so much to think about

We haven't covered a lot of new stuff (=techniques) in class lately. Which is good, because my head is quite full enough as it is.

Lately, I see so many more details in the so called basics, details which I've been missing. Which is probably why some of my basic techniques have been somewhat ineffective. Especially since I don't get away with crappy technique as they are mostly bigger than I. So that's good, it forces me to get the basics right.

I'm beginning to understand that I should not give up on something simply because it seems difficult. Giving up is easy. Blaming the technique is easy. But what I need to do is buckle down and try and try again and troubleshoot what is the part or parts of the technique that I do incorrectly. I'm lucky to have an instructor with a great eye for small things and who can dissect things down. So he can pinpoint where I make mistakes and find a way to show me how to do it successfully. He has been quite inventive in thinking up ways to not only explain but to give me little drills that allow me to feel and understand what I need to do.

I know now, more than ever, that my hip movement has been woefully inadeqate. That explains why my escapes aren't that great and why sweeps aren't happening too well. Awareness is the first step to improvement. Then comes a plan. For example, during open mat on Thursday I had a couple of plans. One was to go for arm drags. The other was to use my hips. Basically, I tried to remember to make a bigger effort to hip out or bridge up. As a result, I had better success in regaining full guard. And I finally pulled off the escape from side mount, where I get both arms on the far side, bridge and then rotate around his forearm until I'm head to head. I had never been able to make that work before. So I think I'm on the right track there. Incidentally, I've lately found it much easier to do laps of hip escapes (during warm-ups), and I've been getting much bigger and freer movment. They feel powerful and fast now. On the one hand I'm amazed that it's taken the best part of two years to get decent hip escapes happening. On the other hand, I'm glad that they are happening!

Other stuff I've been working on some more are hooking sweeps. We did some work on setting up an arm drag from sitting (hooks in ) guard and then transitioning to a double hooking sweep if they resist the arm drag. Vice versa, if the sweep fails, I move my weight to the other butt cheek, hip out a bit and can either try for arm drag or for a sweep to the other side. It all involves such fundamental stuff that I desperately need to work on, mainly the hip movement and effective hooks.

We also did some work on arm drags from standing and from closed guard. That, coupled with the guard transitions we practiced a fair bit after the Rigan seminar, is yet another set of related basic stuff. Basic, but fits right into what I've recently been working on, if only from closed guard.

So, without covering much new stuff at all, my head is buzzing :-)

I have a bunch of instructional dvds and books. But at the moment, I refuse to look at anything that doesn't tie in with the stuff I'm working on. I think I finally am starting to have some sort of game plan. Which is nothing like what I anticipated it to be. It's growing in an organic sort of a fashion out from where I feel powerful and have the most success. Guard.

BJJ was always fun, but I'm astonished to see it's more and more fun all the time.

 

BJJ is a bit like a fractal. Any part of it you happen to investigate is intricate and interesting. You try and get an overview and see the whole thing and make the areas you know fit together. Then you realise that every branch has lots more intricate details. Many of them fit in with other branches. And the more you zoom in and look, the more you see yet more intriguing and interesting details.

I've had an offer to tag along and go to classes down in Geelong, maybe as often as once a week. That means classes with John Will or one of his black belts. I'm sure it will be fun as well as tough going, especially since I now have to attend the advanced classes. I shudder at the thought of a room full of experienced coloured belts. They'll have me for breakfast ;-) Maybe I should have a "fragile - handle with care" sticker on my gi?? Naw, it'll be good and the learning will be well worth it.

mental toughness

I just came across this classic post on sherdog, posted by HomerPlata in the thread Mental toughness challenged by BJJ?:
"I agree that grappling challenges your mental toughness but, like some others have said, not in terms of resisting locked-in submissions. It's more about whether or not you can drag yourself to class when you feel like the weakest, most talentless turd on the planet. Everyone has those days, and if you can still get to class, listen well, and train hard, then you do have mental toughness."

I can't vouch for being mentally tough, but I certainly have that weak, talentless turd feeling at times... Haha.

rolling, rolling... and gear gripes

Well, another whole week has passed. Lots of classes, lots of rolling.

Nothing much new. Still stuggling against the bigger guys. That's so frustrating, knowing I must stay out from under them, and somehow not succeeding in achieving that objective. They know that all they need to do is get hold of some part of me and then move their bulk over the rest rest of me. I seem to have little success with open guard, they are able to just grab my legs and then I might as well give them a written invitation with gold edges to please take side control. Bah. Even with grips on their sleeves I seem to be doomed. On the positive side, at least I'm able to slow them down and my slowly improving hip mobility is helping.

Anyway, that just means I'l have to work on it more. I have absolutely no intention on giving up!!

Due to a couple of pretty small classes, I had more opportunity to work one on one with my instructor. Been working on two things. Firstly, a defence against a knee through guard pass, where I switch out my hips to face them, go to turtle and then fade right back to guard. I had a few issues with the hip switch, but I'm starting to get it. We drilled that numerous times with more and more pressure. The principles will also help me with my other escapes, so it will hopefully help address the issue with the bigger guys, too.

The other thing I had a thorough play with was the double hooking sweep. The first few attempts resulted in my poor training partner being propelled right up, which probably made for a tough landing :-). Then I got the body mechanics more under control and was able to do it smoothly and with next to no momentum, putting him precisely where I wanted him. That felt good. It's a great sweep, and now that I have the necessary coordination to make every one of my four limbs do different things simultaneously, I think I'll be able to use it. There are also a lot of principles behind this sweep which it helps me understand better.

Last night I had a quick reminder that as a blue belt, I need to be aware of leg locks. Haven't tapped to one of those since I was doing no-gi grappling at another school.... That's going to make open guard an even more dangerous territory for me. But on the positive side, I'm allowed to go for legs on blue belts and above.

I've had several rolls in my RDA gi. It is better fitting than my other gis and I like the material of the top. The pants are awesome. My two favourites are the Fuji Kassen and the RDA. Still not sure about the Shoyoroll. For starters, the sleeves are way too long, so I'm going to shorten them. I have an A2, and the sleeves are considerably longer than in my A3 Atama and Fuj gis. That irritates me so much I haven't even thought about whether I like the rest of it enough to hang on to. Maybe I should just stick it on ebay. From what I hear people pay stupid prices. With the proceeds I could buy a new blue Fushida (or maybe two!) ... Don't know yet.

I've been trying to hunt down another pair of compression shorts. I have a pair of BSCs (full quad ladies) which are THE thing. Perfect fit, and no niggles or pinching in unmentionable places. They are going on two years old now and have seen on average six training sessions every week. There is just a tiny bit of wear showing in a couple of spots. I wanted another pair only to discover that model is no longer made :-(. I checked out their "hot shorts". Too short and different design which pinches. No way!

I have a pair of 2XU shorts. They are a different design. So although very similar in size, they do tend to ride up on my legs a little. And they pinch in the nether regions, too. Oh yes, and the fancy big silver logos and stripes are all coming off, so they are not one of my best purchases...

Recently, I went to a sports store and tried on every pair of women's shorts and found: nothing. All the damn things are designed for discomfort. I don't have a big butt, or strange anatomy, so it shouldn't be that difficult. Maybe these things are ok for the occasionall half hour of bouncing around a gym or a little run. But for wrestling, they need to fit like a second skin, not have seams in stupid places and not ride up the middle and pinch my soft tissues. They should also have a draw string, and maybe need to be designed less for a low rise good look than functionality. But my biggest beef is why on earth they are made with a seam right along the middle. Think about it, the shorts are stretchy, with the seams being the least stretchy. So a seam up the middle will do what??

I don't know, maybe they are cheaper to make this way. Though when I look at how many extra unneccessary seams many of these shorts have, just to look fancy, I can't see the problem. But why don't they make them to actually conform to a human body?

Anyway, I have ordered a cheap pair from Korea on ebay. They cost a quarter of the ones in the shop, and they have no seam up the middle. So I'll see how they go. And I hope that my BSCs will last for a long time yet!!

I got my Rupture RG in the mail today. I ordered an old style one, because I think they look really classy. A men's small size fits me perfectly. Well, hopefully I'll get a chance to try it out tomorrow.

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 :-)

put that boy down!

I still feel weird stepping out on the mat with a blue belt around my waist. Not only because it's new and slippery and wants to come undone. It's just... strange :-)

On the one hand I feel like maybe I have more responsibility. On the other hand, I'm pretty relaxed. I don't feel (so far) that I have a target on my back, that I need to prove anything or that there are sudden higher expectations which I must fulfill. The guys have been great. Oh, I get teased. How much the belt suits the colour of my eyes. One guy keeps saying he wants to roll with the champ. And there's the "now that you are a blue belt.." sort of stuff :-)

To be honest, it worried me to begin with, but now that I know the sky isn't falling on my head, I'm enjoying myself. With the comp over, I can experiment to my heart's content. Both with new techniques and with modifying ones I already know. Rolling is more fun all the time.

Keeping up with the theme of basics, we worked on guard passing on Friday night. For a change, it was only a very small class. One of the senior blue belts took it, then there was myself, and three guys. One of them with only a couple of classes behind him. I had the new guy for a while and was reminded how much people rely on muscles :-). We went from some drills to free guard passing against minimal resistance, then to guard passing against more resistance with the bottom person really working on breaking down posture. And finally free rolling. I mainly rolled with the two more experienced white belts. When it came to rolling, one came in grinning, called me champ and ran around to my back to attack. Silly bastard :-) We had a lively roll. I had him in a crucifix which I lost when I was experimenting. From then it was a tangle of arms and legs with several sub attempts from both of us, because this guy is pretty fast. I had a ball. He kneed me in the back of the head on an armbar attempt. We stopped to check for damage but it was time anyway.

Then we did a warm down. Oh yeah. 100 crunches. Push ups. Hold pushup position with arm/legs off the floor. Hold halfway down. Just hold for two minutes. Ha, that was funny, too. Hold the position came last, with arms & backs already tired. First he said let's hold for a minute. Cool. Two of the guys were groaning. Then he said how about two minutes? I said cool. That instantaneously led to the collapse of one of them :-) Another failed seconds later. Hehe. I don't know why, but I really find that quite easy.

Then he said, ok, let's wrestle some more. Arrright. I will say I wasn't too fresh by this stage... But the two guys I wrestled were my size or smaller, so I was going quite well. Finally, the blue belt wanted a roll. And then it was kick my arse time :-) Oh well. He always explains stuff after he catches me out and he's shown me loads of stuff. But I did feel I was getting it dished out to me. I think the best bit was when he decided to congratulate me on the new belt whilst applying a pretty nasty crossface and then ripping my arm out. Haha, fun times.

Saturday class was also reasonably small. Before the class, one of the brown belts showed me a couple of new things which he picked up from John Will and Rigan Machado down in Geelong. He couldn't stay for class, but we had a few minutes before it started.

First thing was a refinement of the standing open guard pass to knee ride. That was one of the passes we had worked on in Rigan's seminar last Sunday. Then he showed me a way to break the gable grip around the legs if someone is doing a double underpass. It's combination of making heavy legs and arching up. Next technique was a defence against the standing pass to attempted knee ride. You have to do a bit quick for this one. As he steps around my legs on my right side, I roll onto my left elbow, rock back onto my left shoulder and get my legs up. I then swing the legs in a circular motion to the right, rocking onto the the right shoulder and then the right hip, which either gets him back in my closed guard or a triangle. But you have to be quick, otherwise....

The last technique he showed me was a side control escape straight to d'arce. We didn't have a lot of time, so I only tried that one once. I'm mulling it over in my head and will have try it again a few times. But very interesting!
 
When class started, I took the warmup. Then I was partnered with the young, small guy. We drilled guard passing again, and the new guys were shown and drilled the figure four from guard. Then we went on to free guard passing with a bit then more resistance. And finally the bottom person was allowed subs. My partner and I were the most experienced pair on the mat, so we were sent up one end and mostly left to our own devices.

On the suggestion of our instructor, I worked on standing guard passes. With a light guy like that, it doesn't tax my back too much, and I can actually pick him up. When on the bottom, I made sure I gave him lots of problems to solve, but I ensured that he had some successes when he did something correctly. I showed him some of the several things one can do to slow down guard passing, such as move aside when the passer puts the knee in the middle, stiff arming, heavy leg on the under pass and such things. I showed him one of the crushing guard passes and then how if you don't control the arm, the bottom person will climb on your back. He's very ego free and thinks it's really cool when you catch him in something. But then I always show him what I did and what he might do to avoid it. And he picks stuff up fast. I was busy having a good roll with him and was busy taking his back, when I was told to "put that boy down!" :-). I made disappointed noises and we all laughed. End of class.

help - am I turning into a gi whore?

Ha, I know I'm not as bad as some, but I'm worse than many :-)

There isn't any help for this addiction, but there is a support group on Facebook, called BJJ Gi Addicts Anonymous. Sigh. I've signed up.

After reading about the RDA gi on Meerkatsu's blog and on on Jake's The Ground Never Misses blog, I couldn't resist. Well, the fact that the price dropped substantially also helped. I don't think I would have parted with over $200. In any case, Seymour had posted the exact measurements (pre and post washing/shrinking) and that helped me choose my size. So I ordered one from Budovideos.com, which didn't take long to get here.

It's arrived and it looks fantastic. It's been washed, has a bit of shrinkage and now it's ready to roll (pun intended!). Can't wait to try it out. It certainly fits beautifully.

I've managed to sell two of the gis that didn't fit me so well. I'm also going to sell my huge and bulky judo gi and my Fuji gi. The latter I actually like, but it really is a tad big and I find I move around in it too much. That will then leave me a rather battered Atama, a newish Fuji Kassen, a new blue Shoyoroll (batch 6) and the RDA gi. That should keep me going for a while.

Two are reasonably lightweight and will be perfect for summer. The Kassen is a bit on the thicker side and will be good for winter. And I love the fit on that one, too. The only one I'm not sure of is the Shoyoroll. The sleeves are very long compared to the other gis. I have yet to use it at the school as I wasn't allowed a blue gi as white belt. But as of now, I can wear it, so I'll give it a good workout and see how it feels. By feel and fit, I think the RDA and the Kassen will be my favourites.

The only other gi I'm still tempted to get is a Fushida. Well, maybe I can talk myself into buying myself a birthday present ;-) .

da basics!

A comment made by Rigan at the seminar was that he saw too many people make mistakes with basic stuff. People got stuck in the guard. People got armbarred a lot. And people were slow to transition or didn't transition well.


His coloured belt seminar addressed some of those basics. Ironically, the subject had been chosen before the comp, but the theme certainly addressed what he and some others felt was lacking on the mats at the comp.

Out of our school's contingent, two guys got stuck and a couple got caught in swift armbars when their opponents pulled guard.

So the topic at our school for this week is to go over the same basics which Rigan took us through at the seminar:
guard - transition between closed and butterfly and hooks in and spider guard
guard passing - grip fighting, getting posture, negotiating legs in open guard

That's what we worked on today and will be doing for a while longer. We have a large influx of new guys, they need the basic anyway. But everyone else will benefit from a revisit. Myself included!!

The lunchtime class was very small indeed and consisted of myself. Well, I don't mind one on one time with our instructor :-) . It gave me plenty of time to go over the aforementioned basics and address a couple of little problems. He also showed me a way to defend a knee through guard pass, where I deflect my opponent with my arms, switch my hips and get to my knees. I retreat to turtle, but fade back right away, pulling him back into my full guard. Nice.

After that, we had a bit of a chin wag about life in general and how my journey as a blue belt might pan out from here. I'm under strict instruction not to feel obliged to prove anything to anyone, and not to stress out over the new belt and put myself under pressure. I'm to hang loose and not try to tap anyone, rather go easy, experiment and be tapped. When I read what pressure people seem to put themselves in when they get a new belt, I can well understand why I've been given this advice. And I'll do my best to heed it.

This evening, we had a fairly decent sized class with mostly beginners and moderately experienced whitebelts. We went over the same basics again. I was able to help the guy I was partnered with quite a bit, but I picked up a point about breaking open the legs in closed guard. That aside, I value the opportunity to work on and get better at the basics. I am much more aware of where my weight is, and I am trying to make my guard passes and transitions more "waterproof".

There was a time when I (foolishly) used to hate doing basic stuff, but that is no longer the case. There is always some small bit I pick up, and extra reps will develop my technique and general feel.

Da basics rule :-)

eventful weekend

So I went to the 2010 Gathering. That's the Will-Machado Nationals, held in Melbourne every September. It was my second Gathering, and my fourth competition in all.

I had two fights, one in my weight division. Well, actually, they combined three divisions, so I fought at over 74kg, while I weighed in at about 68. But there was only one other woman. The second fight was the absolute and it was against the same woman.

I won both fights by submission. One armbar and one from pressure (I had her back and flattened her out, and while I was going for an arm, she tapped). What made me happy were several things. I felt I had time. I had the initiative pretty much all the time and was racking up points and advantages. While I couldn't finish a couple of the chokes I tried for, I went straight for something else. I had a bit of a game plan and I followed it. The attacks from closed guard which lead off an arm drag worked perfectly.

I had lots of team mates to cheer me on, which was fantastic. They sounded very excited :-) I hope someone took some pictures.

A couple of strangers came up to me after and said they enjoyed watching and it was very technical. Someone said it was good to see that at white belt level, rather than the usual ripping and smashing.

My instructor watched and said a few nice things afterwards. But the nicest thing he said was that I'm now a blue belt. Woooohoooo! It still hasn't quite sunk in, to be honest.

On Sunday, Rigan Machado ran a couple of seminars, one for coloured belts and one for white belts. So I borrowed a blue belt and went to the morning seminar. I've never seen so many black belts in one room! It was awesome. The seminar was great and I was lucky to score a super nice black belt guy to drill with.

So all in all, a weekend I won't forget in a hurry.

comp tomorrow!

I have been so busy with work for uni and a plethora of other things (mainly farm and horses), that I honestly have hardly had time to think about the comp. I don't know if that's good or bad :-)

I had a class on Monday night. We basically did our last lot of rolling before the comp. Some rounds from standing, some rounds from knees. I had a couple of very long rolls and one where I caught some weird surprise sub on one of the blue belts. I wanted an omoplata but he got his leg across my body. Yet, I hung on to his arm and managed a shoulder lock. Has us both scatching our heads ;-)

Wednesday lunchtime, there were only three of us, including a total newbie. The instructor had a cold and wanted to not share it with us, which I found commendable. So there was no rolling with him, or even demos, it was instruction by distance. The other senior guy and I took turns working with the new guy, teaching him basis stuff. Otherwise, we basically talked strategy with the instructor, and had a chance to troubleshoot a couple of small things in our respective games. We then practised them on one another while the newbie guy did some stuff on his own (hip escapes etc). So I went over how to use my whole body to effect an arm drag. I need that set up for the armbar, to get the back or to sweep. Lately, I've had trouble getting their arm across because they know what I'm up to and they'll muscle their way out of it. But as the instructor said: firstly, that's a good thing, if they worry so much about it they resort to muscle. Secondly, they may expose something else, like the other arm, so afte the comp we'll work on what might lead off that.... Goody.

So that was a really useful session for me. Both from a motivational and a technical point of view.

I missed the Wednesday night class because I needed to finish off two assignments for uni.

Thursday night, I did go to open mat. Not a big turnout. And mainly guys who are not going to the comp. I worked for a bit with one of the blue belts, who was all happy to help me with whatever. So I suggested flow rolling, simply to move and get position. Got stuck in half guard bottom. Had lockdown, but because he was across my upper body, found I couldn't do my usual stuff. And then remembered that this had puzzled me before. So he showed me a way to trap the foot, get a hook under his thigh and then lift him to get full guard or sweep. I'm sure I've been shown those things before, but they must have fallen out of the sieve...

So that was very useful to me. We did roll lightly for a bit more, which was also good.

Then I had several rolls with my heavy white belt friend. He held right back on squashing hard, and he toned down how much muscle he used, giving me a chance to work, work. Good, lots of effective escapes, mainly getting back to guard. He knows I like to work from guard, so he worked in with that. Didn't give me anything, but sort of saw to it that I had lots of chance to try. And things were happening.

Then we sort of had an idea exchange about armbars from guard, armdrags, the setup I've been working on. He showed me a good armdrag with a hand in the collar which sets up a choke, and if they manage to get their arm out, and are busy thinking of it, getting the second hand in for a choke is easy. I showed him a couple of things I was experimenting with and we both played with different ways to get to the setup and then the subs that would come off it. Very useful for both of us.

I had a good workout without going too hard and with the help of the guys, a couple more little pennies dropped.

I'm going to the Will-Machado Nationals in Melbourne tomorrow. I had a call asking if I'll got against a heavier girl in the absolute. For sure! Apperently, there is only one other girl in my weight division. So that means I'll get two fights. That sounds good to me. The draw isn't up yet, so this could be on any time tomorrow. The comp starts at 10am. That's an early start for me, as it's nearly 2 hours drive to the place.

looking back at the week

I felt a bit flat and useless at the end of last week, but this week has been better. Don't know what it was, but I'm pleased I'm ok now.

As we have the Will Machado Nationals coming up next weekend, we've been doing a lot of rolling. I missed the Wednesday lunchtime class as I had to go to a meeting, but had lots of rolls on Monday, Wednsday, Thursday and Friday.

There seems to be not much pattern or logic to where I go or which submission to try. Of course, I still like the closed guard, and my most effective attacks seem to be collar chokes. But that aside, anything goes from anywhere, as long as I get out from under people. I suppose it's a good thing that there is always something I know I can go for, and it's always several things in a row. The stringing together of techniques is starting. But as yet, there is no set game plan and therefore no setting up of techniques. It's all a bit ad hoc, so to speak.

I had a few really good rolls with a purple belt during Thursday night's open mat. I hit a couple of sweeps, passed his guard and actually threatened him a few times. I also had a lot of success in breaking him down inside my guard and going for things (not that I succeeded...). And then we ended up in all sorts of weird positions which were way off the map and needed serious rearranging of limbs to go back to known positions. Well, I suppose that's not all bad. Let's call it experimental :-)

I nearly did a dummy spit on Wednesday night. We went from standing and I just couldn't get my act together. So I was frustrated with myself. I got pinned under a large white belt and just couldn't bloody well get out. I just expect that I can do better than that by now! At the end, I had two rolls with a purple belt. First roll took some time and though he took me down, I did at some time get a top position. It took several minutes before he could armbar me, as I escaped several of his submission attempts. So I should have been happy. I mean - do I really expect an experienced purple belt NOT to beat me up?? So then we start again, and he took me down with a textbook double leg. He was worried it was too hard, but no, it was very controlled. Then he made short work of me seeing we landed with him in such a good position. And that was totally fair enough. Still, I was grinding my teeth. Sometimes I'm such an idiot.

I came home and reread all the stuff about just shutting up and training. And found this post on dealing with frustration on Liam's blog. I needed that reality check. Three cheers to my fellow bloggers, they have saved my day many times :-)

So instead of spending any more time thinking about how well things didn't go for me, I started planning on how to deal with specific problems I've been having.

For example, a big strong whitebelt is one of the few people who simply mows through my closed guard. So instead of hanging on to a lost position, I need to be pro-active. Go to open guard, get feet in. Control his arms and put feet on his hips and make space. Or at least get a knee in. And guess what, Friday night I did exactly that. I also paid particular attention to using my hips more. And lo and behold, I not only held him off for about ten minutes, I got top positions a coupe of times and actually threatened him several times. That would have been advantages :-)) Did I feel good about it? You bet.

Inbetween rolls with him, I had the little guy. What a strange feeling, going from one opponent who outweighs me by 30kg to one who is half his weight, and about 15kg less than I.

Today, Saturday, we drilled an escape from turtle where you trap an arm as you sit out and then go to back control. I was paired up with a young guy who has only had a few classes. Hihi, he was making comments like: "I'll go light on you because I don't want to hurt you", "I can be really heavy", "oh, I could try THIS instead" and "AU - your elbow" :-) .

Oh, and then we were told to roll, with the usual caution not to break the newbies, and the newbies to take it easy and not to use muscle. Haha. Well, I broke him three times. Gently.

I hit sweeps all over the place, and choked him. Well, I guess that's what I do, so I might as well resign myself that that's my goto move for the comp.

But while we rolled, I helped him and pointed out when to go for a bridge and roll, why not to try and choke me from within my guard, and to keep his elbows in when mounted. Then it was time. Ah, and he did point out he could have armbarred me, from within my guard. Ok. Right.

But it was fun :-)

We had a visiting brown and purple belt on the floor. Sadly, there was no chance to roll with either of them. But there will be a chance another time. And the brown belt showed me a knee bar from switch base side control. Well, once I'm a blue belt, I can and will use leg attacks. I did learn some a while ago when I did some no-gi grappling at another school, but here we don't use leg techniques until blue belt, so I haven't thought about it much.

show your feet

We all know that BJJ can take it's toll on the body. There's aches here and pains there (never mind the occasional injury). My classes bunch up towards the latter half of the week, and by the time Saturday afternoon comes around, I'm ready for a day off. It was again like that today. Achy back, sore fingers, stiff neck, dodgy shoulder, blah blah. And my triceps were complaining, no idea why. But basically a fairly typical Sunday :-)

Usually, by Monday evening, I'm pretty much fully functional again. Which is why it's I'm glad we have another BJJ class. That way, my body never gets out of the habit of feeling abused.

I do tend to have a massage every couple of months. That takes the worst kinks out of the back, neck and shoulders. Should really do it every month. My massage lady is great. She is a 3rd degree black belt in Karate, and something similar in TKD. So she knows a thing or three about abused bodies. She is very good at finding those irky knots in my muscles, and attacks them with painful, steely thumbs :-)  I'm sure my muscles just go: OK, ok, I'll relax, just STOP prodding!! Truth be told, most of the massage is very relaxing and enjoyable, and the moments of pain are well worth it, because I feel so much better for days and weeks afterwards. My right shoulder has an old rotator cuff injury, and the massage really loosens things up.

My body is begging to make a massage appointment in the very near future!

What prompted my reflection on the hazards of BJJ is that I looked at my feet the other day. Honestly, my feet are downright ugly:

I stepped out of the shower and noticed (not for the first time), the multitude of coloured patches. So I took a photo. I know, I know, that's strange. I guess I was a bit shocked. Not that I ever had the sort of pretty feet and beautiful ankles that would help win a beauty contest... but now they look like they've "been in the wars".

Well, I guess I'm stuck with them :-)

At least they go well with my calloused knees and elbows. I even have toughened skin on the backs of my shoulders. Oh boy.

But hey, the news isn't all bad. I'm fitter and healthier than before, I am stronger in general with good grip strength. I'm keeping up with the young guys in class. Hey, I make them puff when I tak warm ups.... In fact, I have no problem doing 6 classes per week, and could probably do more. So I'm not complaining and consider myself lucky indeed.

My sister is 6 years younger than I. She's had a couple of children and had to quit doing JJJ/Judo for the last few years. She also injured her knee and needed surgery. She is planning on going back to training but says she won't compete again because of the knee. And for that, she envies me.

Strangely, the issues I've had with my own left knee (must be a family thing??) have never given me issues. Once someone slammed into it sideways and I had to take a week off. But that aside I have no problems. Also, a once easily crinked neck is now so muscled up that some collars feel too tight, and I have to really, really abuse it to feel pain. Still gets a bit stiff here and there, but the training has improved it tremendously.

So aside from the fun I'm having, all in all my body is benefitting. I know the feet look ugly. But I can live with that :-)

another crazy gi

It's been so wet. Near record rainfalls for the area for the month of August. So it's near impossible to do much outside. Guess that's why I have time for more crazy gi designs.

Don't forget to submit your own crazy designs, the competition is open until mid September. for more details, check out the Meerkatsu's crazy BJJ-gi design challenge blog  and the page on FB.

more neckties, grading and other stuff

Wednesday night, we ran through the Peruvian necktie yet again, though not in so much details. We also looked at possible escapes (roll forward, roll sideways), and what attack opportunities that opens up. There were armbars, taking the back and a crucifix. Also there is the possibility of going for a D'Arce choke, depending on whether you can maintain your grip when they roll. Also, a transition from a D'Arce to the necktie. Good attack combinations!

Open mat on Thursday was fairly short, for some reason everyone was ready to head home after about an hour. As we had sort of started slowly, talking about this and that, and some people going over the D'Arce and the necktie. I only ended up rolling a few times, and with the same guy. Missed out on having a roll with one of the purple belts, as he had to go early. Had some more success than normal in escaping hips and getting knees in when my opponent got top position. But all in all, felt a bit lacklustre. And felt I was making old mistakes and giving opportunities away. But one problem I have resolved is that I no longer turtle all the time, and that forces me to deal with regaining guard and having more mobile hips. Ok so that's frustrating at present, but I can feel some improvement already.

Friday was essentially just rolling (while the people due to grad on Saturday were working on their stuff). Again, didn't do fantastic work and felt accordingly miffed with my performance. We mostly started from standing. I notice everyone is avoiding my closed guard like the plague, and I have to make a real effort to get it now. One guy is using a guard pass that's a real bitch for me. But as I was driving home grizzling about it, I realised that instead of holding on tight, I should push off him and go to open guard. Duh. Sometimes the obvious things really aren't obvious...

What was good about Friday is that we had a visitor, a purple belt. He used to come to our school occasionally and teach a few classes, but who has been off sick for a while. Also back on the mat was one of our big regulars who's been out town recently. Oh yeah, just like in the olden days, I got flattened :-) Hehe, we started from standing and he wasn't wearing a gi. So I was contemplating what to do, as my fingers can barely close around his wrists. So how to get grips?? Anyway, I didn't have much time to worry, as he didn't waste time coming in for a takedown. I feebly did something defense, and actually upset his balance a bit, but I still ended up on the bottom. Being in his high mount sucks! And that's before he casually peels out one of my elbows to do something nasty to my arm :-) Oh well. 

Anyway, our visitor came up with a couple of suggestions how I can improve my chances of escaping mount (even on someone BIG). Basically go for a series of small bumps to get elbow and knee to meet. Rather than try for a big hip escape. Makes sense. Will work on this !! Another thing he showed me (after watching me fishing for lockdown in half guard bottom and failing as Mr.Big had his leg up), was a way to get the locked leg stretched out so I can get lockdown. Or go for a sweep. I need to go drill that one....

Saturday was grading day. Six guys went for their second stripe, and two went for their first. I really only went along for the fun and to help. But it transpired that we had a female visitor from an other school, and next to no info about her experience level. So to begin with, while the white belts were doing their grading stuff, two of our bluebelts, the visitor and myself had (yet another) play with the necktie. And for the rest of the time, once we'd drilled the basics several times, we did some situational rolling. Somehow time passed pretty quickly.

At the end of the class, after the guys where given new stripes, one of the blue belts did some rounds in preparation for the comp. He asked the bigger of the white belts to start in top position. They took turns going hard on him :-).

Meanwhile I had a roll with the little guy. I've never seen anyone so cheerful about getting submitted :-) I pulled him right into a front choke, and he tapped. Came up smiling saying it was awesome. Made me laugh. We went again. I can just toss him around, that's so weird, as I'm the one who usually gets the rough end of the deal.. I feel such a bastard, but it's good because it allows me to try and flow from one spot to another. And several times, I paused and let him work, too. He was all smiles again. So positive. I must take a leaf out of his book.

I went over to watch how our big blue belt was getting on. He'd been going hard for a while. Someone arlocked him. Then he waved me in. Ok, started in knee ride. As he rolled into me, I went for a D'Arce, but he trapped my leg. So I grabbed his opposite collar which pinned his arm. He pushed over so I pulled guard and held the grip. And after a bit of a fight, got the cross collar choke. Went again this time I made the mistake of letting my left hand go near the mat. That's his bread and butter. Grab hand, pin down, feed behind back. My own fault. So eventually he passed my guard, to north/south and head/arm choke. I'm such a dope at times :-) Still, those were two enjoyable rolls. And he commented after, that the other guys were good to wear him out test him and then he had to deal with me on a more technical level. Good times.

revisit the Peruvian necktie

Today's lunchtime class was small again. We went over the necktie yet again, which was great. One of the guys had not yet seen it, for the other two of us it was the third opportunity to get some reps in. Great.

We also looked at what option we have if the opponent manages to pull his head out. If the grips are in good and the leg is on the back of his head by the time his head goes to the floor, it's unlikely he call roll out (around his own axis). But if he feels the setup and decides to try and roll before his head is completely blocked in, we need to change our approach because the choke is lost.

If he rolls more around his own axis than over my leg, and exposes his arm, I can underhook that arm and go straight for an armbar. Crucial part is to get the leg over his head to make sure he's locked in.

Other alternative is when he rolls over and ends up on my bottom leg. The best option then is to change my grips to a seatbelt grip, as he's giving up his back. He'll still be a bit on the side, so I need to force him over further so I can insert my knee on the bottom, roll him back and get my hooks in.

We drilled the getting hooks in with only a seatbelt grip in place from the back a few times. And then got in some more reps to get either the armbar or back control from the PNT setup.

latest gi

Here is another design which uses the flying horse, which is my own logo.

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.

another gi

more Peruvian neckties

Waaa, I don't seem to keep up with this. There is so much going on around me at present, that I sometimes don't have the necessary drive to update this blog. I continue to attend 5 BJJ classes most weeks plus open mat, so I'm getting the time in on the mat. But I seem to struggle to keep my blog and other notes up to date.

Of course, if I weren't spending so much time designing crazy-ass gis, I would have more time :-) ... As if I needed another addiction...

Anyway....

I won't bother going into Thursday's open mat or Friday's class. Other than to say we rounds from standing on Friday. And I've finally decided that my best course of action is to put aside my pride, forget about fancy takedowns and just bloody well pull guard. Because I like guard. It's the place from where I seem to be able to dish out most trouble to my opponents. And I avoid the likelihood of a botched takedown and someone sprawling on me. One severely bruised knee was enough.

So, on Saturday, we did more drilling of the Peruvian necktie. As last time, I seem to get it fairly right most of the time, and I was able to help my partner with it a lot.

After that, the newer guys worked on some of their syllabus stuff (grading next Saturday). I had a round from standing with the only blue belt who came to class. He's a biggish fellow. I managed to strip his grips a couple of times and got the grips I wanted and pulled guard. Straight to closed guard, where I managed to break him down nicely. He did his goto move (and for some unknown reason I always forget and fall for it!!)), which is pin one of my hands to the floor and feed it under me while he does a low smashing pass to the other side. I did fight it for a fair while and he resorted to strength. Until he got the pass. The instructor gave him a bollocking for that :-) I cunningly used that moment of inattention to hip out and regain guard and started attacking him again with chokes and an armlock. However, don't remember how, but he passed again and finally got side control, went to north south finished me with one of his favourite moves, a head-arm choke.

I received a big compliment for using good technique and keeping the attacks up from every position and for defending well. And the start of the round, getting him into my game. He was told that he has great technique, but wasn't using it, and only got out of my subs and succeeded with his because he muscled his way though. It must be difficult though, as he is very strong as well as 30kgs heavier than I. The temptation would always be there. I think there are lessons for me as well. For starters, there is a guy smaller and lighter than I who comes to classes. I can outmuscle him, but I don't want to. Anyway, it was nice to get some positive feedback about where I'm at, espcially so close to the next comp.

... and yet more gis

Last night's efforts:

newbie training log

I just fount this training log at the Zen Mojo blog. Too funny.