Thursday, May 26, 2011
discovery and transformation
Oh yes, Roy Dean doesn't just make excellent videos, he writes so much good stuff, too. He just wrote a piece on the meaning of "Discovery who you are", which is the guiding theme throughout all his videos. Read and enjoy!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
evil armbars and upside down triangles
I ended up only training three times last week. The knee took it well. But on Saturday, I couldn't make it anyway. I had to stay home because the horse-dentist came. He did six of our horses. Nice guy, and finally a guy who knows what he's doing. A real horseman (they are getting rarer these days, I swear!).
Anyway, it was probably be good to take it steady last week. This week, I've been training every day. The easy week has given my body a chance to recover a bit. Yes, I think I had been overdoing it recently... Sigh. So the question is whether the knee was a result of overtraining or unrelated. Anyway, it made me ease off a bit and I feel better for it all around. And finally by tonight, I didn't even think about the knee.
It's been an interesting week. On Monday, we did cutting armbars. I think I might have finally understood what makes them work. So far, I can only say I've got close. But now I know why I couldn't finish them off, and I think they'll make a handy addition to my arsenal. We looked at cutting armbars from guard and from side control. Whichever starting position, the key to it is to pin his upper arm against me, get a gable grip and slide that along until I get to the sweet spot near his elbow. Ideally, I will rotate his arm while I do that, just with the pressure of my gable grip. And if all goes well, his lower arm and hand will be lined up perfectly between my neck and shoulder. But the main part is the starting pressure. At the end of drilling and experimenting with it, I really could feel that pressure.
Tuesday night was no-gi. First time back since "the knee", so I was hoping to get a training partner with a degree of ahem... sense. I got lucky. Small class, uneven numbers, so I scored John as the drilling partner. We did a little bit of warming up getting x-guard. Then we drilled an open guard pass to knee on belly. As he hips out and rolls towards me to escape the knee, I step over his head and spin my legs back to get behind him. I need to get an underhook on his top arm from the rear. Then I sit up, rock back and take his back. The latter part is exactly how Ryan Hall describes a version of a back take. So it was great to be able to rep that out a few times.
We finished that class with about 20 minutes of rolling. I stayed with John. I was still very mindful of my knee (and so was he), so it was pretty light. But still, it was interesting stuff (most of which finished with my "destruction"). But the good part was that my hips were working and I managed some good escapes. Even got positions to launch a some submissions. I didn't stay for extra open mat, but it was a really good night.
John also showed me how to finish a weird upside down triangle, which I sometimes get, but could never finish. I tried to pull it on him, but failed yet again. Now that I know the finish, I think I might be doing some good with it. I catch people from bottom side control with this :-)
Yesterday's lunchtime class was very small: just myself. So Sensei Glenn decided that I should be his guinea pig for some new stuff he's been working on. And the other half of the class was mine. My choice was to work on the armbar from hell. I have been getting the high guard, with one knee over my opponent's shoulder, quite regularly. From there, I hunt for that armbar. But something was missing and I couldn't figure it out, so I've been going for a sweep, or a cutting armbar instead. Or sometimes I let them push their shoulder through, but keep their arm across, and then take the back.
However, after seeing what I've been doing, Glenn made a couple of suggestions. One was to square my hips back up. Hard to explain, but I know how it should feel. That gives me a much better angle for the armbar. Second suggestion was to have a much better grip on the arm. Even hold it with both my hands instead of using my left hand to push on his head to get my leg over. After some back and forth, and my usual non-faith in my own abilities and him giving me a bollocking for not even trying, I got the hang of it. And he was right, I do not need to let go of the arm, all I need is correct hip alignment and the will to do it. He let me drill it then, against increasing resistance. And at long last, it looks like I've nailed that technique..
He then reminded me how close to that are the related triangle and omoplata, depending on how one of my "victims" reacts. :-) Hehe.
We rolled for a bit after that. I got figure foured a few times. No surprise there, it's his favourite technique. But I defended a couple of those and somewhere along the lines, I threatened one of his arms, another time I regained guard and started going for the high guard. And as he said after: he didn't want to be there, that's now dangerous territory. He gave me some other valuable feedback. So all in all, a great session.
Anyway, it was probably be good to take it steady last week. This week, I've been training every day. The easy week has given my body a chance to recover a bit. Yes, I think I had been overdoing it recently... Sigh. So the question is whether the knee was a result of overtraining or unrelated. Anyway, it made me ease off a bit and I feel better for it all around. And finally by tonight, I didn't even think about the knee.
It's been an interesting week. On Monday, we did cutting armbars. I think I might have finally understood what makes them work. So far, I can only say I've got close. But now I know why I couldn't finish them off, and I think they'll make a handy addition to my arsenal. We looked at cutting armbars from guard and from side control. Whichever starting position, the key to it is to pin his upper arm against me, get a gable grip and slide that along until I get to the sweet spot near his elbow. Ideally, I will rotate his arm while I do that, just with the pressure of my gable grip. And if all goes well, his lower arm and hand will be lined up perfectly between my neck and shoulder. But the main part is the starting pressure. At the end of drilling and experimenting with it, I really could feel that pressure.
Tuesday night was no-gi. First time back since "the knee", so I was hoping to get a training partner with a degree of ahem... sense. I got lucky. Small class, uneven numbers, so I scored John as the drilling partner. We did a little bit of warming up getting x-guard. Then we drilled an open guard pass to knee on belly. As he hips out and rolls towards me to escape the knee, I step over his head and spin my legs back to get behind him. I need to get an underhook on his top arm from the rear. Then I sit up, rock back and take his back. The latter part is exactly how Ryan Hall describes a version of a back take. So it was great to be able to rep that out a few times.
We finished that class with about 20 minutes of rolling. I stayed with John. I was still very mindful of my knee (and so was he), so it was pretty light. But still, it was interesting stuff (most of which finished with my "destruction"). But the good part was that my hips were working and I managed some good escapes. Even got positions to launch a some submissions. I didn't stay for extra open mat, but it was a really good night.
John also showed me how to finish a weird upside down triangle, which I sometimes get, but could never finish. I tried to pull it on him, but failed yet again. Now that I know the finish, I think I might be doing some good with it. I catch people from bottom side control with this :-)
Yesterday's lunchtime class was very small: just myself. So Sensei Glenn decided that I should be his guinea pig for some new stuff he's been working on. And the other half of the class was mine. My choice was to work on the armbar from hell. I have been getting the high guard, with one knee over my opponent's shoulder, quite regularly. From there, I hunt for that armbar. But something was missing and I couldn't figure it out, so I've been going for a sweep, or a cutting armbar instead. Or sometimes I let them push their shoulder through, but keep their arm across, and then take the back.
However, after seeing what I've been doing, Glenn made a couple of suggestions. One was to square my hips back up. Hard to explain, but I know how it should feel. That gives me a much better angle for the armbar. Second suggestion was to have a much better grip on the arm. Even hold it with both my hands instead of using my left hand to push on his head to get my leg over. After some back and forth, and my usual non-faith in my own abilities and him giving me a bollocking for not even trying, I got the hang of it. And he was right, I do not need to let go of the arm, all I need is correct hip alignment and the will to do it. He let me drill it then, against increasing resistance. And at long last, it looks like I've nailed that technique..
He then reminded me how close to that are the related triangle and omoplata, depending on how one of my "victims" reacts. :-) Hehe.
We rolled for a bit after that. I got figure foured a few times. No surprise there, it's his favourite technique. But I defended a couple of those and somewhere along the lines, I threatened one of his arms, another time I regained guard and started going for the high guard. And as he said after: he didn't want to be there, that's now dangerous territory. He gave me some other valuable feedback. So all in all, a great session.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
BJJ and age
Cane Prevost has posted a great piece called The Gift of Age on his blog The Gentle Art.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
knee is behaving
After giving myself a break on Monday and Tuesday, I went back to training today. The knee is feeling pretty good. No soreness, no swelling.
Warmup went well, but there was one move where I could feel a slight instability, so I gave that a miss. Otherwise, all good.
We worked on the "holy trinity" of closed guard attacks: triangle, omoplata and armbar. Yeah! I think I've finally figured out why I have so much trouble with armbars from guard. Some of my transitions from one to the other are smoother now, I guess that's all part of my hip-brain connection :-)
Afterwards, we did a bit of rolling. I had Danny as partner. He's lighter than I am and very controlled in how he rolls. He felt guilty, as it was he who I rolled with on Saturday when my knee went. I assured him it wasn't his fault, but I did ask to go reasonably light. That we did, and he was very considerate to my leg. He let stuff go and so did I, but we both did some really good technical stuff. At the end, when I was getting his back for the third time, and the class was nearly out, I threatened to choke him with my belt, which had come undone :-) Sadly, it was time out. It was BJJ how it should be: good flow, minimum strength application, and all around great fun for both of us.
It was great to be back. My knee feels fantastic and I'll be rolling again tomorrow!
Warmup went well, but there was one move where I could feel a slight instability, so I gave that a miss. Otherwise, all good.
We worked on the "holy trinity" of closed guard attacks: triangle, omoplata and armbar. Yeah! I think I've finally figured out why I have so much trouble with armbars from guard. Some of my transitions from one to the other are smoother now, I guess that's all part of my hip-brain connection :-)
Afterwards, we did a bit of rolling. I had Danny as partner. He's lighter than I am and very controlled in how he rolls. He felt guilty, as it was he who I rolled with on Saturday when my knee went. I assured him it wasn't his fault, but I did ask to go reasonably light. That we did, and he was very considerate to my leg. He let stuff go and so did I, but we both did some really good technical stuff. At the end, when I was getting his back for the third time, and the class was nearly out, I threatened to choke him with my belt, which had come undone :-) Sadly, it was time out. It was BJJ how it should be: good flow, minimum strength application, and all around great fun for both of us.
It was great to be back. My knee feels fantastic and I'll be rolling again tomorrow!
my hips are joined to my brain
No, my brain and hips aren't directly physically joined. :-)
But I made an interesting observation in class the other day. It was a repeat of the same thing happening under slightly different circumstances the week before. Only it didn't strike me the first time.
We were doing something which involved step one (do X), then step 2: hip out, then step three: something else etc. I found that I automatically did the hip out step while I did step one. It was like my hips were on autopilot, and knew where they had to be for the next move. I can't recall what we did, but I remember that it was a known patten. So knowing where I needed to be, I automatically lined up for the next move in the progression. Step 2, the hipping out, happened without conscious thought.
The week before, we did some X-guard entries in our no-gi class. The guy I drilled the moves with is fairly new. He's young and strong (plays footy), and found all the moves no particular challenge. However, he had to make a deliberate effort to add in the hipping out step, which was critical to being lined up properly. I had trouble getting my old achy body doing some of the moves, BUT I automatically did the hipping out as part of the move before, because I/my body KNEW where it had to be to do the next move.
I only realised the significance of that on Saturday, when it happened the second time (well, the second time I took notice of it).
I have recently made a special effort to use my hips more, especially in escapes. As a result, I've noticed that when we drill hip escapes, they are becoming more powerful and more effortless. And concurrently, I have more luck regaining guard. That makes sense. Most intesting though is what I'm calling the brain-hip connection. My brain is starting to be on autopilot when I move, telling the hips to do their stuff. The result of that is more efficient movement and more "spare" brainpower to deal with other grappling problems.
Is that progress or what?? :-)
But I made an interesting observation in class the other day. It was a repeat of the same thing happening under slightly different circumstances the week before. Only it didn't strike me the first time.
We were doing something which involved step one (do X), then step 2: hip out, then step three: something else etc. I found that I automatically did the hip out step while I did step one. It was like my hips were on autopilot, and knew where they had to be for the next move. I can't recall what we did, but I remember that it was a known patten. So knowing where I needed to be, I automatically lined up for the next move in the progression. Step 2, the hipping out, happened without conscious thought.
The week before, we did some X-guard entries in our no-gi class. The guy I drilled the moves with is fairly new. He's young and strong (plays footy), and found all the moves no particular challenge. However, he had to make a deliberate effort to add in the hipping out step, which was critical to being lined up properly. I had trouble getting my old achy body doing some of the moves, BUT I automatically did the hipping out as part of the move before, because I/my body KNEW where it had to be to do the next move.
I only realised the significance of that on Saturday, when it happened the second time (well, the second time I took notice of it).
I have recently made a special effort to use my hips more, especially in escapes. As a result, I've noticed that when we drill hip escapes, they are becoming more powerful and more effortless. And concurrently, I have more luck regaining guard. That makes sense. Most intesting though is what I'm calling the brain-hip connection. My brain is starting to be on autopilot when I move, telling the hips to do their stuff. The result of that is more efficient movement and more "spare" brainpower to deal with other grappling problems.
Is that progress or what?? :-)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Blue =/= the blues, but the knee clonked
My training is going ok. I've had lots of awesome sessions. And I've had a few where I feel like handing my blue belt back over... Yes, yes, I kow that's a common enough thing.
I had a chat about it all with Sensei the other day. It was a talk about expectations, dealing with frustration, being too hard on oneself and learning ways to put negative thoughts aside in favour of positive thoughts.
I suppose that part of the problem is my general work/uni workload at the moment. I just feel a bit worn out. I've been cutting back a touch on my training. Believe it or not, sitting in front of a computer or in a lecture theatre all day, can be physically as well as mentally draining. Some nights, I just want to get home. Oh, and there is such a lot of assignment work due that I really can't be training every night (as I would like to) anyway. So, I suppose my overall stress levels are affecting my rolling :-(
Certainly though, rolling is stil the best way to get balance back into my life. Without BJJ, I'd go insane!
I think I just need to get it into my thick skull that there are NO pressures to perform "well" (whatever that is) on the mat. It can be my recreation, my stress release, my pure enjoyment. So why do I have such problems to just let go and enjoy? Why do I have to keep on stressing myself by expecting to be "good" or "better" (whatever level that might be..)? I got to the point where I felt embarrassed when they guys said (jokingly or seriously) that they are respect my grappling skills. I need to just be happy about that. And I need to accept without argument when a higher belt tells me I did something well.
I need to go back to just rolling for fun and tap to every damn white belt who sets foot on the mat. Really.
I hope that I've finally figured it, and the talk the other day did help in that respect. And hopefully, I'll get over the blues. I need not feel weighed down by my blue belt, it wasn't given to me to beat myself up with it.
But all is not lost, I had a couple of terrific rolls, too. Including some with Sensei (first one in ages). Sure I had to tap, but I made him work a bit. And as he said after: he got the white belts with his newer techniques. To get me, he had to resort to his old bread and butter stuff. And I sure don't feel bad about getting tapped by a brown belt with his "good" techniques.
Still, the week did bite me in the butt in the end. During a pretty laid back roll on Saturday, I tweaked my right knee. It suddenly said "clonk!" quite loudly. My partner stopped, I stopped, we looked at each other and then disentangled. I carefully moved it but it felt ok and was fine for the rest of the roll. I was slightly puffy and stiff the following day. I used the usual ice/iboprofen/rest/horse liniment strategy over the weekend. I can report that it feels pretty good now. Gave training a miss last night and tonight, just to be on the safe side, but I think I can go and roll tomorrow. Maybe I'll stick on a knee brace. At least that will remind me to be careful with it...
I had a chat about it all with Sensei the other day. It was a talk about expectations, dealing with frustration, being too hard on oneself and learning ways to put negative thoughts aside in favour of positive thoughts.
I suppose that part of the problem is my general work/uni workload at the moment. I just feel a bit worn out. I've been cutting back a touch on my training. Believe it or not, sitting in front of a computer or in a lecture theatre all day, can be physically as well as mentally draining. Some nights, I just want to get home. Oh, and there is such a lot of assignment work due that I really can't be training every night (as I would like to) anyway. So, I suppose my overall stress levels are affecting my rolling :-(
Certainly though, rolling is stil the best way to get balance back into my life. Without BJJ, I'd go insane!
I think I just need to get it into my thick skull that there are NO pressures to perform "well" (whatever that is) on the mat. It can be my recreation, my stress release, my pure enjoyment. So why do I have such problems to just let go and enjoy? Why do I have to keep on stressing myself by expecting to be "good" or "better" (whatever level that might be..)? I got to the point where I felt embarrassed when they guys said (jokingly or seriously) that they are respect my grappling skills. I need to just be happy about that. And I need to accept without argument when a higher belt tells me I did something well.
I need to go back to just rolling for fun and tap to every damn white belt who sets foot on the mat. Really.
I hope that I've finally figured it, and the talk the other day did help in that respect. And hopefully, I'll get over the blues. I need not feel weighed down by my blue belt, it wasn't given to me to beat myself up with it.
But all is not lost, I had a couple of terrific rolls, too. Including some with Sensei (first one in ages). Sure I had to tap, but I made him work a bit. And as he said after: he got the white belts with his newer techniques. To get me, he had to resort to his old bread and butter stuff. And I sure don't feel bad about getting tapped by a brown belt with his "good" techniques.
Still, the week did bite me in the butt in the end. During a pretty laid back roll on Saturday, I tweaked my right knee. It suddenly said "clonk!" quite loudly. My partner stopped, I stopped, we looked at each other and then disentangled. I carefully moved it but it felt ok and was fine for the rest of the roll. I was slightly puffy and stiff the following day. I used the usual ice/iboprofen/rest/horse liniment strategy over the weekend. I can report that it feels pretty good now. Gave training a miss last night and tonight, just to be on the safe side, but I think I can go and roll tomorrow. Maybe I'll stick on a knee brace. At least that will remind me to be careful with it...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
technique videos
I found this YouTube Channel. It's done by the guys from the VT1 Gym in Sydney.
Some cool stuff. Enjoy!
Some cool stuff. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
never a dull moment
I managed to get my uni assignments done on time. Currently have a couple of weeks off from uni, but I'm still working. I'm settling in to whole days in front of a computer, but it's hard going. Thank goodness for the opportunity to do something physically demanding at the end of every day. Without BJJ, I'd be going nuts.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the studies and the job, but it's soooo much sitting down. And as we are heading into the winter months, the days are getting too short do do anything with horses when I get home.
The way things have panned out, I can train at least once every day except Sunday, and work finishes in time for me to get to classes easily. So no complaints there.
Last Friday, we were treated to a three hour seminar with Scott "Einstein" Epstein at the 10th Planet school here in Ballarat. That was pretty good. The seminar was well attended, and I think that most of us would be keen to go to anothe seminar with Scott. We didn't do anything relating to rubber guard or twisters, but we learned another whole lot of interesting stuff. Some new techniques and some tweaks to well known techniques, such as the rear choke. At the end of the seminar he asked for a technique people wanted to work on, and as most of the group wanted the d'Arce choke, that's what we worked on.
My training has been going well as a whole. Some days I feel like a klutz, some days I feel awesome. But lately, I feel I'm moving better. I guess I have to, some of they guys who are now 3 and four stripe white belts are getting pretty good. They make me work :-)
I have finished the book "Talent is overrated" by Geoffrey Colvin. That was interesting, as it goes into what makes people really good at what they do. While the book seems to be aimed at making people and teams better in a work/corporate environment, I found a lot of the info pretty relevant to not only work and study, but also to BJJ. Interesting was the comment that it takes about ten years to become "good" at something. Which is roughly equivalent to the time to get a BB in BJJ. It also ties in my with my personal observations in other areas.
I've worn my fancy new grappling tights to training. When I rocked up with them under my black Hayabusa shorts, I got a few smiles. Don't get me wrong, I love black. But when everyone in the nogi class wears mainly black, a bit of grey and white and otherwise there are only minuscule dashes of colour, then it's time for MORE colour :-). The instructor laughed. Otherwise I nary got a response. However, when I went back the next day, sans brightly coloured tights, they wanted to know why I wasn't wearing them. And it transpired that some admiring comments were made.
I guess they think I'm crazy enough as it is, to be the only female in a nogi/mma gym, being at least twice as old as most of them to boot. Crazy old birds can get away with wearing almost anything, even on the mat :-) I'm an introvert, really, but the older I get, the more crazy stuff I do...
And what are they like to wear? Nice! I was worried they'd be too hot. But not so. I've even worn them under gi pants and that was fine, too. So when the colder weather comes, I think they'll be great. So I can only recommend them.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the studies and the job, but it's soooo much sitting down. And as we are heading into the winter months, the days are getting too short do do anything with horses when I get home.
The way things have panned out, I can train at least once every day except Sunday, and work finishes in time for me to get to classes easily. So no complaints there.
Last Friday, we were treated to a three hour seminar with Scott "Einstein" Epstein at the 10th Planet school here in Ballarat. That was pretty good. The seminar was well attended, and I think that most of us would be keen to go to anothe seminar with Scott. We didn't do anything relating to rubber guard or twisters, but we learned another whole lot of interesting stuff. Some new techniques and some tweaks to well known techniques, such as the rear choke. At the end of the seminar he asked for a technique people wanted to work on, and as most of the group wanted the d'Arce choke, that's what we worked on.
My training has been going well as a whole. Some days I feel like a klutz, some days I feel awesome. But lately, I feel I'm moving better. I guess I have to, some of they guys who are now 3 and four stripe white belts are getting pretty good. They make me work :-)
I have finished the book "Talent is overrated" by Geoffrey Colvin. That was interesting, as it goes into what makes people really good at what they do. While the book seems to be aimed at making people and teams better in a work/corporate environment, I found a lot of the info pretty relevant to not only work and study, but also to BJJ. Interesting was the comment that it takes about ten years to become "good" at something. Which is roughly equivalent to the time to get a BB in BJJ. It also ties in my with my personal observations in other areas.
I've worn my fancy new grappling tights to training. When I rocked up with them under my black Hayabusa shorts, I got a few smiles. Don't get me wrong, I love black. But when everyone in the nogi class wears mainly black, a bit of grey and white and otherwise there are only minuscule dashes of colour, then it's time for MORE colour :-). The instructor laughed. Otherwise I nary got a response. However, when I went back the next day, sans brightly coloured tights, they wanted to know why I wasn't wearing them. And it transpired that some admiring comments were made.
I guess they think I'm crazy enough as it is, to be the only female in a nogi/mma gym, being at least twice as old as most of them to boot. Crazy old birds can get away with wearing almost anything, even on the mat :-) I'm an introvert, really, but the older I get, the more crazy stuff I do...
And what are they like to wear? Nice! I was worried they'd be too hot. But not so. I've even worn them under gi pants and that was fine, too. So when the colder weather comes, I think they'll be great. So I can only recommend them.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
clothes make the grappler
I have been bad. Bought more stuff. Just couldn't resist.
A couple of weeks back, it was the Koral Light gi.
Then it was a purple Scamble Hoodie ... and purple shorts (with lots of yellow).
But then came...
These are also sold by Scramble in the UK.
They are so way out, so crazy, I just had to have a pair. I'll have you know that once upon a time, I was a shy, introvert kid. I don't know what happened in the meantime.
What can I say? I grapple, therefore I must be crazy by definition, so what's a crazy pair of grappling tights?
How they'll be received by my training partners, that I can't be sure of. I mentioned these tights to one of the guys. He had a look at the pictures and his comment was: "Wrong. Very wrong."
Oh dear. But never mind.
I so can't wait to triangle someone while wearing these.
They'll look so increadibly cool under my black grappling shorts, it will blind the guys. And while they blink, I'll choke them. How's that for a plan.
I suppose now you expect me to post a picture of me wearing these?
A couple of weeks back, it was the Koral Light gi.
Then it was a purple Scamble Hoodie ... and purple shorts (with lots of yellow).
But then came...
They are so way out, so crazy, I just had to have a pair. I'll have you know that once upon a time, I was a shy, introvert kid. I don't know what happened in the meantime.
What can I say? I grapple, therefore I must be crazy by definition, so what's a crazy pair of grappling tights?
How they'll be received by my training partners, that I can't be sure of. I mentioned these tights to one of the guys. He had a look at the pictures and his comment was: "Wrong. Very wrong."
Oh dear. But never mind.
I so can't wait to triangle someone while wearing these.
They'll look so increadibly cool under my black grappling shorts, it will blind the guys. And while they blink, I'll choke them. How's that for a plan.
I suppose now you expect me to post a picture of me wearing these?
injuries
I found this video clip on the DSTRYRsg blog. Well worth watching.
I just wish I'd known all this when I first started BJJ :-)
I just wish I'd known all this when I first started BJJ :-)
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
gi observations
I've had a chance to wear my new Koral Light gi quite a few times over the last two weeks.
As I mentioned before, when I bought it (second hand, near new though), I wasn't even aware that the top is the rip stop weave. All my other gis are a more traditional weave, either single or pearl.
The pants on the Koral are without reinforcement over the knees. The drawstring is material, not cord, but it's not too difficult to pull through. I personally prefer cord though, and may replace the material some day soon.
The pants material is fairly rough cotton (compared to all the other gi pants I have). Like the top they are very fast drying. As I air dry my gis, this is a definite plus. Especially in winter, as I have to hang it on a coat hanger in the house for drying. However, the rough material has one draw back: it is rough. We were drilling the sit out from turtle on Saturday, and I ended up with gi burn on my right knee. Considering my knees are quite well acclimatised to BJJ, and can cope with the shorts or gi pants for hours every week, that was a bit of a surprise. The only explanation I have is that the material is so rough that it rubbed my knee raw. It's still sore, a day and a half later. I don't fancy a band-aid and knee brace on it tomorrow, but I don't have a choice.
The gi top is well cut and fits me perfectly. It's quite light due to the material, but not insubstantial. What I have found though is that it has less structure than a standard single or pearl weave. What I mean by that is that it behaves like softer, thinner material. And although it has a pretty thick, stiff collar, it tends to open up, even when the belt is done up. The innate stiffness of normal gi material keeps the front halves sort of across, untill there is a lot of pulling and the cloth gets very wet from sweat. With the ripstop material, it acts like a limp curtain and the front halves just start parting and hanging down. That's not a problem, more that I look untidy even sooner than I normally do when I roll :-)
Another thing.. The collar is covered in the same material as the pants. Or at least that is what it looks and feels like. And guess what else caused me abraded skin last week? We were drilling lapel half nelson chokes. These DO have a tendency to be a bit harsh on the neck. But lucky me was the demo dummy. And after a few applications of the choke at the hands of an expert, the skin on my neck was starting to protest. Oh, and wasn't the after training shower pleasant on that spot. ... And the next day....
So, that material, in the space of just over a week, caused me gi burn twice. Not good.
Apart from that, I'm quite happy with the gi. But I'm still debating if I should keep it.
As I mentioned before, when I bought it (second hand, near new though), I wasn't even aware that the top is the rip stop weave. All my other gis are a more traditional weave, either single or pearl.
The pants on the Koral are without reinforcement over the knees. The drawstring is material, not cord, but it's not too difficult to pull through. I personally prefer cord though, and may replace the material some day soon.
The pants material is fairly rough cotton (compared to all the other gi pants I have). Like the top they are very fast drying. As I air dry my gis, this is a definite plus. Especially in winter, as I have to hang it on a coat hanger in the house for drying. However, the rough material has one draw back: it is rough. We were drilling the sit out from turtle on Saturday, and I ended up with gi burn on my right knee. Considering my knees are quite well acclimatised to BJJ, and can cope with the shorts or gi pants for hours every week, that was a bit of a surprise. The only explanation I have is that the material is so rough that it rubbed my knee raw. It's still sore, a day and a half later. I don't fancy a band-aid and knee brace on it tomorrow, but I don't have a choice.
The gi top is well cut and fits me perfectly. It's quite light due to the material, but not insubstantial. What I have found though is that it has less structure than a standard single or pearl weave. What I mean by that is that it behaves like softer, thinner material. And although it has a pretty thick, stiff collar, it tends to open up, even when the belt is done up. The innate stiffness of normal gi material keeps the front halves sort of across, untill there is a lot of pulling and the cloth gets very wet from sweat. With the ripstop material, it acts like a limp curtain and the front halves just start parting and hanging down. That's not a problem, more that I look untidy even sooner than I normally do when I roll :-)
Another thing.. The collar is covered in the same material as the pants. Or at least that is what it looks and feels like. And guess what else caused me abraded skin last week? We were drilling lapel half nelson chokes. These DO have a tendency to be a bit harsh on the neck. But lucky me was the demo dummy. And after a few applications of the choke at the hands of an expert, the skin on my neck was starting to protest. Oh, and wasn't the after training shower pleasant on that spot. ... And the next day....
So, that material, in the space of just over a week, caused me gi burn twice. Not good.
Apart from that, I'm quite happy with the gi. But I'm still debating if I should keep it.
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 :-)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
ouch! and new gi
So, we had no class on Monday. Public holiday.
Wednesday lunchtime class, I managed to do something to my neck. Nothing serious, feels like a pulled muscle on the right hand side. It happened when I rolled, although I wasn't rolling hard, nor putting strain on my neck. It's on the side of my previously injured shoulder, and it's been a little tight for a few days. So I guess it was just waiting to cause me trouble. We didn't warm up very much before class, and the light roll was part of the warm up. Ah well. As they say: shit happens. Considering all the issues I used to have with my neck years ago, it's holding up damn well to all the abuse it's getting.
But bottom line was I that I missed Wednesday night and Thursday night :-(
I did go to open mat last night. Rolled very lightly with an advanced white belt who I know is pretty controlled, and he let go of everything, including chokes which went anywhere near my neck. So that was good, I got my BJJ fix and my neck wasn't any worse off. The rest of the time, I helped some of the other guys who were working on stuff for today's grading.
So, today is grading day. I'm really glad that my neck is up to participating. Not that I'm grading, but I like to be there to help and there will be quite a few guys trying for new stripes.
Other news... I got hold of my new (well almost new) gi. I got hold of a barely used Koral Light gi. Price was right, size was right, and I'd been looking for another blue one. I didn't realise that the gi top is rip stop rather than a traditional style weave. I realised this when the guy handed me the gi. Oh well, looks like now I have a ripstop gi. It fits pretty well. Due to my &*#$*!! neck, I didn't get a chance to use it until open mat last night. The top is a lot lighter than the other gis, and I found that the lapels came undone/loose very easily. I guess if I were less vain and tied my belt tightly around the narrowest part of my middle (instead of sort of around the hips...), it wouldn't be so bad ;-) So, first impression is a little mixed. I shall report back.
I picked up a patch kit. Been deliberating about that for a while. But since the school ordered a bunch of kits, I finally got one. Yes, one. Contrary to rumours being circulated, I won't be buying all the patch kits to badge up my entire gi collection. I shall post pictures once I've decided which of the gis will be prettied up, and how.
Wednesday lunchtime class, I managed to do something to my neck. Nothing serious, feels like a pulled muscle on the right hand side. It happened when I rolled, although I wasn't rolling hard, nor putting strain on my neck. It's on the side of my previously injured shoulder, and it's been a little tight for a few days. So I guess it was just waiting to cause me trouble. We didn't warm up very much before class, and the light roll was part of the warm up. Ah well. As they say: shit happens. Considering all the issues I used to have with my neck years ago, it's holding up damn well to all the abuse it's getting.
But bottom line was I that I missed Wednesday night and Thursday night :-(
I did go to open mat last night. Rolled very lightly with an advanced white belt who I know is pretty controlled, and he let go of everything, including chokes which went anywhere near my neck. So that was good, I got my BJJ fix and my neck wasn't any worse off. The rest of the time, I helped some of the other guys who were working on stuff for today's grading.
So, today is grading day. I'm really glad that my neck is up to participating. Not that I'm grading, but I like to be there to help and there will be quite a few guys trying for new stripes.
Other news... I got hold of my new (well almost new) gi. I got hold of a barely used Koral Light gi. Price was right, size was right, and I'd been looking for another blue one. I didn't realise that the gi top is rip stop rather than a traditional style weave. I realised this when the guy handed me the gi. Oh well, looks like now I have a ripstop gi. It fits pretty well. Due to my &*#$*!! neck, I didn't get a chance to use it until open mat last night. The top is a lot lighter than the other gis, and I found that the lapels came undone/loose very easily. I guess if I were less vain and tied my belt tightly around the narrowest part of my middle (instead of sort of around the hips...), it wouldn't be so bad ;-) So, first impression is a little mixed. I shall report back.
I picked up a patch kit. Been deliberating about that for a while. But since the school ordered a bunch of kits, I finally got one. Yes, one. Contrary to rumours being circulated, I won't be buying all the patch kits to badge up my entire gi collection. I shall post pictures once I've decided which of the gis will be prettied up, and how.
more about the winning business..
On the subject of winning and the meaning of it, read this excellent post by clinzy:
What does it mean to win in the gym
Turn your training time into a win-win situation!!
What does it mean to win in the gym
Turn your training time into a win-win situation!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
the last fortnight
My oh my! I'm behind by a fortnight. Not good...
It's just been a busy time at uni, with job interviews, catching up on work at home/on the farm and training, of course. Being away all day and then training and finally sitting down for dinner sometime around 10pm is not a good when it comes to finding the motivation to write blogs :-)
Anyway, training wise things have been going well. In class, most of the white belts are preparing for the up coming grading, so they are doing a lot of syllabus stuff. I have been roped in several times to help, other times, they were working on their stuff and us coloured belts worked on other things. Or just wrestled.
In the way of techniques, we worked on the basic sweep (shin across), the single and double hooking sweep. I finally seem to be getting my act together on that double hooking sweep. I managed it to both sides. To get more reps in and develop some kind of sensitivity, we did a drill where our partner is on our hooks but defends our underhooks, so that we have to get one, which then determines the side which we have to sweep to. I really got that happening, effectively blocking his arm. Somtimes I found that I wasn't quite lined up, but when I rocked back, I just elevated him on my hooks, rocked again and then set him down on the side I wanted. That was a very useful session for me. A lot of things clicked.
Another day we did open guard sweeps if someone stands in your guard. I worked with on the blue belt (going on purple) guys. There was a version with a same side grip on his sleeve, and an axe kick to the back of his leg. And another version with a cross grip and a hook behind his knee. Drilling the sweeps was no problem.But when it came to doing some free guard passing to use them, I was like: ??? What??? I knew I wanted a push and pull and at least three points of contact. But it just kind of didn't happen. He passed my guard effortlessly virtually every time. On the other hand, I think I managed to pass his guard once or twice, the rest of the time I got swepts in every which direction. I was THIS close to a severe sense of humour failure. I hate being a klutz. Oh, and to add injury to insult, I ended up with blisters on the tops of both ring fingers from gripping his sleeves. Hurt like anything in the shower, and has necessitated band aids every class since them. Wow. Ah yeah, and my fingers hurt, too.
One night we worked on omoplatas. Oh yes. Big sigh. O-dear-o-platas. I had two left legs and two left arms and couldn't coordinate shit. It was sad. Sometimes, in a wrestle, I hit an omoplata out of the blue, but if I try to set one up, I can't for the life of me get my hips into place, let alone get my arms and legs sorted. I think that needs a lot more work. But I'm sure it will happen. One day... :-)
A couple of classes were spent on rubber guard. I don't mind that, having long and relatively flexible legs. It's another type of guard I can hassle people with.
The rest of the time in class and open mat of course were spent on having fun. I rolled slow with those who wanted, did some stuff from standing with the guys going to the comp, and helped some of the new guys with specific problems they were encountering.
I focussed on not getting hung up about having to do well, so I deliberately let stuff go and trying for things I don't normally do. I think that was good. I accidentally found sweeps where I hadn't seen any before and I discovered a way to the back from half guard bottom. I also had success against the nemesis :-) Managed a sweep, had an fairly effective open guard, got top positions a few times and even managed to choke him out once. I was ecstatic just over the sweep and the open guard!! That aside, I had a number of really good rolls with some of the senior guys.
I've given up worrying about not having a coherent game plan, or stringing several techniques together, or better still, attack with one technique and setting up the next by capitalizing on their defence. I'm sure that will all come to me when the time is right. I've learned that nothing is fixed, my knowlege and my skill levels are expanding (though sometimes it doesn't feel that way), and just because something has not been working doesn't mean that it will never work. So I'm getting more patience. The puzzle pieces are slowly but surely being added to the big picture, and big chunks will start emerging soon enough.
The other day I had a mini insight. I was travelling to class and thinking of what sweeps might be possible from an open guard position I've recently been getting to. I think it's called Z-guard. Anyway, as I was picturing my position and my opponent's positions and trying to figure out what I could do to take away his base and sweep him, something occured to me. I can't just look at the position and the grips (both of us), but I must consider the pressures. For example, it would be vastly different if he sat back as opposed to him coming forward to try and stack me. So the two types of pressures would need different sweeps. And then the next consideration is what I can do to maybe change his pressure to set him up for something I want.
And suddenly, it's all even more complicated :-)
I think I will ask my instructor about this, and then I can go and experiment and think about it some more.
It's just been a busy time at uni, with job interviews, catching up on work at home/on the farm and training, of course. Being away all day and then training and finally sitting down for dinner sometime around 10pm is not a good when it comes to finding the motivation to write blogs :-)
Anyway, training wise things have been going well. In class, most of the white belts are preparing for the up coming grading, so they are doing a lot of syllabus stuff. I have been roped in several times to help, other times, they were working on their stuff and us coloured belts worked on other things. Or just wrestled.
In the way of techniques, we worked on the basic sweep (shin across), the single and double hooking sweep. I finally seem to be getting my act together on that double hooking sweep. I managed it to both sides. To get more reps in and develop some kind of sensitivity, we did a drill where our partner is on our hooks but defends our underhooks, so that we have to get one, which then determines the side which we have to sweep to. I really got that happening, effectively blocking his arm. Somtimes I found that I wasn't quite lined up, but when I rocked back, I just elevated him on my hooks, rocked again and then set him down on the side I wanted. That was a very useful session for me. A lot of things clicked.
Another day we did open guard sweeps if someone stands in your guard. I worked with on the blue belt (going on purple) guys. There was a version with a same side grip on his sleeve, and an axe kick to the back of his leg. And another version with a cross grip and a hook behind his knee. Drilling the sweeps was no problem.But when it came to doing some free guard passing to use them, I was like: ??? What??? I knew I wanted a push and pull and at least three points of contact. But it just kind of didn't happen. He passed my guard effortlessly virtually every time. On the other hand, I think I managed to pass his guard once or twice, the rest of the time I got swepts in every which direction. I was THIS close to a severe sense of humour failure. I hate being a klutz. Oh, and to add injury to insult, I ended up with blisters on the tops of both ring fingers from gripping his sleeves. Hurt like anything in the shower, and has necessitated band aids every class since them. Wow. Ah yeah, and my fingers hurt, too.
One night we worked on omoplatas. Oh yes. Big sigh. O-dear-o-platas. I had two left legs and two left arms and couldn't coordinate shit. It was sad. Sometimes, in a wrestle, I hit an omoplata out of the blue, but if I try to set one up, I can't for the life of me get my hips into place, let alone get my arms and legs sorted. I think that needs a lot more work. But I'm sure it will happen. One day... :-)
A couple of classes were spent on rubber guard. I don't mind that, having long and relatively flexible legs. It's another type of guard I can hassle people with.
The rest of the time in class and open mat of course were spent on having fun. I rolled slow with those who wanted, did some stuff from standing with the guys going to the comp, and helped some of the new guys with specific problems they were encountering.
I focussed on not getting hung up about having to do well, so I deliberately let stuff go and trying for things I don't normally do. I think that was good. I accidentally found sweeps where I hadn't seen any before and I discovered a way to the back from half guard bottom. I also had success against the nemesis :-) Managed a sweep, had an fairly effective open guard, got top positions a few times and even managed to choke him out once. I was ecstatic just over the sweep and the open guard!! That aside, I had a number of really good rolls with some of the senior guys.
I've given up worrying about not having a coherent game plan, or stringing several techniques together, or better still, attack with one technique and setting up the next by capitalizing on their defence. I'm sure that will all come to me when the time is right. I've learned that nothing is fixed, my knowlege and my skill levels are expanding (though sometimes it doesn't feel that way), and just because something has not been working doesn't mean that it will never work. So I'm getting more patience. The puzzle pieces are slowly but surely being added to the big picture, and big chunks will start emerging soon enough.
The other day I had a mini insight. I was travelling to class and thinking of what sweeps might be possible from an open guard position I've recently been getting to. I think it's called Z-guard. Anyway, as I was picturing my position and my opponent's positions and trying to figure out what I could do to take away his base and sweep him, something occured to me. I can't just look at the position and the grips (both of us), but I must consider the pressures. For example, it would be vastly different if he sat back as opposed to him coming forward to try and stack me. So the two types of pressures would need different sweeps. And then the next consideration is what I can do to maybe change his pressure to set him up for something I want.
And suddenly, it's all even more complicated :-)
I think I will ask my instructor about this, and then I can go and experiment and think about it some more.
amazing
Following a post on the UG Forum, I found a story about DJ, a BJJ student. He went from 179kg (396lb) to 79kg (179lb) in just over two years.
That is nothing short of amazing. Just think of it: he lost more weight than he ended up weighing. Or put in other words, he is now less than half the size he was when he started. My hat off to DJ and to the people at his school who helped and supported him.
I've read other stories about big weigh losses and life transformations through training BJJ or other demanding activities. It can be done!
My wish is that more of the big people can be motivated to help themselves. I see so many of them. But then again, there are so many people of all sizes whose main exercise area is the couch in the loungeroom. Too busy, too old, too tired, too unfit (!) are the most common excuses cites when some form of exercise is suggested.
We don't all have to turn into fitness freaks. But everyone can do something to help improve their health and their life in general. And those folks like DJ, who have made extraordinary changes, are an inspiration to others.
That is nothing short of amazing. Just think of it: he lost more weight than he ended up weighing. Or put in other words, he is now less than half the size he was when he started. My hat off to DJ and to the people at his school who helped and supported him.
I've read other stories about big weigh losses and life transformations through training BJJ or other demanding activities. It can be done!
My wish is that more of the big people can be motivated to help themselves. I see so many of them. But then again, there are so many people of all sizes whose main exercise area is the couch in the loungeroom. Too busy, too old, too tired, too unfit (!) are the most common excuses cites when some form of exercise is suggested.
We don't all have to turn into fitness freaks. But everyone can do something to help improve their health and their life in general. And those folks like DJ, who have made extraordinary changes, are an inspiration to others.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
beginner advice - repost
I'm reposting Nev's post on the Aikido Journal. I think all this equally applies to BJJ. Enjoy!
NON TOXIC DOJO - STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP!
When you train ENJOY.
Enjoy movement for its own sake.
Do not obsess with “getting it right” the first time, then stand around beating yourself up mentally because you think you are wrong.
Or chattering.
You are not on display.
It is not an exam.
You are not wrong.
Simply try to come close.
Then repeat.
And continue repeating.
As the mind-body-ki connection is healed through practice THE TECHNIQUE WILL REFINE ITSELF.
Not because of stress or volition or undue striving.
Nor because of intellectual understanding, which will come with time, but because you are MOVING.
Movement is life.
Breathe and move.
Do the best you can do for that moment and let it go.
You are not here to be judged or to judge yourself harshly.
You are in the dojo to unlock and release all that junk that is getting in the way of you being YOURSELF.
The dojo is a place where with respect, you have permission to be YOU.
So drop the social acting, role plays and expectations.
BE YOU.
Stalling in this way is useless.
Trying to intellectually understand a technique before doing it is futile. MOVE!
Do something. Anything is a good start.
There is no “wrong” movement, just less or more harmonious movement but you can only make a start from where you are at right now!
The more you move, the better it gets and improvement is guaranteed!
Provided you do move.
Standing around thinking is a waste of time.
Just do what is best for you for that moment. AND LET IT GO. Forget it.
Tomorrow is another day.
Remember, however, that it is a martial art and one thing which will get you hurt or killed in a real situation is freezing.
This freezing is a reflection of old trauma, parental abuse and bad schooling where you were told you were wrong, embarrassed, humiliated, violated, or abused.
None of these are teaching techniques.
They are abusive.
The error lies with the abusers.
Reclaim yourself… MOVE.
You are not expected to do a technique perfectly for the first 500 years.
And after 5000 years you have to begin refining again.
And…
It never ends but now is now.
Start with a single step.
Even the best sensei and the greatest master is still learning and will continue to do so.
So when you train do so for enjoyment.
Yes it is a dojo, show respect.
Yes it is a combat art, be aware, awake and vigilant.
Yes it is physical, mindful and intense so be present.
But above all leave your ego, your worries, the world and the past OUTSIDE.
When you bow onto the mat you enter a ‘spiritual’ domain where you and your dojo compatriots are dancing with The Great Cosmic Universe.
Nothing else matters.
There is nothing wrong with you.
We all get a tad “rusty” from the rigours of life on earth and lack of regular fine tuning and proper use
And though many will not admit it, we all started with some degree of clumsiness, two left feet, all thumbs and possibly even bad suicide habits from other arts.
That’s life. Accept it. Accept yourself. And accept that all new endeavours carry some measure of discomfort because CHANGE is disturbing the inertia of old entrenched habits.
This too will change, but only with regular, manageable installments of regular training input and movement.
Transformation is guaranteed but it takes time and due season and cycle to bear fruit.
There is great healing in this, for you, for those close to you, for society and ultimately the world.
So enjoy training, MOVE and be kind to yourself.
NON TOXIC DOJO - STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP!
When you train ENJOY.
Enjoy movement for its own sake.
Do not obsess with “getting it right” the first time, then stand around beating yourself up mentally because you think you are wrong.
Or chattering.
You are not on display.
It is not an exam.
You are not wrong.
Simply try to come close.
Then repeat.
And continue repeating.
As the mind-body-ki connection is healed through practice THE TECHNIQUE WILL REFINE ITSELF.
Not because of stress or volition or undue striving.
Nor because of intellectual understanding, which will come with time, but because you are MOVING.
Movement is life.
Breathe and move.
Do the best you can do for that moment and let it go.
You are not here to be judged or to judge yourself harshly.
You are in the dojo to unlock and release all that junk that is getting in the way of you being YOURSELF.
The dojo is a place where with respect, you have permission to be YOU.
So drop the social acting, role plays and expectations.
BE YOU.
Stalling in this way is useless.
Trying to intellectually understand a technique before doing it is futile. MOVE!
Do something. Anything is a good start.
There is no “wrong” movement, just less or more harmonious movement but you can only make a start from where you are at right now!
The more you move, the better it gets and improvement is guaranteed!
Provided you do move.
Standing around thinking is a waste of time.
Just do what is best for you for that moment. AND LET IT GO. Forget it.
Tomorrow is another day.
Remember, however, that it is a martial art and one thing which will get you hurt or killed in a real situation is freezing.
This freezing is a reflection of old trauma, parental abuse and bad schooling where you were told you were wrong, embarrassed, humiliated, violated, or abused.
None of these are teaching techniques.
They are abusive.
The error lies with the abusers.
Reclaim yourself… MOVE.
You are not expected to do a technique perfectly for the first 500 years.
And after 5000 years you have to begin refining again.
And…
It never ends but now is now.
Start with a single step.
Even the best sensei and the greatest master is still learning and will continue to do so.
So when you train do so for enjoyment.
Yes it is a dojo, show respect.
Yes it is a combat art, be aware, awake and vigilant.
Yes it is physical, mindful and intense so be present.
But above all leave your ego, your worries, the world and the past OUTSIDE.
When you bow onto the mat you enter a ‘spiritual’ domain where you and your dojo compatriots are dancing with The Great Cosmic Universe.
Nothing else matters.
There is nothing wrong with you.
We all get a tad “rusty” from the rigours of life on earth and lack of regular fine tuning and proper use
And though many will not admit it, we all started with some degree of clumsiness, two left feet, all thumbs and possibly even bad suicide habits from other arts.
That’s life. Accept it. Accept yourself. And accept that all new endeavours carry some measure of discomfort because CHANGE is disturbing the inertia of old entrenched habits.
This too will change, but only with regular, manageable installments of regular training input and movement.
Transformation is guaranteed but it takes time and due season and cycle to bear fruit.
There is great healing in this, for you, for those close to you, for society and ultimately the world.
So enjoy training, MOVE and be kind to yourself.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
more figure fours
Then we looked at the hip bump sweep and got in a fair few reps just working on getting good technique at smashing our hip into our partner. Lots of reps. It was pretty jarring to be on the receiving end, but it was really good to get a feel for it. It's a technique that's always been hard for me, and I think I have a much better handle on it now.
Next we looked at the hip bump sweep to figure four combination. Essentially, as he posts his arm on the floor to avoid being swept, we secure that hand by grabbing the wrist. Next, we separate that hand from his body (to forestall him grabbing on to something to defend later) by pushing our hip against his hand. For this, we have to open our closed guard, and I found I ended up sitting about 1/2 body width toward the side of his trapped hand. Next step is to bring my knee forward to tip his elbow towards me. That angles his body across mine and makes it much easier to reach over and get the figure four grip on my other arm.
Next thing I do is to bring his elbow to my armpit (on the side where I'm reaching over his arm) and then I rotate the lower arm for the submission. Bringing his elbow forward like that really makes the lock come on sooner. I experimented with this and found that by the time I reef his elbow across and into my armpit, I get the tap. If I just rotate the lower arm, I need to rotate it a long way.
When I looked at the angles, it corresponds perfectly with what Ryan Hall says in his back control concepts, where he talks about the figure four grip from the back. It made a big penny drop in my head.
We rolled for a bit at the end of the class. I had one partner only, one of the bigger white belts. For my taste, I spent a bit too much time having him in my closed guard and not enough time doing stuff. But I nearly got an armbar, and I got his back once, easily. Stupidly, I was too busy trying to choke him and not spending enough time ensuring I controlling him, so I lost it. Oh, and I was too busy laughing because a certain someone was making comments about the "poor guy". End result was he got away. Oh! Ah well, he had three chances to try for a submission from good positions, and ever time I got him back into my guard. In the end it was a fun roll. I could have done much better, could have worked more open. But what the heck, I'm not going to continuously beat myself up over stuff. He's a big boy, and I gave him a lot of grief. Plus, we both had fun and we both took something away from it, some thing was learned. And that is (to me at least) one of the measurements I apply to determine if it was a good roll.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)