I just got back from a family trip to Texas. We have family in Ft. Worth, so I got to train twice at Genesis Jiu Jitsu. A training partner recommended it to me a few months back, and this is the first change I got to train there. Great bunch of guys, they train hard and were extremely welcoming to me. They heard I was in from Minnesota and just opened the doors, both literally and figuratively.
I trained one session no gi with them (seems the only time I train no gi is when I travel and visit other academies) and one session gi. I matched up pretty well against guys of similar rank, I felt.
Right now, my jiu jitsu feels great. This goes back even to my tournament performance. I'm very happy with where my game is for the amount of time I've been training and how I'm able to handle myself against people with years more mat time and depth of experience than I have. I don't have a good competition game, and I'll be the first to admit that. We just don't get enough competitions in the great white north. If we want a decent depth of competition, we have to drive to Chicago, and that's six hours and a hotel room for a few nights. It's brutal. I think that if I had more opportunity to throw myself into the fire, I would have finer timing and quicker synapses in those situations. So my tournament results do not coincide with my confidence in my game. But I don't train for tournaments. I train for fights. I train for unexpected situations. I train for no time limits. I train so that I'm not the one who gases. So that I can outlast my opponent and take no damage at the same time. Of course, I've never had to use it outside the academy. So there's that.
And that's where I'm going to leave it tonight. Go train. Get better. I took the night off to stay with my gestating bride and pet my forlorn dog, but tomorrow night I'll be back on the mats. And Friday I get sworn in as an officially licensed attorney in the State of Minnesota. (If that's not weird, I don't know what is.) Still, I'll be learning, losing, and loving every second of it as often as I possibly can.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
I Hate Rules
Here are my matches:
Weight 1:
Weight 2:
Weight 3 (bronze medal match):
Absolute 1:
Absolute 2:
=========
I'm happy with where my jiu jitsu is, if not with my tournament performance. I felt that if there were no governing rules or scoring system -- if this were a sub only tournament, for instance -- then I would have won every match. I never felt out of my depth, I never felt sideways. I was in a bad spot once or twice, but I never felt threatened. And I didn't gas, which was a nice realization. (Though I'm sure someone will tell me that it just means I wasn't working hard enough. I will tell that person to pound sand, but that's a different post.)
So here's some more of my jiu jitsu. Enjoi.
Weight 1:
Weight 2:
Weight 3 (bronze medal match):
Absolute 1:
Absolute 2:
=========
I'm happy with where my jiu jitsu is, if not with my tournament performance. I felt that if there were no governing rules or scoring system -- if this were a sub only tournament, for instance -- then I would have won every match. I never felt out of my depth, I never felt sideways. I was in a bad spot once or twice, but I never felt threatened. And I didn't gas, which was a nice realization. (Though I'm sure someone will tell me that it just means I wasn't working hard enough. I will tell that person to pound sand, but that's a different post.)
So here's some more of my jiu jitsu. Enjoi.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Game Time
I'm on weight. And miserable for not having had a proper drink in weeks.
I've my schedule plotted to drive down, sleep, weigh in, eat, and then compete. With a bit of luck, I'll have someone video it.
There's nothing else for me to do at this point but drive down and compete. I'll do a quick bike ride tomorrow, get some blood pumping in the morning. But at this point, it's like all those law school tests: there's nothing I'm going to learn in the hours between now and go time that will make the difference between success and something else. So it's time to get legitimate work done that I've been delaying, to sleep, and then to fight.
See you on the other side.
I've my schedule plotted to drive down, sleep, weigh in, eat, and then compete. With a bit of luck, I'll have someone video it.
There's nothing else for me to do at this point but drive down and compete. I'll do a quick bike ride tomorrow, get some blood pumping in the morning. But at this point, it's like all those law school tests: there's nothing I'm going to learn in the hours between now and go time that will make the difference between success and something else. So it's time to get legitimate work done that I've been delaying, to sleep, and then to fight.
See you on the other side.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Official
I registered for the tournament in Chicago. No backing out now. Which is good, because the diet I've restricted myself to sucks. I'm not much over, just a few pounds, but I don't want to have to bath in salt or wear mountain climbing gear in a sauna the day before. So that's on.
I have two weddings this week, both Friday and Saturday, and a rehearsal dinner tonight, so I won't be able to train again until Saturday. I front-loaded the week to balance it out, training Monday morning and evening, Tuesday lunch, and Wednesday morning. I'm pretty lean and sore, but it appears to be paying off. I had a few pretty good rolls with higher belts, lasting entirely too long and doing much more than surviving. I was successfully attacking. I didn't finish all of my attacks successfully, but that's the way it goes. It's been something of a confidence booster. I'm not letting myself think I'm better than I am; I still got wrecked on more than one occasion. But I'm evolving. And that is good.
I registered for both my weight division and absolute. I told myself beforehand that I would do only my weight division. But going to Chicago is a long way to go, and being guaranteed only one fight just wasn't enough for me. So I'll have at the very least two (hopefully many more), and I'll be ridiculously tired that night.
Oh yeah, and this morning I found out that I passed the MN bar exam.
I have two weddings this week, both Friday and Saturday, and a rehearsal dinner tonight, so I won't be able to train again until Saturday. I front-loaded the week to balance it out, training Monday morning and evening, Tuesday lunch, and Wednesday morning. I'm pretty lean and sore, but it appears to be paying off. I had a few pretty good rolls with higher belts, lasting entirely too long and doing much more than surviving. I was successfully attacking. I didn't finish all of my attacks successfully, but that's the way it goes. It's been something of a confidence booster. I'm not letting myself think I'm better than I am; I still got wrecked on more than one occasion. But I'm evolving. And that is good.
I registered for both my weight division and absolute. I told myself beforehand that I would do only my weight division. But going to Chicago is a long way to go, and being guaranteed only one fight just wasn't enough for me. So I'll have at the very least two (hopefully many more), and I'll be ridiculously tired that night.
Oh yeah, and this morning I found out that I passed the MN bar exam.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Badges
I went to a movie last night with my wife and some friends, and I found myself looking at the actors' ears to see whether they train jiu jitsu. Granted, it's not a foolproof system---plenty of people who roll have pristine ears. But for some reason, I was hoping this actor had a little bit of cauliflower. It would have helped me to connect with him just that much more.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Movin' On Up
To the East Side (yeah we movin' on up). [You were singing it in your head, I just put it to words.]
ADCCs are streaming in front of me on the television (thank you PS3), my wife is still asleep, my dog is curled at my side, and the coffee is still hot. This is a good morning.
I trained five and a half times this week. Half because I got to open mat pretty late on Saturday, and I only got to work for about fifteen minutes with Dumi. Mind you, this is still fifteen minutes of good work with a purple belt that I would not get at my own academy, and Dumi has a super smooth game that requires constant attention and careful technique. We weren't rolling hard, and he was working his inverted guard, so I concentrated on passing, top half-guard, and grip control. If I could change only one thing about my academy, it would be the number of training partners we have. I'm lucky to have the school across town with a stable of guys who want to train every day, and I'm lucky to have an understanding wife who understands my need for physical release and exercise. So when possible, I get to travel cross-town for some serious work. Friday, though, was fairly light, which is actually what I wanted. I just wanted more time for it.
Saturday morning with Gina's class was good. I keep working one takedown setup with options to go to a single leg, an uchi mata, or and knee tap. Klint has me focusing on this one setup for two reasons: 1. I'm not generally comfortable with takedowns and we don't have the guys to constantly work them (especially since our guys keep getting hurt); and 2. it keeps my head out of trouble when working for the takedown. So I'll have to put more time into that, slowly upping the intensity. JD has said that he's more than willing to work with me on it, which is good because he's bigger than me. So if I can work it on him, that bodes well for tournament utility. I'll be in the 175.5 lbs division, and if some guys cut serious weight, it's not outside the realm that they would be JD's size. Good things all around.
Then Klint's class was again good, working on defenses--triangle and armbars. After class, he tested me for and awarded me my first stripe on my blue belt. Had to demonstrate a few techniques from the set curriculum, and then rolled with the three guys twice through, live the first time and starting in disadvantageous positions the second time through. I was pretty tired by the end, and Klint said a few very nice things, we bowed, and that was the day. So now I'm a one-stripe blue belt. Is that any different from the beginning of the week? No, not so much. I had some people come watch my promotion from white to blue, and Brenna asked if I was going to do the same anytime soon. I think not until purple. That's the next big step. Everything until then is like "What About Bob": baby steps. And I have a lot of baby steps to take before then. So that starts with training on Monday.
Tournament date: October 15
Weight class: 175.5
walking around: 177-82
Should be easy enough to make that.
ADCCs are streaming in front of me on the television (thank you PS3), my wife is still asleep, my dog is curled at my side, and the coffee is still hot. This is a good morning.
I trained five and a half times this week. Half because I got to open mat pretty late on Saturday, and I only got to work for about fifteen minutes with Dumi. Mind you, this is still fifteen minutes of good work with a purple belt that I would not get at my own academy, and Dumi has a super smooth game that requires constant attention and careful technique. We weren't rolling hard, and he was working his inverted guard, so I concentrated on passing, top half-guard, and grip control. If I could change only one thing about my academy, it would be the number of training partners we have. I'm lucky to have the school across town with a stable of guys who want to train every day, and I'm lucky to have an understanding wife who understands my need for physical release and exercise. So when possible, I get to travel cross-town for some serious work. Friday, though, was fairly light, which is actually what I wanted. I just wanted more time for it.
Saturday morning with Gina's class was good. I keep working one takedown setup with options to go to a single leg, an uchi mata, or and knee tap. Klint has me focusing on this one setup for two reasons: 1. I'm not generally comfortable with takedowns and we don't have the guys to constantly work them (especially since our guys keep getting hurt); and 2. it keeps my head out of trouble when working for the takedown. So I'll have to put more time into that, slowly upping the intensity. JD has said that he's more than willing to work with me on it, which is good because he's bigger than me. So if I can work it on him, that bodes well for tournament utility. I'll be in the 175.5 lbs division, and if some guys cut serious weight, it's not outside the realm that they would be JD's size. Good things all around.
Then Klint's class was again good, working on defenses--triangle and armbars. After class, he tested me for and awarded me my first stripe on my blue belt. Had to demonstrate a few techniques from the set curriculum, and then rolled with the three guys twice through, live the first time and starting in disadvantageous positions the second time through. I was pretty tired by the end, and Klint said a few very nice things, we bowed, and that was the day. So now I'm a one-stripe blue belt. Is that any different from the beginning of the week? No, not so much. I had some people come watch my promotion from white to blue, and Brenna asked if I was going to do the same anytime soon. I think not until purple. That's the next big step. Everything until then is like "What About Bob": baby steps. And I have a lot of baby steps to take before then. So that starts with training on Monday.
Tournament date: October 15
Weight class: 175.5
walking around: 177-82
Should be easy enough to make that.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Note To Self
Worst way to prep for class: spend the weekend before at a beer festival. Iggity.
We're working defenses this week. Last night was triangle defense. We worked a grip-break arm drag takedown series, then drilled the defenses Klint wanted us to work. He's been having us work pretty hard in class, and I'm pretty sure it's because he knows I have a competition in my sights. Lost of "OK guys, you have one minute; guy on top pass, guy on bottom submit, win as fast as you can GO!" kind of drills. It's good for getting used to struggling and getting your body accustomed to fighting with a lot of energy and adrenaline, but it's damned tiring.
I've had a few conversations with Klint about how I'm not improving as quickly as I want to. In the end, I know that I'm doing well and that it takes time and I'm probably ahead of the curve for a lot of guys. I've been grappling for a little more than a year and a half and I can give purple belts who've been training for ten years trouble, so that's a good sign. I want, though, to be competing with them, not just giving them trouble. And I'm not exactly easy on myself, I'm competitive, and I've been known to be impatient. A lot. So if my mind and body could just get their shit together, I would really appreciate it. I've started giving myself specific goals in training (focus on breaking grips and killing hooks, finish with only this submission if you get a dominant position, work open guard instead of closed, etc.), and I think that helps. It's the problem with development, though; it takes time, and I don't want it to. As the great philosopher Jagger once said, though, you can't always get what you want.
I read The Cauliflower Chronicles this weekend. It took me an afternoon. It won't win any awards or anything, but it was an entertaining read. It's one guy's story of going to Hawai'i to train at BJ Penn's academy and earn his blue belt. I'm sure part of the reason I enjoyed it is that it is temporally very close to my own quest for a blue belt, so I can empathize with a lot of the author's tales of getting waxed on the mat when you feel you should be doing better. That, and I want badly to go to Hawai'i. So if you enjoy hearing stories about jiu jitsu, I would recommend it. But if you get frustrated by grammatical conventions and sentence structure (and on a few occasions simple things like subject-verb agreement), you would be better off spending the time on the mats.
More training tonight.
We're working defenses this week. Last night was triangle defense. We worked a grip-break arm drag takedown series, then drilled the defenses Klint wanted us to work. He's been having us work pretty hard in class, and I'm pretty sure it's because he knows I have a competition in my sights. Lost of "OK guys, you have one minute; guy on top pass, guy on bottom submit, win as fast as you can GO!" kind of drills. It's good for getting used to struggling and getting your body accustomed to fighting with a lot of energy and adrenaline, but it's damned tiring.
I've had a few conversations with Klint about how I'm not improving as quickly as I want to. In the end, I know that I'm doing well and that it takes time and I'm probably ahead of the curve for a lot of guys. I've been grappling for a little more than a year and a half and I can give purple belts who've been training for ten years trouble, so that's a good sign. I want, though, to be competing with them, not just giving them trouble. And I'm not exactly easy on myself, I'm competitive, and I've been known to be impatient. A lot. So if my mind and body could just get their shit together, I would really appreciate it. I've started giving myself specific goals in training (focus on breaking grips and killing hooks, finish with only this submission if you get a dominant position, work open guard instead of closed, etc.), and I think that helps. It's the problem with development, though; it takes time, and I don't want it to. As the great philosopher Jagger once said, though, you can't always get what you want.
I read The Cauliflower Chronicles this weekend. It took me an afternoon. It won't win any awards or anything, but it was an entertaining read. It's one guy's story of going to Hawai'i to train at BJ Penn's academy and earn his blue belt. I'm sure part of the reason I enjoyed it is that it is temporally very close to my own quest for a blue belt, so I can empathize with a lot of the author's tales of getting waxed on the mat when you feel you should be doing better. That, and I want badly to go to Hawai'i. So if you enjoy hearing stories about jiu jitsu, I would recommend it. But if you get frustrated by grammatical conventions and sentence structure (and on a few occasions simple things like subject-verb agreement), you would be better off spending the time on the mats.
More training tonight.
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