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!

Jiu-Jitsu, One Year Later

One year to the day (at the time of writing) I walked into Gracie Barra University for the very first time. And what a journey it's been since. I still remember that first day too. I was nervous and had no idea what to expect. I also couldn't find the place and had to call for directions (I drove by the building twice without realizing it). Donning an oversized rental gi and clueless about what to do I hit the mats for my first lesson. A Brazilian guy with a black belt, shaved head, and thick accent came out. Professor Caveirinha taught us a hip-throw, sit-up sweep, and kimura.

It was awesome to learn a submission. Something I'd seen in UFC and MMA fights. I was stoked. And the technique flowed smoothly. Just that one technique and I began to understand how movement and leverage could overcome size and strength. I was hooked. After training, Gamba pulled me into an office to talk. He asked if I could come back the next day for another class: absolutely!

That first day I went in nervous about the possibility of getting hurt, the closeness at which we'd train, not performing well, not knowing what to do, the type of people that would be there, the list goes on and on. I was immediately struck by how friendly and helpful everybody was. I didn't feel like I was being judged at all. It didn't take long at all to feel comfortable at GB. The training was physical and bruises came easily and often but I quickly learned that injuries are few. I can tap out at any time and my partner will stop whatever they're doing. Even if I'm not fully caught in a submission, if I know it's coming or just feel really uncomfortable I can tap and end the discomfort without enduring any pain. I can stay in control of what's going on to a pretty good degree. And the closeness thing, I got over it quickly...really no choice about that.

I've entered two competitions since joining. Didn't win a single match. All good though. My instructors supported me the whole way and focused more on gaining from the experience than winning or losing. Not sure if I'll enter another competition anytime soon. I'm finding that competition isn't as important to me as learning and understanding jiu-jitsu. I don't feel I need to compete to do that when there are plenty of skilled training partners at GB already.

Gracie Barra has done quite a bit for me in the past year. More than I can write here so I'll just glance over the highlights. First, and most obvious, I learned some jiu-jitsu. Triangle, armbar, kimura, and a few other submissions. I know how they work and every now and then I can catch somebody in one. I watch MMA and UFC fights on a different level than before. I can recognize submission set ups and understand ground game techniques and positioning, which is pretty cool.

One of the reasons I joined jiu-jitsu was for fitness. And let me say, it will get you fit. Only Bikram Yoga had me sweating more than jiu-jitsu and that's only because Bikram takes place in a room heated to 111 degrees. Rolling (the hip way to refer to jiu-jitsu) leaves me more drained from the workout though. Here's a more practical way to put it: I use a belt to keep my pants up, I tightened it to the 3^rd hole for a snug fit when I first began jiu-jitsu. After two weeks of rolling 3-4 times each week I had to tighten the belt to the 4^th hole. Within two months I trimmed down enough to use the 5^th hole on the belt. Yeah, rolling will up your fitness.

The people I've met at Gracie Barra are great and I made some new friends over the past year. Some of those outside of jiu-jitsu and martial arts often have a preconceived notion that if you're training jiu-jitsu or muay thai you must be training to be a fighter, and if you're a fighter you're of a certain, rough around the edges, personality type. Troubled youth, tattooed, surrounded by chaos. Ya know, that type of thing. Not the case at Gracie Barra. The people I train with are pretty laid back, pleasantly casual people doing their own thing. Most of the time you wouldn't even know they trained a martial art just looking at them.

The blend of personalities make for great training and diversity on the mats. I'm even starting to see how some personalities translate through their own jiu-jitsu style (that might make a good blog, more on it later).

What else has jiu-jitsu done for me? Reminders of humility, a dash of discipline, and a nice dose of stress relief. But by far the most important thing I've gotten out of it is a boost of confidence. I walk a little taller, can look people in the eye, I feel a little better about myself, I speak a little more clearly, and some of those butterflies that have made a home in my gut for so long have flown away. By nature I'm a quiet, timid, shy person. I got a thick shell as they would say. I've been working for years to break that shell, or at least thin it down, by trying to go outside of my comfort zones and force myself to work through difficult situations. Jiu-jitsu has done the most to crack that shell.

That boost of confidence has resonated through every aspect of my life. At work I've taken on new roles and volunteered for things that I would have avidly avoided a year ago like giving a presentation to an audience of over a hundred people. I'm more apt to initiate conversations with new people when in the past I would remain quiet unless spoken to. It's even affected my writing. I share my writing, my blogs, and I don't mind letting it be known that my ambition is to publish a novel, which I am currently working on.

I promote jiu-jitsu and the Gracie Barra University often. I always encourage those who are interested to give it a try. Most people are apprehensive about it because of the closeness and the thought of getting hurt. But I let them know it's safe, the instructors are very understanding, and the people who train there are friendly and helpful. I say is if you're even slightly interested in trying jiu-jitsu, come down to Gracie Barra and try out a class. Just try it. There's nothing to lose and so much to gain. It's worth a shot.