Rolling on 2 Years

About two years ago I began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and what a journey it's been so far. In that short time I've seen training partners come and go, trained at 3 different places, seen a handful of drama (luckily I've never been in the thick of it), experienced losses, more bruises than I can count, mat burns, aches and pains, and have come into contact with another man's sweat in ways I hope to never ever have happen again. Despite all that, walking into Gracie Barra University and training with Caveirinha two years ago has been the best thing I've ever done.

 

Gracie Barra (GB), where it all started

I still remember my first day. Walking up the stairs to Gracie Barra, not even sure if I was in the right place, nervous out of my mind about what was to come. I got tossed around and tapped out like a true rookie that day. I was partnered up with Dustin and Jojo, who were really friendly and helpful, and I learned how to do a kimura (a type of shoulder lock). It was awesome, I was hooked, and I had to learn more. I've tried to keep up with training and learning BJJ ever since.

 

But as oh-so-subtly hinted at in the first paragraph, training has been anything but just training. Issues arose which strained the relationship between Caveirinha and Gracie Barra management and naturally that tension was transferred onto the mat. The once affable atmosphere wasn't the same, and there were several awkward moments where arguments between management and Caveirinha were well within earshot and eyesight of everybody there.

 

Those issues combined with some financial strain left me with a decision to make. Training at GB was always on the pricey side but learning under Caveirinha and rolling with the people there made it worth it. But Caveirinha was there less and less, and a lot of training partners disappeared. Reluctantly, I decided to stop training at Gracie Barra early this year.

 

I went a few months without rolling until the UFC Gym opened. And what d'ya know, all of those training partners that disappeared from GB showed up at UFC. Financially, UFC made sense too (thanks to that employer discount) and I had a new place to workout and roll. Leandro Nyza teaches the BJJ classes and he's really good. Everything was, and still is, very fundamental but he offers some unique details about techniques and I like getting his perspective.

CJJF has arrived!

 

After a few months at UFC, a buzz began to grow about Caveirihna breaking away from Gracie Barra and opening his own school. Rumor of it spread and anticipation skyrocketed but it never left the realm of rumor. It was always have you heard...somebody told me...and things like that. But then just over a month ago rumor became reality and the Caveirinha Jiu-Jitsu Family Association opened in Honolulu. I joined right away. Don't get me wrong, Nyza is good and the UFC gym is great as a gym, but to really advance in BJJ Caveirinha is the man to follow.

 

Nowadays I train at both UFC and CJJF (gotta love all the acronyms). I've come a long way since that first day. In addition to that first kimura I learned, I now know armbars, triangle chokes, ankle locks, americanas, various chokes, and techniques to move an opponent twice my size in ways that make them feel lighter than me. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more to learn, both in regards to technique and the mental approach to BJJ.

 

The day Caveirihna gave me a blue belt.
I forgot I still had a beard then.

So the techniques are cool and all, and training is loads of fun but what else has BJJ done for me? Why, after 2 years, is it still the best thing I've ever done? When I boil it all down, basically it's made me better. In almost every way. I'm more fit. I'm more flexible. I've learned to better keep my composure in difficult situations on and off the mat. My confidence has increased by leaps and bounds. It's turned me from a shy, timid, quiet person that would frantically avoid everything outside of a limited comfort zone into somebody who's finally realizing a solid belief in himself. It's like every time I successfully pull off a technique or catch a submission or defend a submission, it's a little personal victory. And those small victories seem to add up and resonate within me and build up my overall character. That's the best way I can describe it. It's crazy and it's only been 2 years!

NAGA 2012

It's that time again! The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) tournament came to town yesterday and it was on. I didn't compete but I was there to support my friends and teammates. There were plenty of competitors from Gracie Barra and I recognized a few people from the UFC gym. Gi chokes, triangles, armbars, sweeps, and take downs resonated in the air. Some nice jiu-jitsu was on display. Here's a rundown of two matches that stood out.

Clinton on top in side-control

First up was my friend Clinton. He's a purple belt at Gracie Barra and was one of my instructors when I was first learning jiu-jitsu. He competed in both no gi and gi tournaments. In no gi he took 3^rd place in his division and in gi he took the gold. A huge accomplishment for a guy that's had his purple belt for less than a year.

Clinton in full mount setting up a finishing move

In his 3^rd place match for no gi, Clinton rolled very well. He pulled guard at the onset and quickly went to work for a sweep. It wasn't long before he got it and gained the top position. His opponent didn't just lie there though. He kept busy and was able to reverse the position at one point but Clinton kept just as busy and scored with another sweep. A scary moment came during a scramble when Clinton's opponent attacked his leg with what looked like a heel hook. Clinton rolled with his opponent and was eventually able to kick his leg free and get back to the top position. It looked close though. His opponent kept busy trying to recover his guard but Clinton shifted his hips and adjusted his weight to control the position. His opponent wasn't going anywhere.

Clinton submits his opponent with a smooth armbar

Towards the end of the match Clinton was well ahead on points and maneuvered into the full mount position. He could have rode out the clock and taken the victory but instead he attacked and secured an armbar. Clinton tapped out his opponent to claim bronze. Congrats!

Next was my friend Kim. She's a blue belt, has been training just about as long as I have, and this was her first competition. Throughout training she's endured broken fingers and torn ligaments in both ankles. But she's healed strong each time and has remained dedicated to training jiu-jitsu. Her technique has improved a lot in the past few months and she trained hard for her first tournament. Here's how her first fight went.

Kim on top keeping her opponent down

When the match started Kim wasted no time pulling guard and transitioning from full guard to spider guard. She worked for a sweep and kept her opponent off balance. Her opponent did well to avoid getting swept but was forced to stand and Kim caught her with a pull-feet sweep. A technique where you pull a standing opponent's heels toward you while pushing their hips away with your knees or feet. It usually sends your opponent sailing onto their back, which is exactly what happened to Kim's opponent.

Kim was dominant in side-control

Kim took the top position in half guard. It didn't take long for her to pass the guard and move into side-control. Her opponent worked to regain her guard but Kim deftly spun to the opposite side and established a dominant side-control position.

Kim's pressure was relentless. Her opponent bumped and bridge but there was no escape. Kim began to work towards the knee-on-belly position and her opponent found an opportunity to to regain full guard. Her opponent quickly attacked an armbar. Kim defended well and got her arm free then quickly passed her opponent's guard and regained side-control.

First tournament, first gold! Congrats!

Kim kept her opponent controlled for the rest of the match. When time expired she won with a dominant score of 11 to 0. With the victory Kim claimed gold in her division. Congrats!

The NAGA tournament was great to watch. It moved pretty smoothly with 10 mats set up so there was always some rolling to watch. Many of my Gracie Barra teammates rolled and did well. Some claimed medals, others came up short, but all deserve praise and respect for challenging themselves in competition. My hat's off to all of you!

White Stripes

9/1/2012

Considering I've been training for over a year it feels odd to be wondering what the stripes on my belt actually mean. But after thinking about it, it was never really explained to me. It just seemed like, hey you've been training for a while have a stripe! Yay! A round of applause, a handshake from the instructors, bow, and you get to stand further up the line. It feels nice, gives a sense of accomplishment, but really...what's it mean?

It is a measure of skill? A mark of experience? A symbol of dedication? Or a mark of praise given out when your instructor deems it's warranted? I've heard so many different meanings for stripes it's become confusing. So here's how I figure it.

I don't think it's a measure of skill simply because there's people with less stripes that are clearly more skilled than people with more (admittedly, I'm often one of those with more stripes that struggle against some with less). Belt color is more a measure of skill than the amount of stripes on it. I don't think a stripe should be given as a form of praise. That just seems a little base and it allows for bias. Feels like praise should be a result, not a reason. I side with a stripe being a sign of experience. The last person who gave a reasonable explanation of what a stripe is explained it as a sign of one's position, they've been there longer, they're more senior and have more experience.

So why not dedication? Well, just because somebody's dedicated doesn't mean they've been training. For example, at the beginning of the year I was completely dedicated to Gracie Barra but I wasn't training. Feels like a stripe should be awarded for time and effort on the mat not from some sense of attachment. Not that there's anything wrong with dedication, just feels like that shouldn't be a main reason for awarding a higher rank.

That's how I figure it. What do you think? Really, if your understanding of what a stripe is is different please let me know. I'm just guessing here.

Rolling Over

8/7/2012

Haven't done a blog for a while but the urge struck tonight. I've been able to train jiu-jitsu about twice a week at the UFC gym. It's not a whole lot and I still feel pretty rusty but it's getting better. I've been taking a few judo classes here and there to compliment BJJ, learn a few techniques to get an opponent to the ground. Only thing is I haven't been able to apply anything from judo because when we spar in BJJ we start on our knees...and I kinda suck with the whole judo thing.

Anyway, I was thinking about my last roll session earlier tonight and it feels like the BJJ demons of last year are back. My posture and balance feel unstable and I feel like I'm getting swept more than I should. More often than not I find myself being put onto my back. It's like I just roll over for my opponents. So tonight I wanted to work on maintaining a solid base in my opponent's guard. Keep things simple, just maintain a strong posture when they try to sweep or go for a submission. Defend and stay solid. No problem right?

Well...

Maybe not. I rolled with one guy and he really yanked and pulled at me. Just relentless at trying to break my posture. It worked. Any stability I had was quickly shaken and before I knew it was in serious danger of being swept onto my back. I had to collapse my posture and basically hug the guy to prevent the sweep, then I had to work to posture back up again. I tired to hold him down but that wasn't happening. As soon as I got my back straight and my posture up the guy was yanking and pulling again and there went my balance...again.

This time the guy opened his guard to attack a situp sweep (we drilled it earlier that night). Now, I could see it all unfolding: his guard opened, he was controlling one of my arms, his hips were positioned to bump me onto my back. I saw the whole thing coming and something in my head clicked and said I should not get caught by this. Now I don't mean I'm so experienced that I shouldn't get caught in a situp sweep, I mean there was something about this guy's sweep that was off and I shouldn't get caught. Part of my mind recognized that his leg was out of position and all I had to do was push down on it and not only would I defend the sweep but I'd also have a wide open door to pass his guard. But another part of my mind just went duurrrr and I got swept.

So I guess there's a good and bad here. Good that my mind worked fast enough to recognize a flaw in my opponent. Bad because my body didn't respond. Guess I'll have to work on that...somehow.

I'll keep practicing on my weak areas: maintaining a strong base when in an opponent's guard, practicing sweeps when on the bottom (I realize I need a lot of work on these but that's a different blog), keeping heavy on the side mount, and maintaining a full mount. Notice none of these things include submissions, which is about right because I need to work on the fundamentals of controlling the position for a while. I'll only attack submissions if people really give it to me...or if they're being a little too overeager.

Rolling Uphill

7/12/2012

Finally caught a few submissions today in training. Feels like some of my jiu-jitsu game is returning. Just some though, I still have a lot of catching up to do. While I'm beginning to feel more comfortable rolling I'm still keenly aware of the mistakes I make. And I feel like I'm making more than I should. Well, more than somebody wearing the color belt I have should.

I find myself having the same problems I had when I was a white belt. I struggle to escape from side mount, when I'm in side-control my partners recover guard fairly easily, and I feel off balance from every top position. For example, today when I got to full-mount my partner reversed it within 3 seconds. If it was a tournament, that's not worth any points. Luckily though, I had a choke set up and was able to finish it from the bottom. So at least I got the submission even though I was actually trying to control the position.

Another example from today came when I was rolling with a white belt. He's a little bigger than me but I still didn't mind pulling guard and working from the bottom. I had the guy in spider guard and was controlling him well. Really well. I wasn't quite able to sweep him but I was never at risk of having my guard passed. Then for some odd reason I decided to let go and scoot back, creating a lot of space between us. Enough space for the guy to easily step around and get into side-control and attack a choke. Big mistake, a pretty dumb mistake, and I still don't even know why I did it....??

Interestingly, when I was partnered against another blue belt I actually did better than when I was partnered with white belts. Not really sure why. But I moved more fluidly, I passed my partner's spider guard, and actually controlled the top position and even got to knee-on-belly and attacked an armbar. My guess is I'm more cautious with white belts. Not because I'm worried about hurting them but the other way around. But I use them to practice on my weak areas. So when they get into side-control I don't get upset, I just look at is as an opportunity to practice from that position. When they attack a submission I see it as a way to work on escaping. I figure it's a good thing to train from bad spots. Like I said, still have a lot of catching up to do.

Hit the Ground Rolling

6/28/2012

I've been at the UFC gym for over a month now. Still think the place is awesome. There's so much to do and so many classes to take, just have to remember to register two weeks ahead of time because they fill up fast. I've taken a few of the fitness classes and a boxing class but my favorite remains jiu-jitsu.

In the past few weeks I've run into a lot of people I used to train with at Gracie Barra and some of us were able to meet up to do our own small training session when the mats were open. Good fun, learned a few new techniques, and also learned that I'm really really rusty. It's like my mind remembers I used to know a technique, sweep, or submission attack but my muscle memory went blank.

The gym holds a few jiu-jitsu classes geared for people brand new to it. It was pretty slow at first but each class I took got progressively more involved and today we did some sparring. Still felt really rusty though, but whatever, I figured the best way to get back into it is to dive right in and hit the ground rolling.

During sparring today I was paired up with a guy I know from Gracie Barra, he's a higher ranked blue belt than me. He controlled most of the positions but at least I wasn't caught in a submission. Next I rolled with a very eager and energetic white belt. I immediately pulled guard and he exerted a lot of effort and tried to muscle his way out of the guard. It was kind of uncomfortable because he kept digging his elbows into my legs. I switched to an open guard to lessen the discomfort and the chances of getting hurt in case he tweaked my knee or ankle trying to power his way out. He tried to leap out of my guard and I easily moved with him. I decided to just go with the flow and let his momentum put him in a bad spot. It wasn't long before I had his back and applied a rear-naked choke.

Although he used a lot of muscle and not so much technique, rolling with that guy was helpful. I was caught in a few uncomfortable positions that I should not have gotten myself into so now I know I need to be aware of that (all part of shaking the rust off I guess). But I also maintained my composure, avoided getting myself into any real danger of being submitted, and worked my way out of those bad spots.

The third guy I rolled with was brand new and as soon as he saw my belt he told me he just wanted to learn from my technique. I helped show him how to break the guard and he got into side-control. Eventually I reversed the position and went to knee-on-belly, which has been one of my go to positions ever since I learned it. The cool part is that while in that position the guy was asking me questions about what was going on and I answered as best I could. Then I told him to stop pushing his arms out so much and he asked why. I decided to answer by demonstrating and proceeded to put him in an armbar. I liked rolling with him. Reminded me that even though my technique is rusty I still have enough knowledge to help out the new guys, which I enjoy doing.

At the end of class the Professor/Coach announced that this was his first class at a more advanced level. Awesome! I can't wait to get more consistent and advanced roll sessions in. Gotta shake the rust off!

Hiatus

Been a while since I've written a jiu-jitsu blog but I'm getting back to it. As hinted at by the title, I've been out of training for a while and dang...it's been brutal. It's been over two months since I last rolled, and another two months the time before that. All and all, I haven't really trained in 2012. Let me explain.

For the first couple months of the year I dealt with injuries and illness. I strained my back and that took a couple weeks to recover from. Then I caught the flu and lost another week. After that I aggravated my back and had to deal with that again and on top of that, the flu had evolved into a lung disease. By the time I was injury-free and healthy it was going on March!

Ok so I had some things that kept me off the mat through March, but why haven't I been rolling since then? In a word: finances. I have some expenses coming up later this year and had to take a careful look at my budget to cut some spending. Unfortunately, that meant cutting out training at Gracie Barra. They're great over there and Professor Caveirinha is the man but it was costing more than I could dish out.

Although I was away from training I didn't stay away from jiu-jitsu. I watched many, many, and lots of videos on YouTube. I watched a few matches involving Roger Gracie, Rafael Lovato, and Kyron Gracie to name a few and of course I watched matches involving Cavierinha. Mostly I watch instructional videos like the Gracie Breakdowns and others where instructors breakdown techniques. I didn't watch them to learn new techniques. No way am I going to learn just by watching a video. I would watch to understand concepts. For example, I'll watch a video about the kimura submission and a concept I'll take away is that elbow positioning is crucial to both attacking and defending a kimura. Another one dealt with grip fighting and I took away that preventing your opponent from getting a strong grip on you is a preventative style of defense. Things like that. It let me at least keep jiu-jitsu techniques fresh in my mind but it really doesn't substitute for time on the mat.

It looked like I was going to be off the mats for the foreseeable future. It was rough. I suffered withdrawals and constantly found myself putting choke holds on my leg pretending it was somebody's neck, unconsciously doing hip-escapes when lying on my back, and just imagining submissions. Jiu-jitsu was a major part of my life, fitness, and stress-relief and it was gone. Dang...

With such a withdrawal going on I began looking for alternatives. There had to be somewhere I could train that wouldn't cost so much. But there really wasn't. That is until the UFC Gym came along. I get an awesome discount because of where I work and with their early-enrollment specials I got a really good deal. Suddenly I had an affordable place to train and workout anytime. So I signed up.

I've been waiting well over a month for the gym to open and this past Saturday it finally did. I was so excited to get back onto the mat. I went to their expo event on Saturday and planned to get in there on Sunday and find somebody to roll with. But no...on Sunday I felt like I was getting sick and the last thing I need is to push it too hard and get another lung infection. I'm already feeling better but it looks like I'll have to wait a few more days before I can roll again. I don't mind the wait too much. I'm just stoked to get back into it.

Polynesian International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament

Today was the first of hopefully many Polynesian IBJJ tournaments. I went as a spectator to support the Gracie Barra (GB) team and fellow training partners. And dang, there was some good stuff.

The tournament looked well organized and seemed to run smoothly. There were very little lulls in action. This was also the first tournament I've noticed a winners podium with a photogenic backdrop. That was a nice touch. Winners were recognized and teams were able to cram onto the podium for pictures.

I got to the tournament a little late and missed the purple belts and some of the blue belts. Bummer. The first match I saw was Chester, a two-stripe blue belt that trains at GB, good guy. He dominated his opponent on points with very good top-control. The ref awarded points after points as Chester continually passed his opponent's guard and moved into knee-on-belly. FYI, knee-on-belly is a position that...well it's exactly what it sounds like...it's one of my favorite positions to play from. When the match was over there was no question that Chester was the winner.

The next blue belt I watched was Evan. I just recently met this guy, haven't really trained with him much but hear he's got good skills. And I heard correctly. Evan pulled guard at the beginning of the match and immediately began working his spider guard. FYI spider guard is a type of open guard where, generally, you control your opponent's wrists and push against their biceps with your feet thereby controlling their arms and upper body. It's an effective technique which I like to use but need to get better at. Anyway, Evan's opponent had difficulty negotiating his guard but at some point they wound up in a position where Evan looked at risk of getting caught in an ankle lock. But Evan diligently worked his way out, regained spider guard, and eventually swept his opponent to earn some points. At the end of the match Evan won by points.

Another Evan from GB rolled in the tournament. This Evan is a white belt. He's been at GB for several months and I've rolled with him a few times. He's got good technique and he's really compact, which makes it difficult to catch his limbs for a submission. Evan did well in his first match. Once the action hit the mat he worked his top-game well, passing guard, holding side-control, and working into the mount position. Once in mount he rode his way to victory by points. In his second match, Evan fell short on points but put up a good fight.

One of the slickest submission I saw today, unfortunately, came at the defeat of one of my teammates who is a 4-stripe white belt. They started the match on their feet and worked to get their grips on each others gi. His opponent got a grip on my teammate's sleeve and took advantage of a moment my teammate was off balance. He yanked my teammate toward him while at the same time side-stepping around to his back. The two fell to the mat but before they hit the opponent had both his hooks in and was attacking with a rear naked choke. FYI having your hooks in means you're on your opponent's back with your legs wrapped around their torso and your hells tucked inside their hips and thighs; it's a very dominant position which gives you great control over your opponent. My teammate did all he could to escape the choke but he was caught and forced to tap. The match took no more than 30 seconds. The other guy was really fast, pounced on his back like a monkey and didn't let go.

I've been training with Randy for a long time now. He's a 4-stripe white belt, has good technique, and he's fast as hell. I like watching him roll and was excited to see his first match. His speed and technique kept his opponent on the defensive the entire match so much so that Randy was able to go for at least four submission attempts during the match. Too bad he wasn't able to finish any of them but his opponent did well to defend against them. There was a slight moment of concern in the final 30 seconds when the opponent went to take Randy's back and Randy was forced into the turtle position. FYI, turtle is when you're curled up with your knees and elbows on the mat. You want to keep tight so your opponent can't get a hold of you and control you. It's kinda like being in the fetal position on your knees. Randy turtled up well and his opponent wasn't able to do anything. By a wide margin, Randy won on points.

Randy made it to the final match of his division and it was a crazy, face-paced fight. They went back and forth. Randy would sweep his opponent, then get swept back, and this repeated over and over. It was non-stop action. They kept even on points until the opponent swept Randy and was able to quickly pass his guard. That put the opponent up by 5 points (2 for the sweep, 3 for the pass) and time was running out. Randy kept fighting and was able to reverse position and end up on top in his opponent's guard. My guess is that Randy knew time was running out and went for some crazy jumping, somersault guard pass. It didn't work and the way he fell and rolled left an arm exposed and his opponent didn't miss the opportunity. He locked up an armbar. Too bad Randy lost, but it was a good match. He took chances, pushed the pace, even tried something crazy, and when it was over he was still smiling and walked away with a silver medal. Nice job man!

I was really bummed that I missed the purple belts because I really like watching Clinton, one of my instructors, roll and this was his first competition as a purple belt. However, the open-weight purple belt competition was last so I was able to watch Clinton roll. I was nervous for the guy since he was likely the newest purple belt in the competition but also excited to see how he'd do. His first match began and he pulled guard, I've learned he prefers to fight off his back. FYI, pulling guard is when you start on the feet and simultaneously pull your opponent into you while you jump to wrap your legs around them, bringing them down to the mat in your guard as you fall back. Clinton did this and started to move from full guard into spider guard. His opponent worked aggressively to pass the guard but Clinton adjusted and moved well to prevent the pass. Eventually Clinton swept his opponent and controlled the top-position. I couldn't see too well from where I was watching but I guess Clinton's opponent left his neck exposed because it looked like Clinton locked up a guillotine choke from the top. He won his first match by submission. Nice!

Clinton did well in his second match. He worked his spider guard well but his opponent was able to pass it a couple times for some points. Clinton got a very nice tripod sweep. FYI a tripod sweep is...well it's a little complicated to explain here so check out a video...anyway he earned some points for it. But overall, the opponent was able to control the tempo of the fight although Clinton did go for a few chokes that kept his opponent honest. In the end, Clinton came up short on points but for his first time competing as a purple belt I think he did pretty damn good.

Watching the tournament got me itchy to train. I've been slacking for a while now...well, since Thanksgiving...and I've gotten rusty. Really rusty. I don't really have the itch to compete but I'd like to get more fluid and learn more techniques so I can be on par with the guys – and girls – at GB. I gotta get back to training more consistently, but I digress...Anyway, much props to everybody who competed today. The commitment to train, make weight, and have the spotlight on you while rolling isn't easy. It takes a level of dedication and nerve to do so my hat's off to everybody who competed. Can't wait for the next one!