Who has two thumbs and broke his training partner's index finger last night?

This guy.

That Belt Gets Heavy

That's what Steve told me when he saw that I'd been promoted:  "That belt gets heavy on the hips."  He wasn't joking around.

We focused on combinations--committing to one move, and when our opponent reacts, using that reaction by shifting to the move they don't realize they're diving into.  You know, armbar-to-triangle-to-armbar type stuff, but from different positions.

In rolls at the end of class, Klint was on me to start attacking immediately from guard.  "You know you have the technique now.  So now you have to work on relentless attacks, one after another so fast they don't know what hit them."  He read my reaction pretty well:  "Don't worry about losing the technique in pursuit of the speed; you'll find that out when you keep failing to tap someone or when the taps keep coming.  That'll show you where you have to spend more drill time and what you can consider your go-to's."  So now, my goals in post-class drilling are different from what they were a week ago.  At least, the primary goals are.  I need to build my endurance, my cardio, all those things that it sucks to build.  Learning new techniques is always entertaining and interesting.  You get to see where you can manufacture that new angle on the collar, or pinpoint the precise time to swing the leg over his head---all these things that lead to fabulous transitions and finishes.  Now, I have to learn to get off my back.  In Klint's words, "You should have an unbeatable guard, a guard that no one should be able to pass.  And you should never be there.  Never let them see it.  Because it means you're on bottom, and if you're on bottom that means you're losing."

And I don't particularly like this goal.  I love playing off my back.  Long and spindly legs make playing guard a joy.  But I understand his point.  In real life, if someone put me into a self-defense situation, I would not want to play guard and bide my time until I perfectly broke his grip and upset his balance.  I would want to get on top and stay on top.  And if I get taken down, I have to get up.  I need to become less of a jiu jitsu fighter and more of a grappler.

After class, I worked with Andy for a bit and then Ed.  Andy did a few great things, and ended up putting me in a triangle that I couldn't break.  He wasn't choking me out--it was uncomfortable, but I wasn't losing consciousness.  He kept his composure and dug out the armbar.  It was very good.  With Ed, we started in my guard and I tried to get up and onto his back as quickly as I could.  And I did.  I don't know how long it took me to get there, but I was there for a good 5 minutes.  I couldn't finish him there (because I'm not that bright), and eventually we restarted from our knees.  From there, I snatched the armbar that he'd been defending all night.

New belt, new expectations.  Not just higher, but different entirely.

Azul

We had a belt test last night.  Neal and Jeremy were getting their first stripe on their whites, and I was their grappling dummy for the presentation part.  Both have come a lot farther than it seems to them.  They always have to grapple with people who have been doing this for much longer, and Neal has the added baggage of being small.

And I tested for my blue.  I didn't have a lot of demonstration things to do, and that was fine with me.  Klint had a line of blues and purples waiting in the wings, but he did have me do one thread: double leg takedown to side control, switch base to mount, attack the collar, when they grab for the upa and roll trap their arm with your chest, slide your leg behind their shoulder, s-mount, armbar.  I love that finish, going from the choke to the armbar.  It has a natural flow to it, and if they decide not to stop you from choking them because they like their elbows too much, you still win.  So I did that twice.  I was much more nervous than I expected to be.  Brenna came to watch, as did two of her cousins, Andy and his wife came, and a few of my friends from school were there.  So it might have been the small audience.  It might also have been a building trepidation for what I though was coming next.  Because I was right.

After that one thread, Klint basically had me roll with Tony.  Then Brady.  Then Ed.  Then Tony.  Probably five minutes a piece, no rest in between save to retie the belt.  To be fair, I don't know exactly how long he let us go--time is pretty fluid during a roll, and struggling to survive tends to take precedence over counting the seconds.  I did not perform as well as I would have hoped, but I did not embarrass myself.  I got tapped only once at the end by Tony in a shattering kimura.  Talking with him afterwards, he said he was laying on my face just to tire me out a bit more, and then went for the arm.  I thought he was going for the armbar, and he thought about it, but decided just to end it there.  Merciful, that guy.

So now I'm a blue belt.  I'm the first one at our academy.  And I have to miss this morning's training to keep up with school work.  Good start.

Oh yeah

One year training today.

Foreword

(See what I did there?  It's the same title as the last post, but it's not.  Because it's different.)

I have a belt test coming up.  As I understand it, it's for my blue.  And I have no idea what to expect.

I've talked before about my feelings towards pre-planned belt ceremonies.  In short, I appreciate the chance to show your family and friends what you do with all your time and energy, and lament the loss of spontaneity.  Still, it places a higher value on the inter-belt stripes.  The curriculum that Dave has developed and Klint has adopted gives the students specific guidelines to follow.  So each test I've had so far, I've known a handful of specific skills at which I needed to be proficient.  For what's coming Friday, though, we have no agenda or checklist.  I'm pretty sure that I'll get wrecked by a handful of upper belts.  I can make it last--but I want to do better than that.  I want to actually put some pressure on my opponents and get them in precarious positions.  You know.  Do some good grappling.

At the same time, I'm not entirely sure that I am a blue-belt quality grappler.  Monday and Tuesday, I went to class and we worked footlocks and kneebars.  This is the most terrifying segment of jiu jitsu and grappling I've yet learned.  Monday night, I absently left my feet crossed when I had Ed's back, and as I was working to get a collar choke, he footlocked me with his legs.  It was a great reminder to stay conscious of what your legs are doing at all times.  It also made me limp for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, Klint had Vance and I roll after class.  Normally, we would just go for a while until one of us tired, but this time Klint said to go for 15 minutes.  So we did.  Vance isn't in the best shape, though.  He's probably 48 years old, not fat but not trim, and his cardio is rough.  He was pretty tired after class before we got to rolling, and I was still pretty fresh.  I think a lot of it has to do with his breathing, but I don't know how to break that to him.  He's been training for a longer period of time than I have, but I think I have more mat time than he.  Regardless, we worked for 15 minutes straight.  I did a few things pretty well, and I did a few things pretty sloppily.  New Jeremy was watching us, and he said he was getting tired just watching us roll.

I'm comfortable with my attack transitions.  I'm less comfortable with takedowns, bottom side control, and very mobile opponents.  But Klint has decided that I'm ready to advance to blue.  And Friday, I'll find out exactly what that means.

Forward

It isn't that it was a bad week of training.  All told, I got on the mat five times--four classes and open mat.  We focused on working with a cross-grip from guard and combining it with the push-pull concept, using your opponent's energy against him.  Predicting and preempting.

I'm in a strange spot with my training.  I am progressing, and for that I am thankful.  I have been lucky enough to get plenty of mat time, and that always pays off.  I also find myself using more techniques in lie rolling than I used to.  I'm sure that part of it is that I'm gaining exposure to more techniques, I'm seeing more.  I'm also more comfortable on the mat and thus more willing to try different things.  My ego is more comfortable getting beaten and bruised, and that makes me more willing to try new things and get passed.  That is all good.

At the same point, I can feel myself almost stalling out, seeing a new level of difficulty in what I want to be able to do and not knowing how to get there.  A few of my training partners have complimented my improvement and hip movement, but it feels the same as it did months ago.  It's like I know more tricks and more ways to cut corners, but some fundamental part of my game is lacking.

Our academy has had a rash of injuries over the last few weeks--Andy's knee is acting up, Neal's shoulder, Zach's knee, and Kyle's knee all demanded time off.  None of which were my fault, by the way.  Well, with the possible exception of Kyle, but I wasn't tweaking on his leg--he was working a leg-loop sweep, and I was getting out of it but he wouldn't release the hook.  Also, he doesn't have a low speed, so even though I wasn't going full out, he was.  We should know more about that sometime this week.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be teaching constitutional law to high school students every morning.  At 7:30.  This is disheartening for two reasons:  1) it will be at 7:30 in the morning; and b) I'll probably have to give up one night of training a week in order to keep up with my school work and maintain some semblance of sanity.  I should still have 3 nights of training a week and an open mat, so it's not like I'm disappearing.

Finally, Nick Diaz is entirely too much fun to watch.  He finished Cyborg with a picturesque armbar last night.  They were on the ground for less than 30 seconds, and it cost Cyborg the fight.  That's what I want my ground game to be.  

Why Do I Do This To Myself?

This semester, I registered incorrectly in two different ways:  a) I registered for more credits than I need to graduate; and 2) I registered for at least one class that will drive me insane with the amount of work I have to do for it.  This insane class will also have me teaching high school seniors at 730 every morning of the week for nine weeks.  This will hopefully be rewarding in some way, though it will definitely require a fundamental change in how I time out my day.

As it relates to my mat time, I will probably be able to swing only two night classes and weekends for sure every week.  With luck, I'll be able to fit in open mat on Fridays as well.  So while it isn't a huge ut into my mat time, it's enough that I regret my registration strategy.

I went to class Tuesday, and I wanted to let the work afterwards sink in a bit before I wrote about it.  Class focused on more passes: the same standing one we did the night before, one rom bicep control if your opponent breaks you down, and then a ladder-up armbar and transitioning to the pass from a sweep.  I'm still perfecting some of the technical aspects of finishing a sweep--where to put my feet, which pass to transition to when sitting up, that sort of thing.  I worked with new Jeremy in class (once Neal re-tweaked his shoulder), and that was interesting.  He's getting better, he just needs a bit more patience and mat time.  I was able to catch the ladder-up armbar once, and to sweep him at least once.

After class, I rolled with Klint for a while.  I really don't know how long it was--I want to say twenty minutes or so, but when you're in the roll, time is a pretty malleable concept.  Naturally, I got tapped time and time again, but it took much longer than it used to.   I did a few things right:  at one point he turned my armbar defense into a triangle attempt, and I defended it and got back on top.  (To be fair, it wasn't totally to the top, I ended up in his open guard, but that's worlds better than caught in one of his triangles.)  All together, though, none of the rolls were quick finishes, and even though a lot my time was spent defending, it was good defense.  When rolling to turtle, I made a conscious effort to stop him from getting his lead hook in, so it kept him off my back.

His comments were encouraging.  He said he had to work harder to tap me that night than he had to tap out a purple belt last week.   Though of all things, I'm not maintaining my guard as well as I should be able to.  I need to work on going upside down, getting on my shoulders and rolling to maintain guard while my opponent pushes to pass it.  It was good, constant work.  And I came away from it with only a little bit of gi burn on my face.

Friday I went to open mat, but I didn't get there until about 645.  By then, only four people were there.  I got one roll in with Dumi, a well-respected blue belt.  I don't think I'd worked with him more than once before.  I wanted to work on some of the standing passes, but got caught in his butterfly guard.  That's somewhere that Kyle had been giving me trouble, so I was happy to work on it.  He kept getting a hook on the inside and causing problems for me.  We went over a few different ways to counter it, some of which I knew and some of which I'd just forgotten.

Saturday, after class (or at the end of class, depending on how rigidly you view the class structure) I worked with Chris, a purple belt.  He was around more then I started, then he and his wife had a kid and he's been at morning class across town more than at Klint's.  But he is one of the guys that scared the hell out of me to work with a year ago.  Saturday, we worked for about fifteen minutes in rolls at the end of class.  Everyone else had broken down and just started talking, but we kept rolling.  And I got caught over and over again--kimura here, loop choke there, cross choke.  He was working his guard, and I was working to pass.  Like Klint, he complimented me for improving and making him work.  So that was good.  And even though I wasn't successful, I'm getting better.  Closer.  More efficient and tighter.  Harder to catch.  And still haphazard and scared as hell.