Jiu Jitsu discussion / complete beginner!
Discussion
Hope you all had a good bank holiday. No classes for me since Friday as the instructors took a break.
Busy session on Friday evening, so busy in-fact it was felt that we should learn what I like to think of as the 'hollywood move' of Jiu Jitsu - Triangle Choke from guard.
My first time doing it (or rather having it done to me!, gag.), not being a dainty chap and having reasonable quads/calves it felt a little clunky but always locked in. The guy I train with is a bit bigger and less athletic so struggled to get the final move in place and locked.
No roll due to the class running over and the blue belt class starting but in all honesty it didn't do me any harm just focusing on the lesson.
I have a busy few weeks ahead of me Jiu Jitsu wise, next weekend is the seminar with Ryron Gracie, full 2 weeks of training then out to New York for a week on holiday (already found a club to train at while I'm away!) then home again. Slowly edging towards that first stripe on my belt.
Busy session on Friday evening, so busy in-fact it was felt that we should learn what I like to think of as the 'hollywood move' of Jiu Jitsu - Triangle Choke from guard.
My first time doing it (or rather having it done to me!, gag.), not being a dainty chap and having reasonable quads/calves it felt a little clunky but always locked in. The guy I train with is a bit bigger and less athletic so struggled to get the final move in place and locked.
No roll due to the class running over and the blue belt class starting but in all honesty it didn't do me any harm just focusing on the lesson.
I have a busy few weeks ahead of me Jiu Jitsu wise, next weekend is the seminar with Ryron Gracie, full 2 weeks of training then out to New York for a week on holiday (already found a club to train at while I'm away!) then home again. Slowly edging towards that first stripe on my belt.
I have young daughters, 8 and 4 (daft names but the missus chose them) and they both know and can do good triangle chokes, it's very rare you'll catch anyone other than a white belt with a trad triangle (although they're always a great place to start transitioning from), but as a self defense move off the back, especially for women, I think it's the most important thing people can learn.
You must have it bad if you're prepared to pay top money to go to high level Gracie seminars, good luck, the basics take on a whole new dimension when you see them done by the very best guys and suddenly don't seem so basic anymore.
You must have it bad if you're prepared to pay top money to go to high level Gracie seminars, good luck, the basics take on a whole new dimension when you see them done by the very best guys and suddenly don't seem so basic anymore.
You're not wrong Fred.
To be honest, the seminar is on my doorstep so it seems daft not to go, although I can only make 2 out of the 4 sessions planned. My daughter started her journey about 2 weeks before me, I really enjoy watching her and the kids session - A real eye opener but very cool to see the little ones discipline and commitment.
To be honest, the seminar is on my doorstep so it seems daft not to go, although I can only make 2 out of the 4 sessions planned. My daughter started her journey about 2 weeks before me, I really enjoy watching her and the kids session - A real eye opener but very cool to see the little ones discipline and commitment.
We have a tournament this weekend at our clubs/assocation, nothing too heavy just friendly competition. Had my last session last night before it, working on escapes from guard, a couple of leg locks and triangle chokes with the legs (sure you lads will have fancy names for them, but us ‘traditional Japanese’ lads don’t bother! Really struggled getting my knee bent enough round the back of my opponents head in order to get the leverage on the choke so ended up giving it up as a bad job and trying to use it as the basis for an arm bar by lifting my hips up.
Basically the rules of our groundfighting are:
• No standing, must have at least one knee on the mat.
• No attacks with single digits.
• No attacks to single digits.
• No striking.
• No attacks above the jawline.
• No spine locks/neck cranks.
• Win is either by 2 x 10 second pins or by 1 x submission.
Also do some stand up fighting later in the day, traditional Japanese point sparring, freestyle and light continuous. All very good natured and friendly, but decent fun non the less.
Basically the rules of our groundfighting are:
• No standing, must have at least one knee on the mat.
• No attacks with single digits.
• No attacks to single digits.
• No striking.
• No attacks above the jawline.
• No spine locks/neck cranks.
• Win is either by 2 x 10 second pins or by 1 x submission.
Also do some stand up fighting later in the day, traditional Japanese point sparring, freestyle and light continuous. All very good natured and friendly, but decent fun non the less.
Sounds good Tony, I'm quite a way off anywhere near competing but quite a few of the club lads are heading to the British open a week on Saturday.
Back on the mats tonight which I'm looking forward to since it seems like ages (in reality its been since last Friday!). As a minimum I aim for 2 sessions per week to ensure progression.
Back on the mats tonight which I'm looking forward to since it seems like ages (in reality its been since last Friday!). As a minimum I aim for 2 sessions per week to ensure progression.
Back to the grind last night, standing technique, leg hook take down from clinch and the ground technique Kimura from bottom guard.
Last night marked the first session I've been to in which we repeated a previously drilled technique. I suspect over the next weeks this will become more and more apparent and is a clear indication to me of developing a solid foundation.
There were quite a few new guys last night which is great for the club and good to see. Makes for a great session atmosphere as well. Drilling with one of the newbies he mentioned I was much quicker and smoother at the takedown than he was - bit of an eye opener really as I don't consider myself to be particularly quick or smooth - perhaps the difference between someone with a small amount of technique versus someone with none?
Post session roll with the guy who subbed me twice last week - no submission this week and an escape from armbar by myself. Please with that.
I did manage to kick him quite hard in the head going for the triangle (whoops), had I not kicked him it would have been on as well!
Looking forward to the weekend, Saturday morning 2 hour Gi Choke mastery and Sunday Morning 2 hour No Gi Triangle mastery with Ryron Gracie. excited much.
Last night marked the first session I've been to in which we repeated a previously drilled technique. I suspect over the next weeks this will become more and more apparent and is a clear indication to me of developing a solid foundation.
There were quite a few new guys last night which is great for the club and good to see. Makes for a great session atmosphere as well. Drilling with one of the newbies he mentioned I was much quicker and smoother at the takedown than he was - bit of an eye opener really as I don't consider myself to be particularly quick or smooth - perhaps the difference between someone with a small amount of technique versus someone with none?
Post session roll with the guy who subbed me twice last week - no submission this week and an escape from armbar by myself. Please with that.
I did manage to kick him quite hard in the head going for the triangle (whoops), had I not kicked him it would have been on as well!
Looking forward to the weekend, Saturday morning 2 hour Gi Choke mastery and Sunday Morning 2 hour No Gi Triangle mastery with Ryron Gracie. excited much.
Pete102 said:
Back to the grind last night, standing technique, leg hook take down from clinch and the ground technique Kimura from bottom guard.
Last night marked the first session I've been to in which we repeated a previously drilled technique. I suspect over the next weeks this will become more and more apparent and is a clear indication to me of developing a solid foundation.
There were quite a few new guys last night which is great for the club and good to see. Makes for a great session atmosphere as well. Drilling with one of the newbies he mentioned I was much quicker and smoother at the takedown than he was - bit of an eye opener really as I don't consider myself to be particularly quick or smooth - perhaps the difference between someone with a small amount of technique versus someone with none?
Post session roll with the guy who subbed me twice last week - no submission this week and an escape from armbar by myself. Please with that.
I did manage to kick him quite hard in the head going for the triangle (whoops), had I not kicked him it would have been on as well!
Looking forward to the weekend, Saturday morning 2 hour Gi Choke mastery and Sunday Morning 2 hour No Gi Triangle mastery with Ryron Gracie. excited much.
Gi choke mastery sounds great, it's the weapon of choice for our tournament for sumbissions. Any pointers you can share before Sunday would be helpful1! Last night marked the first session I've been to in which we repeated a previously drilled technique. I suspect over the next weeks this will become more and more apparent and is a clear indication to me of developing a solid foundation.
There were quite a few new guys last night which is great for the club and good to see. Makes for a great session atmosphere as well. Drilling with one of the newbies he mentioned I was much quicker and smoother at the takedown than he was - bit of an eye opener really as I don't consider myself to be particularly quick or smooth - perhaps the difference between someone with a small amount of technique versus someone with none?
Post session roll with the guy who subbed me twice last week - no submission this week and an escape from armbar by myself. Please with that.
I did manage to kick him quite hard in the head going for the triangle (whoops), had I not kicked him it would have been on as well!
Looking forward to the weekend, Saturday morning 2 hour Gi Choke mastery and Sunday Morning 2 hour No Gi Triangle mastery with Ryron Gracie. excited much.
Enjoy it.
Tony - of course pal, I'll put a post up Saturday night detailed what we covered.
Quite looking forward to the choke seminar since I seem to be continually put in some form of choke by my opponents, mostly uncomfortable but sometimes submission - with my own gi, the shame.
Slightly unrelated note, I'm in London on the 11th June (wife and daughter are going to the summer time ball thingy at wembley). I didnt fancy it so have a full afternoon of nothingness - any recommendations for suitable BJJ academy classes or seminars going on in the area?
Quite looking forward to the choke seminar since I seem to be continually put in some form of choke by my opponents, mostly uncomfortable but sometimes submission - with my own gi, the shame.
Slightly unrelated note, I'm in London on the 11th June (wife and daughter are going to the summer time ball thingy at wembley). I didnt fancy it so have a full afternoon of nothingness - any recommendations for suitable BJJ academy classes or seminars going on in the area?
Pete102 said:
Tony - of course pal, I'll put a post up Saturday night detailed what we covered.
Quite looking forward to the choke seminar since I seem to be continually put in some form of choke by my opponents, mostly uncomfortable but sometimes submission - with my own gi, the shame.
Slightly unrelated note, I'm in London on the 11th June (wife and daughter are going to the summer time ball thingy at wembley). I didnt fancy it so have a full afternoon of nothingness - any recommendations for suitable BJJ academy classes or seminars going on in the area?
Thanks, really appreciate it. Key is with them (chokes), like most things is to not wait for it to be on before trying to escape as it's night on impossible to do so and before you know it you're eyes will be popping out of your head. The obvious things like fighting with your chin down and being aware of where the other guys hand creeping round the back of your neck is a good start, the one handed choke using the for arm with one hand grabbing the at gi at the back the neck and the other hand holding the bottom of the other lapel is a favourite in our club so I try and watch out for the early signs of that. Be aware of somebody pulling your gi out of your belt too - got done with my own cloth the other week.Quite looking forward to the choke seminar since I seem to be continually put in some form of choke by my opponents, mostly uncomfortable but sometimes submission - with my own gi, the shame.
Slightly unrelated note, I'm in London on the 11th June (wife and daughter are going to the summer time ball thingy at wembley). I didnt fancy it so have a full afternoon of nothingness - any recommendations for suitable BJJ academy classes or seminars going on in the area?
On a similar note, anybody recommend any decent Judo/Ju Jitsu books? Struggled to find anything decent off amazon.
cheers
Pete102 said:
There were quite a few new guys last night which is great for the club and good to see. Makes for a great session atmosphere as well. Drilling with one of the newbies he mentioned I was much quicker and smoother at the takedown than he was - bit of an eye opener really as I don't consider myself to be particularly quick or smooth - perhaps the difference between someone with a small amount of technique versus someone with none?
Great thread. I've quoted the above as it is really important for you to remember (he says without trying to sound patronising
). As you progress, the laws of diminishing returns start to apply. After a few years it is easy for even the most enthusiastic person to become increasingly frustrated and jaded with their progress. When these plateaus occur (and they will), it is easy to get wrapped up in the minutia of a particular technique (for example) and lose sight of the big picture. It's really hard to judge your own progress because it is so gradual and you will inevitably become very self critical (this is part of the process). It's only when you train with new people (either newbies or different people at different clubs) that you can step back, get a fresh perspective and appreciate the progress that you've made. Use this to encourage you to push past what you feel is your stagnation. This is where most people who have trained for a few years give up. Don't. Keep going and the strength and enjoyment you achieve by pushing through this metaphoric wall is actually what it's all about. Oh jesus, am I going to mention THE JOURNEY at this point...?
Early on in my training one of my instructors talked to me about the four stages of learning. Shan't bore you with it here, but the diagram below outlines the basics. Like all things on your journey (sorry!), it will mean different things to you as you move through it. Stagnation tends to occurs between conscious incompetence and conscious competence.
Edited by ben5575 on Thursday 5th May 22:46
Tony Angelino said:
On a similar note, anybody recommend any decent Judo/Ju Jitsu books? Struggled to find anything decent off amazon.
You can't learn technique from a book, especially BJJ because it's so fluid and dependent on what the other person is doing, which is why it's taught with so much emphasis on rolling and competition as well as practice with a willing participant.You might pick a few things up from Sensei Youtube if you're lucky, the seeds of ideas at least to ask your instructor about, but don't think you can berimbolo someone because you saw a video of it, you can't, you won't, you'll look silly - take it from those that have been before you
There are loads you can read about training your body and mind though, yoga, callithenics, general fitness and I take inspiration from reading sporting biographies, especially boxing ones - makes you realise what it really takes to be good at something which is a world away from technique and the effort and sacrifice most of us are prepared to put in. And of course all Martial Men must know Musashi's Book of Five Rings and live each day under it's tutelage.
The last three posts have been incredible reading, thanks guys. I'll address each one in turn.
Tony - As I mentioned previously, I'm a sucker for getting choked and an area that I'm sure I'll see some improvement in (both defense and offense). I'm planning on taking a little notebook over the weekend to make sure I capture the key points and work on them during club sessions over the coming week.
Ben - Really appreciate the guidance and I don't find the post patronizing at all. Something I've been trying to stay on top of is not becoming 'that guy' . You know the one who watches all of the you tube video's, reads all the books, talks BJJ 24/7 despite having very little experience thinks he is a BJJ master off the back of a few lessons. Referring to the 'journey' (sorry!) this is little more than the first step for me.
Your point regarding training with complete newbies I can completely relate to and I think this is possibly what makes BJJ so effective against untrained opponents. When I had chance to train in China I was paired with a newbie (2 sessions in) for a sweep / sub drill. Thinking back I remember applying an Americana from half guard successfully, whereas an opponent with even a basic experience of rolling will know not to expose arm position like that so easily.
The diagram you posted up works on quite a few levels for me, be it the concept of BJJ as a whole or even individual techniques. For instance, since the triangle choke class I've basically spent the last 4 days or so repping this movement in my head but still questioning myself on the sequence or positioning. As point out, I'm probably somewhere between Conscious incompetence and Conscious competence! - and yes it does bother me!
Fred - Not alot to add to your post other than I've started Yoga myself (which the wife thinks is hilarious being 6ft and 100kg), I'm not the most graceful or flexible but its getting better.
Have a good weekend guys.
Tony - As I mentioned previously, I'm a sucker for getting choked and an area that I'm sure I'll see some improvement in (both defense and offense). I'm planning on taking a little notebook over the weekend to make sure I capture the key points and work on them during club sessions over the coming week.
Ben - Really appreciate the guidance and I don't find the post patronizing at all. Something I've been trying to stay on top of is not becoming 'that guy' . You know the one who watches all of the you tube video's, reads all the books, talks BJJ 24/7 despite having very little experience thinks he is a BJJ master off the back of a few lessons. Referring to the 'journey' (sorry!) this is little more than the first step for me.
Your point regarding training with complete newbies I can completely relate to and I think this is possibly what makes BJJ so effective against untrained opponents. When I had chance to train in China I was paired with a newbie (2 sessions in) for a sweep / sub drill. Thinking back I remember applying an Americana from half guard successfully, whereas an opponent with even a basic experience of rolling will know not to expose arm position like that so easily.
The diagram you posted up works on quite a few levels for me, be it the concept of BJJ as a whole or even individual techniques. For instance, since the triangle choke class I've basically spent the last 4 days or so repping this movement in my head but still questioning myself on the sequence or positioning. As point out, I'm probably somewhere between Conscious incompetence and Conscious competence! - and yes it does bother me!
Fred - Not alot to add to your post other than I've started Yoga myself (which the wife thinks is hilarious being 6ft and 100kg), I'm not the most graceful or flexible but its getting better.
Have a good weekend guys.
Great sport! Did it (Japanese not BJJ, although training with BJJ guys was great for grappling!) for a few years at 30 and generally loved it, so much so that I'm thinking about taking up another martial art again. Only thing that puts me off are the frequency of injuries almost all of my better friends would pick up over the years. If you both know what you're doing it's almost as enjoyable an experience being thrown/locked/being Uke as it is being Tori! But it can be quite unpleasant if one of you doesn't know what you're doing.
I left due to moving home, but might take up a striking martial art this time, or maybe go the opposite way and try Aikido. What I found most interesting about learning Jujitsu was my appreciation for body moement, something I had honestly never given a thought to before, it was a paradigm shift from "keeping fit and learning to fight" to an appreciation of everything from Boxing to Aikido and Fencing or even Dancing!
I left due to moving home, but might take up a striking martial art this time, or maybe go the opposite way and try Aikido. What I found most interesting about learning Jujitsu was my appreciation for body moement, something I had honestly never given a thought to before, it was a paradigm shift from "keeping fit and learning to fight" to an appreciation of everything from Boxing to Aikido and Fencing or even Dancing!
Edited by glazbagun on Friday 6th May 10:26
glazbagun said:
Great sport! Did it (Japanese not BJJ, although training with BJJ guys was great for grappling!) for a few years at 30 and generally loved it, so much so that I'm thinking about taking up another martial art again. Only thing that puts me off are the frequency of injuries almost all of my better friends would pick up over the years. If you both know what you're doing it's almost as enjoyable an experience being thrown/locked/being Uke as it is being Tori! But it can be quite unpleasant if one of you doesn't know what you're doing.
I left due to moving home, but might take up a striking martial art this time, or maybe go the opposite way and try Aikido. What I found most interesting about learning Jujitsu was my appreciation for body moement, something I had honestly never given a thought to before, it was a paradigm shift from "keeping fit and learning to fight" to an appreciation of everything from Boxing to Aikido and Fencing or even Dancing!
I did Aikido for 20 years, still do when I have time to get to my home club, it's essentially a cut down trad Jui-Jitsu focusing on a dozen or so techniques. It's very club dependent, most of my practice was very traditional with strong respect to the weapons practice and Japanese lineage, you will not avoid injuries doing Aikido, in fact of all the things I've done over the years Judo and Aikido were physically the most punishing and I was a good Uke with good Ukemi, the reason I won't go to Aikido clubs I don't know anymore is because I can't trust how some clubs will treat me (as black belt from another area) I've had far fewer injuries doing BJJ - generally the practice is more relaxed, more "modern" and of course the rolling and sparring introduces an element of risk but most people are respectful and not out to hurt people, the expansive movement and extra leverage in Aikido technique mean people are in far less control of what they're actually applying a lot of the time and the emphasis on Uke to allow the technique to happen and take it via Ukemi is a risk I no longer take with strangers as my body ages and my reflexes dull.I left due to moving home, but might take up a striking martial art this time, or maybe go the opposite way and try Aikido. What I found most interesting about learning Jujitsu was my appreciation for body moement, something I had honestly never given a thought to before, it was a paradigm shift from "keeping fit and learning to fight" to an appreciation of everything from Boxing to Aikido and Fencing or even Dancing!
Edited by glazbagun on Friday 6th May 10:26
Fencing is always something I wanted to do, I did Kendo for a few years, clubs are few and far apart but it's great fun.
Wise words. I enjoyed fencing at school, but that was when I was 14 and 10st8, not 41 and 15st. Might be a bit slower now!
I had to stop traditional jujutsu as my back finally decided that it didn't like being thrown through the air anymore. I can't roll for the same reason sadly (although our club trains 10th Planet), but I have found that despite walking around with the occasional black eye and lots of bruises, on the whole I've rarely suffer injuries doing stand up. Certainly nothing that's had me out for more than a couple of weeks at most.
Just remember to stretch out those achilles before you start!
I had to stop traditional jujutsu as my back finally decided that it didn't like being thrown through the air anymore. I can't roll for the same reason sadly (although our club trains 10th Planet), but I have found that despite walking around with the occasional black eye and lots of bruises, on the whole I've rarely suffer injuries doing stand up. Certainly nothing that's had me out for more than a couple of weeks at most.
Just remember to stretch out those achilles before you start!
Ok, MASSIVE failure on my part to feedback Saturday night on the choke seminar, I can only offer my apologies for this. On the subject of the seminar...
100% pleased with my decision to attend despite my lack of Jiu Jitsu experience. Irrespective of the techniques learnt during the day, the opportunity to see an Professor of the sport demonstrate methods was an honor. He controlled my instructor(s) in a way I've never seen anyone in the club even come close. Calm, collected, low-energy, controlled, to an outsider - absolutely effortless.
Onto the seminar then, day 1 AM session - Gi Choke Mastery. This was all new to me, I've been choked by my own Gi too many times to count so I relished the opportunity to learn both offence and defense techniques. We covered standing collar choke into guard, choke from mount, choke from neck hook (mount and guard). I picked up several tips (apologies they may be obvious!) i.e. shoot the first grip deep, be sneaky in shooting the second grip. If applying the collar choke from neck hook then go for approx 3 - 4" between grips. Regarding the defense of choke we spent a lot of time learning defense from bottom mount not to expose our arms (which could open us up to arm bar, top or bottom triangle choke).
Second day, No Gi Triangle Mastery. I have some knowledge of the triangle choke from an earlier club lesson, that was covered as a warm up then onto a nice little transition from modified mount into top triangle (with or without a roll to apply the lock), also incorporated a variation opening up the opportunity for Arm bar / elbow pressure or inverted arm bar.
As you can probably tell I learnt ALOT from the 2 sessions, I'd have loved to attended the other 2 but I had plans.
Finishing off this update I had a club lesson last night (massive come down after the weekend!). Covered a clinch take down variation (standing on opponents feet and squat into it), not entirely sure how effective this would be in reality as its quite difficult to locate the feet efficiently but a decent enough drill to get down into guard punch protection.
Also spent a fair mount of time working on mount control, efficient use of hooks e.g. not grapevining, control of weight, hand positioning and swimming drills. Quite a 'basic' lesson but more than welcome from my perspective.
Had a roll against a friend of mine, ended even-stevens no sub from either of us. Hes a little more advance than me (2 stripe white) and generally a fit guy so i'm happy with that. Finished the session with another roll against a similarly sized opponent from a club up north (hes working down here for a few months). He also had two stripes on his belt so I was naturally a little apprehensive as to his ability. Earlier in the session he mentioned he'd trained for 2 years on and off so I expected him to smash me all over to be honest.
Not so.
The only way I can describe the roll is one of those times everything comes together, you nail techniques, work efficiently and it just feels great. This was one of those times. Within 30 seconds I had him subbed with a collar choke (learnt over the weekend - thanks Ryron!), couple of minutes into the restart I found an Americana from top half guard. This was after 'almost' nailing a Kimura from top half (a move I learnt in China previously) - unfortunately he managed to block my leg from hooking under his head, either intentionally or just grabbed onto anything moving. There was also quite a bit of time spent on his back, couldn't lock in the RNC due to him flattening out and I 'think' a bow and arrow would be used in that situation (but I don't know it! - yet!).
Prior to the second sub I felt like my control was good (for me) didn't need to be too defensive.
No Jiu Jitsu now until next Wednesday (gah!) due to the British Open - GL to anyone from here who's competing! (I'm not!) then its off to New York for a week. I have some sessions lined up Thursday, Friday and Monday while I'm away to learn techniques from other academies.
Thanks guys!
Pete
100% pleased with my decision to attend despite my lack of Jiu Jitsu experience. Irrespective of the techniques learnt during the day, the opportunity to see an Professor of the sport demonstrate methods was an honor. He controlled my instructor(s) in a way I've never seen anyone in the club even come close. Calm, collected, low-energy, controlled, to an outsider - absolutely effortless.
Onto the seminar then, day 1 AM session - Gi Choke Mastery. This was all new to me, I've been choked by my own Gi too many times to count so I relished the opportunity to learn both offence and defense techniques. We covered standing collar choke into guard, choke from mount, choke from neck hook (mount and guard). I picked up several tips (apologies they may be obvious!) i.e. shoot the first grip deep, be sneaky in shooting the second grip. If applying the collar choke from neck hook then go for approx 3 - 4" between grips. Regarding the defense of choke we spent a lot of time learning defense from bottom mount not to expose our arms (which could open us up to arm bar, top or bottom triangle choke).
Second day, No Gi Triangle Mastery. I have some knowledge of the triangle choke from an earlier club lesson, that was covered as a warm up then onto a nice little transition from modified mount into top triangle (with or without a roll to apply the lock), also incorporated a variation opening up the opportunity for Arm bar / elbow pressure or inverted arm bar.
As you can probably tell I learnt ALOT from the 2 sessions, I'd have loved to attended the other 2 but I had plans.
Finishing off this update I had a club lesson last night (massive come down after the weekend!). Covered a clinch take down variation (standing on opponents feet and squat into it), not entirely sure how effective this would be in reality as its quite difficult to locate the feet efficiently but a decent enough drill to get down into guard punch protection.
Also spent a fair mount of time working on mount control, efficient use of hooks e.g. not grapevining, control of weight, hand positioning and swimming drills. Quite a 'basic' lesson but more than welcome from my perspective.
Had a roll against a friend of mine, ended even-stevens no sub from either of us. Hes a little more advance than me (2 stripe white) and generally a fit guy so i'm happy with that. Finished the session with another roll against a similarly sized opponent from a club up north (hes working down here for a few months). He also had two stripes on his belt so I was naturally a little apprehensive as to his ability. Earlier in the session he mentioned he'd trained for 2 years on and off so I expected him to smash me all over to be honest.
Not so.
The only way I can describe the roll is one of those times everything comes together, you nail techniques, work efficiently and it just feels great. This was one of those times. Within 30 seconds I had him subbed with a collar choke (learnt over the weekend - thanks Ryron!), couple of minutes into the restart I found an Americana from top half guard. This was after 'almost' nailing a Kimura from top half (a move I learnt in China previously) - unfortunately he managed to block my leg from hooking under his head, either intentionally or just grabbed onto anything moving. There was also quite a bit of time spent on his back, couldn't lock in the RNC due to him flattening out and I 'think' a bow and arrow would be used in that situation (but I don't know it! - yet!).
Prior to the second sub I felt like my control was good (for me) didn't need to be too defensive.
No Jiu Jitsu now until next Wednesday (gah!) due to the British Open - GL to anyone from here who's competing! (I'm not!) then its off to New York for a week. I have some sessions lined up Thursday, Friday and Monday while I'm away to learn techniques from other academies.
Thanks guys!
Pete
I went along to a local MMA gym a couple of years back. I loved the wrestling elements. I was able to get stuck in and had enough stamina to keep going, I just didn't know how to get submissions.
Sadly my old elbow and knee injuries came back with a vengeance and I only lasted a month before having to give up.
Sadly my old elbow and knee injuries came back with a vengeance and I only lasted a month before having to give up.
Little update from me about my tournament......
Ground fighting didn't go particularly well - lost my one and only fight. Opponent was from my club, JJ black belt about 6' 5" tall, lean with little fat but still heavy due to his height. I tried to pull guard on him and failed miserably, ending up fairly quickly in a pin and losing a point in not much time at all. So after the reset - what better thing to try than absolutely the same thing again, surprisingly it didn't work and after a bit of tussling (very low technique on my part) I ended up of making the rookie mistake of offering a straight arm. He took full advantage and put me in an arm bar whilst on his back and raising his hips to apply the pressure. 1 fight, 1 loss. At least the guy who beat me went on to win the tournament so took a bit of comfort from that but overall let myself down as al technique went out of the window.
Did a bit better in the stand up fighting (currently a purple belt in wado-ryu karate), 3 x 3rd place finishes in the high grade continuous sparring, the traditional Japanese sparring and the freestyle sparring. Pretty pleased with myself on those as one of the losing semi finals I was pretty hard done by according to almost everybody who was there.
Knuckle down now for my next grading hopefully in about 8 weeks time, then for the next tournament in October/November.
Ground fighting didn't go particularly well - lost my one and only fight. Opponent was from my club, JJ black belt about 6' 5" tall, lean with little fat but still heavy due to his height. I tried to pull guard on him and failed miserably, ending up fairly quickly in a pin and losing a point in not much time at all. So after the reset - what better thing to try than absolutely the same thing again, surprisingly it didn't work and after a bit of tussling (very low technique on my part) I ended up of making the rookie mistake of offering a straight arm. He took full advantage and put me in an arm bar whilst on his back and raising his hips to apply the pressure. 1 fight, 1 loss. At least the guy who beat me went on to win the tournament so took a bit of comfort from that but overall let myself down as al technique went out of the window.
Did a bit better in the stand up fighting (currently a purple belt in wado-ryu karate), 3 x 3rd place finishes in the high grade continuous sparring, the traditional Japanese sparring and the freestyle sparring. Pretty pleased with myself on those as one of the losing semi finals I was pretty hard done by according to almost everybody who was there.
Knuckle down now for my next grading hopefully in about 8 weeks time, then for the next tournament in October/November.
First of all you've stepped up and competed - the vast majority of people who train don't. Well done, you should be proud of yourself regardless of the result.
By competing you've tested yourself against other people. So your technique and experience has been found wanting, but you've taken a major step forward mentally. One of the hardest lessons I've learned, (and two Friday's ago I was reminded of, when I got absolutely schooled!!) is that some people are just better than you. I don't mean that in a loser, accept it kind of a way, but rather there are people out there who have been training harder and longer than you have - of course they are going to be better than you, this really shouldn't come as a surprise. Mind, that doesn't make it any easier and it hurts like a b
h!!
Accept what has happened gracefully. Learn from it. Will you make the same mistakes again? You are now better than anybody else in your club who hasn't competed. Stay strong and be positive. Journey etc etc
By competing you've tested yourself against other people. So your technique and experience has been found wanting, but you've taken a major step forward mentally. One of the hardest lessons I've learned, (and two Friday's ago I was reminded of, when I got absolutely schooled!!) is that some people are just better than you. I don't mean that in a loser, accept it kind of a way, but rather there are people out there who have been training harder and longer than you have - of course they are going to be better than you, this really shouldn't come as a surprise. Mind, that doesn't make it any easier and it hurts like a b
h!!Accept what has happened gracefully. Learn from it. Will you make the same mistakes again? You are now better than anybody else in your club who hasn't competed. Stay strong and be positive. Journey etc etc
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff