool. We did some of the basic drills, I showed the cross lapel choke from mount, and how to finish it off from guard if they roll. Then I went over a few general things relating to defending arms and neck when on the bottom, pointed out that it's bad to get flattened and that sort of thing.
Finished off with rolling. Got choked by one of the two stripers, who set it up beautifully! Then had a round with one of the bigger two stripers. Got flattened but got out, regained guard and then raced the clock to choke him before time was called. Had fun!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
the rest of October
As time got away from me again, here are just some brief notes...
On the 28th October, I went to John Will's school in Geelong again. I went with one of the guys from our school and we joined John's advanced class. We worked on front chokes from open guard. If we can't get the second hand in to finish the choke because he blocks with his arm, we can threaten him with a sweep. That way, either he keeps his hand in and we get the sweep or he braces with that arm and we get the grip for the choke. We also looked at an alternative where we sweep and then finishe the choke from the top.
We stayed on for the intermediate class as well, which was mainly on breakfalls and throws.
Got in lots of rounds of rolling with white, blue and purple belts. I felt good, with lots of movement happening. Even pulled off some subs with a couple of the blue belts. But then got dominated by a couple of the larger whitebelts :-)
The following Saturday, I took class as our instructor had an injury. It was basically going through the guard passing drill for the mostly newer white belts, but we also covered the simple sweep and a couple of chokes from guard. After that, I let them enjoy themselves with free guard passing but allowed the sweep and chokes we had just practiced. Aside from the white belts, we had a purple belt visitor. He kindly helped with the newer guys, and at the end he and I had a couple of fun rolls.
On the 28th October, I went to John Will's school in Geelong again. I went with one of the guys from our school and we joined John's advanced class. We worked on front chokes from open guard. If we can't get the second hand in to finish the choke because he blocks with his arm, we can threaten him with a sweep. That way, either he keeps his hand in and we get the sweep or he braces with that arm and we get the grip for the choke. We also looked at an alternative where we sweep and then finishe the choke from the top.
We stayed on for the intermediate class as well, which was mainly on breakfalls and throws.
Got in lots of rounds of rolling with white, blue and purple belts. I felt good, with lots of movement happening. Even pulled off some subs with a couple of the blue belts. But then got dominated by a couple of the larger whitebelts :-)
The following Saturday, I took class as our instructor had an injury. It was basically going through the guard passing drill for the mostly newer white belts, but we also covered the simple sweep and a couple of chokes from guard. After that, I let them enjoy themselves with free guard passing but allowed the sweep and chokes we had just practiced. Aside from the white belts, we had a purple belt visitor. He kindly helped with the newer guys, and at the end he and I had a couple of fun rolls.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
looking at the line up
Today, I had my first opportunity to look at the line up from the front. Over the last couple of years, I have worked my way from the left side of the line over to the right. Recently, depending on who was at class, I've been the top end, taking warm ups for the instructor. I knew the day would come when I'd be the one in front. Well, that came on Monday.
For some reason, a lot of people are away at the moment, especially the senior guys. Some on holidays, some are sick or busy with family matters. Being a small school, all the coloured belts stand in and teach. And it doesn't take too many absences to feel pretty lonely up that end. So there was a room full of white belts (some were there only for their second class), and myself. But to be fair, I had some help and moral support in the form of a fourth stripe lady who is a Karate BB at our school.
I'm pleased to report that I didn't stress too much and as a result didn't have the dry mouth and sweaty palms like I get with public speaking. Phew! I guess part of the reason is that 1. I LIKE BJJ and 2. I'm reasonably confident in my knowledge and skills. I know it sounds stupid, but walking around with a blue belt gave me more confidence. I guess I finally worked out that I should have confidence because others have confidence in me. What a strange and difficult and emotionally challenging journey this is!
Anyyway, coming back to the class....I did a standard warm up but threw in a few stretches which I find easy but know others don't. Nothing like a bit of showing off ;-). Ahem, not really! They were mainly glute/hamgsting stretches and others which I think are good for developing flexibility for closed guard. But I sure heard some exasperated groans.
With mostly total newbies, I put basic drills on the menu. I told the guys they had to put up with my efforts and if I made stupid blunders, because it was my first time. But it all went pretty well. I demonstrated the positions and transitions with the lady and sent everyone off in pairs to go and drill. Then I went around and checked, encouraged, corrected where necessary and slowed people down (guys!!). I took turns with the other lady. She happend to be partnered up with a really big guy, so I made sure it wasn't too hard on her back (she's my vintage... ) by giving her a break. And to keep warm :-)
At the end of the class In know that even the two stripers picked up a few things and everybody had kept busy, looked nice and hot and said they'd learned something. I guess I couldn't wish for more than that. They looked happy and said thank you.
Personally, I'm still not sure what to make of the experience. It didn't faze me, and I wouldn't have issues doing it again. That in itselt is a surprise. But I would wish to have a bit of notice and make a plan. Something to fit in with our instructor and the theme/s he's working on. I was lying awake in bed that night thinking what I could have done differently or better. I know I forgot to mark the attendance sheet :-) Guess I better figure out everyone's names, too...
I'm sure I will learn from watching and helping others. From trying to see and understand and correct their technique to make it work, especially when they have a vastly different body type to me. But hey, I'm only a beginner myself, and my biggest worry it that I make a mistake which is propagated through teaching to others. So I'll do my best for everyone and learn as much as I can in the process.
But I'm most looking forward to classes where I'm just a student :-)
For some reason, a lot of people are away at the moment, especially the senior guys. Some on holidays, some are sick or busy with family matters. Being a small school, all the coloured belts stand in and teach. And it doesn't take too many absences to feel pretty lonely up that end. So there was a room full of white belts (some were there only for their second class), and myself. But to be fair, I had some help and moral support in the form of a fourth stripe lady who is a Karate BB at our school.
I'm pleased to report that I didn't stress too much and as a result didn't have the dry mouth and sweaty palms like I get with public speaking. Phew! I guess part of the reason is that 1. I LIKE BJJ and 2. I'm reasonably confident in my knowledge and skills. I know it sounds stupid, but walking around with a blue belt gave me more confidence. I guess I finally worked out that I should have confidence because others have confidence in me. What a strange and difficult and emotionally challenging journey this is!
Anyyway, coming back to the class....I did a standard warm up but threw in a few stretches which I find easy but know others don't. Nothing like a bit of showing off ;-). Ahem, not really! They were mainly glute/hamgsting stretches and others which I think are good for developing flexibility for closed guard. But I sure heard some exasperated groans.
With mostly total newbies, I put basic drills on the menu. I told the guys they had to put up with my efforts and if I made stupid blunders, because it was my first time. But it all went pretty well. I demonstrated the positions and transitions with the lady and sent everyone off in pairs to go and drill. Then I went around and checked, encouraged, corrected where necessary and slowed people down (guys!!). I took turns with the other lady. She happend to be partnered up with a really big guy, so I made sure it wasn't too hard on her back (she's my vintage... ) by giving her a break. And to keep warm :-)
At the end of the class In know that even the two stripers picked up a few things and everybody had kept busy, looked nice and hot and said they'd learned something. I guess I couldn't wish for more than that. They looked happy and said thank you.
Personally, I'm still not sure what to make of the experience. It didn't faze me, and I wouldn't have issues doing it again. That in itselt is a surprise. But I would wish to have a bit of notice and make a plan. Something to fit in with our instructor and the theme/s he's working on. I was lying awake in bed that night thinking what I could have done differently or better. I know I forgot to mark the attendance sheet :-) Guess I better figure out everyone's names, too...
I'm sure I will learn from watching and helping others. From trying to see and understand and correct their technique to make it work, especially when they have a vastly different body type to me. But hey, I'm only a beginner myself, and my biggest worry it that I make a mistake which is propagated through teaching to others. So I'll do my best for everyone and learn as much as I can in the process.
But I'm most looking forward to classes where I'm just a student :-)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
teaching new guys
Monday night's class was fairly big and mostly guys with one stripe or less. Plus to brand spanking new guys
who were there for their first class.
So the class was split into several small groups. There is a grading on Saturday, so everyone got to practice their stuff for the level they'll test for, supervised by someone senior.
Together with another four-striper, I scored the two new guys. We demod and explained the major positions and started teaching two of the basic drills which teach transistion from side control to mount and back, back control with hooks in, how to bride, how to hold mount etc. The whole hour passed very quickly.
It wasn't quite as much fun as rolling, but sometimes it's fun to teach stuff, too. I marvelled yet again about the tenseness and awkwardness of the guys, while knowing full well that (not tooooo long ago), I was just the same. Simple little things like being able to stay on the balls of my feet and pouring pressure into my victim's chest, that they found difficult. Even maintaining that "plank" :-) Oh, and being guys, they felt ever so awkward putting weight on me, and every time someone bumped me, it was "sorry!". Ah well, they'll learn :-)
I like to actually demonstate stuff for them to watch, and then have them on the receiving end of the technique, so that they not only see it, but feel the pressure and the weight, and the shift during a transition. That seems to help.
who were there for their first class.
So the class was split into several small groups. There is a grading on Saturday, so everyone got to practice their stuff for the level they'll test for, supervised by someone senior.
Together with another four-striper, I scored the two new guys. We demod and explained the major positions and started teaching two of the basic drills which teach transistion from side control to mount and back, back control with hooks in, how to bride, how to hold mount etc. The whole hour passed very quickly.
It wasn't quite as much fun as rolling, but sometimes it's fun to teach stuff, too. I marvelled yet again about the tenseness and awkwardness of the guys, while knowing full well that (not tooooo long ago), I was just the same. Simple little things like being able to stay on the balls of my feet and pouring pressure into my victim's chest, that they found difficult. Even maintaining that "plank" :-) Oh, and being guys, they felt ever so awkward putting weight on me, and every time someone bumped me, it was "sorry!". Ah well, they'll learn :-)
I like to actually demonstate stuff for them to watch, and then have them on the receiving end of the technique, so that they not only see it, but feel the pressure and the weight, and the shift during a transition. That seems to help.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
chokes and teaching
Monday night we had a medium sized class with lots of beginners. With people away, one of the blue belts was taking the class and I was the next most senior person present, so I was the honorary grappling demo dummy again (that seems to happen often lately).
We went over a couple of chokes from guard. One was what I'd call a box choke. Say I have my right hand deep in their right collar and I break my partner down. I can bring the left arm across the back of his head, grab the material of my gi near my right elbow and push my right elbow up while pulling the left elbow down. Sounds almost too simple to work. I don't think it would work on a savvy opponent, but being a trachea choke, it comes on pretty quick, so if they were pulled down hard and didn't notice what you are up to until it's on, it might work. Interesting alternative to a cross lapel choke.
Next one was in fact a cross lapel choke, but with a different setup. Starting again with my right hand well inside his collar, I push off with my left foot on his right hip and swivel my upper body to my right, bringing my right leg across his back. Basically, I threaten an armbar or sweep. As he pushes back into me, I wing up my right elbow under his chin and grab a bit of gi material on his left shoulder with my left hand. Proceed to cross lapel choke. This could also work with my left hand reaching over my right, if he happened to not tuck his chin.
I think this one is good, I'll give it a try.
The third choke was from back control. Actually, I'm not sure what it's called. Could be a clock choke? If I'm behind my partner, hooks in, and a seat belt grip with my right arm over his shoulder and my left arm under his left arm, I insert my right hand into his left collar. I can use my left hand to open it up so I get my right hand nice and deep. Then I grab the right collar about half way down his chest with my left hand. The left holds or pulls down slightly, the right arm pulls the left collar tight around his neck in a clockwise fashion. I can also bend my wrist towards his feet, to bring the bony part of my wrist (thumb side) into his windpipe harder.
I was working with a brand new guy, it was only his second class, so I spent a lot of time talking him through stuff. He hadn't seen full guard once, and back control never. That made it a bit entertaining, but we managed ok.
For the second half of the class, I was handed the two newbies to take them through the keep the mount drill. However, as they were unfamilar with all positions bar closed guard and back control, I showed them long base side control, mount and transitions first, also what to look out for when on the bottom. I think we actually got through the whole drill once by the time the class was over.
So it was a sort of quiet and low energy class for me. In some ways I didn't mind.
It was funny to watch the two guys. They both tried very hard but couldn't help look longingly when the others started to wrestle. I laughed and said they need to learn to crawl before they can run, and if they were let loose with those guys, they'd get mauled and have their arms ripped out :-))). But I promised they'll soon be rolling if they get their basics happening.
We went over a couple of chokes from guard. One was what I'd call a box choke. Say I have my right hand deep in their right collar and I break my partner down. I can bring the left arm across the back of his head, grab the material of my gi near my right elbow and push my right elbow up while pulling the left elbow down. Sounds almost too simple to work. I don't think it would work on a savvy opponent, but being a trachea choke, it comes on pretty quick, so if they were pulled down hard and didn't notice what you are up to until it's on, it might work. Interesting alternative to a cross lapel choke.
Next one was in fact a cross lapel choke, but with a different setup. Starting again with my right hand well inside his collar, I push off with my left foot on his right hip and swivel my upper body to my right, bringing my right leg across his back. Basically, I threaten an armbar or sweep. As he pushes back into me, I wing up my right elbow under his chin and grab a bit of gi material on his left shoulder with my left hand. Proceed to cross lapel choke. This could also work with my left hand reaching over my right, if he happened to not tuck his chin.
I think this one is good, I'll give it a try.
The third choke was from back control. Actually, I'm not sure what it's called. Could be a clock choke? If I'm behind my partner, hooks in, and a seat belt grip with my right arm over his shoulder and my left arm under his left arm, I insert my right hand into his left collar. I can use my left hand to open it up so I get my right hand nice and deep. Then I grab the right collar about half way down his chest with my left hand. The left holds or pulls down slightly, the right arm pulls the left collar tight around his neck in a clockwise fashion. I can also bend my wrist towards his feet, to bring the bony part of my wrist (thumb side) into his windpipe harder.
I was working with a brand new guy, it was only his second class, so I spent a lot of time talking him through stuff. He hadn't seen full guard once, and back control never. That made it a bit entertaining, but we managed ok.
For the second half of the class, I was handed the two newbies to take them through the keep the mount drill. However, as they were unfamilar with all positions bar closed guard and back control, I showed them long base side control, mount and transitions first, also what to look out for when on the bottom. I think we actually got through the whole drill once by the time the class was over.
So it was a sort of quiet and low energy class for me. In some ways I didn't mind.
It was funny to watch the two guys. They both tried very hard but couldn't help look longingly when the others started to wrestle. I laughed and said they need to learn to crawl before they can run, and if they were let loose with those guys, they'd get mauled and have their arms ripped out :-))). But I promised they'll soon be rolling if they get their basics happening.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Teaching - a learning experience
I've taught skills before, such as machinery operation, running a small office and using computer programs, all in an occupational/job scenario. To this end, I actually did a course many years ago, for which I have a pretty certificate to hang on my wall.
Primarily though, I've taught people how to handle and ride horses. I have a lot of experience to back me up and to help people, as I've been around horses since my teens. It's a subject area I enjoy very much. I find teaching fairly easy, mainly for those reasons. Casting a self-critical eye over my teaching skills, I have to admit that often I've been somewhat impatient. I guess I fell into the trap of making the assumption that things which are easy and/or obvious to me, are so perceived by my students. I didn't understand just how difficult the learning of a new task can be, as it had been some time since I learned a totally new set of skills. (I think that was learning to scuba-dive just over 10 years ago.)
I knew I was in for a lot of learning when I stepped on the Dojo floor for the first time in March 2008. I wasn't wrong.
I was asking my body to do things which it had never done before. I watched my teachers perform movements with effortless ease. When I tried the same (basic) movements, it looked like a parody performed by a wooden toy with inbuilt wobble-effect. Well, it felt bad enough, most of the time I was too embarrassed to look in the mirror. I was determined to get better and I did. But still, there were and are times when it seemed near impossible to string together three simple movements. And when the frustration set in (doesn't take long with me), it becomes even harder.
Then I started BJJ and learned yet another completely different set of skills, using (and abusing ;-) ) my body in ways it hadn't experienced before.
Haha, now I knew how my riding students felt!
Well, as a result I'm more patient with them and I break things down further. I have more realistic expectations of training outcomes, too. So learning one art has made me a better teacher of another art.
Now I've come full circle. I was asked to teach basic grappling skills to a class. I felt honoured to be asked but a bit apprehensive, too. After all, I have only been grappling for some 10 months, and - pardon the pun - I'm still grappling with the subject matter ;-) . There is so much of it. Sure I know some basic drills, basic positions and a number of attacks, sweeps, reversals. But I know that I only have a basic understanding. The fact that BJJ black belts still improve on their basic stuff is a bit humbling, after all, most of them have been grappling for 10 years or more. I am getting to the point where I am seeing underlying principles and beginning to string techniques together. I'm feeling for points of balance and I can see a point of attack. But I am humbled every time I roll! What I'm trying to say is that I know how little I know and how much more there is yet to learn. Even though I know a lot more than those I'm teaching, I'm acutely aware of the gaping holes in my game, but I will teach them to the best of my ability.
I took one class tonight and I feel it went quite well. It wasn't a big class, and I know all the guys. Basics is what they need and that's what we worked on. For example proper back control with hooks in and a correct RNC.
But teaching sure is harder than learning. When you learn, you only have to worry about yourself. When you teach, you have to worry about everyone in the class :-) But more importantly, different persons see different things and as a result ask different questions than the ones you asked when you learned the same thing. Other people have different body types, and what works for you may or may not work for them. To be able to teach something, your level of understanding of the subject matter has to be much higher, so that you can deal with the differences and the questions arising. However, this goes both ways. Watching and interacting with people you teach also helps you reach a higher level of understanding. When students are truly passionate about learning something, they will really apply themselves and they will ask holes into your head as well as freely share their observations.
So I view the teaching part of it as part of my learning experience. It will make me a better martial artist, and the skills I teach will help others to become better as well.
And after the first session, I'm not so nervous about it any more. I enjoy grappling too much :-)
Primarily though, I've taught people how to handle and ride horses. I have a lot of experience to back me up and to help people, as I've been around horses since my teens. It's a subject area I enjoy very much. I find teaching fairly easy, mainly for those reasons. Casting a self-critical eye over my teaching skills, I have to admit that often I've been somewhat impatient. I guess I fell into the trap of making the assumption that things which are easy and/or obvious to me, are so perceived by my students. I didn't understand just how difficult the learning of a new task can be, as it had been some time since I learned a totally new set of skills. (I think that was learning to scuba-dive just over 10 years ago.)
I knew I was in for a lot of learning when I stepped on the Dojo floor for the first time in March 2008. I wasn't wrong.
I was asking my body to do things which it had never done before. I watched my teachers perform movements with effortless ease. When I tried the same (basic) movements, it looked like a parody performed by a wooden toy with inbuilt wobble-effect. Well, it felt bad enough, most of the time I was too embarrassed to look in the mirror. I was determined to get better and I did. But still, there were and are times when it seemed near impossible to string together three simple movements. And when the frustration set in (doesn't take long with me), it becomes even harder.
Then I started BJJ and learned yet another completely different set of skills, using (and abusing ;-) ) my body in ways it hadn't experienced before.
Haha, now I knew how my riding students felt!
Well, as a result I'm more patient with them and I break things down further. I have more realistic expectations of training outcomes, too. So learning one art has made me a better teacher of another art.
Now I've come full circle. I was asked to teach basic grappling skills to a class. I felt honoured to be asked but a bit apprehensive, too. After all, I have only been grappling for some 10 months, and - pardon the pun - I'm still grappling with the subject matter ;-) . There is so much of it. Sure I know some basic drills, basic positions and a number of attacks, sweeps, reversals. But I know that I only have a basic understanding. The fact that BJJ black belts still improve on their basic stuff is a bit humbling, after all, most of them have been grappling for 10 years or more. I am getting to the point where I am seeing underlying principles and beginning to string techniques together. I'm feeling for points of balance and I can see a point of attack. But I am humbled every time I roll! What I'm trying to say is that I know how little I know and how much more there is yet to learn. Even though I know a lot more than those I'm teaching, I'm acutely aware of the gaping holes in my game, but I will teach them to the best of my ability.
I took one class tonight and I feel it went quite well. It wasn't a big class, and I know all the guys. Basics is what they need and that's what we worked on. For example proper back control with hooks in and a correct RNC.
But teaching sure is harder than learning. When you learn, you only have to worry about yourself. When you teach, you have to worry about everyone in the class :-) But more importantly, different persons see different things and as a result ask different questions than the ones you asked when you learned the same thing. Other people have different body types, and what works for you may or may not work for them. To be able to teach something, your level of understanding of the subject matter has to be much higher, so that you can deal with the differences and the questions arising. However, this goes both ways. Watching and interacting with people you teach also helps you reach a higher level of understanding. When students are truly passionate about learning something, they will really apply themselves and they will ask holes into your head as well as freely share their observations.
So I view the teaching part of it as part of my learning experience. It will make me a better martial artist, and the skills I teach will help others to become better as well.
And after the first session, I'm not so nervous about it any more. I enjoy grappling too much :-)
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