This past week has been very trying. I missed jiu-jitsu last night because I was slammed at work. I was slammed again today. Though I cannot complain about being busy at work (I own my own business so busy is great) everything seems to have been much harder than it needed to be. I have only three Christmas presents for the wife and we're leaving to Middle-of-Nowhere, Tennessee tomorrow. Today I made the responsible choice and decided to go Christmas shopping...after jiu-jitsu.
I stumbled into class about 5 minutes late. Everyone was sitting on the mat and we got ready to start the warm-up. Donny made fun of me for still wearing my watch. I had completely not noticed. I never wear my watch while at jiu-jitsu. I could tell this night was going to be as rough as the rest of the week has been. So, the evening progressed as we all lined up to bow in. Donny announces that he has something to say to us before we get started.
After some joking and some jiu-jitsu wisdom he begins to talk about a certain person and how the first time he saw them he thought, "This guy is going to pay for a month and never come back." He then announces that tonight there will be a belt ranking.
I knew immediately that it was for me. I know, it's a bit pretentious of me to assume that out of all the awesome guys there, I'm the only one to be promoted but I just knew it was me. Sure enough, he calls the Awesome Possum to the front and presents me with my blue belt. I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked. I knew I was close but I didn't know I was that close.
I'm honored that Donny thinks that highly of me and I hope I can do him proud. I haven't had the best competition record and I'm glad that he can see past that. Though I don't think I deserve it, I completely trust Donny and I will be the best damn blue belt I can be. It's amazing how much your game is stepped up just by placing that blue piece of cloth around your waist. My only regret is that the wife wasn't there to see it but I'm sure she'll be there for the purple. Thanks to everyone for the support. I especially need to thank my training partners because without you guys (and girls) I would never have gotten this far.
Here's to another safe and healthy new year.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Preparing for Victory
I'll admit, I wasn't in the mood to be doing anything that didn't involve me sitting in front of the tv. However, I had to take my own advice and know I would feel better after rolling.
We started with a Peter run warm-up sponsored by Corey. It consisted of jogging, push-ups, and tons of ab stuff. It wasn't necessarily the amount of exercises we did it was more so the exercises themselves. Not to bore you with the details but let's just say my legs felt like rubber.
So after our...energizing warm-up, we worked passing the guard. This was mainly for the new meat but it never hurts to review. Simple guard break with the knee in the butt, your far leg over theirs, underhooks, and pass. Simple, effective, often messed up.
I rolled with everyone except the new people. I didn't plan it that way that's just how it worked out. I did roll with Katie, Chris, Christian, Peter, and Corey. Corey and I rolled no gi and had fun doing it. I did end up latching onto his neck and felt like a douche afterward.
Nothing really out of the ordinary happened tonight. We're starting to enter tournament mode for the NAGA in Boca November 21st. I'm sure if I can just keep from doing something stupid I'll have a good shot at winning.
Possum out.
GracieFernandina.com
We started with a Peter run warm-up sponsored by Corey. It consisted of jogging, push-ups, and tons of ab stuff. It wasn't necessarily the amount of exercises we did it was more so the exercises themselves. Not to bore you with the details but let's just say my legs felt like rubber.
So after our...energizing warm-up, we worked passing the guard. This was mainly for the new meat but it never hurts to review. Simple guard break with the knee in the butt, your far leg over theirs, underhooks, and pass. Simple, effective, often messed up.
I rolled with everyone except the new people. I didn't plan it that way that's just how it worked out. I did roll with Katie, Chris, Christian, Peter, and Corey. Corey and I rolled no gi and had fun doing it. I did end up latching onto his neck and felt like a douche afterward.
Nothing really out of the ordinary happened tonight. We're starting to enter tournament mode for the NAGA in Boca November 21st. I'm sure if I can just keep from doing something stupid I'll have a good shot at winning.
Possum out.
GracieFernandina.com
Friday, October 23, 2009
Tonight we begin with a bit of a recap. You are now officially reading the blog of a 4 stripe white belt. I'm pretty stoked about it too but please hold your applause until the end. I would also like to take this opportunity to use the relative safety of the Internet to mock our blue belts who never managed to get 4 stripes on their white belt. Sorry guys keep training though, it will come.
On Tuesday, Daniel came in for a special class. He wanted to drop in on us before he started his training tour to prepare for the Worlds. While there, Donny, Gracie Fernandina's lead instructor, received the 4th stripe on his purple belt. It was well deserved, coming off a gold medal finish at the No-Gi Pan Ams in NYC. Even better considering he's never competed no-gi. Obviously his amazing skill is due, at least partly, to Possum's awesome guard and menacing top game. Congratulations Donny we're all proud.
Tonight is the real highlight of the week, however. Wednesday night, as I was getting ready to watch a (finally) new Mythbusters, I received a Facebook message from Corey to give Donny a call because he needed someone to cover Thursday's adult class. I'll admit, I was as excited as a little girl. I couldn't dial the number quick enough. Turns out, Corey wasn't playing a mean yet admittedly awesome joke on me. Shortly after being sworn in by Donny, I began to let the power go to my head. This was going to be a long, long 24 hrs...for Ashley (She was commanded to address me as Professor Possum).
We started off class with a Peter led warm-up. I believe he read my mind and found every exercise I did not want to do that night and made us do it. If there's one thing I've learned though is never, ever, complain about the warm-up. So after toting around someone on my back and about 10 leap frogs we settled down for some technique.
Since most of the guys were fairly green, I mentioned the scissor sweep. This was completely spontaneous...ok it totally wasn't. I had it planned 10 seconds after hanging up the phone with Donny. So we started demonstrating the sweep and it goes a little something like this:
Good guy is on his back with the bad guy in guard. You hip out and rest on whichever hip you choose. In this case I choose the right. I bring my left leg across his belt and hook with my foot. My right leg sits on the floor against his leg. Your left hand grips his lapel on the same side as your free leg and your other hand grabs his sleeve. Yank them forward and scissor your legs. Simple. My slight variation involves grabbing the triceps instead of the wrist or sleeve. This also forces me to sit up a little and when I fall back it adds a little more umph to my yank (grow up!) forward.
The second sweep is a sort of half butterfly/ half full guard thing. With the bad guy in guard, your left leg goes between his legs like a butterfly hook. Your other leg comes down and traps their other leg. Sometimes, instead of just putting my free leg down to trap their leg I will place it on the back of their knee to keep them from standing. Either way, trap an arm on the opposite side of the butterfly and sweep to that side. It's important to be on your hip to do this. I've been able to do it from flat on my back as long as I can still move my hips.
Overall I had fun teaching. I tried to keep it short and even had everyone do a drill that helps set the scissor sweep into your brain but the guys weren't feeling it. I really hope I have the opportunity to do it again. I will be ordering all their black belts next week. Blue belts, let the ass whoopin begin. The rest of you, thank you for your patience, begin your applause.
Gracie Fernandina
On Tuesday, Daniel came in for a special class. He wanted to drop in on us before he started his training tour to prepare for the Worlds. While there, Donny, Gracie Fernandina's lead instructor, received the 4th stripe on his purple belt. It was well deserved, coming off a gold medal finish at the No-Gi Pan Ams in NYC. Even better considering he's never competed no-gi. Obviously his amazing skill is due, at least partly, to Possum's awesome guard and menacing top game. Congratulations Donny we're all proud.
Tonight is the real highlight of the week, however. Wednesday night, as I was getting ready to watch a (finally) new Mythbusters, I received a Facebook message from Corey to give Donny a call because he needed someone to cover Thursday's adult class. I'll admit, I was as excited as a little girl. I couldn't dial the number quick enough. Turns out, Corey wasn't playing a mean yet admittedly awesome joke on me. Shortly after being sworn in by Donny, I began to let the power go to my head. This was going to be a long, long 24 hrs...for Ashley (She was commanded to address me as Professor Possum).
We started off class with a Peter led warm-up. I believe he read my mind and found every exercise I did not want to do that night and made us do it. If there's one thing I've learned though is never, ever, complain about the warm-up. So after toting around someone on my back and about 10 leap frogs we settled down for some technique.
Since most of the guys were fairly green, I mentioned the scissor sweep. This was completely spontaneous...ok it totally wasn't. I had it planned 10 seconds after hanging up the phone with Donny. So we started demonstrating the sweep and it goes a little something like this:
Good guy is on his back with the bad guy in guard. You hip out and rest on whichever hip you choose. In this case I choose the right. I bring my left leg across his belt and hook with my foot. My right leg sits on the floor against his leg. Your left hand grips his lapel on the same side as your free leg and your other hand grabs his sleeve. Yank them forward and scissor your legs. Simple. My slight variation involves grabbing the triceps instead of the wrist or sleeve. This also forces me to sit up a little and when I fall back it adds a little more umph to my yank (grow up!) forward.
The second sweep is a sort of half butterfly/ half full guard thing. With the bad guy in guard, your left leg goes between his legs like a butterfly hook. Your other leg comes down and traps their other leg. Sometimes, instead of just putting my free leg down to trap their leg I will place it on the back of their knee to keep them from standing. Either way, trap an arm on the opposite side of the butterfly and sweep to that side. It's important to be on your hip to do this. I've been able to do it from flat on my back as long as I can still move my hips.
Overall I had fun teaching. I tried to keep it short and even had everyone do a drill that helps set the scissor sweep into your brain but the guys weren't feeling it. I really hope I have the opportunity to do it again. I will be ordering all their black belts next week. Blue belts, let the ass whoopin begin. The rest of you, thank you for your patience, begin your applause.
Gracie Fernandina
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunshine State BJJ Open
Saturday marked the 2nd annual Sunshine State BJJ Open in Jacksonville, FL. Six of us from Gracie Fernandina entered while Donny and Daniel went to New York to compete in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No Gi Championships. When I say Donny and Daniel went to compete what I really mean is that they went to completely dominate their divisions. No surprise when you consider Daniel is a jiu-jitsu deity and Donny has been chewing through brown and black belts in competition. Tonight's post, however, is not about the relentless beat downs being offered by Gracie Fernandina's instructors. No, tonight is about those six (Christian, Ashley, Possum, Patrick, Katie, and Caid) who decided to open up a can of whoop ass at this local tournament.
Luckily for us Patrick filmed most of the matches however; unfortunately, there was some sort of mishap that occurred that erased most of the fights. There is a silver lining to this otherwise bleak situation, I, Possum, now get to describe in detail what went down. Consider it a behind the scenes look. Let us begin.
First to fight was Christian. He was in the super heavy division. Amazingly there were two others in the same weight class. His first fight was against a guy about his height but a bit lighter. He wore a orange and green belt and ridiculous hair cut. Before the fight I told Christian that there is no way in hell he will lose to someone with a hair cut like that.
Artist Rendition
The fight started and they tied up. Christian did a good job of keeping his balance. The other dude tried for a sweep and Christian capitalized. They both went down like the Titanic. Christian landed on top. From there he secured side control. After getting his points I yelled out "Cock the shotgun!" and he immediately popped to knee on belly. The kid escaped out of it and christian went back to side control. Shortly after he tried KOB again and this time it stuck. From that point on Christian proceeded to make an imprint of that boy's spine on the mat. The round only lasted four minutes but for the vast majority of that time Christian was introducing his knee to the mat via this kid's soft tissue. He won his first match with no points or advantages scored against him. Christian's highlight of the day was making this kid cry. Way to go buddy!
His second fight was against what I believe to be a 24 year old BJJ instructor from Brazil. This guy was supposed to be 14-15 years old but had a 5 'o clock shadow. The match started right after he put out his cigarette, and told his kid to get him another beer. They tied up but this kid was obviously not new to the game. He got the take down. Christian gained half guard. The man then went from half guard to full mount. There he stayed the whole match. Christian lost to points but put up a good fight and didn't get submitted. Took second place. Phenomenal for his first competition.
Next to fight was Katie. Katie seemed nervous for this fight and thought she needed a cool nickname like Possum. Using my incredible wit I dubbed Katie, Gumby.
The "officials" called for Katie's coach, so I went to see what they needed. They offered to let her fight all girls but they out weighed her by 30lbs or she could fight in her weight against boys. Never passing up a chance to make a boy cry in front of a hundred people we decided to fight the boys.
Katie tied up and it quickly went to the ground. She ended up in half guard. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs for her to "take the back" and she did. Once she took this kid's back it was over. She was making attempts to choke him but hadn't quite locked it in. Before we knew it this kid tapped. Katie didn't really have a choke but I suppose what matters is he thought she did. Either way Katie did what she had set out to do. Win a match? Nope. Make a boy cry in front of his friends, family, and tons of strangers? Yes!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see her second match but I believe it was a stalemate and they were stood back up. The boy got a take down and won on points. She ended up with the Bronze. Not bad for a girl.
Those were the matches I got to see that we don't have video on. I was trying to coach as many people as I could but those disorganized bastards, in their infinite wisdom, decided to have multiple Gracie Fernandina fighters go at the same time. I have video for the no gi matches of Patrick and Katie, and the Gi matches for Possum and Ashley. I'll post it as soon as I get it on the computer. Look for our next installment of the Sunshine State BJJ Open.
Gracie Fernandina.com
Luckily for us Patrick filmed most of the matches however; unfortunately, there was some sort of mishap that occurred that erased most of the fights. There is a silver lining to this otherwise bleak situation, I, Possum, now get to describe in detail what went down. Consider it a behind the scenes look. Let us begin.
First to fight was Christian. He was in the super heavy division. Amazingly there were two others in the same weight class. His first fight was against a guy about his height but a bit lighter. He wore a orange and green belt and ridiculous hair cut. Before the fight I told Christian that there is no way in hell he will lose to someone with a hair cut like that.
Artist Rendition
The fight started and they tied up. Christian did a good job of keeping his balance. The other dude tried for a sweep and Christian capitalized. They both went down like the Titanic. Christian landed on top. From there he secured side control. After getting his points I yelled out "Cock the shotgun!" and he immediately popped to knee on belly. The kid escaped out of it and christian went back to side control. Shortly after he tried KOB again and this time it stuck. From that point on Christian proceeded to make an imprint of that boy's spine on the mat. The round only lasted four minutes but for the vast majority of that time Christian was introducing his knee to the mat via this kid's soft tissue. He won his first match with no points or advantages scored against him. Christian's highlight of the day was making this kid cry. Way to go buddy!
His second fight was against what I believe to be a 24 year old BJJ instructor from Brazil. This guy was supposed to be 14-15 years old but had a 5 'o clock shadow. The match started right after he put out his cigarette, and told his kid to get him another beer. They tied up but this kid was obviously not new to the game. He got the take down. Christian gained half guard. The man then went from half guard to full mount. There he stayed the whole match. Christian lost to points but put up a good fight and didn't get submitted. Took second place. Phenomenal for his first competition.
Next to fight was Katie. Katie seemed nervous for this fight and thought she needed a cool nickname like Possum. Using my incredible wit I dubbed Katie, Gumby.
The "officials" called for Katie's coach, so I went to see what they needed. They offered to let her fight all girls but they out weighed her by 30lbs or she could fight in her weight against boys. Never passing up a chance to make a boy cry in front of a hundred people we decided to fight the boys.
Katie tied up and it quickly went to the ground. She ended up in half guard. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs for her to "take the back" and she did. Once she took this kid's back it was over. She was making attempts to choke him but hadn't quite locked it in. Before we knew it this kid tapped. Katie didn't really have a choke but I suppose what matters is he thought she did. Either way Katie did what she had set out to do. Win a match? Nope. Make a boy cry in front of his friends, family, and tons of strangers? Yes!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see her second match but I believe it was a stalemate and they were stood back up. The boy got a take down and won on points. She ended up with the Bronze. Not bad for a girl.
Those were the matches I got to see that we don't have video on. I was trying to coach as many people as I could but those disorganized bastards, in their infinite wisdom, decided to have multiple Gracie Fernandina fighters go at the same time. I have video for the no gi matches of Patrick and Katie, and the Gi matches for Possum and Ashley. I'll post it as soon as I get it on the computer. Look for our next installment of the Sunshine State BJJ Open.
Gracie Fernandina.com
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
It's a compound.
It's been a while so I apologize however tonight's update is a good one. I'll put the technique in italics so those who aren't interested in the moves can still get a good story. You are welcome.
Monday began the new jiu-jitsu schedule at Gracie Fernandina. Monday (7:00) Tuesday (7:00) Wednesday (6:30) and Thursday (6:30). I'm totally looking forward to a minimum 4 days a week. We still have open mat on Sunday and perhaps I may be able to make it to Jacksonville on Fridays. Still, I'm not going to say I'll do 6 days a week but I will try.
Last night we reviewed a butterfly pass that a few of us saw on Friday. It starts with the bad guy in butterfly. When he gets his under-hook, for the basic butterfly sweep, you take your hand and grab the pant leg of his opposite leg. Sounds confusing, I know. I'll attempt to dummy it down a bit. Bad guy has under-hook, the arm that he has the under-hook on goes under both legs and grabs his pant leg on the side that doesn't have the under-hook. Anyway, as the bad guy falls to his side to sweep you smash his legs with your hips while pulling on his pant leg. Give it a try, trust me it works.
The other move we learned was sort of the same except you don't wait for the dude to grab under-hooks. From his butterfly guard, you take, in this case, your left hand go under his legs and grab his left pant leg. Same set-up. Put your head in his chest your free arm grips his back. Here's where it can get tricky so read closely. You post up on the leg on the same side of the arm that is gripping the pant leg (in our case here it's your left leg). All you do from here is pull your arms straight with a bit of a rotating motion and your opponent should spin to a side control position, proceed with elbows to the face.
Tonight we didn't really learn anything new. Mainly it was review of the exact sweep mentioned above except now you're the bad guy trying to sweep. I'm not going to explain that here because you can go to youtube, search butterfly sweep, and be up to you earlobes in content. No, tonight was about injuries. We started off all stretching when Donny comes behind me and puts on a good collar choke. I, like a complete moron, attempt to flip him over my head. Consequently he lands on my head still with the collar choke. He says something along the lines of "Is it tight yet?" I responded with some smart ass comment. There's a pretty good reason I can't tell you what that comment is. Was it bad words? No. Was is politically incorrect? Don't be retarded. It was because I cant remember. The next thing I know, I'm sitting up asking everyone if I passed out. No one seemed to be able to give me a straight answer however due to my lack of memory I think it's a safe bet I took a nap.
So things are going good after individual warm-ups we trained technique and started to roll after that. I got Mark. One of the newer guys. He's big but not generally a huge problem for me right now. Once he gets some technique under his belt he'll be a bigger threat. Anyway, I digress. Mark and I are rolling and out of nowhere I hear...(kids earmuffs!) "SHIT!" followed by a series of Oh my god's and...I CAN SEE THE BONE! Let that sink in, he could freaking see the bone. No, worse is WE could see the bone. Poor Jimmy attempting a pass on Peter "Bone Crusher" Dikun landed on the most perfect one-in-a-million spot to completely pop his BONE OUT OF HIS SKIN. Steve ran to look at it and probably still in amazement of how freakish the whole thing was said, "Yeah, it's a compound alright. Bone's poking out." We wrapped his foot up, debated over to call an ambulance, which would cost him more but save him having to fill out paperwork, or driving him ourselves, which would save him the cost of the ambulance ride but will invariably result in him having to fill out a mountain of paperwork. Jimmy told us to drive him so we helped him to the car and Mark drove him to the hospital.
Luckily we got word after about an hour that the bone was not broken but was dislocated and it was his knuckle that had ripped through the skin. This is good news since all the doctors had to do was pop it back into place (presumably with enough painkillers to choke an elephant) and sew him up. I'm so glad he doesn't have to have surgery and months of rehab. Good luck Jimmy.
GracieFernandina.com
Monday began the new jiu-jitsu schedule at Gracie Fernandina. Monday (7:00) Tuesday (7:00) Wednesday (6:30) and Thursday (6:30). I'm totally looking forward to a minimum 4 days a week. We still have open mat on Sunday and perhaps I may be able to make it to Jacksonville on Fridays. Still, I'm not going to say I'll do 6 days a week but I will try.
Last night we reviewed a butterfly pass that a few of us saw on Friday. It starts with the bad guy in butterfly. When he gets his under-hook, for the basic butterfly sweep, you take your hand and grab the pant leg of his opposite leg. Sounds confusing, I know. I'll attempt to dummy it down a bit. Bad guy has under-hook, the arm that he has the under-hook on goes under both legs and grabs his pant leg on the side that doesn't have the under-hook. Anyway, as the bad guy falls to his side to sweep you smash his legs with your hips while pulling on his pant leg. Give it a try, trust me it works.
The other move we learned was sort of the same except you don't wait for the dude to grab under-hooks. From his butterfly guard, you take, in this case, your left hand go under his legs and grab his left pant leg. Same set-up. Put your head in his chest your free arm grips his back. Here's where it can get tricky so read closely. You post up on the leg on the same side of the arm that is gripping the pant leg (in our case here it's your left leg). All you do from here is pull your arms straight with a bit of a rotating motion and your opponent should spin to a side control position, proceed with elbows to the face.
Tonight we didn't really learn anything new. Mainly it was review of the exact sweep mentioned above except now you're the bad guy trying to sweep. I'm not going to explain that here because you can go to youtube, search butterfly sweep, and be up to you earlobes in content. No, tonight was about injuries. We started off all stretching when Donny comes behind me and puts on a good collar choke. I, like a complete moron, attempt to flip him over my head. Consequently he lands on my head still with the collar choke. He says something along the lines of "Is it tight yet?" I responded with some smart ass comment. There's a pretty good reason I can't tell you what that comment is. Was it bad words? No. Was is politically incorrect? Don't be retarded. It was because I cant remember. The next thing I know, I'm sitting up asking everyone if I passed out. No one seemed to be able to give me a straight answer however due to my lack of memory I think it's a safe bet I took a nap.
So things are going good after individual warm-ups we trained technique and started to roll after that. I got Mark. One of the newer guys. He's big but not generally a huge problem for me right now. Once he gets some technique under his belt he'll be a bigger threat. Anyway, I digress. Mark and I are rolling and out of nowhere I hear...(kids earmuffs!) "SHIT!" followed by a series of Oh my god's and...I CAN SEE THE BONE! Let that sink in, he could freaking see the bone. No, worse is WE could see the bone. Poor Jimmy attempting a pass on Peter "Bone Crusher" Dikun landed on the most perfect one-in-a-million spot to completely pop his BONE OUT OF HIS SKIN. Steve ran to look at it and probably still in amazement of how freakish the whole thing was said, "Yeah, it's a compound alright. Bone's poking out." We wrapped his foot up, debated over to call an ambulance, which would cost him more but save him having to fill out paperwork, or driving him ourselves, which would save him the cost of the ambulance ride but will invariably result in him having to fill out a mountain of paperwork. Jimmy told us to drive him so we helped him to the car and Mark drove him to the hospital.
Luckily we got word after about an hour that the bone was not broken but was dislocated and it was his knuckle that had ripped through the skin. This is good news since all the doctors had to do was pop it back into place (presumably with enough painkillers to choke an elephant) and sew him up. I'm so glad he doesn't have to have surgery and months of rehab. Good luck Jimmy.
GracieFernandina.com
Monday, August 10, 2009
Where's the other sock?
Open mat on Sunday was unusually busy. We had about 7-8 guys we don't normally train with. This is in addition to Corey, Donny, Peter, Myself, and Ashley. We started off by lining up against the wall and giving the visitors the opportunity to call us out.
My first fight was against a guy who's name escapes me (actually I'd pretty much forgotten their names immediately after they told me, sorry.) This guy was wearing gi pants and a tank top. I figured this guy might have some experience and though I couldn't be sure, I though I had rolled with him before. Anyway, so we set up I'm on my knees and he comes walking over. I notice he only has one sock on. I quickly think of some funny joke to account for his missing sock until I realized, he's not missing a sock, he's only wearing one sock! Now let this simmer a minute, what I'm getting at is that he intentionally is only wearing one sock for a reason. His lack of foot coverings is not due to some wacky series of events that would hilariously unfold over a cold beer, but due to a jock itch, athlete's foot, ringworm causing fungus. The first and only reason I can fathom at this point is that he has a case of athlete's foot and feels "It's okay...I put on a sock." Now perhaps he didn't have any problem like that. However, even if he pulled off his sock to expose a golden foot with diamond toenails and carried on to explain that he didn't want to have to polish it again I couldn't believe it. As far as the match goes, nothing eventful happened. He couldn't gain position on me and I submitted him with a choke.
The next match I was paired up with "Bear." I remember thinking this guy may not have any experience but due to his size he probably has done some wrestling in his day. Well, we started and immediately he passes to side. I thought to myself, "This dude is going to hurt me if I lay her and play possum." I seemed to be able to turn it on with him. He tried to hold side but ended up getting swept. He couldn't hold me in his guard and I spent most of my time in side control. I couldn't submit him but that wasn't my focus at the time. I was more worried that him not being my normal training partner that he would attempt to beat me at all costs. After that match Corey and I spoke and he said I was a different person rolling with him. He went on to say he wished he could be like me and that I was extremely good looking (I am paraphrasing a bit).
I rolled a couple more times once with a guy who had some experience but after getting swept three times with the same move I think he got pissed. There was another guy who was about Ashley's size who after his first roll seemed to gas out really bad. I rolled with him for about 45 seconds until he gave up.
We ended the night with the shark tank. I was paired up with the "Bear" again. We started on the knees. They called start and this dude rushed me elbowed the holy hell out of my head and went on to spend most of the two minutes in my half guard. I was pretty dizzy after the elbow and if I would have had the extra three minutes that I'm used to I could have done something (I was working an armbar when they called time) instead of losing by points.
All in all a good day. I hope a few of the guys who said they were going to start actually show up. Though once they end up with Ashley mounted on them they may not want to come back, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Graciefernandina.com
My first fight was against a guy who's name escapes me (actually I'd pretty much forgotten their names immediately after they told me, sorry.) This guy was wearing gi pants and a tank top. I figured this guy might have some experience and though I couldn't be sure, I though I had rolled with him before. Anyway, so we set up I'm on my knees and he comes walking over. I notice he only has one sock on. I quickly think of some funny joke to account for his missing sock until I realized, he's not missing a sock, he's only wearing one sock! Now let this simmer a minute, what I'm getting at is that he intentionally is only wearing one sock for a reason. His lack of foot coverings is not due to some wacky series of events that would hilariously unfold over a cold beer, but due to a jock itch, athlete's foot, ringworm causing fungus. The first and only reason I can fathom at this point is that he has a case of athlete's foot and feels "It's okay...I put on a sock." Now perhaps he didn't have any problem like that. However, even if he pulled off his sock to expose a golden foot with diamond toenails and carried on to explain that he didn't want to have to polish it again I couldn't believe it. As far as the match goes, nothing eventful happened. He couldn't gain position on me and I submitted him with a choke.
The next match I was paired up with "Bear." I remember thinking this guy may not have any experience but due to his size he probably has done some wrestling in his day. Well, we started and immediately he passes to side. I thought to myself, "This dude is going to hurt me if I lay her and play possum." I seemed to be able to turn it on with him. He tried to hold side but ended up getting swept. He couldn't hold me in his guard and I spent most of my time in side control. I couldn't submit him but that wasn't my focus at the time. I was more worried that him not being my normal training partner that he would attempt to beat me at all costs. After that match Corey and I spoke and he said I was a different person rolling with him. He went on to say he wished he could be like me and that I was extremely good looking (I am paraphrasing a bit).
I rolled a couple more times once with a guy who had some experience but after getting swept three times with the same move I think he got pissed. There was another guy who was about Ashley's size who after his first roll seemed to gas out really bad. I rolled with him for about 45 seconds until he gave up.
We ended the night with the shark tank. I was paired up with the "Bear" again. We started on the knees. They called start and this dude rushed me elbowed the holy hell out of my head and went on to spend most of the two minutes in my half guard. I was pretty dizzy after the elbow and if I would have had the extra three minutes that I'm used to I could have done something (I was working an armbar when they called time) instead of losing by points.
All in all a good day. I hope a few of the guys who said they were going to start actually show up. Though once they end up with Ashley mounted on them they may not want to come back, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Graciefernandina.com
Thursday, July 23, 2009
OOWW!
We began class last night with a good warm up that consisted of the normal jogging, push ups, and crunches. We learned three knee on belly(KOB) attacks, an armbar, kimura, and a choke.
The kimura was one I had not seen before. It looks like it could be good since it's something you don't expect. You start off KOB, the unlucky dude (or dudette) tries to push your knee off with his left hand (in this case I am on his right side). As he places his hand on your knee you quickly cup his wrist. When he hips out you come around his head and trap it. It's important to note that your right leg should end up in the bottom guy's armpit area. This is important for the next step, you slide your available hand to grab your other hand for the kimura. As you do that you slide your right leg back, this puts the guy on bottom in a really bad spot. From here you can finish your kimura like normal.
The next was the classic armbar from KOB. I know this one well. I know it so well in fact that it's one of the very rare times I actually keep my elbows in. Anyway, it goes a little something like this:
Start KOB as the person attempts to push your knee away but this time leaves their elbow up as they do it. You then reach with your right hand through the space they made, grab the back of their arm, and as a nice option put your elbow in their ribs (As a side note I don't suggest doing this to someone you don't want to piss off). You finish by swinging around their head, grab their pants and armbar.
That brought us to our final KOB attack. Again the dude on the bottom tries to push your knee off however, this time your left hand is deep under their neck. You simply baseball grip your hands together, get your left forearm under their chin and come down from KOB. In a perfect world you want your legs to spread out like a clock choke. I found it doesn't require all that if you have it right.
So after drilling these techniques it was time to roll. I started off with Ashley. She's been improving a lot lately. I do know, all innuendo aside, I don't want her on top. She's amazingly heavy.
After that I rolled with Patrick. We started and somehow he ended up in turtle (presumably from my sheer awesomeness but I wont dwell on it). I started slowly making my way to his back. He then grabbed my leg nearest to his head. I trapped his arm with my legs and then, are you ready for it? Bam! A crucifix. Holy Moly! A freaking crucifix. Unfortunately for me I got a bit too excited and forgot about the arm I had trapped with my legs. He ended up getting his arm free but I had a deep collar grab on him. We stayed in that position for a while until time was called.
I rolled with Christian and I can see he is improving a lot.
So that brings us to the end of the night. Corey Vs. Donny. So they roll for a while all the time Donny is talking in his goofy Brazilian accent. At one point near the end, after Peter had taken all but four of the mats, it happened. We all saw it. Cory had Donny in a straight armbar. Yes folks you read that right COREY had DONNY in the armbar. Donny then (still in his goofy Brazilian accent) says OOWW! That hurts. Now call me crazy, I'll wait...when someone says OOWW! that means tap. Of course Donny went on to say it hurt but it wasn't a tap. Please allow me to present exhibit A; From article 5 of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Rules:
7-) When an athlete is under a submission position and he screams or say "Aï" , will be the same as if he taps
Corey, my friend, it seems you were robbed of yet another submission victory.
To avoid being too long winded, I will say I have seriously been neglecting the blog and for that, fellow internet people, I apologize. I'll try to keep up with it from now on. No, seriously.
The kimura was one I had not seen before. It looks like it could be good since it's something you don't expect. You start off KOB, the unlucky dude (or dudette) tries to push your knee off with his left hand (in this case I am on his right side). As he places his hand on your knee you quickly cup his wrist. When he hips out you come around his head and trap it. It's important to note that your right leg should end up in the bottom guy's armpit area. This is important for the next step, you slide your available hand to grab your other hand for the kimura. As you do that you slide your right leg back, this puts the guy on bottom in a really bad spot. From here you can finish your kimura like normal.
The next was the classic armbar from KOB. I know this one well. I know it so well in fact that it's one of the very rare times I actually keep my elbows in. Anyway, it goes a little something like this:
Start KOB as the person attempts to push your knee away but this time leaves their elbow up as they do it. You then reach with your right hand through the space they made, grab the back of their arm, and as a nice option put your elbow in their ribs (As a side note I don't suggest doing this to someone you don't want to piss off). You finish by swinging around their head, grab their pants and armbar.
That brought us to our final KOB attack. Again the dude on the bottom tries to push your knee off however, this time your left hand is deep under their neck. You simply baseball grip your hands together, get your left forearm under their chin and come down from KOB. In a perfect world you want your legs to spread out like a clock choke. I found it doesn't require all that if you have it right.
So after drilling these techniques it was time to roll. I started off with Ashley. She's been improving a lot lately. I do know, all innuendo aside, I don't want her on top. She's amazingly heavy.
After that I rolled with Patrick. We started and somehow he ended up in turtle (presumably from my sheer awesomeness but I wont dwell on it). I started slowly making my way to his back. He then grabbed my leg nearest to his head. I trapped his arm with my legs and then, are you ready for it? Bam! A crucifix. Holy Moly! A freaking crucifix. Unfortunately for me I got a bit too excited and forgot about the arm I had trapped with my legs. He ended up getting his arm free but I had a deep collar grab on him. We stayed in that position for a while until time was called.
I rolled with Christian and I can see he is improving a lot.
So that brings us to the end of the night. Corey Vs. Donny. So they roll for a while all the time Donny is talking in his goofy Brazilian accent. At one point near the end, after Peter had taken all but four of the mats, it happened. We all saw it. Cory had Donny in a straight armbar. Yes folks you read that right COREY had DONNY in the armbar. Donny then (still in his goofy Brazilian accent) says OOWW! That hurts. Now call me crazy, I'll wait...when someone says OOWW! that means tap. Of course Donny went on to say it hurt but it wasn't a tap. Please allow me to present exhibit A; From article 5 of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Rules:
7-) When an athlete is under a submission position and he screams or say "Aï" , will be the same as if he taps
Corey, my friend, it seems you were robbed of yet another submission victory.
To avoid being too long winded, I will say I have seriously been neglecting the blog and for that, fellow internet people, I apologize. I'll try to keep up with it from now on. No, seriously.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Give me a sec...
So last night we started off class with a circuit style warm up. We had about 5 stations including jump rope, push-ups, abs, stretching, etc. We did one circuit of that and continued to warm up. We, again, had several different stations including: In the guard, passing the guard, and stand up. My focus here today is the stand up part.
We had a guy who I've seen want to come to class but never has. He's a big, strong guy. We started out with the stand up. I had no problem taking him down with trips and the such. Then we both went to the next "station." For this one person gives the other person a leg (in this case it was me giving up my leg) and tries to fight out of it while the other person tries to take him down.
Unfortunately for me this guy wasn't wearing a gi so the defense i knew to the single wouldn't work. We started out and first thing this guy goes for is my other leg (remember he already has one of them). He lifts me high in the air and I prepare for what I think will be a fairly soft landing. I came to this conclusion because we're all training partners and there's no sense in slamming the crap out of someone. Anyway, here I am high in the air and I start going down. It feels like he's controlling my descent. The next thing I know I land with all my weight and his. I turned to my side and attempted to take the fall properly but the mats might as well been concrete. I laid there as my instructor took awe of the awesomeness of my failure. "Give me a sec..." I got back up and started again. This cycle repeated itself three more times until I just started guillotining him.
Needless to say my whole side hurts. I really enjoy doing take down work but unfortunately I got stuck with the new person who doesn't yet know to not kill training partners. I suppose it's ultimately my fault, after all, I did give him my leg.
We had a guy who I've seen want to come to class but never has. He's a big, strong guy. We started out with the stand up. I had no problem taking him down with trips and the such. Then we both went to the next "station." For this one person gives the other person a leg (in this case it was me giving up my leg) and tries to fight out of it while the other person tries to take him down.
Unfortunately for me this guy wasn't wearing a gi so the defense i knew to the single wouldn't work. We started out and first thing this guy goes for is my other leg (remember he already has one of them). He lifts me high in the air and I prepare for what I think will be a fairly soft landing. I came to this conclusion because we're all training partners and there's no sense in slamming the crap out of someone. Anyway, here I am high in the air and I start going down. It feels like he's controlling my descent. The next thing I know I land with all my weight and his. I turned to my side and attempted to take the fall properly but the mats might as well been concrete. I laid there as my instructor took awe of the awesomeness of my failure. "Give me a sec..." I got back up and started again. This cycle repeated itself three more times until I just started guillotining him.
Needless to say my whole side hurts. I really enjoy doing take down work but unfortunately I got stuck with the new person who doesn't yet know to not kill training partners. I suppose it's ultimately my fault, after all, I did give him my leg.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Been So Long
It's been a really long time since I've posted. I've been rolling however I've been really apathetic about the blog. Last Monday, or Wednesday, I cant remember either way last week we had Daniel and his brother Diego and Rhelan Gracie (Relson's Son) come in to teach. That was a freaking awesome class. These guys are the best in the world and are really cool. There's no ego, they know they're good and they dont have to take it out on a whitebelt. I learned the Relson Gracie side mount and it is as follows:
Your hand near his head goes as if your elbow is touching his far ear. Go under his arm all the way to his belt. Your other hand grips his closest knee. I really like this because it's easy to obtain, because people dont expect it, and it's easy to keep. There was a sweet armbar off of it that goes a little something like this;
If their arm goes up to your head your take your hand that is gripping the knee and trap their hand by grabbing your collar. Simple. You then take your free hand put it on their head Swing your foot over their head and walk your foot towards their back. At this point you will probably be rotating your hips around their arm. Grab their knee with your free hand and fall back for the armbar. Awesome. Thanks Rhalen.
Tonight we went over a few chokes from guard. There was one cool one if the other guy is turtling up. So lets pretend the bad guy is turtling up and you are on his left side. Take your left hand and feed it under his left arm to grab his opposite lapel. This is a tight freaking hold. There's no where good for this guy to go once you have this. Donny showed a clock choke from here but it's super difficult to get your hand in. Corey and I, however, discovered that by taking your free hand, in this case your right, and grabbing their hand nearest to your body and clamping down you have a quick and tight choke.
Well that's it for the blog tonight. Stay tuned for more updates.
Your hand near his head goes as if your elbow is touching his far ear. Go under his arm all the way to his belt. Your other hand grips his closest knee. I really like this because it's easy to obtain, because people dont expect it, and it's easy to keep. There was a sweet armbar off of it that goes a little something like this;
If their arm goes up to your head your take your hand that is gripping the knee and trap their hand by grabbing your collar. Simple. You then take your free hand put it on their head Swing your foot over their head and walk your foot towards their back. At this point you will probably be rotating your hips around their arm. Grab their knee with your free hand and fall back for the armbar. Awesome. Thanks Rhalen.
Tonight we went over a few chokes from guard. There was one cool one if the other guy is turtling up. So lets pretend the bad guy is turtling up and you are on his left side. Take your left hand and feed it under his left arm to grab his opposite lapel. This is a tight freaking hold. There's no where good for this guy to go once you have this. Donny showed a clock choke from here but it's super difficult to get your hand in. Corey and I, however, discovered that by taking your free hand, in this case your right, and grabbing their hand nearest to your body and clamping down you have a quick and tight choke.
Well that's it for the blog tonight. Stay tuned for more updates.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Sitting out.
Since the tournament my arm has been bothering me. I can't sleep well because I keep waking up from the pain. The weird thing is that it doesn't really hurt throughout the day. it only hurts at night and when I roll. With this is mind I decided to sit out of class on monday.
Well to start off, it really sucked sitting out. Not because everyone made fun of me but because I really wanted to roll. Donny taught two armbars.
The first one was a cross collar choke to an armbar. Basically it went like this, while going for the cross collar choke from guard as your opponent pushes away you armbar. Pretty simple.
The second was from a failed siscor sweep. If you attempt to sweep and the person defends by shifting their weight you can use their momentum to swing an armbar. Since I wasn't actually doing it it's hard to explain.
There was a new guy in class today. This guy went 200 MPH. Typical of someone new to jiu-jitsu, trying to prove something. He seemed a little fast for my liking but I'm really looking forward to "Helping" him slow down.
Well to start off, it really sucked sitting out. Not because everyone made fun of me but because I really wanted to roll. Donny taught two armbars.
The first one was a cross collar choke to an armbar. Basically it went like this, while going for the cross collar choke from guard as your opponent pushes away you armbar. Pretty simple.
The second was from a failed siscor sweep. If you attempt to sweep and the person defends by shifting their weight you can use their momentum to swing an armbar. Since I wasn't actually doing it it's hard to explain.
There was a new guy in class today. This guy went 200 MPH. Typical of someone new to jiu-jitsu, trying to prove something. He seemed a little fast for my liking but I'm really looking forward to "Helping" him slow down.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Tournament
So finally Saturday arrived. All of us have been waiting and preparing for this day. For most of us it was our first tournament and we were excited and scared. It pretty much went like this:
We arrived and there were tons of people there, not like the weigh in where there were 7. It took an hour to get the rules started. After that all white belts conjugated to one corner while blue belts to another etc. It took another 30 min to sort out all the brackets. Finally the first fight of the day, Ashley.
Her's was the first and only fight going on. She was fighting a bigger girl who was much stronger. The other girl tried some horrible attempts at a take down. Finally Ashley gave it to her. When they went down the girl landed in mount and attempted an americana. It was horrible. Like she had never done one before. Ashley wasn't tapping from it because it wasnt on right. Unfortunately Ashley didn't bump the right way to get this girl off of her. She kept bumping toward her not trapped hand which allowed the girl to post out. Ashley went almost all the way but got caught with a choke at the end.
My fight was right after her's. The guy wasn't really bigger or stronger but he was faster. We locked up and he tried to take me down a couple times. After I realized he couldnt take me down I tried a hip toss. It was, in retrospect, a horrible attempt. I landed in the bottom half guard. I was working from there and I attempted a sweep but he took mount. I attempted a sweep from there and he grabbed an arm. He went for the armbar but my thumb was facing down and to the side. The ref stopped the fight and asked if i had tapped. I told him "no i didnt tap, he doesn't have it" he said okay and let the guy sinch it deeper. Since he didn't have it I rolled over into his guard. I waited a little to long and eventually pu my hand on his stomach inched it over and caught me in a deep armbar that popped the elbow three times. I just had my ass whooped.
The rest of the morning wasn't looking so good either. Tonja got caught in a flying armbar not 15 seconds into the match and nate was beat on points. The tide started to turn with Corey. He won all his matches. Nate stepped up against another opponent and won all those. Scott dominated a blue belt and won second. Peter was without a doubt the most impressive. He owned everyone. His last match he was up 8-0 and let the guy tap him with a weak guillotine. He ended up with silver. Over all a good experience and I will come back stronger.
We arrived and there were tons of people there, not like the weigh in where there were 7. It took an hour to get the rules started. After that all white belts conjugated to one corner while blue belts to another etc. It took another 30 min to sort out all the brackets. Finally the first fight of the day, Ashley.
Her's was the first and only fight going on. She was fighting a bigger girl who was much stronger. The other girl tried some horrible attempts at a take down. Finally Ashley gave it to her. When they went down the girl landed in mount and attempted an americana. It was horrible. Like she had never done one before. Ashley wasn't tapping from it because it wasnt on right. Unfortunately Ashley didn't bump the right way to get this girl off of her. She kept bumping toward her not trapped hand which allowed the girl to post out. Ashley went almost all the way but got caught with a choke at the end.
My fight was right after her's. The guy wasn't really bigger or stronger but he was faster. We locked up and he tried to take me down a couple times. After I realized he couldnt take me down I tried a hip toss. It was, in retrospect, a horrible attempt. I landed in the bottom half guard. I was working from there and I attempted a sweep but he took mount. I attempted a sweep from there and he grabbed an arm. He went for the armbar but my thumb was facing down and to the side. The ref stopped the fight and asked if i had tapped. I told him "no i didnt tap, he doesn't have it" he said okay and let the guy sinch it deeper. Since he didn't have it I rolled over into his guard. I waited a little to long and eventually pu my hand on his stomach inched it over and caught me in a deep armbar that popped the elbow three times. I just had my ass whooped.
The rest of the morning wasn't looking so good either. Tonja got caught in a flying armbar not 15 seconds into the match and nate was beat on points. The tide started to turn with Corey. He won all his matches. Nate stepped up against another opponent and won all those. Scott dominated a blue belt and won second. Peter was without a doubt the most impressive. He owned everyone. His last match he was up 8-0 and let the guy tap him with a weak guillotine. He ended up with silver. Over all a good experience and I will come back stronger.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Eye of the tiger
So it's been forever since I've posted here. Lets start with last Sunday. Donny showed me an awesome armbar. Pretty simple.
From guard, cross grab with our opposite hand in this case your right. Your forearm should cross on top of the other guys arm and your hand should grab the back of his tricep. Your left hand cross grabs his collar. His us only used to break him down and make him worried about the choke. You pull him down then let him rise up just a little. Scoot hips and finish armbar. It's amazingly hard to get your arm out of that thing. Tip: Use your knee to keep his arm from being pulled out.
So I've been training friday, saturday, sunday, monday, wednesday, and thursday. I'll try to not think anything jiu-jitsu tonight but that wont happen.
Monday we had a seminar with Daniel and his brother Deigo. It was focused on butterfly. It was kept simple and the most important thing to remember is keep the underhooks high on the other person's neck.
We had an awesome private lesson with Tonja on Thursday. She went over two takedowns. The first one was a variation of a hip toss but instead of wrapping your hand around their back you take out their Gi and use it like a handle. When going to throw you shoot your hand towards their other armpit like an uppercut. It's awesome. We also worked a trip. Simple but really effective. I motion for a crash mat. Ashley Seconds.
Ashley was trying to make it under 135 for the tournament tomorrow but it's not going to happen. We've been trying for the past couple days to get her to shed the 5 lbs she needs. The weight bracket for her is 135 and under or 135 and above. She passed out today so we've ditched the cutting, have been rehydrating and will focus on beating everyone that weighs more than 135.
I'm good for the 164-180 bracket as long as I dont need to weigh in with the Gi. I read that we do but people who are working the tournament claim we dont. I'll bring my gi just in case. Here's to a good ass whoopin, getting or giving.
From guard, cross grab with our opposite hand in this case your right. Your forearm should cross on top of the other guys arm and your hand should grab the back of his tricep. Your left hand cross grabs his collar. His us only used to break him down and make him worried about the choke. You pull him down then let him rise up just a little. Scoot hips and finish armbar. It's amazingly hard to get your arm out of that thing. Tip: Use your knee to keep his arm from being pulled out.
So I've been training friday, saturday, sunday, monday, wednesday, and thursday. I'll try to not think anything jiu-jitsu tonight but that wont happen.
Monday we had a seminar with Daniel and his brother Deigo. It was focused on butterfly. It was kept simple and the most important thing to remember is keep the underhooks high on the other person's neck.
We had an awesome private lesson with Tonja on Thursday. She went over two takedowns. The first one was a variation of a hip toss but instead of wrapping your hand around their back you take out their Gi and use it like a handle. When going to throw you shoot your hand towards their other armpit like an uppercut. It's awesome. We also worked a trip. Simple but really effective. I motion for a crash mat. Ashley Seconds.
Ashley was trying to make it under 135 for the tournament tomorrow but it's not going to happen. We've been trying for the past couple days to get her to shed the 5 lbs she needs. The weight bracket for her is 135 and under or 135 and above. She passed out today so we've ditched the cutting, have been rehydrating and will focus on beating everyone that weighs more than 135.
I'm good for the 164-180 bracket as long as I dont need to weigh in with the Gi. I read that we do but people who are working the tournament claim we dont. I'll bring my gi just in case. Here's to a good ass whoopin, getting or giving.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
And the winnner is...
So tonight we started out with a tough warm-up consisting of jogging, 90 jumping jacks, 90 scissor kicks, 50 side sit ups on each side, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 push-ups. We finished the warm up by practicing take-downs and eventually went straight to rolling.
We had a brief lesson on knee on belly chokes. Start out with your left hand (closest to his head) and go thumb in behind his collar. Your other hand should be on his belt so that you can use your elbow to stop his knee from preventing you from popping to knee on belly. With those two in place you pop to knee on belly. You take the hand that was on his belt and grip the far side collar fingers first. They called this the baseball choke because your hands grip like a baseball bat. come down from KOB and turn toward their head. There was another variation that acts like a clock choke but I didn't really do that one too well and it didn't feel natural for me ergo, I have forgotten it.
There were two new people tonight. Both of them seem to be in some shape or form related to Donny. They were young kids. One was much bigger than me and the other was Ashley's size. I missed the class before this one due to obligations but ashely went and rolled with these guys. She said she walked all over them. It's to be expected from someone who's been rolling for 8 months but due to the size difference it was rather impressive. I had no problem tearing through them in both take downs and while rolling.
After what seemed like only a few minutes but was actually an hour donny called class and we bowed out. Everyone was still pretty pumped and we decided to hold an in house tournament. I started off with the bigger of the new guys. It pretty much went like this...we started on our knees, I pulled guard and I arm barred him. Ashley's first match was with the smaller new guy. He seemed to be keeping really tight on her. For some reason she freaked out, forgot her positioning and started trying to muscle him around. She quickly gassed out and ended up tapping from cardio. After that the continued to freak out and just generally come unglued. We assessed the situation and we determined she underestimated him and when he caught her by surprise she blanked. She's still, a day later, really pissed. I think it hurt her ego. She's going to have to keep that in check to progress in this sport.
So back to the tournament. I was paired up with the other guy, the one who beat ashley. He was pretty full of himself and was even commenting that he's only been training for four days. We started out on the knees I attempted an arm bar and it missed (he wasn't wearing a gi but that's still no excuse) I turtled up and waited. He attempted to take my back but couldn't get his hooks in. I tried to bump him off my back and he finally got his hooks. I rolled him over and turned around to be in his guard. I passed his guard very simply, took side, took mount, then subsequently arm barred him. I can say I was proud of beating two new people but hey a W is a W.
The next round it was me and scott. I'm about 180 lbs, Scott is about 280 and is built like Robocop. We started on the knees, I knew right away I didn't want to be under him so I hopped to my feet. Unfortunately for me being on my feet, I was still looking him in the eye ( a testament to his huge size). I attempted a lame version of a flying arm bar but he pulled out of it, he attempted to go to side but i got half guard. I felt him going for a cross collar choke and managed to pull full guard. He was choking me in my own guard but his arms were straight. I shot up for the arm bar and the winner is...
Scott. It turns out it wasn't a cross collar choke it was an Ezequiel. I couldn't get him far enough off me with my hips and I tapped. It was cool though. Next time the Possum will be ready!
We had a brief lesson on knee on belly chokes. Start out with your left hand (closest to his head) and go thumb in behind his collar. Your other hand should be on his belt so that you can use your elbow to stop his knee from preventing you from popping to knee on belly. With those two in place you pop to knee on belly. You take the hand that was on his belt and grip the far side collar fingers first. They called this the baseball choke because your hands grip like a baseball bat. come down from KOB and turn toward their head. There was another variation that acts like a clock choke but I didn't really do that one too well and it didn't feel natural for me ergo, I have forgotten it.
There were two new people tonight. Both of them seem to be in some shape or form related to Donny. They were young kids. One was much bigger than me and the other was Ashley's size. I missed the class before this one due to obligations but ashely went and rolled with these guys. She said she walked all over them. It's to be expected from someone who's been rolling for 8 months but due to the size difference it was rather impressive. I had no problem tearing through them in both take downs and while rolling.
After what seemed like only a few minutes but was actually an hour donny called class and we bowed out. Everyone was still pretty pumped and we decided to hold an in house tournament. I started off with the bigger of the new guys. It pretty much went like this...we started on our knees, I pulled guard and I arm barred him. Ashley's first match was with the smaller new guy. He seemed to be keeping really tight on her. For some reason she freaked out, forgot her positioning and started trying to muscle him around. She quickly gassed out and ended up tapping from cardio. After that the continued to freak out and just generally come unglued. We assessed the situation and we determined she underestimated him and when he caught her by surprise she blanked. She's still, a day later, really pissed. I think it hurt her ego. She's going to have to keep that in check to progress in this sport.
So back to the tournament. I was paired up with the other guy, the one who beat ashley. He was pretty full of himself and was even commenting that he's only been training for four days. We started out on the knees I attempted an arm bar and it missed (he wasn't wearing a gi but that's still no excuse) I turtled up and waited. He attempted to take my back but couldn't get his hooks in. I tried to bump him off my back and he finally got his hooks. I rolled him over and turned around to be in his guard. I passed his guard very simply, took side, took mount, then subsequently arm barred him. I can say I was proud of beating two new people but hey a W is a W.
The next round it was me and scott. I'm about 180 lbs, Scott is about 280 and is built like Robocop. We started on the knees, I knew right away I didn't want to be under him so I hopped to my feet. Unfortunately for me being on my feet, I was still looking him in the eye ( a testament to his huge size). I attempted a lame version of a flying arm bar but he pulled out of it, he attempted to go to side but i got half guard. I felt him going for a cross collar choke and managed to pull full guard. He was choking me in my own guard but his arms were straight. I shot up for the arm bar and the winner is...
Scott. It turns out it wasn't a cross collar choke it was an Ezequiel. I couldn't get him far enough off me with my hips and I tapped. It was cool though. Next time the Possum will be ready!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Full House
So tonight we had the pleasure of training with Daniel Moraes again. He's an awesome instructor. I have to admit, one reason I love Daniel teaching class is because his warm-up is nothing compared to Donny's. I do feel more warmed-up after Daniel's, after warming up with Donny I'm drained. Don't get me wrong though I do love to hate the hard warm-up.
Daniel showed us a couple moves if the other guy has a single on you. If he is grabbing, for instance, you right leg while both of you on the ground, instead of sprawling take your right hand (while still staying heavy on him) and work it between your hip and his head until you can grab his opposite lapel. Once you have his collar, begin to place your free hand (the left one in this situation) on the same side as the leg the guy is grabbing between his elbow and knee (like you are posting out.) With a quick twist of the hips toward the guys butt it should break his grip, you grab his left hand with your free hand (your other hand is still gripping the collar) put your head to the mat and finish with a clock choke. I know it's a pain in the butt trying to follow this by reading it but I'm trying to be as detailed as possible.
A variation to the above mentioned move is when flicking your hips your left knee blocks the back of their right arm and your right leg figure fours their arm. You shoot your free (left) hand as if you were going to control their left arm, roll over them to the crucifix. One hand is gripping the collar the other is under their other arm and presses on the back of the head. Whew.
The last thing we learned was defense for the butterfly. When in the butterfly squeeze your knees together and they will not be able to sweep you. I didn't believe this but when I tried it I was amazed. Once you've broken any under hooks they may have had you need to get them to lay down on the mat, when they have done that you press both knees together and ( in our case here we're passing to your right) take your left hand feed it under both knees grabbing the opposite knee push both knees to your right and lay heavy on them. From there the pass is evident.
I finally had the chance to roll with Daniel tonight and it was awesome. I like instructors that will let you get somewhere and not immediately shut you down. As long as I was using proper technique he would let me work, when I did something I knew I shouldn't have done he caught me on it. Great class.
Daniel showed us a couple moves if the other guy has a single on you. If he is grabbing, for instance, you right leg while both of you on the ground, instead of sprawling take your right hand (while still staying heavy on him) and work it between your hip and his head until you can grab his opposite lapel. Once you have his collar, begin to place your free hand (the left one in this situation) on the same side as the leg the guy is grabbing between his elbow and knee (like you are posting out.) With a quick twist of the hips toward the guys butt it should break his grip, you grab his left hand with your free hand (your other hand is still gripping the collar) put your head to the mat and finish with a clock choke. I know it's a pain in the butt trying to follow this by reading it but I'm trying to be as detailed as possible.
A variation to the above mentioned move is when flicking your hips your left knee blocks the back of their right arm and your right leg figure fours their arm. You shoot your free (left) hand as if you were going to control their left arm, roll over them to the crucifix. One hand is gripping the collar the other is under their other arm and presses on the back of the head. Whew.
The last thing we learned was defense for the butterfly. When in the butterfly squeeze your knees together and they will not be able to sweep you. I didn't believe this but when I tried it I was amazed. Once you've broken any under hooks they may have had you need to get them to lay down on the mat, when they have done that you press both knees together and ( in our case here we're passing to your right) take your left hand feed it under both knees grabbing the opposite knee push both knees to your right and lay heavy on them. From there the pass is evident.
I finally had the chance to roll with Daniel tonight and it was awesome. I like instructors that will let you get somewhere and not immediately shut you down. As long as I was using proper technique he would let me work, when I did something I knew I shouldn't have done he caught me on it. Great class.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Take 'em down
Last night, after a hard ab warm-up, we worked some take downs.
We started with the basic hip toss. This is surprisingly a rather difficult throw, or should I say a hard throw to master. As simple as it seems it's difficult to do it correctly.
The second throw we focused on was a version of a flying arm bar. Sort of minus the flying part, it's probably more aptly named the falling arm bar. Start out gripping the tricep of the arm you want to attack ( we'll assume were going to arm bar their right arm.) Circle to the side of that arm, when you're ready put your opposite leg on their hip ( in this case your right leg) fall to the side of that leg while pulling the arm and pushing with the leg. They should land in a perfect arm bar.
It was difficult with an instructor teaching us so I assume it will be that much harder trying to read it.
We also touched on the fireman carry and the two Daniel Moraes showed us, the single and double.
It was kind of nice though when ever we started to roll with a different partner we started standing. I hope we continue that until the tournament April 25th.
We started with the basic hip toss. This is surprisingly a rather difficult throw, or should I say a hard throw to master. As simple as it seems it's difficult to do it correctly.
The second throw we focused on was a version of a flying arm bar. Sort of minus the flying part, it's probably more aptly named the falling arm bar. Start out gripping the tricep of the arm you want to attack ( we'll assume were going to arm bar their right arm.) Circle to the side of that arm, when you're ready put your opposite leg on their hip ( in this case your right leg) fall to the side of that leg while pulling the arm and pushing with the leg. They should land in a perfect arm bar.
It was difficult with an instructor teaching us so I assume it will be that much harder trying to read it.
We also touched on the fireman carry and the two Daniel Moraes showed us, the single and double.
It was kind of nice though when ever we started to roll with a different partner we started standing. I hope we continue that until the tournament April 25th.
On the tube
So, on Sunday Donny (our purple belt instructor) was not rolling with us because he hurt his back. he said he and Dwayne were shooting something for the local news. I've found it. If you listen closely at the very end you can here where he hurt his back. Donny is in the red shirt and blue shorts in the very beginning, Dwayne is standing behind him in black shorts and a red hoodie.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Chop down the tree
So today at open mat there were only a few people. Donny hurt his back so he's not rolling, that left a purple belt, blue belt, a whitebelt Scott, his brother, Ashley, and two kids. Ashley and I started off rolling lightly since this is the only day we don't have a warm up. I was wearing my new Atama Mundial #5 for the first time and she was wearing her Kyra Gracie.
I was really feeling the power of the gi. It seemed hotter than my padilla but it was hotter outside today also. I was pretty much rolling over Ashley. She does have good defense though and is good about not letting me mount. After a few minutes of us rolling Donny asked us to roll/teach a couple kids from his kid-jitsu class.
I started with mike. He's been to our adult classes a few times. Unfortunately he is a kid and has a short attention span. Obviously I was owning him but I was trying to teach him also. Mostly I worked positions of disadvantage and some submission defense. Ashley didn't seem to be having fun at all. She hates rolling with kids. I don't know why.
After entertaining a couple 12 yr olds Scott and I rolled. This guy is like 8 ft tall and 280 lbs. He;s able to pretty much stifle any submission attempt I can muster. I had a few good sweeps and I was controlling from side but I can seem to open him up. I had a triangle but he's so big I cant lock it, I transitioned to the armbar but I couldn't get his arm away from him. He's definitely improving and is an awesome training partner.
I was really feeling the power of the gi. It seemed hotter than my padilla but it was hotter outside today also. I was pretty much rolling over Ashley. She does have good defense though and is good about not letting me mount. After a few minutes of us rolling Donny asked us to roll/teach a couple kids from his kid-jitsu class.
I started with mike. He's been to our adult classes a few times. Unfortunately he is a kid and has a short attention span. Obviously I was owning him but I was trying to teach him also. Mostly I worked positions of disadvantage and some submission defense. Ashley didn't seem to be having fun at all. She hates rolling with kids. I don't know why.
After entertaining a couple 12 yr olds Scott and I rolled. This guy is like 8 ft tall and 280 lbs. He;s able to pretty much stifle any submission attempt I can muster. I had a few good sweeps and I was controlling from side but I can seem to open him up. I had a triangle but he's so big I cant lock it, I transitioned to the armbar but I couldn't get his arm away from him. He's definitely improving and is an awesome training partner.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
"Don't Break His Arm!"
Finally, a post about Jiu-Jitsu. Yesterday we got our new Gis. I thought mine was a bit big but Ashley's was perfect. We didn't know it but the Kyra Gracie Gi from Atama is only a single weave. We were a bit upset at that but it is really light. I called Atama and asked about the shrinkage on my Mundial #5 and she said it was pre-shrunk but I could pop it in the dryer. I really don't think it's pre-shrunk. I let it soak for about 30 min in water with two cups vinegar then I washed with warm, not hot, water. I then popped it in the dryer on medium heat. That was last night at 1:30 so I'll try it on later today.
In class last night we started with a warm up. Jogging, push ups, bear crawl, crab crawl, 50 muay thai knees per leg, 50 1-2 kick combos with each side, 200 crunches, 50 squats, 50 leg lifts, 50 scissors, and 10 leap frogs.
We reviewed the sit up sweep, kimura from fake sit up sweep, guillotine from defended sit up sweep. We learned a submission if the person tries to push your elbow with their hand to defend the guillotine. Reach up behind their neck with the arm they're pushing on and clasp with your other hand. This seemed to work best when your hips were under them, not to the side.
From side top. Spin as if you are going to north-south. Continue to the other side. Sweep the hand closest to their head over their face and behind their neck, trapping their arm, clasp with other hand and choke.
From side top. reach hand closest to their head thumb first into their collar across their throat. Pop to knee on belly, when they defend by pushing the knee or foot etc. grab collar with free hand and choke. To increase pressure, come to side and move toward their head.
Awesome class. There was a new guy there, Joe, who seemed to have wrestled in the past. I rolled with him and he wasn't too much of a challenge. I had him in a nice arm bar but he wouldn't tap. Ashley started yelling at me "Don't break his arm!" I wasn't trying to hurt him I just didn't know if I had him. Finally he tapped with no broken limbs. It was nice to see that I'm improving and dominating these newbies like I was dominated. I hope he comes back he'd be a good training partner. Note to self, we love the Ezequiel.
In class last night we started with a warm up. Jogging, push ups, bear crawl, crab crawl, 50 muay thai knees per leg, 50 1-2 kick combos with each side, 200 crunches, 50 squats, 50 leg lifts, 50 scissors, and 10 leap frogs.
We reviewed the sit up sweep, kimura from fake sit up sweep, guillotine from defended sit up sweep. We learned a submission if the person tries to push your elbow with their hand to defend the guillotine. Reach up behind their neck with the arm they're pushing on and clasp with your other hand. This seemed to work best when your hips were under them, not to the side.
From side top. Spin as if you are going to north-south. Continue to the other side. Sweep the hand closest to their head over their face and behind their neck, trapping their arm, clasp with other hand and choke.
From side top. reach hand closest to their head thumb first into their collar across their throat. Pop to knee on belly, when they defend by pushing the knee or foot etc. grab collar with free hand and choke. To increase pressure, come to side and move toward their head.
Awesome class. There was a new guy there, Joe, who seemed to have wrestled in the past. I rolled with him and he wasn't too much of a challenge. I had him in a nice arm bar but he wouldn't tap. Ashley started yelling at me "Don't break his arm!" I wasn't trying to hurt him I just didn't know if I had him. Finally he tapped with no broken limbs. It was nice to see that I'm improving and dominating these newbies like I was dominated. I hope he comes back he'd be a good training partner. Note to self, we love the Ezequiel.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
In Pain
I'm still pretty sore from last Wednesday. We ordered our Gis today. They should be here on the 30th and I cant wait. I'm looking forward to class tomorrow.
I think I may have made a revelation with Ashley. She's been having some trouble lately noticing the submission "triggers." I'm thinking of making a song or some other mnemonic device to help.
I think I may have made a revelation with Ashley. She's been having some trouble lately noticing the submission "triggers." I'm thinking of making a song or some other mnemonic device to help.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Not tonight
Ashley, for some strange reason really did not want to go to class tonight. I really wanted to since Daniel was teaching. She claims I could have gone but we all know how that is. I have a feeling we missed something important tonight. We'll see if I'm right.
Also we've decided to get new Gis. I'm going to get the Atama Mundial #5 for $113 and she's getting the Kyra Gracie pink Gi for $150 and free shipping. Awesome deal!
Also we've decided to get new Gis. I'm going to get the Atama Mundial #5 for $113 and she's getting the Kyra Gracie pink Gi for $150 and free shipping. Awesome deal!
Sunday
This Sunday headed to open mat. We were a bit unsure if anyone would show up but we made the drive anyway (30 min). Luckily everyone showed up. Ashley and I started with a bit of light rolling to warm up. When were were done I asked one of the kids Tony brought to class. These kids wrestle at the local high school.
The kid I asked was about 15-16 and weighed about 120. I respect wrestlers for their awesome control on the ground but I still figured I would be able to beat him with submissions.
Let me tell you...this kid controlled my 180 lb butt. He couldn't stop me from getting to half guard and he didn't know any submissions but he did what he did very well. I think my problem is that I'm used to rolling with people bigger and stronger than me. That usually translates to slower paced rolling. I can deal with some one muscling me around but I can't yet deal with fast little guys. I did at one point get to full guard and from there I was in total control. I went for a straight armbar (with his arm pinned between my shoulder and head, both hands on his elbow) and he wouldn't tap. I thought I had it wrong. I also rolled him when he had me in north-south. I later learned that he and his buddies didn't like to tap ( read dont tap when they should and risk injury) I think that I had the armbar but let it go because I'm used to people tapping BEFORE their arm breaks.
Either way the dude did control me and if it were a five minute round he would have won by points. I ended up tapping because he was stretching my neck and I had injured it last class. I tapped to avoid some future injury to it.
After rolling with him I was dog tired. I never get that tired rolling. I've only thrown up twice, once after the first day of class and once after a Donny warm up. Never after rolling. I didn't puke but I was close. Ashley and I left and got smoothies after class.
Now I'm caught up. Every post from here on out should be recent.
The kid I asked was about 15-16 and weighed about 120. I respect wrestlers for their awesome control on the ground but I still figured I would be able to beat him with submissions.
Let me tell you...this kid controlled my 180 lb butt. He couldn't stop me from getting to half guard and he didn't know any submissions but he did what he did very well. I think my problem is that I'm used to rolling with people bigger and stronger than me. That usually translates to slower paced rolling. I can deal with some one muscling me around but I can't yet deal with fast little guys. I did at one point get to full guard and from there I was in total control. I went for a straight armbar (with his arm pinned between my shoulder and head, both hands on his elbow) and he wouldn't tap. I thought I had it wrong. I also rolled him when he had me in north-south. I later learned that he and his buddies didn't like to tap ( read dont tap when they should and risk injury) I think that I had the armbar but let it go because I'm used to people tapping BEFORE their arm breaks.
Either way the dude did control me and if it were a five minute round he would have won by points. I ended up tapping because he was stretching my neck and I had injured it last class. I tapped to avoid some future injury to it.
After rolling with him I was dog tired. I never get that tired rolling. I've only thrown up twice, once after the first day of class and once after a Donny warm up. Never after rolling. I didn't puke but I was close. Ashley and I left and got smoothies after class.
Now I'm caught up. Every post from here on out should be recent.
Almost there
So after getting my stripe from Daniel I decided it was time for a new belt. A longer belt. I ordered a new white belt from budovideos.com. It's just a cheap Bjj belt but it's longer than my Padilla and Sons. I ordered it on a Thursday and it took untill the next thursday to come in.
Lately all of us white belts have decided that we are going to compete in the jacksonville Bjj open April 25. Peter brought us the registration forms so now there's no excuse.
Lately all of us white belts have decided that we are going to compete in the jacksonville Bjj open April 25. Peter brought us the registration forms so now there's no excuse.
Feeling Stripey
So on March 9th Me, Ashley, Peter, Tonja, and Donny went to Gracie Jacksonville for a Relson Gracie seminar. Ashley and I filmed and took pictures of everything and should be getting a disc together soon.
Relson was awesome. He's not a really big guy but you can tell he'd mess one up if he had to. He demonstrated techniques (which I'll post when I get them) and told stories. Next time I will most definately participate.
The following class(March 11, 2009) Daniel taught. That night Ashley, Peter, Corey and myself each got our first stripe. It took 7 months but we earned it.
Relson was awesome. He's not a really big guy but you can tell he'd mess one up if he had to. He demonstrated techniques (which I'll post when I get them) and told stories. Next time I will most definately participate.
The following class(March 11, 2009) Daniel taught. That night Ashley, Peter, Corey and myself each got our first stripe. It took 7 months but we earned it.
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| From Cell |
A Coup
For the next few months we all met on sundays for open mat. It usually consisted of a few different people from our class and others, including Donny. This continues to this day.
It was becoming clear that Sean was getting tired of the drive from Jacksonville to fernandina just to teach four people. At the beginning of February he sold the mats and Donny took over as our instructor. We were all really upset about the possibility of not seeing Ron again but excited about the opportunities belonging to real academy.
Donny runs his classes a little differently than we were used to. We always start with a warm up. That is something we rarely did except when we would all meet early and steve would lead it.
The warm up usually lasts about 20 min and includes joggin, pushups, various ab stuff, etc. I will be the first to admit that these are rough. I'm not the most fit person and I'm sure these will change that. As much as we complain about these the truth is we need them and we're grateful to donny for making us do them.
We also have to opportunity to train under Daniel Moraes. This guy is awesome. When you're near him you can feel his greatness but he is extremely humble. I cant say enough good things about Daniel. He's an awesome guy and an amazing instructor. Everyone get's excited when Daniel comes to teach class.
I almost forgot to mention the others in our class right now. Currently we have Me(White), Ashley(White), Corey(White), Peter(White), Donny(Purple), Nate(White) ( who returned from a knee injury at one of our open mat days), Tonja(Purple), Steve(Purple), Scott(White), and Tony(Blue). Gary(White) shows up from time to time as does Katie(White), Corey's daughter.
It was becoming clear that Sean was getting tired of the drive from Jacksonville to fernandina just to teach four people. At the beginning of February he sold the mats and Donny took over as our instructor. We were all really upset about the possibility of not seeing Ron again but excited about the opportunities belonging to real academy.
Donny runs his classes a little differently than we were used to. We always start with a warm up. That is something we rarely did except when we would all meet early and steve would lead it.
The warm up usually lasts about 20 min and includes joggin, pushups, various ab stuff, etc. I will be the first to admit that these are rough. I'm not the most fit person and I'm sure these will change that. As much as we complain about these the truth is we need them and we're grateful to donny for making us do them.
We also have to opportunity to train under Daniel Moraes. This guy is awesome. When you're near him you can feel his greatness but he is extremely humble. I cant say enough good things about Daniel. He's an awesome guy and an amazing instructor. Everyone get's excited when Daniel comes to teach class.
I almost forgot to mention the others in our class right now. Currently we have Me(White), Ashley(White), Corey(White), Peter(White), Donny(Purple), Nate(White) ( who returned from a knee injury at one of our open mat days), Tonja(Purple), Steve(Purple), Scott(White), and Tony(Blue). Gary(White) shows up from time to time as does Katie(White), Corey's daughter.
The instructors
So our Black Belt instructor was Sean. He would teach on thursdays and Ron, a purple belt, would teach on tuesdays. Immediately we noticed a difference in teaching styles. Ron was a much more laid back teacher who would show you how do do something multiple times and personally went around and made sure everyone had it. He would answer questions and If he didn't know he said that. He didn't make stuff up as he went. If someone wasn't able to get something he would find out why. Bottom line he was and is an excellent instructor. Ashley and I tried our hardest to make his classes.
Sean had a different style of teaching. I think he was more geared toward the more experienced. He would show many different moves then let us attempt to practice it. When we would have a question he would be a little short with us. Don't get me wrong Sean has excellent jiu-jitsu but I personally just didn't like his teaching style.
We also had Steve, a purple belt, help us. Now I'm not going to lie, Steve was there from the beginning. He showed up that first day just the same as we did. For the first couple weeks Ashley and myself though Steve was a bit of a dick only interested in advancing himself. Now, I can tell you that's completely not the case. Steve is an excellent instructor and is absolutely vital to all of our progression in Bjj.
For a little while there Donny, a puple belt who is built like a Mac truck, was coming to class. He was always fun to have around and has excellent jiu-jitsu. More on him later.
Sean had a different style of teaching. I think he was more geared toward the more experienced. He would show many different moves then let us attempt to practice it. When we would have a question he would be a little short with us. Don't get me wrong Sean has excellent jiu-jitsu but I personally just didn't like his teaching style.
We also had Steve, a purple belt, help us. Now I'm not going to lie, Steve was there from the beginning. He showed up that first day just the same as we did. For the first couple weeks Ashley and myself though Steve was a bit of a dick only interested in advancing himself. Now, I can tell you that's completely not the case. Steve is an excellent instructor and is absolutely vital to all of our progression in Bjj.
For a little while there Donny, a puple belt who is built like a Mac truck, was coming to class. He was always fun to have around and has excellent jiu-jitsu. More on him later.
Getting the Gi's
Jumping ahead about a month. Now that we were sure we were gonna stick with it (and after siging a 9 month contract) Ashley and I each ordered a Gi. She chose the Atama white with pink flags F3. She was about 5'3" and 140lbs. I went with a blue A3 Padilla and Son's mainly after reading this. It did and excellent job of comparing the Atama with the Padilla and Son's. For half the price I couldn't pass it up, especially considering that I may not get that into bjj.
Well, I'm definately in to it and I love my Gi. I remember thinking I cant wait for it to get here. It fit a little big on me especially in the pants, and the belt was short but it worked. BTW I'm 5'7" and 180 lbs. made the first wash in vinegar and cold water hung dry. I made it a point to never put it in the dryer until one day I was tired of it being just a little to big. I popped it in and it did shrink a little. From then on i've had no problems drying it in the dryer.
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| From Cell |
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| From Cell |
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| From Cell |
Well, I'm definately in to it and I love my Gi. I remember thinking I cant wait for it to get here. It fit a little big on me especially in the pants, and the belt was short but it worked. BTW I'm 5'7" and 180 lbs. made the first wash in vinegar and cold water hung dry. I made it a point to never put it in the dryer until one day I was tired of it being just a little to big. I popped it in and it did shrink a little. From then on i've had no problems drying it in the dryer.
Starting Up
I'm starting this to document my progress through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I'm using this as a tool mainly for myself but for others as well so that I can remember my journey and help others wanting to start their own. I may go off on tangents and refer to names that, if you're not part of the school, you wont know. Presently I am a white belt. I train at Relson Gracie Fernandina, a satellite school of Relson Gracie Jacksonville, located in...you guessed it Fernandina Beach, FL. We train in Elite Gym.
I started training July 31, 2008 after seeing a sign in St. Mary's, GA for BJJ. Our Black Belt instructor was Sean Beavor. The first day Ashley (my wife) and I arrived to the class in t-shirts and shorts. Neither one of us had any training. I'd seen bjj before and I'd read many books on it but as we were soon to find out nothing is a substitute for live training with people who know what they're doing.
There were quite a number of people there. Some were from Seans other school in jacksonville (First coast BJJ) and some were there for the free classes as we were. The guys from the other school were Jaylen(Blue), Ron(Purple), Eli(White), Pierre(White) and of course Sean(Black). I remember thinking after I tapped Pierre, who was a very big guy, with an omoplata that I was gonna be freaking awesome. Then I rolled with Jaylen...and got my ass handed to me. I think it was then that I realized I was not anywhere as good as I thought I was. That was the night I met who I would come to consider my close training partners, Corey and Peter.
To start off, Sean had us do 50 squats, 50 pushups, and 50 situps. I remember thinking there's no way I'll be able to do this twice a week.( for the next week I could barely walk.) That night we learned the basic arm bar from guard. Foot on their hip, raise your hips, other leg on their back swing leg over head. What I had seen so many times and even done so many times (while rough playing with the wife or friends) suddenly was more difficult. We both decided we'd show up to the next class as long as we could use our legs and we did.
I started training July 31, 2008 after seeing a sign in St. Mary's, GA for BJJ. Our Black Belt instructor was Sean Beavor. The first day Ashley (my wife) and I arrived to the class in t-shirts and shorts. Neither one of us had any training. I'd seen bjj before and I'd read many books on it but as we were soon to find out nothing is a substitute for live training with people who know what they're doing.
There were quite a number of people there. Some were from Seans other school in jacksonville (First coast BJJ) and some were there for the free classes as we were. The guys from the other school were Jaylen(Blue), Ron(Purple), Eli(White), Pierre(White) and of course Sean(Black). I remember thinking after I tapped Pierre, who was a very big guy, with an omoplata that I was gonna be freaking awesome. Then I rolled with Jaylen...and got my ass handed to me. I think it was then that I realized I was not anywhere as good as I thought I was. That was the night I met who I would come to consider my close training partners, Corey and Peter.
To start off, Sean had us do 50 squats, 50 pushups, and 50 situps. I remember thinking there's no way I'll be able to do this twice a week.( for the next week I could barely walk.) That night we learned the basic arm bar from guard. Foot on their hip, raise your hips, other leg on their back swing leg over head. What I had seen so many times and even done so many times (while rough playing with the wife or friends) suddenly was more difficult. We both decided we'd show up to the next class as long as we could use our legs and we did.
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