Had a great finish to the Year. Got in a final roll at Grace Humaita in Henderson Nevada with my Son in Law before the Holiday.
I have to say I really love the BJJ community. It has been great to feel the camaraderie from those I see almost daily to those who I have only met once.
I have a few goals for next year.
I plan on competing at most of the large IBJJF Tournaments. Now that I am a Blue Belt and can compete with those my same age my wife will let me compete more. I have already signed up for Pan's in March.
I want to do Yoga at least once a week. I think this will help me with my flexibility and hopefully recovery.
I want to drop one weight class. I want to be the bigger guy in the weight class and not the smaller guy like I have been in the past.
I want to continue to make more friends and help others along there BJJ Journey's just like so many are helping me.
Happy New Year.
Ninja Jiu Jitsu
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Little did I realize that this cartoon would be my BJJ career
Show up get beat down then smile at the guys and tell them see you tomorrow. Oh yeah and sometimes be saved by the bell.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Had to stop sparring last night.
We have a long class on Tuesday. We do an hour of drilling then 1/2 hour of warm up/conditioning and then 45 minutes of technique and another 45 minutes of rolling.
The Professor/Instructor was a Black Belt who substitutes sometimes. He is from the Police Department and many of his moves he shows are what he calls Pain Compliant. The point of the move is that they are just painful so they make you want to comply with the Choke etc just to stop the pain from the move.
The Class is run a little differently when he substitutes and I really look forward to attending when he teaches. Last night we went over chokes from the mount. He taught us 4 very good ones that were very strong chokes. Mostly blood chokes and not air chokes. We used the pain compliance methods to get them to move an arm or hand so we could get to the carotid artery to apply the choke. As a good sparring partner does I blocked the move and allowed my partner to use some pain compliance before administering the choke. I found that after an hour of this I was getting pretty light headed. I should have sat out warm up and conditioning but was too stubborn for that and kept going. Then we did another 45 minutes of chokes. I was already dizzy and having headaches before the sparring started. We were going 8 minute rounds and then at the end of my first round I took a knee to the head (on accident I was trying to pass his guard and he was trying to recover his guard and caught me). Then my next round I was just gassed. Not sure where I was even at.
I took off the last 3 rounds of sparring.
My question is, do you think if you are drilling chokes for that long that you go into some kind of oxygen debt and it causes your body to shut down. Just like when you cross your VO2 max and you start to build up lactic acid in your muscles? Is this a real thing or was I just tired from training so much. Just trying to figure it out for next time.
The Professor/Instructor was a Black Belt who substitutes sometimes. He is from the Police Department and many of his moves he shows are what he calls Pain Compliant. The point of the move is that they are just painful so they make you want to comply with the Choke etc just to stop the pain from the move.
The Class is run a little differently when he substitutes and I really look forward to attending when he teaches. Last night we went over chokes from the mount. He taught us 4 very good ones that were very strong chokes. Mostly blood chokes and not air chokes. We used the pain compliance methods to get them to move an arm or hand so we could get to the carotid artery to apply the choke. As a good sparring partner does I blocked the move and allowed my partner to use some pain compliance before administering the choke. I found that after an hour of this I was getting pretty light headed. I should have sat out warm up and conditioning but was too stubborn for that and kept going. Then we did another 45 minutes of chokes. I was already dizzy and having headaches before the sparring started. We were going 8 minute rounds and then at the end of my first round I took a knee to the head (on accident I was trying to pass his guard and he was trying to recover his guard and caught me). Then my next round I was just gassed. Not sure where I was even at.
I took off the last 3 rounds of sparring.
My question is, do you think if you are drilling chokes for that long that you go into some kind of oxygen debt and it causes your body to shut down. Just like when you cross your VO2 max and you start to build up lactic acid in your muscles? Is this a real thing or was I just tired from training so much. Just trying to figure it out for next time.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Being a Blue Belt is like putting a target on your gi.
I have only been a blue belt for week and I have been to work out 5 times and it just feels different.
I feel like the higher belts go a little harder on me not giving me the benefit of age that they did when I was a white belt.
The stripped white belts also are working harder to get the satisfaction of saying they taped out a Blue Belt (which is much more satisfying then saying I taped out an old guy white belt).
On the opposite side the newer white belts now tap much quicker then they did before. They seem to think that the Blue Belt means if I get them in a Submission Hold that I will be able to finish it better then before.
I also spar a little different. Last week going against a white belt who I have done well with in the past I wanted to work on getting out of a guillotine so I let him catch me in it twice and I got tapped twice with what were more neck cranks then chokes but I still taped. I guess I got to just keep eating the humble pie and being a blue belt does not bring any special magic powers with it.
Not sure if anyone else who has been promoted to Blue Belt feels this way.
It is funny. Sometimes I keep looking down at my Belt to make sure I am really Blue Belt. I was told by many before I became a Blue Belt that I rolled like a Blue Belt. Now I'm a Blue Belt I am starting to think maybe I need to work a little harder to make sure no one thinks I roll like a white belt.
I feel like the higher belts go a little harder on me not giving me the benefit of age that they did when I was a white belt.
The stripped white belts also are working harder to get the satisfaction of saying they taped out a Blue Belt (which is much more satisfying then saying I taped out an old guy white belt).
On the opposite side the newer white belts now tap much quicker then they did before. They seem to think that the Blue Belt means if I get them in a Submission Hold that I will be able to finish it better then before.
I also spar a little different. Last week going against a white belt who I have done well with in the past I wanted to work on getting out of a guillotine so I let him catch me in it twice and I got tapped twice with what were more neck cranks then chokes but I still taped. I guess I got to just keep eating the humble pie and being a blue belt does not bring any special magic powers with it.
Not sure if anyone else who has been promoted to Blue Belt feels this way.
It is funny. Sometimes I keep looking down at my Belt to make sure I am really Blue Belt. I was told by many before I became a Blue Belt that I rolled like a Blue Belt. Now I'm a Blue Belt I am starting to think maybe I need to work a little harder to make sure no one thinks I roll like a white belt.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
I got my Blue Belt last night.
So I got my blue belt last night after almost 2 years of 4-5 times a week at BJJ practice. It was kind of interesting. 6 of us (5 who have been together for almost 2 years) received their Blue Belt Promotions last night.
There was not a lot of surprise as we were all told going on in who was going to be promoted. To be honest my feelings were a little mixed. I think I was feeling overwhelmed and maybe emotional when I got my first stripe. I worked very hard for that stripe and it meant a lot more to me then I thought it would. I thought I would have some of the same feelings but that is not the way I felt.
I think part of the reason I had the feelings I did was because I was expecting those feelings, and also it was a not a surprise, so raw emotions were not triggered. The other could be because of the anxiety of having to spar with everyone in the class and then getting whipped by them and thrown by the Black Belts.
I have always been an anti hazing kind of guy so when I saw my first belt promotion about 18 months ago I was kind of taken back. The instructors told me if I was around long enough to get promoted that I would have a choice of being whipped or not. In reality when the time came I knew I would have to take the whipping. No matter what they say about leaving your ego at the door goes out the window with the Peer Pressure of those going before you taking the beating and then you having to face the piper.
To be honest because I am older I know that they did not hit me as hard as they hit the younger guys. I still got welts and bruises and I would be lying if I said it did not hurt but all in all I think that I had to participate.
I know not all gyms do this and in fact it seems like fewer and fewer academy's do the whipping. I guess the bottom line is if you don't like the culture of the whipping then you can switch academies.
Also I was truly impressed by the congratulations on receiving the Blue Belt. Not only from those there but from others I have worked out with or known in my short 2 years. The congratulations all seemed heart felt and genuine and there is a real sense of camaraderie in the BJJ Circles that you don't seem to find in other places. White Belts through Black Belts alike all seemed to be sincere in their congratulations.
There was not a lot of surprise as we were all told going on in who was going to be promoted. To be honest my feelings were a little mixed. I think I was feeling overwhelmed and maybe emotional when I got my first stripe. I worked very hard for that stripe and it meant a lot more to me then I thought it would. I thought I would have some of the same feelings but that is not the way I felt.
I think part of the reason I had the feelings I did was because I was expecting those feelings, and also it was a not a surprise, so raw emotions were not triggered. The other could be because of the anxiety of having to spar with everyone in the class and then getting whipped by them and thrown by the Black Belts.
I have always been an anti hazing kind of guy so when I saw my first belt promotion about 18 months ago I was kind of taken back. The instructors told me if I was around long enough to get promoted that I would have a choice of being whipped or not. In reality when the time came I knew I would have to take the whipping. No matter what they say about leaving your ego at the door goes out the window with the Peer Pressure of those going before you taking the beating and then you having to face the piper.
To be honest because I am older I know that they did not hit me as hard as they hit the younger guys. I still got welts and bruises and I would be lying if I said it did not hurt but all in all I think that I had to participate.
I know not all gyms do this and in fact it seems like fewer and fewer academy's do the whipping. I guess the bottom line is if you don't like the culture of the whipping then you can switch academies.
Also I was truly impressed by the congratulations on receiving the Blue Belt. Not only from those there but from others I have worked out with or known in my short 2 years. The congratulations all seemed heart felt and genuine and there is a real sense of camaraderie in the BJJ Circles that you don't seem to find in other places. White Belts through Black Belts alike all seemed to be sincere in their congratulations.
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